Unlike Aven’s ‘overly renovated floating castle’ which is the Divas, the Ignis King’s castle is mush more monotonous. Lining the castle halls were nothing but sets of armors, doors and windows. You could literally not see a single potted plant.

Ycarus and Herebia had just passed by the residential quarters and were now proceeding to the council room. With a turn to the left, the both of them saw a big door which was guarded by two Ignis Practitioners which were at the 8th stage. These were the bare minimum amount of ability one must have in order to guard this castle.

‘Woah, A big shot does live in style. Although this castle is monotonous, it is not the castle that is quite showy. It is the guards... well, I am no better myself.’

Still invisible, Herebia reached out for her pouch and munched a nut or two. Her exodus power could affect everything in her body, including her dress and pouch, but not the things she touches. When she took the nut, Herebia made sure to clench it on her fist and put it in her mouth as fast as she can.

Well, the things that this ‘Evictus’ affects really differs. If the power considers the thing that Herebia held as a ‘weapon’, the ‘weapon’ would be concealed like Herebia. If it was something unimportant like the nut she just ate, the power of the ghosts would not conceal it.

Ycarus stopped for a while as he heard a quiet crunching sound. He almost face-palmed and was screaming inside his head that they would be found out.

‘Wait a minute... would a nut be affected by her power? I hope no one sees a suspicious floating nut during the meeting...’

The two 8th stage Practitioners saw Ycarus arrive and they simultaneously saluted. Without waiting for orders, the both of them opened the door which swung inwards. Greeting the sights of Ycarus and Herebia was a triangular table.

Herebia, stopped for a moment and then she quietly returned the nut in her hand, which she was about to chew on, back to her pouch. She needed to be as quiet as possible while inside this room.

‘... Is it not supposed to be round? Like the roundtable? Is triangle the new fad at this era?...’

The triangular table was an equilateral one and seating on one side that was directly facing the door. This was only occupied by a single seat and this particular seat was reserved for the Ignis King, which had still not arrived.

Of course he would still not be here! Who do you think he is?! He is the king! A king would always arrive later than his subordinates!

The other two sides of the triangle also had two seats each, making it 4 seats in total. The seats in the left side were already occupied by a red-armored man and a sexy tanned woman. The other side was empty.

When Ycarus entered the room, the red-armored man’s and sexy tanned woman’s eyes landed on him. He saw the ones that were staring at him and Ycarus bowed to them in respect.

“Prince Ranz, General Noreen, Please excuse me.”

“Oh if it isn’t General Ycarus, Please take a seat.”

The sexy tanned woman who looked like she was in her late 20's, namely General Noreen, stood up and made a small bow. When she stood up, her sexiness was evident even through her light armor. Although she could use improvements in her breast area, no one could complain about her battle hardened face and slim body.

The armored man who Ycarus branded as ‘Prince Ranz’ didn’t stand up and only made a small bow towards the direction of Ycarus. Ycarus and Noreen were fellow generals so they had to show each other respect, but this matter changed when Ranz was involved.

He was a f*cking Prince. Why would I stand up and greet a General?

Ycarus sat at the other side and then he and Herebia waited. Feeling bored, Herebia brought out a nut and started to chew on it. Since no one was besides Ycarus, Herebia felt that munching a nut or two would be safe. True to her calculations, Noreen and Ranz did not hear any munching sounds.

Nom. Nom. Nom.

Noreen looked at the direction of the door and then she supported her head with her hand. She was evidently bored.

“Old man Jager sure is taking his time.”

After munching for 15 minutes or so, the door issued a creaking sound and another man entered the room. Unlike Ranz and Noreen who wore armor and was youthful, this man wore a red robe and aged around 60. This was Jager, another General.

Jager walked forth into the room and only bowed in the direction of the prince. After doing so, he went on his way and sat besides Ycarus. This behavior of Jager made Noreen pissed but Ycarus was already used to this old man not greeting him.

Okay time to explain some things! The Ignis Kingdom has three generals because each one of them commanded a different type of soldier each.

Ycarus, titled ‘Commander’, is in charge of the warriors, which makes up about 65% of the whole army.

Jager, titled ‘Magus’, is in charge of the practitioners, which is the min power of the army.

Noreen, titled ‘Adviser’, is in charge of the special troops and was personally the Ignis King’s personal adviser.

While this was explained, a 50 years old or so man was already seating in the king’s seat. The four of the generals did not feel his presence when he entered but Herebia did. Unlike most depictions of kings, the Ignis King did not really wear any flamboyant capes or sh*t like that.

He wore a sturdy looking red armor which sported the Ignis Kingdom’s symbol. A sword was strapped on his side and he wore a red gauntlet. On his head was not the typical golden crow, but it was a red crown which was shaped into a flame. Overall, this guy looked nothing like a king.

