Chapter 517 A Meeting
Unbeknownst to the King of Lanthanor, at the same moment, a meeting that concerned him was going on on a barren mountaintop west of Lanthanor.
This area was filled with rocky peaks, so if one wanted to identify this specific peak just by looking from above, it would be impossible.
Inside this peak, a room had been hollowed out which had no door that led in or out.
A man wearing the garb of a farmer was calmly arranging a long wooden table which could seat 30- 15 on each side. He first put down plates from the stack in his hands, before picking up a bunch of spooks and forks and starting to place them neatly everywhere.
While he went about his work, people began to teleport into a certain spot in the room before solemnly walking forward and sitting in the chair which had their name engraved on the back.
None disturbed the silence, and, if one observed, they would be quite surprised to notice that each individual was appearing in the room exactly 45 seconds after the previous one.
They were all teleporting into the same spot, so if even one person made a mistake, it would result in a bloody mess.
Yet, none of them seemed concerned about that fact, until the 23rd individual appeared and looked around before cursing under his breath.
"Damn those timings! Almost missed my window."
As one, everyone present turned toward him, which made him feel conscious and stammer, "Err…apologies."
His face turning red like a potato, he started to search along the table for the chair with his name. Yet, even after 10 seconds, he didn't find it.
The solemn atmosphere made it so that he hesitated even to breathe loudly. So, asking about this seemed to be out of the question.
As for the man who was arranging each spoon and fork meticulously, his reputation preceded him. There would be nothing dumber than disturbing him and thereby looking for his death.
Finally, after a few more minutes, the teleportations ceased. 29 people were seated, whereas the last one, who had disturbed the peace as soon as he came, was standing to the side while scratching his head.
He had never been very capable of social interactions. Hence, in this situation, he had resorted to being silent and waiting for the issue to be resolved instead of doing something about it by himself.
If Daneel were here, he would have been amused thinking that this man was acting exactly like an introvert from Earth who didn't want to talk to anyone, even if he was facing a major inconvenience which could be solved by words.
There was an empty spot on the table, but it didn't have the man's name, but he knew better than to take someone else's place in this gathering. It would practically be the same as signing an agreement to take part in a life-or-death match.
After placing the last fork, the one who looked like a farmer sighed, which made the room look at him.
First, he flicked his fingers, which resulted in his garb immediately changing from the mud-stained, dusty, faded shirt and pant of a farmer to a royal robe made of the best materials in the Central Continent that had an image of a traditional weighing scale which was balanced perfectly in the middle of his chest.
The robe was black in color, while that scale shone with a silver hue.
As the scale came into existence, the entire atmosphere of the man, itself, seemed to change.
Rather, the way the others looked at him was what changed.
This…was Raul. The strongest rogue Mage in the entire Central Continent who was just a step away from becoming a Champion.
His was the path of balance, and it was rumored that if one managed to use this path to become a Champion, the power they would wield would be on par with a Champion who reached that realm with an Acquired Path of the highest caliber.
A throne-like chair that had weighing scales carved into the back and sides fell with a 'THUD' at the head of the table, where he sat and let out a deep sigh before glancing at the man who had started to sweat.
He spoke in a deep voice with a flat tone that reverberated in the cave.
"All of you know how much I despise things which are out of balance. Out of order. Out of proportion. A few of you must be familiar with Gondar, here, a rogue Eminent Warrior Fighter who was invited to this meeting. Even though I explicitly gave orders that this meeting had to be kept secret, he went ahead and blabbed the details to a certain spy of the Big 4. If I hadn't been keeping an eye out for imbalances such as these, this meeting would have been graced by the heads of each Sect who would happily have 'welcomed' you back with open arms."
The last sentence caused a shudder to pass through most of those sitting in the room. Except for a select few who only shrugged and looked as if they didn't care, the rest laid their eyes on the man who had started to sweat buckets by now.
Feeling the palpable tension in the cave, he stammered, "I-I was drugged! And she was…showing interest in me! I just wanted to impress her!"
"By selling all of us out. Bravo."
By now, the Fighter's shirt was thoroughly drenched. His muscles spasmed as if he was having convulsions, and finally, after a few seconds, he said, "I-I would like to leave. Any member of the gathering can leave at any time, right? I want to exercise that right."
For some reason, this statement resulted in a smile appearing on the face of the man who was sitting at the head of the table.
Waving a hand, he said, "Of course. Feel free to go ahead."
Nodding, the Fighter began walking toward the spot where all the teleportations had occurred so far. The rest of the room was space-locked, so that was the only exit he had.
On the way, he kept glancing at the others on the table, who had expressions of scorn and ridicule on their faces.
