NOVEL NEXT Chapter 154: After
"So... are you saying the Vorrakyn won the war?"
The voice belonged to a young man with blue hair and sleepy-looking eyes. He sat on a simple throne of blue that radiated with intense power that made even his attendant sweat.
The kneeling attendant bowed. "Yes, Grand Duke. They won it, and right now, they are the only Duke in the Western Region."
The young man smiled and opened his eyes. His eyes were the deepest blue, putting pressure on anyone that looked at them. "Is that so? Tell me everything."
"... and that was how they won the war. They now appear to have a War Artifact."
The young man was Jaryth Rhydric, the Grand Duke of the Eastern Region. "Oh? But the War Artifact belongs to the Orcs. The same Orcs that are currently at war with each other and will not have the time to come collect their Artifact.
"The Dragons are finally showing their claws, eh."
Jaryth Rhydric sighed. "This is troublesome. The Western Region as a whole is not powerful. They are absolutely very weak compared to other Regions, but I fear they are going to grow stronger. They have the SSS after all. No matter how you look at it, they will grow with time."
"Do you want to declare war, Honorable Grand Duke?"
He laughed. "War? That would not be internal, and the Emperor would use that as an excuse to step in. We must do what we always do when Regions go to war... silent war!
"Maybe it is finally time to use my connection in the Black Accord."
☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆
A man sat behind a curtain.
But everything beyond the curtain bowed to him.
There were dozens of attendants bowing with their heads touching the ground, all of them holding important positions that were not open in the Imperial court.
They were the gears that worked and turned in the background.
"The Vorrakyn is now the Grand Duke."
The Emperor chuckled. "The Vorrakyn are fish bones in my neck, and I thought I had finally removed them, but they seem to be especially strong bones.
"They were one of the founding fathers of this Empire, and they once held a position second only to the Emperor. They were so powerful they were the face of the Empire.
"But they grew weak and could not even control a Region. But now, a Dragon appeared, and they might be strong again.
"The continent is walking, the world has stopped slumbering. Things will start shaking again.
"If the Vorrakyn will fight by my side... then why not?"
All the attendants knew that the Emperor was a reasonable person. Useful things would be kept and useless things disposed of. The Vorrakyn had been useless before, but things had changed overnight.
"First, the Association will stabilize the Western Region and must work with the Grand Duke of the Western Region to get their economy on its feet.
"Second, I will resume my allocation to them. Then I want the Gold Accord to go and push back against the Black Accord."
"Your Imperial Majesty... are you going to support the Vorrakyn?"
"Support? These are all the things I give the other Regions. What I want to give them is a chance."
"Your Imperial Majesty, the other Regions are going to start a silent war on the Western Region and collapse things before they can even dream of stabilizing anything."
The Emperor chuckled again. "This is the chance I am speaking of! I want to see how they will regain their feet. And if they do not... then let the other Regions absorb them!"
☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆
It had been two days since the war ended. The shortest war that most people had ever seen, and from that day, Drenvar had not stopped killing.
Some of the reserve forces of the two Dukes, as well as the Red Leaves, tried to launch a counterattack, but they were simply too few, and their heads ended up as decorations on the castle wall.
A lot of things had happened since then.
The Grand Duke declared martial law throughout the whole Region. The borders were locked down, and every force in the Region without the Dragon banner was expected to report to Frexon Castle, where the Grand Duke had made his command post at the moment.
High Commander Rhydian Vorrakyn had been appointed as the General Commander of the Western Region, and it was his job to see that all and every resistance was crushed mercilessly.
All the Lords of the Region were to report to the Grand Duke, as well as what remained of the families of the other Dukes.
The Vorrakyn were now the true rulers of the Western Region.
That morning, Vacuse stood against the open window of the room that once belonged to Eldrin Sevrix, enjoying the morning sun while he held a red glowing feather in his hand.
"What are you going to do with that, Vacuse?" Kagerou asked. As his messenger, Kagerou had free movement to his room, and he did not hesitate to use the privilege.
Vacuse grunted softly as he thought about it. He had talked with Rith about how he could use the Phoenix feather, and the easiest way was to absorb and digest it to increase his advancement.
But another way was to use it as a core, a base for the Void Creation that Rith had spoken to him about. He had devoured a lot of bodies and their souls during that battle, and they were already marinating in the Void.
With just some time, he would be able to create Void creatures. But Rith had warned him that Void creatures without a powerful core were not worth it.
He raised the Phoenix feather up. "I don't know."
Kagerou looked away from the feather, not bothering to hide the flash of greed in his eyes. "Alright. The war has ended. What is it you want to do now? Do not tell me you are going to sit around and start playing politics?"
Vacuse was just about to answer when Kagerou straightened. He bowed. "My lord, the Dragon Lord has summoned you."