Chapter 897: A Frog At The Bottom of A Well Knows Nothing of The Sea
"As everyone here is presumably already aware of, the Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands was recently used to summon a certain creature that wreaked havoc in the Demilitarization Belt." Veiled stated.
The moment Veiled brought up that creature, the atmosphere in the command tent shifted to one of a lingering heaviness.
Solomon and those from the 1st Legion seemed particularly bothered by the mention of that creature.
Commander Ekquilore—a vile creature from the Shadahi Realm who emerged through the kingdom of Tempest's use of the forbidden spell known as the Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands.
The reason it was listed as a forbidden spell had to do with the atrocious prerequisite to its activation. It required the blood of one thousand innocent people to be spilled and their lives to perish amidst a battle. However, unless it was those fanatics from O'Tohelm, finding one thousand innocent people ready to willingly lay down their lives was virtually impossible. It's why Tempest had to use a twisted mind control spell to manipulate and sacrifice their own citizens.
'Oh? A gateway spell formed through blood sacrifice... So that's how he was able to cross over into the Mortal Realm.'
Izroth was curious as to how Commander Ekquilore managed to forcibly break through the seal placed on the Shadahi Realm; however, it seemed it was not his own doing.
'Still, this is a good thing. If the creature bound to that throne was summoned here instead of Commander Ekquilore, it means that the Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands probably has a limit to what it's capable of summoning. Though the fact that Tempest can summon a creature from the Shadahi Realm at all... The seal must have somehow weakened in that place. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before things become even more chaotic.'
Izroth always knew that the Shadahi's powers were sealed in the Shadahi Realm; however, he had no idea just how much the seal truly limited access to their actual strength.
Back when he first fought against Commander Ekquilore during his trip to the Shadahi Realm, they were only a level 17 rare boss monster. But, according to the information Izroth obtained, that very same creature had now grown into the equivalent of an Epic Event Boss.
If that was the case, didn't this mean that even something like a Lesser Shadahi Patroller—a level 16 elite monster—would be seen as a huge threat to the average player at its full strength?
But, compared to the powerful Shadahi that Izroth came across in the Shadahi Realm, who was bound to the throne, something like the Lesser Shadahi Patrollers and even Commander Ekquilore could only be viewed as mild threats.
Besides their name, Izroth did not know much about them. However, during their brief encounter, he left that being in an enraged state. They were known as Syxirius, The Unworthy.
"As you've said, we are all already aware of this occurrence. But, since you're bringing it up in this manner, I assume the news you have is somehow related to that creature?" Duchess commented.
"You could say that. While it is not directly related to them, the matters are not necessarily completely detached from one another. Thanks to the hard work done by General Solomon and Lead Agent Soothing Smoke, we were able to recover this item." Veiled said as an object appeared in his hand out of thin air as he sat it on the table in front of him.
It was a black chain roughly thirty centimeters in length with ten small skulls attached to the chain links. A lingering aura of death encompassed the skulls—nine of which were purple, along with a tenth golden skull positioned at the top.
"This Ten-Headed Demon Nether Idol is proof of one's high standing ties to the Netherworld. While it is difficult to identify the owners of a Nether Idol, we do know that the majority of them are found on those related to the League of the Eidolon." Veiled explained.
"Special Agent Veiled, you'll have to excuse my bluntness, but just how does this have anything to do with the upcoming assault on the Night Lord's Crypt?" Palmer inquired with a visible frown.
In truth, most of those present were also curious as to where Veiled was headed with his words. He was speaking of the Shadahi and the Netherworld without any mention of the Skounae they would be facing. Needless to say, this did not bode well with them.
"Using this Ten-Headed Demon Nether Idol, our War Intelligence Group has recently confirmed secret ties between the League of the Eidolon and the kingdom of Tempest. Our sources also revealed that the League of the Eidolon will be making a move in this upcoming raid along with Tempest. And, if Tempest is moving, we cannot overlook the possibility of another Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands." Veiled stated.
