CHAPTER 44: VOTING

After speaking, the chairman observed the others’ reactions. Although the reactions varied, they seemed a little more agreeable to the idea of attacking than before.

"What are your thoughts?" he asked.

"I agree with the chairman. Let’s attack," Victoria said.

Draven nodded in agreement.

"I’ve lost brothers to the church. I have to avenge them," Vex said.

"Obviously we have to save the civilians. I’m in," Cipher said.

Although he did indeed care about the civilians, the main reason he had decided to join was because he was curious about the so-called Light Goddess the Church of Eternal Brilliance worshiped.

It seemed everything in the apocalypse was connected to these so-called gods - and mostly the Time God who preserved the dead worlds. He needed to get more information on these gods in case they had a way to deal with or prevent the apocalypse.

"I’m in too," Iris said.

"I still don’t think we should do this," Luna said.

"I agree. At least not now," Ember said.

"I also don’t think we should risk it. What if other forces decide to attack us when our main forces are away?" Knox said.

"Yeah, and have you ever considered that we won’t just be facing the church? What if they’ve teamed up with other forces?" Zara spoke up.

"I think we should focus on strengthening our control over the other guilds for now, not risking it against cultists who don’t care if they die," Orion said.

"Tch, what a bunch of cowards. I feel sick just being in the same room as you guys," Draven said, but everyone remained silent.

The chairman turned to look at the only person who hadn’t voted yet. "Elaine, what are your thoughts?" he asked.

At the moment, there were six supporting the attack and five against it. Although he was the association chairman, major decisions like these relied on executives voting. If Elaine was against it, they would have a draw vote and need to reschedule to discuss once again.

Marcus hated this kind of thing the most. While they were busy discussing politics, the cult would’ve already sacrificed thousands of civilians and become even stronger.

Cipher observed Elaine just like everyone else in the room.

[That girl is strange,] the Heavenly Demon suddenly spoke up.

"~What do you mean?" Cipher asked through his voice transmission skill. He had learned before that he could use this to avoid seeming insane when talking to the Heavenly Demon that no one could see.

[She gives off the same feeling as you and me,] the Heavenly Demon said.

"~Me and you?" Cipher was lost in thought. What did he, the Heavenly Demon, and Elaine have in common? His eyes widened as it came to him. "The gods..." That’s right - both he and the Heavenly Demon had received a power from the Time God.

As for Elaine, she had a skill related to the Love Goddess.

"~Do you sense the same thing from Maya?" he asked.

[No, she seems normal,] the Heavenly Demon said.

Cipher nodded. It seemed Timeless was just a normal unique skill and had no relation to the Time God.

"I feel nervous with all of you looking at me like that," Elaine said. "I can see both sides of this argument, honestly. The people who want to attack have valid reasons - we need to save civilians and stop the cult before they get stronger. But the ones who are cautious also have a point - we could be walking into a trap or leaving ourselves vulnerable. I didn’t want this huge decision burden to be on me, so... I abstain from voting."

Cipher stared at her intently, scrutinizing every movement she made.

She noticed and winked at him. His expression remained serious. She didn’t want the burden, but abstaining is just like choosing, isn’t it? he wondered. He wondered what her plan was. He always felt that this girl was up to something - he just couldn’t prove it yet.

The chairman let out a slow breath. "Very well. With six votes in favor and five against, with one abstention, the motion passes. We attack tomorrow."

Draven showed a huge grin, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Wait," Orion said, causing the grin to fade from Draven’s face. "Won’t we at least prepare for a week? We need to..."

"No," the chairman cut him off sharply. "If we take the time to prepare, the information might leak. Besides, the captured civilians can’t wait. Everyday we delay is another day they suffer - or worse."

He looked around the room with a firm gaze. "That matter is resolved. We can move on. Does anyone have something they want to raise before the council before we dismiss?"

"About the gate rating system..." Cipher began.

...

A few hours later, the meeting finally concluded and Cipher, Selene, and Maya left.

After deciding on whether to attack the church, Cipher had proposed an update to the rating system. He’d "sacrifice" even more of his stats by analyzing the levels of people inside gates to create a more comprehensive rating system.

There would be a scenario rating - the normal rating if someone played it safe and followed established paths - as well as a true rating for the highest possible level of danger one might face in a particular gate.

There was some pushback from the others, of course. The most reasonable argument being that almost all gates’ true rank would be at least S-rank.How could it not be when it had something in it that could end the world or make it an apocalypse?

Although he agreed with this, it was also good to collect information on the people inside just in case.

On top of the initial proposal for the change in rating, he also said that his team would take on the responsibility of making the scenario playthroughs that others would follow for the least amount of danger. With this, he gained support from the majority and got the proposal passed.

After that, they discussed many other issues and voted on a few other things before the meeting ended.

It really was exhausting having to deal with all that.

"You guys must be tired," he said, looking at Selene and Maya.

"I’m used to it," Selene said flatly.

"I feel like my legs are about to fall off," Maya said.

"It’s alright, go have some rest. Now that we’ve resolved your issue, you won’t be summoned next time," he said.

"Alright, I’ll inform the others about what happened too," she said. She bowed and then left.

Now it was just Cipher and Selene left.

"You go rest too. I’ll be in my office for a while," Cipher said.

"Something I can help with?" Selene asked.

"No, you’ve done enough already. Go get some rest. Our team needs you at your best tomorrow," he said.

"Then I’ll take my leave. Text me if you need anything."