Reincarnated With The Strongest System

The sound of merry-making spread in the darkness of the night as William sat in the seat of honor at the table of the One-horned Clan.

Vesta, Kira, and Athrun were seated at a table not far from him, and they were also treated as VIP guests.

As the Patriarch of the One-horned Clan, Polox had recognized Vesta instantly. There had been a gathering of the different Clan Lords within the Demon Continent, and three of the Demigods, excluding Baba Yaga, had attended the festivities.

This was where Polox had seen Vesta, and discovered that she was the daughter of the fearsome Black Dragon Demigod, who guarded their Southern Fortress. 

Although he knew that meeting the green-haired beauty would be a rare occasion, Polox still made sure to remember her features, and tell his Clan members to never offend her, if they ever crossed paths with her in their territory.

Right now, he didn't know what kind of relationship William had with Joash, but after seeing Vesta in his entourage, he thought that the two Demigods had a good relationship with each other. 

"Lord William, if there is anything that you want, just tell me," Polox said in a respectful tone. "As long as it is within the ability of our Clan, we will do it without fail."

William nodded his head. "For now, I have no need for anything. This feast is already good enough. I thank you, and your Clan, for your hospitality."

Polox smiled, and it was a smile that came from the heart. William was very different from the domineering person that he had encountered on the battlefield, which surprised him. He thought that after becoming one of William's vassals, the black-haired teenager would start to demand things of them.

As the Patriarch of the One-horned Clan, he was prepared to make the necessary sacrifices, but William didn't ask him for anything. This was why he decided to hold a feast in his honor, to better understand their new Lord, and see if he had any hidden agendas in regards to their Clan.

It was at this moment when a One-horned young lady, with light-brown hair and green eyes walked inside the gathering hall. 

Every member of the One-horned Clan bowed respectfully at her as she made her way towards Polox, who was currently chatting with William.

"I greet His Excellency, Lord William." the young lady bowed respectfully. "May your grace fall upon our Clan, and your courageous stories be spread far and wide within the Demon Realm."

The young lady then bowed to Polox before going to the table right next to him. This was the respect that the Patriarch of the One-horned Clan deserved, and she would not forget to do this, even in front of a Demigod. 

William's gaze followed the familiar young lady whom he had seen alongside Vesta when he was still in the Deadlands.

Polox, who noticed William's gaze, gave his granddaughter two thumbs up in his heart for doing a job well done. He had told her earlier that she should make a good impression on their new Lord in order to strengthen the ties between their Clan and him.

Seeing that Wiliam seemed to be interested in his granddaughter, Polox thought that the possibility of forming ties with him was already in the bag.

"Lord William, forgive my granddaughter Anh for not introducing herself earlier. She's not used to socializing with people outside of our Clan, and I spoiled her too much," Polox stated. "I hope she didn't offend you."

William smiled and shook her head. "No. I wasn't offended. I just thought she looked familiar."

"Is that so? Perhaps both of you were fated to meet. They said that the Gods allow people to find their soulmates in their dreams."

"Hahaha. Isn't that a bit too convenient?"

William didn't know how to react to this sudden meeting between him and Anh. Just like Vesta, she was one of the young ladies that he had seen in the Deadlands. He still didn't understand why he saw them there, but one thing was certain.

'There are no coincidences in this world,' William thought. 'Maybe we really were fated to meet.'

Just as the Half-Elf was entertaining this thought, Vesta walked to his table and dragged him to where Kira and Athrun were seated. William didn't resist and followed the green-haired beauty to know what she wanted with him.

"Bro, that was the best thing ever!" Kira said as he looked at William with sparkling eyes. "Can we become sworn brothers? Please? If my parents hear about this, they might push me to become the next patriarch of the Sand Clan."

"Do you want to be Patriarch?" William asked. He had spent a good amount of time with the handsome Demon, who always called him bro, and didn't mind extending his hand to help him rise in the ranks if he really wished for it.

"Actually, I don't," Kira answered before drinking a glass of fruit juice. "Knowing myself, I don't have what it takes to become a Patriarch. I'm a free spirit. I prefer traveling the world to being stuck at home handling the family's affairs."

Athrun nodded in agreement. Unlike Kira, who wanted to have complete freedom, what he wanted was to make a name for himself. He wanted to build a merchant group that every other merchant would look up to. 

