GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?



Sensitive individuals should have gleaned enough by then that the competition is very important to the racial council. Why would they change an ancient tradition of their race for a simple competition? Unfortunately, it still wasn't enough. If Soverick's intention to attend the competition wasn't announced, then the number of participants wouldn't have been up to a million at all. Soverick's notoriety and popularity drew the largest number of participants to the competition.

Soverick's very attendance was needed to bring in people. Even then, they came to gang up on him and beat him up, not to support him like the Vipers supported their paragons. It all culminated in that final battle of the 3rd challenge. The serpentine world god also didn't tell his people about who their enemies would be or the purpose of the competition, but he didn't need to. He called the competition a training session, and Vipers flocked to attend just for the honor of it.

The first sage thought back to the ending of the third challenge, and he couldn't help but sign. "It all ended on a nice note. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome. I have to thank Salvini somehow. She did the best with what she had."

That ending is the best he could have gotten. The vipers didn't fight each other at all. The paragons called for support, and the vipers around them rallied to their cause. Then they systematically took down the golems. The paragons fought amongst themselves for the divine crown and the other crowns. Then they distributed the rest to their most noteworthy subordinates. It was that simple for them. 

They spent the rest of the time just waiting while the battle sage monkeys were at each other's throats. Still, that outcome is the best he can get. Soverick has shown himself to be strong, and he has united a bulk of the battle sage monkeys to his cause. He didn't antagonize everyone despite being capable of doing so. He has proven his worth as a leader. 

Now they know that no matter what their opinion of him is, he will give them victory when it matters. It will matter soon because nothing short of unity will do if they are to defeat the Vipers. Salvini was instrumental in the development of this outcome. She moved on her own and allowed everything to flow nicely. 

Her success in preventing Soverick and Salvos from killing each other over and over again impressed him. And he didn't even order her to do so. She didn't know anything about his planning and scheming for this entire competition, but she moved in line with his will. 

She gathered lieutenants for Soverick. That wasn't to help him, as she stated. It is to strengthen the battle sage monkeys by creating more combatants with the power level of Emperors. It is obvious that Soverick doesn't need their help. He could have resolved the conflict all on his own, so he wouldn't have asked people to be his subordinates. That means 100 positions for Emperors would have gone to waste.

She sage smiled. "That makes two of my lineage that has had a hand in Soverick's fate."

The child of the sages created the divine dungeon. The child of the sage also provided information about the god's arrangements of troops, the layout of the divine dungeon, and the rules of its operation. Those enabled Soverick to become the child of the plane. Now Salvini ensured that Soverick used the boost from his title within the competition.

If Soverick was on his own, then he might have targeted Amari right from the start. He would have considered cutting off the head of the serpent and rooting out the problem before it started. It would have certainly delayed his acquisition of the divine crown, which would have led to his loss. 

Salvos would have acquired the divine crown if Soverick had been late to it. But Salvini intervened. She suggested an alternative that Soverick took. He got the divine crown and also used the Call For Support. It is killing two birds with one stone. 

It was not the first time that she had done something so efficiently in the competition, and neither was it needed. But the sage still found it amusing how her mind works. He finds it especially funny how she managed to distract Soverick while doing it. She reminds him of himself. No matter how careful or suspicious someone is of the first sage, they will still fall into his trap. It is simply inevitable.

Salvini's knowledge of the situation and her actions to amend them is not a breach of the rules that he made with the serpentine world god. He didn't tell her anything or hint at anything. She found out on her own due to her bloodline. There is no rule against the use of divine abilities.

She may not know the full extent of the situation since it involves world gods, but she knows that they will fight Vipers in the fourth challenge, so she worked towards conserving their strength and unifying them against a common enemy.

Of course, she probably has her own agenda. Those of the first sage's bloodline are unpredictable like that. You can't know their true aim because there is no true aim. They have multiple things that they want to achieve and multiple intertwined plans to achieve them. So you can't evade them.

He sobered up after his short moment of amusement. He watched as some of the competitors that were killed in the third challenge were healed and sent back to the plane, while some were healed and sent to the fourth challenge.

"It is all coming together." He said to himself.

His little plans and arrangements will culminate in the 4th challenge. The format of the third challenge was largely influenced by him. The arrangements he made required a strong person who would get the crown and a group of others who would protect them. 

If they don't band together and cooperate, then the golems will get them, or the others will chase them around for the crown. The Lieutenant system provided a means for this cooperation. It is a sort of preparation for the fourth challenge. You could call it a practice in leadership and followership.