Chapter 97 Hall Master And Cardinals

98th Floor of the Tower, present time.

Currently, in the glories halls and corridors of the Hall of Kadath, a lone man was kneeling in front of the statute of the Eldritch abomination, as he was unmovingly praying for several hours straight, without moving or speaking; he just kept praying towards the statute.

Menuhyutt Faulhaber was praying in this position already for several hours straight, not caring about anything else. Even initial Legendaries could live without any rest or food for several months without any problem at all, and with some training, they could go even for years without a problem.

In the absolute silence and solace that the Hall Master of the Hall of Kadath was having the past week, the only thing that was heard through the enormous hall filled with the statutes of the Outer Gods worshipped by the Hall of Kadath was the sound of doors that were right now opened.

The sound of footsteps filled the silent hall as the newcomer came to the place where the Menuhyutt was praying, passing by several Templars from the Holy Templar Order, which was the military branch of the Hall of Kadath, or rather one of its many military branches, they had in open or in shadows.

They were clad in their golden armors, carved with runes and holding their weapons, most commonly lances, without moving an inch, showing incredible discipline and willpower as they continued to watch over the inner sanctum of the Hall of Kadath.

"I heard that you made quite a mess on that Mana-Less World."

Menuhyutt stated, not opening his eyes as he kept praying and not even turning to the newcomer, who was the Cardinal Zaldidraax of the Hall of Kadath, who had just now returned from the Midnight World, which was right now just a husk of its former self.

"That depends on the point of view."

Zaldidraax stated back as the Hall Master chuckled at the behavior of one of their strongest, but in the end, such was the truth. All depended on the point of view, but for the old man Menuhyutt, it didn't really matter, as long the mission he assigned to the Red Dragon Cardinal was completed.

Everything aside from that was inconsequential.

"Have you accomplished the mission?"

Questioned the Hall Master as the Zaldidraax nodded his head and threw off the ring towards the Hall Master who was praying, outstretching his right hand as he caught the ring, and inspected it with his senses.

"More than fifty billion souls... good."

Muttering Menuhyutt quietly, putting away the dimensional ring filled with the Soul Stones, which contained the souls from the Midnight World. The entire Midnight World had a population of below 100 billion, somewhere between 98 billion to 99 billion, so getting around fifty billion souls was considered an excellent result.

Especially after the other players entered the fray; so in the end, the Hall of Kadath obtained a nice amount of souls, even though they were the souls of mortals, who weren't even the Iron-Tier, but the number of them was so huge, that it was still very valuable.

This was an irony and true nature of the Cosmos as a cruel and unforgiving place, where only the strong had the right to decide what was wrong and what was good, where the concepts like morality were only propagational nonsense, as those who had strength decided the outcome of the entire worlds, like in this case.

"Anything else you want to report to the Holy See?"

Seeing that the Zaldidraax had not left the hall yet, Menuhyutt asked the Red Dragon Cardinal, who remained in the room; if the Zaldidraax had not left yet, it meant that he still had something to discuss. And from his expression, it seems that it is something serious.

"I had sensed somebody taken something on the Transcendental Level from the Midnight World shortly before the people from the Magisterium arrived at that place."

When Menuhyutt opened his eyes, they shone in bright, dangerous light, and he realized that if something of that level was located on the Mana-Less World, it would bring them a lot more trouble than they could imagine. Of course, it all depended on the nature of the thing that was located there.

"What was taken?"

He asked, turning his head slightly towards Zaldidraax, who now realized that something was happening right now on the political board of the Cosmos, something that he didn't really understand but was clearly very important.

"Did you recognize the aura of the one who did it?"

Zaldidraax nodded.

"Someone from the Germinal Order."

Of course, Zaldidraax sensed the one who was taking that thing from the Sarid Republic, and he recognized the Psionic fluctuation on the peak of the Legendary Level rather effortlessly due to its specific nature.

And most importantly, in the Mana-Less World, it was extremely easy to spread senses through the entire World and sense aura. That was due to the lack of Mana in the World, and the lack of other special or unique energies, people in that world, don't have any aura, meaning it was extremely easy to find someone who had in such a world.

