As Rex was finalizing his own preperations to innitiate his masterplan, Izumi and Rashuun had not been idle either. As his representatives and main political force the duo had worked hard as well. They had made quite subttle rumors that were spread around, stating that there were movements in the shadows, activities that implied that some agression was to take place in the lands of the Echlisiarchy. The rumors had done their job, since due to them most of the teocratic states military personell as well as their secret agents had been recalled in preperation to deal with the agressor, as well as to figure and flush out the mastermind behind it. Rex had spent quite a bit of time strategizing and planning the most efficient ways to round up and capture in not all, then most of their secret agents and strategists, and, at the end of the day, this plan was the one with the largest capture rate, leaving barely any of their forces untouched.
XXX
Meanwhile in the heart of capital city of the Echlisiarchy- Rahen, a word that was taken from an ancient language of the continent that in translation meant holy domain, in the grand temple building that served as the seat of the rulers of their state, yet another gathering took place. The twelve council members, each representing one of the ruling families of their state, were once again gathered for a meeting. An event that had occured far too often for their liking in the last few months or so, but nothing could be done about that. Ever since the enourmous fiasco that happened in the once small trading port town of Blythe they were quite bussy with firefighting the problems arising one after another. Such a grand failiure had not happened in decades, if not a century.
"How is the progress in cleaning up the diplomatic mess of Blythe?" asked one of the twelve rather chubby men sitting around the large table covered in all kinds of documents and vine glasses.
"We have mostly managed to curb the voices of dissent and anger among our immediate neighbors, though it had cost us quite a bit of currency in doing so, lord Zeke." responded one of the few advisors and executives of few of their special and secret forces. The mans response was noted with an aprowing grunt from the lord who asked.
"And what about that filthy forsaken who caused all of this fiasco?" another of the twelve asked, clear disgust in his voice due to merely having to think of such a foul creature.
"Our apologies lord Marr, but due to the neccesity to deal with the outrage said event caused, as well as Zharrs ironclad stance on the matter we had absolutely no safe path to deal with it. What is worse, the rumors that have reached us regarding the creature paint a dire picture." another of the advisors spoke.
"How much of a problem a single mongrell can be? Just send a full inquisition force. That should be more than enough for a single pest, even if its somewhat resilient." The third of the twelve half screamed in anger.
"Watch your tone young Rufus. While you have only recently been apointed, who should be well aware of how one of your station should act. Your family can replace you quite easily, should you keep that attitude up." spoke the most aged man sitting at the table.
"M-my apologies lord Bairon, i was too excited. We have suffered greatly due to said filths existance." quickly stammered the Rufus council member. Bairon family was the most powerfull and influential of the twelve. It was the one family who always apointed one of their elders to their councils seat, effectively ensuring it was they who controlled the tempo and manners that teh rest of the councill followed.
"As long as you enderstand." The old Bairon nodded to the younger man, then turned to the non council member who had spoken before "Continue."
"Yes sir." responded the advisor, then he quickly followed with his report. "There are quite a few tales surrounding the man by now, and none of them paint a good picture for us. Besides the rumors of said man having his own raid team that is stable and does regularly raid the deep floors, there are also a few other worrying rumors that seemed to at least be somewhat true. Firstly, it seems that due to his previously mentioned team he has quite the good relationship with the blood mage that is residing there. Then another one comes from the cultivators lands. It says that it was said man who caused the end of their war with the fox kins. We asume he used his raid team to cause the end of a sect and intimidate yet another, forcing said state to end their war prematurely. It is hard to get more information due to their peoples strong dislike for ours. Then from the lands of Al Merhads we have info that the same man took care of their growing problem in the form of a Veran Warlord. Thsoe accounts speak of a singular man doing everything there. Thus, based on the current information we have to asume that said individual is at least mid tier SS class entity, maybee even high or peak class. A melee fighter, making small groups of assasins quite inneffective, and due to certain rumors and signs, we cant afford to create an inquisition force to dispatch to deal with him."
"More trouble?" asked another council member.
"Unfortunately yes, lord Frolen. There are signs of an imminent attack on our holy lands." another of the advisers said, eliciting a rather powerfull response from the council.
"WHAT!???" members exclaimed, and then quickly calmed down, clearly trying to maintain their composure in the face of the calm elder Bairon. With the council one again composed and quiet, the man continiued his report.
