"Did you get any information on who is trying to enter Riyad?"
The Emissary asked this in a deep voice, and Freya answered with a small frown.
"No. But one of the soldiers reported that the intruder didn’t show up as a living creature on the scanners. They think it was either a remotely controlled puppet or an undead creature."
The Emissary frowned.
"Did we not get a report that Jason Marc possesses undead creatures in his Legion?"
"Yes, we did."
"I see. It appears we’ve given Jason Marc too much leeway recently. His persistence is irritating, so it’s time we gave him something else to worry about. Wait until the deal for the Yellow Ash Mountains has been completed, but once it’s done, Jason Marc will be tagged as a Black Enigma and hunted down for—"
The Emissary suddenly stopped speaking as he felt something at the side! His head shot towards a completely unremarkable area in the hallway, and he narrowed his eyes at it. Freya asked the Emissary what was wrong, and he spoke while raising his mechanical arm.
"Is there someone there?"
The mechanical arm shifted, and a triangular scanner that could search for magical signatures popped out from the mechanical wrist and beeped quietly as the Emissary started walking closer! The Emissary ah dfelt a magical signature from this part of the hallway. It was faint, but he knew there was something there! But before he could find anything, a purple mist slowly floated down the hallway towards him! The Emissary felt his eyes widen, and he put his hands behind him and bowed to the First Seat of the council!
"Lord C’thlyanu! It’s an honour to be in your presence."
Freya also quickly bowed when she saw C’thlyanu, and the purple mist seemed to accept their greeting as it spoke.
"I had thought that you two were in a meeting with Lord Rubik and the delegates from Earth and Radagan. Did you two excuse yourselves to have a lover’s rendezvous, perhaps?"
Freya’s cheeks grew slightly red when she heard this, and the Emissary frowned and shook his head.
"The meeting was put on hold. We are simply waiting on their decision, my lord."
"Ah, I see. Well, if you are not busy, perhaps you can be of help to me. I am currently looking for the Head of the Keepers. Would you two be so kind as to help me find them and tell them to meet me in the Hall of Fallen Heroes?"
The Emissary’s face soured at that request, and he glanced towards the left side of the hallway where he had felt a presence before! The Emissary’s eyes narrowed as he wondered if there was really nothing there, but he was pulled back to the present by C’thlyanu’s voice.
"Are you too busy to help me?"
"N-No! Of course not, my lord! We will find them and bring them to you at once!"
"Yes, my lord!"
Both the Emissary and Freya answered quickly, and the cloud of purple mist watched as they headed down the hallway to search for the Head Keeper. Once they were gone, the purple mist turned to an unremarkable spot in the hallway and spoke to the shadows.
"I would like to speak to you, young Earthling."
The shadows bulged slightly before Gina slowly walked out from the wall with a small frown of distrust on her face. Gina had already been prepared to escape through the shadows when she noticed that the Emissary had picked out her position, but Gina had been shocked when the purple mist came to help her out, and she was even more shocked when she noticed that she couldn’t move through the shadows for some reason! Gina had been prepared to escape while C’thlyanu and the Machina were speaking, but some sort of strange power had held her in place, and she knew that it was C’thlyanu who prevented her from escaping! From what Gina remembered, Jason told her that the shadow was a non-magical ability that most magicals couldn’t even sense, so the fact that C’thlyanu could not only sense it, but also influence it without any effort at all put her on high alert!! Gina could feel all the defensive instincts in her body ringing just from standing in front of this creature, and she spoke with a tense tone that showed she wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.
"Why did you help me?"
Gina knew that C’thlyanu had sent those two away so he could talk to her, and his action made sure they didn’t find out she had been spying on them, but Gina just didn’t know why C’thlyanu would do that. C’thlyanu just spoke up nonchalantly.
"I have a message for you that I would like you to pass on to your partner, Jason Marc. I am aware that he is currently in Radagan looking into the Yellow Ash Mountains."
Gina felt her eyes widen slightly, and she wondered how on earth the First Seat was able to figure that out! Gina had literally only heard about this from Riyala a few minutes ago, and as far as Gina knew, Riyala hadn’t told anyone else about it! Gina nodded very slowly to the First Seat, and it spoke again.
"Jason Marc will find exactly what he is looking for in those mountains, but his curiosity will only bring him more problems. When next you meet with Jason Marc, tell him this: The answers you seek lie in the Sunken Ruins of Riyad at the centre of the Stone Lake. Find those ruins and uncover their secrets, and he will understand what the true intentions of the Lord Rubik are."
"What...?"
Gina muttered quietly as she felt her eyes narrow, and she took a step forward and asked.
"What secrets? Does that mean Jason was right about this trial? Rubik is really planning something else?"
"Just do as I say, child. I have given you all that I can."
The purple mist was obviously not interested in saying anything more, and Gina grit her teeth as she looked down! Gina had no idea if she could really trust some random creature that she had never met before, but Gina also knew that Jason had been fixated on some alternate plan that the Overlord had all this time, so there was a high chance that C’thlyanu was telling the truth. But...
"How can I trust you? I don’t even know if you’re telling the truth. And if you know so much, then why did you allow all this to happen in the first place? Why not just expose Rubik yourself?"
Gina looked at the purple mist with a glare when she said this, and the purple mist came closer to her as it spoke in a low tone.
"The affairs of a domain are not to be interfered with by anyone who does not belong to that domain. I am the First Seat of the council, and I possess the highest authority in this world, but if I do not uphold the very rules I claim to protect, then there would be a mass revolt from the other domains. I cannot allow myself or any of the other members of the Council to interfere in a matter that is not within our jurisdiction. But an independent entity, such as your partner Jason Marc, who is also a member of the affected domain, can interfere. Tell him to go to Riyad and find the Sunken Ruins. He will find all the answers there. Now, I would suggest you do not let your guard down for any reason, especially after leaving this world. After all, you are being watched, and although they cannot do anything to you in this Neutral zone, you will have no protection when you leave it."