Throne Room,

2:09 p.m. 18th Banem 1092

"LONG MAY HE REIGN!"

The powerful chant rocked the throne room as King Parissius let go of Kashi and rose to his feet, pulling the daeben up with him. "Thank you," he said once again as he patted the daeben's shoulder. "Let me handle it from here."

Kashi winked and then grinned as he whispered, "Give 'em hell."

King Parissius patted Kashi's shoulder and then stood next to the daeben. Facing his kneeling subjects, the king called out in a warm voice, "Please rise." The subjects chanted one last time and then rose to their feet, eyes trained on the king.

"My ministers," King Parissius began as he looked to the ministers. "I trust the Hopeful Maggots have done enough to acquit themselves in your eyes." The ministers responded with a loud affirmation, leading the king to continue his address, "I am happy to hear that, but saddened by the reality that this was necessary." The king shook his head as he lamented, "The Hopeful Maggots have been nothing but friends to the Royal Family, and what have we repaid that with, but scorn and ridicule?"

"Alas, I am to share in some of the blame," lamented King Parissius with a sigh. He quickly raised his hand, quelling the ministers' dissenting cries. "No, it is true. I have been made privy to everything the Hopeful Maggots have done over the past months. Every project and plan Ms. Lightwood here has brought to my attention. However, for fear of leaks, I decided to keep these details secret until a time when they could not be sabotaged by our enemies." The king shook his head as he said, "Perhaps I should have trusted Rosendun's ministers more, but..." The king's eyes turned red with rage as he glared at Zitch. "Ministers like Zitch here remind me of why I chose caution."

"My Lord!" Zitch cried out in shock, immediately falling to his knees and groveling before the king's feet. "Please! This subject only said what he did for the sake of Rosendun! For our people's land!"

"For our people?" King Parissius spat with disgust. "You dare claim to care for the people at this juncture?" Despite his rage, the king calmed himself as he questioned the old man, "Fine. Let it not be said that King Parissius is a tyrant who makes one-sided decisions. I will give you a chance, Zitch. Tell me, how did you come to learn all these sensitive information about the daeben? Among your intel is information even I am not yet privy to, so they could only have occurred within the past few days."

Zitch, trembling, quickly said, "My Lord! For the sake of Rosendun, I have trained a secret spy force. I was always suspicious of the Hopeful Maggots' intentions, so I sent the forces to follow their every move."

"Oh?" King Parissius muttered and then asked with a tight smile, "How long have you had this force? Your information is quite broad."

"For several months, Your Majesty," Zitch claimed with a loud shout. "I dedicated most of my revenue to creating this force for the country."

"Oh? So you have had this force for several months but never thought to bring it up until now?" King Parissius questioned, gaze turning frosty. "Is there some reason behind this action?"

"U-um," Zitch stammered, realizing he had seriously messed up just then. "Th-th-that's not entirely the case, Your Majesty." Luckily, despite his panic, Zitch was intelligent enough to find a solution and once again throw shade at the Maggots. "I was afraid, Your Majesty. If the Maggots knew I was watching them, they might come after me! Everyone knows just how much influence Leila Lightwood holds in the capital! There are even some who call her the 'Queen without a Crown!'"

Leila's brows furrowed, but before she could speak, King Parissius signaled her with his right hand. Complying with his request, Leila relaxed and watched the proceedings. It was easy to forget because he usually deferred to her judgment, but King Parissius was definitely no fool. He was an extremely intelligent man, just a humble one (well, except for his narcissistic tendencies).

King Parissius smiled as he focused on Zitch. "I understand. You were scared of the Maggots and thus did not wish to expose your forces." The king walked over to the old man and crouched next to him. With a cold smile, he asked, "Why then did you choose this moment to speak? This moment, which coincidentally would destroy any chance of Rosendun's alliance with Merriheim and Serisis? Did you suddenly overcome your fear? Is that it?"

