Audience with the Wrath King

Shortly after arriving in front of the throne room, the guard that led him there departed, and Seth was allowed entry inside.

Walking between the series of columns leading to the throne, accompanied by one of the court officers, Seth looked straight at the young man sitting on the throne in front.

He appeared to be around thirty years of age, with long black hair and sunken dark-red eyes with a sharp look inside them. Two older men were sitting on the left and right of the throne, a tired look in their eyes as they watched Seth slowly approach the throne.

Once in front of the king and his advisers, Seth lowered his head and fell on his knees, as expected when seeking an audience with the king.

Even if he could feel his divinity trembling inside his chest, whispering to him to wipe the entire capital of Wrath from the face of the world, Seth kept it in check and kept a calm expression on his face.

“Infiltrator, Otis Knor, greets his majesty, King Icas Wrath, and the royal advisers.”

The king nodded with an intense look and replied: “Rise, Otis, and tell me what you know about the Blood kingdom and the blood plague. I’ve already postponed my journey to Hope, so you’re not leaving this room alive if I don’t like what I’m hearing.”

“Yes, your majesty.” Replied Seth as he stood up and looked towards the king. “A new power has appeared inside the Blood Kingdom, taking over the throne from the former king and - “

“That’s the norm. Spare me the useless blabbering and go straight to the point.” Interrupted the young king, causing Seth’s eyebrow to tremble, but he didn’t argue back.

“The new king has killed the criminals living inside the capital and even removed the starvation and housing problems the kingdom was facing - “

“Someone actually fixed that shit-hole?” asked the king in wonder, interrupting Seth again before turning toward one of his advisers: “Hey Zaff, should we mount a quick assault and take it over before the other kingdoms find out about it?”

The advisor, Zaff, sighed and shook his head: “Your Highness, we should wait for the report to be over before deciding on our next move.”

The king nodded and turned towards Seth again. “Continue.”

“At the same time the new king has solved the fundamental issues of the kingdom, he had also driven away an old and seclusive race that dwelled deep underground, the blood race, which has now started plaguing the rest of the continent.”

“What did you learn about this blood race?” the other adviser asked.

Seth heaved a sigh of relief inwardly once the adviser asked him that and replied: “From what I’ve learned, they are of an ancient race, without a real body, that lives by sucking the blood out of other beings, be it animals or humans.”

“What else?” asked the adviser after taking a deep breath.

“They can materialize blood in all kinds of shapes and forms. Some people also claimed that the blood race can possess humans and animals, but I’m not sure how true that is.”

The young king seemed to be getting excited for a reason, but one of the advisers had a thoughtful look as he asked: “If that new king of blood had managed to drive them away, how strong is he? Is he an ascended that ran away from Oath? The situation there has also been quite suspicious over the last year.”

Seth shook his head and replied: “I don’t know. Besides maybe the new king’s spokesperson, no one else inside the kingdom seems to know.”

“The new king has never shown his face to his people, and I’ve never noticed any ascended activity. Still, with how everything changed quickly after he took the throne, he must have special abilities or powers.”

Then Seth pretended to have remembered something and said: “I heard talks that he had called himself a member of the Council, but I don’t know what that means.”

The moment Seth mentioned the Council, both adviser’s faces changed into one of horror, and Zaff asked: “A-are you sure you heard right?”

The king didn’t miss his advisers’ reactions and asked before Seth could answer: “What is this Council? Do you two know anything about it?”

The two advisers exchanged a look before shaking their heads simultaneously.

“Your majesty, with all due respect, I suggest we don’t get involved with the Blood Kingdom anymore and move as many soldiers as possible towards the southern border just in case.”

The other adviser quickly nodded back, showing his support for that plan.

‘I know these two old foxes must have at least heard about the Council.’ Thought Seth, grinning inwardly as his expression remained just as confused as the king’s.

“I’m not moving a single troop until you tell me what this Council is.” Replied the king, his expression getting slightly icy.

The two advisers exchanged another look before turning toward the king. “Your majesty, we’ll explain everything we know as soon as the audience is over. These matters can’t be talked freely about.”

The king still looked annoyed but nodded in the end and turned towards Seth, his mood worse than at the start. “Okay, I get it now. So this new Council, something, king, took over blood and threw this plague upon us. Have you heard of any way to kill these blood race members?”

Seth pretended to think for a moment before replying: “I heard that the blood race’s bodies are liquid most of the time, made completely out of blood and a single core which controls it. If we can find a member’s core, simply breaking the core should allow us to kill one.”

“And where will we find that core?” asked the king.

“I - I don’t know, your highness.”

