Novel Full Chapter 1266: Visitors
Chapter 1266: Visitors
The air inside the tent thickened as the advisor’s voice broke through the rising clamor.
“My Lord! We have visitors!”
Alastair straightened in his chair. The cigar between his fingers burned, forgotten. “You will wait for the time being,” he declared to the men and women who were called back.
The generals exchanged uneasy glances. Winterwood’s man slammed a gauntleted hand against the table. “Wait? Lord Alastair, every minute we waste-”
“I said we wait. Your lords and ladies placed you under my command. The army does not function as a fun get-together from which you can leave whenever you feel like.”
He stood, looking into their eyes. “You will obey me, or else…”
The tension in his jaw made his stance very clear. Further argument was a risk no one wanted to take.
Still, the generals bristled, eyes flashing with restrained protest. Before anyone could speak again, the flap of the tent opened, and a helper stumbled in, slightly out of breath.
“My Lord! The king has heard of the recent incidents. He’s sent a squad of the Aegis Vanguard, led by Stormlord himself! They are to oversee the ongoings of Greenvale on His Majesty’s direct orders.”
A wave of uneasy whispers broke through the generals. Even the most battle-hardened among them lowered their tone at that name.
Alastair’s expression didn’t change, but a muscle in his temple twitched. “So the king thinks he can just waltz in here and act as the overseer…”
But, well, that was exactly what King Alexios could do, should he want to. Technically, Alastair wasn’t even a recognized duke right now; he had to earn the rank back by winning the competition for his lands.
As such, with a great deal of frustration, Alastair exhaled, “Very well… Let them in-”
Before he could finish, another helper burst in, nearly colliding with the first one. “My Lord!” he blurted. “The queen has arrived. She is with Lady Kaede Fujimori of Silverwind and the Scarlet Lilies!”
The tent fell into stunned quiet.
Alastair’s head turned sharply toward the soldier. “What…?” he muttered.
He looked around at his council, seeing faces reflecting equal parts surprise and dread. Then he squared his shoulders and fixed his cloak.
“Prepare the council tent. Let them in.”
…
The new chamber was smaller, brighter, and quieter than the one before. Thick carpets muffled every step. The air smelled faintly of incense and burning oakwood. Four sigils could be observed on the seated figures, each representing a different crest: Greenvale’s oak and crown, Silverwind’s twin moons, the Scarlet Lilies’ emblem, and the royal sigil of the crown itself.
At the circular table sat Queen Morgana, poised alone on her side. Her gaze was that of distance, presenting an aloof, cold woman.
Beside her, Lady Kaede sat. Behind her stood Elder Chizuru, her advisor.
Across from them, Lilith of the Scarlet Lilies leaned back. Behind her, Jallen stood silent.
Alastair took his seat opposite the queen. His most trusted advisor, Marshal Duren, stood behind him, expression unreadable. The candles flickered between them, shadows drawing sharp lines across every face.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Then Alastair’s voice cut through the silence, firm and measured. “Your Majesty. To what do we owe this… combined arrival?”
“Devil.”
The queen spoke the word without weight, her tone flat and almost bored. Reclining in her seat, she inspected her painted nails as though the meeting were an inconvenience.
Alastair blinked. “Devil…?”
Her eyes lifted toward him. They were cold and unimpressed, the sort of look one gave to a man assumed to be outright retarded.
“Quinlan Elysiar. The Primordial Villain. The Harbinger of Ruin. The Godslayer-”
“I know who you are talking about, My Lady,” Alastair cut in, forcing a small, courteous smile. “Could you elaborate on why you bring up that name here?”
“I want him,” she declared simply.
A long silence followed. The queen didn’t blink. She didn’t explain herself.
But neither did she need to.
Alastair sighed for what felt like the hundredth time that evening.
The queen’s reputation had never been a secret, at least in the circle of the dukes. Only the common people and the lesser aristocrats truly believed her to be a woman of charity, one who fought for her people.
Everyone in the tent knew that Morgana was no ruler in the traditional sense. She cared little for court or crown, and even less for the suffering of her people.
Her obsession lay elsewhere, in the study of magic, in tearing open the fabric of reality to glimpse what no human should: the abyss of magic.
To her, the world was a laboratory, and she its detached observer.
And now, a being like Devil existed, an anomaly who could wield the four elements more effortlessly than the queen herself, and even had non-elemental-related abilities to his name. His power defied the natural order, and that made him irresistible to someone like Morgana.
Her presence here was no coincidence. The moment word reached her that Devil had been seen within Greenvale’s inner lands, she had come herself.
Alastair rubbed his temple and shifted his gaze toward another of the visitors. “And what about you?”
Lilith’s jaw tightened. When she spoke, her tone carried a buried snarl. “I’ll kill him. Even if it’s the last thing I do.”
The weight in her words wasn’t bravado. The Spellblade’s presence filled the space, sharp and hostile, her killing intent heavy enough that even the guards near the entrance stiffened.
As the Adamantite Adventurer who’d not only lost her comrade, Scar, to Devil but the man was even using her as his minion, her hatred for him was very easy to understand.
She wanted revenge, clear as day.
But before she could say more, Morgana turned her head and announced, “You will do no such thing.”
Lilith’s gaze snapped toward her sister. “Oh, but I will.”
“You will not destroy what I intend to study. Once I’m done, perhaps he can be yours.”
The air between the two women thickened.
Neither moved, but the exchange was cutting enough to draw beads of sweat on the aide standing by the door.
Alastair pinched the bridge of his nose. “Wonderful…” he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. His attention shifted next to Kaede, who seemed perfectly at ease amid the tension. “And you?”
Kaede leaned back in her chair with a small, knowing smirk forming on her delicate lips. “I’m only here out of concern for your people, Lord Alastair. I understand how difficult it must be to live under the rule of such an incompetent leader who allowed his lands to be plagued by a parasite of the magnitude that is the Vesper Consortium. To think they’ve even bred such a powerful stray among their ranks… It’s tragic, really.”
Her words dripped with condescension. As someone who just recently cleared her duchy of its own parasite, the Phantom League, her stance regarding his competence was clear as day.
Alastair’s hand twitched on the armrest. The insult was not even thinly veiled; it was right outside in the open. His glare made that clear. Just as he opened his mouth to respond, Marshal Duren, his advisor, was quicker.
“Lady Kaede,” Duren said in a steady tone, “perhaps you could clarify what form this… concern of yours will take?”
Kaede nodded elegantly, full of grace. “Of course. Devil isn’t the only one who can open portals, you see. I am quite capable of the same feat. To let Lord Alastair focus on the frontlines, I’ll take my elites and personally secure his estates. Should Devil appear again, I’ll open a portal to his location and deal with him myself.”
The tent grew quiet again. Between the queen’s madness, the Spellblade’s wrath, and Kaede’s sly maneuvering…
Tonight, Greenvale’s camp had turned from a war council into a pit of wolves, and every one of them had come for the same prey.