All the generals in the castle, as well as their right-hand men, were currently in the throne room with the Sovereign to prepare a plan, while the other soldiers worked hard to get their dragons ready. And anyone who saw the look on the Sovereign’s face at that moment would be able to tell that he was pissed!
"Sir, we have confirmed that everyone below A Rank in the city is in the same unconscious state. There has also been a significant drain on our power that is likely also due to the spell. We do not know the purpose behind this attack, but the attack is something that could only be done by a Master Runecrafter. There is an Undead Lich in our City Square that is most likely behind this, and the Imperial Guards are confronting it right now."
BANG!
The Sovereign suddenly slammed his hand into his armrest and everyone turned to him sharply when they heard his snarl! The Sovereign looked over all his generals with piercing eyes!
"How did a Runecrafter manage to sneak into my world without my knowledge!?"
There was no one who could answer that question. They all knew that there was only one way for a Runecrafter to have come to this world, and it was through a Dimensional Tear. But to their knowledge, the only Dimensional Tear that was open on Radgan was the one that led to Earth, and it didn’t make any sense for a Runecrafter to come from there! Runecrafters were some of the rarest mage types out there, and there were less than a thousand people that you could refer to as a ’Master Runecrafter’ in all the Primordial Expanse since it was so difficult to reach that level! There was no way a master would be on a Rank II world! The Sovereign snarled when he didn’t get an answer from any of his Generals, but he suddenly frowned and asked.
"Where is Jaraht?"
"He is still not back from his expedition, sir. I sent out a messenger to ask for his current status, but I haven’t gotten word back."
Gruwen spoke up when she heard this question. She knew that Jaraht was the sort of person who easily abandons his post if he feels like it, and she hoped that her messenger would be able to find Jaraht before he disappears into somewhere only the Dragongods knew. Jaraht would get into serious trouble with the Sovereign if he didn’t come back soon!
The Sovereign’s face twisted into a frown as he said.
"Did he not go to handle a Rank II world? What could be keeping him for so long?"
"I think he must’ve gone drinking again."
Another general at the side, a tall man who had a bald head and a hard face spoke up with a disdainful look on his face, and he gave Gruwen a sneer when she turned to him in irritation! This man’s name was Leo and he was the only General who was not contracted to a dragon. Leo had a wyvern as his companion, and even though the wyvern couldn’t unleash fire like dragons could, Leo more than made up for it using his own intense flames. Leo was someone who always stuck to the rules and followed orders to the letter, so he and Jaraht had never been known to get along! Leo already knew what sort of person Jaraht was, so he was more than willing to ruin his image in front of the Sovereign to try and bring him down! The Sovereign’s frown deepened once he heard what Leo had said, and Gruwen was about to say something to try and cover for Jaraht, but Talum beat her to it.
"I seem to remember you were once a regular at the whorehouse, Leo. I don’t think you have any right to speak about Jaraht with your history."
Leo glared at Talum in anger, and Talum just smiled innocently as he noticed the Sovereign’s attention shifting towards him. The Sovereign knew exactly what Talum was doing to try and cover for Jaraht, and he didn’t bother to acknowledge it. Talum was someone that the Sovereign treated as an enigma. There were rumors around the city that Talum was the strongest of all the Generals and he was going to be the next to take over the throne, but the Sovereign didn’t care about those rumors. The only thing the Sovereign cared about was the fact that Talum didn’t fully support him. The Sovereign wasn’t a fool who was blind to the actions and thoughts of his subordinates. He had to be a very smart man in order to organize and carry out a coup in one night without anyone finding out about it.
Most of the Generals in the army had been on the Sovereign’s side when he carried out his coup, but Talum and Gruwen hadn’t fully supported him. Those two had gone along with the others because they were loyal to the Sovereign, but there was always a wall standing between them and the other Generals. Almost like they had formed their own personal unit that stood as neutrals to the war. But recently, things had been heating up because of the actions of the dragons in the Ashenvalley. Ever since the dragons stopped accepting any humans to bond with their children, things have become so bad that Talum was becoming openly conflicted about the entire coup and the future. The Sovereign did not like this at all, and if not for the fact that the Sovereign knew how important Talum and Gruwen were in this army, then he would have already killed them a long time ago!
Leo immediately began to protest against Talum’s comment on his visits to the whorehouse and the Sovereign raised his hand and told him to quiet down. The Sovereign was about to speak, but all of a sudden someone burst through the throne room door!
Bang!
All the Generals turned in the direction of the door, and some of them reached for their weapons as they wondered who would dare to barge into the throne room without an invitation! But they were all shocked when they saw an exhausted messenger stumbling into the room! The man fell to his knees once he was only a few steps into the hall and they could tell that he was only moments away from passing out!
"Hugo. What the hell happened to you?"
Gruwen immediately recognized the man as the same person she had sent out to give a message to Jaraht! What in the world was he doing back here in this state! Hugo was breathing heavily, and he sat on his knees as he tried to speak up quickly.
"An attack... there’s been an attack on the border towns!"
The Sovereign immediately stood from his seat, and a great pressure filled the room as his heavy voice boomed towards Hugo.
"An attack by whom, and where?"
The Sovereign’s demands left no room for questioning, and Hugo seemed to find the extra strength he needed to speak immediately!
"Ten border towns along the eastern and western peninsula are being razed by dragons! And the attacker... the attackers are humans!"
A wave of shock passed through the bodies of every single person standing there! Humans were the ones attacking them? Those low-level creatures from a Rank II world had come here to attack them!? That sounded like some sick joke! And the part that was even crazier to them was the fact that the humans weren’t working alone! They were working with dragons!?
The messenger finally lost all the strength in his body once he was done passing the message, and he fell forward and passed out just like all the other civilians! The messenger had done his best to make sure he stayed awake just so he could give this message to the Generals and the Sovereign, and now that he had done that, he couldn’t find any strength anymore! The pressure in the room suddenly rose to even higher levels as the Sovereign glared at the distant door in pure anger! The Generals could feel his annoyance just from his mana alone, and they all stood at attention and waited for his orders!