“Hm. Useless. Anything else you have to report?”

Seth shook his head, feigning fear at the king’s expression, before saying: “No, I do not, your majesty.”

“Then get out. I have things to speak about with my advisers.”

Seth nodded and knelt again before quickly leaving the audience room. Once outside, a small smile appeared on his lips as he headed back toward the city, teleporting inside a vacant inn room as fast as possible and lying on the bed.

‘Show me what that king is doing. Also, I want to take a look at the Council as well.’

*Back inside the audience room.*

“What are you two acting like scared cats about? What is this Council?” asked the king, his fists clenched on the throne’s armrests.

“Your Highness, please calm your fury. We know about the Council from old stories and whispers, but the former king never once dared to mention their name.”

“I don’t care what my idiot father did. Tell me what you know.”

“There is an old story about a war fought all over the continent. This happened long before the Age of the Ascended and was what started the Age of Horrors. There are few things known about the Age of Horrors now, but from the little we know, the Council of the Unseen referred to the ones responsible for putting an end to it.”

“They were - “

“Wait a moment.” Interrupted the king. “Wasn’t the Age of Horrors like more than 2 000 years ago?”

Both advisers nodded simultaneously, and the king asked: “Then why are we even speaking about it? Are you saying that the members of that Council are still alive? You two old men must have gone senile.”

“Your Majesty.” Said Zaff, “The former king has once told us in private that the Council still exists. We don’t know if it’s the same people or their descendants, but he seemed terrified of their existence.”

“Again, with my stupid father. He must have been just as senile as you two. Forget about him and this Council. After the meeting in the Hope Kingdom, we’ll march south and take over the Blood kingdom. I’m not leaving such a good piece of land slip through my fingers just because of some old ghost stories.”

The advisers looked at each other with hopeless expressions and nodded back.

*On an island on the far northeast of the continent.*

A golden-haired young-looking man was sitting with his eyes closed on a flat and round piece of wood inside a simple empty room. Suddenly, a slight knocking disturbed the room’s silence, and the young man’s sky-blue eyes snapped open.

Looking towards the door, the young man smiled and said in a hoarse voice: “Raven, why do you even bother knocking? Come in.”

The door opened, and a cloaked figure stepped inside.

“Atlas, the name Council of Unseen, has escaped the lips of someone in the Wrath Kingdom..”

The young Atlas’s eyebrows rose as he asked: “First, the Blood race left their feeding grounds, and now there are even people speaking about us? What is happening on the continent?”

“I don’t know, but we should send someone to investigate. Everything happening is too suspicious, and we can’t let a repeat of the Age of Horrors happen.”

“Hmm.” Atlas lowered his head, pondering Raven’s suggestion for a minute before raising his head and asking: “Has Augur spoken yet?”

After Raven shook his head, Atlas stood up and started walking towards the door: “I’ll see what he thinks about it. We shouldn’t make reckless moves and risk waking up those old fools ourselves.”

Atlas walked alone through a long series of tunnels before arriving at a set of stairways. After climbing to the top, he pushed open a door and stepped inside a round room, where a gray-haired old man was sitting cross-legged in the center.

Atlas didn’t even get the chance to open his mouth as the man inside the room said: “I don’t have the answer you seek. Since that night a few years back, the world has changed too much for me to read clearly. I’m afraid the current incidents must be related to that night, but I don’t know anything else.”

Atlas frowned and asked: “Do you think any of those buried old fools did something?”

The man turned around, his pure gray eyes bleeding around the ages as he shook his head: “I don’t think so. Even those old fools don’t have that much power. Whenever I try to read the future, my vision gets even worse. I think what is causing all this trouble on the continent is much worse.”

Atlas sighed and nodded. “Rest well, Augur, and thank you.”

Augur closed his eyes and turned around, ignoring Atlas’s presence after a quick nod.

*Back inside the capital of the Wrath Kingdom.*

Seth was resting on a one-person bed, eyes closed as different scenes appeared in his vision.

‘What do you predict? Will Atlas come to stick his nose in this?’ asked Seth once the show was over.

<Negative. Even with the blood race wreaking havoc and their oracle picking up on the advisers mentioning their name, they wouldn’t risk attracting the attention of the other remnants.>

Seth smiled and closed his eyes again.

“Too bad. The Council would have surely made things interesting. Let me know when the king and his advisers return to their chambers.”

With that, Seth returned to cultivating until a new notification appeared in his vision.

<Both the King and his advisers are now in their chambers.>

Seth’s eyes snapped open, and he slowly stood up.

“Time to test some new abilities.”