Chapter 278: Alliances
"I'll be denouncing my membership from the Cross Claw Alliance!," He said to everyone, his time ripples drawing everyone's attention, "I propose a new Coalition, an Alliance that would be formed to ensure the Primordial Lion never rises again!"
"Ma'abu, what are you doing?" Exalon asked, stepping forward with a frown.
The Lion Kings all stopped talking and had different expressions on their faces.
"What should have been done a long time ago!" Ma'abu said as he stepped down from his pedestal, one paw after the other.
His eyes were piercing but his face was calm, he was poised as a serene lake. He too was a Lion King, tier 6, a rare Time Lion. He did not fear Exalon at all.
He stood in front of Exalon, looking up into the latter's eyes. "So, you've already picked sides?
You haven't even seen the Primordial Lion but you've already begun to support him. He has never been to heaven yet you establish his influence for him.
Tell me King Exalon, are you so lost, so desperate for purpose that you immediately jumped on the opportunity as soon as it appeared?"
With the stance Ma'abu had right now, it looked like he was ready to fight Exalon. Exalon, although frowning, still reserved his energy.
"We both believe in different things, King Ma'abu. Is there a problem with that?" Exalon asked.
Ma'abu shook his head, "Yes, there is a problem if what you believe in threatens the integrity of the lion race!"
"You act like the Primordial Lions of the past haven't helped our civilization get to where it is!"
"And you act like a Primordial Lion isn't the reason for our loss! I say we eliminate the Primordial Lion, if we can't control him, then we kill him!" Ma'abu said, turning to the Lion Kings.
"You feel inferior," Exalon suddenly said, causing Ma'abu to pause.
"What?" Ma'abu asked, turning back to look at the muscular lion.
"I said you feel inferior to the Primordial Lion, that's the main reason you are doing all this. You're just using history as a tool to further your agenda.
I understand, you are a Time Lion, a rare one among us, not many can be compared to you. Your ego has been inflated from the moment you were born until now. I'm sure you even look down on other Lionhearts secretly…"
Exalon's words caused Ma'abu to go silent, I wasn't clear if he was reflecting on Exalon's words or just wanted to listen to everything Exalon had to say.
Exalon continued, taking a heavy step forward and bringing his head inches away from Ma'abu's head.
"You've made your uniqueness part of your personality, and now you feel threatened by someone more unique than you.
Do you even know what you're trying to do? You are trying to go against the very symbol of our race!"
Ma'abu scoffed, "And so what? Do we need a Primordial Lion to be lions ourselves? That's enough."
Then Ma'abu turned around to look at the rest of the Lion Kings again.
"My proposal still stands, an Alliance of Alliances. Let us come together to eliminate the threat before it leads to our destruction.
Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it, we have learned, and we must act. We shall gather forces, right the wrongs, maintain stability, and the Conquering shall not be affected!"
With that, Ma'abu walked out of the hall under the watchful gaze of the Lion Kings, Alora, Xu Ying, and the rest.
Not once did he mention anything about Wadolius. Wadolius had been one of his prodigies, a well-trained future Prince who was able to fight Diane and Ken at the same time and with the same power level.
Alas, Wadolius was not the reason Ma'abu didn't like the Primordial Lion.
The aura that was emanating from all the Lion Kings was enough to crush many worlds. Beyond these bickering, calm, aggressive beings were powers beyond most creatures' imagination.
And these weren't the strongest of the lion ranks, the total number of lion kings here was not even up to one percent of the total Lion Kings the whole race had.
If things continued devolving, the resulting conflict would be nothing to joke about.
After Ma'abu left, some Lion Kings began to leave as well, following after Ma'abu. These ones were in support of Ma'abu and liked his idea of forming a coalition to combat the Primordial Lion.
There were still Lions who were hesitant on what side to join, some who had already joined the Lion System even thought of following after Ma'abu. Whether they genuinely wanted to join or just wanted to infiltrate the coalition, Exalon did not know.
"Alora, do you want to join my Flower Fanged Alliance? Our Lion Queens will treat you well," That Fire Lioness from the Fanged Flower Alliance spoke up at this moment.