Some even looked at him as if he was a dead man, which made him decide to take an extended vacation in some remote forest after cutting himself off from all sorts of communication methods.
Just as he was about to take the last step toward that spot, he felt something amiss.
Slick!
By the time that feeling appeared in his mind, it was already too late.
"Oh, I misplaced a few space blades of mine. Please do watch your step."
This spot was right behind where the chair at the head of the table was, and as the man with the scale, who had been called Raul, said this in an idle tone while still looking forward, the Fighter…fell apart.
Not even a single sound escaped his lips, with the only reaction that appeared in him being a shocked expression that could still be partially visible, as his body had been cleanly sliced horizontally from head to toe into 20, equally proportioned pieces.
With a flick of his finger, Raul made fire spring into existence that ate away the body before leaving behind a large, long pouch that seemed to have been hidden very carefully on the inside seam of the Fighter's pants.
Making that pouch float into his hands, Raul examined the insides. The pouch was mostly crammed with Ker Gems, with a few occasional odds and ends here and there.
Shrugging and placing it in front of him, he said, "I took the liberty of inviting a different rogue Fighter who has left his sect recently."
The moment he said this, a man teleported into the room.
It was as if…somehow, this man had scheduled everything so that it would take place in this manner.
After this last one took a seat, Raul said.
"Let us begin the gathering. You all know of the agenda, today. A few months ago, the King of Lanthanor displayed a feat of magic which let us get a hint that he was in possession of a top tier Inheritance that wasn't in the control of the Big 4. However, Marcus, whose son had been saved by said King, declared that he would be actively protecting him for a period of 6 months. I gave you all the order to stand down, and you did, as none of you were foolish enough to step out and be clobbered into meat paste beneath Marcus's famous fists. The situation has now changed. A certain event has resulted in Marcus becoming temporarily…indisposed, and it has also reached my attention that his debt has been cleared. All of you know what this means."
Raul didn't need to say anything further. Anticipation started to shine in the eyes of almost everyone present, as they leaned forward with attention and started to make plans in their mind.
Yet, Raul remained calm. Continuing in that same flat tone, he made the faces of the 30 individuals freeze with what he said next.
"Before all of you march to your deaths, I guess I should remind you that just a few days ago, the King of Lanthanor displayed power at the peak of the Warrior level. How many of you are confident that you can handle someone at that level?"
Pindrop silence pervaded the room, as many sat back with frustration apparent in their eyes.
However, that excitement soon returned to them when Raul said, "I thought so. What we need is a quick operation, as the Big 4 are still mandated to keep the top rulers in the Central Continent safe. Even I, a half step Champion, do not have the confidence to defeat him in one blow. So, I have devised a plan where we can all work together to grab him in the span of a second. Not even a Hero will have enough time to save him. The Inheritance that we obtain will be shared among all those who participate. How many of you volunteer?"
Initially, almost all the inhabitants looked like they would stand up and follow Raul, but a few started to hesitate, as doing this would definitely place them on the shit-list of Heroes.
So, after a few minutes, only 19 individuals raised their hands.
Only, this number seemed to infuriate Raul, whose composure now broke. One by one, he stared at the 11 who remained, until one of them finally shrugged and raised their hand, bringing the total count to 20.
Regaining his sage-like appearance, Raul said, "Good. The attack will be inside Lanthanor, near a populated town, so that we can threaten to kill his citizens if he does anything funny. We set out in 2 days. I want him distracted, so that he won't be able to put up a strong resistance. I've noticed that he's launching some sort of ambitious product, so, I've planned a nice surprise for him with regards to this…'Network' that will lead him right to us. All right. Here is what each of you should do…"
…
Meanwhile, in the Royal Court of the Kingdom of Lanthanor, Daneel was madly scribbling something on a piece of parchment while Eloise watched on with an expression of anticipation on her face.
A few minutes ago, he had called her to the Court saying that he had had an 'epiphany' regarding what kind of program should be made to be broadcast on the New Network.
A few seconds later, with a drained expression on his face, the King handed over a thick stack of parchments which were all scribbled with details.
Reading the heading, Eloise felt like rubbing her eyes.
"A daily show with an entertaining host who breaks down the actions taken and schemes implemented by each ruler, humorously putting them in simple terms for the people to understand."
...
Final details of contest:
Theme: WDS Spinoff - can be anything related to the events/characters of this book
Submission: Mail to [email protected]
Last Date: 30th March 2019
Prizes: 1200 SS
Minimum Word Count: 500
Method of deciding winner: Voting
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I've looked over the entries so far and they're awesome! Keep it up!