The massive doors were carved with angels on one side and demons on the other, creating a strange yet striking sense of beauty.
Standing upright before the entrance was a familiar figure who had clearly been waiting for some time.
Sebas.
"Sebas-sama!"
"Mm. You've worked hard. Leave the rest to me."
Nabe and the other two bowed slightly toward Sebas before stepping aside to stand by. Their task was already complete.
"Jircniv-sama, we meet again."
"I will now guide you to meet Momonga-sama."
Sebas performed a noble bow as he spoke.
"Then I will trouble you, Sebas-dono."
Seeing the familiar face before him, the Bloody Emperor subtly moved his jaw, forcing down the uneasiness in his heart and trying to keep his smile from looking too stiff.
"It is my duty."
"Please, this way."
As Sebas spoke, a soft rumble followed.
Under the watchful gaze of the Bloody Emperor and his entourage, the massive doors carved with angels and demons slowly opened.
Beyond the doors lay an even larger space.
Several luxurious chandeliers hung from the ceiling, each embedded with multicolored gemstones that radiated a dreamlike light.
On both sides of the surrounding walls stood forty-two banners with different emblems, quietly suggesting the glorious past of this place. The atmosphere felt solemn and majestic.
As the doors opened fully, a faint but unmistakable sense of pressure filled the air, causing the Bloody Emperor's group to tense up.
A crimson velvet carpet ran through the center of the hall, stretching all the way toward the deepest part of the room.
At the end of the carpet stood a staircase of moderate height, where three thrones could faintly be seen.
"Three thrones?"
"Does that mean the so-called Supreme Ones are not just one… but three?"
The Bloody Emperor speculated, and some quiet calculations began forming in his mind.
If there were three rulers, then perhaps he could...
"Let's go."
With those thoughts lingering in his mind, the Bloody Emperor and his group slowly walked forward under Sebas's guidance.
As they drew closer, more terrifying figures came into view.
An insect-like warrior holding a massive axe, exhaling icy breath.
A strangely dressed man making unusual hand gestures, his face marked only by three circular patterns.
A pale-skinned girl dressed in elegant formal attire.
Two dragonoid figures covered in scales, with dragon horns growing from their heads. (Brightness Dragon Lord and Heavenly Dragon Lord.)
And a stunningly beautiful woman with black wings at her waist and curved horns on her forehead.
The three thrones also came fully into view.
The throne on the left was primarily purple, covered in numerous hooked spikes that made it look extremely vicious.
The throne on the right was entirely black, with ferocious dragon heads carved into both the armrests and the backrest.
But what surprised the Bloody Emperor was that both of those thrones were empty.
Their owners were not present.
When his gaze finally shifted to the center throne, the only one with someone seated upon it, his heart suddenly trembled.
"A skeleton undead!"
Looking at the skeletal figure wearing a magic robe and holding a staff, the Bloody Emperor felt a deep sense of disbelief.
He had imagined the so-called Supreme One might be a demon or a vampire.
But he had never expected it to be a skeleton undead.
No.
A being capable of commanding so many monsters should probably be called something else.
A god of death.
For the first time, the Bloody Emperor felt a sense of relief in his heart.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, he had not been blinded by ambition back then.
The Bloody Emperor could not help but feel a chill run down his spine.
He had once considered playing along on the surface while secretly plotting an assassination.
And the target of that plan had been a being like this.
Worse still, the other party was an undead.
Thinking about it now, it truly was reckless beyond belief.
He could only hope he would leave this place alive.
The moment he realized the other party was an undead, the Bloody Emperor knew things had become troublesome.
Now he could only pray that this being did not harbor too much hostility toward humanity.
But since the other party was an undead, that hope felt extremely slim.
Still, the Bloody Emperor had not given up yet.
At the very least, the other side had invited him here to negotiate and had not deliberately made things difficult along the way.
That meant he should still have a chance, right?
"Momonga-sama, the Emperor of the Empire, Jircniv Rune Farlord El-Nix, has arrived."
Looking down at the Bloody Emperor and his entourage, Albedo spoke softly with a faint smile.
As her voice fell, Momonga, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly raised his head.
A flash of crimson light flickered inside his hollow eye sockets.
Jircniv trembled slightly.
An overwhelming urge to kneel rose in his mind, but the pride of an emperor allowed him to endure it.
Behind him, the Imperial Knights [Lightning Bolt] and [Fierce Gale] were drenched in sweat, yet they also forced themselves to remain standing.
For them, there was only one king worthy of their kneeling.
