Chapter 101: Supreme Assembly [2]
"You are correct, there’s no denying that" Alisa laid back on her seat, "But has the Apostle said anything about appointing a king?" she asked.
"No, not yet" Lord Manuses answered.
"Then why do we disturb ourselves?" she asked, "Master Jarden is the Apostle of the God of Beast..."
"His words represents the will of the God of Beast"
"What if we select a king that Lord Varanus doesn’t approve of?" she asked, "Would you be willing to face our God’s wrath?"
"This is really troublesome" Manuses inhaled deeply.
They were both right.
A king is necessary but everything must go according to the will of the God of Beast.
After all, the Holy Kingdom of Varania was built in the name of the God of Beast.
"Why don’t we do this" Eurenia’s voice drew the attention of everyone seated, "We should first select candidates who are qualified to become Varania’s first king"
"Then we will bring them to the Apostle and ask for his answers"
"That is an interesting suggestion" High Priest Croak chipped, "This way, we will kill two birds with one stone"
"What do you think, Director?" High Priest Croak asked.
Everyone turned their attention towards Alisa.
"There’s no reason to go against such suggestion" Alisa smiled, "but until Norona City is completely neutralized, and the Troll King is dead"
"Until we have unified the entirety of the Hudeii Desert under the banner of the God of Beast"
"We will not appoint a King" Alisa stated.
"If that’s the will of Mandraxx then let’s vote" Manuses stated.
"Raise your hand if you are in favor of appointing a king soon" Manuses raised his hand and Brenda followed.
High Priest Croak, Eurenia and Alisa kept their hands down.
"I see" Manuses inhaled deeply, "Raise your hand if you are in favor of delaying the king’s appointment"
Everyone except Manuses and Brenda raised their hands.
"I guess the appointment will be delayed until the unification is complete" Alisa smiled. "Now...." she tapped her fingers on the table.
"Let’s talk about the position of Grand Chancellor...."
"Master Jarden selected us, created the five Great Families and named us dukes and duchesses"
"He also created the position of Grand Chancellor who will assume leadership of the supreme assembly"
"I am a shadow so I will not take such position, I believe Duke Manuses should take that position" she smiled.
"Me?" Lord Manuses asked, "Why did you nominate me?" he asked.
"Well you were once the mayor of Tempest City after all" she shrugged, "You are now a Duke so you cannot be king"
"It’s only right you lead the supreme assembly" she said.
"I agree" High Priest Croak said.
"I agree as well" Brenda said.
"Duke Manuses is a natural born leader, the position of Grand Chancellor should naturally be his" Eurenia stated.
"I see" Alisa grinned, "Then let’s vote"
"Raise your hand if you are in favor of appointing Duke Manuses as the Grand Chancellor of the Supreme Assembly"
Everyone including Alisa raised their hands.
"Congratulations Duke Manuses" Alisa smirked, "You are now the Grand Chancellor of Varania, please lead us into success"
"Thank you" Manuses inhaled deeply, "I feel honored to be recognized in such a manner"
"Then as the Grand Chancellor of Varania, we will begin the unification project of the Holy Kingdom!"
"Good" Alisa clapped her hands, "What is the plan" she asked.
"It’s simple" Manuses tapped his talon on the table, the air rippled and an holographic map detailing the Hudeii Desert materialized on the table.
"Yeren City and Norona City is our main targets" he spoke, "We are in a trade alliance with Yeren so we cannot use force against them"
"But Norona is a complete different matter"
"Not only are we enemies with Norona, we are also at war with them" Manuses paused, "They invaded us twice, we paid them back in blood"
"Norona is currently in shambles, they aren’t a threat anymore" Brenda bragged.
"Just because we land such hit doesn’t mean we should underestimate them, Brenda" Manuses warned.
"You and General Trojan only managed to take out five thousand undead which means there’s still twenty five thousand undead mummies out there"
"Waiting to destroy us" he clenched his fist.
"And not to mention those two Martial Lords, the Troll King is also a Martial Lord so dealing with him is another problem entirely"
"Weren’t the two Martial Lords injured?" Alisa asked.
