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And even that was debatable. Even with Melmoore, Intar, and Steccat all teaming up against them, Vanderberk didn't think that Abolish would stand no chance, especially if the bosses decided to get more intimately involved in the war again. Heck, such a development might be exactly what was needed in order to prompt them into direct action.

Man, it sure would've been nice if Dozer stepped in, at least. Morgunov had already accomplished more than everyone else combined, so Vanderberk didn't expect him to come back and help out. No doubt, the Mad Demon would be profoundly disappointed in him if Vanderberk thought otherwise.

Morgunov had started this war for them. It was their turn to make him proud.

Dozer, though? Increasingly, Vanderberk didn't know what the others saw in the old man. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen or heard of Dozer achieving anything of significance. It was always just idle chatter. Talk of things that would likely never come to pass. Meetings that went nowhere and pushed nothing forward.

Vanderberk had sent word to him in Ardora, asking for his assistance here in Vantalay, but there had of course been no response. Not even a refusal. Just silence. The disrespect in that was palpable.

The Living Void, they called him. As if he were an incarnation of the Void itself, the all-powerful god that every true heart within Abolish loved and revered. Supposedly.

Vanderberk didn't want to doubt him. Didn't want to hate him. He'd admired Dozer since he was himself just a boy. And being able to meet him had been one of the most amazing experiences of his life.

But these days, he couldn't help feeling like all that praise over all those years might've just been undeserved. Compared to Morgunov, Dozer was... unimpressive.

Maybe it was a good sign that he felt this way, though. Maybe it meant that he was beginning to reach that dizzy height himself, and so the others who stood upon their own mountaintops had ceased looking so far away from him.

Heh. Arrogance, many would call that. Of course they would. He supposed he would just have to show them otherwise.

These Rainlords would be a good start, one way or another. Whether they decided to take him up on his offer or foolishly fight him, it was a winning play here for him. With that bastard Graves having already left Ridgemark, there was now no one in this country who could stand against him.