"It is as you expected Master. They have split their forces to deal with us" in a cold and dark room, an armored figured knelt on one knee as he informed the only other person in the room. The recipient of the information wore a black cloak that blended nicely with the room, but his face was exposed for all to see. It was the former head of the Assassins Association!
He had a light smile on his face when he heard his subordinate's words. He didn't seem concerned in the least by the information he was being given.
"They want to have the other empires under their control so that they can trap us in a pincer attack." With the Western, Northern and Southern Empires being prepped to face them, they were basically surrounded on all sides. Anyone else would be worried if their enemies had them surrounded and trapped. But he didn't have such worry. It was true that they were surrounded, but they weren't trapped. It was the opposite. It was their enemies who had unwittingly trapped themselves.
"It will take some time for them to get everything in order Master. Should we use this time to attack?" the kneeling subordinate asked. Although Zandor was peaceful on the surface, the empires had a long history of bloodshed and hatred that couldn't be easily overlooked. It will be difficult for those proud empires to put aside their differences and work together; even under the leadership of gods. It will likely take months for the alliance to be established, and a few more for them to band their forces together. That was more than enough time for them to attack and be rid of some threats.
"Who said we haven't already began?" the Master smiled mysteriously. His startled subordinate unconsciously lifted his head and looked at his Master. The confident look on his Master's face was infectious.
"They think that we don't have enough men to launch a full scale war. So we'll show them that we have more than enough to tear this world apart and build it anew" the Master lazily lounged on his chair and announced as though he wasn't saying anything of importance.
The eyes of the subordinate was filled with fervor. This was the Master! He was the one who had unified the nobles of the Eastern Empire in only a month and changed the fortunes of the entire Eastern Empire for the better. He was the genius who had blessed them with power that was beyond the limits of this world and pushed forward with unwavering determination. He had absolute faith in the Master.
"The Western Empire poses the greatest level of threat amongst the three. So it must be avoided for now. Concentrate about a fifth of our forces on the borders of the Southern Empire. Don't invade recklessly. Focus on harassing their forces at the borders. Don't fully engage" the Master commanded.
"Yes Master" although he wasn't sure what his Master was up to, he had absolute faith in the intelligence of his lord. He didn't question the Master's decision. He excused himself and left the throne room.
Once his subordinate was gone, the Master stood up from the throne and approached the inner chambers. He walked to a large cloth hanging on the wall and pulled it down to reveal a mirror. The mirror didn't look extraordinary. It wasn't adorned with jewels or decorated with expensive and rare gems. Yet it gave off a feeling of grandeur. Although it looked ordinary, it wasn't in any way.
The Master knelt before the mirror and said, "Master, it is me. Everything is going according to plan". If the soldiers of the Eastern Empire could see their master calling another his master they would have been shocked.
The formerly dull mirror lit up to reveal a handsome man. The man in the mirror yawned lazily, "That's good to hear. Is the Dark Kingdom playing their role properly?"
"They are Master. It is impressive that they are willing to lose so many of their men" the former head of the Assassins Association 'praised'.
The Eastern Empire wasn't short on men. They had more than enough to spare. Although they weren't exactly much more than their opponents, their individual strengths made up for their lack of numbers. The least of their wielders were all high level mortal realmers. They had several above-mortal realmers and had no shortage of profound realmers. Although they didn't have a vast number of earth wielders, they had enough. They even had a few heaven realmers. Their lack of numbers wasn't disadvantageous in any way! So although the three empires outnumbered them four to one, their overwhelming power made the numbers ordinary.
"Of course. Remember Dominic, the Dark Sword has so many pawns that wasting a few isn't detrimental to it" the handsome man in the mirror was the Dark God Seth. The Master of the Eastern Empire and former head of the Assassins Association was called Dominic. Seth's intelligent mind was known and lauded amongst the gods. In his brilliance he had anticipated that when they were discovered, his enemies would choose to immediately bring the other empires together to stand against his forces. In doing so, they would have to separate. But Seth wasn't daunted by that. He had already hatched a plan that would be better executed if the empires came together. However for this plan to have a higher possibility of succeeding, he needed to redirect the attention of his enemies and deceive them that he wasn't ready for war.
So he asked the Dark Sword for help. The Dark Sword had been on this planet far longer than he had. It had resources and information that Seth needed. The most vital resource at the Dark Sword's disposal was the human resource. It had a large number of wielders under its command. Centuries and millennia worth of poaching talents had left the Dark Sword with a large number of wielders. And like the current wielders of the Eastern Empire, several of these wielders had already broken through the strength barrier of this world. Yet the Dark Sword never revealed these talents. It had its reasons, but it didn't let wielders above the mortal realm into the world – until now.
To redirect the focus of the gods who wanted to take Seth down, the Dark Sword offered to dispatch several of its subordinates to the empires. They would plunder talents and kill off families. They would plant the idea that the Dark Kingdom was 'recruiting' into the minds of the gods. They will let the gods believe that the war was quite a distance away from them because the Eastern Empire didn't have enough men. But that was false. The Dark Sword's subordinates were not aware that they were just being used as a distraction. They weren't included in the bigger picture. The only ones who knew the truth were the Dark Sword, Seth, and Dominic – which showed just how much Seth valued the former head of the Assassins Association.
"Barriers have been erected in the Western and Northern Empires" Dominic stated.
"Mmm" Seth furrowed his brows in contemplation.
"What's wrong master" although Dominic had his eyes glued to the ground, he could tell from his master's silence that something wasn't quite right. According to their plans, having a barrier erected wasn't an expectation, but it wasn't detrimental to their plans at all. The barriers would help them more than they would their enemies! Yet his master didn't seem to like the fact that barriers had been erected.
"The Absolute Queen isn't a fool. Things cannot possibly be going so smoothly. Be very careful. Watch every step you take" Seth cautioned his servant before disappearing from the mirror.
Not sensing his master's presence any longer, Dominic stood up and covered the mirror. He had been serving the Dark One for only a few weeks, yet the god had impressed him time and time again with his extraordinary intelligence. He didn't understand why his master held fear for the Goddess called Alexis. To him his master should fear Indra and Ray instead. But since his master asked him to be careful, he would obey. He wrapped his cloak around him, covering every part of himself including his head and proceeded to walk out of the inner room, into the throne room, and finally outside the throne room. He beckoned the guards at the door to come closer. They gave off auras belonging to earth realmers.
"Master, what is you instruction" the two guards bowed subserviently and enquired.
"Tell the General to gather the troops. It's time for war"