"We've been had."
A silhouette from the round table spoke.
"To think he caught word of our decision, or maybe it was a coincidence?"
Another spoke. They all knew each other's faces and backgrounds but to be shrouded in mystery, they had to do this, otherwise some person like Kai might show up who had managed to eavesdrop on one of their meetings.
"Will we delay our decision to send Eleventh?"
"No, it's better to send him now. He's dangerous unlike any threat we've ever encountered before. We must subdue him immediately or we'll be forced to do war."
"Have you all gone senile already?!"
"Quiet!"
The woman spoke and the person that quieted him was the same one as before.
"Don't you dare try and shush me you old coot! Why would we declare war on a single person?!"
"Not just a single person, Alteria Kingdom now has two S-class in their own territory. We must maintain the power balance of the continent."
S-class, a power sought for by every kingdom. An SS-class would be coveted by an entire continent.
"Seventh, between cultivating an S-class in every kingdom or killing one, which would be easier?"
It wasn't even a question, killing an S-class was undoubtedly easier. This is why Seventh, the woman who had been against war stayed silent.
"...Why do we care about the balance so much? Can't we allow everyone to live their lives free of our control?"
"We all know the answer to that question. So the Black Death doesn't happen again, our predecessors made sure to pass on their will to balance this continent. You are aware of this too, why must you delude yourself in peace? We'll get rid of him early even if we have to abandon our pride."
Seventh closed her mouth for a few seconds before talking once more.
"Hero summoning."
"What?!"
"Are you crazy?!"
Two silhouettes stood up while slamming the table.
"It's one of the greatest failures in the history of the continent and you dare to bring it up! The failure made by the royal family from the ruined Empire of Athens, even to this day we are still covering up the truth!"
Seventh also stood up.
"It's the only way to maintain the power balance! We all know that if we are to fight the new S-class, we'll suffer casualties!"
Silence. The people here were already old and they all knew that. Even if they were S-class, the power they had could not match those of the youth. The power Kai used, [Abyssal Wolf] was enough to kill any of them many times over. If Kai could use it again within the short time frame he awoke, they would certainly suffer casualties.
But who knew if that was Kai's only trump card? This is why they were all cautious.
"...Six heroes. The amount we'll summon will be six, it's also a good tactic to prepare early for the revival of the Demon King."
Everyone sat down after Seventh's proposal and talked calmly.
"In the past, they summoned a single hero from another world to defeat the Demon King, he was able to defeat him but in the end, lost all of his comrades. Not betrayed, but left alone. The hero lost his mind after losing his lover and friends who he spent years of his life with and killed the Demon King in the midst of his anger. Then, he destroyed the Empire of Athens in a single day. To this day, nobody found out where the hero went but because it's already been over a millennium, it's obvious that he's died. If we are to summon six heroes corresponding to the six elements, won't it go smoother? We have the necessary resources and knowledge."
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
It was a convincing proposal, nobody had the power to deny it.
"...What if they turn out the same as the past hero who had gone crazy? "
One of the silhouettes asked Seventh who had given the proposal. The silhouette voiced everyone's fears, if the heroes were to go crazy, there's no telling what they'd do. And not just one, but six of them. The Empire of Athens held power so frightening that the amount of SS-class they had in their empire could only be counted on two hands and not one. None of the citizens knew this, only the council of S-class hid this fact. To the citizens, a hero was a symbol of hope and peace, if they found out that a hero was the one to bring ruin to the strongest empire in history, they'd lose all faith and fear the heroes.
When the time came for the revival of the Demon King, the citizens would loathe the heroes and the kingdoms would be forced to fight the Demon King without the heroes who were the only weapons against it.
No matter how many S-class they had, they wouldn't be able to fight the Demon King who was in the realm of legends, above SS-class.
(A/N: I'm sure that a lot of you have seen at the start that I wrote the classes, F, E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and Z. I have no idea where I took the Z from but I removed it a couple of months ago, not sure about the exact date but from now on, the humans only have the power classification of F to SS.)
"Then, Eleventh."
"Yes."
A silhouette stood up and went outside.
