网友2020自拍

Chapter 723 - Insolence

"It is an honor to meet you, your Majesty. I am sure that everyone else here feels the-" Van Horgh, the Archpriest from the Holy Empire started, although he was quickly interrupted by Eisen’s deep, penetrating glare.

"Did I allow you to speak?" The old man asked, his voice reverberating throughout the room. And with that question, the vibe that Eisen gave off changed instantly as well. Instead of tuning his demonic abilities to the Yang side of things, he had switched to the Yin side of things to instill fear into the Priest’s mind and body.

That Priest lightly jumped in response, and then slowly shook his head, "O-Of course not, but I thought-"

"You thought what? That you could treat me however you wish? Well, you are wrong. Step behind the others, I will hear you out last." Eisen flicked his wrist and told Van Horgh to get back, before the old man’s eyes stopped on a certain prince.

"Ah, Aaron. I’m glad to see you here. How are things going in Litgern?" With a soft smile on his face, tuning his abilities back to the Yang side. With a soft, albeit nervous, expression, Aaron stopped kneeling and walked to the front of the group to speak to Eisen, "Your Majesty, thank you for remembering me. Things are going quite well, we were able to spread <Starlight>’s influence quite far. Preparations for more shops within the country’s most influential cities are underway."

"Good, good. Komer informed me of the same thing. Please, let us meet after this audience to speak about these manners, though. I am happy that you seem to be doing well." Eisen said with a broad smile on his face. Of course, the last time that these two met, Eisen was a lot more... strict and fearful than he was now. And the reason for that was quite simple.

Right now, he wanted to show the envoys the duality of his being. He could be frightening and a true nightmare to deal with when you disrespected him, but if you were to help him and get on his good side, he would be rather kind and welcoming.

Clearly, this would make it so that all the envoys that thought about helping out Van Horgh in his ploy would forget all about it, instead trying to do all they could to make Eisen and Asgard their ally.

And from then on, Eisen one by one received the official greetings from the envoys. And there was one of them among them that wasn’t an envoy from the countries of the central continent.

Rather, it was a young woman from a whole other place. Instead of just greeting Eisen, she wanted to give him something. A scroll, simply put. Girland grabbed it for Eisen and slowly handed it to him. The old man looked at the writing and raised his brows surprised.

"How wonderful... This is the first time I meet another of my kind! Well, another of that side of the family, to be more specific. This invitation is a rather pleasant surprise. And please, if you will... Take on your true form. I’m sure it is much more comfortable that way." Eisen said in a clear tone. Of course, he was already aware of who this woman was. From the moment she first spoke to Komer, even, since the old man had given Komer an item to see the true form of things to make sure he wasn’t being scammed or tricked somehow.

And in that instant, Komer had noted down and told Eisen that a female Giant was on her way. But Eisen didn’t want to reveal that just yet. The woman slowly nodded her head, "As you wish, your Majesty." She explained in a clear voice, before increasing her size. Of course, she was able to take on her full height, which was actually a few meters taller than Eisen, although she seemed to be proportionally on the shorter side.

However, Eisen was quite impressed. Her clothes and items all grew along in size perfectly. There was no sort of distortion. As he had expected from the items a woman of the Fire Clan carried with her. The Giants of the Fire Clan were the greatest craftsmen of the whole race, after all.

"Please, this is the same as I told Aaron. Let us speak of this in private later." Eisen said with a smile on his face, and the woman nodded her head in response, "As you wish."

She had a rather emotionless demeanor, but Eisen figured that wasn’t anything too out of the extraordinary. She was a diplomat, of course they would try and choose people that didn’t get too emotional for such roles.

And now, there was only one person left. And that was Van Horgh, who seemed to be rather upset at what he just saw. The fact that a mere ’Monster’ was allowed to speak to Eisen before he was was just preposterous.

Before he was actually asked to walk up to the front, Van Horgh went and did so on his own.

"Now, I assume that it is my turn, your Majesty." The Priest said with a soft smile, prepared to enact his plan despite the fact that all of the envoys pulled out of it in the last second. He was prepared for something like this from the beginning.

