Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1381: War plans

Reaching an agreement didn’t eliminate the political obligations. If anything, that deal between the two strongest warriors inside the allied front demanded even grander celebrations, which required new arrangements after the Emperor ruined the banquet.

Luckily, Zedekiel only featured beings closer to divine entities than mortals, so rearranging a traditional Thilku Feast took no time.

The arena and surrounding areas were in pieces. Still, Lord Enforcer fixed part of the plain, restoring the planet’s tough surface and even enhancing its structural integrity, creating a vast, open spot where the group could sit.

Zedekiel also didn’t lack resources, so Lord Envoy could teleport back and forth from the planet’s massive warehouses to retrieve anything the group might need.

In a matter of minutes, a long metal table that stretched as far as the eye could see appeared on the restored brown plain, seemingly wanting to cut the entire quadrant in half.

An uncountable number of bowls of food and bottles rested on that needlessly long black surface, with almost all of them being too distant for anyone to reach due to the table’s sheer size.

Lord Enforcer had also teleported a simple gazebo, placing it at the needlessly long table’s center, shielding both sides from Zedekiel’s red sky. The group had sat under it, but its arrangement was quite peculiar.

Lord Envoy, Lord Mighty, Liiza, Lord Blind Sword, and Lord Enforcer sat on one side of the table in that precise order, making sure to let her take the central spot to highlight and show respect for her status.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the Emperor and Khan sat next to each other, each bowl or bottle they emptied vanishing from the table, instantly replaced by more food and booze.

A star map also shone before the two, made of holograms radiated by the table itself, suffering from the inevitable, occasional flickering caused by the seven powerful existences sitting around it.

That wasn’t Liiza’s first Thilku Feast. Khan’s forces had replicated those arrangements during the official meeting with the Kros.

However, that was Liiza’s first time celebrating with actual Thilku, so her attention inevitably shifted left and right, attracted by various peculiarities.

The Niqols didn’t care for cutlery. The fact that the Thilku ate with their bare hands didn’t bother Liiza at all, but theirs and her husband’s peculiar table manners ended up creating a curious scene.

The huge Lord Mighty, the calm Lord Envoy, and the blind Lord Blind Sword were relatively normal, inconspicuous even. They did wolf down anything in their surroundings with a particular ardor, but Liiza soon accepted it as the Thilku’s customary behavior.

The almost robotic Lord Enforcer didn’t stick to those customs at all. Despite his methodical appearance, he looked unable to stop pieces of food from falling from his broad mouth. He didn’t seem to know how to chew at all, but he was hardly the worst of the bunch.

The other side of the table had two monsters. The Emperor was utterly disciplined in his gestures, but gales and tremors spread every time he reached for a bowl or bottle.

That wasn’t the end of it, nor the main issue. The Emperor didn’t empty bowls and cups. He ate them whole, stuffing them in his mouth, chewing once, and gulping right afterward.

Admittedly, the Emperor probably didn’t even need to chew to crush whatever was in his mouth into bits. Still, the scene remained peculiar, more than compensating for the Emperor’s disciplined gestures, allowing him to eat quickly despite purposely slowing himself down.

Nevertheless, Khan took the crown there, albeit for less evident reasons.

Khan never seemed to bring food to his mouth, but Liiza had never seen him stop munching, either. The sneaky, quick way of eating he had learned in the Slums had followed him to that day, almost making that his greatest skill.

Food simply vanished before Khan. Nothing in his immediate surroundings could stay full for longer than a few seconds. Liiza actually had to pay active attention to him to catch him reaching for food, and she wasn’t alone in that inspection.

Lord Envoy was in charge of replacing each emptied bowl, especially when it came to the two leaders sitting on the other side of the table. The Royal Guard had even witnessed Khan’s eating habits once, but they seemed to have evolved alongside him.

Khan’s eating pace and sheer hunger were simply miraculous. His small body didn’t reflect them at all. He was a famished monster that didn’t allow the existence of booze and food in his surroundings for longer than a second, making Lord Envoy worry whether that majestic banquet could accommodate him.

That eating pace also ended up attracting Lord Enforcer’s robotic gaze. He had once bantered with Khan about how much his stomach could contain, but that seemed to have changed. To the Royal Guard’s great surprise, the Emperor’s hunger finally had a worthy challenger.

Of course, Liiza quickly got used to that trend. She was actually pleased that Khan could finally satiate his endless hunger, and the conversations happening on the other side of the table claimed most of her attention anyway.

"I can take care of the space battles," Khan declared, instantly resuming munching. The group had decided to switch to the human language so that everyone could converse freely.

"The Empire’s battleships must show their prowess," The Empire argued. "My Thilku haven’t had a good space battle in a while. They must engage in them to cull the weak."

"The Empire can join the blockades," Khan suggested, "But the Kros’ technology is more flexible. We must allow them to assume the main role there."

"[Ah]!" The Emperor cried, and the food on the table disappeared, sparing it from the unleashed shockwave, before reappearing in the same spot.

"Lord Blue Shaman, are you doubting the Empire’s military superiority?" The Emperor questioned.

"I said flexible, not stronger," Khan cursed, snakingly emptying another bowl into his mouth. "The Empire will be the main force in the allied front, but we don’t even know if our mana-based weapons work against the Scarlet Eyes. Flexibility is better in the initial stages."

That wasn’t the first discussion Khan and the Emperor had engaged in, and it wouldn’t be the last. The Thilku’s stubbornness and Khan’s attempts to make the best out of each species’ main traits made agreeing on precise military arrangements quite challenging.

The universe itself didn’t help there, either. Buildings, cities, and even planets were relatively easy to protect, but the war promised to involve entire domains that spanned multiple star systems. No matter the military arrangements, there would be gaps in the defenses that the Scarlet Eyes could exploit.

Of course, Khan was betting on the fact that the Scarlet Eyes wouldn’t resort to complicated and subtle military strategies. They only wanted to eradicate and devour the mana, so their assault promised to be quite straightforward.

Yet, a war couldn’t be fought on speculations, especially when the entire regulated universe was at stake. That complicated the preparations. Khan also believed anything agreed upon there would be subject to change throughout the conflict.

If anything, Khan and the Emperor were simply killing time, drawing vague guidelines that would have to be rediscussed once the leaders of each allied species joined the negotiating table. The sole idea tried to give Khan a headache, but the saving grace he had been waiting for finally arrived.

"[My Emperor]," Lord Enforcer suddenly called, interrupting the war planning and switching to the Thilku’s language. "[Zedekiel established a communication channel with Coravis]."

"Open it," The Emperor ordered in the human language before slowly glancing to his left, where Khan was sitting. "Lord Blue Shaman, do you desire privacy?"

"No need," Khan casually said, waving his hand dismissively while the other subtly grabbed more food. "I know you all want to see my daughter anyway."