I had to meet the representative of the wolves. a pleasant task compared to meeting with nobles. they were pompous bastards if I am being polite ( the nobles, not the wolves. the wolves are very nice beings)
though this time I would rather not meet him, as he comes bearing bad news, then again the fact that they have helped us so much, is something I am thankful to them.
me - tower let him in, it is going to be annoying after all.
tower - yes milord.
the manor had changed completely. I held all control of the city. which helped a lot in the construction of this place. otherwise, this city would have nowhere near combat-ready for the enemies we were about to fight.
the representative - commander, I come bearing news from the wolf clans. the phantom wolves and seven other clans have requested to leave this coalition. they believe That the losses they are facing are increasing. they do not want to lose any of their young for this fight.
me - tell them that I understand and I am thankful for every bit of help that they have provided. they will get exactly what they want, but they have to wait. my empire is going through a bit of turmoil, once it calms down you will get what you want.
the representative - we know that, that is why we have risked our young to fight for you. you have proved to be trustworthy, wolf lord.
( after this I had the tower project the battle zone and the representative and I discussed battle placement. that kind of thing is never stored in our logs. it doesn't matter how safe I am or how unlikely it is for enemies to acquire my magic logs. we can't and won't store sensitive military plans in our logs. anyway after quite a while. )
me - so with that we can conclude our discussions. thank the nature alliance for their help in accelerating the growth of the wall. tell that my puppets won't harm nature, so I will be thankful if they stopped stealing my puppets. I am not using any kind of soul creation magic, they do realise that, don't they?
the representative - well the nature alliance won't make a move, they respect you, wolf lord. you are the only human in our ranks.
me - there is another, I hope you don't forget that.
the representative - still holding onto hope are you? he is dead, it is as clear to all. he is a powerful man, but even he can't cheat death.
I heard his book has even changed owners. what more do you need to believe he is dead.
me - don't worry, my old friend. it is just the delusions of a small kid. we still don't know what happened that day.
the representative - he is a martyr, as much for us as he is for you. well, why talk about such disturbing things. I can smell your stock of blood wine, give it to me.
me - I won't be giving it to you. it is strictly meant for the dead. so unless you plan on dying today, don't even think about touching the wine.
the representative - well then I am taking my leave, by the way, the nature alliance has news for you. their representative will be coming any time in the next few days. be a bit nicer to them.
me - sure, black wing. forget about the warning then, I will give it myself.
( after a while )
the wolves were retreating. the fact they helped us so long is already more than enough. the wolves held the highest priority in protecting their young. they were a species with very low virility after all. their first priority is to protect. the only reason they help me is because I am a wolf lord, which basically means that I part of their council of clans. that council is made up of hundreds of different wolf clans with quite a few ex-emperor ranks.
that wolf who just left is a representative of the wolves and is basically a position equivalent to the Emperor's brother.
the war was going not in the least well. the city had lost most of its army before we could ever fight against an enemy. we had very few people left who could fight.
I don't know who is behind the slavers, but the fact that he helped a couple of slavers to acquire an abyss gate. an abyss gate is considered to be a very dangerous item. most governments have been keeping a very strict eye on the matter.
if an abyss gate is revealed. even the civil war has to be temporarily stopped. they don't do that even for the loss of the city of madness, whose losses means that the southern district of the empire will become a battlefield. the empire has almost been destroyed three times. an abyss gate or more accurately a being that entered from it managed to destroy seventy percent of the empire population. we call it the abyss's devil.
the first emperor had to give up on his life to completely destroy that monster. the first emperor was the strongest of us, the next emperors combined cannot defeat him. that's why anything related to the abyss is taken as a top priority. if the gate had not exploded, leaving only a small, unstable portal (at least relatively), I would be having a couple of ex emperors here, personally destroying the gate.
well, I am wishing now that did happened. I can't fight this war, I literally have some three hundred change warriors ( the wolves had sent their criminals to my army.) and I have to fight the army of a couple of clans. while I do have the tower, it cannot store mana and I do not dare to use God mana.
normal mana cannot be stored with God mana, without the normal mana being converted to god mana.
