Pushing the doors of the common hall open half an hour later, I was prepared for almost anything, except for the sight that awaited me.
Fifteen rulers were seated, while five laid lifeless on the floor. To be exact, they were sprawled out, with their throats savagely torn and their Adam's apples ripped out. Among the dead were King Louis the Nineteenth of France and Duke Hector Medici of Milan and Naples. Notably, five of the seated rulers, still alive, had hands and clothes saturated with fresh blood - Otto the Fourth, Leopold the Seventh, the van of the Celestial Empire, the Sultan of Persia, and Lair Gluathon.
As our trio entered the hall, the Emperor of Austria rose from his seat.
"Was that really necessary, Sires?" asked Oliver de Sancy, the cardinal of Novilter, scanning the room with a scowl.
"Our little disagreements could only be settled this way," Otto the Fourth replied nonchalantly, flicking a large droplet of blood from his forearm onto the floor.
"This meeting is under the church's protection..." The cardinal grimaced.
"No offense to the church's authority!" The emperor bowed briefly. "It was a fair duel, five against five. The ten noblest and most respected seconds can attest to this!"
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Ten rulers, with clean hands, nodded in agreement.
"There will be a war," Cardinal de Sancy sighed heavily.
"It was inevitable, within a year, three at most," Otto the Fourth responded, as calmly as if discussing overcooked pasta. "Everything was leading to it."
"I know," the cardinal brushed off the emperor. "But now, we lack time to prepare and minimize casualties."
Despite the bloodshed and death, I needed an answer, so I stepped forward and said one word:
"So..."
"You, the King of raigs and Men, required our unanimous decision?" The Emperor of Austria approached me, questioning.
"Yes."
"Well, you have it! As the newly confirmed universal representative of True Blood, I, Otto the Fourth Habsburg, Emperor of Austria and Bohemia, consent to establish a New Treaty. The Treaty of Equal Rights!"
He extended his hand to me. Drops of fresh blood fell from his fingers onto the floor, but it didn't bother me. Not in the slightest. Our palms met.
Three female voices simultaneously proclaimed:
"The new Treaty, the Treaty of Equal Rights, has been established! By the will of the World, this Treaty cannot be amended or broken! This is declared by us, the unborn Voices of the World, and by us, it is confirmed!"
I sensed something shifting around, something invisible to most. It was fleeting, but incredibly significant.
The sigh of relief was almost imperceptible, as if old, long-rusted gears were falling into place. This shift, undeniably important and positive, affected all the surrounding layers of reality. It touched them, and my hand vanished from Otto the Fourth's palm. Against my will, I transformed into a dim star, piercing the vault of the old monastery and shooting into the sky like a reversed meteor.
The establishment of the New Treaty redirected the energies of the world, triggering...
A Breakthrough.