In the darkest corner of the room, a figure sitting in the shadows, whose presence was barely there, stirred.

His voice was less a whisper and more an echo from a tomb. Umbrelion, the Prince of Curses. "He has already made his move. He has already begun to break the balance."

All eyes turned to him. Umbrelion continued: "The remnants of Nerath ruins, sealed for thousands of years have fallen. The stone was taken by that 'Prince'. A power I was sworn to protect, that anomaly, has already begun to consume it."

This news silenced even Aethrax. The fall of the ruins meant the defeat of Nerath, and one who defeated Nerath could never be taken lightly.

After all, however weakened he was, he was still a god. No one below the level of a demigod could ever have accomplished this.

The fourth person at the table was a woman of ethereal beauty, her eyes closed, as if meditating in another time.

She had short navy blue hair and a pair of curved, demonic looking horns on her forehead.

Lyria Vael, the Princess of Lost Time. She spoke without opening her eyes, her voice echoing as if coming from multiple time periods at once.

"I cannot see his timeline," she said. "His existence is like a void. He has no past, no origin. He is not someone 'reborn' into this world as part of the gods' plan. He is completely outside the system. I cannot understand how he exists. I cannot predict what he will do attacking recklessly will only draw us into a trap."

Aethrax stood up again in anger. "I've heard enough! Whatever his origin, he is a threat! There is no point in waiting for him to gather his army and attack us. We must be the ones to strike first!"

Luin Aetherion raised his hand, silencing Aethrax once more. His silvery eyes were locked on the relentless snowstorm outside the room's ruined ceiling.

"Tell me Aethrax," Luin said, his voice ice cold. "Do you know a way to defeat Cryomara?"

Aethrax's fiery aura flickered for a moment. "If we had found a way to defeat that damned beast all this time, why would we still be trying to bring down Frosthelm?" he grumbled.

Cryomara is known as the ancient guardian of the North. Since the first breath of the world, it has been entrusted with protecting the snow covered lands.

The endless, bone chilling winter of the North exists because of its presence. Legends claiming that it is undefeated upon these lands have been passed down for generations without fading.

Throughout history, everyone who dared to march into the North has met the same fate. Mighty dragons, bloodthirsty demon kings, and even the avatars of gods themselves could not escape this destiny.

They all share a single outcome: Defeat.

Aethrax answered, "You overestimate it. If all five of us attack at once, even it wouldn't stand a chance against us."

Umbrelion spoke again from his corner. "On this matter... I agree with the dwarf."

Aethrax gritted his teeth at the "dwarf" insult but did not reply to Umbrelion.

"My influence over Frosthelm is waning by the day," the Prince of Curses continued. "The plagues and curses I have spread are continuously being eliminated by an unexpected power in that region.

Our enemies do not have even a single demigod. All they have is the Prince of Nothingness, a mercenary who has acquired Nerath's powers, and that damned Mystic Beast."

"The balance is breaking," said Seralya, the Princess of Balance. She turned to Luin from behind her veil. "What does the Emperor intend to do about this? While we fight for his empire, will he just watch from the sidelines and side with the winner?"

Luin took a deep breath, as if sharing bitter news. "The Emperor and the Holy Church... have informed us they will not help us directly."

"What is the meaning of this, Luin?" hissed Umbrelion. His voice this time was cold and full of threat.

"I don't know either," Luin said. "The Empire might have cast us aside. I suspect Toven, or the Prince of Nothingness, is playing political games we are unaware of. However, the Holy Church has given us permission to use the Archangels and said they will provide an army of slaves, and prisoners branded as 'guilty' in the Church's eyes."

"That does not restore balance, Luin," Seralya said, her voice worried. "This is suicide against a Mystic Beast. We need the Golden Dragon's help at the very least."

This name broke Luin's perfect composure for a moment. He clenched his fingers on the obsidian table.

"I tried to speak with the Golden Dragon."

