The eight floor of Nazarick was covered in nothing but wilderness. It was made up of rocky plains and valleys, devoid of any vegetation. All its' inhabitants are very powerful, even for Nazaricks' standards. As the final line of defense before the residual area and the throne room, this was only natural. Victim and several high ranking NPC guarded this place, but the others were also very strong. Even a group of level 100 Players would have a hard time surviving here. In a sense, this floor represented Nazaricks' strongest fighting force. Most of the guardians were not allowed to set foot onto this floor. There were only two exceptions. The first one was Victim, the guardian of this floor. The second one, in her role as guardian overseer, was Albedo. Right now she was making use of her privileges and walked along a narrow canyon. At the end of that canyon was her destination. A deep and dark cave. It wouldn't be right to call the cave her goal, more the resident of that cave. The pitch-black darkness inside was no problem for her, thanks to her dark-vision. She had to walk carefully, as the ground was covered in the remains of many creatures. Broken and shattered bones with bite marks on them, blood stains and the smell of spilled innards were very prominent. Most of the remains were in a state that made it impossible to tell which species they were from, but the skulls were clean and orderly lined up next to the walls. They belonged mostly to humans, but also to several demi-humans and other creatures. Albedo could hear chewing sounds from further down the cave. She wore her usual gentle smile as she approached the origin of that sounds.

"Hello sister, it has been a long time."

In the dark two blood red, glowing dots appeared, looking at the newcomer. A line of shining white, razor sharp teeth formed a scary smile.

"I have come to ask you for a favor."

She pulled out a piece of paper that looked like it had been ripped out of a book.

"Very soon we will have to take action against a foolish enemy that tried to defy our lord. When that time comes we will probably see this thing. If you happen to come across this object, I want you to secretly take it and bring it to me. Can I count on you, Rubedo-chan?"

Her hand reached out and took the piece of paper to look at it, then she smiled again, licking her lips like a hungry beast.

In the Slane Theocracy, there was no higher authority than the six cardinals, except for the gods themselves. The one responsible for managing the affairs of the scriptures, the Slane Theocracys' Special Forces, was Raymond Zarg Lauransan, the cardinal of earth. It was his duty to organize and dispatch the scriptures, as well as read their reports and later inform the other cardinals. At the moment, he was receiving one of these reports. A few weeks ago he sent a member of the Holocaust Scripture, the vice-captain Agurun to be precise, to the Elven Kingdom, to cause some damage to them, by burning down a couple of villages and maybe weaken their economy. Originally, this was supposed to be a punishment. During his last mission to kill some traitors to humanity, he showed great disrespect towards his captain. Therefore he was sent on such a dangerous mission alone, without back-up or artifacts. When he returned he reported some unexpected and delightful news. According to him, the king of the Elven Kingdom recently committed suicide and left the throne to his underage daughter. She and her aides decided to reconcile with the Slane Theacracy and make peace with them. As it was almost too good to be true, Raymond wanted to doubt the vice-captains words, but the thing he held in his hand proved him otherwise. Just this morning he received a message, decorated with the royal crest of the Elven Kingdom, asking for a cease-fire and peace negotiations. After he said everything he had to say, Agurun kneeled in silence before the cardinal.

"Is there anything else you wish to say?"

"No, your eminence."

"Then you are free to go."

After he left, Raymond, seemingly alone said

"What do you think of this?"

A figure emerged from the shadow, The captain of the black scripture had been listening all the time.

"That's a highly suspicious development. The king is not somebody that would commit suicide. He is way too big of a narcissist for that."

"I think so, too. There is no low probability that his servants killed him and placed a child they could freely manipulate on the throne."

"Can we really blame them? They tolerated that bastard for a long time. They were probably sick of him. The question is, how should we react now that the main reason for the war is gone?"

"Do we have much of a choice? With the development in the kingdom, there is only one way."

"Accepting their peace-offer after what happened might cause an uproar in the population. We have been at war with them for more than two generations. The hatred is very deep-rooted."

"You are right, but the alternative is much more frightening. If we don't end this conflict now, we will be surrounded by enemies on all sides. We have much bigger problems."

