Marshal Four's eyes did not even flinch as he gently brought his forefinger and thumb together.
"Now, let's be civil first, alright." Four said and----
-Click-
A soft click sounded and the gravity well disappeared as space returned to normal. The King's face which seemed like a humanoid apart from the flatnose and lipless mouth followed by vertical pupils, distorted in surprise.
Suddenly the King felt the gravity unleashed by his compressed body was being suppressed.
{Who might you be?} The King relayed its thoughts.
"There, it's better if we talk." Four replied with a smile as he continued, "As for who I am, you are not qualified to know."
{Hmph!} A snort was conveyed to Four's mind as it thundered to tear apart his brain.
Sensing it was ineffective the King relayed the thing that he wanted to ask.
{Where is Orn?}
Marshal Four sighed briefly but a stern expression appeared on his face immediately.
"Orn is dead, in soul and body!" He said grimly.
An enormous amount of rage covered the King's mind as its body disappeared only to appear in front of Marshal Four. It was now that one could observe, even in the compressed form King's body was twice as tall as the Marshal's. Still, the Marshal refused to raise his head to match their eyes.
King on the other hand swung its claw shaped hands composed of compressed muscles towards Marshal's head. Just when the King thought that its claw would tear apart the feeble body of Marshal, it was horrified to find that the claw was frozen above Marshal's head. Despite the King's effort it refused to budge even an inch.
"There exists a trend among us Marshals, we greet the ones that we consider as our equals and bless those whom we consider not. Although we are known for being kind hearted, we are still human beings and our dignity is hurt when someone disrespects us."
A string of incomprehensible words entered King's mind and his horror turned to fear immediately. Its knee-like joints that held its body straight started to bend on its own, no matter how he tried he could not control the muscles on his legs.
Slowly and surely, King's entire body was lowered enough as Marshal Four's eyes gazed below at its vertical pupils filled with fear while its lower body kept on twisting.
"Four, we agreed on not to kill it." Suddenly another tranquil voice sounded beside the duo as Marshal Two appeared with rippling space.
He still had his hands clasped behind and a warm smile on his face.
"Oh yeah, sorry my bad. I got carried away." Marshal Four apologized in a sincere manner as the King gained control over its body.
"How was it? Have you gained anything yet?" Two asked as his eyes locked with Four.
"I can't really pinpoint it, but the control over my siddhis seems to have improved. Another century of meditation should be able to give me complete control over them." Four replied.
"That's good. Although, we might not have a century left." Two said in a sorry tone.
Orn, who was neglected in front of the two Marshals, took some distance from them. Even now he seemed to doubt the existence of such powerful living beings. It must be known that the King was one of the beings that was feared by even their enemies.
{Who are you guys?} King immediately relayed.
"Hmm. Ah, I apologize. We are the guardians of the Human race. Pleased to meet you, the King of the Void Kingdom." Marshal Two introduced themselves to the King.
{Impossible, if beings as powerful as you exist, then forget about defeating the enemies, you might even be able to destroy their entire existence.} Relaying its doubts the Kings looked around searching for signs for any kind of illusion.
"Our enemies, you say, have you ever fought with any one of those beings?" Marshal Two asked as a hint of sadness appeared on his face.
{Those beings, you mean, the Masters of their race? Heh, those fellows do not dare to attack this King.} An arrogant thought was transmitted to the duo's mind as they exchanged glances with each other.
"It is not that they dare not target you, in fact they could have destroyed you just like Four over here. They do not even think of you as their enemies." Marshal Two said as the sadness on his face increased.
The King heard it and its instincts immediately tried to dismiss such a thought.
{Then why don't you guys defeat them?} King relayed its thoughts.
"We can surely indulge in that, in fact on more than one occasion we have exchanged our fair share of moves with those beings, but then at what cost?" This time it was Marshal Four who spoke his mind. He turned his head and gazed at the blue planet behind him, a hint of nostalgia appeared on his face.
"The ancestors of my race sacrificed their entire powers and lives for the prosperity of the race. Despite us being powerful we cannot deal with their huge weapons and its destructive powers. In some sense they are harmful to us." Marshal Two continued as he said, indicating something vaguely.
Just like that the King and the two Marshals discussed various terms for the alliance between the two races. In the whole session Orn was not mentioned again. According to the King, Orn's death was justified if he had angered any one of these beings as even the King was powerless in front of them.
Meanwhile on the other hand, Old Seven and Aria were seated in the Hospital beside the Director waiting for Jasmine and Dron to complete their healing.
***
[ Detected change in Universal Laws ]
[ Warning ]
***
'What the hell happened now?'
Aria thought as Athenaeum picked up some hints of the massive maneuver that had happened in space.
'Hey, why does the Book of Athenaeum keep track of these Universal changes?'
[The Book of Athenaeum is a vast trove of Knowledge in the Universe]
[Whenever the laws of Universe are changed forcefully, the Information contained in the Knowledge is distorted which triggers the Book of Athenaeum protocols]
[As for the details Host is not qualified to know]
As usual, Athenaeum had an answer ready but it did not mention anything about it being quiet or unresponsive before.
Old Seven on the other hand had his eyes closed and the Director had his eyes glued to the book in front of him. They both seemed totally unaware of such a thing but was it really the case?