Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

The moment that name was mentioned, the atmosphere around the round table noticeably changed. It wasn't the previous contempt, disgust, or indifference anymore, but rather a sense of vigilance and solemnity.

Shadow Hand is also one of the newly emerging top ten guilds. It rose rapidly after the collapse of Glory and Bloodscale, absorbing a large number of their remnants and has now grown into a force to be reckoned with. Their guild leader, Night Owl, although not ranked on the combat power leaderboard, has already broken into the top three on the assassin leaderboard.

"The Shadow Hand's situation is rather unique," Skylock continued. "Although their leader has publicly stated that they haven't defected, a key member of the Shadow Hand—Azazel—appeared during the siege of Graystone Castle, assisting the Night Cemetery in breaching the Graystone Castle lord's mansion. This is the first time a core member of the Shadow Hand has been explicitly identified in hostile actions."

His six eyes swept across the round table.

"This could be an individual act, but it could also be at the behest of their leader. Currently, I've listed them as pending confirmation and require close monitoring."

Upon hearing this, Liu Nian, Wu Zhan, and Wang Mian's expressions became somewhat strange.

The three of them exchanged a glance, and the corners of their mouths twitched involuntarily.

Of course they knew what was going on—that "Azazel" was actually Liu Nian disguised as a fraud! His purpose was to help the undead break through the city lord's mansion and then seize Graystone Castle.

In the Graystone Castle incident, the Shadow Hand was indeed completely innocent from beginning to end, and had absolutely nothing to do with it.

But the three of them remained silent, as if by unspoken agreement.

At this critical juncture, whether Shadow Hand is innocent or not is completely irrelevant to the Divine Dragon Guild.

The important thing is to make everyone believe that they are not innocent!

Wu Zhan couldn't suppress the urge to smile; he pretended to lower his head and drink tea, the teacup obscuring half his face. Wang Mian, on the other hand, controlled his expression well, but he secretly sent Liu Nian a private message: "Let this misunderstanding remain. It's a good opportunity to strike at our arch-enemy."

Liu Nian nodded almost imperceptibly upon seeing the message.

Since it can be an anti-Pharaoh alliance, it can certainly be an anti-Shadow Hand alliance as well!

A thought even flashed through Liu Nian's mind—should he add fuel to the fire? For example, he could transform into the Night Owl and fight a few battles for the Pharaoh's army… That way, the Hand of Shadows would be unable to clear their name, no matter what. Then, the anti-Pharaoh alliance's army would certainly not let them off the hook!

He decided to go back and think carefully about the feasibility of the plan.

Skylock continued his explanation, his finger tracing across the map, clicking on the pale red names one by one.

"There are a few other guilds that I haven't confirmed yet. But no matter how you look at it, we have the advantage in strength—whether it's the number of people, levels, equipment, or the number of top-tier combatants."

A low murmur arose around the round table. Some were talking amongst themselves, some were gesturing on the map, and some were deep in thought, frowning as they looked at it. Each person's expression was different, but one thing was common—everyone was mentally recalculating their position and leverage in this war.

Others provided different intelligence, which Skylock recorded on the map, adding new notes in the corresponding places.

"Next, let's talk about the third thing." Skylock adjusted the map to the area of ​​the Bone Sands. On the map, the vast desert was magnified, with sand dunes, rift valleys, oases, ruins—every feature was clearly visible.

Deep within the desert, a colossal skull symbol glows with a crimson light. It is the mark of the Pharaoh's capital city, signifying the location of the Pharaoh's true form.

"How should we defeat Pharaoh?"

Skylock pointed his finger at the skull in the sea of ​​withered bones.

"My opinion is—attack here directly, and settle the matter once and for all." His voice was firm and resolute. "Kill the Pharaoh, and without a leader, the undead armies in the other cities will crumble on their own!"

I disagree.

Dracaya's voice followed immediately.

She leaned forward, her expression serious.

"I admit your Supreme Guild is powerful!" Her gaze met Skylock's without flinching, "but you haven't even personally fought against the Pharaoh's monstrous legions before you want to launch a decisive battle and finish them off in one fell swoop. Frankly, that's far too risky!"

Her tone softened a little.

"I'm not trying to boost their morale while diminishing our own. But you all know the current situation—too many people are still watching and hesitating, like weather vanes, swaying whichever way the wind blows. If we suffer any setback, even the smallest loss, it will be magnified into a catastrophic consequence by those with ulterior motives! Those wavering individuals will definitely switch sides at the first sign of trouble! Believe me, there are far more fools in this world than you can imagine!"

Her hand rested gently on the round table.

"Therefore, my suggestion is—we should first eliminate the Pharaoh's peripheral forces." Drakaa's finger traced across the map, tapping on the four Pharaoh's cities in turn. "Compared to the Pharaoh's capital, these places aren't as difficult. We can use victory after victory to draw all those wavering individuals to our side! Once we've completely clipped the Pharaoh's wings, leaving him isolated and helpless—then launching a decisive battle will have a much higher chance of success!"

People around the round table listened and nodded repeatedly.

Drakaa was telling the truth. Attacking the main city directly was indeed too risky—the Pharaoh's true form, the twelve god clones, the giant bone serpent, the Sphinx construct… they had only seen these things in the intelligence reports of the Starry Sky Guild's crushing defeat; none of them had ever actually faced them.

Eliminating external forces, though slower, is a steady and gradual process. Each victory can be converted into prestige and support, allowing the power to snowball.

Actually, both of them have a point.

Skylock's idea was to catch the Pharaoh off guard—the Pharaoh had just appeared, his power was not yet fully established, and his forces were not yet fully assembled. If a decisive battle were launched now, catching him off guard, it could potentially be a fatal blow. After all, he had just captured one of the Pharaoh's cities through a surprise attack, so he naturally felt he could strike while the iron was hot and take another city.

However, this plan does carry risks. If the war falters, more guilds will inevitably side with the Pharaoh, making subsequent battles even more difficult. In fact, a single misstep could lead to total defeat, and the power structure of the entire Naraku Realm would undergo a dramatic transformation.

Dracaya's approach is more conservative, taking things one step at a time and using each victory to solidify the league's confidence.

This may be related to her previous failure to capture the city.

However, her plan took too long, considering they only had three months. During this time, other variables might arise, such as the Pharaoh's army continuing to awaken and grow stronger, more undead cities emerging from the ground, and new Pharaoh strongholds appearing in the other three major cities.