Jaded Lord Serion Caelus looked just as he did before, with a cold, dignified face and eyes of shifting storms. He also brought Commander Casper and two other masters with him.

"You are all here, good," he said after he took his seat.

Lord Doveling's claws made some clicking sounds. "We were not here waiting for you all day, Serion Caelus! What took you so long?"

The Jaded Lord scowled. "Why don't you ask the human slaves you sent to welcome us? I could swear I walked the same tunnel seven times!"

A faint sense of amusement radiated from Lord Doveling, and he chuckled. "Ah! It seems my slaves are up for some more training then."

The Jaded Lord scowled and did not reply.

It was Alpha Carter who spoke. "Well, we're here now. What are we supposed to do? What do you want, Lord Serion Caelus?"

Everyone nodded at that.

Jaded Lord Serion looked at everyone. "First, I want to welcome Galthor Stronghide, Chief of the Stronghide and its banner, to his first meeting...."

Everyone turned to him and nodded.

"...Then I want to stress something very important. Since the banner is complete again, we can raid the Abyssal land."

Even though he had been expecting something like that, the words still hit Galthor like a hammer, and he stiffened.

The purpose of everything was to raid and completely clear the Abyssal land, and yet Galthor was feeling a bit reluctant because he wasn't strong enough. At least, he thought so.

Lord Doveling nodded. "I have been waiting for something like this. Any and all preparations have been completed on my part. We can proceed at any time."

Alpha Carter grunted. "I am prepared as well. My pack is already feeling cramped by this place. I want to move on."

Jaded Lord Serion smiled. "Of course, I'm ready. That's why I called the meeting in the first place."

And then, as one, all of them turned to Galthor.

The barbarians of Stronghide. Were they ready? Like hell! Galthor wasn't ready one bit! His masters did not have the relics that he needed to boost their powers, and now they were talking of wiping the Abyssal land?

If it was Galthor alone, then he would say he was ready, but his tribe wasn't ready. The other banners knew that as well.

"I am not ready. You will have to give me some months."

The silence was first broken by Lord Doveling. "Apologies, but this has already been stalled once by your father when he wanted to substitute Master Karathra as the leader. Since your father passed, we've been giving you time to adjust. But there is no more time."

Galthor's jaws tightened. "I still need more time."

"Lord Galthor, the banners have always moved in the way of the majority. And right now, what we all want is to clear the Abyssal land." Jaded Lord Serion seemed to be the one enjoying things the most.

Alpha Carter also added his own. "True, we can't wait anymore. We need to clear the Abyssal land."

Galthor's eyes hardened as he realized there was nothing more he could do, as they seemed to have already made up their minds. "I see. When are we going there?"

Of course, he would go even if he wasn't fully ready. Where else would he get his hands on legacy? The problem was how he was going to minimize the casualties among his warriors.

The Jaded Lord shifted on his seat. "I propose that we go in five days' time. Since we are all ready for it, why wait and sit around?"

The others began to think about it, but Galthor wasn't having it. "A month. We'll go in a month."

His reply made everyone look at him in surprise. The Jaded Lord repeated himself. "I propose that we go in five days."

Alpha Carter nodded. "I want us to go in five days as well. My pack is ready; there is nothing holding us back."

Lord Doveling said, "I will join you in five days' time. I'm ready as well."

The Jaded Lord turned to Galthor, and even though there was no smile or shift in his expression, he radiated amusement. "It seems you are alone once again, Lord Galthor. I suggest you prepare. We'll be going in five days' time."

Galthor gritted his teeth but nodded.

There was nothing more he could do but accept. "Very well. I'm looking forward to it."

Lord Doveling gestured, and one of the human slaves stepped forward with something in his hand that he put on the table and unrolled.

A map.

"The last time we drew this map, we located some interesting things. For example, there seems to be no stronger monster here than Fiendish, although we didn't get close to the very center of the Abyssal land."

Galthor stared down at the map that highlighted the whole Abyssal land to the place where they had mapped. He saw the four sections that were unofficially cut out for each banner and darker marks that showed where the Cursed monsters were.

Lord Doveling looked at each of them. "I hope you have all taken care of your Cursed monsters. In five days' time, we'll move. First, each of us will kill the Fiendish monster that's on their side."

Galthor twitched.

"As we all know, five Fiendish monsters were located, but we killed one when we were exploring for the first time," Lord Doveling added.

The other banners nodded, except for Galthor.

"After we kill the Fiendish monsters, we can then set up camp here." Lord Doveling tapped at the edge of the map that was left blank. "We'll then proceed with the clearing from there on."

His voice suddenly became stern. "I am going to stress this now. You must absolutely make sure you kill your Fiendish monster. We don't want a situation where we would be flanked by monsters. Especially of the Fiendish rank."

Alpha Carter was the first to speak. "I am satisfied with this."

Jaded Lord Serion nodded. "So am I."

Galthor was the last to speak. "We'll do it then."

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