An undead ship approached the border of the Empire's territory. As soon as it appeared, it was almost blown to smithereens. Luckily, Dumbledore was posted on that location and recognized the ship was hosting the flag that indicated they came on a diplomatic mission.
Dumbledore–still wearing a mask–approached the ship surrounded by soldiers and readied to attack with the slightest signs that something might go wrong.
However, he soon discovered that his cautions might have been overboard. Standing before him was a skeleton that was barely Tier 2. He guessed this soldier was chosen as the emissary on the likely chance the Empire immediately attacked and obliterated him.
So, losing such a low-level soldier was nothing to Guzznad's legion.
"State your purpose," said Dumbledore, choosing a more direct approach.
"Our lord wants to speak to your Emperor," said the skeleton soldier before handing a black orb. However, his actions immediately made the room more tense as the soldiers became on guard. And even Dumbledore entered a state of high alert.
The only person calm throughout the entire interaction was the skeleton. His orders were to bring this thing to the people of the Arcane Empire before returning to his squadron.
He did not care for anything else–even the possibility of death. For undead, death is the ultimate joy since they get to enter the Lord's Divine Kingdom and live a third life.
Dumbledore looked at the black orb and did not immediately take it. Instead, he used dozens of spells to detect what it was.
'A communication medium?' He discovered that this thing would allow the Emperor to communicate with someone on the Undead side, most likely Guzznad himself.
However, regardless of his discovery, he decided to still remain cautious. So, he took a case with sealing properties, often used to preserve certain rare magical herbs, and placed the orb inside. Dumbledore proceeded to add a few more layers of sealing magic on the case.
Then, after the skeleton departed, he left the orb on a ship outside of the Empire's territory. He did not want to risk bringing this unknown and foreign object into the Empire.
He contacted Edwards and the others to tell them of the situation. So, a team of personnel soon arrived to test the black orb and ensure there was no problem.
Finally, Edward used it as a medium to contact Guzznad.
The Death God sat on a throne of bones, dressed in all black, with a large mirror floating before him. Meanwhile, Edward sat on a gold and white throne with beautiful symbols carved on them. He wore his usual white Archmage Robe and looked as elegant and noble as ever.
"Guzznad, I believe this is our second meeting. I hope this one is not as unpleasant as the first one."
"Why would you have such hope? Do you think I'm contacting you to surrender or call for peace?"
"Well, a man can dream."
"Then, continue dreaming," said Guzznad nonchalantly, making Edward chuckle.
"So, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"You need to begin pulling your weight."
"Pardon me?" Edward did not hide his confusion. For a moment, he wondered whether Guzznad had absorbed too much Faith and his mind was affected, driving him to a state of madness.
However, the Ruler of Death was perfectly sane, and he did not care for the Emperor's words if he knew what the latter was thinking. So, he directly explained what his words meant:
"I'm reaching my limit on isolating this galaxy from the outside. So, it's time for you to contribute."
Edward's demeanor suddenly changed, becoming sharp and fierce. He squinted his eyes, "Are you threatening me?"
"I am," replied Guzznad. "If those Gods enter the galaxy, one of the first things they will do is annihilate your Empire. In fact, I'm willing to bet you're the first on their elimination list, even above me."
The very existence of the Arcane Empire is a threat to these gods; the fact their society is based on knowledge, their disregard for theology, their development of technology in tandem with magic, and the fact their people contained Magus Bloodline all these are reasons the Gods will not tolerate them.
Then, if you add all the other secrets the Empire is hiding, the Gods have already considered the Arcane Empire a big fat sheep that they need to dismember and distribute amongst themselves.
With this analysis, Guzznad decided to drag the Arcane Emperor into this quagmire, forcing him to alleviate his situation.
"If I remember correctly, you use a unique magic artifact from the Magus Race to isolate the galaxy?" asked Edward, and Guzznad squinted his eyes after hearing this question.
Such a thing was supposed to be secret. Many people believed he used his own power and his Divine Kingdom to isolate the galaxy. However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized it was not that surprising that such a secret was leaked.
After all, the Arcane Empire knew better; they knew he did not have the power alone to achieve such a feat.
"You're correct," replied Guzznad.
"Very well. Give me 2 hours, and I will send you a solution."
Edward did not wait for his response and ended the conversation.
"That damn bastard, he has no respect and awe," cursed the Lich Servant.
"It's fine," said Guzznad, not minding such a minor thing. So, he waited for the decided time. Then, he received news that the Arcane Empire sent a vessel near the border of their territory, controlled by a low-level golem.
Guzzand waved his hand, and the item sent by Edward appeared in his palm.
"My Lord," said the Lich.
"No need for concern," said Guzznad as he opened the box to see what was inside. He saw a gem the size of a tennis ball.
"Such intense and pure mana," he commented. Although the intensity of the mana was only Tier 9, the purity was unlike anything he had ever seen in his long life.
"With this energy, I can now last for a few months without any restrictions."
His main body will be able to move without having to spend all his energy and effort on controlling the disk.
"So, you could benefit by absorbing it," suggested the Lich. Such pure mana would benefit even a God.
"I had the same idea, but it seems this thing contained something dangerous," replied Guzznad, who knew the Emperor tempered with this thing to prevent him from swallowing.
"It's a shame," nodded the Lich. "Anyway, we now have some leverage and can continue blackmailing the Arcane Emperor. As long as we use this tactic to our advantage, we can benefit immensely in this war."
"You underestimate him. I reckon we can probably use this tactic 3 to 5 times before he finds a solution to this problem," replied Guzznad. After theorizing the Arcane Emperor was responsible for isolating the Universe Web from the outside world, he knew this man could not be measured by normal standards.
And after his recent two failures, he knew he had the right idea about his enemy. So, he did not think his tactic would last long.
'The Arcane Emperor, you're a formidable opponent. However, you have one fatal weakness–you're too young. This universe is old and contains too many secrets.
'Secrets that your young age is not privy to.'
Guzznad sneered as he prepared his next attack. And this time, he will learn from his previous mistakes and ensure success.
"Let's go. The war is about to reach its climax, and there are many things to prepare for. We cannot afford any more failures."
Guzznad took his legion and left. They have acquired many new undead with great potential. Although he felt it was a shame he could not turn the Elders and the Queen with noble bloodline into his rank, he was still satisfied with the final outcome.
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