Each of King Parissius' questions stabbed right to the heart of the matter, opening the other minsters' eyes to the strangeness of the situation. Yes. Why did Zitch pick this exact moment to speak, and in public no less? If he had fears, he could have requested an audience with the king to lay out his complaints. However, he chose a public setting, which upon second thought seemed like it was designed to pressure King Parissius into making a decision on the Maggots.

Zitch went pale, taking a moment to choose his words carefully, and only then responded, "I... I was afraid the Maggots would become too powerful and untouchable after the negotiations went through. I decided risking my life to stop them was the least I could do."

King Parissius's eyes sparkled. If nothing else, he had to praise Zitch's intelligence. If he did not know the Maggots as well as he did, he might have been believed the old man's act. The king knew that Kashi was not the type to stab him in the back. If Kashi ever got dissatisfied with Rosendun, he would let the king know before leaving. That's the kind of man the daeben was.

"How admirable," praised King Parissius. Unfortunately for Zitch, his king was far too intelligent to fall for his words. Furthermore, from the beginning, he had been playing into King Parissius's trap without even knowing it. "In that case, since you are prepared to lay down your life, tell me: How exactly did you keep an eye on the Maggots? This special force. What technique did they use?"

"T-technique?" Zitch choked, unable to speak any further. This was as far as his information with that man went. He had no clue as to how they collected information on the Maggots without getting noticed! "I-I-I..." stammered Zitch, unable to formulate another lie. Realizing his impending doom, the politician immediately cried out, "Forgive me, Your Highness! I was threatened!"

King Parissius sneered at the groveling Zitch. "Only more lies. How am I to believe a word you say?"

"I swear, Your Highness!" Zitch begged as tears streamed down his cheeks. "I will not utter another lie!"

"And how am I to believe those words?" challenged the King. "After everything you have done?"

"Mercy! Your Highness, Mercy!" Zitch begged, drawing disgust from King Parissius.

"Hehe, do not fret, Your Majesty, I have the solution to our problem," Kashi laughed, his voice sounding like a death knell to Zitch. The politician turned to Kashi, wondering what the daeben had in mind. Kashi, sensing the old man's severe distress, chuckled and then looked at the King. "Give me five minutes. I will have him spill everything he knows."

King Parissius raised a brow, interest in his eyes. "You have a way?"

"Let's just say having a world of your own has its perks," Kashi replied, wisely choosing not to divulge the truth in this setting.

Luckily, King Parissius caught on to the daeben's intentions and thus nodded as he declared, "You were the one hurt most by his slander. It is only right we give you a chance to exonerate yourself."

"Thank you," Kashi said with a grateful bow, and then turned to Orez's citizens. "Return. We do not want to discomfort these nice folks any longer." The monsters roared, and the centaurs cheered as they retreated into the portals. At this time, Kashi, who was already on his fourth mana elixir, said to Agamios as he pointed at Zitch, "Take him with you. We will find out the truth in a few minutes."

Agamios grunted his agreement. He bent over and lifted the stunned politician by the scruff of his robe.

Zitch's face immediately went pale as he saw the centaur dragging him towards a portal. He recalled that man's warning. "Do NOT let yourself get pulled into Kashi's world, or your life is as good as forfeit." Zitch frantically shouted for help, even as he was pulled inside the portals, begging every god in the realm to save him, but alas there was no one came to his aid that day.

The old man's screams eventually faded out as he disappeared into the portal with the last of Orez's citizens and monsters. Kashi removed the empty mana elixir from his lips as the portals closed and then turned to King Parissius. "Just a moment, Your Highness," he said, and then his gaze dulled as his soul withdrew into his world.

King Parissius waved his hand over the daeben's vacant gaze, surprised to see that there was no response. He asked as he observed Kashi, "What's happening?"

"He gets like this whenever he enters his world," Lunette explained. "He should return soon."

"Ah," King Parissius nodded in understanding. "I see. In that case, I suppose all we can do is wait."

