Strongest Hammer God

Chapter 1244: Welcome Aboard!

As the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep looked around, she didn't see anyone else who protested. She experienced a sense of déjà vu. Hadn't this exact same thing happened with the Composting Team?! Yes, she decided to be a bit less sane, but she didn't want to immediately act like an absolute lunatic!

The Composting Team was beatable! Team Crater Observer was not!

"Why?" she asked Spring of Joy via voice transmission. "Tell me why!"

"You must choose," Spring of Joy answered. "Life or death?"

"That's not a choice!" she answered. "I obviously choose life!"

"Will you?" Spring of Joy asked.

"Of course!"

"Then, why don't you make your choice and see where it leads?" Spring of Joy asked. "You might be surprised."

"Are you implying that fleeing represents death?"

"There are many forms of death," Spring of Joy answered. "With no cap on longevity, every Immortal dies a violent death, but is that truly the worst way to die? What if your heart dies but your body lives on?"

For some reason, Spring of Joy's words hit her deeply.

A death of the heart.

She knew what Spring of Joy meant. A death of the heart was the death of ambition and dreams. A step back would lead to more steps back. With time, she might gain enough Energy Stones to become a Minor or Medium Immortal, but by then, her Battle-Strength in relation to her level would have dropped significantly.

She knew these things, but there was nuance to everything. Taking some risks was fine, but throwing one's life away was stupid.

"It's your choice," Spring of Joy transmitted. "You decide your fate. What dies first, your heart or your body?"

The Leader of Team Wooly Sheep thought about her life. She remembered training madly in the army of her mortal home to save it from an apocalyptic beast. She remembered joining a Higher Secondary Organization and joining a brutal war against other Organizations.

There had been so many battles. So many of them had seemed hopeless and unwinnable. Yet, somehow, she had prevailed and survived. She even wanted to enter these battles. After all, if she didn't fight these enemies, her companions would, and her companions hadn't been as powerful as she was. She needed to fight these battles!

She didn't need to fight this battle.

'But what if I do?' she thought. 'My life is not in danger, but is that also true for my heart?'

'If I'm honest with myself, I don't actually want to run away. My mind, logic, and experiences are telling me to run away, but that's not what my heart wants. My heart wants to fight. I don't want others to decide my fate, but that's unrealistic. There are always stronger people who can decide your fate.'

"You can't always follow your heart," she transmitted to Spring of Joy.

"Why not?" Spring of Joy asked.

"Because you will die," she answered.

"True," Spring of Joy replied, "but if you don't follow your heart, have you truly lived?"

Team Crater Observer watched the alliance in silence. They knew that making such decisions wasn't easy, and they were willing to give the alliance enough time to come to a choice.

The Leader of Team Wooly Sheep remained silent.

She knew what Spring of Joy wanted her to do. She was supposed to join the fight.

"I can't," she finally answered.

Then, she looked at Red. "If you decide to fight, I will not join you."

Spring of Joy's smile slowly weakened, and after some time, only a small shadow of a smile was left.

Meanwhile, Red just took a deep breath. "Then, are you-"

"Before we talk about anything else," Spring of Joy interjected as she looked at the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep, "I have a matter to discuss. I request a cancellation of our partnership. You may keep everything Team Wooly Sheep has earned."

Kyle furrowed his brows when he heard that. He knew what Spring of Joy was about to do, and he wasn't sure if he was okay with it.

"My decisions are what led to this situation," Kyle transmitted to Spring of Joy. "This should not be your duty."

"I brought her to you," Spring of Joy answered.

Meanwhile, the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep took a deep breath. She had hoped that Spring of Joy would follow her. After all, if she left, they would be down an Adept Immortal. The fight had seemed almost impossible to win before, but if she left as well, it would truly become impossible. She hoped that Spring of Joy would realize that.

Sadly, she didn't.

"No need," the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep transmitted. "You may keep what you've received so far. I understand that the choice I've made isn't the choice you wanted me to make. You've tried to convince me, but I'm sorry, I can't follow you into death."

