"What does that mean?"
"It simply means that you have two options before this 'bubble' covers your kingdoms. I am giving you all a week, if you choose to surrender, you will retain your power and authority over the people and your territory will remain generally the way it is except with a huge increase in military strength… if you do choose to go against me and fight then I will ensure to relieve you of the painful life you lead. The choice is completely yours" The man said calmly but Euroa could see more.
Euroa heard the man but kept quiet as she watched, the man spoke with such confidence even when he revealed an important part of his life to them. Euroa knew that people who just blatantly told people about their secrets mainly do not consider those secrets to be ground breaking to be used against them and in this case, they couldn't actually do anything with the information provided.
Above all she didn't understand what sort of deal this was. No conqueror she had met in his thousands of years of existence had ever offered the option of simply surrendering and you still get to keep everything. no bloodshed, no harming if anybody… just that the territory would now officially be under this kingdom.
As a Queen and an incredibly long lived one, Euroa had developed more than a soft spot for Euroa, its bustling cities, the happy children, the soldiers who goofed off thinking she didn't notice... they were all reasons that made living bearable.
After so many years, she had become numb and honestly, didn't care much about the other territories or even races… all she cared about was the small village she had once built that grew into this.
"Why are you doing this?" Euroa finally asked
"Why?... hmm... thats going to be a tough one to explain… just know that there is no other choice" The man replied with a shrug
Euroa looked at the strange creature that was the king of the new territory and wondered if he was just a child. No one especially someone of their position should ever take action without knowing why since their actions could affect the lives of hundreds of other people but this one just planned to initiate a war for no reason whatsoever.
"Just to be clear, your thoughts wouldn't change the outcome… if you doubt us, you can ask the Ghoul Cities what they think of my presence in their territory" the man said then vanished as the black box fell to the ground instantly
"Was that a threat?" The Gnome king asked finally speaking up
"No… that was merely a declaration, it would have been a threat if we both were only slightly different in power but he outclasses in every way" The Dwarven king replied as he sat back on his small throne and sighed
Silence reigned in the room for a few minutes as they all thought of what to do, Euroa on the other hand wasn't even thinking about how to resist because she had long since paired into Garth's mind and unlike the other monarchs in the room, she had seen all that her general had witnessed from the unknown guards at what seems to be the border of the territory.
To the massive winged creatures who made her feel incredibly small despite her power then there was the king who unlike what the box had produced carried with him an incredibly powerful and suffocating aura with him. The aura wasn't so intense that you would actually be suffocated however it was more than enough to make people want to worship it.
She knew how powerful she was and at the same time also knew her limits. She was powerful but to fight multiple true Monarchs at once was straight up impossible. A Monarch was a being born from nature or gods given mortal flesh, the Monarchs she had met were all powerful and many of them even more so than her but then a Fae was never a warrior... Faes were gods of nature who were incredibly powerful but their specialty doesn't lie in combat.
"A request to dissolve the Alliance" Euroa suddenly spoke up much to the shock of everyone in the room
Her request only meant one thing and one thing alone, Euroa planned to give up. They didn't understand why she was the first to cave in despite being the queen of the most powerful nation and tribes in the entire forest. They expected her to resist until her death but at the same time, they also understood her actions and honestly planned to the same.
"Denied… we are all in this together, if you surrender then we all surrender and if you fight then we all fight" The High Orc announced
Their territories had followed the lead of Euroa for so long that they didn't feel it was right that they were separated. If she planned to surrender then all of them will surrender, it was just that simple. There was also the fact that while they each ruled over territories that were powerful on their own, they were no match for the Euroa Queendom.
If the Queen of said Queendom was giving up then they might as well give up since they would have no hope of winning. Euroa saw their reaction and immediately a smile bloomed on her face.
"It is good that you want to stick with us to the end however now is not the time for such sentimentality… this new enemy is even more powerful than Garth had described, we simply do not have the ability to challenge an army of disaster-level threats… my suggestions is to dissolve the alliance so that none of our actions can influence the other's decisions" Euroa said
"I see but wouldn't it be better for us to simply move our territories, the Aenon forest is incredibly big and i don't think that lord will try to conquer it all" Black Rock the high Orc asked
"That wouldn't do, unlike you, High Orcs and the Gnomes, we, the elves and the Dwarves can't just leave behind our homes… Mother has been our rock and protector for millennia, abandoning her would only be at our own disadvantage and besides can you outrun a dragon?"
"Then what do you plan to do now, you can't possibly be thinking of surrendering" The Dwarf asked
"No... at least not yet, for now, prepare your armies for war... Garth, gather the gryphon riders and take with you some Mages who can help relay your messages quicker… you are to go scout the Dead Lands… if this new king is actually capable of destroying the Ghoul cities as he implied then we surrender… if not then prepare for battle" Euroa ordered
The Undead cities of the Dead lands would be the deciding factor for her. Her general, Garth had said that the army had left his territory this morning and this was only sun down, so if they were capable of reducing the Ghoul Cities to rubble in that time then they had absolutely no hope of fighting back.
"Yes, Your Majesty" Garth answered as he left the room to do as asked
"Well then, we shall return and prepare our men for battle as well" The Gnome said as he stood up ready to leave
"Please rely any information you gain to us" The other kings said as they all stood to return to their various territories.
While the four kingdoms fell into turmoil, the cause of it all. Kingsley could be seen inside a room filled with other officials of the Kingdom and leading them was Athena. they were all looking at a live footage of the war.
In the live footage, he could see the nearly destroyed territory that was filled with undead… well zombie-like creatures from various races but unlike what one would expect from zombies, these ones were somehow smart enough to launch a well thought out counter invasion plan.
On the territory's walls were various large cannon-like weapons and manning them were a group of these grotesque creatures. Outside the walls were millions of them and all were equipped with cold weapons of all types, the creatures had elongated arms, hunched backs and short legs that were surprisingly fast.
"This is Arc team 15, requesting the use of magic" a voice came through the transmitter but Kingsley remained quiet since this wasn't his call to make
"Fire away, captain… they are too many for common guns to finish off" Athena the one in-charge replied
"Affirmative, Magic is authorized… all Archange teams are free to use magical response... take out the cannons first" The voice said as the drones providing the video flew even higher into the air and the soldiers began to retreat away from the city
Just a few seconds after that, several pillars of golden light fell from the sky and directly on the cannons, completely erasing everything within the vicinity. The pillars lasted for a few seconds before exploding and thoroughly erasing the army both within the city and outside it.
"We should have started with that" Kingsley said since that was way more efficient and time saving