Chapter 197: The Visitors
[3rd Person POV]
Mayari Empire, Imperial Capital, Council Hall, hours right after the conclusion of the fight between Sophia and Aerendil that subsequently ended the Second-Elven Undead War.
The elders, their young disciples, Urduja, the daughter of the emperor, and ultimately, Emperor Kasikis of Mayari himself didn't utter a word despite the meeting already having started 3o minutes ago, as if their minds were in synergy, and indeed, they were. In their eyes, nose, ears, and skin, there is a tingling sensation that made the Emperor relive the sight of his and his brother's homeland being jumped by a sun and what seems to be a dark giant orb, in Sophia's terms, an Event Horizon.
The elders, of course, old enough to witness the Continental Wars, were having PTSD of this, that tremors that did not stopped for a whole day... that despair they felt and their regret of accidentally killing the detonators of living calamities... and their shameless indignance as both the Kasikis brothers called their lands empire...
Such scenes were like film in repeat, and this supposed to be meeting was dead silent, again, the "film" restarted, only is that, now they seem to feel the tremors induced by the nuclear strike- level fight between the two smartest calamities, this memories are vivid for it happened just a few moments ago...
Not to mention that existential dread and relief the whole world seems to have felt before the end of the fight... one can only imagine how much of a nightmare the council hall of Mayari has been experiencing while awake.
This nightmare manifested in this painful silence, and only after a long while did the Emperor finally break the silence.
"...I... no, we shouldn't have to worry about Sophia invading us next, after all, they have tacitly agreed to a cooperation 3 months ago, we just didn't reach an official one because she didn't want herself implicated in our perpetual war against Apolaki."
The Emperor said the "good news", trying to be optimistic, something that is rare, even for someone like him who is inherently gentle and was just hardened by his long life fighting his brother, causing Urduja, his daughter, to reveal an even more saddened expression. Truly, in the land of calamities, no Familiares, even if they have achieved the hero status from a random, fickle god that's not even being monitored by the remaining 2 elder gods and is just chucked randomly in their divine realm.
In the end, the ones nurtured by the elder gods or one of their created first children in the dawn of creation are the only qualified ones to dominate Genesis; compared to them, Mayari and Apolaki are like clowns. This is a fact that the elders in this hall knew yet refused to accept.
"However, Urduja is a problem."
One of the elders spoke, his expression, alongside his tone, grave.
"The only reason Lady Sophia does not actively seek invasion of high population lands like us and Apolaki is the fact that she doesn't need population, she needs space for her undeads, and in the last war, she has significantly achieved this goal. Meaning, she just needs to kill a lot of people to utilize their gains... however, Urduja is a whole different story, she is now, with her strength is practically the ruler of all the living beings in Genesis, maybe except for the ones in Valentine, and in ruling the living means worrying about the population... and if our deduction is correct, with the way Apolaki opposes Kamatayan and how The Emperor, in particular is the one that killed Urduja's wife... then we might have to face an invasion from Urduja, with the best outcome that Sophia will not interfere, the worst is when Urduja snuffed out our Capital to not waste time."
Once again, a painful silence was immitted in the whole council hall, in these words, all of them have no reply, they are powerless and unfortunately, their emperor have already placed his bet on Sophia, the "lesser evil" when it came to the question: "Who do you want to control you, someone who just wanted more space for her undeads, or a literal black hole monger that will get automatic the moment he saw your face?"
The answer is very simple and direct.
"Hmm... how very smart, well, I only have 2 people as my elders, so I guess I don't know how a council works, but anyway, you're wrong about one thing."
As the elders, their disciples and the emperor as well as his daughter thought of something to say, a playful, feminine voice resounded, causing them to freeze, for in their right side, two beauties emerged, both are beauties, confident and bold, yet the other one has a more amiable aura, like one can be friends with her if he/she tried, but the other one exudes superiority, no, not only does she thinks she is above anyone in this room, she knew that she is.
The Queen of Undeads, Sophia Demiurge, and the Hero of the Sun, Urduja Tawalisi, have somehow appeared in front of them.
[Sophia's POV]
"You might not receive a full-blown invasion from me... if you agreed to my conditions."
Urduja said whilst me and I started to walk towards the seat in front of the seat of honor of the long table, well, we decided to aura farm a little before going here, because, why not? Also, because we want to make this deal as fair as possible, scratch that, we want this deal to have even just a little trace of fair play. Because surely, if these people still disagreed with our proposition, then I will brainwash this whole hall and make them do whatever the hell we want.
At the sight of our visage, all the elderlies and disciples present in the hall simultaneously tensed up, their gaze locked on us, evident fear creeping over as if a damned soul wanting to take their bodies from their control has arrived.
They were stunned because for sure, they were talking about us, I mean if you see a sun descending at night and then saw nuclear strikes happen 50 times a second in a single war, of course you will call a distress emergency meeting and will ask your council how do they think they should tackle the situation.
"L-lady Sophia... Lady Urduja...! It's our pleasure to have graced our council hall with your presence...!"
Only when we arrived at the seats I have created by condensing eroded dust particle atoms together did Urduja, the one that negotiated with me and then presented to me an inferior weapon than what I can produce greeted me as if a marionette being controlled to diffuse the fear and shock of the ones present, she tapped the shoulder of her father as she bowed, the loud tap sound in the shoulder of her father finally made Kasikis of Mayari and his council to also stand up and bow simultaneously.
