Reincarnated as an Energy with a System

As the debate continued, it was clear she had won over the people that were in the audience. Every time she talked, they would listen with great attention. Every time someone else talked, they would be booed.

It didn’t even matter that Shara’s points were less good or sophisticated than what the others said. As long as she said them, the people would accept it.

The prince and the others realized that due to her background as a nobody, Shara had managed to get the people on her side, and they would be forever biased against them.

So, when the debate came to an end, it was clear who had won.

“That is all the questions we have today,” Theodore said. “Please return to your home and consider who it is you want as your new Emperor, for you will serve them until they die. Think and return tomorrow to vote for your choice.”

The prince stood and left with an angry stride. He soon vanished back into the palace.

Oleander stood up and walked toward Shara.

Ning stepped forward, the axe in his hand arriving long before the man even approached.

Matthew stepped forward the same, ready to fight should they need to.

Oleander held onto his mace, but did not act with it. Instead, he spoke. “You may think you’ve done something, but do not forget who we are. We have the backings of entire nations. Do you? Your legion will only keep you safe for so long.”

Shara didn’t appear scared. “Do you think they will back you after seeing your performance today? You couldn’t persuade a fly to call you an Emperor, let alone this entire nation. You’ve failed, Oleander. You should leave.”

The man stared at Shara with a keen eye. “You should learn to fear what you do not know,” he said. “Puppet or not, you’ve made an enemy out of me. You won’t get away with it.”

He left.

Jema stayed there until the end, watching everything that unfolded.

“It wasn’t until just a few generations ago that the bloodline of the Golhlog lineage escaped their household and made its way throughout the empire. With such a short family tree, you should be a close cousin of mine.”

“So, for the sake of the blood we share, I will give you some advice today,” she said as she turned toward Shara. “Run. Run as fast as you can and never turn back. If you value your life, if you value your survival, you will make yourself disappear from this city.”

“If you don’t, the chances of you surviving until tomorrow’s sunrise are none.”

She finally left.

Shara remained on the stage for as long as she could before releasing a deep sigh of relief. “That… that was scary.”

Ning patted her shoulders. “You did well.”

Shara smiled. “Now what?” she asked.

“Now, we prepare,” Ning said.

“For the votes?”

“No, for the battle.”

“The battle?” Shara asked. “I thought you said things were different from what we had expected. That we were deciding with a debate instead of a battle.”

“I underestimated how well you would do,” Ning said. “If it was close, we would have to rely on the votes. But since you are clearly leading this race, there is only one chance the others have to win.”

Shara finally realized. “If I leave the race.”

“Yes. And they’ll make sure to do whatever they can to make that happen. Including killing you.”

“Then… we’ll have to leave now.”

The three walked down the stage to meet with the few scouts with powers that had come with them. They had been preparing for a battle, but there wasn’t one just yet, thankfully.

So, they could return.

They walked into the group of people walking outside of the gate, and had Shara activate the amulet she wore on her neck.

It was the talisman of Concealment. Using it, everyone’s perception of them immediately lowered by a lot, allowing them to easily escape from the place.

Ning had been worried he would have to buy a Scroll of Invisibility, but it seemed he didn’t have to. With the concealment, they were more than enough hidden to make it out of the palace and toward where the legion was gathered.

The undeads had come close to the town center and had filled a large area there. With 8,000 different undeads, there weren’t many places they could be kept.

It was the same as the other group with 20,000 soldiers, only theirs didn’t have to eat as well.

The houses there were mostly empty anyway, with most of it looted by the other soldiers to eat for themselves, and the people evacuating for fear of the soldiers doing anything.

They were now staying in the outskirts of the city, instead of the center.

“You did great!” Mari said with great pride. As one of the people in charge of lessons for Shara, she couldn’t be more happy with the result.

Shara smiled. “Thank you, but I fear I only made things worse.”

“You did no such thing,” Romus said. “We were already going to fight with them anyway. There was never a choice to begin with. You’ve only made happen that which was already supposed to happen.”

“No,” Ning said. “She’s done something better.”

“What’s better?” Romus asked.

“Before, we would have been just another oppressor who got rid of the first oppressors to place our own person on the throne,” Ning said. “But now, they know what sort of person will get on the throne. So even though the situation is the same, people’s hearts will accept her more easily.”

“There will be less revolt when she gets put on the throne.”

Matthew thought about it and nodded. “That is true,” he said. “Their little debate has helped us more than we could have imagined. Now, we only need to do one thing.”

“Survive.”

Everyone nodded.

“We will have to survive somehow,” Ning said. “But… I fear another problem will arise soon that we haven’t thought about. We will need to prepare for that too.”