"The Radiant Church is also our enemy."
Both sides took their seats in front of the statue. Grand Archmage Byerbo sat at the head of his side, holding a drink brought by a maid—a cloudy, red-purple concoction with a fresh, sweet and sour scent. He didn't drink it, just held it in his hand, and got straight to the point:
"So, we are willing to fight alongside your country against the invaders. May I ask, what is the current progress of the war?"
The leaders of the Eagle God's Kingdom exchanged glances. Finally, the man wearing a golden crown, holding a golden staff, and calling himself the Tlatoani, coughed and continued:
"They have launched an unprecedented offensive. Those White Ghosts have rallied the surrounding traitors, amassing hundreds of thousands of troops to attack us. Now, their army has climbed onto the plateau and is advancing towards the capital..."
I need a map. Preferably a real-time, dynamic map with terrain features, and both armies marked in red and blue, so I can just circle it with the mouse... Garrett sat up straight, looking ahead blankly, silently complaining.
Grand Archmage Byerbo also clearly wanted to complain. But as the main negotiator, he had to maintain his composure and calmly said:
"We need more detailed information. Terrain, topography, the number of enemies, their elite fighters... With this intelligence, we can act together with you to eliminate the enemy."
"Of course, of course." Tlatoani nodded repeatedly. He raised his hand, and two Golden Eagle Warriors brought out a large wooden frame.
The dirt inside the frame was crisscrossed with red, white, and blue lines of various thicknesses. Garrett took one look and felt faint:
You call this a map?
Is this a map?
You have so much dirt, why not just make a sandbox?
Grand Archmage Byerbo frowned slightly. He waved his hand, and a large area of blue near the capital city immediately shimmered with waves:
"This is our surrounding lake?"
"Yes."
Another wave, and a small elevated bridge was constructed:
"This is the nearby mountain?"
"Yes."
"Are all these mountains?"
Damn it, this native map is too crude... Might as well fly the airship around and scan the area!
Garrett silently complained while occasionally sneaking glances at Senior Brother:
The cat's eye brooch as big as the Heart of the Ocean on Grand Archmage Byerbo's collar gleamed faintly, its arc-shaped, cross-shaped, and striped light bands constantly changing with the body's movements. Around the cat's eye stone, a circle of tiny diamonds flickered dimly.
Garrett always felt that the brooch was a scanner, not only capturing sandbox images and faces in the hall but also recording audio and scanning power properties to transmit back to the airship...
He was right. This magical device, imbued with spells like the Arcane Eye, was transmitting every detail of the hall back to the airship.
At this moment, a group of mages gathered in the airship's hall, chattering:
"This map is too rough. — In the council army, anyone who dared use such a crude map to command would be beaten to death by the higher-ups!"
"We might as well use magic to scan the area. — Send out an invisible servant carrying the Arcane Eye, and the surrounding terrain will be all there."
"Wake up, without the support of the mage tower, the invisible servant can't fly more than a hundred miles... Or should we find a magic node to dock?"
"Everyone, be quiet! The Grand Archmage will negotiate with them!"
Next to Grand Archmage Byerbo, Grand Archmage Haines' bone robe gently fluttered, with occasional flashes of pale white emerging from the dark fabric.
If the bone robe harbored ghosts to help scan and record, Garrett wouldn't be surprised at all.
He glanced around, silently activating the Detection Spell, inputting everything he saw in the meditation view into the meditation core. Let that light being—oh no, that neuron computer—store, analyze, and process it all...
In short, record as much as possible!
Everyone continued to discuss, analyze, communicate, and exchange information. The eyes of the Eagle God and the Serpent God overlooked the hall, while in places unseen and unheard by humans, two consciousnesses were rapidly communicating:
"These people are very strong... very strong."
"Yes, too strong... hiss... I feel they can harm me... the one with power similar to yours can hurt me... hiss... the one with power like mine, if he devours me, will become stronger..."
"Drive them away?"
"It's too late... too late. To drive them away now would exhaust our strength... hiss... my premonition, the White Ghosts are more ferocious, will destroy us, kill us all... we should talk to them..."
"Give them the promised gold and jewels... whatever they want, give it to them... but make them stay away... definitely stay away..."
