The Innkeeper

Chapter 2378: Picking Side V - Lord Penance

Hidemar stood straight, with both his hands placed upon the pommel of his sword. The sword itself was sheathed, and held upside in front of its master, acting almost like a sort of cane.

Hidemar was, naturally, a Dao Lord, and so was his sword. Yes, his sword was a living Dao Lord - one that had immediately taken the Dao tribulation the moment of its birth, and had then passed. Every inch of it was made from the corpses of other Dao Lords, designed for one single purpose. Ironically, that purpose was not to kill. What the exact purpose was, only the sword and its master knew.

Besides Hidemar stood three others of the Penance race, each one of them his equals in terms of power, prestige and accomplishments. He did not feel superior to them, nor did he feel arrogant due to his own accomplishments - at least in the presence of his current company.

He, Hidemar, had orchestrated the destruction of the Indila race, and the descent of the Formarians from a Sage race to an Elder race. The king of the Karmari race was his slave, making Hidemar the de facto ruler of an entire Sage race. The number of other shady deals he’d done would frighten the entire universe if they knew, and yet he still considered the other three his equals. Why?

Only because their lord told them that they were all equal, and they had no choice but to acknowledge it as such.

"A change is coming, and for once, we are not the ones behind it," spoke Lord Penance - he whom the entire race had been named after. "That is fine, though. I have, on purpose, kept us from getting involved in the current chaos. Getting involved would cost us a price I am not yet willing to pay. Besides, the one behind all this is not our current enemy any way."

Hidemar had not a single change in expression as he listened. With that one simple sentence, so many options had been restricted for them, but none of it mattered. All that mattered was the lord’s will.

"For now, all I want you to do is ready the pieces, and act in the shadows. Our goal is not this Age, but the next. When dawn breaks on the new Era, I want us to control an independent region of the universe - one free from the Primal’s oversight and governance.

"Offer shelter to the enemies and target of Elizabeth, and your task will be made easier. But do not cross her - there is no reason for any confrontations. Take in the weak, the neglected - basically anyone we can use to farm positive karma. Remember, our goal is not the appearance of victory in this battle, but victory itself in the final war. We are merely setting the stage."

Lord Penance did not speak with excessive gravitas. His voice had no flourishing effect, no weight of gravity or power. In fact, he had no presence at all. If the four members of the Penance race did not see him with their own eyes, they would not even know he was there for he had no sense of existence at all.

Once he was done, he looked at his four generals and nodded softly.

"Go," was all he said, and the four left quietly after bowing to him. None could imagine by this simple interaction just how terrifying these people were, mainly because hardly anyone knew at all. The Penance race always acted in shadows, using puppets of subsequent puppets, orchestrating everything from behind the scenes.

Yet... this was the very race whose actions had troubled even Ventura when he learned that Hidemar controlled the Karmari race.

Once he was alone, Lord Penance looked up in the air, beyond his roof, and even beyond the boundary of the realm within which he sat. There was no invisible army outside - only a single shadow that looked back at him.

"Is my decision clear enough?" Lord Penance asked, and the only response he got was the fading of the shadow from within the Void.

"How troublesome," Lord Penance uttered softly as he chuckled, and then closed his eyes as if to go to sleep. In truth, he was not really concerned or even threatened. It was just a matter of picking what price to pay. He would rather pay a price to weaken his true enemies - the Primals. Since there was no conflict of interest this time around, why should he act out?

He merely needed to remain on his Seat of Power, and watch the play across the universe from the comfort of his throne.

Yet for the power he controlled, and all his machinations, all he could hope to do was steal a small portion of the universe away from the control of the Primals. At that thought, Lord Penance could not help but laugh.

He, who even nightmares were afraid of, was merely an inconvenience to the might of those damn Primals. It really was unfair how strong they were.

Perhaps that was another reason he chose not to interfere. How else could he hope to see them suffer? Or would they even suffer at all? He did not know the answer, but he would find out.

Under the orders of Lord Penance, Hidemar and the others began to mobilize. Yet instead of demonstrating their power to the universe, they began a strategic retreat. One by one by one, their vassals withdrew from the universe, bringing with them whatever they could, abandoning what they could not.

Unfortunately for the Karmari race... Hidemar decided that he could not bring them with him in the new domain they would carve out. As such, they would have to demonstrate their usefulness to him in another way.

Just thinking about it, Hidemar smiled a wide, toothy grin. In front of his lord, Hidemar was subdued. But on his own, he could show his true, genuine emotions.

"Ah, what a wonderful age this is," he said to himself, his voice throaty and low, causing anyone who heard it to shiver.