General Ali
I was terrified. As the small air boat took me back to the plaza of Kuzimu, I felt a sense of dread gripping me. The airship had pushed into a level 5 zone and Supreme Emperor Michael had went off to the level 6 zone which I could see in the distance.
He brought back sacks of crystals and had even given me a level 6 crystal as a gift to take back. The sheer power the man had wasn’t the scary part. If it was just one man, then we might have been able to do something or work around him. It was everything else.
The soldiers, the airship, and the ability to summon monsters that could take out level 5 monsters. His teammate Summoner Michelle was just as big of a threat. She said she was weaker and had no chance against him, but the ability to suppress a large area was impossible to counter. It was the perfect duo, they each covered the major weakness of the other person.
What was more surprising was they weren’t a couple. The same with the woman who ran his Empire. Talking with the soldiers they joked that the rumors were untrue. Emperor Michael only had one love, the love of crushing his enemies, be it monsters or other people.
I slowly walked into the meeting room trying to get my thoughts in order. Our only hope was to unilaterally agree and surrender. The five members of the Military Council all gave me a look as I entered. I had issued an emergency recall, and they probably weren’t happy with me, scratch that. I knew they weren’t happy.
Taking the empty seat, I set the level 6 crystal on the table in front of me. “This is a rank 6 crystal. Supreme Emperor Michael gave it as a gift, after clearing out a level 6 zone.” It was passed around as I began to narrate what happened. The faces around the table changed from annoyed to concerned, and then finally to defeated.
A gap of one level we could have worked around. A gap of three levels was unimaginable. “Cairo has been purged. The Empire of the Nile is reforming, but they are struggling. They have all issued recall orders for their expansionary forces. They will take some zones, but will be falling back,” one of the council members said.
“What we need is to get his cooperation to crush Graystone. If we can take the city and its zones, we can look at pushing West and securing our flank,” another council member said.
“Did Supreme Emperor Michael say what he wanted?” a third council member asked me.
“He wants the cities that the Indian Sultanate used to control, where the monster was, to be left alone by nations. He plans to push his over flow population into the territory to create a Wild West,” I explained. There was half a minute of silence as everyone thought that over. One thing about all the members of the Council was that no one was rash and there was respect all around. Or at the very least the willingness not to create internal divisions.
The Council system was created since no one person was strong enough on their own and no one wanted to stick around and rule while their opposition got stronger. Everyone here dreamed about being in the position that Emperor Michael was in, but it wasn’t simple. Teams, supplies, and carts needed to be moved to support grinding efforts in level 4 zones.
“Well, we are tentatively allied with the Empire of the Nile. Have they sent word?” a council member asked.
“Yes, they are cutting off aid for our war with Graystone and sealing their boarders due to an ‘internal issue’. More like they were idiots, or that place holder Emperor of theirs was an idiot,” another council member explained.
“He also asked after research, do we have anything?” a silent council member up to now asked.
“Research? No. Everything goes into the war. We haven’t authorized anything from the communal funds, unless someone has something they think we can use, they will be compensated?” There was utter silence at that question. While we had some minor research projects, specifically on enchanting, we all knew there was no way we would match the Empire of Purgatory.
“We hand over the maps for a truce. And sell skill slots in dungeons in exchange for a negotiated peace in our favor with Graystone,” one member said.
“That could beggar us. We need skills and those points,” another replied.
“We should leave well enough alone. We have been thinking about breaking our dependency on the Empire of the Nile. In fact, they are weak. I think we should send an embassy to make peace, give large concessions to Graystone, asking Supreme Emperor Michael as the guarantor, and then turn East.” There was another stretch of silence at that.
“They have cut off aid and communication. Also, the main concern in the past was that a truce would be broken and we were weak. General Ali, how good are our forces?”
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“Strong, very strong. We have been building up a large reserve, rotating people in and out. If all five of you support, we could take and hold Cairo. But we would have to launch the attack immediately before their armies return from where they sent them,” I explained.
“The zones aren’t as defensible if we take Cairo, but if the city is secured that is a lot of land we would get. In addition, Graystone has to deal with those fanatics out West.” Everyone winced at the mention of the Holy Kingdom of God. We were both fighting Graystone, but for different reasons and they refused to communicate.
“Thinking about Emperor Michael and his personality, the Holy Kingdom of God is probably going to be melted. It was only mentioned once, but religion is outlawed in his Empire, except for Emperor Michael’s Power Church, which venerates the Almighty System and him as a demi-god. Those fanatics will question him and declare a holy war,” I explained.
