"My Lord, give me the command, and I'll bring the enemy's head to you." A Birdmen Witch at the Grandmaster Realm chirped aloud, expressing seething rage as he stared at Bilfuren.
"Calm your feathers," Bilfuren said, unfurling a map as he stared at it, expressing his frown as he stated, "The moment we attack the Xetuka Kingdom, we're done for."
"We're not afraid of the Xetuka Kingdom!" The Birdmen Witch said in anger as the rest of his subordinates echoed in response.
"You should be afraid." Bilfuren said all of a sudden, "Not at the Xetuka Kingdom, but at the consequences that would emerge once we wage a war with them."
Upon seeing that his words fell on deaf ears, Bilfuren pointed at the map, "Gormana has been gathering troops for the past two days. Most of its retired Pseudo-Saints have already taken up command and have been gearing up."
He then pointed at the southern marshes, "As for Lethuna, I'm not sure how, but their population has been increasing recently. I fear they've annexed a fallen Lizardmen kingdom from somewhere and have integrated everything into their fold."
"Even on their own, Lethuna can now threaten both Burnak and Xetuka. If we add Gormana into the mix too, we're already facing a catastrophic situation." Bilfuren glared, "And, you wish to fight Xetuka on top of that?"
"Why don't we all commit suicide first?" He glared at everyone, causing them to shut up.
After a minute had passed, he sighed, consoling them upon seeing their trembling expressions, of one barely reigning in their rage, "I know what all of you are feeling. We've all lost our loved ones when Buhan City was razed to the ground. But, we cannot do anything stupid, for the time being."
"Our best course of action is to bottle up our emotions and try our best to weather this storm in the hopes that our Kingdom fares through everything."
Bam!
Suddenly, a Birdmen slammed into the room by breaking the door, sliding on the floor towards Bilfuren as he got up and said in a hurry, "Some of our soldiers formed a militia and charged into the Xetuka Kingdom!"
"Those idiots!" Bilfuren cursed in response, but in truth was alarmed, thinking, 'The Talon Secret Organisation doesn't even give us time to breathe, dammit!'
He shouted at a couple of his underlings, "Dispatch delegates into the Xetuka Kingdom to help cover up this incident. From now on, the group that disobeyed orders is no longer part of the Burnak Kingdom. They'll be regarded as traitors and put to rest upon contact."
"Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes!" The Birdmen shouted before flying out in a hurry, taking action upon his orders. Even though they were still angry, they couldn't do anything for the time being. After all, as Bilfuren had said, the Burnak Kingdom couldn't afford to fight the Xetuka Kingdom.
And the same was true for the other side too. After all, combined, they withstood the assault from Gormana to the north and Lethuna to the south. If one side were to fall, it would only result in the other side being overwhelmed by the excess troops now freed up in both the north and the south.
…
"Princess! It's too dangerous. We'll dispatch a delegate to Tentuna city and tide things through." A servant shouted in alarm upon seeing Lelumi Xetuka, the first princess of the Xetuka Kingdom don her armour, gearing up for battle.
"Delegate?" She raised an eyebrow, staring at the servant to say casually, "What do you think a delegate can do now? They don't have the authority to appease a war."
"But princess, your life would be at risk if you were to head there personally." The servant pressed forth, arguing, "The Witches are too dangerous to confront, especially since you've been injured recently by the Giants."
"I know what I'm doing." Lelumi Xetuka said, turning around to leave when the servant began to speak in fluster.
"Princess! Please wait! Hear me out!" The servant grabbed hold of the hems of Lelumi Xetuka's dress.
'I see, it makes sense.' Lelumi Xetuka thought, staring at the servant, 'To think they've infiltrated this far.'
She didn't do anything drastic though, calmly staring at the servant to flash a smile, "So, if I were to head there, what do you think would happen?"
"You'll die, definitely!" The servant said, confident in her hypothesis.
"And why is that? I'm a Pseudo-Saint, you know." Lelumi Xetuka stared calmly.
"That's because the Saint will…" The servant said when suddenly, she realised what was happening, understanding that she had messed up and uttered something foolish. As Lelumi Xetuka had been instigating her all along, in her heated emotional state, the servant couldn't control herself, blurting out.
"What Saint?" Lelumi Xetuka stared as her voice turned cold all of a sudden, her killing intent enveloping the servant, causing the other party to flinch in response.
"I…I misspoke, princess!" The servant stammered when suddenly, she frothed at the mouth, dying in an instant.
"Curse…" Lelumi Xetuka was solemn, staring at the servant's corpse that had melted into a puddle of blood in an instant, unable to do anything, for this was how secret organisations operated.
Birdmen Witch curse, Ogre Warlock curse, Demon Principle Arbiter bindings, and Minotaur Formation Specialist's formations, all were used in conjunction to create a seal that was cast on all the members of a secret organisation, ensuring no information was leaked.
And the moment they tried to do so, they lost their lives in an instant, not even leaving a corpse behind.
"They have infiltrated the palace too." She muttered, writing up a letter that she handed over to the King through a secret channel, ensuring he could take the appropriate measures. After all, the King was the sole entity in the Xetuka Kingdom that could contact their Guardian Saint.
Following that, she arrived at the Royal Magic Tower, climbing to the topmost floor where a team of Space Mages resided, all Grandmasters, commanding them, "Send me to Tentuna City."
"Yes, princess!" The lead Space Mage nodded in response before setting up a magic circle that the other Space Mages chimed in. This allowed them to teleport her to farther distances, which was necessary to take her all the way to Tentuna City.
The magic circle was erected as Lelumi Xetuka entered it, standing in its centre, used to the process as she nodded, "I'm ready."
"Please be safe, princess." The lead Space Mage nodded as his lips curled into a smile, alarming her as she was transported away.