"No" Manuses shook his head, "Croak managed to injure the one he fought, but I was forced to retreat before I did some major damage"
"That second Martial Lord must have gone to rescue his comrade, which means his comrade is alive and recovering as well"
"If we delay....then they will recover"
"Those humans are strong, their skills is also a pain to deal with"
"So we need to act fast"
"We must devour Yeren City, make their Governors nobles of Varania....then we destroy the west"
"Once Norona City and Yeren City’s lands falls under Varania...."
"We will divide them amongst ourselves" he stated.
"We must act fast....."
**
Norona City was currently in dire state after Tempest invasion crippled them, hundreds of buildings destroyed.
Thousands dead.
Tempest showed no mercy.
Now the Tempest City that they were at war with has now established themselves as a Kingdom.
The Holy Kingdom of Varania.
The economic backlash on Norona was so intense, with all the mana cores they had in reserves stolen.
Even the mana cores which they could have gathered from their slained brothers went missing.
Stolen by Varania.
Meanwhile deep inside the Grand Sanctum Palace.
The heavy smell of stagnant iron and necrotic incense was the first thing that forced its way into Aradin’s consciousness.
He groaned, a deep, guttural sound of pure agony ripping from his throat as his eyelids fluttered open.
The simple act of breathing felt as if someone was driving rusted nails directly into his chest cavity.
"Where... where am I?" he muttered, his voice hoarse, raspy, and completely stripped of its usual fanatical arrogance.
He tried to push himself up, but a sharp, burning spasm flared violently across his torso.
"This....Urghhh" he groaned.
The agonizing memory of his clash against High Priest Croak hit him like a physical blow.
He could still feel the phantom weight of that suffocating, high-pressure primordial sea, and the lingering, corrosive sting of the spatial poison that had breached his mortal limits.
"That wretched frog!" Aradin gnashed his teeth, overwhelmed by rage.
Looking down, Aradin realized he wasn’t in his white-gold knight armor.
Instead, his torso was wrapped tightly in thick, linen bandages that were already turning a faint purple from his leaking, contaminated mana.
Without his visor, his sleek black hair cascaded loosely down his shoulders, framing a pale, sweat-sheened face, and his sharp amber eyes darted frantically around the room.
The architectural layout—the high, cold stone vaults and dark obsidian blocks—told him everything.
He was somewhere deep within the inner chambers of the Troll King’s palace in Norona City.
He had survived.
But the cost was humiliating.
Aradin recalled everything.
The absolute wall of hyper-pressurized water needles.
The chaotic shattering of his defensive exoskeleton, and the agonizing crunch of his ribs collapsing inward under the force of a falling meteor.
He ground his teeth together so hard his fractured jaw popped, a wave of unadulterated fury and shame washing over him.
A child of Lord Damascus, pushed to the brink of absolute destruction by a swamp-dwelling demon.
It was humiliating!
CREAK—
The heavy iron-reinforced door of the chamber groaned as it swung open, cutting through the silence.
"Finally awake?" a familiar voice was heard.
Aradin’s amber eyes snapped toward the entrance, his muscles tensing instinctively for a fight.
But the hostility vanished, replaced by a tense, heavy silence as the second knight-priest stepped into the dim light of the room.
"Hector" Aradin mumbled.
Like Aradin, the second knight-priest, Hector was no longer wearing his heavy, white-gold plate armor.
Without the imposing, kinetic holy light of his vanguard gear, his true appearance was fully revealed.
He possessed messy, vibrant orange hair that contrasted sharply with the dark stone of the palace, and his eyes were a deep, fathomless black—unreadable, calm, and entirely reserved.
The two wounded knight-priests simply stood and lay in the quiet chamber, their gazes locking onto one another.
No words were exchanged yet, but the sheer weight of their mutual defeat and the grand, chaotic tremors still faintly vibrating through the palace walls hung heavily in the air between them.
"We must contact the Church" Hector finally broke the silence.
"Why?" Aradin asked.
"Varania isn’t something we can handle alone, if we must aid the descent of Lord Damascus, we must contact the Church" Hector explained.
"Varania?" Aradin frowned, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Ah, I forgot you have been asleep until now" Hector gently careesed his messy orange hair.
"Listen to me Aradin. Tempest City is no more, they have established themselves as the Holy Kingdom of Varania"
"They promised to end everything in their next invasion"
"That Kingdom is more stronger than we could ever imagine, if we must win...."
"We need the Church of Damascus!"