Chapter 407


    CHAPTER 407


    THE COUNCIL OF CHAOS


    A small stream of people, settled in an extended line, slowly poured in into a spacious, well-lit and maintained, round hall . The roof above fell in, the concave part ssed as natural light shone through, basking the massive, rectangr table at the center of the room in beautiful light . The table itself was made out of stone, nearly a dozen legs supporting it, with just over twenty, wooden and cushioned chairs surrounding it .


    At the upper end of the table Lino was already seated, waiting; though seeminglyrgely recovered, there were still a few bandages hanging on his body, covering wounds that were yet to fully heal . He had a somber expression on his face as he watched over twenty people slowly walk in . Hannah was sitting by his side, holding his hand tenderly .


    Those arriving included practically all of the high-end figures currently present inside the fortress -- both old and young . They started sitting down in no particr order, as all chairs were exact replicas of one another, including Lino’s . However, those who knew him longer seemed to stream closer toward him, while the neers settled a bit further away .


    Some were in the end forced to stand as there were simply not enough chairs; among them was Lucky who, despite having entered among the first, simply leaned against the wall and crossed her arms over her chest . Alison was about to sit down next to Alex, but quickly shifted away and stood up, standing next to Lucky . Ion joined them shortly after, as did a few other youngsters who were invited over by their Elders .


    It was the first time Lino had summoned virtually everyone that represented his force in one ce, including the time he came back from the North . The ce held far more people than expected, and it was truly an eye-opener for him, seeing how many souls hade under his banner within such a short period of time .


    He waited patiently until everyone was seated and until the table was filled with drinks and bowls of fruit; though a few chatted between themselves, everyone otherwise seemed to be waiting for him to speak out, which he did after taking a deep breath .


    "Despite my adviser’s, that is my wife’s, repeated attempts to postpone this meeting for after I’m fully healed," he opened up with a faint smile . "I told her no -- perhaps the boldest thing I’ve done in my life--"


    "Oi!" she hit him faintly as the room broke into a burst of briefughter .


    "Khm . Anyway, I think it’s too important of a meeting to dy it; honestly, I’d have held it sooner if I were in a position to do it, but it’s still not toote . To answer the rumors," he continued . "Yes -- I did kill Gaia; well, at least one of her avatars . "


    " . . . " though a few people sucked in cold breaths, most seemed to have already known .


    "Furthermore, I did try to kill the Bearers, though I failed in the end," he continued . "Due to Descent’s intervention . . . during which I may have pissed them off . To be fair, they pissed me off first . "


    "Ha ha ha . . . "


    "As it stands, war, or at least a battle with them, is inevitable," he said, his expression turning serious . "I know that this is an unexpected turn of events for some of you, which is why I’ll offer you a free exit . "


    "Unexpected?" Alex mumbled, smiling lightly . "Hardly so . "


    "Yeah," Amadeel nodded, stroking his beard . "Since the day I met you I knew you’d piss them off . "


    "I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner . " Eggor added from the end .


    " . . . I see," Lino sighed . "I didn’t know you all had so little faith in me . "


    "Well, now you do . " Av joined in as well with a faint chuckle .


    "Oh my, how disheartening . Nheless," he said, taking a deep breath . "If any one of you feel this has gone beyond your wants, feel free to contact me after the meeting . Due to obvious reasons, you’ll have to stay in the fortress for the foreseeable future, but I swear on my heart and soul you will not be mistreated . "


    " . . . "


    "Ah, very well," Lino shrugged, taking a sip . "I also must extend my gratitude over to Prince --- khm, former Prince Titus," he changed it midway through when he spotted Titus’ firm gaze . "Not only did he save Ion’s life, he also collected the bodies of those who fell . "


    " . . . " the atmosphere quickly dipped into the realms of somber .


    "Edward and Jack," Lino continued . "Were not only talented smiths but two of the kindest people I’ve met in my life . Despite the terrible cards the life dealt to them, they managed to crawl out and make something of themselves in this tepid world . Vyena, Talleah and Ryt . . . " Ion grit his teeth together, his fingers crawling up into a fist; he suddenly felt a gentle and warm touch hold him as he nced sideways; Alison smiled at him tenderly and nodded, causing his stirred soul to calm down . "Were young, hopeful and beyond talented . They were kids, ripped out of our arms cruelly and unfairly . Though most of you don’t know her, Y’sha was simrly a bright girl who ran away from thefort of her own home in search of something better and bigger . "


    " . . . "


    "All these dreams were cut short," he continued, his voice cracking slightly . "For no reason . I have failed them, as I have failed many others in my life," he nced briefly at Lucky who merely smiled in response . "And, despite my best efforts, in my heart I know I’ll fail many of you in the future . You’ve all given me the wind that I fly upon, yet I can’t even give you a roof to shelter you from the rain . "


    " . . . "


    " . . . inform their families, if they had any," Lino continued after a brief silence . "And provide them with afortable life . Task someone to build a monument in the central za with their names carved in . We’ll hold a pyre for them on top of the tform in a fortnight . "


    " . . . will do . " Val replied with a heavy tone, sighing afterward .


