Chapter 52
A Meeting Of Lords
Within the Western Continent’s center, surrounded by a high mountain range on all sides, laid the central city of the entire continent. This was called the High Rock Peak and was the base of one of The Five Overlords, Golorath the Powerful.
Before The Five Overlords had come to this world, this city had been a marvelous sight, as it served as a base for only the most powerful and honorable of warriors. Because of this, it had been called the city of true warriors by some. Only once you had proven yourself worthy of entry would you even be allowed to take one step inside.
However, the once proud settlement of heroic fighters was no more. Once The Five Overlords had taken over, they had executed most of the population due to them not swearing loyalty to their new rulers. Those who were spared, depending on their dedication to their new masters, were imprisoned, publicly humiliated or forced to live like animals. Only those who showed absolute loyalty were allowed to remain as warriors withing the courts of their new master, Golorath.
Those who knew what the city had used to be would weep upon seeing its state now, as people that could only be described as inhuman brigands were now the citizens with the former citizens acting as no better than their slaves.
In the middle of this city stood a giant fortress, called Behemoth Fort. This was now the residence of Golorath, who gave orders to his generals from his throne room, never bothering to leave. After all, he had thousands of loyal subjects just waiting to do his bidding. Why should he bother with any of the menial work?
Said overlord was currently having a meal at his dinner table. The table itself could hold dozens of people seated at it at the same time, yet said table was currently reserved only for this lone diner. All sorts of delicacies were covering the table. These were almost all made from some sort of animal meat through the hands of expert chefs. Grease glistened and the rich smell of fat had covered the whole room. The few plates that didn’t have meat on them were reserved for sweeter foods, such as pies or cakes, and even they were made of only the most expensive of ingredients.
While for most people this type of setting was fit for a royal feast of a great celebration, to Golorath it was just his typical dinner that he would have every day. One could only wonder how one person was able to simply devour such large quantities of food by himself.
The overlord’s peaceful meal was suddenly interrupted by one of his guards barging through the door. The man had a panicked look on his face and was panting heavily, a sign of him having run all the way there.
“L-Lord Golorath! An urgent message!” the guard said as he knelt in the presence of his master while trying to catch his breath desperately. “There is an urgent message that requires your immediate attention!”
“What is it? Can’t you see that I am eating?” Golorath asked in a tone that told just how displeased he was by the sudden interruption, as he continued eating. “Haven’t I told you fools that unless it’s an extremely important matter that I am not to be disturbed? You better not have come here for a pointless death…”
The guard shuddered for a moment, knowing dull well what happened to those who had upset Golorath. The lucky ones were simply killed on the spot, while others faced horrid punishments that would turn even the most vile of people pale. Some were even added into the overlord’s menu.
“I-I swear that this is something that had to be brought to you directly!” the guard said, hoping to walk out of this encounter alive. “In fact, I was told by the sender themselves that this must not go to anyone else no matter what!”
“What is it then?” Golorath asked, growing more frustrated with this nuisance. “Spit it out already or I’ll just squash you right now without listening to whatever it is.”
“The other overlords-! They are calling for an audience with you!”
Upon hearing this, the overlord immediately stopped biting down on his grilled dragon’s leg. He put the food down on the plate and turned to look at his servant with a surprised look on his face.
image [https://i.ibb.co/Vq92Sqv/Ch-52-Pic-1.jpg]
“Are you certain that it’s them?” Golorath asked. “If you have mistaken some impostor for any of them, you do know what will happen to you?”
“Y-Yes, my lord! I am certain that it’s them!” the guard said, thinking of the last and only time another servant had been fooled by a fake message. All the other servants saw the horrifying sight in their nightmares for weeks. “We made every possible precautionary check and have confirmed that the message was indeed real. Not only that, but it carried the authentic seal of Lord Devinolux himself!”
Golorath frowned. While it was nothing new for any of his fellow overlords to send him a message in regards to some issue, it was not normal to receive a call for an audience with all of them present. There had never been anything that required the attendance of all five of them. Not after they had conquered the world at least. Whatever this meeting was about, it must have been about a rather serious issue.
“Very well. I’ll be going to my throne room then,” Golorath said as he stood up to the table and began walking towards the door, causing the floor to shake with every step. “Tell the chefs to feed what’s left on my table to the guards and prepare a new meal for me before I return. I hate eating cold food.”
The guard could only nod as sweat began to drip down his face. Preparing the overlord’s dinner was practically a battle of life and death for the kitchen staff, as the massive feast required them to put everything they had into it. To make it worse, if there was even a single mistake, whether it was something that wasn’t warm enough or not cooked properly, someone would have to face Golorath’s wrath. When this happened, it was up to the kitchen staff to find someone to place the blame upon, and this time it might very well be the guard himself. All he could do was pray that the chefs wouldn’t mess anything up.
Just as Golorath was about to walk past the guard, he turned to look down at his servant, his massive frame easily towering over the terrified man.
“As a token of gratitude, you may take something of my leftovers for yourself,” the overlord said before resuming his walk to his throne room. “I recommend the hydra stew. It was absolutely marvelous.”
