Chapter 377 – Playing Hard to Get, Dispelling Stubbornness

“Master, it’s done!”

After an unknown period of time, Ebenezer finally canceled his authority to modify. He walked up to Vincent to report the results. He only had a bruised and slightly swollen face. Horace, on the other hand, was about to fall into a coma.

Vincent, who had a sleepy face, woke up and lowered his head to look at Horace, who was dragged on the ground by Ebenezer.

When they were still in the middle of the fight, Vincent and the others could not bear to watch anymore. It was not because the battle was extremely cruel and violent, but because the one-sided suppression made them lose interest in watching the battle. That was why they were so sleepy. No one cared about the battle process in the second half of the fight.

Vincent lowered his head to look at Horace and asked softly, “Do you understand now?”

Horace opened his mouth and said intermittently, “Andre and I are irreconcilable enemies. Anyone who is related to him is my enemy!”

Vincent nodded and gestured for Ebenezer to release Horace. He said, “Good, you have a personality! I will let you rest. Since my disciple was unable to convince you, then I will personally teach you what it means to not harm your family!”

After hearing what Vincent said, Horace’s eyes could not help but widen. He could not even defeat Vincent’s disciple. It would be impossible for him to defeat the even more terrifying Vincent. When that time came, what awaited him was nothing more than another vicious beating.

After thinking about it, Horace, who had been very unyielding previously, said with a helpless expression, “Enough, enough! I’ll seek revenge from Andre only. You don’t have to fight anymore. I, I can’t take it anymore!”

When Avril and the others saw Horace finally changing his attitude, they could not help but look at Vincent with admiration.

It had to be said that sometimes, it is still very effective to be unable to persuade.

However, even if Avril and the others understood this reasoning, they would not make a move against Horace so easily because they could not grasp the scale of being powerless to dissuade. A slight carelessness in dissuading would turn into enmity. Instead, things would go against their wishes!

Only Vincent could perfectly control the scale of his use of force. He could make Horace retreat in the face of difficulties, but he would still not completely turn against him. He would then have a powerless deterrent effect!

Vincent could not help but laugh at that moment.

“Why? Now that you realize that assassinating Dave is as dangerous as assassinating Andre, you finally understand who your enemy is?”

Horace endured the pain all over his body and sat up with difficulty. He looked at Vincent with an unwilling expression and said in a deep voice, “I can stop assassinating this child, but you can forget about cooperating with the elves. I will not tell you the whereabouts of the other elves!”

After seeing that Horace had once again displayed his stubbornness, Ebenezer immediately raised his hand to signal Vincent.

“Master! He still hasn’t figured it out! Let me help him! This time, I can definitely do it!”

Avril, who had been watching the battle for a long time, could not help but say, “Let me do it! After holding it in for so many days, I also want to move around!”

Vincent said helplessly, “Go, go, don’t mess around! And Avril, you’re only a level 20 creature. What are you getting involved in it? Facing a level 39 creature, even if you modify your authority, it won’t be of much use!”

After hearing that, Avril had no choice but to give up. However, she did not forget to retort in a low voice, “I’m already a level 23 creature!”

Ebenezer, who was at the side, saw that his master’s lover had been reprimanded, so he could only silently put down his hands.

Vincent turned his gaze back to Horace. In fact, in his heart, he really wanted to beat him up again, but Vincent knew that if they continued fighting, they would really become enemies with Horace.

Therefore, he could only use a gentler method to influence Horace.

Vincent squatted down and looked at Horace as he spoke in a mocking tone, “If all the elves are as stubborn, then I won’t care anymore. I’ll let you live like wild beasts in the jungle. Every day, you all can hunt some animals, pick some fruits, and drink from the stream when you’re thirsty. It’s a pretty good life. It might be the life that you and the elves yearn for the most, right?”

Horace’s expression changed when he heard that. He glared at Vincent in embarrassment and anger. If it was not for the fact that he could not beat Vincent, he would have charged forward and fought with all his might.

How could the elves like living in the countryside? It must be known that all the major cities occupied by the Dark Elves were built by the elves in the past. It was just that more and more elves started believing in Gaiero. Furthermore, they became more and more hostile toward the original elves. Finally, they drove them out of the cities and chased them all the way into the mountains. Only a ghost would be willing to live like a wild beast!

However, with Vincent ridiculing them like this, Horace did not know how to explain himself. Even if the elves wanted to take back the major cities, there was no hope for them at all. Life in the mountains had also become more dangerous. From time to time, the main cities would send troops into the mountains to search for traces of the elves. Some of the elves were even killed by the Dark Elves when they were hunting beasts.

Although Horace had a stubborn temper, he was also aware of the current plight of the elves. He hoped to improve the current situation.

Even if he could not overthrow the rule of Gajero for the time being, at least he could fight for the survival of the elves who believed in the Elf King!