"In approximately three days, he'll arrive. I gave him the permission to use my Mana Powered Airship, Ent."
The council of S-class' location was unknown but its distance to the Alteria Kingdom was at least half a year away by carriage and two months by ship. Mana Powered Airships were the same as Earth's airships with the only differences being that they were powered by mana and even lighter than that of Earth's because of the lack of engine, another advanced feature of this world that makes a person of Earth think if they were really in the medieval ages.
"Eleventh now decides that man's fate. If he were to be deemed a threat, then we will kill him and summon the six heroes to defeat the Demon King. If he were to comply with our demands, we will only summon a single hero of the opposite attribute to the Demon King and have him assist them as a puppet."
Although Seventh still disagreed, there was no other way to convince the others, she was outnumbered one to ten.
"I disagree with the war."
"So do I."
"First, Fifth..."
Seventh looked to the silhouettes and silently gave her gratitude.
"First and Fifth?!"
"If both the First and Fith disagree with war, then I disagree as well."
"Ninth, you too?!"
Four to six. Eleventh's opinion wasn't counted as he wasn't there. But that was it, the six others already agreed to go with either subduing him or going to war.
Their age didn't correspond with their numbers, every few decades, they change members because the previous ones die of old age. The oldest among them was Fifth who was already ninety and the youngest was Eleventh who was only a little over forty. Seventh was only a little over fifty making her the second youngest.
"Six votes to subdue or go to war and four votes to leave him be, majority decision is our rule and therefore, we will proceed with our plans even at the expense of our face."
----------------------------------------
Kai was sitting beside a bed while reading a book. Angelina was asleep on the bed while breathing softly. Bandages were wrapped around parts of her body but not a single part of her looked wounded, she was already healed by Kai but hasn't awoken yet.
"Nn~"
With a slight moan, Angelina opened her eyes.
"How are you feeling?"
"...Morning kiss?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Isn't this the part where you say we've been married for years because it's a dream?"
"Save your sleep talk for when you're sleeping."
"So this is real?"
"Yes."
Their conversation was held with blank expressions which made Erina wonder if they were doing a skit. At first, she was shocked but soon gave a sigh of relief after hearing their talk as if it was an everyday occurrence.
Angelina sat up.
"So, feel any pain around your body?"
"Can you inspect it closely yourself?"
"...I'll hit you."
"Please do so."
Kai sighed and shook his head.
"You never change. Since you're fine, it's time for punishment."
As Kai said those words, an incredible pressure bore down on Angelina.
"Wait, Kai!"
"Erina, stay quiet for a bit."
Kai used his pressure on Erina as well which made her stop.
"Now, why did you use Dragonification?"
"B-because the situation demanded it."
"Even though you knew I was right there?"
"It's exactly because I knew you were there...!"
The pressure increased, Kai was quite merciless. It was a pressure that shook Angelina's soul and not her body.
Kai raised his arm and Erina was about to stop him but the pressure suddenly ceased and Kai flicked Angelina's forehead.
"Ow!"
"Punishment time finished. Now, here's your reward."
Kai placed his hand on her head and rubbed it vigorously.
"Good work, disciple. You made me proud again."
Angelina looked at Kai with wide eyes for a moment but soon, tears welled up in her eyes.
"M-master..."
But before Angelina could go hug Kai, he flicked her forehead once more.
"Next time you make me worry like that, I'll send you flying."
Kai stood up and left the room leaving a dumbfounded Erina and Angelina.
"...Can't he read the mood? He was supposed to accept my hug..."
"Well, it's Kai after all."
Erina laughed slightly and went beside Angelina.
"Though I am a bit jealous that your level of intimacy with him is a lot deeper than mine..."
Angelina laughed.
"Well, it's not like master is ever going to fall for me so you're fine."
It was the truth, if he could fall for her then it would've happened years ago. In Kai's heart there were only room for two women, Angelina was sure of that.
"Though I'm also jealous, I've long since accepted it. I'm his disciple, that will never change."
Erina smiled.
"You remind me of a certain someone in the past. Spontaneous and wild but sometimes like a pure maiden, she was a very good friend of mine."
"Was?"
Erina smiled and left the room.