Alliance and Submission

There was a small and circular island in the middle of the Moonlit Sea. The strong wind blew the sand into the air and shook the palm trees. In the middle of the island was a circular building made up of exactly three cubic meters large rocks. It was a perfect circle with a hole in the roof. There were two doors on both sides of the building and as they were opened, the wind blew the dust that covered the place into the air.

With the help of some wind magic, the dust left the building. Once clean, seven people entered with two servants by their sides. Each of the seven pulled out one of the stone chairs around the rock table in the middle and took their seats respectively, while their servants took their places and stood behind their masters.

A dragonkin, an elf, a bearman, a human, a demon, an undead, and a mixed blood of human and beastmen. These people were none other than the kings and emperors of each of the seven leading kingdoms and empires. Only the sun rays coming through the hole in the ceiling provided some light, but nobody was bothered by the dim light of the room.

Padinyss raised his hand as a greeting and got straight to the matter at hand. “I’m sure you’ve heard of the pest that’s been threatening to devour our lands.”

All of the people present nodded their heads, while a long and golden-haired elven woman raised her concerns, “Indeed, the group you speak of has visited Thelon as well and killed many dark elves on the island. Even if we had conflicts in the past, they’re still our blood relatives and I don’t wish to see them die out. I hope that you’ve got some plans to deal with this matter,” she raised her brows.

“Don’t be impatient, Faraine. Let me talk,” Padinyss’s contempt filled eyes ran over her golden eyes and petite body. “You should learn to wait for people to finish what they have to say,” he added shaking his head.

“I apologise,” Faraine bowed her head but couldn’t hide her twitching brows from Padinyss’s sharp eyes.

“Hmph- As you’ve noticed, the Dark Scars have been growing at an incredible speed and I’m afraid their intelligence gathering system is even better than either of our kingdoms. Information has always been of key importance and we’re lacking in it!” he slammed his hands on the table.

“Which is why I’ve decided to put away my pride and ask for your help. Although we dragons are powerful creatures, our population isn’t large enough to cover the whole planet. I believe you have the same problems. The only solution is an alliance among the leading kingdoms and empires and their supporter kingdoms, I believe,” Padinyss finished his explanation.

“And what are your conditions for this alliance?” a short and brown-haired human with stubbles on his face asked.

Looking into his brown eyes, Padinyss replied, “We’ll share information and manpower.”

“Does this mean we’ll be free to walk on each other’s territories?” Arthur raised his brows.

“That was my plan,” Padinyss nodded his head. “Look, I know that this isn’t something either of you would want, but we all know that things can’t go on like this anymore. The smaller kingdoms and cities are falling one after the other and nowadays even larger and more powerful kingdoms are being wiped out. The Dark Scars are becoming bolder and bolder because they know we can’t find them. Not alone.”

“But if we join hands and infiltrate their ranks, we’ll be able to get rid of them and once they lead me to their leader… I’ll kill her!”

“Her? So you know who the devourer is?” Faraine leaned forward.

“Yes. The devourers are a girl called Elena and a black panther called Dred. I’ve also found out that their friends are called Audrey, Jake, and Cor, who created the Dark Scars while…” Padinyss’s voice died down since he realized he shouldn’t tell the others he let them run.

“While?” Faraine raised her brows.

“While we went to find the Ring of Wind,” Jotun chimed in and pointed at the white ring on Padinyss’s finger. Very much to his dissatisfaction, he couldn’t get it.

“Oh? But where are the remaining two in that case?” Arthur asked with interest.

“I believe the rings are in the devourers’ hands, am I correct?” a three-meters-tall bearman said, sharpening his claws on the edge of the table.

“You’re right, Soth…” Padinyss growled. If Soth knew who had the ring, he also knew who let them run, so Padinyss was hoping to intimidate him and make him stay silent.

Clearing his throat, Padinyss continued, “Since that’s the case, I wish to capture those two alive and open the seal. After all said and done, I’ll kill the both of them, so will you join the alliance?” he asked, his voice sounding somewhat demanding.

“I’ve got a question. What makes you think they’ll attack our kingdoms as well? I mean, what if they were coming only for you?” Arthur asked as a grin formed on his face.

Clenching his fists below the table, Padinyss held back his wrath because he understood he needed everyone. “What do you mean?”

Crossing his fingers, Arthur continued, “As I’ve noticed, not every city or kingdom has been destroyed. In fact, the places that remained often united and their technological level advanced. My people have seen devices I’ve never even heard of. After investigating this matter, I realized the Dark Scars have been attacking kingdoms with ‘dark’ pasts.”

“Most slaveholding kingdoms were completely obliterated and the same goes for cities dealing with slave businesses. There were quite a lot of kingdoms and cities which seemed to be good places, but I believe that wasn’t the case. My theory is the following, the advanced technology is probably coming from Dink and the devourers are destroying only the bad boys~” Arthur fooled around.

