A silence continued to hang over the Royal Court. For a while, it seemed as though no one would speak at all until it was that King Arthur finally composed himself, regaining his bearing.
"Today it seems that two parties have come to negotiate turns with our Camelot, one of which was more of a surprise than the other." Arthur began to speak, sweeping a gaze over the hidden families.
Though the appearance of Mordred and the others was planned, these hidden family members appeared out of nowhere. However, after hearing that they were a power that could oppose The Empire, Arthur became intrigued and allowed them to enter.
He couldn't be certain of what Mordred's purpose here was, but as an intelligent man and a ruler with many years of experience, he could make a good guess. Initially, even though he was unwilling, he thought that he might have no choice but to accept Mordred's propositions, especially with the current actions of his wife, but the appearance of this third party left him feeling pleasantly surprised.
It seemed that King Arthur was still unwilling to relinquish his power. As much pain and suffering as this Throne had brought him, wouldn't it make all that hardship meaningless if he were to just give it up now?
Matteus cleared his throat, trying to settle the atmosphere down. He sent a side glance toward the red haired man before he opened his mouth to speak.
"Yes. We came here today to encourage Camelot not to fall prey to the intimidation of The Empire. Though we won't deny that they are powerful, what we can say is that they are not the only ones who are so. This universe is very big and its scope is endless. In the grand scheme, The Ascension Empire is just a speck of dust floating in the winds."
King Arthur and the other court ministers were quite intrigued by these words.
This concept of a 'universe' was one they had never heard of before. Yet, it was a word that filled them with awe and thoughts of grandeur. Before, they hadn't even been aware that a world outside their own existed, but now they were learning about so much more.
Among these 'ministers' were a few characters Leonel recognized, namely Lancelot and the young prince Lionus. Neither had participated in the Merlin Trials, so they were of course very safe.
From their facial expressions, it was difficult to tell what they were thinking. But, the two sat on complete opposite sides of the room, not interacting with one another.
"Your words are quite honey-coated." King Arthur said with a laugh. "But, what does the vastness of this universe have to do with us? If anything, it might be safer to have a sturdy wing? to take cover beneath, don't you think?"
Even though King Arthur didn't mean these words, he still spoke them. He wasn't a fool. Negotiation was about leverage and why would he give up his own so easily?
Matteus smiled lightly at these words. Clearly he was very much expecting them.
"To answer your question I think we should give a bit of background on Earth itself. The Empire might be considered the main power beneath the sun, but it is only that. Within the shadows, there are several other rivals to it.
"For one, there is the Slayer Legion that The Empire has not been able to weed out all this time. And, with the Descent of the Metamorphosis, the Slayer Legion is only growing more powerful.
"However, I would say that the true hidden strength of Earth would be us so-called hidden families. I don't particularly like this term. Rather than saying that we are hiding, it's more accurate to say that there hasn't been anything worth coming out for just yet.
"I can swear that if our families were to come out now, this so-called Ascension Empire would have no chance of survival."
Matteus' words were forceful and full of pride. However, King Arthur only shook his head after hearing them.
"You've spoken many niceties and painted a picture in very broad strokes. However, you have yet to speak of how these things could help our Camelot. What difference is there in submitting to you versus this Ascension Empire? Though you say you are more powerful, these are just your words. How can we take them just as you've said them?"
Matteus smiled.
"I will give you proof then. Are you aware of the Dimensions?"
King Arthur frowned. This was a concept that had been foreign to him until the envoy of the Ascension Empire had come. It was only after that he learned about these ranking systems.
Seeing Arthur's reaction, Matteus' smile deepened.
"The Ascension Empire is the ruler of a Pseudo Fourth Dimensional world. Even after Earth breaks through once again, their power will still ultimately be considered to be within the Third Dimension. In fact, the truth is that their strength will diminish by several factors after the Descent of the Fourth Dimension is complete."
King Arthur and the court ministers frowned. How could that be so?
"You all may not believe me, but the true backbone of The Ascension Empire is their technology. However, upon ascending Dimensions, the physics by which their technology is built upon is distorted, changed and flipped. This means that staples of their understanding will be overturned, thus making their technology useless.
"In fact, even in this Pseudo Fourth Dimensional world, they are already holding on by a thin thread. They only manage to use some of their prowess with a stopgap measure like their 'Force Disruption Towers', but these towers have no chance of working against true Fourth Dimensional Force.
"That being the case, what do you think will happen once the Fourth Dimension descends? They'll essentially be a crippled power having lost their main source of strength."
Matteus' smile only seemed to widen the more he spoke.
"And, do you know what the best part about all of this is? Normally, it would take another decade or two for the first stage Metamorphosis to complete. However, due to the appearance of your world, the timeline has been accelerated. By now, there's already less than a year left."
Arthur's gaze sharpened, his eyes narrowing. If this was true…
"Our proposal is simple." Matteus began to hammer in the final nails. "We will protect you all until the Metamorphosis concludes. Unlike The Empire, we hidden families aren't restricted to Third Dimensional entities and we aren't fools who place our hope in garbage like 'technology'.
"Once the Fourth Dimension Descends, that bottleneck that has been keeping you and your warriors and mages from advancing all these years will break. Then, not only will you grow stronger, but The Empire will grow weaker. By then, you'll be on the same playing field as the rest of us."
"And the catch?" Arthur asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It couldn't be simpler." Matteus said slowly. "All we ask for is an exchange of knowledge. Your world's magic system, we would like to learn it."
Arthur and the other ministers fell into silence. These conditions… They were very good.
Mordred clenched her jaw, her gaze icy. She didn't spare a glance toward her father in the slightest. She wasn't surprised by the fact he would make a decision before even hearing her speak. It wasn't as though he had never disregarded her before.
"… Are you done now?"
A sudden voice cut through the silence.. Unexpectedly, it was the very same Leonel that had been the center of attention previously.