Free Web NovelChapter 18: Valoria’s Women Leaders’ Meetings 3
Vespera remained bent over the Urban Barrier Plan for several long seconds.
Her red eyes scanned the runic lines, Adam’s annotations, and the circuits he had simplified with almost insulting ease.
No one spoke.
Even Shiora, usually quick to comment, remained silent.
Finally, the black dragon slowly raised her head.
"This plan is authentic."
A faint shiver ran through the room.
Isadora folded her arms.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
Vespera indicated several sections of the scroll.
"The structure is too coherent to be an imitation. Even our best mages couldn’t have invented this without decades of research."
Then her gaze shifted to Adam.
"And with the corrections he just suggested... this barrier could become even more effective than anticipated." "
Adam remained silent.
He had simply applied a logic that seemed natural to him.
Observe.
Understand.
Reduce losses.
Simplify the circuits.
Optimize operation.
For him, it was almost instinctive.
But seeing the expressions of the women around the table, he understood that what he had just done was anything but ordinary in this world.
Isadora took a deep breath.
Then she placed both hands on the table.
"Very well."
Her voice had changed.
It was no longer gentle.
It was no longer the voice of a lover, nor even simply that of a mother.
It was the voice of the Duchess of Valoria.
The woman who had held the border for decades.
"Adam."
He looked up at her.
"Yes?"
"We need to talk to you seriously."
The atmosphere immediately grew heavier.
Elena, sitting not far from him, lightly clenched her fists.
Lyriana looked away for a fraction of a second.
Selene crossed her arms.
Elaria gently closed the book she was holding.
Shiora put down her cup.
Vespera remained motionless, her red eyes fixed on the map.
Adam felt his instinct tell him that the conversation that was about to begin would be far more important than any before.
"I’m listening."
Isadora remained silent for a few seconds.
Then she asked:
"What do you really know about the Sacred Empire?"
Adam thought for a moment.
"Not much."
He looked at Elena.
"I know that it preaches human supremacy. That it enslaves non-humans and non-believers." That he uses religion to justify his conquests. And that you all consider him a threat."
"That’s right," Isadora replied.
"But incomplete."
Adam frowned.
Vespera then spoke.
"The Sacred Empire is not just a fanatical kingdom."
Her voice was calm.
Too calm.
"It’s a machine built over centuries for a single purpose."
"Which one?"
The black dragon answered without hesitation:
"To dominate this world."
Silence fell again.
Adam didn’t reply immediately.
He had already suspected the Empire was dangerous.
But he hadn’t yet grasped the true scale of this threat.
Selene continued:
"Officially, the Empire claims to want to purify the continent."
"Purify?"
The word immediately gave him a bad feeling.
The tiger-woman nodded.
"Humans who reject their faith are considered impure. Elves, dwarves, oni, beastfolk, sea people, dragons, and all other races are considered inferior."
Shiora gave a cold smile.
"And in their logic, inferior beings must either serve or disappear."
Adam felt his jaw tighten.
"So their ultimate goal is the total enslavement of non-human races."
"Yes," Elaria replied.
"But that’s only the tip of the iceberg."
Adam looked at her.
The white elf adjusted her glasses.
"For decades, the Empire has been collecting all possible information about ancient ruins, labyrinths, and forgotten artifacts."
"To bolster their army?"
"Partly."
Vespera shook her head slowly.
"But not only that."
She conjured a small black crystal above the table.
A blurry image formed.
Ruins.
An altar.
Chains engraved with runes.
And in the center...
A strange symbol.
A broken circle crossed by three dark lines.
The moment Adam saw this symbol, a sharp pain shot through his skull.
"Ugh..."
Elena stood up immediately.
"Adam?"
He put a hand to his head.
"It’s okay..."
But it wasn’t.
Something inside him had just stirred.
Not his body.
Not his memory.
His system.
A translucent window suddenly appeared before his eyes.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
System Alert
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Forbidden information fragment detected.
Associated name: Nocthar
Status: Partially sealed
Analysis impossible at current level.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Adam froze.
Nocthar.
The name meant nothing to him.
And yet...
Something inside him had just trembled.
Isadora immediately noticed the change in his expression.
"Do you know that name?"
Adam slowly raised his head.
"No."
He paused.
"But my power just reacted."
All the women froze.
Even Vespera seemed surprised.
"Your power reacted to Nocthar?"
Adam felt his heart race.
"So that’s his name?"
Isadora nodded slowly.
"Yes."
She exchanged a glance with the others.
Then she continued:
"Nocthar."
The moment she uttered the name, the light from the magical lamps seemed to flicker briefly.
The room grew colder.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Adam looked around.
"What is it?"
Vespera replied:
"We don’t know."
This answer surprised him.
"What do you mean, you don’t know?"
"Exactly what I said."
The dragon folded her arms.
"Nocthar is one of the greatest mysteries of this world. Its existence dates back millennia. Perhaps even longer."
Elaria added softly:
"But the Ancients tried to erase it from history." "
Adam frowned.
"The Ancients?"