What followed was a terse three and a half minutes as everyone wondered what would happen when Kashi regained his clarity. Would Zitch confess to his crimes, or would he stand his ground and keep denying the truth? If he confessed, what exactly were the extent of his crimes? And more importantly, did he have any accomplices?

Tensions boiled in the throne room, getting increasingly heavier with each passing second. Luckily, Kashi soon blinked, revealing he had returned from his world. The daeben raised a brow, revealing a mocking smirk as he opened a portal and said, "That was much easier than I thought it would be."

Bam!

Zitch flew out of the portal and crashed to the floor, where he remained kneeling and trembling. The politician did not dare look up for fear of meeting Kashi's gaze. It seemed whatever Kashi had done to him in Orez had left him immensely terrified and unwilling to face the daeben.

Kashi glanced at the sniveling politician and then bowed to King Parissius. "You may ask him anything. He will not speak anymore lies." The daeben looked at Zitch and said with a harsh smile, "Isn't that right?"

"Y-yes!" Zitch shouted. "I will not dare utter another lie!"

King Parissius raised a brow as he looked at Kashi. "You and I will have to chat later." After which, he turned to Zitch and asked. "Let's start with something simple. What was your ultimate goal today?"

Zitch trembled but spoke nonetheless, "I hoped to dissolve the alliance between the Hopeful Maggots and Rosendun. It was my hope that at the very least, the Hopeful Maggots would lose most of their influence in Rosendun's political sphere."

"Why is that?"

"The Maggots have gotten too powerful," Zitch replied with a shake of his head. "There are many guilds who wish to topple them, but their political power makes it impossible to do so. To get to the Maggots, they needed to first make them lose their power."

King Parissius frowned as he pressed, "Is that all? What was in it for you?"

"I was a greedy fool, Your Highness!" Zitch cried out. "Not only did I accept bribes, but I hated Ms. Lightwood for proposing the high-income taxes. I wanted to punish her, and this seemed like a win-win situation."

The ministers gasped in shock as Zitch confessed to his crimes. To think a minister for the people would do something so harmful to Rosendun's future for the profits. How unthinkable!

King Parissius, however, was not done with his interrogation. He glanced at Zitch and asked, "Who bribed you? For whom do you work?"

"Two people bribed me," Zitch admitted with a downcast gaze. "The first is the leader of a Summoned Guild. They call him Janez. I don't know how he knew so much about the daeben. He only told me he had a reliable source." The politician paused, eyes shaking as he stammered, "Th-th-th-the second w-w-was an angel. In all my life, I had never seen any being with such power. I only did what I did because I believed he would protect me if I failed. He called himself an A—ARGH!!!!"

Zitch suddenly collapsed, red veins cropping up all over his skin as he screamed, convulsed, and begged for help all at the same time.

Kashi, realizing the danger, immediately sprung into action. He opened a portal, sending Yggdrassil's healing energy pouring out in droves. The massive pure life energy stunned the ministers. But there was no time to process their shock as their attention was drawn to the convulsing minister.

"Don't you dare die on me!" Kashi roared in anger as he flooded Zitch with life energy. However, no matter how hard he tried, the poor minister only appeared to get worse. "Damn it!" Kashi cursed as he poured more energy into the minister to keep him alive for a second longer. "Who did this to you!? Tell me! Don't die protecting that piece of shit."

Zitch trembled as Kashi's desperate shout helped him regain a bit of clarity. The old man clutched Kashi's shoulders, eyes red as he said through tears, "A-Avenge me. Please!"

"Don't worry, I will," promised Kashi, eyes red with rage. "You're one of my people now. No one messes with one of mine and gets away with it!"

"G-Good," Zitch stammered. The old man gathered his breath, forcing his concentration as he shouted out, "Adjudicators! They called themselves Adjudica—" Blurskh!

Zitch's chest exploded, dousing Kashi with his blood. The old man's eyes drooped as the life left his body. Kashi's eyes narrowed as he stared at the corpse in his arms. Gritting his teeth, he cursed, "Adjudicators... You're still interfering in my life? I guess losing two was not enough."

