“A new guild?”
“A new guild will join us?”
“Is that for real?”
The moment everyone heard Rozen’s declaration, they were surprised and immediately questioned whether that news was right or not. Even Agil, Klein, and Kirito were no exception. They were equally shocked as the rest of the Clearers.
“New members? At this time?”
“Not to mention it’s a whole guild?”
“Is that even possible?”
Kirito, Klein, and Agil said in succession.
Of course, Zahad couldn’t miss this opportunity.
“With all due respect, Chairman Rozen.” Zahad said with a ridiculing face: “It’s true that we just suffered a heavy loss due to Aincrad Liberation Force’s retirement, but that doesn’t mean anyone can just join, no?”
What Zahad was trying to say was quite obvious.
“If the guild was not up to our standard, then they’ll simply become a dead weight.”
Zahad casually said it, as if forgetting that he has just suggested to include lower-level Players in the Raid.
Of course, it was only for this Raid, and they were only invited to bolster the numbers, and that was clearly different from joining the Clearers permanently like Rozen suggested, at least that was what Zahad believed.
In response, Rozen just shrugged and said.
“I do think that strength is important, but I believe the most important is character. Even if one was strong enough, yet keeps causing trouble, the Clearers will get tired of them, and get rid of them eventually, don’t you think so?”
Rozen said while smiling at Zahad.
“What did you say…!?”
Zahad, who realized that Rozen was referring to him, spontaneously stepped forward in anger.
But this time, Rozen didn’t even let Zahad make a move.
“Know your place!”
The smile on Rozen’s face suddenly changed into an intimidating glare toward Zahad.
“I don’t want Red Wings to become a guild that will attack players even though they are criminals, but I don’t have a choice if Divine Dragon Alliance is never short of Orange Players. Do you really want me to spell it out for you before you understand?”
It was as if the harsh words Rozen just said became a spike that held Zahad’s foot in place. Zahad couldn’t say anything back, but his face said everything.
No matter what Zahad said, Red Wings was the strongest guild. If he decided to ignore Rozen’s warning here, Divine Dragon Alliance will definitely be in for a rough ride.
“Understood?” Rozen sneered and said, “say something if you understand, you can at least do that, can’t you?
Zahad clenched his fist as he could sense the harsh glares from the Players in all directions, and he could barely contained his anger.
For someone as ambitious as Zahad, being scolded by Rozen in public like this was simply humiliating.
However, it was not like Zahad could do anything to Rozen either. Rozen was the Clearers’ commander who upheld his record of having zero casualties up until now. If something happened to him, he’d have to answer to all Clearers. He may be not afraid of Red Wings, but there was nothing he could do against all Clearers.
“I understand…” Zahad had no choice but to endure this humiliation and suppress anger, then mockingly said: “I sure hope that Chairman Rozen’s decision this time is not wrong.”
After that, Zahad returned to his guild members, who also had disgruntled look on their faces.
Rozen then shifted his focus back to everyone.
“I had just learned about this news yesterday. Of course, I didn’t let a guild join us on a whim. Argo will explain the details to you.”
Argo cleared her throat, and everyone’s attention shifted to her.
“This is actually the request from my client, which is the guild that wishes to join us. So, I visited Chairman Rozen to ask for his approval, and he did.
In public, Argo refrained from calling Rozen casually and added “Chairman” because it was a formal situation.
“The guild that wishes to join us is a guild that was formed recently. They only have about 17 members. However, each of their members’ level is well within the Clearers’ average, which is 40 or above. Their strength is undoubtedly top-level; their equipment is definitely on par if not better than our top players. Although they’re not as strong as Red Wings and didn’t have as many members as Divine Dragon Alliance, I can say for sure that they’re stronger than Fuurinkazan.
Argo then added.
“The leader and vice-leader of the guild, in particular, is definitely way stronger than most Clearers. Well, this is just my personal opinion, so I might be biased, but I believe they belong in the top 5 Players. On second thought, they may be around the top 3.
Among the top three Players!
Argo’s statement obviously shocked the Clearers as it was hard for them to believe.
“This is really…”
“Is that for real?”
Kirito, Agil, and Klein looked at each other in disbelief.
“Top three?”
Even Rozen frowned, because yesterday, Argo didn’t tell him about it. She simply told him about the guild in general. Rozen didn’t expect that Argo would value them this high.
Zahad, who was skeptical from the very beginning, asked.
“Then what’s the name of the guild?”
That was also everyone else’s question.
Argo then answered immediately.
“Knights of the Blood Oath.”
Argo said so.
“The guild is called the Knights of the Blood.”
Argo then looked toward a certain direction and said.
“Look, there they come.”
Everyone instantly followed the direction that Argo looked at, and in the next second, everyone could clearly see it.
“Pap pa pap pa pap pa”
They saw a group of players with rhythmical footsteps entering the area where the strategy meeting was held. These Players were dressed in red and white throughout their body, the weapons in their hands were shining. They definitely got an aura around them.
There were only about a dozen of them, but it was like a thousand horses just entered the area as the solemn atmosphere permeated the air.
Seeing this group of Players, the Clearers were shocked; some of them even gasped in surprise, but that was not simply because of this flashy entrance.
There was another reason for that, which was their leader.
“This……”
Agil was dumbfounded.
“……No way?”
Klein was paralyzed.
“Huh?”
Kirito couldn’t take his eyes off their leader.
“Wait…what…!?”
Zahad was shocked.
Even Rozen was also shocked at this very moment.
“A girl?”
Yes.
The leader of the guild was a female player.
Moreover, it was a very beautiful female player.
