Death... and me

Still, there was one thing that the Zasfins were confused about. "Why did you not nominate yourself? Instead, you appointed Vance Hafel for the position."

Duran shrugged his shoulders as he replied, "I have lived my life in the shadows, only bothering with my own cultivation. If not because of what happened to Fikin, I wouldn't even appear at all. Being the Soul Rulers' leader? I don't want to even think about all the bothersome tasks that come along with that. Fikin liked the attention, so he was fine with it. However, I'm totally different. "

Duran then warned the Zasfins after that. "Once everything stabilizes, I'll be leaving again. Obviously, I can't be a leader like that. Fikin was almost always available, after all."

"Leave?" The Zasfins were confused. "Shouldn't you stay and help prevent the demon beasts' actions?"

Duran nodded as he replied, "And I will. Once this election of a new leader is over, I'm going to talk with the demon beasts."

Once again, everyone was surprised to hear that. "Talk with the demon beasts? We shouldn't talk! We should find a way to take what is ours back."

Duran snorted in response, taking their arrogance down a peg as he said, "Ha! What a joke! After you lost Celis, the Bloodline Trial Control Formations, and many Ancestors, do you think you have what it takes to take everything back? Besides, I was watching the war against the demon beasts from far away. Truly, I couldn't be more ashamed for being a Zasfin."

Duran's voice got deeper as if he was releasing his anger. "Thousands of years of control over this planet for what? To get a bunch of good for nothings that couldn't contend against mindless demon beasts? The lack of a common enemy made all the lower-level Zasfins look like a joke! Forget about taking the demon beast territories back. You should be grateful if I can convince them that we should keep things like this. Otherwise, I'm not sure if even I will be able to hold them back."

Everyone went silent after that, especially the Zasfins, who had cultivations below the Elemental Transformation Realm. How could they not understand Duran's words? They were there in the war, so they saw how in one-on-one fights, most of the Zasfins would be at a disadvantage against demon beasts of the same level, only holding them back because of the Soul Marks.

"Forget it. I won't argue with all of you about this. My job is to protect the Soul Rulers and Zasfins, which was the agreement between Fikin and me. I'm also a Zasfin, so I'm obviously angry over what happened. Nevertheless, I can also see an opportunity here. Perhaps, now that we all have a common enemy, we Zasfins can really improve. Maybe it will be the trigger to reopen the path to the Realm of Gods that has long since been lost."

The Realm of Gods. Which Ancestor of the Soul Rulers hadn't thought about this? They knew that they were wasting their years in this place without being able to ascend. One day, they would also run out of vitality. "Could it be that you know something about breaking the barrier?"

Duran then pointed in the direction of the demon beast territories. "It's just a small chance, and none of you would like to hear it. But yes, I do have an idea."

With that, all the Zasfins stopped thinking about going against Duran. As minuscule as the chance might be, there was no Transition Realm Zasfin in that room that wouldn't want to try it out. 

Duran then sat down in a corner before saying, "Anyways, I just put my clan member's name on the table. You guys can decide if you want someone else to participate in this election. There's no need to worry. I won't complain or say anything even if Vance doesn't win. This is my word as a Soul Ruler."

The room went silent as the clans looked at each other. Although no one said anything, Spiritual Sense Messages were running everywhere.

'What a joke! After what he said about the Realm of Gods, would any clan dare to indicate someone else? All our ancestors would allow that to happen.'

'Look at the Ancestor's eyes. They looked like dead fishes until a moment ago because of our losses at the war. But now that they saw a chance of entering the Realm of Gods, even though it could totally be a lie, they still look like they've gotten a second chance at life.'

'Ramu, I know that you wanted to become a candidate for the position of leader of our organization. However, I have to disappoint you this time.'

'I understand, Ancestor. Ramu won't say anything.'

Similar conversations went back and forth until, eventually, Pankun resolved to speak. "Ahem...I guess everyone already had enough time to decide who will participate in the election. Now then. If you have a name to give or if you want to be a candidate yourself, please step forward."

Sure enough, the entire hall was silent, without a single Zasfin daring to step forward. After a minute or so of silence, Pankun understood that no one would try to contend against Vance. "Since no one else wants to participate, I believe there's no need to have a vote session. The only question is whether Vance wants to be the next leader or not."

Surprisingly though, Vance immediately shook his head as he replied, "I don't." Well, he couldn't be blamed for that. He's also one of the Ancestors, which meant that he was at the Transition Realm. After hearing about the path to the Realm of Gods, he obviously wanted to participate as well. Who cares about being a leader when one had the chance to break through to the next level? "Instead, I will name Sevinia. She has more than enough abilities to take the position even if she hasn't reached the Ancestors' level yet."

Sevinia immediately stepped forward. She was still in the Initial Stage of the Elemental Transformation Realm, so it would be a long, long time before she could think about the Realm of Gods. She would love to be the next Soul Rulers' Organization Leader while it.

Pankun nodded before asking once more, "Anyone against it?"

After a few moments of silence, Pankun then announced, "Very well. Sevinia of the Hafel Clan is now the next Soul Rulers' Organization Leader."