King Parissius placed a hand on Kashi's shoulder, consoling the daeben. "At the very least, we now know our enemy." The king looked at Leila as he recalled, "Janez is the name of that man who came after the Maggots a few months ago, isn't it? What became of him?"

"We succeeded in chasing him out of Rosendun," Leila replied with a frown. "Last I heard, he had set up in Monoch, presumably to take advantage of the warring chaos there to make a name for himself." Biting her lip, the powerful wisben lamented, "I never thought he had enough pull to draw a high-ranking politician to his side. I need to reevaluate him."

"It's not Janez we need to worry about," Kashi stated, drawing everyone's attention. "It's whoever's backing him." The daeben pointed at Zitch's corpse as he explained, "This was done by Janez's backer."

"Are you certain?" King Parissius questioned with a hint of disbelief. "He seemed to react to naming the Adjudicators. Surely it would be them that did this?"

Kashi shook his head. "That's what they want us to think." The daeben sighed as he rose to his feet and looked at King Parissius. "I've got to hand it to them. Anyone else would have been fooled. I'm only lucky enough to have some understanding of the Adjudicators' powers."

"What do you mean?"

"Adjudicators are like mini-gods," revealed Kashi with a shrug. "They're nigh-invulnerable and incomparably powerful. But they are also bound by many rules and cannot act of their own volition all the time." The daeben pointed at the Zitch's corpse as he stated, "Eliminating a Resident just because he named them is something they definitely cannot do. They are only allowed to interfere with Residents if they somehow threaten the world's balance."

King Parissius raised a brow, shocked by Kashi's knowledge. "How do you know this?"

"Let's just say I once made it my life's mission to find out everything I could about the limits of their abilities," admitted Kashi with a wry smile.

"Why?"

"Why?" Kashi repeated, a wicked glint in his eyes as he answered, "Why, to kill them, of course."

King Parissius shivered and instinctively put his hand over the daeben's eyes. Kashi let out a soft shout as he removed the hand and then looked at the king with a bewildered gaze. "That is much better," King Parissius stated as he patted his chest. "You looked scary for a second there." The king then turned his attention to Zitch's corpse. "So, if the Adjudicators were not responsible, who is backing Janez?"

"I might have an idea," Larsial spoke up, drawing everyone's attention to her. "There is one man I know who can keep tabs on people without ever getting caught." Glancing at Kashi, she said, "If he designated Kashi as his target, it would be next to and known as to know when he was watching."

Kashi's brow shot up, understanding flashing in his eyes. "This man. He is..."

"Yes," Larsial confirmed the daeben's speculation. "He is a high ranking member of the Chaos Order. The Primate closest to becoming a Cardinal, and known as the 'World's Eye.'" Larsial ducked her head in shame as she confessed, "I served under his house for a long time, and he taught me everything I know about Beast Taming."

"Oh," Syèl muttered as he recalled Larsial's reconnaissance bird, which she used before the battle of Aygorzi. Looking at Kashi, he admitted, "If there's someone better than her at surveillance, he's a major threat."

Kashi nodded and then looked at Larsial and asked, "This man. What's his name?"

Jutern, Monoch.

2:39 p.m. 18th Banem 1092

The territory of Monoch was home to countless small and large forces constantly fighting over the right to rule the land. The country's map never stayed the same as counties were annexed, built, and destroyed all in the span of a few days. This never-ending chaotic situation had given rise to numerous heroes, whose names were feared around the continent.

To the south-east of Monoch, bordering Imperium, was a small, newly formed territory called Jutern, led by a fearsome warlord named Janez. The Summoned had only arrived in Monoch a few weeks ago but he had already become something of a local tyrant, making his neighboring territories weary of his might and wrath.

On this day, in Jutern's chieftain hall, no one knew that an important meeting considering the future of Monoch was taking place.