Every decision I have made seems to have backfired on me. the puppeteer ant queen also backfired. the puppeteer ant queen is not like her brethren queen. she does not have any reproductive organs to speak of. she or it ( it does no have a gender ) did so through magic. it could make puppets out of any material.
the puppets we're exactly what they sound like, puppets. they cannot move on their own, they need an external mind to control them. which meant that only a limited amount of troops existed at any given time. precisely three hundred twenty-five troops.
while the destruction of puppets did not really matter, I was like throwing glasses of water in a wildfire.
it looks like I do not have any other option than to give myself up, admit to my crimes, and leave this mess to the ex emperors. they will have to suspend the civil war if something like a possible war was about to happen, they should already have done so. the civil war this time seems to have gone wrong somewhere.
I am pretty sure they would not want criminals leading as their generals. it is an Affront to their honour.
me - tower, summon everybody to the war council. also, activate 007.
tower - yes master
( after a while )
me - wolves sword, the wolves are retreating. they should be gone by the end of the week.
get our troops in a combat-ready situation by the end of the week.
wolves sword - we are nowhere near ready for that kind of a battle, commander. we literally have eighteen people here and I don't trust the wolves one bit. I fear them most of them will become traitors the instant they have an opportunity.
me - the throne won't be sending reinforcements any time soon, I will be talking to the emperor of divine sight soon enough. he shall tell me what to do. as for those wolves, kill them directly. right now I can't have traitors in our midst. anyway, even with them, we won't be able to fight for long.
me - until then we have to try what is possible, to keep them busy. anyway how is the wall, it is the core of my plans.
wolves throne - I don't know what the nature alliance has done but the wall is ready for a proper fight. even if the two armies combined armies attack, it will last a couple of days. what did you make them do anyway?
me - something that makes me owe them a lot of favours.
(after a while )
the entire situation was becoming more and more messier. right now an army of snakes and tigers is coming to attack us. they numbered at least ten thousand, combined.
overall, it is only a small troop, but the fact that they have already arrived here shows that they knew about all of this a very long time ago. if that was the case these slavers and whoever is behind it is a danger I can't ignore.
the throne and the nobility can all die for all I care, but the commoners who hold the most to lose in this war is the entire reason that I even came here.
then again, it could be a big coincidence, such attacks are pretty unlikely, but they do happen. some foolish clan cannot believe the power of old men and are willing to enter enemy territory to attack them. after all, what can a bunch of old men do? but it is better to waste time than to be tricked.
if my plan worked, we would not have to worry about this place. though the dragon outpost would become isolated, the old men have taken care of that place since its creation. they have no reason to have so much fame if they did not have contingencies for this. then again looking at how they left his city, I had a lot of reason to worry.
anyway before taking such a drastic measure I have to ask for permission. I have no interest in getting on the wrong side of the emperors. it might not look like it, but those old men have helped me a lot. after all the throne has a habit of making wild cards like me go missing.
the ex emperors did not allow that to happen, because honestly, I am tired of all this infighting we have here. I don't sympathize with them, I just don't want to fight. they have literally made me go through hell. I will take my revenge for that, but I can't make It my only goal. I feel the world has enough monsters as it is.
rock- are you daydreaming again, immortal. what in heavens are you planning to even do?
wolves sword is already commanding his troops to enter a combat-ready state.
me - I don't daydream, I am just writing in the log, which you would know if you maintained one of your own.
rock - fine, but not even you can destroy the enemy with such a powerful difference.
me - I have my own methods, so you don't need to worry about that, tell me has phantom found anything.
rock - not yet, though she can confirm that the slavers did not get the portal from any local sources. some noble could be attempting to disrupt the civil war. you know quite a few of those families have something like that. many people have forgotten the power of the abyss gate.
me - could be, but I think it is better if we have an idea who is making such a risky move. another noble is something beyond my patience. how long before the enemy wave strikes.
rock -a week or so. do you think the owner of the 'book of blood mage', is going to be safe? I think we need to get that dagger of yours destroyed.
me - I think I am going to keep it with me for some more time. the book doesn't have any influence on me anymore, the God mana placed inside it is screwing with the book. to be honest, I don't think it can last many more days.
rock - your problem always was with the dagger, don't you think. the book was just an additional, always.
me - that is also true. this is a chaotic time, my friend. it is better to keep every possible ace with us don't you think. you or phantom can carry the weapon. give it to me only during fights.
Rock - let's see about that when we find him, do not take too much risk. you are capable of some very stupid moves.
me - goodnight friend. this week is going to be stressful for us all.