At the gods' command, the Golden Eagle Warriors and Serpent Women received their orders. Soon, crates of gold, silver, and jewels were brought to the steps of the hall. Tlatoani stood tall, pointing to the door with his golden staff:
"Honored guests, as agreed earlier, we will offer statues of ourselves in gold as your payment for going to war. This is the first batch of gold to prove our sincerity. Additionally, we have a small request..."
He faced the lower part of the temple, his gaze distant, as if overlooking the kingdom's thousands of citizens, feeling their fear and sorrow:
"Your giant beasts are too enormous, causing undue fear among the citizens of the Eagle God's Kingdom. To calm them, could you please move the beasts to another place?"
The two Grand Archmages exchanged a glance. Garrett perked up his ears: it seemed, maybe, he heard something?
He tilted his head to listen and shook it again, still hearing nothing. A side glance caught Cirilla's cheek, where long bone ridges and membranes briefly flashed before reverting to pointed elven ears. Clearly, she had heard something too...
"Agree to it! Agree to it!"
"Let us choose the place ourselves!"
The airship was abuzz. Grand Archmage Mansfield, who was presiding over the discussion, made a "quiet" gesture and activated a magical device linked to the cat's eye brooch, whispering a few words. Grand Archmage Byerbo calmly nodded:
"We are here to assist you, not to disturb your peace. Moving the beasts is possible, but—"
"But first, we need to choose the place ourselves." Grand Archmage Haines, with his swollen white face, coldly added:
"Second, we hope your side will show enough sincerity—our school has a mage who was illegally imprisoned by your country for six months, suffering great losses. You should compensate for this."
All eyes fell on Chivacoatl. Under the scrutiny, the elderly woman sighed in relief and quickly agreed:
"Of course, of course. This matter was caused by the reckless behavior of Nierka the Serpent Woman. She has been punished—stripped of her title and the Serpent God's favor, demoted to a mid-level priestess."
She carefully observed Grand Archmage Haines' expression. Unfortunately, a seasoned necromancer, deeply entwined with death, was not someone whose mood could be easily read. She paused, then resolutely added:
"If that mage is willing, we can send her over to serve as his maid."
What?
Garrett's ears perked up. If Lynn were here, he would tease him about his ongoing romantic luck...
But since he's not here, forget it. That Serpent Woman has a bad temper and isn't very bright, best not sent over—hopefully, the Grand Archmage will block it—
"No need."
Grand Archmage Haines coldly replied. He shifted his gaze to the upper right of the Eagle God's statue, his eyes deep. Garrett, in a daze, even thought he saw through the statue to the Eagle God's soul:
"When that mage was imprisoned, his pet desperately escaped to seek help. During the escape, it was attacked and had a large piece torn off—"
A light emerged from his hand, revealing an image of Mr. Troka:
"Before we discuss assistance and fighting alongside you, we hope your country can return the part taken from it, so it can be whole again."
Neither the Golden Eagle leader nor Chivacoatl nor Tlatoani dared to respond to this request. The leaders rose and knelt before the statue, praying lowly. Moments later, the statue of the Eagle God suddenly emitted a large patch of golden light:
"My god says, when he noticed a strange creature escaping, he personally attacked it, tearing off a piece. But the piece wasn't large, and after he swallowed it, it disappeared and can't be regurgitated—"
What?
Garrett sat up straight. Can't be regurgitated? What about Mr. Troka?
Is he just going to suffer this injury?
"My god says he can repair the creature's power, but it would consume much of his divine power. With the war imminent, he hopes to do this after the war to avoid affecting the fight against the White Ghosts..."
What?
Wait until after the war?
Are you planning to go back on your word?
"Garrett, what do you think?"
"Garrett, what's your opinion?"
Two inquiries came through the Mind Link. Garrett turned his head, meeting the gazes of both Grand Archmage Byerbo and Grand Archmage Haines, who both had an inquisitive look. What? Ask me?
Shouldn't they ask Lynn?
Garrett steadied himself, realizing he could make decisions on Lynn's behalf in this situation. He took a
deep breath, his expression serious, and replied through the Mind Link:
"I don't really want to agree... they might use Mr. Troka's healing as a bargaining chip... if we don't agree to their terms, they won't heal him..."
"Oh, that's not a concern." Grand Archmage Byerbo casually responded:
"Two mere native gods, we can handle them. If they don't agree, we'll just beat them up—Garrett, just choose what you want."
Table of content - Next Chapter >>>
Comments