"The civilizations that existed before the current kingdoms," Isadora explained.
"Some call them the First Peoples. Others the Founders. But the truth is, we know very little about them."
Lyriana continued:
"What we do know, however, is that they deliberately erased almost all traces of Nocthar."
Adam thought quickly.
"Erasing a name from all of history... that’s not something you do by chance."
"Exactly," Vespera replied.
"You erase a name when it’s too dangerous to pass on."
A chill ran through Adam.
He looked again at the symbol projected above the table.
"And the Sacred Empire worships him?"
Isadora’s face darkened.
"Yes."
This time, her voice held a cold anger.
"Officially, they worship their One God."
"And unofficially?"
Vespera replied:
"Within the Empire’s inner circles, Nocthar’s name still appears."
Selene pressed a claw against the table.
"Stolen documents indicate that some high priests do not pray to their official god."
Shiora finished the sentence:
"They pray to Nocthar."
The silence became heavy.
Adam then understood that the Holy Empire might not be just a fanatical nation.
There was something else behind it.
Something much older.
And much more dangerous.
"What exactly are they after?"
Isadora remained silent.
It was Elaria who answered:
"Fragments."
"Fragments?"
The white elf conjured several magical images.
Broken tablets.
Blackened pages.
Fragments of statues.
Crystals containing ancient inscriptions.
"Information about Nocthar is extremely rare."
She pointed to the images.
"Most come from ancient ruins. Some appear as rewards in labyrinths or very deep dungeons."
Adam immediately thought of the dungeons Elena had told him about.
"So we can obtain historical information as rewards?"
"Yes," Vespera replied.
"Labyrinths don’t just give weapons or items. Sometimes they offer knowledge. Books. Maps. Crystallized memories. Fragments of history."
"But the chances are slim," Lyriana added.
"Very slim."
Selene nodded.
"And the older the information, the deeper you have to go."
Adam understood.
"So the information about Nocthar is mostly found on the lower levels."
"Exactly," Vespera replied.
"And few manage to reach them."
Shiora fiddled absently with a gold coin.
"The upper levels of a labyrinth can be explored by ordinary adventurers."
"But the lower levels..."
She smiled joylessly.
"Down there, even heroines can die."
Adam remained thoughtful.
"The Empire has an advantage then."
Isadora nodded.
"Yes."
"Because they already possess some of the information."
"And because they control several ancient ruins within their territory."
Elaria added:
"We tried to obtain this information through other means." But the Empire protects its secret archives more fiercely than its fortresses."
"So you use the labyrinths."
"When we can," Selene replied.
"But as Vespera said, you have to go very deep. And the chances of getting exactly the information you’re looking for are slim."
Adam fell silent.
For a few moments, he looked at the table.
The plans for the barriers.
The maps.
The scrolls.
The most powerful women in Valoria gathered around him.
Then he understood.
"That’s why you’re all here."
Isadora didn’t reply.
Adam continued:
"Valoria isn’t just a border duchy. It’s a base."
The looks around the table shifted.
This time, no one smiled.
Adam continued:
"A human duchess." A black dragon. A high elf. A royal oni. A white tigress. A representative of the dark high elves.
He looked at each of them.
"You are not gathered here by chance."
Isadora closed her eyes briefly.
Then she opened them again.
"No."
Her voice was calm.
"We are not here by chance."
Elena lowered her gaze slightly.
Lyriana, however, remained perfectly still.
Isadora placed a hand on the barrier’s map.
"About eighty years ago, we discovered something."
"What?"
The duchess inhaled slowly.
"The Sacred Empire was already preparing for war."
Adam frowned.
"For eighty years?"
"Even longer," Vespera replied.
"But it was around that time that we began to see the signs clearly."
Selene continued:
"Border villages were disappearing."
Shiora added:
"Non-human merchants were being captured."
Elaria went on:
"Imperial expeditions were searching forbidden ruins."
Lyriana finished:
"And some Imperial priests were using rituals unlike any known sacred magic."
Adam felt a cold tension settle on his back.
"And you decided to unite."
Isadora nodded.
"Yes."
"To save this world?"
This time, all the women looked at him.
Isadora simply replied:
"Yes."
The word echoed through the room.
Without emphasis.
Without exaggeration.
Like a truth too heavy to be embellished.
"We are not only seeking to protect Valoria," the duchess continued.
"We are seeking to prevent the Sacred Empire from unleashing a war that could engulf all the races of the continent."
Vespera looked up at Adam.
"If they succeed in what they have started, the non-humans will be enslaved or exterminated."
Selene clenched her fists.
"The beast-peoples will be the first targets."
Elaria added:
"The elven kingdoms will follow."
Shiora smiled coldly.
"The oni will never surrender. But even we cannot face all-out war alone against an empire that has been preparing for centuries."
Lyriana continued in a lower voice:
"And if Nocthar is truly connected to their plans... then this will not be just a war between nations." "
Adam finished himself:
"This will be a global catastrophe."
No one contradicted him.
A heavy silence fell."
