"Did you get the dark elves to do what I wanted?" Azekiel asked.
In response, the Lord of Lies nodded. "That is done. The Dark Elves will attack the Nature Elves tonight."
"Poor guys... They think the Nature Elves are planning to attack them instead. They fell for my lies right away. So instead of giving the Nature Elves a chance to prepare to attack them, they are attacking them Nature Elves instead."
"On the way back, I took something from the Dark Elves and left it near the land of Nature Elves. Everything is set for a war. The Nature Elves will see the clues that make them think Dark Elves stole the crown."
"And by the time the army of Dark Elves arrived, the Nature Elves would've prepared their own armies to go in search of the crown. The misunderstanding would make it so that the war can't be avoided," the Lord of Lies finished his briefing.
"But still, I don't understand one thing. What benefit is there for us even if they fight? How does that help us?"
He wasn't the only one who was confused. Everything seemed to be random so far. Helping orcs, getting the elves to fight, fighting with the Triads, killing people... There seemed to be no common link between all this with what the Trial on this floor was.
Since all of them were Lords, they had a system of their own which had informed them about the Trial of this Floor when they arrived. Despite that, even they couldn't understand how all this linked to the Trial.
Now they had a couple of dead people, a coin, a crown, and some conflicts.
"You'll understand sooner or later. You did good. Now I want you to do one more thing for me. I want you all to go in that direction. The Triad Clan's entrance is in that direction. You won't be able to enter it, but I want you to find out if the Triads are coming or not. If you see them, return and inform. That will be all...."
Azekiel still didn't explain what he was after with all these small missions. Instead, he gave another task to all the Lords. He had waited here for long enough. He didn't want to stand there all night, looking like an idiot if the Triads weren't coming.
He convinced the Lords to go south, giving them the exact directions. Seeing him describe the direction with such accuracy, Leor felt even more suspicious.
He really knew too much about their clan, which was impossible without having a source inside the clan. But as he said, he wasn't on good terms with Liam. So Liam couldn't have informed him.
She wondered if it could be really possible that he was informed by one of them before being killed. This man was just too mysterious for her. It was as if he was always one step ahead.
He knew who they were; he knew when they would be coming, he knew how many of them there would be, or how they fought. He had covered all the bases. It was as if they were all part of his plan. This kind of strategy and control in a war... If she didn't hate Azekiel, she would've been really impressed with him.
After sending the Lords away, Azekiel told the Orcs to go back and rest. If the Triads came close to the village, Lia could alert them, but it seemed unlikely at this point. Only when the Lords return could he know if the Triads even wanted to come or not. If not, he could only take other steps to draw them out.
Only a few Orcs were left out to guard the village while everyone else went inside their houses. One independent house was even allowed for Azekiel to stay. All the kids were called out and taken to where they used to stay.
Entering the house that was assigned to him, Azekiel noticed just how massive everything was here. Since the Orcs were so bulky, everything here was big, especially their bed. An Orc's bed was so big that it could accommodate three people like Azekiel easily and still have lots of space left.
Other than the bed, there was also a huge table inside the house. For Azekiel, food was already kept on the table there that was hunted by the Orcs before.
Azekiel sat on the wooden chair, feeling somewhat small.
"You can eat as well."
Since the Orcs ate so much, the food was the last thing they were conservative about. Even for someone like Azekiel, who ate so much, the food here seemed more than enough.
"Oh right. I forgot Triads don't eat what we do. You get your food in other ways."
Azekiel started eating alone.
****
It was midnight, and even now, there were no signs of Triads at all.
"Just what is your sister doing? Will she really not come?"
Azekiel was lying on the bed, seemingly bored after waiting for so long.
"She would if she knew what happened here."
"Then why isn't she here?" Azekiel asked, still not having the answer he wanted.
"Because you're assuming she knows that we lost. If she isn't here, I suppose she still thinks that we won."
"And why would she think that?"
"Because she is very confident about me. Even if she knows that I lost everyone else, as long as I'm alive, she will think that we won. If I'm not wrong, she's still waiting for me to come back. That's why she isn't here. So if you really want her to come here, you can only kill me." Leor smirked.
"You want me to kill you?" Azekiel was slightly bemused. While everyone wanted to live, she wanted to die? All because she was under the Servant Mark?
"Better than being your servant for life."
"Too bad, I won't kill you. I still need you for many things. And as far as your sister is concerned, I wonder how long she'll wait. If you're not back by the morning, at least then she'll have to come. In any case, I'll make her stand before me...."
"I think you're really underestimating my sister. Remember, one shouldn't play with fire. You might lose more than you bargained for. You still have time. Free me, and I'll make sure that Liam is before you by tomorrow morning. We both get what we want. I can get rid of Liam, and you can get your revenge."
"Think clearly. Don't make my sister come here. It seriously won't be good for you."
"Is that so?"
Even though Azekiel didn't know much about the Triad Queen, from what he saw in the memories of the one he killed, she wasn't much different from Leor. She was just a bit stronger, but that didn't scare him. Even if she was stronger, he could take her out. Not like she was a god.
Moreover, even if she didn't listen to him, he could just kill her which could make Leor the next Triad Queen. In fact, that plan was just as good since the next Triad Queen was going to be his servant in that case. He could just command her to let her enter her domain.
****
It had been hours, and still, Leor wasn't back. This was starting to make the Triad Queen worry. Generally, she should've been back by now if she was victorious. Quite a lot of time had passed since that moment.
Something seemed off... Way off. She shouldn't shake off the bad feeling inside her heart, that maybe Leor didn't succeed?
She went to the Garden again, observing Leor's plant which was still alive.
"If she didn't win, but she didn't die either, then why isn't she back? Unless.... She's taken hostage by the Orcs? But how?"
Finally, she started thinking on the right track. She believed that the Orcs took her sister hostage, possibly to force her to agree to their demand.
This thing was really frustrating to her, and insulting. It was like the Orcs were mocking her.
She couldn't sit and watch. She decided to take matters into her own hands. She decided to go out and see for herself. However, this time, she went alone!
She didn't tell anyone where she was going. She had such faith in herself.
****
"This should be the spot he talked about," Jane observed the surroundings, not finding anything suspicious. She couldn't see any living beings in sight, let alone a Triad.
After making sure that there was no army, all the Lords went back to inform Azekiel what they saw, feeling as if their time was wasted.
Around thirty minutes after the Lords left, the Triad Queen came out of her domain, not knowing that some people had been there recently. She started walking toward the Village of Orcs.
The Triad Queen kept walking, but for some reason, despite only taking small steps, she was able to cover a larger distance. It was as if the forest was helping her.
