An: So I'll be doing a Q&A for the next release and answering a few questions concerning the story elements and my decision to include and not include certain loveable characters, but thank you everyone for the support, please keep reviewing, there's been a lot of great ideas that have helped me shape the story in the past and going forward, thank you again and see you next time.
Chapter 12
Raymond was astonished by the sight before him, four dragonlords, three in their true forms facing off against a single member of the Sorcerer King's party, this same member had been allowed into the borders of the Slane Theocracy with almost no resistance.
'Had he rampaged through the country, how much damage would have occurred before we could have stopped him?'
The being he saw now was an apex predator, a beast of power and absolute strength, a very fitting image considering his master, but more than this, he found it reassuring knowing that he was never ordered to incite any form of violence.
Raymond was overall pleased with how the summit was preceding, he found that the Sorcerer King was indeed relatable, and he seemed extremely intelligent, which either added to his fear factor, or helped relieve it, Raymond didn't know which answer was truer, but he reasoned to wish for the best.
'Other than Dominic's antics, I'd wager we may get some manner of peace out of this'
He had been very disappointed with the reactions from the Cardinal of Wind, his overall propensity for outbursts of anger and mass disrespect towards the Sorcerer King was fast becoming tiresome, Raymond had been concerned his words would incite war, and he knew as of right now the Sorcerer King would have the excuse he needed to do so, as he had invited them into his domain and one of their members was now openly disrespecting him with many nations bearing witness, it didn't seem good.
He was thus thankful nothing seemed to come of the situation yet, but now this challenge would soon conclude and he had to begin thinking about the future negotiations which would determine the relationship they would have with the Sorcerous Kingdom. At the very least a pact of non-aggression would be beneficial but those terms could be hashed later, he wished to enjoy the spectacle which was unfolding before him, a sight which he was very sure would most likely never be seen again in the spirit of sport.
As he was being awed by the flashy transformation, he felt movement from behind him, he ventured to gaze to ensure nothing was out of sorts, what he found left him dazed, confused, and then horrified as the picture came together.
Raymond quickly pieced together what was happening, he saw that Dominic was no longer focused on the arena, seemingly giving instructions to one of the escorts behind him, he ventured to see who it was. The cloaks the escorts had worn had slight identification markings on them, coded so that only those in the Theocracy's council would know who they were, ensuring privacy, but also accountability before he could even manage a full glance, the cloak was discarded, and an impending sense of dread filled him.
The woman had on the highest treasure of the Theocracy, [Downfall of Castle and Country], Raymond watched with increasing horror as the woman turned to face in the direction of the unassuming Sorcerer King,
'Oh gods!' he thought, quickly yelling,
"NOOOO!" but he was too late, Dominic let out a peal of maniacal laughter, something demented and twisted within it.
A world of white enveloped the Sorcerer King and Raymond's heart sank,
'We're doomed'
The council had discussed the possibility of utilizing the treasure on the Sorcerer King before, ruling out the possibility for several reasons, many of which included the difficulty of bringing the treasure, the potential for it to be stolen away or discovered, all of this made for the idea to be quickly discarded, but Raymond had thought of many more possibilities which not only made the idea idiotic but downright stupid. Chief among these was the location, while it was true they would be within range of the Sorcerer King, and the prospect of controlling him tantalizing, they did not know the full capability of his retinue, nor would they be in a safe position should anything occur, attempting such an action within the depths of a nation one just made enemies of was unthinkable, only someone with a complete death wish would attempt such a thing, and here was Dominic, attempting such a thing.
Others had already noticed as the white light began to fade, Emperor Jircniv, the boy King Zanec and his sister Renner were standing aghast with fear at the event, the Dragon Queen who was within close proximity to the Sorcerer King was taken aback and she seemed to try to get closer, as if attempting to pull the mighty undead away from the light, his 'guardians however seemed less anxious about the event, which he took to be their fear or shock of what was occurring binding them to inaction, but one common phrase left their tongues,
"Your Majesty!"
It seemed almost like a cry for help, one a babe would make when missing its mother, and clearly none of them knew of the divine items capability nor of its existence, but now, Dominic had made it public knowledge, they would all know of what the Theocracy possessed and as he tried to think quickly on how to best resolve or escape from this situation, Dominic began ranting like a madman
"HAHAHA, YOU SEE, I'VE DONE IT, I'VE SAVED US ALL, HAHAHAHHA, IT'S OURS NOW, ALL THAT POWER IS OURS!"