Two men stood in front of a statue depicting a buff, bearded, Nordic warrior stabbing his sword into a dragon's neck. Of the two men, one was a Nord resembling the man in the statue, while the other was a daeben with beautiful, shiny, long, white hair. The daeben had soft features, a loose smile, and had an overall air of a scholar.

The daeben, who looked to be in his early thirties, revealed a loose smile as he said, "It would appear Zitch failed in his mission."

"Hmph, I never trusted that slimy politician," scoffed Janez as he stroked his beard. "I will do this the old fashioned way. With a sword through that whore's neck." the warrior glanced at the daeben as he said, "Darun J'rain, you just need to set the stage."

The daeben, whose name was revealed to be Darun J'rain smiled warmly as he placated, "Do not worry about us, Janez. The Chaos Order will make sure to deliver the Maggots to your table." The daeben's smile suddenly turned frosty as he added, "That is, of course, on the low chance that he survives the battle to come." Darun turned to Janez, a frightening glint in his eyes as he stated, "For your part, you must ensure Monoch remains in a state of turmoil and chaos. If you cannot unite the land, make sure no one else can."

"Of course! As long as I keep getting paid like promised," Janez countered with a greedy grin.

Darun J'rain was not put off by the nord's attitude. If anything, he actually liked the Summoned's straightforwardness. "Do not fret," he assured as he made his way out of the hall. "As long as you accomplish your task, you will have more Syros than you know what to do with in ten lifetimes."

Janez grinned, already dreaming of the piles of cash coming his way shortly. The currency exchange bank would soon open. By the time he exchanged his Syros for real-world coin... hehehehe.

Darun left Janez to his thoughts as he stepped out into the afternoon sun. The daeben briefly shielded his eyes, his lips spreading into a small smile as a 14ft long condor appeared flew over his head and blocked the sunlight. The condor let out a short screech as it landed in front of the daeben. "Good girl," cooed the daeben as he patted the condor's breast and then climbed onto its back. "Let us return home."

The condor let out a loud screech and then jumped into the air. With a few strong flaps, it lifted high into the sky, eventually disappearing from view as it sped over the horizon.

Janez stepped out of the chieftain's hall just in time to see the condor blend into the skies. The warrior's eyes narrowed as several thoughts flitted through his mind. "Trying to use me, eh?" A nasty grin spread on his lips as he warned, "First, I'll deal with the Maggots. Then you'll be next."

With those words, Janez called out to his guards. It was time to prepare for another play in the theatre of war.

Throne Room,

Riven, Rosendun.

2:43 p.m. 18th Banem 1092

Kashi frowned as he listened to Larsial's account of Darun J'Rain. Although not weak by any sense of the word, the Primate was best known for his reconnaissance skills. Darun could communicate telepathically with any creature under his thrall. He could see what they saw, hear what they heard, and direct them to do exact tasks.

The only weakness to Darun's skill was that he could not see his beasts' memories. This usually did not pose much of a problem because intelligent beasts could communicate what they saw to the best of their abilities. However, there were many monsters and animals with very low intelligence. For these kinds, he had to manually observe, or he would not see anything.

"That is indeed troublesome," Kashi remarked with an annoyed smirk. "How does one go about fighting that?"

"If he's using telepathy magic, we could try to sense out his monsters with mana sense," Syèl proposed, much to Kashi's shock. Upon seeing the daeben's stunned face, Syèl protested with a large grin, "Hey, don't look so shocked!" Pointing at his head, he said, "I'm probably the smartest one here. I just don't like using my brain that much."

"Uh-huh," Kashi sarcastically agreed, but he took what the halben said to heart. "I haven't trained mana sense in a while. It will be good practice." The daeben then turned to King Parissius and advised, "I suggest you find a trustworthy mage with good mana sense. Just in case that guy is also watching you."