"While we dont have the specifics, due to our enemy acting extremely cautious, we still know that its coming. Due to the danger, we have recalled most of our advanced forces and spies, combing for said enemies traces and goals. We are more than ready for whatever said enemy is prepearing, and once they make their move we will be swift in ending both their attack as well as the mastermind behind it. And once we have finished with it, we can turn our attention towards the forsaken filth residing in Blythe as well as the blood mage."
"Regarding the mage, do we have anything to get his attention, what with him having made deals with the filth?" yet another council member asked.
"There are some info regarding possible paths, lord Nicht. From what we know the man has quite the appetite for beautifull women of all origins. He seems to be collecting beauties from any race he can get his hands on."
"Hmm, good. A simple vice that can be exploited easily. Do we have anyone watching his movements and dealings?" asked yet aother member.
"I am sorry to dissapoint sir, but we do not. Blythe has blocked their interaction with us due to the last incident, lord Santera." replied the advisor.
"Unpleasant, but not entirely unexpected." spoke lord Bairon, eliciting nods from the rest of the councill members.
They spoke for a few more hours regarding their current plans and dirrections their nation will take and solving other pressing matters. Then, once the more important matters were dealt with, they switched over to lesser issues that still needed adressing as well as some light self praising. Something that was an innevitability for any of their gatherings. Of course, since the important issues were solved they could now indulge in their true natures without holding back, thus this part of their meeting was conducted with vine glasses in hand and a few pretty slaves under the tables serving each of the fat members.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Only the Bairon family elder refused such entertainment, in no small part due to his age. But said old man had a unique glint in his eyes. One of both contemplation and worry. It was his old age and bountifull experience that gave him a special foreboding feeling. Something was coming, and it would change the course of their country. For good? For bad? He could not tell, but nevertheless, he saw something that made him wary. And so, he ordered his own servants to perform more additional tasks for him. Unlike the rest of the council members, he would not be caught with his pants down.
XXX
Rex sat in one of his meeting rooms, fuuly relaxed and Seriss sprawled on his sofa, her lead in his lap as he gently caressed the Veran womans hair. On the opposite side of the table in the middle sat his three partners in crime- Eredar, Brogni and Victor. The trio were here to talk about their progress regarding the next auction they had started to slowly work on. Since the first one was such a resounding success it was only reasonable that they would organize more. Rex was once again going to get some rather nice slave as one of the main attractions for the big players while the trio would attract other people to ensure that their event was enticing for quite the audience. As they were going over some of the last details of the days schedule Rex started to hysterically laugh, causing the trio to look at him with confused expressions, since there were no funny lines spoken during their meeting. Seriss was still lying in her position, since Rex's ministrations over her continiued even as he was madly laughing.
"Ha ha ha ha. Haaa. Sorry fellas, something trully funny happened." Rex explained as he finaly calmed down from his laugh. "Remember the orc champion we sold in the last auction? Some fooli just tried to tamper with the brand. While I dont know if that one was a young and budding blood mage, or some old fosil, but as you might have guessed, the end result was not pleasant at all for him."
"Care to enlighten us?" asked Victor, clearly quite interested in the sudden news.
"Well, to put it bluntly, he is so much weaker than me that his attempt heavily wounded his soul. In worst case, he will be an empty shell, best case, he will be bedridden for a few months at the very least. There is a reason one does not fool around with brands. They serve as both a chain that ensures the slave in question is under perfect controll as well as a sword against would be liberators. And the stronger the one who deployed said brand, the sharper the sword and more skilled the metaphorical hand that is guiding said sword." Rex explained, then once their meetings remaining points were gone over he changed the topic, interested in another rather important piece of news.
"Say friends, is there something special that the Echlisiarchy provides to the overall international market? Some specialities that only they provide? Or is most of their export just stuff that is cheaper to produce withing their lands?"
Eredar, being the general merchant that he was, quickly came to the rescue of his compatriots, laying down quite detailed explanation regarding the market situations and specifics within Echlisiarchy.
"Well. that is rather difficult to answer, since they dont have a speciality that is unique to their country and unaviable anywhere else, but they do have a few goods that are their signature ones due to the location, climate and overall structure of the state itself." he began. Then he proceeded to explain in solid detail the few things that were aviable in quite large quantities withing said state, the advantages Echlisiarchy gains from their sale and their main markets where said goods are sold to. Once done with the products, he came to the last point that was also the more important one.
