Joseph was heading towards the part of the palace where the Katra Clan resided. As he approached the door, he could hear a low voice grumbling with anger coming from it. Curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to listen to whoever’s voice it was. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

"Father... you’re hurt."

"He got lucky. If I had just a bit more time, I would never have gotten hurt. It was a lack of information that worked against me in the end."

"Are you okay? I can’t help but feel it looks like you’re shaking when you recall this fight."

"You’re wrong. I’m not scared, I’m just angry I couldn’t do more without needing to retreat."

"I never said you were scared."

There were no voices for a moment.

"Listen, this threat is something that could take out the entire kingdom if we aren’t careful. The enemy outnumbers us by ten to one at minimum. We have to be prepared for the worst."

"Mr. Katra, if I may interject-"

"Not now. We need to come up with a plan."

"But sir, I really must insist-"

"What could possibly be so important that you feel the need to interrupt me right now?!"

"...there’s a man listening to our conversation on the other side of that door."

Joseph paled and backed away from the door as he heard heavy footsteps approaching. When the door creaked open, Zeke Katra was staring down at him. His eyes were scorn and he looked to be in a terrible mood.

"What gives, peasant?"

Joseph made sure to bow down to Katra before speaking.

"I-I’m terribly sorry sir, I just didn’t want to interrupt your conversation. I was assigned to your house today to clean and tidy everything."

"You heard of nothing being spoken, understand?"

"Hear of what being spoken, sir?"

"Good. You may enter now."

Joseph slowly stood up and followed the man inside. As soon as he stepped inside, his heart immediately trembled with fear. Sitting at the main dining table were the elven other members of the Katra Clan. All of them were emanating a sinister aura as they glared at him. Each of their muscles were prominent and well-defined as if they endure harsh training each and every day.

It only made sense given that they worked to keep the kingdom safe every day. However, seeing it himself was a completely different experience. Joseph also knew that each of their abilities helped with combat in some way. Everyone in this room could easily rival the power of a thousand people. Mr. Katra slowly walked up to Joseph as he started cleaning the kitchen.

"We still have things to discuss, so close your ears."

Joseph nodded and ripped a bit clothing from his clothes off to shove into his ears. However, he purposely left one of his ears slightly unmuffled so he could listen in and gather information. Sydney Katra, one of the daughters of Zeke, was the first to begin the conversation.

"How powerful can one man really be? Why don’t we all just try to sneak attack the main guy?"

"It’s because there is no main man. Even if we somehow find the original duplicate user, it may stop the duplication, but there would still be millions we would have to defeat after that. But that’s all based on one assumption."

A man around Jacob’s age interjected.

"And what would that assumption be, sir?"

"That his duplicates can’t duplicate themselves. If that’s something he learns how to do, everything we try to prepare will be hopeless. I’m afraid even our combined strength will only severely weaken his forces."

"What?! That can’t be possible! We’re the strongest people of humanity! We were blessed with supernatural powers and people look to us to keep them safe!"

Katra refused to meet anyone’s gaze.

"It’s not a battle of strength. It would be a battle of attrition. Once we run out of energy, we lose. However, if we can defeat his forces before we tire ourselves out, we may stand a chance."

"But you said we can’t handle all of them alone. How are we supposed to defeat him?"

"What I mean is we are going to need some help if we want to completely defeat him. I know the king is at his strongest in the palace, so we can’t rely on him to leave his throne and help us lead the vanguard. That leaves only a single group of people."

An older gentleman slammed his fist on the table.

"Please don’t tell me you mean those farmers from Rose Clan. How on earth can they help us? Most of their powers aren’t even suited for combat!"

"Love them or hate them, they are our only chance in this fight. We have to put everything we think about them aside to fight a common enemy. I will have no insurgence come from this temporary alliance or there will be hell to pay. Do I make that clear for everyone?"

A man put up his hand in protest.

"How do we even know they will agree to this alliance?"

Katra stared at the man with a confident expression.

"It’s because they have no choice. Their decisions are to help us fight or to let us all be slaughtered. I know Lidia isn’t as unreasonable to simply let her people be killed, especially those who are in the Rose Clan."

Suddenly, a younger man put his hand up.

"How do we know we aren’t just fighting a losing battle?"

Everyone around them went silent. He was right. No one really knew the scale of how many duplicates they truly had to fight. Not only that, but he wasn’t going to be the only person they had to fight. And that person was none other than the king’s own brother, who shared just as insidious of a power as the king himself.

A sense of doubt spread its way through everyone in the room. Even Katra took a moment before responding.

"We just have to gamble our lives on the hope that we are strong enough to overcome this endeavor. Please, someone send an invitation to Lidia so we can start our discussion as soon as possible."