"You are talking about the Sorcerer King."

Raymond nodded.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the way he planned all this is masterful. I can't help but admire him for his efficiency and resourcefulness. Like pieces on a chessboard he brought everything in position and is now making his moves. He takes one country after the other, with frightening speed and surprisingly low casualties. First, he pretended to ally himself with the empire to found his own country, only to force them into submission a couple of months later. Then he employed the services of the Dwarven Kingdom. When the Holy Kingdom was plagued by a demon, he seized the opportunity and deeply indebted them. Now the Kingdom tried to invade his territory and got conquered in return. Almost like he put his bony fingers around our necks and is about to close his fist to crush us."

"So you are saying we have to end the fights on at least one border?"

"For now. We have to focus our efforts on this undead."

"I am only worried how Zesshi will react. She was almost obsessed with fighting him."

"It is very hard to predict her reactions. She could be furious, delighted or indifferent. In all those years I now know her, I have only learned one thing. She is unpredictable."

Silently, Agurun returned to his scriptures' quarters, where he would meet up with his companions. The ones that were killed by the Witcher were already resurrected and currently training to regain their full strength. For the next couple of days, they wondered why he has recently calmed down and was somewhat more respectful, but ultimately they wrote it of as him having learned his lesson after being scolded by the captain and cardinal Raymond.

On the other side of the now conquered kingdom of Re-Estize, in the Argiand Council state, the recent developments caused as much concerns as In the theocracy. Even before the kingdom was annexed by the Sorcerer King, the dragon lords had been feverishly debating, but now it rose to a different level. At first the dragons were shocked when they heard that the kingdom was conquered and they now shared a border with such a dangerous nation. Their assumption that the Sorcerer King was still alive proofed to be right. The speed at which he swallowed his surrounding nations was unsettling and they were pressed to agree on a way to deal with this situation. For the first time in a really long time they couldn't afford to take things slowly. Dragons, who had a limitless lifespan, tended to perceive time differently than others. They thought that an undead, who also had an eternal life, would be similarly slow in his actions, but they were wrong. Not only exceeded his speed their expectations, it was also increasing. Right now the council was divided in two groups. The ones that wanted to deal with the Sorcerer King militarily, the aggressive faction with Tsaindoruks, Saessenthesis and Vilentretenmert one the ones ide. The other side, the peaceful faction, contained Horaki, Fasreal and Taran. Riolt was still acting as a mediator between these two groups. They have debated for almost five days, without breaks in between. Because everyone got increasingly unproductive, Riolt decided ta stop for the day and continue once everyone had a chance to calm down. After leaving the high chamber, Horaki, the Emerald Dragon Lord, ordered one of his servants to come to his chamber. Towering over the kneeling servant, Horakis' presence alone seemed to crush the small person like an ant. In reality, being an Orc made him slightly bigger than an average human. It was Horaki who was simply so much bigger, With a stern and demanding tone hes aid.

"Repeat it once again. I can't afford you mess it up because of your bad memory. What are you supposed to say when you are asked by someone who serves the other members of the council?"

"Because I was worried what happened to some distant relatives when Jaldaboath run havoc in the holy kingdom, I am on my way to make sure they are save. Because the Sorcerer Kingdom is known to be neutral towards Demi-humans, I chose that route to go there."

"And what are you supposed to do, once you are in the Sorcerer Kingdom?"

"Make contact with someone in contact with the Sorcerer King, so I can request an audience with him."

"What are you supposed to say?"

"That your excellence, the sublime Emerald Dragon Lord, Horaki Folter, wishes to have a secret conversation with him."

"Good. I don't have to remind you what is at stake, do I?"

"No."

"Then go. Make haste, I don't know for how much more time I can stall. I can feel them getting annoyed with this."

The Orc left the room in a hurry.

(Good. With a messenger on the way, it is only a matter of time. I have to delay the decision for as long as possible. If we reach a conclusion before I was able to meet with the Sorcerer King, my whole plan will crumble. The question is, how can I convince him? He should already know about our secret hiding place. Fortunately, I know a lot of other secrets.)