Almost everyone present was taken aback by Veiled's words.
It was common knowledge that Tempest and Malentansium were working with one another. However, first the Shadahi and now the League of the Eidolon who had ties with the Netherworld—this news was shocking!
Though there were four individuals present who did not seem taken aback by this news, one of them being, of course, Izroth.
While he was unaware of the Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands, ever since his fight against Dolos Jestal, Izroth knew about the connections Veiled had just brought up. Therefore, he was not surprised by the announcement.
General Solomon, Commander Aurie, and the Ten Beast Guardian Duchess were also not startled by Veiled sudden revelation. After all, they were present during the incident with Dolos Jestal.
But, those who were without some foreknowledge of past events were in a state of utter shock.
If not only Tempest, who already proved they had no issues crossing certain lines, but also the League of the Eidolon joined in the protection of the Night Lord's Crypt, didn't the difficulty of this assault just increase severalfold?
"Permission to speak." A voice sounded from behind Solomon.
This voice belonged to Commander Ezra. It was the first time someone besides a representative had spoken up, and all eyes immediately fell on the Commander.
"Feel free to speak your mind, Commander Ezra. I also encourage all those present not to hesitate to speak up as long as it contributes to the topic at hand." Solomon stated calmly.
"The way I see it, it's quite simple. We cannot avoid a direct confrontation with the Skounae if we wish to stop the Night Lord's revival. We also are unable to ignore the possibility of another Gateway of a Thousand Bloodless Hands incident. But, even amidst the chaos, there are still certain variables within our control." Ezra said.
He then continued, "The biggest potential threat is the arrival of another one of those vile creatures on the battlefield. Even if we manage to stop the Night Lord's revival, there will still be yet another evil set loose upon our world. That is why I suggest we make the first move simultaneously on all fronts."
"That's a bold suggestion, human." One of the zensana behind Duchess voiced.
It came from the Avian Battalion Commander, U'Talow.
"Even with all our forces combined, there are only roughly 10,000 troops. The Skounae alone will have close to twice that number since we'll be fighting them in their own territory. If we include the forces from Tempest, the League of the Eidolon, and the Pzenium mercenary warriors, we'll be looking at facing close to 30,000 enemy troops. If we divide our forces when we're already at such a great numerical disadvantage, wouldn't we be setting ourselves up to be slaughtered?" U'Talow commented.
"I agree with Commander U'Talow. Splitting our troops so thin on all fronts with no nearby reinforcements is too reckless. We also cannot afford to wait for more reinforcements to arrive, considering our window of opportunity will be gone by then." Duchess stated.
"Commander Ezra is not one to speak without thinking. I am sure he has given it some deep thought. At the very least, we should finish hearing what he has to say." Aurie spoke up on Ezra's behalf.
"There's no point. Even if we had the numbers to pull it off, there's also the matter of resource allocation. If we're apart, it's not as simple as splitting the available resources evenly among the different groups. We would have to completely overwrite our current distribution system and find a way to reach the groups on all fronts. If we had a few weeks—no, even just a few days to work with, it may be possible. But, doing so on such shorthand notice is unthinkable." Palmer noted.
Solomon was about to speak up to reign things back in; however, one sentence caused him to momentarily halt his decision.
"A frog at the bottom of a well knows nothing of the sea," Izroth said as the gazes of everyone present locked onto him.
There were those who were already annoyed by Izroth's presence at the representative meeting; however, they chose to overlook it due to his silence. But, a mere Captain of the General Support Unit dared to comment when they were discussing a topic of such high severity?
Not only that but his words just now were clearly directed at them!
"Mind yourself, Captain. This is not a place to speak thoughtlessly." Palmer warned.
"I agree. That's why I can no longer sit back and listen to such thoughtless outlooks." Izroth said with a carefree expression.
He then continued, "Commander Ezra has the right idea, but everyone seems to have simply written it off. If this is not an example of frogs at the bottom of a well, then what is?"