The Author's POV

"Are you here to kill time, or do you intend to declare war on us directly?"

"I wonder about that..."

"Don't feign ignorance."

It was the sound of Octavious and Hemlock's voices that roused me awake.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that the scene was continuing to unfold exactly as it had been when I had closed them.

I lowered my head to check the time.

'Only two minutes have passed.'

I was surprised to see that not much time had passed since I had activated Monarch's Indifference and that the scene had not changed much since I had left.

'You'll find out in due time.'

These were the words that Kevin told me before ending the connection.

What did they mean? ...I didn't know. There were so many questions that I had, yet at the same time, had no one to answer them.

Whatever was happening was fucked up.

All this secrecy bullshit, I was fucking tired of it.

'In the end, I'm still probably not strong enough.'

I silently clenched my fist under the table. All it took was a deep breath to calm my nerves down.

There was something else that needed my immediate attention at the moment.

"I don't get it; why are you people willing to throw away your lives in such a reckless way? Do you have any idea how formidable the Demon King really is? Do you honestly believe that you have even the smallest chance of beating him?"

"What I'm doing is for the good of humanity, which you guys are unwilling to acknowledge. I have already spoken with the Demon King, and he has promised me that if we choose to submit to him, he will provide us with a land where we can survive in the future."

"Why must we waste so many lives when the solution is right in front of us? Are you really willing to let our race go extinct?"

The air resounded with Hemlock's voice. His voice had a peculiar allure that briefly hypnotized me, but I was able to quickly shake off the effect and my gaze fell on Octavious.

For some reason, Octavious was strangely calm.

Even stranger was the fact that he appeared to be quietly listening to Hemlock's voice without any hints of rage or impatience.

The Octavious that I was familiar with would have almost certainly put an end to Hemlock's life right then and there; however, for some inexplicable reason, he had remained perfectly still the entire time.

For some strange reason, it appeared as if they were both stalling for time.

'It can't be right?'

Another ridiculous notion occurred to me, and I turned my attention to the direction in which Octavious was sitting.

'What exactly are you planning?'

"You seem to be waiting for something."

"I am―"

began to shift at the same time that the muffled sound of explosions

"What's going on?"

"What's happening?"

as one might have anticipated it would as a result of the unexpected situation; however, it was obvious that the people present weren't exactly unaffected by the

no one was able to communicate with the

cause for concern. I will provide everyone present with an explanation at a

was able to

a good chance that some people would have already exited the building to see

look at Hemlock, who was seated on his chair with

you have been

slightly in response to

"I believe so too."

appeared to be calm on the surface, I could sense the

Everblood to go as far

weren't going to be

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Hemlock's finger drummed over the wooden desk, his gaze lingered over me for a brief moment, and then he

Thud―!

his abrupt action, and when they turned to look at him, they discovered to their shock that his figure had already disintegrated all over

"He's left."

echoed beside

in the span of a few minutes,

think the explosions

her head raised to look up

at her from the corner of my eyes and shrugged my

been trapped in this room the entire time, if you want to ask someone,

in Octavious's direction with my head and Monica's head turned to gaze in

at him. From a glance, I could count more than

tense, and before long, everyone's attention was drawn in

you must know something about the situation,

the chair directly to his left, was the first person to comment. A smattering of solemnity

an explanation of what

arms crossed and wearing a tight black suit, his basketball-sized muscles were accentuated by his attire, which seemed to be a size too small

than the majority of the room's occupants made him extremely intimidating. In fact, he appeared quite

Jordan, the new 7th

was extremely oppressive, with the people around him

be intimidated by Hemlock, his gaze remaining firm throughout the

Then again, he was probably wary of

down; I have already stated that I will provide you with an

the room fell into

his fingers together, Octavious

stated that I wanted to discuss two topics with you guys before we were abruptly interrupted by...

something about an alliance, wasn't

one to

crossed and her glossy red hair falling over her shoulder, Ivana's disposition seemed wild and unrestrained. She was

which

others were, in fact,

forward on her extended elbow, she

us on how the alliance is going to work before finally getting