He looked like an extremely powerful general or something.

Well, that was indeed the case. In this realm, a weak-ass sovereign is not needed. A powerful general is much more accepted than a weak ruler, so being a ruler in this world would mean that you have a lot of power.

Herebia’s eyes were glued to the sword that was strapped on the Ignis King’s side. Although the Ignis King was colored red overall, this weapon was the only one that looked out of place, which had the color of black. A chain was also attached at it’s pommel which at the end of it hanged...

... A rusty old key.

‘... A Nine Seraphic Sword, huh? This guy has some power there!’

All four of the seated personnel stood up and bowed to the seated figure of the Ignis King. When the four of them were bowed, they simultaneously greeted the Ignis King.

“Greetings! King Zeal!”

The Ignis King, Zeal, raised his right hand and signaled them to seat down. All four of them sat down in an orderly manner and then did Zeal clear his throat.

“We shall start the War Council Meeting early, I still have some matters I need to attend to.”

“Father, If I may ask... could I come and help you with those matters?”

Starting off with that question, Ranz leaned forward in inquiry. Noreen, Ycarus and Jager remained quiet as this conversation was not something that they could join in. This is the conversation between father and son.

Herebia didn’t dare to munch more nuts because she was in the presence of an enemy which she couldn’t underestimate. After all, Zeal possessed something that could scare her.

“Hm... You should come in order to train yourself. One day, you would carry my will and continue this war.”

“Thank you, Father.”

Herebia stood behind Ycarus as she placed her hand in her chin. She was deep in thought... well not that deep anyway.

‘This Prince Ranz... don’t tell me he was the prince that was mentioned on Ycarus’s story? Seriously? Although he looks quite the filial son...’

When Zeal looked away from Ranz, Herebia could see a small spark inside the prince’s eyes. Although small, Herebia’s eyes widened and then her mouth curved into a smirk.

‘... he feels more like a schemer to me. Although the spark of betrayal is still not that big... with my [Zera] I could fuel him with negative emotions... and... make it grow...’

“Anyway, this is not the topic that we will be discussing for today’s meeting. We will discuss about the Aero Kingdom’s retreat.”

Jager raised his right hand while his left hand was supporting the left side of his head.

“I think my king, that this news is quiet authentic. I recently heard from spies that the Aero Queen, Laira, was choosing among the three of her daughters for a suitable replacement. I think this event would last for a year or so, as the Aero Kingdom’s selection for successor always last that long in average.”

Noreen also raised her hand and then provided her comment about the topic.

“I second what General Jager had said, my king. This is the best time to attack the Terra Kingdom! Although our time is limited, if we could execute a fast way to annihilate our enemy...”

“What way would that be? If you look at our army, that would not be possible.”

This time it was Ycarus who said that. It was because Noreen’s idea was quite absurd as well. Wiping out another kingdom in no more than a year? That’s just ridiculous!

Jager and Noreen stared at Ycarus and lightly frowned. Ranz, who was quiet all the time, lightly coughed and caused the other’s attention to be drawn to him.

“What General Ycarus said is the truth. If you did look at our army, wiping out the enemy in a year is simply wishful thinking. But... it is possible.”

Ycarus processed the underlying meaning inside Ranz’s proclamation. While Ycarus was still thinking about it, Noreen had already raised her hand.

“P-prince... don’t tell me that we will be in an alliance with the Aqua Kingdom!”

When Ycarus and Jager heard those words, both of their breathing became ragged. If... If they really did have the support of Aqua Kingdom then... destroying the Aero Kingdom and the Terra Kingdom together would not be a dream.

“It is not the Aqua Kingdom. The negotiations between us and this ‘ally’ is still ongoing and I would reveal their identity after we sort out the negotiations. This will be the matter that Ranz and I will attend.”

This time it was Zeal that opened his mouth. Seeing that his subjects were taking the initiative to talk, he was not mad was actually joyful that his generals were quite initiative.

“Enough with our ‘ally’, what we need to discuss now is the conditions of the army. Ycarus, how many soldiers are available in your command?”

“My king, available soldiers number around 900K to 1M but I suggest sir that we should leave 30% of them here in the Ignis Kingdom in order to guard.”

“Good, that number is much more than what I had expected. Jager, what about the number of Cadet Practitioners in your number?”

“The total number of Cadets in the population number around 150K, my king. Although 15K of these are underage and they could not be called for war.”

“I see, then how much Elite Practitioners do we have?”

“Around 3,000, your honor. The number was reduced during the initial clash between us and the Terra Kingdom three years ago. Although the number of Cadets have increased, they were the underage Cadets three years ago who have entered the appropriate age now.”

This banter of reports continued for quite sometime and Ycarus had felt that he had forgotten about something important. The forgotten woman was seated at the corner of the room as she listened to the info the generals dumped on Zeal.

