The Irngrad listened to the opinions of the clans' chieftains. They were clearly divided heavily on whether or not to believe in Eisen's identity, but overall, in regard to the actual important topic at hand, it seemed as though they were leaning into a more singular direction. All of them were at least considering the warning that Eisen had told them.
The ones that were already against the war to begin with were just strengthened in that belief, and those that supported the war, saying that they shouldn't let the central continent do whatever they please, were thinking a bit more deeply about the situation.
After all, it wasn't a total impossibility that Eisen was telling the truth. At the end of the day, he was still a King, albeit of a Kingdom that had been abandoned for hundreds of years until he reclaimed it. He stood between the giants' country and the central continent, and seemed to have a more clear view of what was going on.
And of course, his strength and influence that he showed to each and every one of the chieftains wasn't anything that could be dismissed either, even if it wasn't at the level that they generally expected of the true 'Eisen'.
"Let's put the matter of his identity aside for now. Before we call him in to speak to us... what about his claim?
As the Bralfam already pointed out, what truly matters is whether or not this all is actually the will of the wicked man called 'Samuel'," the Irngrad pointed out, looking around the room, "Even if you hadn't until his appearance in this country, I'm sure that each and every one of you is aware of the events that unfolded in the central continent, connected to the figures of 'Samuel' and 'Eisen'."
"Are you talking about the 'Demon of the Pit' incident?" the Grandour asked quickly, though that was really an unnecessary question. That was clearly the thing that the Irngrad had referenced. The Giants' King nodded his head, "That is it.
The promise that had been voiced between Eisen, who in the form of a giant demon, made a man called 'Samuel' speak a promise, to keep their personal war between them only."
"Hasn't that event clearly been exaggerated?" the desert clan's chieftain sighed, shaking her head, "I mean, that was obviously just some show that was put on. If this 'Samuel' is as wicked as claimed, and has the ability to lead us to a war with the central continent, how could he be stupid enough to sign a contract like that? Especially so if it's actually 'Eisen' we're talking about here.
Even the gods wouldn't dare mess with him and the other originals."
"Well..." the cloud giant chieftain slowly spoke up, "I might be able to share some... insights, in that regard."
The Irngrad held his hand toward the chair placed on the other end of the enormous table that the chieftains had gathered around, "Please, have a seat."
Without having to be told a second time, Eisen sat down. Though, before he could even settle, a question was brought to him. It was the Bralfam, the chieftain of the stone giants, who had been more than collected up until now, "Explain to us, if you could... how does this 'Samuel' exert his control over others?"
Eisen looked around the room. He smiled at everyone, and then looked over at the cloud giant chieftain. If anyone here, then he would be the one that Samuel would take over. And while there were obviously ways for Samuel to look into this place in other ways, at this point, the fact that Eisen was going to do this was obvious.
Samuel wasn't stupid enough to believe that Eisen would stop spreading the truth. And while this was something that he had wanted to avoid, since it could cause to many more issues later on, the old man figured that even if he didn't reveal the whole truth, he could travel between the lines of lie and truth for this matter.
"Samuel is... something akin to a 'God' amongst even the gods, if that makes sense. He is the one that personally created the first, oldest, and most powerful goddess, Ari. When I first spoke to her, she was just a child. A child calling Samuel her father, excitedly telling me of the stories he had told her about me and the other originals.
He is the one that curated the seeds of this world, the one that gave power to the gods, while also putting restraints on them," Eisen explained, "In the end, there is no way for me to truly know exactly how much control he can still exert. But fact is, the only way to place certain restraints is if the one placing them has the ability to transcend them."
"Then... then how are we supposed to fight against a being of that sort? A truly omnipotent god?" the bralfam asked with a sense of hopelessness in his voice, but Eisen looked at him with a smile, "Oh, he is powerful, sure, but... he's definitely not omnipotent or omniscient."
As the old man said this, he took out a document. It was a large, gold-adorned piece of paper. It had deep sigils pressed into it, and in large letters, large enough for even the Irngrad on the other side of the table to read them, said, "Eisen de Grandour will make a statement overseen by the Goddess of Fate.
If he is to lie during this statement, he will be struck down immediately and henceforth resign his position as King of Asgard, placing all his power, servants, land, and treasures under the ownership of the Irngrad."
Eisen waited for a while until everyone had truly had the chance to read and comprehend what the text said, and then poured his mana into the contract. The letters started to light up briefly before detaching from the paper, as the paper itself started to fall apart into dust. The dust quickly formed a cloud that moved behind Eisen, as a reaper overseeing the contract appeared behind the old man.
A scythe was placed around his neck from behind, already pressing into his flesh as though it were made of cloth and not the rock that it had turned into in this Demonic form.
And with a smile, Eisen opened his mouth and began to speak.