The sound of the tide in the realm of consciousness gradually dissipated, and Haikezuode opened its eyes.
What greeted its eyes was a circular hall. Below was a calm sea of mist, and above was an endless expanse. Nine seats of varying sizes jutted out into the air, forming a circle along the vertical stone walls. In the center of the circle stood a giant Tower of Birth, but unlike a real tower, its surface was covered with a mess of vertical and horizontal single eyes, each of which was the size of a Primal Body.
This was the domain created by the King.
The "Sovereign's Throne".
Although it wasn't the first time it had entered this place, its body still subconsciously felt suppressed and uneasy. Unlike simple mental communication, this illusory space opened up in the turbulent currents of the realm of consciousness wasn't a true "illusion." If it fell into the sea of mist or was attacked, it would suffer substantial damage, rather than simply waking up as if from a dream.
Unlike the chaos and disorder outside, this place was orderly and its rules were strict.
The King controlled everything in the Sovereign's Throne.
This also meant that as long as it entered the Sovereign's Throne, its life and death were in the King's hands.
But its loyalty to the King should be absolute. The instinctive resistance wouldn't provoke displeasure—only lower beasts couldn't control their instincts.
"By your summons, Lord of the Sky Dome, I salute you," Haikezuode said, lowering its head towards the tall tower in the center of the hall.
An eye opened and glanced at it, then quickly closed again. "Wait patiently."
"Yes."
Before long, several other figures appeared in the other seats.
They looked somewhat blurry, but Haikezuode could still recognize their identities from their characteristics, such as the "Bloody Conqueror," whose armor was covered with various weapons and whose size was like a small mountain, and the "Abomination's Heart," whose clothing and mask were filled with a sense of distortion… How vividly they could manifest depended on their understanding of the source of magic, and like it, who could fully display itself, were few in number.
When the last chair manifested a figure, it signified that the nine High Lords had all gathered in the Sovereign's Throne.
The King's manifested image—the Tower of Birth rising from the sea of mist—also slowly opened half of its eyes.
"The reason I summoned you, I presume you all know—not only I, but everyone should have the same question. A few days ago, an Ascendant touched the realm of consciousness and stirred up a ripple there, but soon it ceased to respond," it paused, and looked towards the Lord of the Sky Dome. "And the owner of the ripple was called Ersiluke, who happened to be the commander of the Western Front vanguard—Haikezuode, what exactly happened in the West?"
As expected, the King was here for this matter. Haikezuode immediately felt the pressure on its body increase sharply. Being able to stir up a wave in the realm of consciousness meant that someone had crossed the threshold of extraordinary, and this breakthrough would be sensed by all the High Lords. In the increasingly fierce struggle with the Tianhai World, one more High Lord could bring greater advantages to the race, but the subsequent turn of events was caught off guard. The Ascendant only left an imprint, and then disappeared without a trace—a High Lord had just ascended and fallen, which was a first in hundreds of years.
In fact, not long after Haikezuode sensed the other party's breakthrough, it received the news of the defeat from the Western Front, as well as a letter of confession from Ersiluke. The content of the letter made it want to crack open the head of this outstanding subordinate to see where exactly the guy went wrong, so that he would be so presumptuous!
When the King asked, it instinctively wanted to hide the results of the Western Front battle, but loyalty finally made it tell everything truthfully.
As the Lord of the Sky Dome expected, the hall rang with voices of questioning, surprise, and ridicule.
"Ha, did I hear that right?" The Bloody High Lord took the lead in sneering, "Your subordinates, knowing that they were no match for the enemy, still left all their troops on the Fertile Plains, and in the end, they were all buried in the hands of those insects? I remember what you called it before—a talented general?"
Haikezuode was not surprised by this. As the main general who directly confronted the Tianhai World, the other party had always been quite disdainful of the praise Ersiluke had received. If the latter advanced to High Lord, it was afraid that its position would be the first to be affected. Now that it had the opportunity to attack Ersiluke, it naturally wouldn't let it go.
"The Primal Bodies and Gravestones are nothing, I think the Lord of the Sky Dome knows the preciousness of Horns." "Mask," who was responsible for cultivating symbiotes, said in a strange voice, "It would be fine if we could take the three cities of Taqila, Falling Star, and Anletta. At least the godstone mines there could supplement our existing consumption, but without enough mine sources, we'll lose one Horn for every one we lose."
"It is already an incredible thing to lose to those insects. I think Your Excellency should bear some responsibility more or less."
"What talented general, I don't think it's anything more than that."
"Ordinary Ascendants can't open the door between the two worlds, otherwise there would be more than nine people sitting here, not to mention that an Extraordinary one has also appeared among the enemies..."
"What, it's not four hundred years ago now, do you think it's still a glorious thing to perish together with an Extraordinary one?"
Listening to the discussions of the crowd, Haikezuode's face darkened. Even if it didn't understand Ersiluke's actions, that was still its former subordinate. To belittle a beloved general who it trusted so much was undoubtedly tantamount to attacking it indirectly—this was by no means something that a High Lord could easily tolerate.
At this moment, the King interrupted everyone's conversation, not to shut them up, but to directly eliminate their voices, "Enough, I just want to know, does this affect your plan!"
Haikezuode quickly gathered its mind, "Of course not, I made multiple preparations in the plan. It would be best if Taqila could be taken down, but if it can't be taken down, it won't hinder the overall situation. Please rest assured, King, we will set foot on the land of mankind as scheduled."
"It had better be as you say." The King's tone finally softened a little.
"However..." The Lord of the Sky Dome hesitated for a moment, deciding to tell the letter that Ersiluke had written to it in advance—perhaps it was the trust that had accumulated in it over the centuries, perhaps its warning was too terrifying to ignore. Whatever the reason, Haikezuode felt that there was always a voice in its heart reminding it to speak. "However, the plan needs to be adjusted in terms of troops. According to the commander of the Western Front, we need to increase the number of troops by at least ten times in order to stabilize the results of the battle."
"Ten times?" The Bloody High Lord roared, "Are you kidding me! The Tianhai World is pressing on the front line, and you still want to draw people from me? I won't give you a single one!"
"Ersiluke—what exactly did it say?" The King asked in a deep voice.
"When he wrote this letter, the decisive battle between the vanguard army and the humans had not yet begun. He said that he was determined to stay in Taqila because he had discovered a crucial weakness of the opponent. If this move could succeed, it would greatly weaken the opponent's strength. At that time, if the number of troops is increased tenfold, and he leads them, he will surely destroy mankind."
"Is this a prophecy?" Someone sneered, "I wonder if he foresaw his own death?"
"..." Haikezuode was silent for a moment before nodding, "The letter did mention it."
The hall suddenly fell silent.
The High Lords looked at each other, and the atmosphere suddenly seemed a little strange.
The King broke the silence and said, "What did it say?"
The Lord of the Sky Dome exhaled, "If it fails to return, then humans should be regarded as opponents of the same level as our race, and they should be exterminated with all our strength!"