let her guard down. Things had been peaceful that day, but even that calm was nothing more than a fleeting illusion. The tranquility was but an intermission in the farce. And before long, the show would begin again to cheers and thunderous applause. When that happened, those scant peaceful hours would vanish like they'd never been there. And what's more, she was sure that this would be the play's final intermission. 7 The Kings' Advent The room was as red as always and the pieces atop its chessboard were in utter disarray. However, things around the simple desk were quiet. At it, two people sat across from each other. Steam wafted up from their freshly brewed cups of tea, and there was a plate adorned with a small pile of cookies. Time passed peacefully there. They shared no conversation, although they did look up and nod from time to time to set the other's mind at ease. They both rested one hand by the chessboard, each squeezing the other's tight. However, that peaceful time of theirs soon came to an abrupt end. The intermission was over. Suddenly, the chessboard shook. It rattled ever louder, and its surface began rumbling. It was as though the earth itself was roaring. Kaito Sena leaned forward. From there, he could see the board's tumultuous change in its entirety. Something was appearing on it. Kaito's eyes went wide. Then, in a low voice, he spoke. "...Here they come." "My esteemed colleagues, I thank you all for coming here once again. Now, without further ado, let us be seated!" A dignified voice rang out over the large round table. Yet again, they were gathered at the underground conference room beneath the World Tree. A few days had passed since Elisabeth accepted the first imperial prince's invitation. Sensing that the time was upon them, Vyadryavka Ula Forstlast had summoned the three races' representatives together. However, the dignitaries had problems in their own lands to worry about. The rebellion hadn't stopped, nor had the massacres. Cold looks lingered in their gazes at Vyadryavka having taken valuable time from them that could be spent dealing with their domestic emergencies. Despite the reception he was getting, though, the sharply dressed panther-headed beastman merely replied with a calm bow. Puzzled looks spread across the dignitaries' faces. The humans and demi-humans were one thing, but not even the lower-ranked members of the beastfolk imperial family understood what was going on. However, their expressions soon turned to ones of comprehension, each sporting a different shade of it but all possessing it just the same. "It seems like something's changed." "I wouldn't have expected this, not from someone who's neither the Dynast nor the Wise Wolf." "Still, though, that confidence of his doesn't seem baseless." "And confidence is often rooted in strength." "From money, from armed might, from powerful backing." "Or sometimes..." "Well, let's just hope it isn't madness or delusion." "What is it he decided? What is it he obtained?" In any case, I imagine that's what most of them are thinking. Elisabeth glanced around at the representatives and nodded. Everyone there was highly capable, and together, they formed the nucleus of society. They were not idiots. Unwittingly, she had come to much of the same conclusion that Kaito Sena once had. With a flourish, Vyadryavka raised his arm out to the side. A blue ring gleamed on his middle finger. "Now, I know you're all busy people, which is why I should start with an apology. The reason I called you here today was to inform you of events that have already been set in motion." A wave of restlessness swept through the room. Some people even slammed the table and rose up from their chairs. They were hasty reactions, to be sure, but the situation had everyone on edge. At the moment, high spirits were a scarce commodity. One of Maclaeus's advisers leaned over and whispered something to the Royal Knight beside him. Suddenly, the young king took the initiative, rising to his feet to dissuade anyone from making any rash decisions. The room went silent. Perfectly composed, Maclaeus faced Vyadryavka and spoke. "Would you mind elaborating? Given that you chose to call us here to make this announcement, I assume there was meaning in doing so. There would have had to have been. Do I presume rightly, Lord Vyadryavka Ula Forstlast?" "You do indeed, King Maclaeus Filliana. Now, allow me to say what needs to be said." The two nobles exchanged a glance from across the pure-white round table. Elisabeth frowned and thought back to the records she read after the end of days. That was the same table where Valisisa the Dynast and Kaito Sena the Mad King had played out their battle. Now Vyadryavka was imitating his older sister as he stood before it. In truth, nothing he was doing or saying was anything but base mimicry. There was a reason he had never made a name for himself while his sisters were still aliveâ€”he knew full well just how stunted a vessel he was. And that was precisely why he knew that he needed to become larger than himself. The situation called for a dramatic change. And to make that happen, the first imperial prince would have to become capable of standing shoulder to shoulder with his sisters. He holds the Dynast and Wise Wolf in great esteem. And he held particular adoration for the first princess, as I recall... It was a silly little thing, but the first imperial prince's stance on the Dynast and the Wise Wolf was rooted in simple love. During her stay at his manor, Vyadryavka had told Elisabeth a story. "When I was young, I asked Valisisa to teach me how to use a sword, and I got Vyade to patch me up afterward. I couldn't let my subordinates find out, you see. Because of an incident where a member of the imperial family murdered another and tried to pass it off as a tragic dueling accident, we were prohibited from so much as martial training. My sister railed against that restriction, though, saying that one dishonorable half-wit did not a people make as she knocked me off my feet over and over and over. 