The clans that accepted the Gordons Patriarch’s call to defend the city were the Lanzt Clan, the Darkbliss Clan, the Coral Clan, and the Aegisborn Clan.

Every one of these clans had at least a basic relationship with the Gordons Clan, except for the Aegisborn Clan.

As for the Lanzt Clan’s participation, the Gordons Patriarch understood Bailey Lanzt’s decision very well, the two clans were natural allies, after all, the Gordons Clan had assisted the Lanzt Clan through countless Blood Moon wars, not to mention the fact that Bailey Lanzt, who is the ancestral Patriarch of the Lanzt Clan, had only managed to recover from a zombie infestation because of a pill sold in the Gordons Clan auction, which also pushed him to the peak of the Tier 7 realm.

In many ways, it could be said that he owed the Gordons clan his life.

On top of that, the Lanzt Clan had acquired a top-rank Tier 6 spirit equipment set from the Gordons Clan Auction, which Bailey’s son, the Patriarch of the clan has now bounded with, an item that had significantly boosted their clans overall strength.

That said, the Lanzt Clan had not assisted the Gordons Clan during the city lord’s assault and had instead remained neutral.

Bailey’s reasoning was simple: at the time, the odds had looked overwhelmingly unfavorable for the Gordons; if he had intervened and the Gordons Clan had fallen, his own clan would have been annihilated alongside them.

And whatever remnants remained would have been forced to flee the city in disarray, just like the clans that openly supported the city lord did after he lost.

Bailey could not bring himself to condemn his clan to such a fate, that was why he had ordered neutrality and chosen to observe from the sidelines, all because even he had believed that the Gordons Clan was finished this time.

The outcome at the end, however, had completely shocked him.

And so, when word spread that the Gordons Clan was seeking volunteers to help defend the city, Bailey Lanzt did not hesitate, he had personally stepped forward, offering his clan’s support in protecting Estonia City alongside the Gordons.

He did this as a way to atone for the guilt he felt over not supporting them earlier, in some small way, he hoped that this gesture might soften how his clan was viewed by the Gordons Clan.

The second clan, the Darkbliss Clan, accepting the request so quickly came as a surprise, but it was one the Gordons Patriarch welcomed wholeheartedly.

Among all the clans still present in Estonia City, the Darkbliss Clan was the only one the Gordons truly respected and believed could understand the danger of refusing to unite at a time when the city’s overall strength had been greatly diminished.

As for the Coral Clan, their reasons were far more straightforward, they felt indebted to the Gordons Clan and believed it was far safer to stand with a group than to fight alone.

They were not among the strongest clans and were only just beginning to recover from their losses from the blood moon wars, so aligning themselves with the Gordons felt like the most sensible choice.

The Aegisborn Clan’s acceptance, however, was the most shocking of all.

The Gordons Patriarch knew very little about them, because they were not an original core clan of Estonia City, and he had expected them to act like most foreign clans, either fleeing the city entirely or remaining behind while refusing to get involved.

Instead, they agreed without hesitation.

The Aegisborn Patriarch and his brother, Orion, felt deeply indebted to the Gordons Clan because of the auction, although they had been unable to participate in the battle against the city lord’s forces, they did not even allow the Gordons Patriarch to finish speaking before agreeing to join the makeshift army that would defend against the coming Blood Moon.

The Patriarch himself did not fully understand their reaction, as far as he was concerned, they had already paid for the spirit equipment with the bodies they had handed over to Alec.

Yet to the hot-blooded Aegisborn brothers, that exchange had never felt equal.

No matter how they looked at it, they could not see how the Gordons Clan truly benefited from zombie corpses and assorted remains in exchange for spirit equipment of such a high level.

To them, what the Gordons had given was far more than a trade, it was a gift.

It was like a gift from heaven to them, so the moment they sensed an opportunity to show their gratitude, they seized it without hesitation.

_ _

Though the four clans were all invited to the City Hall to discuss how they would line up for the Blood Moon that was fast approaching, but; the mood in the was heavy.

The city was now far weaker than it had ever been, and when one also considered that they would be facing a much stronger invading force with far fewer mages than the city had once been able to field, every leader present couldn’t help but frown at how dire the situation was looking.

In the back of his mind, George was truly hoping that when the day of the Blood Moon arrived, many of the clans that had chosen to stay neutral would change their minds and send out their mid-rank mages to support the defense.

Otherwise, once the Blood Moon had passed, he would be forced to deal with them himself, there was a reason he hadn’t taken action yet.

First, internal conflict at a time like this would only weaken the city further, especially with the Blood Moon drawing so close.

Second, forcing unwilling clans to fight would be even worse, because if things turned dire during the battle, they might rebel mid-fight and flee, causing even greater chaos and loss of life to the ones that stayed and are willing to fight.

What Estonia City needed now were mages prepared to fight to the death to protect the city, not half-hearted teams that would panic, sow disorder, and turn a difficult battle into a catastrophe.

_ _

While all this was unfolding, Terran Dunce finally arrived in Estonia City.

The first thing he did was head straight for the City Hall, hoping to speak with someone of authority and make arrangements to extract Alec from whatever conflict had taken place.

But the moment he arrived and saw Gordons Clan enforcers standing guard at the City Hall, his expression stiffened.

At that instant, Terran realized that something truly major had gone terribly wrong.