In the deepest and most secluded room within the Slane Theocracy's church, a room accessible only to those at the very pinnacle of the Theocracy's power.
Currently, seated around the round table in this room were the twelve individuals holding the highest authority in the Slane Theocracy. First among them was the highest Chief Priest of the Slane Theocracy, also known as the Pontiff.
Then there were the six Holy Scripture Chief Priests, along with the heads of the Theocracy's judicial, legislative, administrative, and research institutions, and finally, the highest-ranking official of the military. All of them were gathered here for one purpose: to address the nation established by that peculiar magic caster.
"Everyone, the first item on this meeting's agenda concerns the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom, which has occupied the Kingdom's fortress city, E-Rantel, and established itself with that city as its center," Earth Minister Raymond, the Earthgod-Official, announced, acting as the host for this meeting.
This was unavoidable. The Pontiff had suddenly fallen ill a while ago, and it was already a miracle that he was able to be here. Because of this, the meeting had been delayed until now. Earth Minister Raymond, the Earthgod-Official, had temporarily held the title of acting Pontiff before the annual Baptism Ceremony, as the temporary title could be dropped once the ceremony commenced and power was transferred.
"All available intelligence regarding the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom has been compiled into the dossiers before you. Please review them carefully and then express your respective opinions," Raymond said.
And so, the twelve individuals at the round table, except for the Pontiff, meticulously perused the intelligence dossiers concerning the Ainz Ooal Gown Magic Kingdom. For a time, the entire hall was silent save for the faint rustling of paper.
"I believe we should have intervened directly before they even established their nation!" the Marshal, who oversaw the Theocracy's military, was the first to speak.
"There's no use talking about it now. Didn't someone propose back then that it was too dangerous to be an enemy of a magic caster who could control Death Knights, and that's why we refrained? I remember you were also against it at the time, but it's pointless to bring it up now that things have come to this." Someone said this, and everyone nodded in agreement. The Theocracy's decision to turn a blind eye to Ainz Ooal Gown's declaration of nationhood was made after collective discussion and agreement.
"What about the Empire? They are supporting the Magic Kingdom as its ally. Has the Empire already become a lapdog of the Magic Kingdom? Or perhaps they've been magically controlled?" the Marshal continued.
"That's impossible. The Emperor of the Empire, Jierunifu, is not merely a figurehead. I don't believe he would sell his nation to a demon," Senior Priest of Wind Dominic, the Windgod-Official, said.
"Can you guarantee that the Emperor is fine? Could you have misjudged him?" Someone questioned this.
"Jierunifu is a smart man. After witnessing such a world-destroying army of Undead, I don't believe he would sit idly by. I plan to send someone to contact him soon," Senior Priest of Wind Dominic, the Windgod-Official, replied.
Everyone fell silent… After all, before this meeting began, all twelve of them had received the intelligence submitted by Earth Minister Raymond, the Earthgod-Official—namely, what Astrology Thousand Miles, a member of the Black Scripture, had witnessed in that war…
"Regarding the intelligence about that world-destroying army, I have my doubts," Archgod-Official Maximillian, the Archgod-Official, said.
No one answered his question, because the intelligence provided by Astrology Thousand Miles was indeed too outrageous… Hundreds of Death Knights and Soul Eaters—that was no laughing matter. If this monster army were to launch an attack, all the nations of the Central Continent combined would probably be unable to resist it.
Even if the Theocracy participated, it would be difficult to withstand. Even if they were fortunate enough to defeat this army of the Undead, the Theocracy… no, humanity, would need centuries to recover from such a catastrophe.
This was no exaggeration; Death Knights and Soul Eaters were such unreasonable Undead monsters. First, Death Knights: their combat power alone was terrifying, and what's more, they could casually create zombies.
And then those zombies could create even more zombies, spreading like a terrifying plague. Although those zombies themselves didn't have much combat power, they were more than sufficient for slaughtering ordinary civilians.
Moreover… if those zombies were to spread in a large city, it wouldn't take even a single night for the entire city to transform into a dead city populated only by zombies.
Then there were Soul Eaters; these abominations were even worse than Death Knights. These monsters emitted an aura that instilled fear in people, and prolonged exposure would lead to immediate death.
Then the Soul Eaters would devour the souls of these deceased to strengthen themselves; the more they devoured, the stronger their bodies became. This characteristic inherently limited engagement with such monsters to magic casters capable of casting third-tier spells or higher; ordinary warriors would simply be committing suicide.
"Regarding the problem of that army of the Undead, could it be that the Magic Caster King detected Astrology Thousand Miles's surveillance and then used an illusion to mislead us?" Light Chief Priest Ion, the Lightgod-Official, who was well-informed, offered his opinion.
"Everyone, please finish reading the intelligence dossiers in your hands. A portion of it states that in the Magic Kingdom's Capital, E-Rantel, the existence of a large number of Death Knights and Soul Eaters has also been confirmed," Earth Minister Raymond, the Earthgod-Official, shook his head, refuting this claim.
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