After seeing that Horace did not speak, Vincent smiled and said, “It seems that you still want to improve the living environment of the elves! Then we still have something to talk about!”

Horace could not help but look at Vincent in surprise because he could tell from Vincent’s tone that the other party seemed to have a solution to the current crisis!

Horace asked Vincent with a complicated expression, “You, what do you want to talk about? Assassinating Andre, or changing the current situation of the Elf Race?”

Vincent smiled slightly and said, “Both!”

Horace looked at Vincent with hesitation. He then turned to look at Dave behind him and said firmly, “Unless you draw a clear line between you and the Dark Elves, I cannot negotiate with you!”

Vincent immediately stood up, shook his head, and sighed, “Then there’s no way to negotiate!”

With that, Vincent turned to Angelina and the others and said, “Get ready, let’s leave now! It seems that we can’t rely on the elves who still believe in the Elf King. We can only rely on ourselves!”

Avril looked at Vincent with some surprise, but she quickly understood the hint in Vincent’s eyes. She replied, “Good! Then we’ll start from Devil Flame City and use our own strength to fight against Gajero. There’s no need to depend on these elves who have already lost their fighting spirit!”

Vincent smiled and nodded. He was prepared to turn around and leave with the others.

Horace, who was sitting on the ground, saw that Vincent had actually decided to cancel the negotiation. He did not even take half a step back for Dave. It was as if he had no sincerity to negotiate at all!

However, at the same time, Horace was still very much looking forward to having a good talk with Vincent. At the very least, he could no longer see any hope for the future of the elves. He was looking forward to being able to obtain some inspiration and opportunities from Vincent.

Horace who was in despair had already placed all his hopes and desires on Vincent. However, Vincent was ready to turn around to leave just like that, destroying all potential hope.

“You…”

Horace wanted to say something, but he hesitated. Instead, he looked at Vincent and the others who were ready to leave. He really wanted to stop them, but he was unable to do so because of his pride.

As for Ebenezer, Avril and Angelina, they all followed Vincent’s will. As Vincent had said that he wanted to leave, they would not be reluctant. This was even if they still believed that they should unite the power of the elves. However, since Vincent said that they did not need it, then they would also choose to give up.

However, there was one other person who showed the same reluctance as Horace, and that was Dave, who had come specially to negotiate with the elves.

He was bent on resolving the internal conflicts of the elves. At the same time, after seeing the outcome of Miller’s belief in Gajero, he also agreed with Vincent’s purpose of driving Gajero away. There was clearly a chance for them to negotiate, but Vincent was ready to leave instead. How could he bear to do that?

“Vincent! I think there’s still hope for negotiation. Don’t leave in a hurry! Let me try, master!”

Dave hurriedly tried to dissuade Vincent who wanted to leave. He even addressed him as ‘master’ in the end, which made Vincent stop in his tracks.

Vincent looked over at Dave quietly and said in a deep voice, “I know it’s not easy for you to have such thoughts, and I know how valuable your growth potential is now. However, these old-fashioned elves don’t know that! I can’t let you waste your energy and thoughts here. Moreover, with our help, you will definitely be able to accomplish what you want to do!”

Horace looked at Dave, who had taken the initiative to stay. After hearing Vincent’s confident tone toward Dave, he could not help but feel even more curious about what they were going to discuss.

“Sigh! Since this child is willing to talk to me, the person who almost assassinated him, then please don’t make things difficult for the child. I’m willing to listen to your suggestions!”

Horace finally compromised.

Vincent and Dave turned to look at Horace. After seeing that he did not seem to be lying, they both felt relieved.

Dave imitated Vincent’s previous attempt to comfort him and patted his shoulder gently. He hoped for him to calm down. He then walked in front of Horace and said to him, “Please forgive me. The reason why Vincent rejected your requests just now was because the person who was going to negotiate with you was not him… It’s me!”

Horace looked at Dave in surprise, as if he could not understand why a Dark Elf would negotiate with the elves on how to overthrow Gajero. This was completely different from the elves’ attitude toward their faith!

Dave seemed to have seen the disbelief in Horace’s eyes. He took out a half-broken long knife from his storage ring and quickly hacked it at the big tree beside him.

“Bang!”

A big tree that required two people to chop down was actually destroyed into pieces by Dave’s knife. They rained down from the sky in chunks.

Avril and Angelina could not help but turn their heads to look at Vincent after seeing the scene. This was because they recognized that this was Vincent’s most proficient skill, the Collapsing Mountain Strike!

However, they did not understand what the knife symbolized.

Horace, who was sitting on the ground, widened his eyes in horror and muttered, “To be able to create such a powerful attack without any demonic aura, you, you are a blasphemer!”

Dave nodded and said frankly, “That’s right! In the Elf Race, no matter what faith they have, as long as they learned the power that did not require faith, they were all blasphemers who had betrayed the gods. However, I was willing to make a new attempt. At the same time, it’s also proof that I am determined to resist Gajero!”

