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Chapter 506: Gathering of the Alliance (2)
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President Buzzard of the Butteo Country couldn’t believe his eyes and ears. For the sake of Siva, not only was he rebuked, he was also deemed as a braggart who dismissed the existence of that so called “Immortal” —the Emperor of Tiara.
Is it really true?
—an immortal……
Many people in the conference room had this same kind of thought. There was an Immortal in Terroa? Why haven’t they become aware of it?
All of them in the High Seats are Quasi-Immortals, but why weren’t they able to detect him? Just how large was the gap between a True Immortal and a Quasi-Immortal like them?
How is it that Gaia was so sure that the “Immortal Emperor” actually exists?
Have they met before?
What more, her words were clear as well. Siva is here in behalf of that Immortal Emperor and that he brought news that could mean the survival of the Terran Race as a whole.
President Buzzard was unable to speak another word and he glared at Siva who only sat there on his designated seat and staring at them with traces of a smile on the corner of his eyes.
“You done?” he coldly asked the Terrans. “If you really want to leave this meeting, you can freely go and no one will stop you since we can’t. But I can assure you that once you forego listening to what I have to say, then when the times that you need my help, you can expect nothing and that I would even stand on a high ground and watch you all burn in the fires of war that will ensue.”
Everyone narrowed their eyes, some even panted as they felt rage swelling up in their chests.
How dare a King of an unknown kingdom of fools treat the Terran High Seats like they were all his subjects, people who he can treat with full disdain and mockery?
“You speak of war as if it is coming… what do you know that we don’t? What makes you qualified to talk as if we’re indeed going to need your help?”
Joffrey spoke with smoking anger. When Siva had addressed them as “you”, he also addressed all of them at the same time.
“You don’t have the qualifications!” shouted one of the familiar ‘priests’ of the Terran High Seats.
“What makes you qualified to step on top of our heads? Asgard? Hah! What kind of trashy country name is that? How dare you treat the Terran High Seats like we are your underlings! You are not an inch bit worthy of us listening to your words!” This was another of the High Seats on the same level as Gaia. Although Gaia could talk down Buzzard, it didn’t mean that she can do so on every member.
The Pontiff and the Treant King who talked just now were two of the five people that can talk to Gaia on the same level.
Siva remained stern and silent, letting the men and women of the Terran Alliance talk down their stances. Only a select few, those Gaia had called to attend this meeting personally like her, kept the neutral silence they’ve held from the beginning.
Meanwhile, Gaia transmitted her message through the connection she had on the Mini Realm Siva had given her.
“Please forgive them, My Lord, for they are all just ignorant of the gravity of the situation.”
“I am not that evil, Gaia. I know that. I will give the fools some time to think over things themselves. I also plan to take this step by step.”
Gaia bit her lip, shut her eyes, and slightly lowers her head as if making the scene in front of them a passing episode of a Chinese drama series.
“Immortal?” spoke Buzzard. “Even if we say that an Immortal has indeed risen from our ranks, this only meant that we could call upon him to lead the resistance against the Seven Dragon Clans.”
“Lady Gaia wouldn’t lie with this.” the Treant King said. “Given her dignity and grace as one of the Terran High Seats, I can tell that this information is indeed legit.”
“If so,” added another High Seat, “Then could we ask the Elf High Priestess to request a dialogue with the said Immortal?”
“Who is he, by the way?” asked Joffrey.
While the Terran High Seats ignored Siva, they all put their attention and ‘flattery’ towards their Elf High Priestess.
Gaia raised her head after listening to them but her expression contained no traces of her earlier but of anger and only the indifference they were all used to seeing in the past.
She looked around them and sighed as if helpless at the current sight of them, especially when she looked over at Buzzard’s attention.
“Do you really think that this Terran Alliance is as great as you think it is?”
Simultaneous gasps of air could be heard. What does she mean by questioning the greatness of the Terran Alliance?
“Have you actually ever been in the surface?” she added and looked around the alliance seats and exhaling another sigh, “Up there, the air might be turbid and full of impurities, and the Mana Density is as thin as a sheet of paper, but did you not know that although we experience Monster Tides of unprecedented levels almost every other year, the surface continents face much more threats than us here below.”
Her words were easy to decipher. It means she’s rebuking, insulting, and stepping on their prides as the “elites” of the Terran Civilization in Terroa.
Every country is Terrafirma was special. They are filled with Terrans of pure blooded lineages while the people on the surface, the five tribes left for a fate of self-support and slow extinction, were the vanguard or the filter in case the Demons actually do one day attack en masse once again.
What Gaia practically meant by her words is that the Terrans of Terrafirma was below those lesser tribes who didn’t have any sense of unity that they abandoned 25cycles ago when they migrated to the Inner Continents.
Gaia only paused for a moment and continued, “I am one of you, a High Seat, but I’ve never even once looked down on the surface people. And in this day, right this instant, I am looking at the faces of you all thinking of using the only Immortal of our dwindling civilization as if you had every and all right to dictate what he had to do… aren’t you all simply insulting the dignity of an Immortal too much?”
