Immortal Kingdoms

A haggard short yet obese middle-aged man dragged his heavy footsteps through the empty hallways of an opulent residence. Since they no longer bothered keeping a low profile, he went from renting an inn in the outer and first layer of Valdmor to the third and core layer of the great metropolis. Thanks to Leonardo's little prank, the elves and beastkin jumped into the fray to fight for the region suspected to contain the energy ore mine and the energy vein below it.

These last seven months weren't particularly easy on Jeffery, Mason, Andrew, and the vassal kingdoms as the tendrils of war spread to engulf every faction involved in the domain. No one was as desperate as the three ruling powers about securing this ore mine, proportionally, no one had suffered as great of a loss in resources and manpower as them either.

Jeffery barely made it to the welcoming gates to his bedroom for a shred of sleep that he oh so longed after for days now, and a hurried set of flustered footsteps echoed behind him.

"Fuck my life... What is it now?!" Jeffery instinctively barked at the servant boy who skidded to a stop behind him, trembling in his shoes.

"U-u-u-u-u-urgent report, s-s-s-sir!" The boy almost collapsed mentally from the pressure, he feared joining his seventeen predecessors six feet under by delivering this terrible news. However, there is no helping it, the reports must be handed over.

"What is this time? How many saints did we lose? Who and their mother died? What fort collapsed? Did we lose even more of our borders? Spit it out please..." Jeffery kneaded his forehead, running through everything that could be considered bad news in his mind. He can't help it, he needed to be mentally prepared for whatever this servant threw at him now.

The servant almost pissed himself in fear before he dropped to his knees and stuttered out his report, "S-s-s-s-six saints..."

Bang!

Jeffery kicked the servant boy in the face and raged, "SIX?! SIX SAINTS?! HOW TE FUCK DID WE MANAGE TO LOSE THAT MANY?! HUH?!"

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Jeffery stomped and stomped the servant boy without a shred of humanity in his expression. All Jeffery could see was red from rage and frustration. Only when his shoes were stained red with blood did e stop, looking down on the servant boy breathing his last while reporting.

"Six... Six unknown saints..." With that sentence, the servant boy dropped dead, full of grievance and despair.

"Eh? What?..." Jeffery stared blankly at the corpse by his bloodied feet and blinked, thinking he misheard or something. So, it wasn't a casualties report? Unknow saints? As Jeffery was contemplating what that implied, his communication bracelet transmitted something to his mind. Upon receiving the news, he was shocked.

A group of powerful saints with an entourage of mortals appeared in the heart of battle and began to indiscriminately slaughter combatants in whichever direction they came from. Some were even strong enough to cause large settlement-scale destruction on the battlefield.

The various powers are asking for an urgent meeting to discuss a temporary alliance to rebel against the mysterious force. While the various factions were reeling from the unexpected intervention of these saints and their followers, the people in question were floating above the area suspected to contain the massive reserves of energy ores and a branch of the energy vein.

"We absolutely struck it rich this time, brought Xavier! Hahaha!" A youth with a tall black braided hairstyle laughed heartily at the unexpected harvest. Who would have thought that the moment they infiltrated the planet, shockwaves from a battle on the level of saints washed over them.

They stealthily followed these rampant fluctuations only to stumble upon this massive fortune. Of course, this was barely considered a fortune to the aristocracies that supported them in the dark, but the fortunes of those houses aren't within reach for them, unlike the fat piece of meat stationed in front of them.

"The other team will probably be stunned from envy when they finally instigate the neighbouring planet into invading this one! Haha! They'd be shocked by the scale of our established stronghold when they finally breach the atmospheric protection!" The young man continued to laugh in a crazed manner as he observed the mortal cultivators clean up the battlefield.

Countless corpses belonging to humans and elves littered the ground, but what reviled him were those half-beasts half-human creatures that disgusted him. He could barely suppress an urge to hail down the wrath of godly proportions on those sorry excuses of lifeforms and drive them to the brink of extinction.

The man called Xavier creased his brows at the scene of senseless slaughter at full swing below, deliberately not mentioning the despicable acts of plunder and violation of the female warriors in public without regard for chivalry or respect.

"This is a mistake! We were ordered to keep things low-key!" Xavier reprimanded his company of saints. Although he didn't know from which houses they originated, nor did he believe that they were aware of whom their true master was, the orders were a clear cut down to the letter.

Instigating an entire planet to open hostility with another planet is a long process that could take months if not years. At the fastest three years, and six at the latest. How are they supposed to constantly defend their base of operations for that long without logistics or resources? Forget the resources, what about manpower?

These saints were driven mad by greed and acted on impulse, leaving them in a fairly vulnerable situation. The scale of this mine is large enough to become the focal point of a hundred years of a protracted war of attrition between the major forces of this planet. Now, however, they've offered these forces a common enemy to rally against.

If they couldn't find allies and fast, although they wouldn't die, they would either end up retreating somewhere which would inevitably delay their plans or wash the entire battlefield in blood.

The blood of people, in name at least, under House Hestia's banner. This slap to the face will invite disaster to the houses involved. The young leader Xavier didn't wish to see that. Alas, he was facing the same problem of disrespect from his so-called subordinates that Leonardo suffered from.

The only difference is, Leonardo could afford to discard Pandora and Juvia, while they couldn't afford to lose his support. In Xavier's situation, sadly for him, it was quite the opposite.

"What do you mean by mistake? Have you gone mad?!" The young man who was laughing suddenly flipped a switch and berated his leader with a loud, disdainful tone.

One critical issue was that the underlings are aware of their value, making them prone to rebellious tendencies. Xzavier could see the displeasure in the eyes of the five saints, rendering him helpless as he asked.

"Okay, what do you plan to do after this, Anvil?"

"We're going to lock down the area and slaughter anyone who dares trespass! Then, we branch out, rob, kill, enslave, and rule as the overlords of this region with an iron fist! Our low-key plan is already out the window, might as well mess things up completely!" Anvil barked out his intentions with a face twisting in malice.

The other four seemed to be of the same mind, especially a muscular woman dressed in men's clothing of imperial order. She had long crimson hair decorated in barbed braids, she was currently hugging two females, a human and an elf, who were beaten black and blue behind a shred of resistance while having their bloody bodies explored vulgarly by the woman.

The scene disgusted Xavier, but he ignored it and said, "And then? When House Hestia finally notices our activities here, what do you plan to do?"

"House Hestia? HAHAHAHA!! Don't make me laugh myself to death!" Anvil cracked his head back and laughed out loud, feeling humoured by the ridiculous statement.

"Haven't you been notified yet? The bitch and her daughter are in secluded cultivation! They're probably preparing for the opening ceremony of the Interstellar Supremacy Institution, granting us five years of luxury in their backyard!"

"And when the five years are over? They would be preoccupied with the institution, who would bother with a backwater planet in some pitiful middle realms?"

Anvil and the other four seemed convinced that they were untouchable at the moment. If only they knew that not one day after they're dispatched to the middle realms, that so-called bitch of a month single-handedly brought the entire Immortal Kingdom to ruin.

However, as usual, ignorance is bliss.