King Parissius nodded and then voiced his assent, "I agree. This is a matter of National Security." The king looked at Larsial and stretched out his hand. "On behalf of Rosendun, I thank you for this timely information and thus dub you a citizen of Rosendun, should you wish."

"Wish?" Larsial mumbled, stunned beyond belief. Luckily, something jabbed her in the ribs, causing her to come to her senses. She immediately accepted the king's handshake as she declared with a humble bow, "It would be an honor, Your Majesty." Larsial glanced at her right to see who had hit her. Surprisingly, there was no one there. However, that alone gave her the answer.

"I am glad to hear that," King Parissius declared and then turned to Kashi and Leila. "The offer extends to whoever distinguishes themselves among the daebens you captured. The more we can bring into our fold, the better."

"As you wish, Your Majesty," Kashi declared with a pleased smile. How lucky were they to have someone like King Parissius as royalty? Very few rulers were as open-minded or humble (if you negate his narcissistic tendencies, of course.)

"Good, now that sordid business is over with," King Parissius nodded, and he signaled some guards to remove Zitch's corpse. "I suppose we can get on with the real reason you came here?"

"Yes," Kashi confirmed with a nod. "I wanted to make it clear before we go to Serisis what we want to achieve here. This is, after all, not a simple alliance."

"Yes, I suppose it is not," affirmed King Xafier as he walked up to the daeben and King Parissius.

Unbeknownst to the trio, the rest of the Throne room went silent as they observed the daeben speak on equal footing without any awkwardness to the kings. The sight of the daeben and the kings seemed so natural, without any flaws, like it came straight out of a master artist's painting.

Kashi, oblivious to the thoughts of those behind him, turned to King Xafier as he confirmed for the umpteenth time. "Are you certain you want to do this? Once we begin, you cannot take it back."

King Xafier paused for a bit and then nodded. "This continent is forever embroiled in war. As long as different flags fly over it, the wars will continue, and one day, we dwarfs will once again be forced to use our hammers to reap lives rather than better them." Sighing, the king stated, "I have seen enough bloodshed to last three lifetimes. My people and I are tired. We will do anything to secure a future where our children no longer have to suffer the flames of war. Even if that be to fly another's flag over our walls." Looking at King Parissius, he added, "Besides, we could have done much worse. I have seen with my own eyes that you are a king who values friendship and loyalty. At first, I only accented because Kashi trusted you. Now, despite only seeing you for a short time, I too can see that that trust is not misplaced."

"You praise me too much," replied King Parissius with a warm smile. "I have only managed to become who I am because of the many people I met during my time away from the crown. Which is why I can say this," declared the king as he held out his right hand, "You will not be flying another's flag over your walls. You'll be flying our flag. From this moment, we are one. We will share in blessings and tribulations together. Together, we will build that future you seek."

"As it should be!" King Xafier affirmed as he seized King Parissius' hand in a firm handshake.

"Splendid," Kashi praised as he watched the duo affirm their resolve. He then looked at Parissius and asked, "Have you decided who is coming with you? We have a long journey ahead of us. Unfortunately, I do not have any teleportation nodes in Serisis yet."

"Yes, I have chosen," King Parissius expressed as he named three ministers to go along with him. "Also, Narkis and Alex, of course. They follow me everywhere."

Kashi looked around, and upon failing to see them, commented, "They learned something unnecessary from Shadow."

"Hah. I feel the exact same way," King Parissius agreed with an exaggerated nod. "But it does feel good to see the look of shock on people's faces when they appear out of nowhere."

Kashi sighed and raised his hand, opening a portal to Orez. "Okay. Everyone get in. I've got a long journey ahead of me."

"Aren't we going by boat?" King Parissius asked.

BZZZT! Craackle!

At that exact moment, a mass of lightning shot out of the portal, the sound of crashing thunder accompanying it. The lightning bolt zipped across the room numerous times in a few seconds before finally coming to a stop next to Kashi.

Kashi patted Drixlia's flank, a wide grin on his face as he replied with a question of his own, "Who said anything about a boat?"