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Once the loud thumps of Golorath’s footsteps had disappeared into the distance, the guard allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. His life seemed to be safe for now. Upon receiving the message and making sure it was authentic, there had been a lot of arguing over who should deliver it. All of the servants within the castle knew how dangerous it was to interrupt the overlord’s dinner, so it was essentially a suicide mission. The unlucky person had been decided by drawing lots and the guard had been the one who ended up as the loser.
Seeing as how he was in the clear for now, the guard decided to heed his master’s advice and walked up to the table. Drool began to fall from his mouth, as he was now allowed to fully take in the massive feast before his eyes without the fear of death looming over him. Cooked dragon meat, Rock Boar skewers, Tornado Eagle steak and many other luxurious foods were spread before him. Normal people could only dream of tasting just one of these, yet they were all right before him.
Upon trying to choose what to try, the guard noticed a large bowl of stew to the side. The broth of the stew itself was green in color with grilled chunks of meat floating in it. This was most likely the hydra stew that Golorath had spoken so highly of.
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Grabbing a spoon, the guard scooped a good chunk of the stew and put it in his mouth. As soon as it touched his tongue, an explosion of flavor exploded in his mouth. An involuntary moan escaped from the guard’s mouth over just how delicious the food was.
He was about to have another spoonful, but suddenly stopped. A horrible pain suddenly spread across his body, forcing him on his knees. The guard tried to struggle in order to stand up, but it was all in vain. All he ended up doing was throw up blood before collapsing to the floor and flying.
The thing about the meat of the particular hydra in the stew was that it had poison running through it. Only the most skilled of chefs could ever hope to handle such an ingredient, as the slightest of mistakes would make the meat inedible with the poison contaminating the whole thing.
Golorath had never even noticed the poison due to his natural immunity. No poison could ever so much as hurt him, let alone kill him. It wasn’t known if one of the chefs had prepared the stew in such a manner that they hoped the overlord would perish, or if Golorath knew about the poison when recommending it to the guard, but it wouldn’t matter. With the guard dead the kitchen staff wouldn’t receive the overlord’s order and wouldn’t be able to make the necessary preparations. This would lead to a further tragedy, once Golorath unleashed his fury upon his servants.
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Back with said overlord, he had made his way to his throne room. His throne was huge, as it needed to hold his massive body. The throne was made of black onyx and was decorated with the bones of some of the most ferocious beasts the Western Continent had to offer.
Golorath sat down on his throne before snapping his fingers. Upon doing this, a large holographic screen appeared out of nowhere before.
“Bring up the other lords,” the overlord commanded and the screen was divided into four equally sized screens, each showing a different person on them. These were the other Overlords. “Hello, my good friends. I heard you wanted to talk with me. What is it that would require all of us present?”
“You should know well enough, what this is about, Golorath,” one of the people in the screens said in a clearly displeased tone. “Do you have any idea what’s going on in your area?”
“I tend to leave smaller matters to my servants. Not everything needs my special attention, does it?” Golorath said with a shrug. “Is this about another resistance group that I should be aware of? If that’s the case, I’m sure my people will be more than capable of-”
“This isn’t about some trivial nuisance, you fool!” another one of the overlords yelled, clearly upset with Golorath’s nonchalant attitude. “This is about you not fulfilling on your promise between the five of us!”
“Watch your mouth. I am not one to tolerate insults,” Golorath said with a low growl, not liking the fact that accusations were now being thrown at him. “What the hell do you even mean by me not fulfilling a promise? Last time I checked, I’ve done everything that you wanted from me.”
“Don’t play stupid. You should know exactly what we are talking about,” a third overlord said. “You know damn well that Erin is running around in your territory and you have done nothing to catch her!”
“Her face is known pretty much everywhere, so her getting caught is just a matter of time,” Golorath said, waving off the accusation. “I do have to admit that she has been able to avoid capture for surprisingly long, but I’m sure it will come to an end soon. After all, what is she supposed to do?”
“Are you certain about that?” the first overlord asked. “Because it seems to me that YOU are the one in trouble.”
“Excuse me?” Golorath asked with his anger slowly rising. “I think I misheard you. Do you want to repeat that?”
“It’s exactly as he said. You’re the one in trouble from what we’ve seen,” the second one said. “Two towns in the Western Continent have faced some serious damage, with one of them getting completely destroyed! Not only that, but I heard that one of your generals, Milas Lune, has been killed! Seeing as how this all started to happen soon after Erin came to this world, it’s obvious that she’s the one behind all of this!”
“Milas… Who? Who the hell is-?” Golorath wondered out loud, not remembering the name of the fallen general right away. “...Oh right. That worm. Not much of a loss there...”
“Aren’t you the least bit concerned that one of your generals has been murdered?” the third one asked. “This is an open declaration of war against us!”
“I understand that much, but I don’t see why we should be worried,” Golorath answered. “Lune was just a tool. It was mostly the people working for him that were really worth something. Besides, are we even sure that this was done by Erin? I’ve ordered my people to keep me informed of everything in regards to her and I haven’t heard all that much about her. Hell, there’s a good chance that she died when Rockmoore was destroyed.”