Herebia was in the far reaches of the room and was munching on her nuts. Although Zeal was powerful, he could still not hear something as subtle as the sound of chewing from that far away.

‘This info dump is getting boring though... I guess I asked for it when I declared that I wanted info... sigh...’

Time passed as Zeal, Ranz, Ycarus, Noreen and Jager discussed while a ghostly woman munched on her snacks around the corner of the room they were ranting on.

* * * * *

“That concludes the meeting. Jager, Ycarus, Noreen and Ranz you may go.”

The four of them stood up and bowed. Zeal then turned around and left the room. When the king left the room, the four of them went on their separate ways. Jager and Ranz went to a different direction while Ycarus and Noreen went to the same direction.

Feeling full, Herebia trailed behind Ycarus and Noreen. Why was she feeling full? She was satisfied with the nuts she just ate and had also gained a lot of information about the war. Sadly, the Crystal Shards were not brought up in this meeting.

Although she still didn’t have a single clue about the Crystal Shards, Herebia had already found two of the Nine Seraphic Swords. One was possessed by Oliver and the other one by Zeal. Aven said that Herebia didn’t need to get them but Herebia had the gut feeling that she will somehow need them in the future.

Herebia had listed a new agenda on her schedule and that was to intervene during the clash of Terra and Ignis. She would sneak up on Zeal and steal the Nine Seraphic Sword from him during the confusion. Maybe even kill him in the process.

While she contemplated on how to achieve her goal, the two Generals were having a good chat. Although these two would sometimes cross swords, at most times they were amiable to each other. In fact, the closest’s generals were Ycarus and Noreen.

Ycarus and Noreen didn’t like the attitude of Jager and they could not befriend Ranz as he was a prince. They were also not that apart in age, so it made their friendship into a natural thing.

“Oh, how is Little Yassi doing?”

“The brat? She’s doing quite well. You know, she recently reached the 6th stage! Isn’t that quite fast?”

“Woah amazing! I reached that stage before when I was around 17! Little Yassi is still 14 at this year...”

Herebia followed the two as they talked about lots of things. It seems like Ycarus has already forgotten about the presence of Herebia and was happily chatting with his fellow colleague.

“Oh yeah, Noreen, how’s your love life been?”

“Same old, same old. I still haven’t found one and I am already turning 30! Damn, you? How have you been doing with you wife?”

When Ycarus’s wife was mentioned, Herebia nearly choked on the nut she was munching on. Although she prevented herself from choking to death, she needed support. She quickly clawed on Ycarus’s back and she rested her full weight on him while gasping for breath.

Ycarus heard a quiet choking sound behind him and then felt a heavy burden on his back. His mind then clicked as he realized that a ghostly woman was supposed to be following him. As expected, he had completely forgotten about this fact.

Noreen noticed the strange behavior of her fellow colleague and then walked to his front. She looked at him and concluded that Ycarus was definitely acting weird.

“What’s wrong Ycarus?”

“N-No... It’s nothing...”

After gaining her breath, Herebia didn’t need any support anymore. She pushed the ‘wall’ which was Ycarus forward and then summoned a handkerchief made out of chaos particles to wipe her mouth.

While she was wiping her mouth, Ycarus was already grieving. It seems that the universe’s law was once again in effect and once again his ‘Unlucky luck’ had struck!

Diving like the pervert he is, Ycarus face planted his face in Noreen’s stomach, which was not covered by her light armor. Although the design of her armor was not practical, no one could deny that it was quite hot. Of course Noreen would wear more practical armor’s in battle but what she attended was a meeting.

“Goddam it, Ycarus, not again!”

Thud!

During the process, Ycarus hugged Noreen’s body and flipped her around in order to reduce the impact on her body. The one who cushioned the fall was Ycarus.

The two was momentarily stunned and was figuring out why they were laid in the floor. The ghostly woman behind Ycarus’s back suddenly remembered something and a grin crept up in her face. Herebia took this opportunity to whisper on Ycarus’s ear.

“Hey Ycarus, You can go on ahead but wait for me at the entrance. I have some matter that I would like to attend to...”

Ycarus was still confused as he heard Requa talk besides his ear. Herebia turned around and went back towards the direction of the room that they had a meeting before. When she was about five meters or so away from the duo, Herebia heard a crisp sound of someone being slapped.

‘My... that would’ve been painful. I wonder if I should blast Ycarus if that were to happen to me...’

Herebia ignored the two of them and then she proceeded forward. Bring a hand in her pouch, she searched around for a nut and was unable to find some... It seems that she had devoured all of her supply. She sighed inwardly and shook her head.

No. The matter that she remembered was not refilling her supply of nuts. It was...

‘I wonder where... where that Ranz’s room is?’