Royal Castle, eting Room...
The grand chamber was deathly quiet. Leon, Adwin, and a dozen high-ranking nobles and generals sat around a massive obsidian round table, each staring at the walls, the ceiling, or the grain of the wood; anywhere but at one another.
’What the hell is this even about ?’ Leon wondered, already bored.
*Knock-knock.*
Every head snapped toward the double doors.
"Co in," Adwin ordered.
The doors swung open. A young man in his mid-twenties strode in, erald hair tied back, matching green eyes bright with excitent. In his arms he carried two faintly glowing crystal orbs and a rolled-up white cloth.
"Good evening, my lords," he said, bowing low. "I am Ruben, Lord Adwin’s nephew and I will be your host for today’s eting."
Adwin smiled proudly. "Ruben is the finest magical artificer of his generation. He makes things that people can’t even think about."
Leon gave a neutral reply as he looked at Ruben "I see."
Ruben wasted no ti. He placed the orbs on the table, drew a slender silver wand, and flicked it. The white cloth unfurled and floated upward, pinning itself to the far wall like a perfect screen. With another gesture, every candle in the room snuffed out at once.
Darkness swallowed the chamber for a heartbeat; then Ruben began to chant in a low, lodic voice.
"Aldreso... Frunesio de gutrenmo hulo astrides..."
The orbs ignited with soft white light. Beams shot out, converged, and struck the cloth. A crisp, glowing map of the known world appeared on the makeshift screen.
Murmurs of admiration rippled around the table as everyone started looking at Ruben...
"Brilliant..."
"A true prodigy."
"Never seen anything like it."
"He can really beco sothing with that talent of his."
...
Leon yawned behind his mask, utterly unimpressed.
’Congratulations, kid. You invented a fucking projector with magic. anwhile I could’ve mastered Last Rise another thousand tis, fucked two sex hungry bitches, or just made so damn good pizza.
Wait, now that I think about it... I should really make so pizza. It’s not like it’s that hard to make. Haa... I don’t know how long am I going to be stuck in this stupid eting.’
Ruben continued, his voice steady.
"These orbs record mana imprints of events. Infuse them once with mana at a certain place, and you may replay the scene forever of whatever happens at that place. But that is rely the tool.
What you see now on this cloth is our continent. Twelve days ago, in the northern Frostfang Mountains here..." a red dot pulsed on the map, "our scouts discovered the stripped skeleton of a demon, devoured by its own kind.
Deeper in, we located a cave harboring twelve surviving demons. When so of our soldiers engaged in combat, out of forty... thirty-six were slaughtered. The demons fled with three stolen supply carriages, now laden with... human corpses.
Their destination is this point we have nad Maximux." Another marker flared. "It is the farthest a demon army can march from their holand without starving to death. Beyond Maximux, they require sustained feeding. Those three carriages now carry enough ’food’ to bring roughly three hundred demons across the starvation line and establish a forward base in our mountains.
And if that happens, we could be looking at a very huge problem that can-"
A grizzled general snorted. "Three hundred? We have over three hundred thousand soldiers baring sharp swords. We can just crush them like pests and be done."
Ruben shook his head grimly. "That is exactly what they want. Their goal is not conquest yet; it is supply theft. Every soldier we send becos additional rations for the next wave that is walking from the demon kingdom to point maximux.
They will engage in fight, kill so of our soldiers and run away... If we killed 150 demons and lost 300 soldiers in the battle, we just made way for 900 more demons to walk into the mountains and this process will keep repeating general until they just walk all over us.
Alternatively, if we do nothing, demons breed nine tis faster than humans and birth litters of ten or more. Leave them thirty days, and those mountains will crawl with a fully functioning demon colony, this territory will beco inaccessible to humans and if they grew enough numbers... Sa thing will happen and they will launch a full fledged attack on us.
We have already dispatched an elite strike force to an intercept point on their alternate route. Leaderless demons are easy prey as they don’t have guidance on what to do. But the mont the Demon King realizes we are choking his army, he will begin escorting the caravans with Demon Generals.
The Demon king himself cannot yet cross the starvation threshold; he is still too weak after the last war.
That is the situation, my lords."
With a final flourish of his wand, the projection vanished, candles relit themselves, and the cloth drifted gently back into Ruben’s hands.
Silence fell again, heavier this ti.
Every pair of eyes turned to Adwin, waiting for his orders.
"A war is coming, gentlen. Not next year. Not next season. Now.
Sir Michael," Adwin said, turning directly to Leon, his voice very serious. "I need two hundred thousand troops from your kingdom; soldiers, battle mages, and longbow holders.
Together we strike point maximux with an overwhelming force and teach the demons that humans are no longer their prey."
Leon t his gaze, expression unreadable behind the mask.
"I will have to think about it. You will have my reply on the day after tomorrow." Leon replied with a neutral expression.
’So that’s why I got the fancy invitation and the free wine,’ Leon thought, a cold smile forming beneath the mask. ’Well played, Your Highness.’
Adwin inclined his head. "I am not twisting your arm, Michael. But understand this: if my kingdom falls, yours is next. United, we survive. Divided, we beco dinner."
The room held its breath, waiting for Leon’s next word.
"I understand."
Leon simply rose, chair scraping against stone, and walked toward the door without looking back.
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