“Do you think either of you would get away?” Padinyss furrowed his brows.

“I’m quite sure about that,” Arthur smiled.

“Hahaha… Oh, how wrong you are. Alright, I didn’t want to share this with you before, but the following is the case. The devourers are legendary beings meant to destroy the universe. Even if for some strange reason they changed their minds and are doing something different, do you think either of you is ‘good’ enough in their eyes? I’ve been around for more than a thousand years already. I know how all of you have murdered, conspired, and betrayed others to get to the throne. How do you intend to hide that from them?” Padinyss asked.

“If you don’t help me, you’re all doomed.”

Silence filled the room.

Nobody wanted to form an alliance and let the soldiers of the other kingdoms walk through their territories, but they realized they had no choice. If they wanted to save their lives, they had to accept Padinyss’s proposal.

“I accept,” Faraine broke the silence. Soth, the bear king of Briton, Arthur, the human king of Thihan, Jotun, Mugr, the mixed-blood emperor of the United Empire all agreed in a short and successive line.

Everyone looked at the only exception, Khax, the wraith king of Trinity.

“Khax? What’s your answer?” Padinyss asked.

A dim red light shone in his empty eye sockets. Leaning on the table, he started tapping his finger on it.

*Clank* … *Clank*

“Could you stop it?” Faraine asked a bit annoyed.

Khax raised his head and used his Magic to create flesh on his skeleton else he wouldn’t be able to speak.

“I’ve been around even before either of you were born. We may do things that are evil in your eyes, like reviving every person who lost their lives close to our kingdom as an undead, it’s been customary for thousands of years. When Reinald was still around, he too accepted our culture and unlike you people, I didn’t get to be a king by means of conspiracy. I’ve been on the throne for thousands of years due to my race and my age. If a higher ranked and older undead appeared, I’d resign.”

“But for now, I’m the one ruling and I believe I have nothing to do with this devourer you speak of. Since it’s none of my concern, I shall not join this alliance. If it turned out my decision is wrong, I’ll bear the consequences.”

“You know something, don’t you? You ungodly fool creature!” Padinyss stood up from his seat and stopped beside Khax. Since the latter didn’t wish to join, his life didn’t amount to anything in Padinyss’s eyes.

Khax looked at Padinyss as his flesh started disappearing, “The dead are talking. They whisper and they’re telling me you’re doomed. But out of respect for you, I’ll tell you. A large number of beasts have died in the Est Canal. I believe their next target should be a kingdom nearby.”

He stood up and walked past Padinyss, his personal guards following him. “To the Grave,” Khax whispered before his flesh disappeared completely.

Even if his body was made up only of bones, he was around three meters tall and his bones were thick. Just a look was enough to tell he was a dangerous undead.

Unfortunately, that didn’t bother Padinyss even in the slightest. “If you know things like these, it shows you’re a necessity in the alliance,” he laughed as he appeared in front of Khax’s personal guards and bashed their skulls with a dragon paw shaped attack.

Khax’s red eyes shone with a brighter light, but he didn’t make a move. He knew he had no chance against Padinyss and he didn’t intend to die a meaningless death. “You’ll come with me and tell me about the directions they take. We’ve just got a useful weapon for our alliance!” Padinyss laughed as he grabbed Khax and threw him on his shoulder.

Seeing how he behaved around Khax who refused to join the alliance left the others with mixed emotions. Not caring about it, Padinyss declared, “An Alliance has been made. I’m going back!”

As he disappeared, Faraine sighed, “Why do we have to deal with two legendary beings? It’d be so much more convenient if they just killed each other.”

“Yeah.”

“Mhm.”

“Mhm.”

“Yeah.”

Everyone agreed in a quick succession, which caught her attention. A smile formed on her face, “What do you think? Shouldn’t we try to get rid of the both of them?” Faraine knew everyone felt the same way, so she wasn’t afraid of saying it aloud.

Jotun knew his life was in danger because of Elena and he has been waiting for the moment to take care of Padinyss as well. Seeing a chance, he didn’t hesitate to speak, “You’re right. I think that we should help Padinyss kill the devourers. I’m sure he’ll be weakened after a battle with another legendary being and when he is weak, we can strike him!”

“Do you think it’d work?” Soth crossed his furry arms in front of his chest.

“I think it could work out if they fought each other to the death with equal chances,” Arthur nodded his head.

“Then please vote now, who wishes to join this second alliance~” Faraine asked with a chuckle.

Hearing four yes, a smile formed on her face. “In that case, from this day the Briton Kingdom, the Thihan Dynasty, the United Empire, and Elvenheim is in an alliance! Our goal is to kill every legendary creature!”

Everyone cheered, this time much happier with the result.

Nobody noticed a pair of eyes lurking in the dark corner of the building.