She sighed. "Nevertheless, as you've requested, I release you from your duties."

"Thank you," Spring of Joy answered before she glanced at Kyle, indirectly telling him to continue with the thing he wanted to do before she had interrupted him.

"Do you agree to the dissolution of the alliance?" Kyle asked the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep. The tone of his voice hadn't changed.

The Leader of Team Wooly Sheep glanced at Kyle. "I will agree to the dissolution, but only under one condition."

"A condition?" Kyle asked, his voice getting a bit more animated. "We've come to an agreement. I gave you the entire Grade 2.1 Energy Source, even though it would have been my right to take half of it. When we kept digging, your Formation Array Master wasn't willing to share materials, even though we agreed that we would do everything to attain loot."

"Afterward, two of your members disobeyed orders and stole Law Comprehension Fruits. Then, over half of your team betrayed us during a critical moment and joined an attacking team. Finally, you, the Leader, refuse to fight, even though you agreed to the terms."

"And now, you're talking about a condition?" Kyle asked.

"I am," she answered. "I agree that I have not led my team very well. Some of the criticisms can be attributed to my leadership, and I agree with those. Yet, most of your criticisms are aimed at my former members. I never gave an order to steal Law Comprehension Fruits, keep materials, or join an attacking team. I am willing to agree that a small part of the blame falls on my shoulders, but it's only a small part."

"However, none of that is related to you. Bonds are temporary. Benefits are eternal. We were temporary business partners, not friends. I have a condition, yes. My condition is that you will swear an oath that you won't attack me as soon as this alliance dissolves."

"Fine," Kyle answered, "but only if you swear that you will agree to the dissolution if I swear this oath."

"I will," she replied.

She swore her oath, and Kyle swore his oath. He swore that no member of Team Ankylosaurus would attack her within the next day unless provoked.

"As your Leader, I am ordering all of you not to attack her within the next 24 hours," Kyle transmitted to everyone in the alliance.

"I agree to the dissolution of the alliance," the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep transmitted after she heard Kyle give the order.

The alliance was dissolved.

BANG!

A draconic lance of lightning shot at the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep, who reacted in an instant by summoning a ton of defenses in a panic. She had entertained the idea that someone on Kyle's team would still attack her, which was why she had already made preparations. She had already paid Team Crater Observer, which meant that she could leave. She just needed to get past a couple of attacks so that she could retreat.

'I wasn't planning on exposing their wealth and power due to our past relationship,' she thought. 'Sure enough, good deeds never go unpunished.'

Yet, before the lightning even hit her defenses, a small specter appeared behind the Leader of Team Wooly Sheep. It contained almost all of the Energy of Spring of Joy.

When the Leader saw that, her eyes widened in shock and horror.

How?!

Why?!

Spring of Joy had never attacked anyone with a sneak attack! Even more, Spring of Joy was an aspiring Guide! Most Immortals knew that she was currently working for Team Wooly Sheep! If her entire team died while she was the only survivor, her reputation would be ruined! She would be seen as an unreliable and potentially traitorous Guide! It would be brutally difficult to find another team!

The specter hit her. Resisting it was almost impossible. After all, she had just used the majority of her Energy to defend from the lightning attack.

Her eyes glazed over.

Finally, she died.

Team Crater Observer watched the show for a moment. The Leader of Team Wooly Sheep had already paid them. Whatever happened to her was not their concern.

"Hey!" Kyle shouted, pointing at Sebastian with accusation. "I explicitly forbade attacking her! I lost my Minor Hero Aura because of your stunt!"

"Sorry, won't happen again," Sebastian answered with a grin.

"Well, since you're so apologetic, I will forgive you," Kyle answered. "Don't let it happen again, okay?"

"Won't happen again, boss," Sebastian repeated, still grinning.

"I would like to join Team Ankylosaurus," Spring of Joy transmitted with a smile.

Kyle turned to her with a wide smile.

"Welcome aboard!"

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