Supreme Monarch

As the conversation in the inner sanctum had switched directions towards recruiting new behemoths to strengthen the position of the Alcar family. A name was suggested by the pillar of Ice, and everyone took a moment to consider that possibility.

However—

"I don't think it will be possible to convince him to join us given as his partner was a demi-human. We also don't know what race he is as his appearance is still unknown. However, even though there's no record of this, several speculations have been going around on his strength and it might be a good idea to test him."

"If I remember correctly, that report states that he fought and defeated a high-ranking member of the Zorak family even though that's not confirmed."

The room fell silent for a moment as everyone took a moment to breath.

"The question is, was that incident a coincidence, or does he have ill intent against then Zorak family."

"Well, he ended up joining the Zorak's Magic institute so that may not be the case. The only thing we know about him is that is strength is superior to most of our behemoths."

"What led to that conclusion?"

"According to the report, he escorted a few low ranked hunters into the Farbelt pass and discovered a Grade 3 Gold mine that is currently being explored by the Zoraks. There also seems to be a dangerous creature lurking within the mine as the Hunters sent there have yet to be heard from."

"I see... if those Hunters he went with are of low rank, then they wouldn't be able to tread into the Farbelt pass due to the ColdFire Drake presence. Perhaps he is the one responsible for the missing Drake."

"That seems to be the most plausible scenario. If he was able to contend with the King of the Pass even if he had only forced the creature to retreat, that means his personal strength is not something to scoff at. I recon he's at least the level of a Basic Tier Demigod."

"Hmm... if that's the case, is there a way to set Lix against the Great Demon Lord of Darknar? Perhaps if we used the people from his city, we could–"

"That's dangerous, far too dangerous. If it goes poorly, we'll make a direct enemy of Lix and the Darknar Demon Lord at the same time. The fact that his true strength is still a mystery even after all our investigation is troubling for us."

"You're right. As it is, we've already taken considerable losses. Though the dead have been revived, the Golden Circle will still be short on manpower after their encounter with the Daki tribe the other day. The Celestial Grade artifact, Staff of Irony has just been stolen, and the ice princess and assassin designated as Rain have defected. It'll take us at least several decades to recover our strength. We can't go around roasting meat next to a sleeping Dragon in this state."

The Alcar family were very particular about their involvement with the activities of any region outside theirs, and amongst the Five Great Families, they held the smallest territory and very few branch families but that hadn't diminished their authority in the least.

Their research into the development of talent had born fruit over the last few centuries and they had concentrated their strength on the six sects known as, the six circles.

They were each an elite group comprising the most talented individuals with the highest potential. All under the direct command of each of the six pillars namely, the Golden Circle, the Red Circle, the Blue Circle, the Yellow Circle, and the Black Circle.

Each circle specializes in something vastly different from its counterparts, but with the concentrated military might and support of the Alcar family. Of course, this does not include the regular military overseen by the Grand Marshall.

"Yes. We need to avoid provoking a battle on two fronts at the same time. We also don't want a repeat of what happed with the seven primordials."

At this moment, the hostility in the room seemed to swell as a chilling pressure erupted from everyone seated here. In such an atmosphere, almost normal people was suffocate under such pressure.

"Those filthy Oceanid."

"Those bastard nymphs."

"To think such a worthless bunch is causing us so much trouble. Ridiculous."

The Alcar family was currently at war with the Dryads of the Vermilion Rainforest, located in the Far East. Originally, the Alcars and the dryads had a cooperative relationship.

Well, it was more like a common ground based relationship as their hostility towards heteromorphic beings had not yet extend that Far East and they could still work with the Dryads of the forest towards achieving a common goal.

However, that relationship had been broken due to certain interferences, and the Alcar's was now engaged in a serious conflict with the dryads.

They had built a research base at Gresac Lake, at the capital village of the Dryads and trends. According to their original plan, the village should have been destroyed in a few years after they've completed the research they were conducting away from the prying eyes of the Greats, but that plan was slowly going off-script.

"How about a ceasefire with them for now?"

"Don't be foolish. How much blood do you think has been spilled in the fighting up till now? Firstly, how can we not take revenge for that girl?"

"That child–"

After saying this, Caz smiled bitterly as he seemed to have recalled something rather distasteful.

"–How is she?"

"Maintaining her post guarding the underground ruin."

"Umm, we need to give her a chance to rescue her brother. If the nymphs are still keeping him alive, then they have other plans for him rather than just as a war prisoner. That may prove to be a more troublesome outcome than just killing him."

"Indeed. It was him who enabled her to become a vessel. If he dies, she might become unstable. Or worse, if they attempt to us him agaist her, that would be dangerous to say the least."

"Indeed... We have to make rescuing him a priority and if things come to that, assassinating him to prevent the worse outcome. I also don't like the idea of those bastards keeping one of our own hostage."

Listening to that, pained looks appeared on the faces of everyone present. As devout believers of the unholy word, none of them could stomach the idea of demi-humans treating a demon as though they were superior.

"..Frankly speaking, I take offense with the priests tasked with that girl's education. They thought her to suppress her desires and now her personality has been warped."

