[Ione] "In the Authority granted to me by Lord Krason - I announce the Meeting of 24 as officially begun!"
He announced, sending a slight round of applause through all the attendees.
After that, everyone sat down, as the meeting, began.
- R e b o r n A s a S n a k e ! -
As the meeting began, the topics of the meeting were laid out. The Death of the Guardian of the Southern Monster Heart, the Disappearence of Arabor the Abyss and lastly, the recent active behaviour from the 'Hand Sons of Tritery'.
After the topics were laid out, Ione stood up.
[Ione] "Let's start off with the first topic - The death of the Guardian of the Southern Monster Heart."
Ione stated, before snapping.
A magic 'hologram' appeared above the table, showcasing the replay of the event - the fight between the Guardian and a mysterious force as well as the death of the Guardian at the hands of this mysterious force.
After that, Ione caused the 'hologram' to disappear.
[Ione] "That is the scene that our secret messengers picked up."
Ione finished, sitting down.
A dead silence took place, before one of the Demon Lords lifted his right hand up.
[Ui {8th Demon Lord}] "Question, is this replay true and accurate?"
Some of the High Grades looked at the Demon Lord with annoyed stares, almost asking if he was doubting their evidence.
However, before any of them could speak, Ione coughed.
[Ione] "Yes. It is as accurate as we could get. There is no doubt about it."
He replied calmly, impressing the other grades a bit.
[Ghuj {9th Demon Lord}] "If that's the case, that means that one of the four guardians of the Ancient Monster hearts has perished, despite their Immortality."
Another demon lord spoke up - this one, looked more like a Mammoth on two legs.
[Dasne {12th Demon Lord}] "And that means that we could have a huge problem on our hands.."
A Female demon lord spoke up, before sighing.
[Ione] "Thus why we are holding this meeting right now. All three topics of today are worrying and can possibly cause unwanted and unpredicted circumstances that could result in great problems arising for both, the Holy Night Order and the Demon V's."
Ione explained.
Another silence took place for a couple of moments.
[Vallrek {4th Demon Lord}] "Do we know the cause for the death? As in who was the one who fired off that giant crimson serpent?"
Jivik cut Ione short before he could respond.
[Jivik] "Unfortunately, no information on the individual that caused that scene has been uncovered. However, we've sent one of the Heavenly Knights at our disposal to investigate a bit further."
[Finj {7th Demon Lord}] "Any updates from that knight?"
[Hadnik] "Not yet. He hasn't sent any messages about his findings, which leads us to guess that there have been no leads found yet."
Hadnik replied, crossing his arms. Everyone went silent again, as all Demon Lords and the High Grades began to overthink some things inside their heads.
The silence dragged on for a bit, before being broken by one of the Demon Lords - one that resembled the appearance of a goat, only in a more skeletal sense.
[Lyveo {3rd Demon Lord}] "Very well. I think that you could use some more hands in investigating that situation, so I suggest that we sent one of our Horsemen of Apocalypse to help with the investigation."
Upon hearing the suggestion, all the High Grades and the other Demon Lords turned a bit surprised - even Krason and Lyvan reacted a bit to this suggestion.
This reaction, was expectable.
The 'Horsemen of Apocalypse' were 7 Individuals, Demon and Non-Demon, that held as much power as the Heavenly Knights, only they were on the demonic side.
Hadnik smashed his fist onto the table.
[Hadnik] "Are you insane?! We may be at a truce, but the Heavenly Knights and Horsemen of Apocalypse are practically born enemies! It'll be a catastrophe if you send one to help!"
[Kolpa {6th Demon Lord}] "He has a point Lyveo. I respect you as a fellow Demon Lord, however sending a practical native enemy of the Heavenly Knights doesn't seem like a good idea."
Kolpa stated, turning her head towards Lyveo.
[Herz {5th Demon Lord}] "Indeed... It could bring some inconveniences and even potentially chaos."
As the discussion began to sort of get out of control, with the 11 Demon Lords both supporting and being against Lyveons idea, alongside with the High Grades splitting up into those that agreed and those that disagreed, Krason and Lyvan let out a collective sigh.
Then, both of the leaders hit their right arms onto their 'throne' armrests, before their eyes lit up.
[Both (Krason & Lyvan)] "Silence."
They both stated, their voices echoing through the banquet hall.
Upon them speaking, all the other Demon Lords and High Grades went completely silent, before all sitting back down.
[Krason] "Once again, you all act like some kind of children."
[Lyvan] "Indeed, it is unacceptable that the Demon Lords and the High Grades act this way over such a simple manner."
Lyvan added to Krasons comment, as the other Demon Lords and High Grades remained silent, almost like they felt a bit ashamed of acting like the way they did infront of the rulers of their factions.
Krason then sighed heavily, looking towards The High Grades.
[Krason] "While I appreciate your concern, I believe that Lyveos suggestion is fair and good. However, onto which of the Horsemen they'll send, is up to them."
He stated, making Lyveo smug a bit.
