Seero eventually left the group, returning to Corvanus. Ateia and Taog’s emotional distress appeared to be mostly terminated at this stage, though powerful emotions flared up when they spoke with Amulius.
Seero had not decided on the man’s designation in her IFF protocols just yet. On the one hand, he was the person of interest for Ateia, and clearly quite important to the pair. On the other hand, contextual clues and conversations he had with Agedia implied he had inflicted significant damage on her friends, though he had done so in order to terminate a larger threat. Seero’s analysis concluded he should not be considered hostile as a result…but her organic half and emotional-processing threads noted him as a point of concern.
She ultimately concluded that he was not a hostile, but was also not a particularly efficient friendly given his track record as far as Seero understood it.
His conversations with Ateia, Taog, and Agedia weren’t finished yet, but Seero’s other allies were inquiring as to her status. They apparently wished to begin the negotiations, and required her presence to do so. Since Amulius’s initial hostility had been resolved and Ateia and Taog’s emotional distress had been handled, Seero calculated that she should join the negotiations, and settle the Northern Empire’s political situation.
She had subjugated a local dungeon on the outskirts of Corvanus just before her group arrived, and so returned immediately. A short while later, Legion troops guided her into the Imperial Palace, to a private conference room. There, Emperor Lucius and Princess Caecila, the leaders of the Turannian alliance, Consul Hiberius, Magister Ausonius, and Aedile Hortensus were waiting. Uscfrea and the other Turannians saluted to her, causing the other Imperials to raise their eyebrows.
But then Emperor Lucius raised even more eyebrows by breaking the silence.
“Welcome, Your Majesty Seero, Queen of the Dobhar and true friend of the Empire. I am glad to see you well.”
“Returned Greeting: Hello, Emperor Lucius. It is good to see you are in functioning and undamaged condition.”
He nodded in response. Then he glanced around at the eyes staring at him and shrugged.
“Most of us wouldn’t be in this room were it not for Her Majesty, and we remain here at her pleasure. One could say the Northern Empire as a whole wouldn’t be here if it were not for her. Under the circumstances, I no longer feel like denying reality.”
Consul Hiberius sighed.
“There is still something to be said of decorum and stature, even if at a disadvantage, Your Majesty.”
Emperor Lucius shrugged again.
“Perhaps, but we are behind closed doors, and I believe the most important party in these negotiations prefers open and efficient communication. Isn’t that right, Your Majesty Seero?”
“Response: Clear and efficient communication is generally desirable, though the exact calculations may depend on the circumstances and if the conversation involves classified intel.”
Consul Hiberius pondered for a moment before straightening his back.
“Very well, I suppose I, too, have tired of withholding my tongue in recent years. Let us speak openly then.”
Aedile Hortensus tilted his head.
“Eh? Speak openly, huh? I haven’t done that since I was a boy. This will be new.”
Emperor Lucius smiled and clapped his hands.
“Excellent. In that case, let us address the first point of business.”
He turned to Seero and made a serious expression.
“Your Majesty, how much of the Empire do you want? Or do you even want an Empire at all at this stage? You are clearly the strongest power in the North and the South, and to be honest I do not believe the Northern Empire can survive without your support. The South clearly cannot oppose you, and the East is too occupied with the Empire of the Sun. Whatever you choose to do, we all must follow.”
Consul Hiberius sighed deeply, while Magister Ausonius’s jaw dropped. Uscfrea blinked before grinning widely. Even Aedile Hortensus was rendered speechless, his jaw dropping as well.
Seero’s robotic eye flickered rapidly.
“Response: This unit has no protocols or records regarding administration or governance, and cannot devote resources and time to a major political reorganization due to ongoing hostilities against priority targets. A continuation of the existing administration is more efficient.”
Governor Aemilia then smiled sweetly.
“Though, perhaps a reorganization of the Northern Empire’s internal structure is in order?”
Emperor Lucius sighed.
“So we have to negotiate after all. Very well, let us discuss the future of the Northern Empire, then.”