Before King Larvis or the others could protest, Alora responded, "I accept," She bowed her head in appreciation, something she didn't want to do.
She immediately began walking toward the exit to follow the retreating member of the Fanged Flower Alliance. This was something that they had already been discussing for some time through telepathy.
"Alora!" Adolf's father raised his voice but Alora did not stop walking. Adolf's father and the Cross Claw Alliance members did not move to stand in Alora's way. The stern gaze from that Fire Lion Queen kept them at bay.
It wasn't because of her strength but because the Fanged Flower Alliance was way more powerful with more members than the Cross Claw Alliance. It wasn't worth it.
Alora's father didn't even seem disturbed, rather, he seemed to be enjoying the show. He kept his striking blue eyes on his daughter but his daughter didn't bother to look at him.
"How rude…" He muttered, feeling slightly hurt at the attention he was deprived of. But he quickly set his mind to other things.
More Lion Kings began to leave one by one, stopping those who were entering the pyramid from getting in.
They discussed as they left, starting the foundation for the storm that was coming. Soon, the news would spread, and lines would be drawn.
While all these would be happening, the lions would still have to worry about their enemies on the outside, while stabilizing the civilization on the inside.
Xu Ying sighed, he realized that if not for Isaiah, most of these things could have been avoided, if not postponed.
Meanwhile, Adolf's eyes glimmered with fierce light once again.
"Adolf, come, let's go," Adolf's father, the Magus Lion of the Cross Claw Alliance, called to his son.
"Father, I need to do some traveling, like right now," Adolf said as he walked over. The relationship between him and his father was closer than most lion father and son had.
Lions like Thawne and Adolf were quite privileged in the lion society.
"For what?" Adolf's father asked with a questioning gaze. Adolf was one of his most promising sons. He wouldn't have agreed for Adolf to go for that expedition if not that Xu Ying was also going to ensure their safety.
Who would have thought that that random expedition would result in them discovering the Primordial Lion?
"I need to prove my Lionhood fast," Adolf said, mini heat waves rolling out of his nostrils.
"Is it about the Primordial Lion?" Adolf's father asked as they both headed for the hall's exit.
Adolf went quiet for some second, confirming to his father his guess, "What happened? Did he do anything to you? Did he touch you?" His father asked.
"Nothing," Adolf shook his head, not willing to talk about it. His father's eyes narrowed but didn't say anything. The two of them walked out of the hall side by side.
The rest of the expedition group were starting to disperse, fate had brought them together. But before the expedition, they all had lived on their own, some were in the process of forming their own prides, and some females were already thinking of starting a relationship with a certain pride leader.
"Are you hesitant on whether to join the Primordial Lion's side?" Exalon asked Xu Ying.
Xu Ying shook his head, "I've already seen the benefits of the Lion System, common sense tells me to follow Kael," He said. The meeting that had just happened was a wake-up call that whatever personal beef he had with Kael was not that important compared to everything else.
"But?…" Exalon added
"But, Ma'abu is not necessarily wrong," Xu Ying said with a worried expression, "A Primordial can either break or make a civilization, not just the lions.
Many ancient races have been wiped out because of the stupidity of their Primordials. We were lucky with Derylia, we might not be so lucky a second time,"
"Does that mean we should eliminate him?" Exalon asked, seeming to care very much about Xu Ying's opinion.
Xu Ying's tail swung from left to right behind him, "No, I've met him. If he can make a mistake, I doubt it would be Derylia's kind of mistake.
But it doesn't mean he's above mistakes,"
Exalon nodded, "You're right, he's not above mistakes, that's why I believe the Primordial Lion should receive guidance from someone who has his and the civilization's interests in mind.
No one could stop Derylia because many had already started to depend on her. She didn't know that her actions would affect many things.
Soon, many Lion Kings would begin to depend on Kael, I can see it. Before then, he must know the weight of his duties."
As Exalon spoke, he summoned the golden screen of the Lion System and massaged Kael.
Exalon: We need to talk