"Well, that might be fair but it was from a time before we perfected the process so you could say that's our fault."

"…What a troublesome topic."

"Still, as the village of the dryads is located deep in the Far East, the Daki tribe may respond in kind if we deploy that girl, and worst of all, it may even cause the AngelKin to take action giving the relationship between the elven continent and the Daki tribe."

"That may have been the reason why they had attacked the Golden Circle during their subjugation of the Red Drake the other day."

"Indeed, it was a stroke of bad luck we were unable to locate the ColdFire Drake. That addition would've strengthened our force immensely. However, we were forced to go all the way to the Far East for the Red Drake and ended up suffering losses in that unexpected attack. I never imagined that the Golden circle could be forced to retreat by so few people."

Everyon now had soured looks on their faces as they heard that. The Golden Circle was their most powerful sect and their trump card agaist the other Great Five. So for them to suffer such a massive loss was a big blow to theor prides.

"Tht can't be helped, no one could've predicted that the Daki tribe would actually make a move. Normally they would rather just mind their business no matter what's happening around tnem. Even we, don't dare bother them so why?"

"That's still under investigation."

"Well, the God Tier artifact, Absolute Mind Weaver, will probably not work on that fellow who can use origin magic, unlike with the Red Drake. How about using it on the Darknar Demon Lord?"

Silence descended over the meeting room. It was a proposal that they were thinking, of but could not speak about. A God Tier artifact was world defying and thus, even someone of his level could fall under its influence.

"…It's not a bad idea, but the fact that we don't know the true power of his demigod subordinates makes me uneasy."

"…If only it didn't have such strict limitations, there would be no problems."

"Head Master, never utter such blasphemy before us again. That artifact once belonged to the demon god, to complain about such a gift is an atrocity."

After the rebuke from one of the six pillars, the old man— who was the headmaster of the Magic academy— bowed his head deeply.

"My apologies, I misspoke."

"Do not apologize to me, you'll have to pray for mercy from the demon god after this is over.

"I understand."

"Then, back to the topic. We are all against using Absolute Mind Weaver on the Demon Lord?"

"It's too dangerous."

"We could've sent the Red drake to cause problems in his city but with the Dark drake Patrolling the skies, that is no longer a viable option…"

There was no point in hoping for what was not there.

"It can't be helped. Should we send a messenger to talk with that Daki tribe about the Dryads?"

"Who knows what they'll ask for?"

"Let's just accept if the request isn't too unreasonable. After all, this is for the sake of that girl's brother."

There were no objections. Everyone here was deep in introspection. All except one.

"Fufufu–"

A quiet chuckle rang out, and everyone's gazes shifted to the person who had made the sound with questioning looks.

"Fufu. With the ones involved in this situation dead, you lot have suddenly become quite the compassionate bunch."

While those words might've sounded disrespectful, the tone wasn't and no one here had taken offense by it.

"… we aim to save the demon race from destruction, and that includes the holy vessels. I think we can be forgiven for a little abuse of our power if it's to save a comrade and prevent any further problems from arising."

"..I have no reason to object if this does not result in any losses on our side."

As he heard this, the Grand Marshal smiled bitterly.

"With that exaggerated rumors spreading around about the Darknar lord. It might be better to control the information flow rather than letting it spread like wildfire."

This was a suggestion that had been made fairly often over the centuries. It was important for the Alcar family to maintain a certain standard within the Rantre Lahoured region.

"There is no need for that. The change this time is too drastic and its spread is almost intentional. It would be too difficult to control the narrative properly so it's best if nothing is done to filter it."

"If that's the case, what do we do about our black sheep. It may be incomplete but she still has the innate ability of our family."

They all had complicated expressions on their faces.

"I'm not quite sure, but we may need to observe things a bit more. Her position in their family seems rather high so it might be hard to retrieve her."

"We may be able to take care of the dark elf, although her sister was taken captive the brother is currently the Second Rank of the Black Circle, with our help he should be able to handle it."

"Interesting, plus we would have plausible deniability giving as they are siblings. The excuse that they had a personal grudge should prevent an open decree of war. With our forces still recovering, that's the one thing we can't afford."

"Hmm... still, the fact that their position in the family is so high is indeed troubling."

There were several sighs in the room.

"The most important thing right now is to handle our conflict with the dryads as quickly as possible. The involvement of the Daki tribe has made things a bit complicated but it's still impossible for us to lose. We need to be able to focus our attention on this new demon lord before things get even more out of hand."

"We still need to strengthen our forces though, the Red Drake is strong but not enough to turn the tides. I think it might be time to bring out those golems we've spent so much money on."

"Good idea. Although it would be an ideal to keep that as a trump card for a while longer, now is the best opportunity to test their capabilities in actual combat."

"Geez, those things were expensive. How do we always end up spending more money on such projects only to never use them."

Self-deprecating chuckles echoed through the room.

"At least we'll get to see these ones in action."

"Indeed..."

After the laughter stopped, the Great Demon Lord, Cain Lyra Alcar spoke again:

"Then, everyone, let's begin the next topic. Ike, do continue."