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Given that Seero’s war with the Heralds of the New Dawn was still ongoing, the talks were kept short. The Northern Empire would continue on as it had previously, so the discussion primarily focused on the allocation of duties in the short term.
As such, Governor Aemilia was to be appointed as Consul Hiberna, taking over the late Noxisius’s position. As this left both Consul seats in the hands of the Hiberius family, Consul Hiberius would be made to retire once the situation permitted and a suitable replacement was found, but in no more than five years.
Meanwhile, Magister Canus would take command of all the legions of the North as the new Magister Militum, taking over Verrucosis’s position. An appointment that everyone but the man himself approved of.
Seero would also send a permanent liaison to Corvanus to represent her interests in the court. The Selkies already had someone in Corvanus, but their representative would now have much improved ability to actually participate in the discussions.
Finally, a few of the borders were to be redrawn in the future. Utrad would be reworked, and it was planned that some of its northern territories would be reassigned to Turannia, or even transferred to Seero. However, such reorganizations would have to wait, as the group agreed to deal with the situations regarding the loss of the Aesdes’ support and the Heralds of the New Dawn first and foremost.
The important part was that the Northern Empire’s administration was rebuilt, now firmly in the hands of Seero and her allies, before representatives from the South arrived for peace talks with Seero.
The negotiations were just wrapping up and the group was about to disband when Seero detected a surge of corrupted mana attempting to enter her core. After the first time, she had established a barrier of Holy Mana around her cores and her subordinate cores, so the corrupted mana did not manage to affect them.
“Warning: This unit has detected a nonstandard anomaly. There is a 92.74% probability it is related to hostile forces.”
The group’s eyes widened. Governor Aemilia’s eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean by that, Your Majesty?”
Magister Canus took a breath before straightening himself.
“Do you have any specific information, Your Majesty?”
“Response: This unit can only state that it is related to dungeons, and the Realms of Mana.”
And just a short while later, Emperor Lucius froze. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out a small pendant, that was pulsing with red light. His eyes widened.
“Your Majesty Seero, Magister Canus, we have an emergency. The Imperial Family’s dungeon is going rogue…”
Seero’s eye turned red.
“Analysis: Given the current scenario, this unit predicts with 83.56% certainty the situation represents a hostile action. Engaging dungeon termination protocols.”
Magister Canus nodded.
“Under the circumstances, assistance would be most appreciated, Your Majesty. We’ll try to assemble reinforcements as we can.”
“Affirmative.”
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It only took Seero a moment to arrive at the Imperial Family’s dungeon just north of Corvanus. She found the Imperial Knights fighting against a horde of monsters. But unlike with corrupted dungeons, the horde was a diverse one. Orcs, slimes, elementals of all sorts, various animal and plant hybrids, undead, and many others ran side by side towards the Imperial defenses.
“Command: Bombardment HQ, select targets and open fire.”
“Yes yes, Wise-Mighty-Gracious Boss-Queen!”
Seero had set up a new Monster Hangar filled with cyber-rats and cyber-spiders, with walls covered in monitors displaying the area around herself. These rats and spiders lay on cushions around the floor, closing their organic eyes as their robotic eyes began to flicker.
And then a dozen Prismatic Bombardment magic circles appeared in the sky.
Beams of all colors and affinities rained down on the horde below, vaporizing monsters on contact. Seero provided all the mana for the spells, while the rats and spiders linked to her through the CELIU network. Small groups of them worked together to operate a Prismatic Bombardment spell, spreading the mental load of spellcasting and targeting among multiple CELIU units.
Seero may have upgraded her cybernetic components so as not to over-rely on the CELIU network for computational assistance, but that did not mean she would not also make use of said method. In this case, where full Supercharging was unnecessary and there was an abundance of minimally-threatening targets, CELIU network assistance was an efficient solution.
And so within moments the horde was vanquished. Additional monster poured from the dungeon entrances but as they were bottlenecked by that entrance Seero could wipe them out with a single magic circle now. She let the other circles fade and flew straight towards the dungeon.
And so the termination of the Imperial Family’s private dungeon began.