The three overlords that had been speaking so far were about to speak up again, but the fourth one who hadn’t said anything up to that point finally spoke up. When this happened, all the others went silent, as he was the leader of the group, Devinolux.
“Or maybe there is something else at play,” Devinolux said in a completely calm tone devoid of any emotion that sent chills down the spines of the others. “There could be someone working behind the scenes, helping Erin out and thus leaving you in the dark. After all, we do have enemies of our own.”
“Y-Yeah, that’s true, but who in the world could it be then?” Golorath asked, somewhat shaken up by hearing Devinolux speak. Their leader was far more powerful than any of them, so no matter what conflicts The Five Overlords got into with each other, the other four made sure to keep their leader happy at all costs. “To be able to hide her that well, she would need the backing of a very powerful organization or-”
Golorath’s eyes went wide upon realizing what Devinolux was talking about. At one point there had been a group of very powerful individuals in this world that had stood against them, but had given up the fight after witnessing the power of The Five Overlords.
I see that you have finally realized who I was referring to,” Devinolux said.
“Y-Yes, I understand what you’re saying, but could it really be them? They should know just how powerful we are and that it’s better not to mess with us!” Golorath tried to argue. “After we killed one of them, the remaining four swore never to bother us as long as we didn’t bother them! Would they really break their promise like that!?”
“Whoever it may be, they should be about as powerful as them,” Devinolux said. “Keep in mind that someone was able to intercept our spell that was meant to pull Erin into my domain, only for her to fall into your lands. Now they seem to be doing their best to keep her hidden from our sights so that we can’t catch her.”
“I see… It does make sense,” Golorath said. “Does this mean that we have a new war on our hands?”
“Not yet. But I suspect it won’t be long until that is upon us,” Devinolux replied. “For now, we should look into the remaining four and see if they’re making any suspicious moves. Roslynn, Jormulox and I shall look into the ones tied to our realms.”
“Got it. You want me to do the same here on my lands as well, right?” Golorath asked with a smirk, excited about the thought of going against their old enemies once again.
“No. Keneroth will be doing that, since his area has been completely freed from their influence, he can look into your lands,” Devinolux answered. “What I want you to do is hold up your promise and deliver Erin to me like you promised.”
“Now hold on a second! You can’t just let somebody else come into MY lands like that! It goes against our agreement!” Golorath protested, not liking the idea of another overlord’s agents messing around in his lands. “I know that you want Erin in your hands real bad. Believe me, I understand the feeling completely. But you can’t just-!”
“If you do, then you understand just how furious I am with you,” Devinolux said as he narrowed his eyes, shutting up the other overlord’s excuses. “We all made a deal in regards to the people we want revenge against and how we would split then among ourselves. Currently, I am the only one who hasn’t received that which was agreed upon and now she’s in YOUR lands. You promised me that she would be delivered to me soon, yet I haven’t seen any progress whatsoever. If you realize just how bad this looks on you, I’d suggest you stop with your excuses and endless feasting and get to work. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y-Yes… Absolutely,” Golorath replied meekly. The fact that a person as powerful as him was reduced to such a state spoke volumes of how terrifying their leader truly was. “I will send my best people after her right away. Not only that, but I have an idea on how to get her.”
“In that case, I believe this meeting is over,” Devinolux stated. “We will all now go back to our duties as agreed. And I do hope to see some results next time we are talking to each other.”
“You will see results. I promise,” Golorath said. Three of the four overlords that had contacted him cut off communications right away, leaving only Devinolux with him. Just as he was about to leave as well, Golorath decided to ask one more thing. “Before you go, can I ask one more thing?”
“What is it?”
“What about that special request I made?”
“...It’s being prepared as we’re speaking. You should receive them fairly soon.”
“Thank you so much! I’ll make sure not to fail you!”
With that, the meeting was over and Devinolux cut off communications as well, leaving Golorath alone. He allowed himself to let out a small sigh of relief, as he had gotten quite worried once his master had displayed a sign of unhappiness with him. The overlord knew that he had gotten lucky, but he would need to start showing some truly positive results if he wanted to keep things the way they were.
However, not only did Golorath have plenty of skilled people working under him that could get the results he needed, but he also had a plan. And to top it all off, he had the perfect tool for said plan.
A sadistic grin spread over his face as he stood up from his throne and walked up to a small cage located in the corner of the room. Within the cage was a single person. A young woman with long blonde hair dressed in rags. Her body was shriveled and malnourished as well as covered in bruises from the tortures she was forced to endure on a daily basis. The woman looked up fearfully at the overlord towering over her just outside the cage.
“Well, it looks like the more things change the more they stay the same, huh? Erin seems to still be causing problems for me and my friends, so why don’t you help me out a bit, Stacey?” Golorath asked in a mocking tone. “After all, you are old friends from high school.”
image [https://i.ibb.co/nCJjBh1/Ch-52-Pic-2.jpg]