However, he knew that this was a long-term project, and couldn't be rushed at this point in time. Even so, he also understood that if he formed connections with a Demigod, no one would dare cause trouble for him as he slowly built staircases towards the sky.

William sensed Athrun's passionate gaze and gave him a brief nod. He knew that this scholarly fellow was similar to Sha, and wouldn't really talk unless it was necessary. Since that was the case, the Half-Elf decided to take the initiative to offer an olive branch to him.

After all, aside from bandits, the Ainsworth Family's second best friends were rich merchants whom they could extort when needed. Making Athrun one of his future golden geese was not a bad idea.

"If you ever need help, just say a word," William said to Athrun with a smile. "I don't mind calling the wind and the rain to pave the path to greatness."

Athrun bowed his head respectfully as a reply to William's words. His promise was more than enough to give him courage to be more daring in his approach when it came to building his merchant empire.

Vesta stared at the three boys with an impatient look before tapping William's shoulder to get his attention.

"I don't know your reason for doing this, but I think you went overboard when you forced the Greenskin Clan to become one of your vassals," Vesta said with a serious expression on her face. "They are indeed one of the vassals of the Gremory Clan, which belong to the Demon Lord's family. Are you trying to make the Demon Lord your enemy?"

William blinked once then twice before raising his hand. Without warning, he flicked Vesta's forehead which made the latter cry out in pain. The Half-Elf didn't put much force into it, but it was still enough to inflict pain to Vesta.

Just like always, this attack was imbued with regeneration magic, which instantly healed any injuries that she received. 

"What did you do that for?!" Vesta asked angrily as she held her forehead. 

"Because you asked a silly question," William replied. "Did you forget who I am?"

This time, it was Vesta's turn to blink. A few seconds later, a dawn of realization fell upon her as she covered her lips. 

William was Maxwell's son, who had thwarted the Demon Lord's ambition to conquer the Silvermoon Continent. Not only that, the Dungeon Conqueror had also cut off his arm, which the Demon Lord had taken as the greatest humiliation of his life.

The Half-Elf being the Demon Lord's enemy was an understatement. The moment that the Demon Lord knew of William's existence, he would send his army to kill him!

As if reading her thoughts, William just chuckled and whispered something in her ear.

"Don't worry, when I meet face to face with the Demon Lord, I'll tell him that me and your father are in cahoots with each other," William whispered. "No need to thank me."

Vesta hurled profanities at William inside her heart, while holding back the strong urge to give him a slap. 

Not only did he offended the Demon Lord, the Half-Elf also wanted to drag her father into the quagmire that he created. If William wasn't stronger than her, she would have already summoned her whip and lashed out at him repeatedly for thinking such a thing.

Unfortunately, William was stronger than her, so the only thing she could do was glare at him, which made the Half-Elf feel very smug about himself.

Just as he was about to ask Vesta the real reason she'd dragged him away, one of the members of the One-horned Clan entered the room.

Polox had a surprised expression on his face after hearing his subordinate's words, and immediately ordered his subordinate to do something. 

After the one-horned man left the room, Polox walked towards William with a big smile on his face.

"Lord William, I bring you good news," Polox said with a face filled with excitement. "The Clans within the neighboring territories have come to swear their allegiance to you. They also want to become your vassals!"

Kira dropped the chicken leg that he was about to take a bite of, while Athrun almost choked on the fruit juice that he had just drank. 

Vesta covered her face with her hands while mumbling "We're dead! We're dead!". Clearly, she didn't find Polox's good news, well, good news. Instead, she knew that William had caused an unprecedented event, whose consequences she didn't dare to imagine.

If the One-horned Clan, Greenskin Clan, and the other clans who planned to become William's vassals, came to know his true identity, they would definitely dig a hole in the ground, and bury themselves inside it.

Not only had they knelt in front of their hated enemy, they even swore allegiance to him. If their ancestors were to know what they did, they would have risen up from their graves and slapped all of their descendants for being silly.

Not only did they allow themselves to become slaves, they even helped the slave trader count the money to ensure that he was not being cheated upon!

Vesta knew that things were getting out of hand, but she was helpless to stop it. The only thing she could do was to tell William the consequences of his actions, and hope that the Half-Elf would have enough common sense to understand that what he was doing was simply throwing these ignorant clans into the Lion's Den.