Second World

"What do you mean he didn't give us permission?" Jack asked.

"Well, he didn't exactly say no," John replied. "Here, read it yourself."

Jack took the parchment from John and started reading it.

"King Storm Wind. Come to Vacharest. Such a matter is better discussed in person."

"This is a short reply," Jack remarked.

"Not much is known about Emperor Marcus," Thaergood said. "But those who met him always describe him as a man with few words."

"Will you accept his invitation?" John asked.

"Yes. We can't afford to offend Sangrod at this time," Jack said. "If our army ends up clashing with Sangrod's due to a misunderstanding, we will have lost before our reinforcement even reaches Palgrost. Maybe this is a good opportunity to persuade Emperor Marcus to join the assault on Liguritudum. Liguritudum's intention on world domination should now be clear for everyone to see."

"Hm… I want to say you are too naïve, but then I will simply be stating the fact," John said. "Well, your instinct has helped you all this time. Even if they sometimes proved to be wrong, they somehow turned out all right, which is weird and illogical. Hm… Well, I guess it suits you. I will trust you on this. In the meantime, I will join the rallied army."

"Start marching," Jack said. "I will go to Vacharest at once, but don't wait for my news, just march into Jagara region. I promise I will make Sangrod see light. They should let us pass through the Jagara region even if they don't let us pass through Sangrod."

"We don't have an embassy in Sangrod, but we do have a few officers on regular visits to Sangrod," Thaergood said. "I've contacted one who was currently in Vacharest. He would meet and accompany Your Majesty to see Emperor Marcus."

"Oh, right. There is one person who will accompany you as well. That person is currently waiting at the teleportation chamber," John informed.

"Who?" Jack asked.

"See for yourself," John replied and went away.

'Maybe it's Grace,' Jack thought. She had continued training the Nine Yin Scripture in the Space-time Chamber. Maybe she ended her training and decided to join this campaign.

Jack discussed several more matters with Thaergood before leaving for the teleportation chamber. Entering the room, he was surprised to see that it was Leavemealone who was there.

"Took you long enough," Leavemealone said impatiently.

"Why is it you?" Jack asked.

"Do not be mistaken. I don't want to be here. Master Domon heard from John about you going to see Sangrod's emperor. He told me you should have someone accompanying you and instructed me to be that person."

"Why?"

"Exactly my question. How about you go ask Master and tell him to call someone else to accompany you?"

"Mm… No, I want you to accompany me. Come on, lackey. We are going," Jack said.

"Watch your mouth! Do you not believe I will punch you?"

"Cool down. I'm just messing with you. You are too stiff. No wonder my gramps asked you to join me. You need to go and do something else rather than keep on following him around like a puppy."

"Hmph. You are just jealous Master Domon enjoys spending more time with me than you," Leavemealone uttered.

"I don't have the time to argue with you. If you want to come, then come. You decide for yourself," Jack said and activated the teleportation device.

*

Jack came out in a plaza which was Vacharest's zone portal. The houses were all medieval styles similar to Themisphere. Sangrod was probably the most similar to Themisphere in terms of architecture, except Sangrod's buildings had more gothic elements. The gothic in this capital was even more prevalent compared to Tranviste, a Sangrod city Jack visited before. This gothic style and the eternally dark sky above made everything look especially gloomy.

"Your Majesty, King Storm Wind?" Someone greeted Jack.

Jack used Inspect and saw the man was a level 55 special elite named Dave. He had the rank of a minister. Jack supposed this was the officer Thaergood said would accompany him to meet Emperor Marcus. Behind Dave were two Themisphere soldiers. Dave's bodyguards during his travel to this country.

"Minister Dave," Jack greeted back. "I believe you will guide me to the palace?"

"Yes, a carriage has been prepared. We have also notified the palace about our visit. They will be ready for us."

Leavemealone came out of the zone portal then. He decided to follow Domon's request even if unwillingly.

"This is my lackey. He will be coming too," Jack said to Dave. This caused Leavemealone to turn to him, fuming.

Everyone entered the carriage except for Dave's bodyguards, who followed the carriage using steeds.

They went directly to the palace. This capital was bustling with both natives and players. It was almost as crowded as Themisphere. According to John's intel, Vacharest was the next metropolis closest to becoming a megalopolis after Thereath.

He chatted a bit with Dave inside the carriage but found that Dave was not a talkative person. Leavemealone was even worse. So, he spent the time training mana manipulation and using Inspect on the pedestrians along the way. He found that a decent number of Saint Edge players were here. Considering their headquarters was nearby, it wasn't strange.

His Inspect skill increased to Advanced Expert after repeated usage.

Vacharest also rivaled Thereath in size aside from its population. It took them some time before they arrived at the palace. Jack came down and saw the palace was an intimidating structure that was mostly black in color. It had several pointed towers. Lightning and thunder regularly occurred above the palace. If there were any archetype of a haunted palace, this one should be it.

Jack looked at the dark sky on the other part of the capital. It was dark but it was clear. He turned back to the sky above the palace. He saw a flash of lightning and then heard thunder soon after.

He decided to not bother too much with this localized weather phenomenon. He followed Dave into the palace after Dave announced their arrival to the palace guards.

When they were about to enter the throne room. Everyone except for Jack was barred.

"Only Themisphere King is allowed entry," the guard said.

Jack nodded and told everyone to wait outside. The guard then opened the door for Jack to enter.

The throne room was as large and as impressive as Thereath's palace, except it still had its characteristic gloominess. The throne room was mostly empty except for two rows of soldiers by the side of the room and a person who was sitting on the throne with two people standing beside him. One of which was an ethereal. He wondered why an ethereal was inside a vampire's throne room.

The rows of soldiers by the side unnerved him. These soldiers all had bloodshot eyes. Were they some kind of special-type vampires?

He also sensed several spots along the floor where the mana felt hostile, similar to the sense from a technocraft's traps. He wondered if this was this place's standard security system.

Jack turned his attention away from those soldiers and the traps. He walked forward to greet Emperor Marcus on the throne. He couldn't help but looked at the ethereal next to the emperor. He realized then the ethereal was someone he knew.

The ethereal was Motherboard from World Maker.