But Eisen was clearly unamused. He let out a deep sigh, and looked at the Priest. It was his turn, and it would just be a bother to make him wait longer, so Eisen figured he should just let it be for now, although Van Horgh was clearly disrespecting him again. Instead, he wanted to show that he was the one leading this conversation in another way.

Just as Van Horgh opened his mouth to speak, Eisen did so instead.

"Let me ask you, which deity do you follow?" The old man asked curiously, and Van Horgh raised his brows a bit surprised, "A-Ah, of course. I was raised in a production-focused town, and my family has been made up of believers of the God Silmos, as you surely are as well."

Eisen shrugged lightly, "Not really." He said bluntly, "But it is good to know that they sent someone they at least thought to be fitting."

Van Horgh seemed rather surprised by this fact. He thought that Eisen would be a believer of Silmos for sure, but that didn’t seem to be true, "If I may ask, your Majesty, but if you are not a believer of Silmos, who do you pray to?"

"Why should I pray to anyone?" Eisen asked bluntly, "Is that a universal law that I haven’t heard of yet? I would prefer not treating my friends to be above me, you see?"

Of course, Eisen chose these words to be provoking deliberately. He knew of Van Horgh’s plan, and he wanted to make him slip up and reveal this plan to get an upper hand in any contracts between the countries that might come to be. He was told that the Holy Empire usually attempted to exert extreme pressure onto other countries in such cases, where they would try to make the other parties feel forced to give the Empire more than they deserved or even needed. They did so by saying they acted in the ’Will of the Gods’.

This was why the Empire was one of the richest countries in the world, and there were barely any countries trying to take advantage of them or even dare attack them, so that they wouldn’t incur the wrath of the gods.

But Eisen wasn’t scared of something like that.

"...I dearly apologize if this is rude to your Majesty, but I do not think speaking of the gods in such a manner is quite so becoming of a person in your position. No matter who you may be, the gods will not be taken lightly." The Archpriest explained, and Eisen smirked lightly, "Is that so? Then, if you will... Please ask your god for his opinion on this matter."

Van Horgh stared back at Eisen, "I apologize, but I do not plan on abusing my deep connection with the Holy Lord Silmos for such petty manners."

"Fair enough. But if that’s the case, I will not allow you to speak out about my friendship toward him either." Eisen said bluntly, before Van Horgh continued grinding his teeth angrily, "You see, your Majesty, there is a particular thing that I wanted to speak to you about today. Is it not true that these islands have an incredibly deep connection to the Gods? We from the Holy Empire would be more than glad to help you manage these islands in the correct manner. If you are not careful, you may incur the wrath of the gods and bring misfortune upon yourself." Van Horgh explained with a broad smile on his face, with a loud voice that reverberated throughout the room.

He wanted to let all the other people here in this room know that he would proceed with his plan nonetheless. This priest wanted the others to help him try and convince Eisen, saying that this was a good idea. And then, the priest wanted to slowly take over the islands bit by bit, and would have given each of the countries one of the islands to gather favor with them.

"Interesting. And how would you help us manage these towns? We are all quite knowledgeable about the gods, you see?"

"More knowledgeable than a country built on the basis of praying to these gods? Are you quite sure about that, your Majesty?" The priest asked, "The gods’ wrath is quite frightening. Frightening beyond belief, your Majesty. You should be quite care-"

"For someone so worried about the wrath of a higher being, you are speaking quite insolently to the one right in front of you." Eisen interrupted the Priest once more, "Even though it was not the kindest way of doing so, I accept your greetings nonetheless. Now, turn around and join the others again. I have a few words to say to you all."

Van Horgh looked up at Eisen with his eyes wide open, full of anger that he was trying his best to hide as well as possible, "B-But, your Majesty-"

"This is my last warning. Even my children were better at listening than you are when they were barely able to walk. Silence." The old man growled, the power of his Yin side making the Priest’s whole body shake in fear and anger.

Slowly, he turned around and joined the group of envoys again, before Eisen slowly stood up from his throne and stepped in front of them, towering above all of them except the single female Giant. He would try to convince them that he was truly Eisen now.