[Lyveo] "I am undeserving of recognition from the King of the Holy Night Order."
Lyveo stated.
[Lyvan] "I agree with Krason, I believe that it's a good idea, after all, we Demon kind and The non-Demon kind are all in the same boat."
Lyvan stated.
Ione then stood up after Krason allowed him.
[Ione] "Then it's decided - The Demon Lords will send one of the Horsemen of Apocalypse to help with the investigation of the dead Guardian."
Ione stated, bringing the first topic to an official close.
Then, began the discussion around the second topic - the Disappearence of Arabor the Abyss from the ruins located in the Abyssal Woods.
Ione went over the intel that they had gotten from their secret messengers, as well as the Ordial Adventuring Guilds plan to try and conceal this information from the Holy Capital as well as pretty much the whole world.
[Hidne {2nd Demon Lord}] "That's some worrying news."
Hidne stated.
[Vallrek] "Indeed... Arabor, being one of the Primal Dragons, already on his own is enough to cause worry, however, there's something more haunting about this information.."
[Yuu] "Maaybee the fact that hee was supposed to bee sealeed..?"
[Ui] "That's one side of the coin - the other side is, where did he go and how did he get out of the seal? I thought he was unable to do anything to it from the inside, even if his skills and magic weren't sealed."
[Braovon] "It may be that there was a third party involved, that may have helped. After all, apparently there were signs of interference from the outside."
The discussion was a lot more calmer than the one about the Guardian.
However, despite the calm and collected behaviour from all the Demon Lords and High Grades, it was rather obvious that all of them were sort of on the edge of their seats.
Well, all except Krason and Lyvan, who didn't seem bothered at all by these news - probably because they have some deep history themselves.
After a bit, the discussion died down, as everyone began to think over the information they had at hand. Then, Finj exhaled, causing the others to look towards him.
[Kolpa] "Came up with something Finj?"
[Finj] "Maybe. It's just a theory, however.."
He began before looking around at all the other attendees.
[Finj] "What if the two events are related?"
He stated.
The others remained silent, however by their body language alone, it was obvious that they did acknowledge the possibility.
[Finj] "Think about it - Arabor disappeared only around a month or so before the Death of the Guardian. It isn't too crazy to think that there is some connection."
[Ghuj] "You may be onto something..."
[Dvi] "While I acknowledge that as a possibility, do we have any concrete proof they are intervined?"
Finj shook his head.
[Finj] "Not right now, No, however, it doesn't mean that we can't do some investigation using this theory."
Everyone went silent again.
Finj's theory was actually making a lot more sense when you thought about it a bit longer in context.
Arabor disappears randomly, then around a month or so later, one of the 4 Ancient Monster Heart guardians dies suddenly, at the hands of a strange force.
Eventually after the silence, the discussion resumed, as all the attendees overlooked all the information at hand, before attempting to link it all together.
This process dragged on for around 2 hours and eventually, the time for the meeting ended - with them only touching onto the third topic a tiny bit, but not managing to have a full discussion on the topic.
After the meeting was over, the 11 Demon Lords and 11 High Grades all got up, bowed to one another, before leaving the banquet hall, as Krason and Lyvan remained alone.
After all the other attendees left, Krason looked at Lyvan.
[Krason] "I assume that your on the same wavelength as me?"
Lyvan nodded.
[Lyvan] "All of it, is too much of a coincidence for it to not be connected."
Lyvan replied.
Krason sighed again, leaning into his throne a bit more.
[Krason] "Then we both agree, that it is possible that the World Serpent has somehow resurrected itself?"
Krason asked, looking at Lyvan with a dead tone stare. Lyvan nodded, before crossing his arms.
[Lyvan] "Indeed... That's the only explanation that makes sense."
He then scratched his chin.
[Lyvan] "But if that's the case - why is it being so subtle? For the Overlord of Monsters, I expected for the World Serpent to immediately begin its carnage once again."
[Krason] "I believe that it may not be at its full prime power."
Krason replied, causing Lyvan to look at him.
[Krason] "It would only make sense. The World Serpent was after all, one of the 'Natural Gods' that those otherworldly deities labeled as such. However, through the reincarnation process which is possible to be done through death, one will lose most of their power and will be forced to rebuild it overtime again."
He continued, as Lyvan listened on, adding a thought or two of his own every moment here and there.
Their discussion dragged on for a little bit before it ended abruptly.
[Krason] "For now, I believe we should keep an eye on any suspicious activity in Ordial and its territory."
[Lyvan] "Agreed."
The two monarchs agreed, before getting up from their seats, walking over to one another and shaking hands.
After that, the two turned around and walked off, exiting the Banquet hall on opposite sides and officially closing, the Meeting of 24.
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Hey hey!
Hope you enjoyed!
Anyways, apologies if this chapter felt lazy,
I'm not very experienced with handling a lot
Of characters talking at once.
Anyway,
See y'all in the Next Chapter:
63. -
"Return to Ordial."