Horace nodded his head noncommittally, because as long as Dave was a blasphemer, he would no longer be a loyal believer of Gajero!

Horace looked at Dave warily and sighed deeply, “You are a Dark Elf and a blasphemer. Originally, I would never associate myself with elves like you. However, since you claim that you have a way to change the current situation, for the future of the Elf Race, I will give you a chance. If you have anything to say, say it now!”

Just as Dave was about to speak, Vincent, who was behind him, spoke first, “Wait, you are not worthy of discussing with him. If you want to know what we are going to do next, you should at least invite an elf with sufficient status to come forward, and not a death warrior like you, who is responsible for assassinating others outside!”

Angelina, Avril and Ebenezer initially heaved a sigh of relief when they saw Horace finally compromising. However, they did not expect Vincent’s words to cause their hearts to jump up to their throats again.

Horace had such a strong attitude. Was Vincent not afraid that it would backfire if he continued to force Horace to invite the other elves who were even more hidden? What if it backfired? They had undergone so much just to reach this stage and only for it to end in discord.

However, just as everyone was worried, Horace nodded with a serious expression and said, “That’s indeed the case! If you really have a way to improve the current situation of the elves, it’s true that you shouldn’t discuss it with me. But if you want to invite the other elves, you still have to reveal a part of the specific content to me. That way, when I go back, I’ll have enough reasons to invite them out to see you!”

Dave could not help but turn to look at Vincent for his opinion.

Vincent nodded and said, “Then go in and talk. Tell him what you want to do!”

“Yes!”

Dave nodded with a serious expression and looked at Horace.

“Okay, follow me!”

Horace finally felt refreshed. He stood up to lead everyone into the safe house.

When everyone followed Horace into the safe house, they saw Andy. She was recuperating in the hall of the safe house.

“Master, why are you injured?”

Andy could not help but ask when she saw Horace’s bruised face.

Without waiting for Horace to reply, Andy saw Dave. He had followed behind Horace into the safe house.

“Isn’t he… isn’t he Andre’s son? Did the Dark Elves find this place?”

Andy naturally would not let Dave in. This was because her injury was caused by the assassination attempt on Dave. She could not help but think of the worst possibility when she saw Dave.

Horace did not know how to explain, so he could only helplessly shake his head and say, “He’s no longer our enemy, and he has something important to discuss with me. I’ll explain it to you later!”

Under Andy’s confused gaze, Horace turned to Dave and said, “Please come to my room to talk. As for the others…”

Dave quickly turned to look at Vincent. This was the first time he was talking to an elf who believed in the Elf King. He really hoped that Vincent would be by his side.

However, Vincent, who followed the two in, shook his head and said, “We won’t follow! You two can talk!”

Dave let out a nervous sigh. He then turned to Horace and nodded.

Horace did not say anything more. He just turned around and led Dave into his room.

After Horace and Dave entered the room, there were only five of them left in the hall. They comprised of Andy, who was still in shock, and Vincent’s group of four.

Vincent looked at Andy, who had not returned to her senses for a long time. He could not help but sigh, “It seems that your injuries were in vain. You can’t hold a grudge against your new allies in the future!”

“Ah?”

Andy looked at Vincent blankly. She was still unable to understand the current situation.

Angelina, who was kinder, helped Andy to the side and explained the current situation and changes to her. She asked her to leave the matter to Vincent and the others.

After Ebenezer sat down, he could not help but sigh, “I really did not expect Master to be able to change Horace’s attitude so much just by turning around to leave. Previously, he still wanted to kill Dave, but now he can negotiate peacefully!”

Avril, who was sitting beside Vincent, smiled and said, “Then you do not understand the wisdom of the Human Race at all. That was called playing hard to get just now, which made Horace think that he was about to lose all hope. Naturally, his attitude would not be firm!”

Ebenezer nodded as if he understood something. Although he did not quite understand the meaning of playing hard to get, he still felt that it was very impressive.

Vincent smiled and turned to Avril. He said, “You are now a level 23 creature. It seems that your training speed is very fast!”

Avril sighed helplessly, “Of course! We have not stopped training for even a day. It’s a pity that we cannot catch up with you no matter what!”

Vincent thought for a moment, “Since your divine physique has been trained to the fourth level, you can try to summarize the attributes that are most compatible with your divine physique. Then, by absorbing the energy from the materials of the same attribute, you can increase your strength at a rapid speed. You and Angelina will first find the compatible attributes. I will help you buy the corresponding materials in bulk when I return to Devil Flame City!”

When Avril heard Vincent’s suggestion, she nodded and said, “That’s simple. We’ve already come to a conclusion. Angelina has the ability to fuse with the death attribute energy, but the ability to fuse for me is a little troublesome!”

Vincent asked curiously, “Oh? What kind of trouble?”

Avril replied, “What I can absorb more quickly is the energy from the ancient battlefield-related ruins or items!”

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