Especially the Psionic Energy was unmistakable for him because across the Cosmos, the Psionic Energy was one of the rarer ones and most notable. And contrary to Mana, the Psionic Energy was characteristical for its traces because it was very easy to identify if the Psionic Energy was used somewhere.

"If the Germinal Order is interested in something, then it means that it must be an item crucial for the Psionics; in the worst case, they would have obtained the Psionic Core of the deceased Annulled."

Stated Menuhyutt in a grim voice. It was common knowledge that things like this were extremely rare in the Material Plane because rarer the Transcendents were killed in the Material Plane, and in many cases, if they were, then their remains would be immediately retrieved by some Faction that would send someone to fetch it.

For example, if God fell and his Godhead fell onto the Material Plane and was found by someone, then the person could almost instantaneously ascend to Godhood with little to no effort. The same could be said about the other Paths to the Transcendents, as the remains of any were invaluable in the hands of the mortal factions.

And certainly, these weren't the only usage of the remains of the Transcendental Entities. With the Psionic Core, which was left after some Annuled was killed in the Void, the Germinal Order could tremendously boost up their power by creating new Legendaries or boosting already existing ones to a frightening degree.

"As it appears, the new Game is starting sooner than anticipated."

He then muttered under his breath before standing up and looking at Zaldidraax sternly. While the Germinal Order was not a direct threat to the Hall of Kadath, as their main aim were the Mind Flyers, who once enslaved the founding species of the Germinal Order.

"We need to start preparing for another cataclysm. Also, I heard that you transported one entire city to one of our Middle Worlds?"

Zaldidraax nodded, remembering the conversation he had with the Emperor of the Nofrena Empire back in the Midnight World.

***

Flashback

After everyone was frozen on the battlefield, Zaldidraax turned his attention to the humans who were standing there in a mix of ave and fear. Yet, they didn't retreat or attempt to run away but still continued looking at the Red Dragon.

"Now to you, who is your leader?"

Questioned the Red Dragon Cardinal as he observed the humans beneath him, who were not moving an inch and just watched in wonder, fear, and dread how the enormous dragon stopped the fighting across the entire battlefield with a single command and forced the Orks to fall back.

"That would be me."

Stated a voice belonging to a middle-aged man, who was holding a sword and rifle in his hands; Zaldidraax could see some level of finesse and nobleness in him, despite his bloodied appearance and the tattered uniform he was wearing.

"I am the current Emperor of the Nofrena Empire, Alexander IV. Nofreanis, or at least, what has remained from our once glorious nation."

The man introduced himself to a humongous dragon without any shred of fear because, for him, it was clear that death was near with how many invaders were coming to their world. Their Empire was totally overrun by the greenskins, who waged war; everything had been destroyed and fallen, aside from the Imperial Captial, which was still standing.

"I have a proposal for you, human ruler."

Stated the red dragon, as he was watching them attentively, not letting anything out of his sight.

"I have been impressed by your bravery on the battlefield and your martial culture that you decided to fight against the Greenskins despite knowing the fact that you will die. So, I have a proposal for you. Worship the Outer Gods under the Hall of Kadath, and survival of what has remained from your people and your family would be guaranteed."

Proposed the Red Dragon Cardinal as the Emperor of the Nofrena Empire; while looking shocked, he still tried to keep his calm facade. While Emperor Alexander IV. Nofreanis didn't know what the Outer Deities were; they for sure would be mighty, based on the fact that the mighty dragon before him was serving them.

Also, while he was prepared to die fighting, what he didn't wish, was for the last remains of his country to perish too, or for his wife and children to perish in the hands of Orks, and truth to be told, death was the best outcome of this situation.

For the moment, Emperor Alexander was contemplating this situation, which in the end, while looking at the breached walls of the City, injured defenders and people looking towards the humongous red dragon with a sliver of hope, made very fast.

Especially considering the waves of the greenskins who, while retreating from the Imperial Capital, they still remained in the vicinity, and were preparing to bounce back, when the Zaldidraax left the place.

"I agree to your request."

In the end, the answer was clear as a sunny day, while the red dragon revealed a cunning grin over his huge draconic mouth, then turned his head towards the greenskins who were watching the Cardinal of the Hall of Kadath, and waited till he left.

He spewed a huge wave of dragon's breath towards the positions of Orks, burning them to crisps, before he flapped his enormous dragon wings, and flew towards the greenskins, deciding to annihilate all the greenskins.

