After the gathering ended, Hudson politely declined Caesar IV's invitation.
Cheering from the sidelines and bolstering morale was fine, but staying in the Royal Capital to directly participate in a power struggle was out of the question.
The rules of the kingdom's political struggles had been set down by Alpha I back then. Fighting someone within rules they had created was not something Hudson believed he could handle.
The simplest way to secure victory was to directly deny Alpha I's identity.
As long as Caesar IV was decisive enough, he could immediately declare that the founding ancestor was an impostor and organize experts to besiege and kill him.
As the current king, Caesar IV had many resources at his disposal. The chances of successfully killing a Sanctuary Second Tier expert in the Royal Capital were very high.
The main reason he had not acted ruthlessly was that Caesar IV still harbored a sliver of hope. He wanted to apply pressure from outside and make Alpha I give up on his own.
In a purely political struggle, there was nothing wrong with such an approach.
They were all family. Realizing that the tide had turned and letting go directly was perfectly normal.
Unfortunately, Alpha I had no choice either!
If he wanted to go further, he had to ascend the throne.
He could not possibly abandon the ready-made Alpha Kingdom and go outside to build a new foundation from scratch, could he?
It was not that Hudson looked down on him. The main issue was that the times had changed. The Aslant Continent had entered an era where big fish ate little fish. Trying to build a kingdom from nothing was something that only existed in dreams.
Among the Holy Domain experts attending the banquet were several from the Northern Continent