    "At the very least, now you know," Primul suddenly broke the heavy silence, causing all eyes to shift on him; no one knew who exactly he was, only that his knowledge of formations put all the others to shame . "Why no Empyrean has ever submitted to her . "


    " . . . I do," Lino smiled faintly . "In the back of my head, a single scene keeps repeating itself . It was long before I met most of you, during my early stages back on the Western Continent . I happened to meet a Sky Devil, Linger, one night . He warned me, even back then, of exactly that . Though I dismissed him, I do wish I could go back in time and kiss thed . "


    "If you need to kiss anyone, I’m here for you, Your Grace!" Titus spoke out in all seriousness causing the previously gut-wrenching atmosphere to explode out withughter .


    "Oi, little fucker, if he needs to kiss anyone, ain’t I here for that?!" Hannah chimed in in-between the bouts ofughter .


    "Alright, alright, settle down," Lino said after nearly five minutes of persistentughter; despite that, however, Titus seemed entirely undisturbed by it, still as serious as ever . "For the time being, we have many things to do . As most of you have figured it out, we ceased phasing back in and increased our defenses exponentially . In addition, thanks to Tim, Sylvia, Anna and Simon, our ability to hide has skyrocketed . " he pointed toward the far end of the table where the four Gods sat next to one another, lowering their heads bashfully . "And, thanks to Edith, our dear Val can finally take an asional breather . "


    "If there’s anyone who deserves kissing, it’s this woman!" Val eximed, leaping over the table and kissing theughing Edith on the cheek as the rest of the hall burst into anotherughter . "You fuckers really worked me to the bone . . . "


    "Ah, all the love in the air is simply beautiful . . . " Lino mumbled jokingly .


    "Love aside," Alex said as the hall settled down . "Are you certain we haven’t been located?"


    "I am," Lino nodded . "Truth be told, even I would have difficulty locating our position without any points of reference . This, however, is a temporary solution . While ourplete cloaking is still in development, we need to figure out a way to buy some more time . Battling and fighting right now is simply out of question; our armory iscking, we’re still in the growing periods of our talisman and rune productions, to say nothing of other parts that have barely been kicked off the ground . "


    "There’s a more imminent issue . " a new voice joined in, everyone quickly shifting their gazes over to the unsuspecting housewife sitting by Eggor’s side, holding a sleeping boy in her arms .


    "Hm?" Lino nced at E .


    "We have to pull out both Qe’ll n and the Eternalspletely . "


    " . . . that’s true . " both Alex and Lino spoke out at the same time, frowning . "Uprooting the entire history, however, will leave a scar . " Lino added . "And we hardly have space to fit them all here in the fortress . "


    "--I may have a solution . " Primul joined in again .


    "Oh, do tell . " Lino looked at him, nodding .


    "With some help from the Runic Department as well as the Technological Research, I could fashion a system simr to that of our host star and thes . "


    " . . . " everyone’s expressions immediately turned serious, as this was one of the many mind-bending things some of them have discovered since they started living in the fortress .


    "Oh? You mean the orbits?" Lino quizzed .


    "Yes," Primul nodded, getting up off his chair and walking over toward Lino, ending up behind him as Lino pulled out a massive canvas and a few brushes . "I could make the fortress act like a star," he said, painting a dot . "And we could fashion flying inds to act ass, orbiting the fortress . "


    " . . . that’s not a small undertaking, however," Lino said, getting up as well . "I imagine the number of lines in formations only would reach tens of trillions at a minimum . That’s not ounting for the even greater expenditure of materials to fashion the inds or the amount of energy we’ll start consuming just to maintain the status quo . "


    " . . . we could terraform . " one of the Gods at the far end of the table, Anna, spoke out after a few moments of silence . She appeared to be rather young, at most in her mid-twenties, with long, ck and braided hair and a pair of ck eyes hidden behind round pair of sses .


    "Terraform?" Primul and Lino quizzed .


    "Uh, literally dig up the entirendscape of the n and the Sect," she said . "And transport it in a temporary dimension; or we could drift the fortress over to them and immediately adjoin them to our orbit, though the process would take a while which would result in us being found out . "


    " . . . it would require huge manpower, but it is more feasible," Primul nodded after a short thought . "And the formation-lining would be made easier through it . "


    "What do you think?" Lino turned toward Alex and E and asked .


    " . . . it could work," Alex said with a faint frown . "But, there’s a whole lot to figure out before we actually go for it . "


    "Wouldn’t adding them to us make us simply . . . too big to hide?" E asked .