***

End of the Flashback

"Indeed, they fought against the Ork Waaaghhh despite knowing that they would fail, and their martial disciple and pride was something unseen in most of the mortal civilizations, especially those advanced growing in the Mana-Less Worlds. In a few centuries, they could develop significantly to the point of becoming useful to the Hall of Kadath, not to mention their martial culture is suitable for the Military Branches of the Hall."

Answered Zaldidraax why he offered the conditions to the Emperor of the Nofrena Empire and then subsequently transported the entire capital city of the already non-existent Nofrena Empire to one of the Middle Worlds.

While normally, this would be out of reach for the Legendary achieve, with a single prayer towards the Outer Gods, the entire thing was finished within several seconds. And thus, the whole capital city of the former Nofrena Empire was transported into one of the Middle Worlds, which was under the control of the Hall of Kadath.

"Send in Karliana; I have a few words that I want to exchange with her."

Stated the Hall Master Menuhyutt Faulhaber after a short time before he dismissed Zaldidraax, who excused himself. After the Red Dragon Cardinal left the hall, Menuhyutt remained alone in the hall as he returned to the prayer.

He continued to pray for half an hour before he heard the footsteps from the back of the hall once again as he sensed Cardinal Karliana von Kircheisen entering the place.

"Karliana come here..."

Stated the Hall Master as the Cardinal Karliana von Kircheisen, who had returned from the 3rd Floor, where she was completing the mission assigned to her by the Hall Master.

"So, what do you say about him?"

Questioned the elderly man.

"Like an unpolished diamond, he needs some more training and control over his strength, especially in close combat; he had a big problem with controlling his physical strength correctly and is wasting a lot of it unnecessarily. Same with his Mana, ridiculous purity and density considering that he is still only a Steel-Tier, but he is wasting approximately 40% with each move, but that is lack of the suitable Mana Control Technique."

Commented Kindred Cardinal; Hall Master nodded, expecting something like this, because such was not unexpected.

"Where is he right now?"

Hall Master Menuhyutt stood up from his praying position as he finished the prayer for this day.

"Right now, he has arrived at the 5th Floor, passing through the 4th one."

The old man had a weird gentle smile on his face when he contemplated about the 5th Floor of the Tower, as it was one of the more unique places across the entire Tower and even the whole Cosmos.

"I will be going down there. Is he still tight, he Silvermoon Princess?"

He decided on making this visit, because for what he wanted to do the conditions of the 5th Floor were the most suitable for that. It was termed as the Floor of the Enlightenment due to the unique conditions of the 5th Floor, as the same enviroment was observed only in certain areas in the Higher Dimensional Worlds and some few places across the Cosmos.

"No, they were separated... the 5th Floor is one of the few Floors across the whole Tower where those fancy gadgets don't work."

Hall Master nodded in agreement as he prepared to leave the 98th Floor and descend towards the lower floors, first time in a few centuries, he visited those places, while the feeling of nostalgia erupted from within him.

"Indeed, the 5th Floor is special in that you can now go Karlinana; I will go down personally to meet the Holy Son."

He ordered as Cardinal Karliana bowed her head before she left the hall, leaving there Menuhyut Faulhaber alone with his thoughts.

"This Epoch's Great Game is starting far sooner than initially anticipated, as the chessboard is being prepared about one thousand years in advance. The Great Nines are already moving and soon the entire Material Plane and even the Higher Dimensional Worlds would be enveloped in the war..."

Muttered the old man as he was thinking about the next step for the Hall of Kadath.

"And it appears that many of the Outer Gods have their own thoughts and plans aside from the Main Pantheon. Really troublesome, I should ascend really soon..."

He sat down on his throne for a while, looking at the ceiling of the hall, not saying anything else, just thinking about the next step.

When the Great Game has started between the 'Them', then everyone else is just the pawn, and the entire Cosmos is the chessboard as they were playing for meaningless victories and losses that, in the end, didn't even matter for them.

Those who lost didn't really lose anything, and those who won didn't really win anything. Because, what was lost, would be gained through time, and what was won could have been achieved with time.

Because for 'Them', time and space were just mere words, nothing less and nothing more.