75 Unwanted Rodents (1/2)
”So a Saksa is truly residing on this planet? I guess it was a good thing that we didn't start right away a grand massacre. That would have allowed us to instantly heal all of our injuries and replenished the entire mana reserve of the Empress, but the risk was far too big.”
Davion was the first to recover from the shock of that news. Because of his own nature and the fact that the planet was already deemed to be completely made by the Ancients, for a Saksa to have been made to guard this place was logical. At the same time, it did give a great indication of where they were currently in the vast Universe.
”Since we know for sure that we are in the territory of the Ancients, on a planet with a Saksa, we can already reduce the size of the planets we ended up on. But if we are on the other side of their former territory, it is still too far away from the Demonic Empire. If we are unlucky, we will never be able to ever come back.”
The outskirts of the vast space ruled by the Triumvirate of the Ancients weren't protected by anything beyond a few automatons and some robots. Only the inner parts had some more advanced defenses, like a gigantic being designed to be the apex predator of the galaxy. Based on that, they could be as close as two to three years of space travel and as far as centuries away. It was only an estimation since they never truly managed to have a good grasp on the Ancients, only getting some clues here and there. As for their weapons, well, it was obviously more detailed, because of their massive power.
”Yes, so because we are near immortal until we ran out of blood, we will continue as we first planned. Conquer this world, preferably, without destroying all races on it. If we have to kill their experts and such, so be it. But the masses should be tightly controlled, so never kill a king or an emperor if you can avoid it.”
Leilade affirmed once again her will to not have any complications, whatsoever. While herself had already made an enemy out of the Massalia Kingdom and both the orodil and the succubus managed to incur the wrath of the adventurers beyond the mountains. In truth, only Ymir and Malakov had truly met her expectations.
But she had survived far direr situations and she knew that reality could destroy even the most perfect plan, so what to say about her half-baked strategy. Right now, the only reason they were currently able to stay like that, resting without any problems in their base, was because no one managed to pierce the disguise casted by her Envoy. But she knew it was close to being discovered since a group of rats was observing them in the dark.
”Ymir, we have some unwanted invites lurking a little bit farther. Can you grab the three of them and ask them to join us?”
The Akûl raised his massive body at this order, harboring an evil grin. Since when the girl responsible for more deaths than his entire squad ever had good intentions? Bowing slightly, he left quickly the room. On the other hand, Malakov was a bit flustered. The undead was extremely confident in his skills, and wouldn't have thought that he missed a group of living beings. He only inwardly rejoiced that since Ymir came back with the two members of the Organization, he never let a single undead leave the premises of the base.
”My sincere apologies Empress. I was unable to even see those rodents scouting the area. I will strive to do better.” The bootlicking lich didn't let forgot to immediately apologize and try to appease Leilade. It was absolutely not necessary because she saw them too far away to be a threat and it would have been near impossible for Malakov to detect them. But the behavior of her Herald was to be without any faults since he had to compete against the Viscount.
”So what are your orders, Empress of the Underworld?” For the first time since the beginning, Meridiana talked. She rarely ever joined any council or meeting during a war, mainly dealing with the loyalty of conquered worlds and new recruits. Even if she heard that the world would be destroyed in a few minutes and all hopes were on her shoulders, she wouldn't be able to do a single thing.
”Because of your mitigated success, you will keep pressing the issue in the Republic of Avenio. This time, try to not kill the adventurers, especially the dwarf?”
”No, the elf.”
”Well doesn't matter. You will be able to kill them soon enough, don't worry. But before that, I need you to become the strongest force in that city. Something so strong, that if a dragon decided to attack, people wouldn't turn their sights toward the mayor or some stuff like that. They would look at you and see what you could do. The best would be to find a cult or a sect nearby and destroy it. Save some orphans, reunite some families. You will be able to think of it by yourself.”
Davion and Meridiana looked at each other, not knowing exactly what will be the final point. It was still good to do that kind of stuff, but seeing the peculiar expression of Leilade, they were not sure that their thoughts were of the same kind. Probing a bit the intentions of the small girl, the orodil tried something.
”And after that? We will stay in that city or roam the country, becoming a beacon of hope?”