While Aditya was busy making a teleportation array, the news of the King personally killing the head of the Deep Sea merchant group spread like wildfire. Not just killing the head of the Deep Sea Merchant group, but also completely taking over every existing store that was owned by the Deep Sea Merchant group. The news bought fear in other merchant groups. They had no idea why the king did something like this. Some small merchant groups were even planning on stopping all of their business in the Istarin Kingdom and were planning on leaving.
Fortunately, a few more hours later, an official statement came from the King himself. The statement shocked and surprised many people. They never thought that the Deep Sea Merchant group's head was this kind of person. Some people who knew Gorge's character weren't surprised or shocked. But even they were not expecting Gorge to be bold enough to even threaten the Istarin Kingdom in front of the King himself
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[The Deep Sea Merchant group has broken the Istarin Law several times. Has insulted the royal officials and also the unofficial prime minister of the Istarin Kingdom. Above that, he even dared to threaten the Istarin Kingdom. His Majesty has punished the Deep Sea Merchant group and has decided to seize all the properties and stores owned by the group.]
[His Majesty has personally promised that as long as all the other merchant groups follow the Istarin Laws, they won't have anything to worry about.]
These words immediately calmed the merchants who were planning on stopping their business and leaving the Kingdom.
While all these were happening, Aditya was in the Royal castle basement. In a circular room, Aditya could be seen drawing runes with a special pen on the floor. Aditya looked very focused. He was deeply immersed in his own world.
By now Aditya has finished drawing 8 circles of runes. Each circle contained one phase of the spell. The teleportation array had 9 rune phases. Each phase needed one circle to draw. The first phase was the biggest one while the 9th rune phase was the smallest one.
If someone looked at the room, they would see 8 large circles. Each circle was bigger than the other. If someone looks carefully then they would see that what looked like a circle actually had countless complex characters of runes. All the complex rune characters are made up to look like a circle.
"King Ethan, are you sure about it? This is the Istarin Kingdom that we're talking about. Even when the Istarin Kingdom was only a 2nd-tier Kingdom, it still managed to defeat the mighty Zulux Dynasty that stood and had a long history of 100 years. When you attacked the Istarin Kingdom with 50,000 troops and with your 3rd-order Duke, the Istarin Kingdom managed to slaughter all of your 50,000 troops without losing a single army. Not only that, they even outsmarted you by crippling your Duke's mana heart."
Right now in a meeting room, King Ethan was sitting along with other kings and their representatives from other kingdoms. King Ethan had secretly arranged for this meeting as knowing that the Istarin King had his eyes fully locked on the Nepoca Kingdom. If for not those men, he wouldn't have been able to arrange this meeting without King Aditya knowing about it.
"King Ethan, are you sure you want to start another war against the Istarin Kingdom? Though I haven't met the Istarin King, I have heard that King Aditya is very calculative and smart. He is a sly fox. He is someone that always thinks outside the box. It was mainly because of his geniuses that the Zulux Dynasty fell this quickly." King Ethan clenched his fists under the table. he gritted his teeth in anger. Right now Ethan's throat was dry for blood. He wanted to quench his thirst with the blood of the Dragon king.
"King Liam, no offense but we are not here to praise the Istarin Kingdom." Others who were sitting around the round table also nodded their heads in agreement.
"The Istarin Kingdom has tricked me. He kept the fact that he had crippled my Duke and forcefully took a large part of my territory. It's just a matter of time before that demon comes after the other small kingdom. Aditya is an ambitious person. He wants to expand his Kingdom." Everyone around the table secretly sneered at Ethan. They might not have been invited to the meeting, but they knew that Aditya demanded Ethan's territory otherwise he was going to fully launch a war against the Nepoca Kingdom and take over the whole Kingdom.
King Ethan was given two choices. Either give up this part of his territory or give up three of his cities. If he did not make any choice, Aditya told Ethan to be ready to face the Istarin army and lose his life along with his Kingdom. Anyone in Aditya's position would have done the same thing.
The only reason that these kings had come to this meeting is that they all had similar ambitions. The northern part of this region was made up of many small kingdoms. Everyone put their past differences aside and came here to form a secret alliance to attack the Istarin Kingdom. While King Ethan wanted his territory back, these kings wanted a small piece of the Istarin Kingdom for themselves.
"Currently The Nyland King is very sick. I don't think he will make it. When the Nyland King dies, that will be our chance to attack the Istarin Kingdom. Without the Nyland King, his successor wouldn't send an army to reinforce the Istarin Kingdom. Meaning that the Istarin Kingdom will be truly alone. I refuse to believe that the Istarin King can win against the combined force of 13 Kingdoms."
Ethan's words seem to have given the ray of hope that every King needed. The last bit of hesitation that they had in their hearts had disappeared. In their logic, why they should refuse a free meal? After defeating the Istarin Kingdom, these Kings are guaranteed to receive a small chunk of that huge fortune that the Istarin Kingdom possesses. No one thought that the Istarin Kingdom can fight against the combined forces of 13 kings.
"So when are we going to attack? Should we start making preparation for the war?" One of the greedy kings excitedly asked.
Ethan nodded with a pleased smile on his face. He was relieved that he had managed to convince everyone to attack the Istarin Kingdom. "King Aditya has planted spies and keeping watch on my Nepoca Kingdom's military. Even the slightest movement from my side will make the Istarin King suspicious. For now, it would be better to not alert the Istarin King. Let's keep everything dark for now."
"You all should war preparing for the war. We will crush the Istarin Kingdom with a single attack." Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
"What about the Thera Kingdom? I heard that the Thera Kingdom has a close connection with the Istarin Kingdom. In this war, the Thera Kingdom will support the Istarin kingdom." Ethan frowned. When he visited the Thera Kingdom, he has been holding a grudge against the Thera King.
"After declaring our war against the Istarin Kingdom, I will send a warning to the Thera Kingdom. If they do not back out from helping the Istarin Kingdom, the Thera Kingdom will suffer the consequences."
"I don't understand. Even if Nyland King Mark Vega dies and one of the prince's succeeds the throne, why wouldn't the next king send reinforcement to the Istarin Kingdom?"
"There are two reasons. First reason, when the Princes sent letters asking for the Istarin Kingdom's political support, the Istarin Kingdom remained neutral. And second reason with the rapid growth of the Istarin Kingdom, the next King would feel threatened. So when the war starts, the King would just turn a blind eye and not help the Istarin Kingdom."
Ethan grinned while looking at the map of the Istarin Kingdom. "Besides, one of the Nyland Kingdom princes is my friend. He has promised to attack the Istarin Kingdom instead."
The meeting then continued going on for another 1 hour. After making a plan, all of the Kings who had attended this meeting in disguise began taking their leave. One by one all of the Kings left, leaving only King Ethan in the dining room.
After Ethan left, a man in a butler outfit walked in and stood behind Ethan. "Your Majesty, are you sure about this plan? We still don't know how powerful the current Istarin King or the Kingdom's military is. From what I have heard even though the Istarin Kingdom has been actively recruiting more soldiers."
"Hahaha! Even if the Istarin King has a powerful 5th-order in their military then also the Istarin Kingdom will fall. Just a little more time and the Nyland King will finally die."
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