'You need to be stronger,' she would tell me. 'Weaklings are a disgrace to the imperial family...' And then Vyade would have to come comfort me, telling me that kindness was just as important as strength. Ah, how frustrating those days we shared were and what fun we had!" ...'Tis nigh impossible to tell a man with such sparkling eyes not to base his decisions off something such as that. When you got right down to it, the mixed-race people started their rebellion for exactly the same reason. It was the simplest reason imaginable, but it was rooted in a heavy truth. "Someone they wished was alive had been killed." That, as always, was what gave rise to the flag called revenge. Vyadryavka's white wolf fur cloak flapped showily behind him as he began his proclamation. "Our lands are in chaos, to say nothing of our hearts. And waging a war of attrition is hardly an option, not when we have no idea how much stronger the Fremd Torturchen may yet grow and not when we have no idea what other weapons our foes may have in store. The rebels will bide their time, waiting for us to fall further into disarray, and when they come at us, they will come at us hard. The pressure is on us to actâ€”and to act now. Give me the map!" When Vyadryavka barked out the order, Vlad gave a scornful laugh from Elisabeth's side. "Well I see someone's being a bit of a taskmaster. Would it kill him to say 'please'?" Despite his grumbling, though, he snapped his fingers all the same. Azure petals and black darkness swirled up before the round table, etching a large map in midair. There was a red mark on the vast desert that spanned much of its top half. Vyadryavka slammed his fist into the mark. "We've identified their hiding spot! Right here!" When his hand made contact, the map shattered. A shower of petals cascaded throughout the conference room. Amid the azure storm, a stir ran through the dignitaries. Elisabeth frowned. Vyadryavka's performance was flashyâ€”almost excessively so. However, even though the people there had only seen it for a moment, that coordinate was now etched into their brains. Such was the power of Vlad's red mark. Before they had a chance to recover from the shock, the panther-headed beastman went on. "We have visual confirmation on both Lewis and Alice, as well as a number of demon grandchildren. There can be no doubt that this is the mixed-race forces' main strongholdâ€”and that now is the time to strike!" For a moment, the room was cloaked in absolute silence. Then it was as loud as if a bomb had gone off. It was a natural reaction. After all, unilaterally deciding to invade should have been completely off the table. There were people shouting at him for acting out of turn, people calmly trying to point out how dangerous it would be, people complaining that this wasn't the planâ€”and they all blended together, echoing through the room like a buzzing swarm of insects. Everyone kept shouting and shouting, trying desperately to be heard in that bee's nest of a conference room. Elisabeth gazed at the chaos from the window. What Vyadryavka had done was inelegant, but that wasn't to say she opposed it. Endings always come swiftly, like meteors descending. That speed and fervor were necessary if they wanted to blow everything away. And they had to, for if they didn't, a calamity would come. A calamity would come. To all the people of the land. That was what they were up against. "And for that sake, there is but one answerâ€”to take sword in hand, folly as it may be." During Vyadryavka's speech, Elisabeth and Vlad weren't actually present at the World Tree. Instead, they were on standby at the Sand Queen's temple over in the demi-human lands. The two of them gazed down at the proceedings through the window of what Vyadryavka's blue ring was perceiving. The reason they were there was to await the results of the second inspection. The first inspectionâ€”the one on the Sand Queen's corpseâ€”had long been completed. There had always been a danger that they would run into the human army while conducting their investigation, but as yet, the temple was still quiet. In all likelihood, they had Maclaeus Filliana to thank for that. He must have kept the information he got from Izabella a secret. Viewed favorably, it was because he wanted to let Elisabeth handle it her way, regardless of whether or not she actually had the right to do so. However, he might just as easily have held back because he was concerned the information itself was a trap. After all, it was odd how Aguina's wife had been left behind. Her information was such that they had no choice but to look into it. But due to the fact that it was a potentially dangerous trap, the only one he could afford to have go was the Torture Princess. At the end of the day, though, Elisabeth didn't much care what the king's true motive had been. Either way, it didn't change what she had to do. As a result of her initial inspection, a new piece of information came to light. What she had found was an act of blasphemy and utter sacrilege. It was a teleportation circle, carved atop the Sand Queen's meaty tongue inside her sealed mouth. Normally, it wasn't possible to teleport out from the Sand Queen's burial chamber. However, that seal didn't extend to the inside of her mouth. Furthermore, it was a place nobody would ever look without knowing to do so ahead of time. After