However, the strongest among them, Fluder, stood frozen in place, staring intently at the figure seated upon the throne.
Thud.
Fluder suddenly dropped to his knees.
The Empire's renowned great sage knelt directly before the throne in front of everyone.
For Fluder, the abyss of magic was the pursuit of his entire life.
Even the Bloody Emperor, whom he had personally raised since childhood, could not compare to it.
What Fluder saw was completely different from what the Bloody Emperor saw.
With the aid of his innate Talent, the scene before him was utterly transformed.
Pillars of condensed magical power shot upward into the sky, radiating brilliant multicolored light.
And the largest pillar of all, vast like an endless ocean, was the one surrounding Momonga seated on the throne.
"God! The great God of Magic! I am your true believer!"
Fluder knelt on the ground, his expression resembling that of a fanatic who had just witnessed his deity.
At this moment, the Empire's safety and the Bloody Emperor meant nothing to him.
"Great God, please allow me to glimpse the abyss of magic!"
Fluder pressed his forehead against the floor repeatedly as tears of joy streamed down his face.
He knew very well that he was not a genius.
Reaching his current level was already the limit of his talent.
Yet he could not stop dreaming about surpassing Sixth-Tier magic and stepping into an entirely new realm.
In order to pursue that goal, Fluder had even created a spell that broke the limits of lifespan, allowing his body to stop aging.
But he understood clearly that humans had limits.
Even if magic stopped the aging of his body, he would still eventually die.
The passage of time was slowly wearing down his soul.
For now, he could barely endure it, but the erosion would only grow worse with time.
One day it would inevitably reach its limit.
Fluder once did not mind this.
He knew that without guidance from someone far greater, he could never achieve his goal anyway.
But today...
Today he saw hope.
Hope of reaching the abyss of magic.
So when Fluder saw Momonga, he did not hesitate for even a moment.
...
Chapter 180: Negotiations (Part 2)
"Old man!"
Watching Fluder defect in the blink of an eye, the Bloody Emperor realized he had truly been a fool.
"Your Majesty—no, my dear Jirc—this being is undoubtedly a true god."
"Abandon everything and join me in worshipping the god! This is the Empire's true destiny!"
Fluder grabbed the Bloody Emperor by the shoulders. Tears streamed down the corners of his eyes as he tried earnestly to persuade him.
At this point, he had already cast aside his identity as the Empire's Chief Court Mage. In its place remained only a fanatic devoted to pursuing the abyss of magic.
Not only the Bloody Emperor, but even Momonga and the Floor Guardians were stunned by the scene before them.
"As expected of Momonga-sama!"
Albedo was the first to recover. Her eyes filled with admiration as she gazed at the tall, unmoving figure who had stood there since the beginning, as if everything had unfolded exactly as he had predicted.
Hearing her words, the other Floor Guardians also came back to their senses and began voicing their praise.
The Brightness Dragon Lord looked equally astonished, a quiet murmur rising in his mind.
Thinking it over carefully, although the three kings possessed overwhelming power—power that even surpassed the Eight Greed Kings of the past—they had remained hidden and restrained.
On the surface, they seemed easygoing, even somewhat idle. But upon closer thought, the Brightness Dragon Lord realized that was not the case at all.
Not only had they secretly gathered extensive intelligence about the otherworld, they had also kept everyone completely in the dark without revealing the slightest flaw.
They had even captured the Platinum Dragon Lord in complete secrecy. Afterward, they deliberately left behind certain clues to mislead the world.
If the Platinum Dragon Lord had died, the special connection between True Dragon Lords might have alerted the others.
But the reality was that the Platinum Dragon Lord was still alive.
Although he had suffered endless humiliation and had been turned into a Dragon Staff, his life force was still barely sustained.
Under such circumstances, the other True Dragon Lords—unaware of the truth—would at most assume that he had been suppressed by another True Dragon Lord.
This minimized the chance of attracting their attention.
Even the Brightness Dragon Lord himself had once believed that.
Only by chance, after encountering Sephis and sensing the aura of the Platinum Dragon Lord on him, did he realize something was wrong.
In order to obtain Wild Magic, they had even attempted to cultivate a new True Dragon Lord using the Platinum Dragon Lord's semen.
The more the Brightness Dragon Lord thought about it, the more a chill crept down his spine.
Terrifying. Truly terrifying.
To think they had deceived the entire world so effortlessly, weaving one scheme after another until no one could guard against it.
Could it be that even the True Dragon Lords who stood at the pinnacle of the world were nothing more than pieces on a chessboard?