Raymond quickly collected himself before trying to piece together a response, and as his mind was about to reprimand his fellow cardinal,
A feeling made its way up along his back,
Like a jolt of electricity, he heard a familiar voice,
"Ahh, I see, so this was your idea?"
His heart sank, this was not a possibility, this was not a reality which could occur, Dominic's laughter immediately cut out, as if simply removed from the world, he stood, watching as the flames re-emerged within the empty sockets of the Sorcerer King, and through what felt like hours, they turned and fell solely upon Dominic, he raised his hand as if reaching for something.
[Grasp Heart]
Raymond heard the words and immediately the escort collapsed, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. Everyone was silent after the scene, there was no fight, no retaliation, no discussion, no plea, no begging for mercy, or retort for exhortation, there was nothing, simply a word, and death.
Nobody moved, and all eyes were on the now corpse, the other escorts seemingly tensed themselves as if they too were going to be next, truly no one knew what would occur next, but again it was Dominic who came to only make things worse.
He screamed,
"HOW CAN THIS BE, HOW CAN YOU NOT BE CONTROLLED, THE ITEM WORKED, THE GODS WASHED YOU IN THE TREASURES LIGHT, HOWWWW!"
He was crying now, frantic and very clearly afraid, the Sorcerer King said nothing, and simply looked at him, he began to raise his hands again, slowly this time, with almost practised patience, as if waiting or something else to happen, knowing it too would be futile, and as if playing along to a script Dominic complied, he stumbled backwards, trying to create ground, all eyes in the stadium were following him, no one would risk intervening, no one would risk looking away, Dominic stumbled backwards and fell, he then began quickly fishing within his robes, confusion hit Raymond for a mere second before he tried to jump and stop the fool, but it was too late.
Dominic held in his hands one of the 8 godly weapons, and with an almost psychotic fumbling unleashed its spell, and towards the skies, a holy light broke through, creating clouds upon which broke and light shone, and from that light, slowly descending towards the ground was an angel of pure and holy power.
The angel was massive, and had translucent wings of holy light, its body clothed in a pure white robe, flowing outwards towards the world, it held in its right hand a blade with a radiant golden glow, looking as if it would render apart all the world's evil, and in its left hand it held a scale, a symbol of its power to judge all within its domain, the angel descended slowly and Dominic had his head facing it crying tears of salvation, his hope resting upon the power of this most divine of beings
All spectating we're transfixed by the sight until a voice again broke them all from the dream,
"Is this all you people can do, summon low-level angels, this is a waste of my time"
He pointed his staffed hand towards the angel,
[Black Hole]
A distorted torrent of energy opened itself directly in front of the angel, the hole contorted and pulled the angel, ripping it bit by bit as it consumed its majestic form, leaving only darkness and shattered hope, a beguiled Dominic still had his head raised, as if the angel was still there,
"Shalltear, hold them"
Raymond tried to collect himself form the shock of the events,
[Mass Hold Species]
Raymond felt stuck, trapped, his body was completely immobile and fear began to crop up within him, and he could not foresee what would occur next, would they all die here because of this idiot, what would become of the Theocracy, he could have cursed Dominic, to torment and a lifetime of pain, but his mouth would not move.
No one had said a word when the portal was opened, no one spoke as everyone returned to the beautiful white conference room, the majority of people now were collected on one side, of the forty-one chairs gathered here many were not being used, and but sitting down were the collected makeshift 'council' which the Sorcerer King had drafted for this incident, the Sorcerer King had been very generous in allowing the party at fault here to live, Jircniv knew that and this 'trial' he believed was not even required, but he went along because of how absolutely ludicrous the last series of events were.
It was always a sight to see when the Sorcerer King released his magic and feeling up close how easily he could swat away an angel of that magnitude was jaw-dropping, but now was not the time for such things.
Sitting in a row with the Sorcerer King at its centre was JIrcniv, the Argland High Council, the Re-Estize king and Prime Minister Renner, as well as the Dragon Queen, interestingly she had chosen to sit on the side comprising of himself, Zanec and Renner, with the shared quality of being vessels of the Sorcerous Kingdom, this little detail all but assured Jircniv of what she intended, and if this summit had not already shown her the benefits and folly of not being allied with the Sorcerer King, he was sure nothing would. The Elf King had chosen to not include himself in the council and was seemingly nursing himself of his injuries in another seat, having refused the healing from the Sorcerer King, he sat, spectating.