“That means they will keep fighting Graystone. But if we have peace, there is a chance Graystone will be able to sell its runic technology for some aid. Or the Holy Kingdom takes a huge hit and struggles. Very well, I am in favor of handing over the maps, sending an embassy with Supreme Emperor Michael, and immediately moving all our forces to seize the city of Cairo.”
“I am in agreement as well as long as we leave open the possibility of a negotiated peace with the Empire of the Nile. We might have to give up the city, but we want the zones,” one of the council members said.
“Our clearing forces are of superior quality, since many are rotated off the front with Graystone. The Empire of the Nile hasn’t had a conflict in forever, using us as proxies. I say we aim to cut Cairo off, and push East towards Ireti. The more zones we have the more we can keep if a peace treaty is discussed. Also, they don’t have an embassy, which means the threat of Supreme Emperor Michael will be fresh in their minds. We don’t even need him to act.”
“Very well, the plan is as follows. We hand over the maps and attach an embassy with Supreme Emperor Michael. They will go along with him with the aim of passively gathering information and negotiating a treaty with Graystone, or at least a long-term cease fire. We will take the zone West, and the three zones South in contention. Gray Stone will get five zones to the West. While it puts pressure to the North, we can aim to cut that connection off if hostilities resume.” Everyone nodded at this.
“At the same time, we will gather our forces and launch them East, claiming and pushing back the Empire of the Nile as far as we can, before we negotiate a peace treaty with at least ten more zones, preferably fifteen and the city of Cairo. After that we build up again and reassess at that time. Any objections?” There were no objections or modifications to the plan as it was laid out.
Some minor details were cleared up. Like whom would be part of the embassy. In the end three council members got to send someone, while myself and another person would be in charge of the attack to the East. I would be handling the city of Cairo, while my counterpart would be clearing out the zones and coordinating that endeavor.
The maps were brought in and set on a side table, along with refreshments that had been prepared. The Council members were already in their dress clothes. After a brief discussion, we decided that I would go out and invite the Emperor inside to not be rude and the Council members would remain standing until he sat down. We had no idea about what kind of protocol they used, but we all agreed to be polite, no demands.
I left the building and went up to where an honor guard and the Emperor, Michelle, and the Captain of the airship had all assembled. I bowed to him. “Emperor Michael, The One Council would be honored to receive you at this time,” I said.
“Lead on,” he replied and I led him into the building and then to the meeting chamber. One of the soldiers stepped forward first.
“Announcing Emperor Michael of the Empire of Purgatory. Champion of the Realm. Custodian of the Avatar. Slayer of the Divine Empress.” The man himself stepped forward casually. But that was like saying a lion smiled as it approached a gazelle. There was such a huge power imbalance, we could only hope that we weren’t torn to shreds.
“Greetings Emperor Michael. I am Benjamin, a member of the Council of One and our chosen spokesperson. Let me welcome you and say that it is an honor to have you visit our city,” he said. He was the best one at speaking English, which was why he was chosen.
“It is nice. I see you have prepared the maps,” he replied while looking over to a side table.
“Indeed, I hope they are to your satisfaction. They were copied in English, but the originals are over there if you wish to have one of your people compare them,” Benjamin explained.
“No need to do that now. I trust you, and if there is a complaint, I will just come back.” The threat was clearly obvious. Thankfully the Council hadn’t seen fit to countermand my orders, so the maps were copied accurately.
“No worries, they were copied accurately and someone fluent in English checked them,” Benjamin said.
“Well, then we can establish a truce between nations, and I will allow you to dispatch an embassy to New Kochi to the West,” he said.
“We were hoping the embassy could go with you on your airship and that they would be allowed to negotiate a truce with Graystone in your presence,” Benjamin explained.
“Using me for your own ends. Don’t deny it. You want to use my presence to force a peace treaty. But why…ah, you want to attack the Empire of the Nile while they are incredibly weak and spread out. And you expect Graystone to have the technology and knowledge to trade me. So, you don’t want me helping them to attack you,” he immediately saw through our ploy instantly. He was no mere brute. The level of tension in the room sky rocketed.
“That is a good plan. And I don’t care about what your nation does. As long as the five cities to your East are not claimed by any nation, then I have no issues about these petty conflicts. Your General Ali was polite, so I will allow the embassy to travel with me, with their drop off point being New Kochi. You will have to arrange an airship or other means of contacting them yourself. In addition, I will not guarantee any peace, but I don’t mind sitting on the negotiations, as a curious third party,” Emperor Michael explained, and the tension drained out of the room.