Convinced that he had uncovered the full truth, the Brightness Dragon Lord shuddered while quietly praising his own sharp insight.
He turned his head and glanced at the Heavenly Dragon Lord beside him, who looked as if he were calmly resting with his eyes closed, though he was actually asleep.
"Good thing he ran into me. Otherwise, with this lazy guy's temperament, he'd probably end up like Platinum sooner or later."
...
Meanwhile.
Momonga stood there completely dumbfounded.
He stared at Fluder, who had dropped to his knees in front of the Bloody Emperor and was now earnestly trying to convince him to betray his own country.
What just happened?
Didn't I just space out for a moment?
Momonga couldn't understand it at all. This situation had never crossed his mind, and the speech he had carefully prepared was now completely useless.
"Ahem… Very well. It seems that among everyone here, only you possess the qualification to glimpse the truth. I have heard your wish."
After a moment of silence, Momonga finally spoke slowly.
Although he still didn't fully understand what had happened, the pause unintentionally enhanced his aura of authority. Not bad. Not bad at all.
"Ooooooh!!"
Upon receiving a response, Fluder completely forgot about maintaining any dignity and let out an ecstatic shout.
A hundred years of waiting had all been for this day.
As long as the god commanded it, at this very moment Fluder would abandon anything—except death itself.
"You may step aside for now. I'd like to have a proper talk with your emperor."
Momonga waved his hand helplessly.
Receiving the order, Fluder did not hesitate for a moment. He immediately abandoned the Bloody Emperor and his entourage and obediently moved to stand off to the side.
The Bloody Emperor found himself completely unable to put his feelings into words. After a long silence, he finally managed to steady his breathing.
Fluder was the Empire's Chief Court Mage, its ultimate trump card. For more than two hundred years, he had faithfully protected the Empire.
No matter what disasters arose, Fluder had always led the Empire to victory. He was the Empire's unquestioned great sage.
Yet the old man's sudden submission had completely thrown the Bloody Emperor's mind into chaos.
"Hah… Please forgive the unsightly display, Your Highness Momonga."
The Bloody Emperor took a deep breath and forced a smile back onto his face, though it looked somewhat stiff.
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead as his mind spun rapidly.
He was trying to figure out how to break out of the situation he now found himself in.
Start with compensation?
But whether it was wealth, status, military power, magical items, or even beautiful women, none of it could possibly compare to what stood before him.
This was a completely crushing disadvantage.
This Supreme Being was terrifying. From the very beginning, everything had been arranged perfectly for him.
From the initial invitation, to the maid who greeted him, to this meeting now. At every step, the other party had been demonstrating their power.
Displaying strength to intimidate an opponent and make them lose their nerve was one of the most common tactics used by those in power.
The Bloody Emperor himself had used this method countless times to pressure the Empire's nobles.
He had never imagined that one day he would become the one being intimidated.
"May I ask… what exactly was the purpose of inviting me here?"
The Bloody Emperor did not try to hide his thoughts. Instead, he asked his question directly.
In front of a being with such overwhelming intelligence, any petty scheming on his part would likely be seen through immediately.
"My purpose?"
Hearing the Bloody Emperor's straightforward question, Momonga showed a hint of appreciation.
No wonder he had become the Empire's emperor. Even in a situation like this, he remained calm and composed, without the slightest sign of panic.
"My goal is very simple. I can help the Empire conquer the Kingdom. All the Empire needs to do is form an alliance with me."
Facing the Bloody Emperor's question, Momonga openly stated his intention.
An alliance.
This was the conclusion Naohara and the other two had reached after long discussions.
As people who had once been human, no one understood the complexity of that race better than they did.
Compared to humans, they would rather rule demihumans and heteromorphic races, who were far more straightforward.
That was also why Nazarick's nation-building plan ultimately chose the Council State instead of the Kingdom.
But that did not mean they intended to ignore humanity.
However, now that they themselves had become heteromorphic beings, it was better for humans to be ruled by humans.
After careful observation, the Empire's Bloody Emperor was undoubtedly the best candidate.
Originally, this matter was supposed to wait until Naohara and Herohero woke up.
But since the man had come knocking on their door himself, there was no harm in handling it early.
The retired Black Scripture was merely a pretext. As for the Theocracy, Momonga did not mind setting that aside for now and meeting the Bloody Emperor in advance.
If everything went smoothly, the Kingdom would be annexed by the Empire, while the Council State would be conquered by Nazarick.
At that point, the two nations would share a border.
Whatever happened to the ordinary citizens aside, at least their rulers would end up as good neighbors.