As his mind thought of folly he looked across the table, he let his eyes sit upon the Theocracy representatives, they had collected everyone and brought them back to the conference room, many were cooperative and after the stunt caused by their Cardinal of Wind, he was sure they would not be very combative considering they now could be held for open hostilities during a peaceful gathering, Jircniv believed what happened next might very well be the end of the long history of the Theocracy, the supposed heroes of humanity.
There was one last major change which had occurred, the air within the room was cold, absolutely freezing, but it was partially because of the temperature, the blue insect had small ice crystals dancing around his form as he stared at the Cardinals, everything close to him seemed to want to free and opposite him the butler had resumed his human form and there was a dangerous look within his eyes, every guardian had assembled and flanked the Sorcerer King, their blood lust was palpable and even the beauty, looked as if she had something within her just waiting to burst.
"[Downfall of Castle and Country], interesting," the Sorcerer King finally said, eyeing the dress which was laid out on the table before the Theocracy and breaking the almost awkward tension which had been present in the room.
The Cardinal of WInd had been bound with some spell from the little girl and was still frozen awaiting judgement, the purpose of this council was to see if they would include the rest of them in the attempted attack or if they would be vindicated. They had all sworn up and down of their non-involvement, praying that this is seen as an isolated incident, perpetrated by a single mad individual, and the subsequent interrogation had seemingly proved most of their innocence.
"How is it you know of it?" asked the Cardinal of Water hesitantly, the entire group seemed curious but they more resembled scared rats, trying their best to appear small before a violent storm,
"It is an item from Yggdrasil, I presume a relic owned by your gods"
This made sense, it seems this Yggdrasil world was quite fantastical, its natives and items were beyond imagination, Jircniv pledged to research more of this, and learn more of what it might be.
"This item is a treasure of the Theocracy, a legacy of our blessed gods, Dominic had no right to bring it here or to try to utilize it." spoke the Pontifex, trying to both exonerate them again and to lessen the impact.
"[Downfall of Castle and Country] has the power to control any individual, regardless of racial classes or mental or magical defences, it is a particularly potent item and one which can be very dangerous. But I presume you all already knew that." spoke the Sorcerer King calmly,
"We had no intention of using this upon you your Majesty," said the Cardinal of Earth
"I believe it is too late to speak on intentions is it not Cardinal?"
The retort was very blunt, it spoke of consequence, and Jircniv could not imagine what sort of recompense his master would ask, he ventured to look at the item, surely something this powerful he would demand, it was then the thought came to him, after hearing his master detail the effects of this relic, how is it he was not controlled?
He struggled to reason how his master had done such a thing, if indeed this item's power was so then surely he would be at the mercy of that Cardinal by now, though it can be said they would all be dead long before they would issue a command, his guardians would have seen to that swiftly. But the question still lingered, taunting him until at last, he ventured to play his luck and speak.
"Your Majesty, please forgive my intrusion but I wish to know if this item truly has such fearsome power as you say, how is it you were not affected?"
The room seemed to pick up, they were all dying to know and he guessed that he would be receiving some grateful looks from his peers for having the courage to ask just that.
"I will not disclose the specifics, but to understand you must know something concerning what this item is, this is considered a World Item"
Jircniv was awed, the word itself spoke of power, and at the mention of an explanation everyone looked on with open ears, even Dominic who was immobile had his eyes, full of hate, but also curiosity as the Sorcerer King continued,
"The World Items are indeed neigh all powerful, each one having the power of an entire world, they come in varying forms and functions each capable of phenomena which would be considered impossible such as [Downfall of Castle and Country]'s ability to mind control even the undead, that being said, it is, of course, possible to counter World Items,"
Before he could continue as if begging to know the Cardinal of Water questioned; "With what, how!?"
"Another World Item" he answered, the room collectively gasped,
'There are more of these ridiculous things, each with the power of a whole world?!
As Jircniv struggled to conceptualise just how much power such an item could contain, he thought, if that is the case, then the Sorcerer King had defended himself from the effects of such an item, which means he also has possession of one of these World Items.