She was really harsh in her words and she clearly states her distaste towards the Terrans who, just a little while ago, didn’t believe an Immortal and now was thinking of actually “asking” the Immortal to attack their sworn enemies, the Dragons.
—and this was all spoken at the presence of the Clan Leader of the Vajras.
These Terrans… didn’t have any sense of shame.
“I’m disappointed at all of you.” Gaia declared and fell silent, her poise and detached dignity coming as a wall that prevented even the High Seats from uttering a word in reply.
“Nicely said!” Siva, finding the silence amusing, spoke in a loud and mocking tone. “In these years of you all existing in this side of Terroa, haven’t you all thought that perhaps, after your favourable environment, resources, and legacies available for training, there is a reason as to why, after you all reached your levels of power, you can’t proceed to the next step and be a full-fledged Immortal? It might be presumptuous of me but have you all thought of why it is so?”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Are you insulting us?” Joffrey snapped at him, his eyes containing all his hatred and malice. “It’s not for someone like you, a criminal and a fugitive, to be worrying about.”
“Criminal... in my years of destroying planets and ravaging worlds, I was never called that title… not even once. And yet here, a mere mortal speaks of such words to me… ah, truly, the Terrans that had survived the times were only those rats who did not know the enormity of the heavens.”
Siva spoke these words with a low voice as if he was just recalling it in memory. The High Seats did not pay attention to it and majority even scoffed at the words, with some finding it anger-inducing for Siva had just addressed himself as if he was some God or something, someone who could address all Terrans as mere Mortals. Some, even, took a heavy note on being called rats and this ignited a lot of cursing and even fingers pointed straight at Siva’s face.
Only Gaia and Mohindra who knew about his real identity looked on with fear and —or perhaps— it was irony reflecting on their gazes.
Siva heaved a sigh and straightened his pose on his seat, speaking to them, “I hold information that can help you all flush away the termites eating at the heart of the Terran Society. If you cooperate with me, I will promise you that the blessings of Asgard will be showered on your dear Alliance but if you do not agree, I will abandon you and I will never offer the same help again, even if you beg at my doorstep when your cities are burning one by one... so, I will only offer you this one chance.”
“WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!!” roared the Real@D rendering of the Treant King who wore a crown made of golden branches, woven together into a ring with glittering gems and jewels. “You are in no position to demand anything in front of this council, and further is in no position to speak to us as if you are on our level!”
“You are merely a single Terran!” added a proud King Joffrey. “Even if you are a benefactor of the Lightning Dragon Clan, or the Elven Tribe, or who in the world could bow their heads on you, you’re still nothing in front of this council. You are bound to show us respect and reverence as we’ve been the very ones guarding your so called surface continents from the storm of the war on this side of the planet!”
Pontifex Romano, the High Seat belonging to the Divine Crown Theocracy, regained his calm and spoke at Siva with bland indifference, indicant of is deep disdain: “Even if you are sent here by the Immortal Emperor, the fact remains that you are just a mere messenger to deliver his message. If he said that you have to deliver this information to all of us, then you should just do so without even asking anything in return. In the end, it is all for the sake of the continued prosperity and unity of our civilization, why are you making it hard by putting a demand of unjust treatment, making your so called ‘Kingdom of Asgard’ on the same level as our High Seats?”
Although his intonations seemed to depict his and perhaps many others’ neutralities, coming from a wise sage who was not in the least affected by the mundane, his voice and delivery, and also his very expression while he talked, all suggested a deep mockery and fury of Siva’s earlier statement.
Of the High Seats of the Terran Alliance, the Treant King, Pontifex Romano, and the silent King of the Wolves, were the three people who were at the same level as Gaia.
They are the only ones who can speak this way to a person ‘trusted’ and ‘suggested’ by Gaia, one of the —if not the most— respected of the Seats.
Siva knew that this might be the very ‘specialness’ that Gaia had once mentioned about her position and status in the overall structure of their council.
The rest of the High Seats were there because all of their ‘efforts’ and ‘merits’ were considered as a racial unity rather than a significant part of their entire Terran Inner Continent Forces. In other words, their significance in the council was the full number of their race’s abilities rather than Military Merit centering on actual military strength.
An example of this was Joffrey’s Noah Race, the Kingdom of Bardavon may be a large country and a High Seat in the Alliance Council, but the Noah is limited in number and almost all of them were all assigned only in limited numbers of warships.
But even then, the House of Noah —and not as the King of Bardavon— is what earned Joffrey the seat as a High Seat… although it remains true that his attitude, thinking, and mentality wasn’t fit for the status of a High Seat. Adding to that, Joffrey is still indeed wise knowing this weakness that’s why he focused his country’s economy into the production of Warships, which then became their national strength, which then became his ticket and reason to being assigned as a High Seat——
—All because they capitalized on the Racial Ability of the Noah Race.
Unlike the Werewolves of the Cynthiana Republic, the Ents of the Treant Kingdom, the [Devotees] of the Divine Crown Theocracy, and the very few in number but elite Elves of Rivendell, the rest of the countries in the alliance were made up of the rare low numbers of the Terran Races.