"Their main export however is something quite special, even if evey single country has them- Priests and exorcists. Users of the holy power, focusing on restoration, buffing allies and defeating demonic origin entities. A class of adventurers and soldiers that is heavily influenced by faith, and as one would expect, their teocratic ways promote the formation of these exact classes. It is quite common for invading armies of the continent they are located on, and even few of the nearest ones, tohire a large number of said priests to reduce the number of casualities to their side. It is not rare for both sides of the conflict to have hired said priests, and they are also the only actual personell in wars that never get culled or molested by the victor of the conflict. No one would risk the possibility of attaining said services during their next conflict after all. That is also a reason why Echlisiarchy's army is also more polutated with priests and have less ordinary warriors and other classes. Theya re weaker in skirmished and quick bouts, but have the advantage in extended wars and engagements."
"Whats the stance of other Zharr's city lords regarding the blunder Echlisiarchy made here when they tried fucking with me Victor?" Rex then turned to the lord of their own ever growing city.
"And whats the word from kingdom of Sweith north of here?" he added, waiting for the information that their friend and lord of their home city would provide.
"Zharr first." Victor sighed "Our other cities have done little besides raising the tax levied upon the goods coming from Echlisiarchy. 'Money is without crime' as they stated previously still prevails among other city lords, though there are more and more nervousness among them all. With the rumors coming from both the cultivator side and Al Merhad regarding Neo's power, more and more of them are worried they had bet on the wrong horse in this race. It is quite similar for Sweith. No large action has been taken against the Echlisiarchy, even though it is their people who suffer the most from their inquisitors and investigators hidden actions. Sadly, the rulers of Sweith are very corrupted and dont care much for the population they rule over, making your run of the mill noble seem like angels."
"Do they have someone extremely powerfull within their family that allows them to maintain their rule over the territory?" Rex asked, asuming that must be the case, and Victor confirmed his suspicions.
"Indeed. They have high tier SS class entity among the upper echelons ensuring their rules permanence."
"Any chance someone would try to help the Echlisiarchy should they come under some duress, but were unable to ask for assistance?" Rex then asked, fullt aware that the trio were aware of his plans to retaliate against the echlisiarchy for their aggression towards him.
"If the risk seems far greater than the possible reward nobody would interfere to risk earning the wrath of extremely powerfull and unknown entity or force. If the gain heavily outweighs the risk, expect help to arrive on Echlisiarchy's side. How big of a threat are we talking about here?" Victor answered, adding a few questions of his own to better estimate possible responses.
"Hmm, like a barrier that envelops the entirety of their state kind." Rex calmly responded, causing the trio to have their jaws drop.
"You sure you are not a demigod already?" Brogni asked after a moment. "That shit is legend level man." he added rubbing his hands with a glint in his eyes.
"Say, can you get us an S class entity for the next auction as the main atraction?"
"And you believe that such an entity can just be auctioned?" Rex asked back, well aware just how valuable they were.
"Right, there is that. Never mind then. High or peak A class entity will have to do I suppose." the dwarf slumped his shoulders, however with Rex next words he perked up like a madman, money mountains reflecting in his eyes.
"Give me some of the dungeons that have proper S class entities that would be good for guard duties. I can brand a few and have you milk the living shit out of your asociates as long as they can secure a few more wolf girs to help Aisha in the kitchen. Hell, offer an S class to the wolf tribes to see if they bite."
"Sure thing man. Will compile the best few dungeons for you to look at, as well as hook the wolf tribes. Dont mind them getting to talk with Aisha if they ask for it?"
"Not a problem if they want to come here, or use comunicators. A problem if they want her to visit them. Without Aisha I will have a riot at home."
"Master is right. We will riot if Aishas cooking is absent." Seriss added her own two cents to the conversation, still relaxing her head on his lap. More than happy with all the attention she had been getting during the meeting. Sure, their nightly activities were pleasure beyond belief as well as their meals. Aisha was just that much of a maestro in kitchen, but Rex's gentleness and ministrations during the meeting were his hands were focused on her, and her alone? That was soothing her soul. A feeling of bliss was the only way to describe it, and the Veran woman did not wish for it to ever end. But unfortunately, like any other good think in the world, it eventually came to an end when the meeting finally was finished. With all of their topics exausted, they went to the dining hall, had a fulfilling meal and went to their own respective jobs and tasks that needed to be done. Auction would not organize itself, the wolf tribes would not come to Brogni begging for his attention and Rex had his own plans to push forward. With his friends in the loop and a plan even more well developed, Rex focused on a few other little things he had to finalize before he finally activated his barrier.