War of Underworld

The Dark God, Vecta, Returns

Dark Territory, Obsidia Palace

“Knight Lipia Zancale has returned.”

“Good work. You can have a seat.”

“Yes, my lord.”

The man in the blue and black shirt and lower purple armor of the Dark Knights is Vixur Ul Shasta, commander of the Dark Knights. He rolls his eyes as the woman in full armor, minus her helm walks over and takes a seat across from him. “Don’t call me ‘your lord’ when it’s just you and me.”

“Right, but officially, I’m still on duty.”

“...So anyway, what’s this grave incident that you had to send a familiar to alert me about?”

“Right. It seems, in the aftermath of whatever was happening on the other side a few months back... The pontifex of the Human Empire’s Axiom Church...is dead.”

Shasta gasps, looking for any sign of deceit from the woman. However, he trusts her too much to believe she would lie about something so unbelievable. “That immortal being?”

“Yes. I also found it hard to believe, so I spent a full week making sure it was true. Furthermore, there seems to be someone else in her place. They call him a ‘Hero-King’ but he has no throne that I know of.”

Shasta nods. “This is our chance.”

“Chance for what?”

“Needless to say, for peace.”

“Do you really believe that's possible, my lord?”

“Whether it’s possible or not, it’s something we must do, no matter what.”

“But… How do you intend to convince the other lords, my lord? And would the Order of the Integrity Knights even entertain peace negotiations?”

“Regarding the Integrity Knights, I believe there’s a chance. If the pontifex has been defeated, and this Hero-King is not running the show, it must be old man Bercouli at the helm now. I can’t stand the guy, but I can have a dialogue with him. Even if I can’t get to him, the Hero-King, if he truly killed that tyrant, must have the Knights’ backing, so maybe I can talk to him. It’s the Council of Ten that could prove to be a problem. I know it sounds contradictory, but we...may be forced to eliminate them. Four of them, at least.”

Lipia widens her eyes. “Which four are you talking about? Would it be both the globin chiefs, the Orc chief, as well as…”

“The chancellor of the Dark Mages Guild. That woman’s gotten her hands on Administrator’s immortality secret and is most likely desiring to become empress herself someday. No way would she accept any talk of peace.”

Lipia stands. “But that would be far too risky, my lord! The leaders of the Goblins and Orcs may not be our enemies, but as for the Dark Mages, there’s no telling what tricks they may have up their sleeves!”

Shasta stares up at Lipia and takes a deep breath. “Listen, Lipia. How long has it been since you came to me?”

“Um... it was the year I turned 21, so...four years.”

“It’s been that long already, huh? Forgive me for putting you in such an ambiguous position for so long. What do you say? Isn’t it about time you, uh… You know… Officially became my wife?”