"Please follow me, the council has long awaited your awakening," Shaviki continued in a polite tone before turning to one of the guards.
"Somebody inform our lord that Havon has awoken. I will lead him to the council room," Shaviki ordered. "Alone," he added once he noticed that some of the guards had remained behind.
~So he's made himself my hostage to keep me calm?~ Lucius thought to himself as Shaviki gestured for him to follow. ~These creatures truly are at a higher tier than my children.~
"You said that one of my children needed intensive healing? Describe them... and how bad is it?" Lucius asked as Shaviki led him down the cave-like hallways.
Though initially he had thought that these were just rough, ugly-looking walls, he now realized that they were lined with gleaming minerals. As if someone has sprinkled diamond dust all along their perimeter.
There were also a few gems lined along the walls as well. Some of which were arranged in intricate patterns, much like those on Shaviki's cloak. Though this would pass off as no more than cave drawings back on earth, here they were a sign of a growing civilization.
"They were armored, tree bark I believe. But as for how bad it was..." Shaviki replied.
~Alpha.~
"The others would probably want me to tell you that your child is okay. But to tell you the truth, my lord. It's bad. Most of his flesh had been burned off, and one of his arms had to be amputated to prevent the spread of THE CREATURE'S spell," Shaviki explained in a pained voice, almost as if he himself felt sad for Alpha's situation.
Lucius's heart stopped for a moment, his mind recalling a few scenes from the torture he had endured in the mindscape. But he quickly set that aside, hoping on the fact that radiant healing could heal whatever injuries Alpha had sustained.
~He's good. First Alpha was just 'the creature' and now he's someone to dote over? He's really good,~ Lucius thought to himself as he walked close behind Shaviki, his tail swinging from wall to wall, measuring the space he had available in case some sort of fight broke out.
"When can I see him? My commune's healing is many times better than whatever methods you're using. It'll be better if I take him back home," Lucius said, placing his hand on Shaviki's shoulder just near his neck.
"T-though I do not mean to insult the healing arts of your commune, I assure you that the Zeldrave's are the best healers this side of the forest. However, I will personally take you to him after the meeting with our king. You see, the war hasn't been going too well after the attack on THE CREATURE'S den," Shaviki explained, his body only shivering slightly from Lucius's subtle threat.
"The war? Then the necromancer hasn't been defeated yet?" Lucius asked, a smile creeping up his face.
He had wanted it to be him to send the necromancer back to whence it came from. After all, it was all thanks to its subordinates that his mind was now in tatters. And besides, with the information he stole from Aziel, he now knew everything about the necromancer's invasion, or at least what the necromancer had told his right-hand man.
~Who would've thought that there were powers this large at play? Still, this whole thing has cleared up many of the doubts I had. I know who I need to find to get my answers, and who I need to kill to make sure that the people I care for will never be hurt again,~ Lucius thought to himself as Shaviki opened a massive blackwood door.
~Oh my, they have their own congress room and everything,~ Lucius thought to himself as he walked into the room, brushing right past Shaviki as he was about to give some grand entrance-announcement.
With a room filled with their highest officials, Lucius was now more than certain he had enough hostages to get Alpha back.
Perhaps he would've taken things the more traditional route before his torturing. Perhaps he would've listened to what these creatures had to say, before trying to influence them into the direction that he wanted things to head in.
But after all that he came to realize that the tactics and mannerisms he had learned in the military were useless in this world. He had learned that painfully through nearly a million different cycles of what could basically be described as mind rape.
All that mattered in this world was power, and his system gave him access to great amounts of it.
"Who's the highest-ranking official here?" Lucius asked as he strolled up the earth stairs towards a massive seat that sat at least three platforms above all the other ones, looking over everything in the room.
For a moment everyone in the room remained silent, confused by what was going on before one old-looking Chame raised his hand.
"You, huh? Very well then," Lucius whispered before his tail lashed out, curling around that official's neck before lifting him into the air.
"Stop him!" the official shouted before all hell broke loose in the room.
Lucius quickly had his tail bring the official to him, before grabbing the official by the cloak, and dragging him up the stairs with him. All the while, a small cloud of poison began collecting at the tip of his tail as well.
The guards in the room moved to stop him, but a swing of his tail was all it took to send them flying.
Even in his weakened state, his stats were all maxed out, enough for him to go toe to toe with a shroom giant.
If these creatures had any chance at winning against him, they would need to activate any special abilities they had.
"M-My lord, wh-what are you doing?" Shaviki stuttered as Lucius slammed yet another guard into the earthy long table that lay at the center of the room.
"I'm addressing my council," Lucius said with a grin, before slumping on the king's chair.
The view was indeed quite spectacular. Apart from the chaos, he could now see the beauty of this den constructed of earth.
The chairs were all intricately carved, and although they looked rough at first glance, Lucius could now tell that it was a sort of decoration to them.
Beautiful green, blue, purple, and red jewels lined every piece of furniture in this place, creating beautiful glimmering patterns.
Above the door, was a depiction of a massive lizard drawn out of black jewels. Lucius tilted his head ever so slightly and noticed that it was actually a depiction of a chameleon wearing a cloak.
As the officials stampeded to make their way out of the hallway, Lucius pulled out his crux and sent a low-powered solar beam towards the entrance as a warning shot.
"I'll kill anyone who even thinks of moving through that door. Besides, there's no need to worry, I'm not some beast. I just want my child back..." Lucius announced, before pausing to look around the room.
"And whatever information you have on medicines, magic, and the forest in general. That's all I'm asking for, pretty fair right," Lucius said calmly, before making the official he was grabbing by the collar kneel in front of him.