Aside from the naturally low numbers of the Elves and the now —only— Vulpine in Terroa, almost all “Terran Races” in the Inner Continents are very few in numbers. Yet, the sheer number of these ‘races’ in turn are so great that the sum population of all of them combined created the countries of the Inner Continents.
That’s why “pure countries” held a special place in the Terran Alliance Council.
Still, of the “pure” countries, it was the Dwarven Kingdom alone that was not a High Seat member despite them being made up purely of Dwarves.
Why it was so is because of the pure countries. It was only them who do not have the legacy left by the God who birthed them.
(AN: remember that one drop of God Blood can create an entire civilization. And there are millions of Gods in the Era of Gods back then. There are even millions more of them mortal planets that were scattered in the Universe; that’s why it took Siva billions of years and yet only taught 10% of the entire population about the Immortal Path.)
The “Dwarves” were supposed to be good at the art of crafting, but in the contemporary times, the Legacy itself of their God Father, Nanoduren, had gone missing when the genuine Dwarf Clan of the Dwarves vanished along with their home planet during an unknown ancient cataclysmic event.
The so called Dwarf Kingdom of today was just as skilled as the craftsmen in the surface continents or in any other else. And although the details of their creations are more intricate and refined, this is still a “feature” that can be replicated using the PNF that Janus introduced to the Terrans.
As such, albeit a pure country and still retained a moderately acceptable military strength, they had already lost their right to become one of the High Seats of the Terran Alliance.
It was this unique status of the Dwarves that made them an open-secret joke amongst the people of the High Seats during gatherings like these.
Even more, because of their history, whether it’s intentional or not, that even Gaia cannot point out, the Dwarves’ best craftsmen aren’t allowed to get more than three PNFs for themselves.
As such, the Dwarves’ plan to redeem themselves over the thousands of years of being a joke in the circles of Pure Countries became smoke in front of the true High Seats who easily manipulated the gullible mentality the King of Noah had.
For the past five decades, the Dwarves have tried to ask for issuance of more than three PNFs per Dwarf Craftsman, and although they were able to get past the [Council of Elders] in Jeremiah who’s the one who screened the applicants, they were still stopped at the last screening table of the High Seats of the Inner Continents’ Terran Alliance.
As much as they wanted to protest, their voice in the table, the Elves, was only one vote amongst the majority who voted against their request.
Why there was such a majority in the vetoing of their request was never told, even Gaia could only shake her head and console the Dwarves.
Nevertheless, the Dwarves weren’t the only ones to have lost their legacies. Many reclusive Terran Races in the Inner Continents are on the same boat as them. Some even failing to obtain the right to a seat in the council; thus, it can also be said that the Dwarves’ status in the big picture of the Terran Alliance was very… special.
Prince Duren wanted to speak a word in but he could only grip the armrest of his seat and glance at Gaia who was the one that invited them here to attend in person and to (no matter what happens) stand on the side of Siva along with her.
Seeing that now, Siva had not only managed to provoke the council but also successfully aroused the ire of the High Seats aside for Gaia, Duren couldn’t help but feel that their Kingdom will be further shunned and disdained by these [Seats] because they sided with the wrong person —or will side with the wrong person.
He wanted to ask Gaia something but he only saw her look at the council with fear and face of irony.
Duren’s intelligence told him that she wasn’t afraid for Siva’s sake but afraid for the sake of the Terran Alliance.
It was weird, yes, but his gut instinct told him so, otherwise, and this was the reason why he shut his mouth and chose to trust the dignified Elf.
This was the reason why he remained quiet and only looked on passively at the unfolding scene.
“I say.” Spoke of the ‘normal’ seats, “We should all investigate whether this Asgard is a sham of an organization or not…”
“I agree!”
“I agree as well.”
“Do it immediately!”
“Do it today!”
At the jest of one, the voices of the crowd soon all followed. Like a river, they trailed the flow with the knife called “majority’s decision” pointed at a questionable individual like Siva.
Waves of voices erupted, condemning sins and all kinds of accusations at Siva with just one primer.
Then, Gaia who couldn’t help it any longer, with a cool gaze hiding her furious heart, surveyed the crowd and spoke acidly, “Do you all mean to say that I, staking my name to this meeting’s purpose and aim, had a questionable judgement that I will invite a person who represented the name of the Immortal Emperor, requesting cooperation on the eradication of a traitorous organization that sided with our mortal enemies, and that all of this is but a trap designed to divide us or even infiltrate our domain, is that it?”
When Gaia spoke using her “seat” as a stake, the crowd of finger-pointing individuals silenced.
And then, Pontifex Romano said, “Who knows? It was you who requested us to go personally into this meeting. It was also you who spoke of some Immortal in the Surface Continents that we aren’t able to detect. It was also you who kept on siding with Siva over and over, insisting that the purpose of this meeting is indeed for the sake of survival of our Terran Civilization! It is all with your name, your status, and your dignity and honor as prize at stake! Whether they are right or wrong, whether this accusation is right or wrong, it was all YOUR idea in the first place to gather everyone in this meeting…!!”
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…and this meeting was just getting started!!
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Next Chapter: Clashing! More clashing!!