    "Not really," Primul answered instead of Lino . "Through the lining, they would act as a single whole, in effect . Meaning that, so long as the fortress is invisible, they would be too . "


    "I imagine it would also do well for our resources," Hannah said . "As we could just continue the already existing systems rather than fabricating them out of thin air . "


    " . . . hmm, alright," Lino nodded, taking in a deep breath . "Primul, Eggor, Alex and Anna will be main coordinators . Design the project outline within two weeks’ time, when we’ll gather once more to go through it and slowly begin our preparations . "


    "Very well . . . "


    "More work?" Eggor sighed, shaking his head . "Aii, I thought sons were supposed to rece their fathers as they got up in the age . . . yet look at this . . . "


    "The reason I’m employing you is because you keep lurking everywhere and scaring the living shit out of people," Lino growled . "Because you can’t sit on your old ass and just rx . "


    " . . . khm . . . " Eggor coughed awkwardly as E burst out intoughter, soon after followed by everyone else .


    "Very well," Lino chuckled faintly . "Let’s take a lunch break and we’ll continue afterward . "


    He sat down and rxed as the food slowly started pouring in, carried over by the young and old alike . Lino watched as people quickly broke out in chats, creating a rather mesmerizing scene; it was astounding to see, at least to him, how many different people, from entirely different backgrounds, cane together and just . . . talk . Young who were standing soon joined as well, shoved in-between the chairs .


    After a deep re from Lucky, Lino took out two more chairs for her and Alison, chuckling faintly as he saw thetter blush . She has undergone aplete change since her initial arrival; she was far freer and open . She wasughing more and interacting with others more . Warmth surged from within Lino’s heart; though the terrible past would always be there, he at the very least was able to give her a ce where she can be herself, surrounded with people who loved her and who she loved .


    " . . . she’s taken already, you know?" Hannah teased as she poked his ribs .


    "Oh? You noticed?" Lino asked, chuckling faintly .


    "Yeah, they’re not very good at hiding it," she said, smiling . "They’re cute together, though . "


    "You sad she didn’t choose you?"


    "A bit . But, if she had, I’d have never married you, so I guess it all kind of worked out in the end . "


    " . . . that’s a rather lukewarm take on a happy and beautiful marriage . "


    "Eh, happy and beautiful for you, maybe . . . "


    " . . . have you heard anything from Seya?" he asked .


    "Hm," Hannah nodded . "The furthest anyone would take her is about five miles offshore . The currents split there, going northward toward the Bay, eastward toward the isles, and southward toward icebergs and cial mountains . I’ve told her toe back . "


    "Yeah," he nodded . "Aah . . . I really wanted to go to the Isles sometime soon . Fuckin’ hell . It’s virtually impossible to quantify how much that bitch screwed up my timeline . "


    "And your innards . "


    "Oi . "


    "Come on, eat," she said, suddenly ripping a piece of chicken and blowing on it before moving it toward his mouth . "Your appetite has been shit recently . "


    "My, my . . . this very wife of mine feeding me?" Lino smiled wryly, taking the piece . "It’s a dreame true . . . "


    "I imagine . " she smiled warmly, her emerald-green eyes shining like gems momentarily . Even to this day, Lino often found himself lost in them, in her mesmerizing gaze . He leaned over slowly and kissed her, causing her lips to stretch out into a wider smile and dimples to form on her cheeks . "What’s what for?"


    " . . . who knows?" their little moment remainedrgely unnoticed, save for Lucky and Alison who spotted them by ident . Thetter quickly flushed red and looked away, though still peaking after due to curiosity .


    "Do you think we look better kissing?" Lucky asked . "I think we look better . "


    "L’!!" Alison cried out . "Shut up!! What if somebody hears you!?"


    " . . . what?"


    "Y-you promised . . . we’d . . . we’d keep it a secret for now . . . "


    "Well, yeah, sure," Lucky scratched her head . "But I’m pretty sure almost everyone in this room already knows, though . "


    " . . . what?"


    " . . . nothing . I was just kidding . Nobody knows, obviously . Ha ha . How could they know? We kept it such a perfect secret . . . "


    "S-stop joking like that . . . " Alison said, her pale face regaining color as she sighed in relief . "You nearly killed me . . . "


    " . . . sorry . " Lucky leaned in as though to whisper something, instead giving her a quick peck on the cheek . "Teasing you, however, is my favorite past-time . "


    Primul remained mostly silent as he gorged away at the delicious food, silently observing everything . The more he interacted with the fortress and its inhabitants, the more he realized how different of a world it was than the outside -- and especially how different it was than his time . ncing at Lino from the corners of his eyes, he once again couldn’t help but admit the young man was someone the world vastly underestimated . I really wish we could have an honest conversation, he thought, sighing inwardly . Aah . . . life can really be unfair sometimes . . .