As the shock of such a thing came to him, he realized once again that he did not and would not ever fully comprehend the full might of the Sorcerer King, if he had use of an item which could override the very laws of the universe than what else was he capable of.
"Do you see, this why he allowed us to bring weapons in the first place, so this possibility could occur, clearly you knew of our relic, did you set us up from the beginning?!"
The Cardinal of Light was frantic his breathing hard as he threw out the words, it was a sad sight, the divine magic caster had a very prestigious reputation and now he was being reduced to a bumbling mess, but such was the price for going against a god.
"I allowed you weapons to ensure you felt safe, on good faith I invited you into my home, into my nation, to speak of peace and here one of your own brings the intent and the means to harm me,"
The words cut deep and the Cardinal immediately sat back, knowing he had no words for such a response,
"In my time, when we were faced with difficult decisions, we would hold a vote, I will in the good faith of this council purpose a vote, on what should be done with this item, and the Cardinal who intended to use it on me" continued the Sorcerer King
The idea immediately seemed to draw lines between the members present, the Cardinal of Fire spoke,
"This relic is a symbol of our gods, a historical vestige of the Slane Theocracy, we cannot allow anyone to dictate its fate, it is ours and ours alone."
"Your own, brought such an item here, into my home, in order to take control of me and bind me to his service, I need not remind everyone of the power my nation holds, should he have succeeded to what extent would he have devastated this world, using me as a proxy. Would he have started a genocide hundreds of thousands would have died, millions even, and all blame would have been kept from the real perpetrators? I question whether the Theocracy indeed has the capability to handle such a weapon, I question the events of the past, and your hand in them, for that reason I propose this vote, my nation will take responsibility of [Downfall of castle and Country]."
The idea was outrageous and immediately the Theocracy made to speak on it when they were interrupted by the Platinum Dragonlord,
"I support the measure."
"WHAT!?, how can you agree with this?"
"I have more faith now in the restraint of the Sorcerer King than I do that of your Theocracy,"
There were some questionable looks before one of the other dragonlords, who had received healing for his injuries against the butler, easily said,
"Why bother?"
"Think on it, after the explanation it is clear to us all why this item failed to occupy the Sorcerer King,"
He left the words there for those who had not yet realized the implication of the event from his Majesty's explanation earlier, those people Jircniv took note of, as they would indeed be useless in any manner which required critical thinking, a list he believed he would need to start.
"He has one," Zanec said, realization dawning upon him
"Precisely, and if they are all indeed as powerful as this, and the Sorcerer King has had the restraint to utilize it, then I trust he would be better to safeguard another, I would not trust anyone else with this matter, nor would anyone else have the means to protect it should someone try to,... Steal, the item"
The words were directed at the Theocracy, it was clear he did not trust them at all, the leaders around began slowly nodding their heads as they thought this realization over.
"You have no right, we have done nothing to endanger you before, this was an isolated event!" a member of the Theocracy shot back.
"I can speak to the invalidity of that statement," said the Sorcerer King, a hushed gasp could be heard,
"Your people had already transgressed upon me, some number of years ago a member of my guard was out in the world, performing surveillance as to how safe this a place would be. When she was attacked by a band on unknown assailants, my staff could not ascertain any information concerning this incident but my guardian was left mind controlled, an impossible status for they are undead, it could only be the work of a world item, and now, here stands [Downfall of castle and Country]."
The words brought surprise to many, some of the escorts seemed to tense up as they were said and the Cardinals were visibly shaken, one of them again spoke,
"You have no proof of this!"
