Chapter 407 The Council of Chaos (1/2)
CHAPTER 407
THE COUNCIL OF CHAOS
A small stream of people, settled in an extended line, slowly poured in into a spacious, well-lit and maintained, round hall. The roof above fell in, the concave part glassed as natural light shone through, basking the massive, rectangular table at the center of the room in beautiful light. The table itself was made out of stone, nearly a dozen legs supporting it, with just over twenty, wooden and cushioned chairs surrounding it.
At the upper end of the table Lino was already seated, waiting; though seemingly largely recovered, there were still a few bandages hanging on his body, covering wounds that were yet to fully heal. He had a somber expression on his face as he watched over twenty people slowly walk in. Hannah was sitting by his side, holding his hand tenderly.
Those arriving included practically all of the high-end figures currently present inside the fortress -- both old and young. They started sitting down in no particular order, as all chairs were exact replicas of one another, including Lino's. However, those who knew him longer seemed to stream closer toward him, while the newcomers settled a bit further away.
Some were in the end forced to stand as there were simply not enough chairs; among them was Lucky who, despite having entered among the first, simply leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest. Alison was about to sit down next to Alex, but quickly shifted away and stood up, standing next to Lucky. Ion joined them shortly after, as did a few other youngsters who were invited over by their Elders.
It was the first time Lino had summoned virtually everyone that represented his force in one place, including the time he came back from the North. The place held far more people than expected, and it was truly an eye-opener for him, seeing how many souls had come under his banner within such a short period of time.
He waited patiently until everyone was seated and until the table was filled with drinks and bowls of fruit; though a few chatted between themselves, everyone otherwise seemed to be waiting for him to speak out, which he did after taking a deep breath.
”Despite my adviser's, that is my wife's, repeated attempts to postpone this meeting for after I'm fully healed,” he opened up with a faint smile. ”I told her no -- perhaps the boldest thing I've done in my life--”
”Oi!” she hit him faintly as the room broke into a burst of brief laughter.
”Khm. Anyway, I think it's too important of a meeting to delay it; honestly, I'd have held it sooner if I were in a position to do it, but it's still not too late. To answer the rumors,” he continued. ”Yes -- I did kill Gaia; well, at least one of her avatars.”
”...” though a few people sucked in cold breaths, most seemed to have already known.
”Furthermore, I did try to kill the Bearers, though I failed in the end,” he continued. ”Due to Descent's intervention... during which I may have pissed them off. To be fair, they pissed me off first.”
”Ha ha ha...”
”As it stands, war, or at least a battle with them, is inevitable,” he said, his expression turning serious. ”I know that this is an unexpected turn of events for some of you, which is why I'll offer you a free exit.”
”Unexpected?” Alex mumbled, smiling lightly. ”Hardly so.”
”Yeah,” Amadeel nodded, stroking his beard. ”Since the day I met you I knew you'd piss them off.”
”I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.” Eggor added from the end.
”... I see,” Lino sighed. ”I didn't know you all had so little faith in me.”
”Well, now you do.” Av joined in as well with a faint chuckle.
”Oh my, how disheartening. Nonetheless,” he said, taking a deep breath. ”If any one of you feel this has gone beyond your wants, feel free to contact me after the meeting. Due to obvious reasons, you'll have to stay in the fortress for the foreseeable future, but I swear on my heart and soul you will not be mistreated.”
”...”
”Ah, very well,” Lino shrugged, taking a sip. ”I also must extend my gratitude over to Prince --- khm, former Prince Titus,” he changed it midway through when he spotted Titus' firm gaze. ”Not only did he save Ion's life, he also collected the bodies of those who fell.”
”...” the atmosphere quickly dipped into the realms of somber.
