The Queen was sitting on her throne in the headquarters of the Treaty of Legends, and beside her was standing the cloaked midget, Diminutive, like a royal advisor, but the Queen knows better.
Furthermore, she was listening to Syla's report about the Queen Ice Fiend Locust and her demands on an open voice call, and her eyes were narrowed in slits with a hint of disbelief. Diminutive's eyes also shimmered with a peculiar light when he heard about the thief who stole a Quasi Legend Rank treasure from the Queen Ice Fiend Locust. The thief even managed to escape into the deep ocean and remain there for many years without getting killed by the ocean races. It was nigh impossible for someone supposedly at the Unique Rank.
"So, how should we respond to the Locust Queen's demand of a Quasi Legend Rank soul-type natural treasure if that thief has already used it or damaged it? If you ask me, this is all too strange, and I think we shouldn't agree before apprehending that thief and interrogating ourselves. She might be taking advantage of us since we are responding so passively." Syla's solemn voice rang.
"What is your opinion on her response after knowing that we have an unknown number of Quasi Legend Ranks ready to confront her if she doesn't back down? Furthermore, how strong is she?" The Queen questioned instead of answering with a cold tone.
Sylas contemplated for a moment before replying gravely, "Truthfully, I can't tell, but she seems fearless and even threatened us not to get in her way. She seems very determined to capture that thief and even seems ready to go to war with us. That fog island under her control is too strange. Even Samara wasn't able to measure her true strength, nor did her charm have any effect on her."
The Queen didn't reply instantly and instead looked towards Diminutive, clearly seeking his opinion. She knew they had to respond quickly, or the Queen Ice Fiend Locust would not be going to wait for them if she really wasn't afraid of them.
Diminutive didn't speak and merely nodded, and the Queen instantly understood what he was hinting at. He was telling her to handle this situation as she seemed fit.
She then replied coldly, "For now, agree to her demands and ask her to lead you to this thief. Even if he's really in the Unique Plains, I give you permission to use soul puppets to capture him. But make sure you tell her that we'll only compensate her if what she told us is true or we are not afraid of war. If she thinks she can take advantage of us, she's thoroughly mistaken!"
"Leave it to me. I'll handle it as you want!" Sylas quickly agreed, and the call ended with that as the Queen Ice Fiend Locust was still waiting for their response.
Now that Sylas wasn't listening, the Queen asked with narrowed eyes, "What do you think? And don't give me some ambiguous reply. This matter is very serious. If that insect is a Quasi Legend Rank, then you should know how terrifying she would be with that island under her control.
"Furthermore, can you explain how a Unique Rank being entered the deep ocean and survived there for over two decades because I can't? The equipment to achieve this feat is all under the control of three factions or hidden organizations like us.
"Not to mention, if this thief is really hiding in the conflict plains, then this could only mean he didn't have a backer to turn to, or he was simply doing someone else's bidding. But then again, it doesn't make any sense to me since if someone else was pulling the strings, then they should've already discarded this pawn if they had any idea what kind of existence the Locust Queen is! Or they are simply doing it on purpose and had a deeper reason that we can't think of!"
Diminutive finally spoke in an impassive tone, "Well, first of all, I have to say, I'm quite impressed with whoever did this, and if they are willing to pledge their fealty to me, I don't mind taking them under my wing. Although it would be a hassle to convince that insect, I'll be worth it.
"But I know this is just my wishful thinking. As for your assumption, I completely agree with you, and I'm just as clueless as you. However, if I might add something, why are you all still assuming that this person is definitely a Unique Rank?" he asked in a meaningful tone.
The Queen's eyes suddenly widened slightly as she instantly knew what Diminutive was hinting at and knew she had reached a conclusion too quickly.
Diminutive pulled an icy smile hidden under his cloak as he knew she understood the meaning behind his words.
He continued, "What if this person is an unknown Quasi Legend Rank? We both know we didn't have all the Quasi Legend Ranks in our ranks; the Locust Queen, the three empires, and the Temple of the Deep Ocean could be a good example of that.
"We only have those who we were able to find and overpowered. Not to mention, the Unique Plains are infinitely older than the Treaty of Legends. There are still things that even I don't know about.
"So, let's just assume that this thief is a mysterious Quasi Legend Rank expert. I have another reason to believe that he is, which is that a Quasi Legend Rank Treasure formed in nature always has some special traits that protect it from predators. A unique rank would die before they could even touch the thing.
"That's why assuming that a unique rank existence was able to pull it off is just like thinking a common rank could one hit kill three steps of legend. Then there is also a possibility that this thief has a Quasi Legend Rank treasure to help him achieve this, but this just makes my theory even more solid because you know only three steps of legend can use treasures in the three steps of legend rank, especially treasures that we call Legacy Treasures.
"This left us with only three possibilities. The first is most likely what is going on here. Maybe this thief has either wounded himself, dropped his mana signatures to the Unique Rank so he could enter the Unique Plains and remain untouched by the Locust Queen, or was gravely wounded in the deep ocean and chased out by the experts of the ocean races. That would also explain why he came back and took such a risk to enter the Unique Plains.
"The second is that he had some extremely powerful treasure that could trick the Zodiac Plains—not SAAI, but Zodiac Plains! This is even more impossible since these kinds of things only exist in myths. If he really had it, he wouldn't have to be afraid of mere locust queens or anyone, as a matter of fact.
"Last but not least, and there is an extremely rare possibility of this happening that..." Diminutive's voice turned solemn, and a hint of killing intent flashed past his eyes, "That he has awakened something that only a Legendary Existence could!"
The Queen's eyes widened entirely for the first time as shock surfaced in them. She looked at Diminutive and thought with disbelief and a peculiar chillness in her eyes, 'Just like this old ghost?!'