"I can attest to the validity of what his Majesty says"
Everyone again stared at the Platinum Dragonlord as he continued,
"A number of years ago, I had heard from an old friend of mine that a powerful vampire was on the outskirts of the city of E-Rantel assuming it may be one of the more dangerous Dragonlords I prepared myself to attack and kill it, when I arrived it was unresponsive, simply standing in the middle of the field until I engaged it, it power was much more than anything I was prepared for so I made to escape, but to my surprise it did not pursue as if compelled to remain"
He paused, looking at one of the guardians, and pointing to the small girl behind the Sorcerer King,
"This is the very same vampire which I attacked those years ago, when I had seen her besides the Sorcerer King, worry filled me, I knew of her danger and remained vigilant, but after this event and understanding of the power this item holds, and his Majesty's recanting of the story, it is clear to me that you were the individuals who attacked her, controlled her, but I cannot work out to what end. But regardless of that, this item has been used before, recently and I cannot trust that you will not use it again,"
When he had finished his speech, the old man, spoke
"I too agree with the Sorcerer King's measure, should myself or my brethren have been controlled, you could have ordered us to destroy cities, sparking outrage and war against our nation, we know of how much you hate us, how much you have sought to destroy us in the past. Your ideals preach violence against other races, demi-humans and heterotrophs alike, you are clearly a threat to us all,"
The vote was almost set, with only the Dragon Queen left, of course, the vessels would vote in favour, this was a simple fact Jircniv had understood, as well he had seen the peace which the rule of the Sorcerer King had brought, he had no reason to distrust his master, though it was clear to him now, this Summit it was a means for him to expose and combine against the Theocracy, in a single day he has dismantled their trust with other nations, isolated them and openly taken from them a relic from their gods, Jircniv was beyond impressed, and he could not but fathom how all this had been planned and executed so masterfully,
'Did he see all this coming, is that why he was prepared, even against this World Item? Truly his Majesty is beyond comprehension'
As he thought on the events of the day, he realized how coordinated everything way, this summit provided an excellent opportunity for anyone too radical in the Theocracy, and all he needed was one mistake, and he could place them in check, truly masterful he continued to think.
"I too agree with the vote, this weapon is indeed dangerous, and I will hold trust that his Majesty will keep it safe"
The Dragon Queen finally spoke and ended the long debate, the Cardinals looked absolutely outraged, before they could protest, the butler, came and took possession of the World Item, folding it carefully and returning to his post,
"You cannot do this, this is outrageous."
"We have voted fairly as neighbour nations, it is clear you cannot be trusted with such a power, but there is indeed one more item to consider."
Everyone's eyes wondered to Dominic, still immobile in his seat, and as the conversation became about him, his eyes widened dramatically.
"I will consider this as an act of a single individual, I will not hold your nation at fault for the transgressions of one leader, but I cannot allow this offence to go unpunished, I ask that you hand him over to me,"
"Take him, he's yours" spat the Cardinal of Fire angrily.
The quick reply caught many people off guard, no one had anticipated such a thing so quickly, and while Jircniv knew they could not dare refuse he too was surprised.
"Wait, I believe we need to deliberate this before we can fully answer, I pray Sorcerer King, allow us time to vote on our own about the matter," said the Cardinal of Light, trying to save his fellow,
It seems there was some discontent at the suggestion, but nonetheless the Sorcerer King obliged, he allowed them to cast a protective spell to deliberate in private, but the clear emotions on their faces and gestures made Jircniv understand there was no peace in that discussion, they were all very angry, after some moments, the spell was ended and they returned with their verdict.
"We will give you Dominic, but we pray you may return to us the treasure"
The very notion of bargaining the fate of one of their own as opposed to the World Item was incredulous to Jircniv, the fact they would even ask was outrageous and as expected the Sorcerer King denied it.
"That cannot happen, the fate of the World Item is already decided, we all do not feel you are capable of such a responsibility. Now will you hand him over or will you not, that choice is yours."
He made clear there was no room for negotiations, this was a matter already determined, and as Jircniv thought this all over, he knew there was never a choice in the first place.
"We.. we will hand you the criminal' said the Pontifex Maximus
"Excellent, I will, in turn, forgive any and all transgressions"
The matter was decided with Dominic looking quite panicked in the corner, he clearly wished to make a case for himself, or as Jircniv thought over the man's tendencies, more of a mess than he was already in.
"Will he be tortured?" the Cardinal of Darkness asked in a soft voice
"No, I will do no such thing, I have no need to kill or torture the Cardinal, but he must be punished"
He called to the supposed vampire who could match a dragonlord, which was a shock in and of itself to Jircniv,
"Shalltear, he will be a guest in your levels, send him to Kyouhukou, I know he always needs more help with his children."
The comment made no sense to most people and confusion was obvious but the girl quickly bowed and moved towards the immobilized Cardinal, the hole quickly appearing and fear evident in his eyes, Jircniv did no know what to make of the punishment but he understood the anxiety of not knowing one's fate but as he thought it over, he found no real reason to be too afraid.
'I'd say he got off easy if all he's doing is working with this Kyouhukou's kids' (AN: crunch crunch)