”Edward and Jack,” Lino continued. ”Were not only talented smiths but two of the kindest people I've met in my life. Despite the terrible cards the life dealt to them, they managed to crawl out and make something of themselves in this tepid world. Vyena, Talleah and Ryt...” Ion grit his teeth together, his fingers crawling up into a fist; he suddenly felt a gentle and warm touch hold him as he glanced sideways; Alison smiled at him tenderly and nodded, causing his stirred soul to calm down. ”Were young, hopeful and beyond talented. They were kids, ripped out of our arms cruelly and unfairly. Though most of you don't know her, Y'sha was similarly a bright girl who ran away from the comfort of her own home in search of something better and bigger.”
”...”
”All these dreams were cut short,” he continued, his voice cracking slightly. ”For no reason. I have failed them, as I have failed many others in my life,” he glanced briefly at Lucky who merely smiled in response. ”And, despite my best efforts, in my heart I know I'll fail many of you in the future. You've all given me the wind that I fly upon, yet I can't even give you a roof to shelter you from the rain.”
”...”
”... inform their families, if they had any,” Lino continued after a brief silence. ”And provide them with a comfortable life. Task someone to build a monument in the central plaza with their names carved in. We'll hold a pyre for them on top of the platform in a fortnight.”
”... will do.” Val replied with a heavy tone, sighing afterward.
”At the very least, now you know,” Primul suddenly broke the heavy silence, causing all eyes to shift on him; no one knew who exactly he was, only that his knowledge of formations put all the others to shame. ”Why no Empyrean has ever submitted to her.”
”... I do,” Lino smiled faintly. ”In the back of my head, a single scene keeps repeating itself. It was long before I met most of you, during my early stages back on the Western Continent. I happened to meet a Sky Devil, Linger, one night. He warned me, even back then, of exactly that. Though I dismissed him, I do wish I could go back in time and kiss the lad.”
”If you need to kiss anyone, I'm here for you, Your Grace!” Titus spoke out in all seriousness causing the previously gut-wrenching atmosphere to explode out with laughter.
”Oi, little fucker, if he needs to kiss anyone, ain't I here for that?!” Hannah chimed in in-between the bouts of laughter.
”Alright, alright, settle down,” Lino said after nearly five minutes of persistent laughter; despite that, however, Titus seemed entirely undisturbed by it, still as serious as ever. ”For the time being, we have many things to do. As most of you have figured it out, we ceased phasing back in and increased our defenses exponentially. In addition, thanks to Tim, Sylvia, Anna and Simon, our ability to hide has skyrocketed.” he pointed toward the far end of the table where the four Gods sat next to one another, lowering their heads bashfully. ”And, thanks to Edith, our dear Val can finally take an occasional breather.”
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”If there's anyone who deserves kissing, it's this woman!” Val exclaimed, leaping over the table and kissing the laughing Edith on the cheek as the rest of the hall burst into another laughter. ”You fuckers really worked me to the bone...”
”Ah, all the love in the air is simply beautiful...” Lino mumbled jokingly.
”Love aside,” Alex said as the hall settled down. ”Are you certain we haven't been located?”
”I am,” Lino nodded. ”Truth be told, even I would have difficulty locating our position without any points of reference. This, however, is a temporary solution. While our complete cloaking is still in development, we need to figure out a way to buy some more time. Battling and fighting right now is simply out of question; our armory is lacking, we're still in the growing periods of our talisman and rune productions, to say nothing of other parts that have barely been kicked off the ground.”
”There's a more imminent issue.” a new voice joined in, everyone quickly shifting their gazes over to the unsuspecting housewife sitting by Eggor's side, holding a sleeping boy in her arms.
”Hm?” Lino glanced at Ella.
”We have to pull out both Qe'll Clan and the Eternals completely.”
”... that's true.” both Alex and Lino spoke out at the same time, frowning. ”Uprooting the entire history, however, will leave a scar.” Lino added. ”And we hardly have space to fit them all here in the fortress.”
”--I may have a solution.” Primul joined in again.
”Oh, do tell.” Lino looked at him, nodding.
”With some help from the Runic Department as well as the Technological Research, I could fashion a system similar to that of our host star and the planets.”