Genius Mage in a Cultivation World

"Sir, the Mugen, Quartz, Rubystone, and Hubal mercenary companies were destroyed before they managed to join forces with the main army," a three-star expert bent his back, slamming his head against the dirty ground while making a report. 

For a three-star expert, the biggest powerhouse in the world that the common folk knew about, to prostrate himself like that was definitely not a usual sight. 

But taking into account who he was reporting to, this behavior hardly came as a surprise. 

"Thanks for the report. Now, get lost," Tytus said, leisurely waving the man away. Once the overqualified messenger left, he turned his head towards the rest of the group. "I bet you didn't expect that," he said as a small smile flickered on his lips. 

"Those damned barbarians," Jeah muttered through his tightened teeth. "I'm that close to getting out of my way and killing them with my own hands," he said, clasping his right fist into an open palm of his left hand. 

"Now, now, there is no need to get so agitated," Consal patted the Star Emperor's back. The ability to placate this choleric man was the only reason why he continued to walk in circles around the room instead of setting himself comfortably in one of the pillow sets that the rest of the group was using. "Don't you think this would be exactly what they want?" he asked as he moved away from the man.

"What about me, then?" Faglar asked, his eyes firing up with excitement. "Since only this idiot bothered to make a name for himself, they wouldn't know what hit them," he added, leisurely trying to find a way to escape this boring meeting and go amuse himself with some fight. 

"Do you even know where to find them?" Consal asked, rolling his eyes at the stupid suggestion. "For now, we are the ones who have no idea what hit us. If not for the few survivors they intentionally left for us, we would have no clue at all," he added, gently pressing his lips together. 

'This entire thing is starting to get on my nerves,' Consal thought. This lingering doubt was something he would never dare to reveal to others, yet it was something that made him seriously reconsider the situation. 

"I doubt they want to draw any of us out," Mukken countered in his usual, silent voice. "They are attacking small army groups before they can join the main force. This alone proves that it's not the able few but incompetent many that they fear the most," he said before closing his mouth once again. 

"Good point," Consal agreed before forcing a small smile on his lips. "Or that's what they want us to think. Or they don't have any real plan in the first place," he added several other options explaining the strange behavior of their enemies. 

"They just want my head," Jeah moaned in annoyance. "They took out one of my envoys, yet the structure of power remains unshaken. Even an idiot can realize that my envoy wasn't the true emperor but a marionette instead," he said, clenching his hands into fists. 

"Well, that's why I believe we should just proceed with the plan," Consal said, scanning all of his companions gathered in a single room. 

'With our power alone, we could turn the entire continent around. But if that's the case, why am I feeling so anxious about it all?' he thought, gently biting on his lips. 'Oh boy, I really wish I didn't take that idiot's bait,' he thought, sending a hateful glare towards Jeah. 

"And just let them bite us in behind?" Jeah asked, clearly unsatisfied with such an idea. "Can't you just go out and deal with those buggers?" he asked, turning his face to his elders. 

"And where should we strike, huh?" Tytus asked, rolling his eyes for the second time in the short span of the last few minutes. "An overwhelming power and Overlord's status doesn't mean we can monitor the entire continent. Or did you forget that it's actually your job to do so, mister Star Emperor?" he asked, throwing the reality right in Jeah's face. 

"And do you think that it's easy to be conscious of nearly the entire continent all at once?" Jeah threw the punch back, leaning forward in his seat. But instead of continuing the fight of words, he lowered his head for a moment only to mutter, "the fact that they don't have any aura at all doesn't help." 

'Isn't that the source of my worries?' Consal thought, clenching his hands. 'We are going against an enemy that doesn't make any sense. An enemy we know nothing about,' he thought when a sudden chill traveled down his spine.

Alerted by this innermost feeling of his body, Consal looked around, only to notice a silent gaze of Mukken on himself. If the chill before was caused by the unknown stare, then now it increased tenfold. 

Out of all the overlords gathered in this place, Mukken was both the strongest and the strangest. Rarely speaking up and never wasting his words on useless chitchat, he was the most mysterious out of them all. While the domain of every other Overlord in the group was clearly defined, Mukken was the exception that confirmed its rule.

'I wonder what is he thinking?' Consal thought, fighting off the shiver caused by Mukken's stare. Outside of Tytus, Conseal was the only one aware of just how peculiar Mukken was. 

The first Overlord to appear in the world. The unannounced leader of their party and protector of the existing order. Yet, a man who never bothered to carve out his own dominion or establish his influence when the group divided the world between themselves. 

A mystery. 

"Well, there is no use in debating. We won't bring back the lost troops just by talking," Faglar suddenly said, standing up from his seat. In his eyes, the fires of enthusiasm were already burning. "Let's just move out the troops we have in the warcamp. If we wait for any longer, we risk getting stuck behind the barrier," he said, clearly wishing to turn his suggestion into a command. 

"If it's the barrier you are worried about, then I will take it down," Mukken suddenly said, his expression just as stoic and inscrutable as ever. "What's more, this war will decide who my successor will be," he added as an extremely rare, small smile appeared on his lips. 

"What?" Consal muttered as his eyes widened in shock.