Civilizations that revered strength often embraced the whole code of warrior's glory, and the Shi'ar were no exception.
If the battle between the royalists and rebels had previously been over the rightful ownership of the throne, giving anyone reason to take part, then the next battle would be a duel between Gladiator and Vulcan over a woman. The others had lost their reason to interfere.
It was not that they could not interfere, but doing so would disrespect tradition. In the Shi'ar, if you wanted someone of the opposite sex, you could take them by force, and only what you seized was considered the best.
As long as Vulcan still wanted to be Emperor, he could not ignore tradition.
Besides, with the capacity of his brain, once he learned that everyone knew he had been cheated on, his intelligence had probably already burned away.
Jealousy, suspicion, anger, and shame were all human weaknesses that could be exploited. Matters involving privacy and emotions always dealt a powerful mental blow once exposed.
The young man wanted to use the Thirty-Six Stratagems' borrowed knife to kill Deathstroke?
He knew too little about Earth. Did he not know which civilization had created the Thirty-Six Stratagems?
Driving a wedge between Deathbird and Vulcan was equivalent to cutting off one of his wings. Without that woman, Vulcan would undoubtedly lose in a one-on-one fight against Gladiator.
Anyone Gladiator had defeated once would face him again with the Guard Captain holding a natural psychological advantage. That was the composure of a victor, as well as the source of confidence.
And choosing a battlefield in space far from Featherfall meant Scott would be unable to help at all, because he could not enter space in his own flesh. He did not have that ability.
At the same time,