Within the main hall where the meeting wasto hold. Over seventy individuals were present, all of them standing in front of personal seats but bound together by an absurdly large table.
The room only had the table and chairsaswell as a fee portrait frames hanging on the walls. Besides those, the only item of beauty in the room was the chandelier hanging above the centre of the table.
“Your Majesty, it is an honour for you to have graced us with your presence.” All the individuals in the room bowed respectfully toward one of the two figures at the head of the table.
The Family Lords, the Great Noble Families, and even the Seven Mighty Kings all bowed toward the figure with reverence for his position.
This was none other than the Emperor of Tagharat, the ruling empire of the continent, Emperor Tagharn. The man’s white hairy features was enough to show that he was aged but his body build often made people think otherwise. He had a solid lean build and was dressed in golden attires only an Emperor like him dared to wear.
He looked dashing and his voice was just as soothing. “It is my pleasure to be here. I couldn’t skip this as the problem on ground not only affects you all. It doesn’t only affect our great Continent. It affects the whole world.” The Emperor’s deep voice boomed forth, breekinhbtw silence in the room.
He stopped for a moment and turned to the figure beside him, the Great Elder. “That…is more than enough reason to be here.”
Great Elder White Fang nodded with a smile. “Indeed. It is. We also acknowledge the presence of everyone else,”
“King of Prussum, King of Salsore, King of Benthor, King of Asphade, King of Dinorg, King of Qatri, King of Staria, and King of Yeyone.” Great Elder White Fang mentioned the seven Kings present, giving each of them a nod of acknowledgement before facing the others.
“The Noble Families and Family Lords, your presences are appreciated as well.”
They too felt honoured after being mentioned but they knew they had to be present the most regardless of who came or not. Especially the Family Lords who were directly related to the Great Elder.
“Now, for the matter of discussion today, it is the upcoming war that is bound to begin in less than two years.” The Great Elder began without any formality.
There were murmurs in the room as though this was their first time hearing it.
The silence soon died down as soon as the Great Elder cleared his throat to remind them of the figures in the midst.
“If all we have is less than two years, that would mean the Bloodied Sky Transformation has been sped up.” This time, it was Emperor Tagharn that spoke, interrupting the Great Elder.
“That is exactly the case, your majesty. I refrained from adding that part to the letter sent to you as I wanted to discuss it in person with you.” Great Elder White Fang explained with a subtle smile.
The Emperor nodded upon hearing this and gestured for the Great Elder to carry on with his explanations.
“The cause for the speed up in the Bloodied Sky Transformation is still unknown and I don’t think we’ll find out anytime soon.”
Great Elder White Fang sighed and continued. “Because of the speed up, we’ve lost two months of preparation which is why I’d suggest we put our efforts into something other than searching for the cause of the speed up.”
“And I’m guessing the ‘something’ is preparation for the inescapable war with the demons, right?” The King of Salsore asked with a slight frown. From his expression, one could almost tell he hated the anticipated answer even before it arrived.
“You’ve always been a smart one, King Sethyn.” Great Elder White Fang smiled, revealing his set of white teeth to them all.
“Tch!” The King of Salsore, King Sethyn clicked his tongue with slight frustration. The Great Elder hadn’t given him a direct answer but his response had confirmed the king’s worry. The preparation for the war.
The Emperor nodded at this. He was genuinely interested, probably more interested than the others as he was the one with the most to lose or gain among those in the room. If they lost the war, he would be losing an entire empire.
“Now, how do we plan for the war? We only have a year and six months give or take.” Emperor Tagharn inquired with a stern expression. Being the reuler of three of the Kings in the room, they too were forced to become attentive. The nobles followed as well.
As for the Family Lords, they’d always been seriously listening in as they all knew they had very important roles to play in the war.
“Firstly, we set up a team of Demon Scholars, Mages and Scouts. The best of the best.” The Great Elder began laying down their plans. Among the Family Lords, one of them held a feather and a book, with a bottle of ink to his side, writing down everything that would soon be brought forward to the table.
“What are we to do with them?” King Prussum asked, stroking his beards. He knew what they needed to do but a more detailed explanation from the Elder was required.
Elder White Fang who’d remained standing while the others took their seats, slowly walked toward the King of Prussum until he arrived behind the King and placed both hands on the king’s shoulder.
“These groups of individuals will begin research on the demons, pooling together their various knowledge and devising the most effective methods to eliminate the demons using historical information. The scouts will go ahead to monitor movements of the demons all around and relay it to the team of researchers through live feedback. I’m sure you get the rest.
They’ll basically serve as Research and Intelligence.” Great Elder White Fang explained, repeatedly patting the king’s shoulders.
The Great Elder continued, walking away from the King of Prussum who was already sweating on his seat. “Besides the scouts needed for research, we’ll be needing another group of even more powerful scouts who’ll serve as higher intelligence since they’ll be heading for more dangerous missions like mapping out known Demonic Territories or Locating new ones.”
“Ah, also. I’ll need all of you to drop your silly differences.” The Great Elder said sternly, pointing fingers at everyone, not excluding even the Emperor himself. “Every one of you!”