The elder who had defended Zephyr earlier leaned forward. "Connections can also be considered a strength. Nobody stopped Derick from forming his own alliances. And if you want to talk about support, let's not pretend Derick has been working alone. According to my sources, the Everhold Dominion has given him significant backing. We don't know the full extent of their involvement. What happens if Derick becomes president and decides to sell out the guild's interests to Everhold Dominion? Nobody can guarantee that he won't."
He let his words sink in before continuing. "Zephyr, on the other hand, only relied on the help of a single independent player. Even if Raen had a team behind him, there have been no reports of a major guild or conglomerate supporting him. That means Zephyr's accomplishments are essentially his own and those of his team in South Glade Town. Clearing the dungeon was their effort, not the work of a larger power pulling strings from behind."
Hearing this, several elders nodded again. Even those who had originally sided with Derick found the argument reasonable. They weren't here to fight or take sides blindly. Their purpose was to evaluate fairly, and the facts were clear. Derick had achievements, yes, but much of his success relied on the support of a larger power. Zephyr, on the other hand, had proven his strength and leadership with only limited outside help.
As the discussion continued, the balance of opinion shifted steadily in Zephyr's favor. More and more elders began agreeing that he was the most suitable candidate for the position of president.
At that moment, the president of Storm Life coughed lightly, interrupting their thoughts. The room fell silent again as all eyes turned toward him.
"Before you proceed further," the president said slowly, "there is one more thing I want to share with you. It may help make this decision easier."
He paused, letting the suspense build for a moment before continuing. "Before I came here today, I received some messages from someone. I believe these messages will have an influence on how we decide, and perhaps it will also help us judge more clearly who should become the next president."
As the president of Storm Life Guild shared his holo-tab with the main console in the center of the conference table, two messages immediately appeared in front of everyone. The holographic text hovered above the table for all the elders to read.
The first message was clear. It was from the president of Everhold Dominion. Its tone was sharp, filled with both arrogance and disdain. The message openly recommended Derick as the next president while at the same time belittling Zephyr.
The words on the screen accused Zephyr of dragging down the face of Storm Life Guild. It claimed he had shamelessly used the guild's resources for his own personal benefit, all for the sake of cooperating with one single player. The message continued in the same insulting fashion, repeating points to paint Zephyr as reckless and selfish, while praising Derick.
According to the Everhold Dominion's president, Derick was the one who had brought glory to Storm Life Guild, taking over Red Mist Hollow Town for the guild and forging an alliance with Everhold Dominion. The message claimed this alliance will greatly helped Storm Life in the early stages of Glory and will profit them significantly. In contrast, it argued, Zephyr's actions will only hurt their reputation.
The elders at the table exchanged glances as they read. Instead of being convinced, several of them smirked, and a few even snickered. They had also fought in many games for many years and understood the truth behind such words.
"These are just the words of a loser," one elder muttered under his breath, and others nodded.
All of them already knew about the competition between Everhold Dominion and Zephyr's team in South Glade Town. From their perspective, the president of Everhold Dominion was bitter because his guild had been suppressed by a single team led by Zephyr. To them, his words carried no weight.
None of the elders took the message seriously. Everhold Dominion was not even a ranked power. In the Federation's structure, that placed them far beneath organizations like Storm Life Guild, which was officially recognized as a bronze-ranked Power. For an unranked guild president to lecture them on who to choose as their next president was laughable.
One elder shook his head and sneered, "If he can't even beat a single team from our guild, how does he have the face to message our president about who should be our heir?"
Seeing the disdainful looks on the elders' faces, even the president of Storm Life chuckled. Soon, the entire room erupted in laughter. They all knew what the others were thinking. Years of battling side by side had given them the ability to read each other's expressions easily. It was clear that none of them were giving the Everhold Dominion's words any serious consideration.
The president finally waved his hand, and the laughter subsided. "That first message was nothing important," he said. "I only shared it for the sake of transparency."
Everyone nodded, and their attention turned to the second message.
This one was different. It was not from any guild president they knew. Instead, it came under an anonymous name: Grim shade.
Unlike the first message, this one was written in a commanding tone, almost like an order. It bluntly told the president of Storm Life Guild not to choose Zephyr. The message carried a warning, if Storm Life insisted on making Zephyr the president, it would end badly for them.
For a moment, the elders were confused. Then, as they realized the tone of the message, their confusion turned into fury.
One elder slammed his hand on the table and shouted, "President, who is this bastard? How dare he send such a message to you!"
Another elder immediately followed. "Does he think that just because you're retiring, anyone can threaten us? Let's have one last battle before we step down. Let's remind him why you were once called the Asura. We can smash him back to level zero!"
The room filled with anger. Voices rose one after another, expressing their outrage at Grim shade's audacity.
"Who does he think he is, daring to threaten the Storm Life Guild?"
"President, just give the word, and we'll wipe him out."
"Even if he hides behind some power, we won't let such an insult pass."
The president listened to their heated words, and a knowing smile appeared on his face. He, too, had thought the same when he first read the message. How dare someone speak to him in that tone? But years of leading Storm Life had taught him to remain calm. Being the president meant always weighing matters rationally, not reacting blindly to provocation.
So instead of acting rashly, he had quietly contacted one of his friends to investigate Grim shade. The reply he received was interesting.
There was no record of anyone by the name of Grim shade in the real world. However, there was indeed a player in Glory with that name. According to the information he had received, Grim shade was most likely a member of the Underworld, a hidden gold-ranked power.
The moment the president read this, everything made sense. He now understood why Grim shade had dared to send such a bold and threatening message.
The difference in rank alone explained it. Storm Life Guild, despite being considered a bronze-ranked power, only held that title because they had managed to hire three Rank 3 martial artists with their accumulated resources. In truth, the core members of Storm Life were not that strong. Not a single one of them had reached Rank 3 on their own.
The strongest person in Storm Life Guild was the president himself, and even he was only at Rank 2 peak. His strength was respectable, but compared to the powerhouses of a gold-ranked organization, it was far too low.
He believed that he could break through to Rank 3 one day, because of a fortunate encounter he had in his youth. Back then, he had obtained a Rank 5 martial arts technique, something incredibly rare, which would even allow him to cultivate up to Rank 5. But because he had focused so much of his time and energy on building Storm Life Guild, he had neglected his own martial arts practice. That was why he was still stuck at Rank 2 peak, unable to take the next step.