Rioneed: VRMMORPG

Ibro checked them out while asking:

"Which one of you is the highest level here and holds the right to decide things out?"

The players exchanged silent glances before one of them moved a few steps forward. He was an old man with white hair covering all his head except for a few black hairs scattered chaotically. 

All these players were over level 200 apparently as they all could fly. Once he stood a few meters away from Ibro, he said:

"I'm Mory, the highest one here in the world. There is an issue, king Ibro, as all of us are the leaders of our universes, so you need to address all of us."

Ibro was prepared for such a fact, so he said:

"No problem then. Let us first take a look at my world, and then we will talk later."

Mory replied without a second thought:

"We will follow the arrangement of king Ibro, please lead the way."

Ibro then led this group of players on a tour around his primary world. He wanted them to witness the current state of his world, especially the presence of huge numbers of demon gates in it. 

He wanted to express the ability of his armies to reach other worlds in the simplest way possible. 

After the long tour that took hours, Ibro returned to the gate again which was very peaceful in comparison to his chaotic world. He then looked at these players as he said:

"Now, as you witnessed with your eyes, let's talk about our future alliance."

Mory said with conflicted looks, as the huge armies of skeletons he saw here and their high ranking made him view Ibro differently:

"We want to hear your thoughts, king Ibro."

Ibro was sure this veil of respect was only a front, if these players got the chance to live on their efforts, they wouldn't be this respectful to him. So, he threw his condition from the start clearly as he said:

"I won't lie to you, I can go and save other worlds at the same time. I have the needed power to do that and the ability to move from my world to any other world, so I need to select wisely which world I should save."

Mory wasn't stupid, as no player was stupid. He got the idea of Ibro from this introduction, so he asked:

"We can agree on any proposal of you, king Ibro, that allowed us to keep control over our universes."

"That's good, but I wouldn't allow for my efforts to be in vain. I'm in a major battle with these demons, so I won't tolerate the possibility of any future betrayal, regardless of how slim or rare that would be."

Mory replied, diplomatically, upon Ibro's comment as he said:

"We also won't tolerate betraying the king who helped us out and saved our lives. We can form a pledge here that if any of us betrayed you in any way, we will destroy his entire world."

Ibro shook his head as he replied:

"That's not enough. I can't risk it especially when I have the option to choose whom I should save."

Mory went silent after Ibro's comment. Ibro's words were clear as a sunny day, he wouldn't accept such a form of an alliance they proposed. 

Mory was an experienced player who lived for so long already, so he was prepared for such a possibility. The problem wasn't in him but the majority of players behind him. 

They weren't ready yet to let go of their pride as absolute rulers of their worlds. Ibro then took out his beta stone as he explained:

"This stone here is very miraculous, as it allowed the person who took it to be connected with me. This is my insurance against betrayal and my main condition for our alliance. 

I promise you I won't interfere in the way you handle your universes, as I don't have the time to do that anyway. I will trust you all to rule your universes in the best way possible. What do you think?"

This time, some men behind Mory replied rudely:

"You want to be your followers, not allies?"

"That's imprudence! How dare you propose something like that?"

"We came here on good intentions, but it seems that you have ulterior motives in helping us."

More and more arguing voices appeared from the men behind Mory, whose face was unsightly. Ibro stood in his place motionless unaffected by all these opposing voices before he said loud and clear:

"Let me tell you the end of this situation. I can simply withdraw all my armies and let you face the apocalypse again. I'm not forced to save you, but you are forced to find a way to save yourselves."

One voice argued back arrogantly:

"If you do so, you will lose the help that we offered. Also, you will gain more enemies that would still be poured into your world."

Ibro didn't step back for a half step as he replied with confidence and obvious carelessness:

"You have seen my world with your eyes, I can handle hundreds or even millions of gates like yours. I don't care about another hostile gate in my territory; I have the necessary power to stop any demon. 

About your offer, you are really hilarious. You can't even protect your world, and you are trying to bargain with your help? 

It's my help that will make a difference here not yours. Besides, I'm sure if you don't agree, other worlds will."

Some tried to argue back, but Ibro said decisively:

"I will give you one hour, after that, I will hear the final decision from you. If you agreed on my condition, then we can continue our talks about our future cooperation. 

If you decline, then, unfortunately, I will issue a retreat order from your universe and move my armies to a more worthy universe to be saved."

Ibro didn't give them any chance to refute as he said to his dragon:

"Keep their company here. After one hour, if they don't agree on my terms, then go back to their world and bring the boys back. 

I don't want to waste any more time over losers like them. Saving another universe would be better in this case."

The dragon looked in admiration to his king, who forced his terms in such a domineering way. Dragons were domineering creatures that admire power. It replied with great spirit:

"What if they agreed, your majesty?"

Ibro had already started moving away from the region as he replied:

"Then I will come again and continue my talk with them."