_Even Kasikis bowed..._
I feel my already large ego going into new heights, but of course, I had to control it, for I am in front of a lot of people, thus I didn't answer, and alongside Urduja sat down diagonally in front of the Emperor, who is still standing up.
Seeing this, all the council hall members and their disciples looked at each other with awkwardness and residual fear in their eyes, actually, the fear is not residual, it's just that the awkwardness became more pronounced, a woman that is part of the council looked at me as if to ask for permission to sit down, in which I replied with a nod and as I did, she suddenly shoot right back up and sat down.
_Ah, that's too much, huh... I shouldn't have used dark magic illusion..._
The council members looked at the lady who suddenly jerked her head as if in astonishment, and seeing this, I can't hep but become impatient, so I made all of them jerk themselves up and then sit back down like bunch of military people that got hazed by their drill sergeant, the disciples and the two Urdujas looked at this phenomenon with confusion and curiosity, yet they suppressed all their questions and again suppressed their stifled laughter when the council hall members jerked their heads in astonishment in unison.
Oh, the emperor got the hint and sat down. No way in hell a hero will get influenced by a half-baked illusion from me.
"Okay, let's start?"
This time, Urduja is the one who initiated, causing the wary council members to realize that they have no choice but to start the meeting unprepared.
"...So, why did the two ladies of Kamatayan and Urduja visited our Empire?"
Kasikis of Mayari asked, feigning a calm smile, and hearing this, Urduja smiled and looked at me.
We looked kind of a couple that is about to announce their engagement to the other side's parents, but I ignored that as me and Urduja, I simultaneously produced a paper contract with both of our signatures on it.
"As we were listening to your conversation, I think you might have been able to grasp the basic position of your empire in this "war of calamities", Mayari is a potential prey for Urduja and Apolaki's citizens, correction, by the way, will be transferred to Urduja with some monetary and investment compensations on her future ventures as a way to buy them off my hand... I'm a very civilized person and don't kill people if they are not worth the stab."
I said such a word to affirm my very good intentions; however, for some reason, the faces of the people present seem to be reluctant to believe my words.
My entrance could be with your wives and not with my mother-in-law, so be thankful, anyway, Urduja shook off her rather strange expression and then continued my speech.
"However, as of the moment, Sophia and I can't circumnavigate the waters of Valentine as the said Kingdom is currently eyeing Kamatayan, our forces on the right is also busy taking over the islands of Leviticus... so as an alternative, we have come to bargain."
Traces of hope appeared in the faces of the council members. oh, you think we need you? No, we need your land and your soldiers. if Urduja and I decided to just destroy your capital, then our goal will be achieved.
_I had to make this deal go smoothly, I declared all those promises to my living soldiers without even Mayari agreeing to it..._
As I thought of this, one of the council hall members urged Urduja to continue.
"I want to come into agreement with you to use your soldiers to officially invade Apolaki, your brother's empire that have been colluding with the forces of Valentine, after that, you will peacefully turn over the empire into my jurisdiction, you will still be the ruler, but I will be your Empress."
Urduja's words were concise, well, I knew this would be a short meeting for Urduja doesn't want to fuck around, unlike me, that occasionally let's a frog boil in hot water rather than just saying "I will cook you if you don't get me what I want." this attitude caused the council to frown, making the silence painful again, their face had complicated expressions, but ultimately, Emperor Kasikis of Mayari can't help but chuckle, he was a little insulted.
What an idiot.
"Apologies... but did I hear your proposition right, Lady Urduja? You... wanted to use my soldiers... and then make me your subordinates?"
Urduja and I nodded at this, making the Emperor, using some guidance from me to get a little bit upset, his voice started to get a little bit loud.
"That... is a little bit insulting, Lady Urduja, I know the two of you are strongest than me even with just one of you using your index finger, however, I should still ask for proper compensation rather than the honor of going under your wing... in this regard, what will we get?"
How adamant, something bad if confronting strong people, in a fight you should run when you saw someone who can create suns and in negotiations yes is the only answer you should give, this negotiations will be short, I knew it, it was from the fact that we have planned this while traversing the 4th dimension, I will use illusion to instigate the emperor and then make him fear the volatile mood of Urduja that he himself created.
Being a calamity with brain is very useful, specially in this kind of scenarios.
Urduja, the child of the emperor looked at her father with shock and then jerked her head towards me, I replied to her stare with a smile that caused her eyes to freeze, Urduja seem to ponder for a few moment before speaking.
"What will you get... I mean... one of your elders already said it... if you become my subordinate... your Capital's civilians will not get burnt into carbon."
Urduja with her index finger raised said, she then looked at the sky, an iconic PTSD inducing mannerism it seems as all the elders' eyes paled, I can feel that Urduja did not do anything, however, her smile have grown broader and broader. Honestly, I don't even need to talk, because in this world, someone who holds the sword is not mightier than someone who throws a damn sun, and it shows.
"Well, I'm waiting, sign this agreement and your capital will remain, or don't sign it and your capital will be moved nearer mine."
Sometimes, Urduja looks quite cool even though she occasionally coils her hand on the waist of her daughter-in-laws.
Such were my thoughts as I watched with great amusement how did the emperor's face suddenly turned pale as well as his council