Luin's eyes flashed with anger as he recalled that moment. He remembered his descent into the massive, molten cave beneath the Imperial Palace. In the midst of thousands of degrees of heat, he had confronted the colossal, arrogant being lying in a lake of molten gold. The divine aura radiating from its being had taken even Luin's breath away. He had asked it for help, in the name of the Gods, against this "anomaly." The Dragon's answer had been an arrogant, powerful voice, echoing in his mind:

"Your small, mortal squabbles do not concern me, Prince of Purity. It is not my duty to deal with the pests in your gods' garden. Now go," fixing its massive golden eye on Luin, "and do not pollute my cave with your feeble presence."

Luin, for the first time in his life, had tasted the anger not just of rejection, but of being utterly dismissed. That arrogant reptile... had called him a "feeble presence."

"That reptile!" hissed Aethrax, sensing Luin's anger. "When doomsday comes, I will personally drown him in that molten gold lake!"

"Then," Seralya said, summarizing the situation, "all we have is our five thousand strong cult, one Archangel and his angelic host, and those 'disposable' slaves the Church will give us. Considering the circumstances, against a Mystic Beast and the Prince of Nothingness... this is still a gamble."

"Then we will not attack the Mystic Beast directly," said Lyria Vael, her eyes still closed. "Our target must be the Prince. He is the anomaly. He is the source of this imbalance. Cryomara protects Frosthelm, not the Prince. If we can draw the Prince outside of Frosthelm... or separate him from the Mystic Beast..."

"The mercenary in Veythral, Fredrinn," Umbrelion interjected. "He is also a problem. He is using Nerath's power. He will be the Prince's sword and shield. We must separate them."

"Enough strategy! The plan is simple!" roared Aethrax, slamming the table again. "Luin, you and I will target that so called Prince and his mercenary. Our powers are a match for theirs. Seralya and Lyria, you will stall the Mystic Beast. The power of Balance and the power of Time can keep that beast busy for a while. Umbrelion, you will rot the incoming support army with your curses. By the time they arrive, we will have finished this war!"

"This is madness, Aethrax. This is a declaration of total war," Seralya said, her voice sharp. "This is not 'maintaining order' as the gods wish. We are shadow warriors, not generals who command armies."

Luin Aetherion raised his hand to end the chaotic argument at the table. The snowstorm inside the room seemed to quiet for a moment at his command. He was the de facto leader of this group.

"Aethrax's plan is crude," Luin said, "but he has a point. As Lyria said, the Prince of Nothingness is an anomaly, and we cannot see his timeline. This makes him unpredictable and extremely dangerous. As Umbrelion said, our power in that region is diminishing every day. Waiting only allows the enemy to grow stronger and solidify their position."

He scanned each Prince at the table with his silvery eyes.

"This is the plan," Luin said, his voice final and closed to debate. "Aethrax, you and I will return to the capital, to the main headquarters of the Obsidian Dawn. We will gather and train that 'army' the Church promised us.

Seralya, you return to the Imperial capital. Investigate whether Toven is behind the Emperor's sudden betrayal and silence. He loves to play games in the shadows."

He turned to Lyria Vael. "Lyria, you continue to watch the time streams. Even if you cannot watch the Prince of Nothingness, try to watch the people around him. Try to find the Prince's next move, his weakest moment, the moment he is separated from the Mystic Beast."

Finally, he addressed the figure in the darkness. "Umbrelion, you remain in the shadows. Slow the support coming to Frosthelm and watch that mercenary, Fredrinn. Look for an opportunity to weaken him, to separate him from the Prince."

Luin stood up. "We are not attacking... yet. But we will be ready. The moment the Prince of Nothingness tries to light that 'second sun', we will extinguish him with his own fire."

Demons and elves... I think we will need their support.

He looked at those at the table one last time. "This anomaly may be a trial presented to us by the gods. And we, as the guardians of destiny, must pass this trial." The conversations at the table continued for a while, and when the meeting ended, Luin Aetherion left the room as silently as he had arrived, disappearing into the icy wind. The remaining four Princes sat in silence for a while longer, contemplating the inevitable storm that was approaching.

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