Voss Family, Family Main Hall
Meanwhile, While Damien and Isabelle were still in shock for various reasons. All the elders of the Voss family were currently having one of their most important meetings in recent years.
Located at the heart of the mansion, a vast and imposing hall stood. Its elegance so radiant that even the proudest of nobles would feel unworthy to stand here.
For its floor, black marble that gleamed like a frozen midnight lake. laid across the room's vast expanse, veined with silver and faint traces of violet.
Each Slab cut and polished to perfection.
Above it, a huge golden chandelier hung, acting as the room's centerpiece, its ghostly light reflecting off the marble and making the surrounding walls come to life.
Walls that held the pictures of all past patriarchs and matriarchs from each generation.
At the room's head, a huge golden throne stood with a smaller silver one by its side, representing the seat of the current Patriarch and matriarch.
In its front, a royal red carpet with gold highlights stretched across the room. On which, at the left and right sides of both thrones, respectively, nine smaller bronze thrones stood, making a total of eighteen bronze thrones, representing the current eighteen elders.
And right now, apart from the Patriarch and Matriarch seats, all eighteen elders were filled as the atmosphere in the hall was unprecedentedly heavy.
*Bang!*
"Damn it! How dare those rats from the obsidian sea dare to ambush my Voss family!"
"Do they think that in recent years my family has become weaker to the point where even mere cultists have grown confident!"
"If the ancestor hadn't been injured, I would have said we should launch attacks on all their bases in the empire!"
Fuming with anger, an elder who had only one arm, the other arm completely condensed of shadow, growled unwillingly.
By this side, the other nine on his row all nodded in agreement; neither of them was willing to take this lying down.
However, the nine on the other side have different opinions.
"Elder Magnus, although we all feel anger from this incident and loss, we can't be too hasty."
"Firstly, the patriarch's mission before being ambushed was meant to be a secret, which means his information was probably leaked."
"The only people who knew about it were us and the empire's top officials. And since neither of us can betray the family due to the bloodline pact, then that means this issue was from the empire."
"Now, what we need to do is find out if this was just one person's betrayal or the empire's will, perhaps they've decided to discard my Voss family".
Saying something so chilling with an extremely calm face, with gray hair, eyebrows, and a long gray beard, with a slight smile, another Elder interrupted Magnus' thoughts.
Elder Crowe!
Among the eighteen elders of the Voss house, nine of them were separated into two factions, the Dove and the Hawk factions.
Magnus, being the head of the Hawk faction, usually proposes more retaliative and aggressive measures.
And Crowe, head of the dove faction, a faction that would rather not kill if they didn't have to. They'd rather capture their enemies, maybe use them as slaves or magic experiments.
Because of this, on most occasions, both sides didn't agree or see eye to eye.
However, right now, Magnus, hearing Crowe's words, didn't immediately retort. Instead, he raised his shadow arm to his chin, seemingly lost in thought.
"Indeed, Crowe, what you say isn't wrong. Looking at it now, there was definitely something wrong with the Patriarch's mission."
"Plus, it is more impossible for us to betray each other since we all took a bloodline oath before entering the seventh order and becoming elders."
"so that only lives the empire to question"
Yes, in a family like the Voss house, to be an elder, the minimum qualification was seventh order. And now there were eighteen seventh orders here, with some half-step eighth orders
A truly unprecedented number for any one force to have
Muttering under his breath, Magnus' eyes sparkled with black flame.
As an elder known for his signature shadow flame. He was once titled the 'prince of black flame'.
With his magic power alone, he once easily burnt a smaller empire to the ground because they tried to assassinate a young genius of the family.
So, hearing the news that the empire likely betrayed them, his once dormant flames had begun to slowly re-ignite.
"Damn empire! Did they forget how long our family has served them?"
"How many wars have we won for them!?"
"Do they think the name Voss is a joke!'" Yelled Magnus in anger
As he spoke, the surrounding space began to darken, a mist-like darkness spreading from his body.
This time, no one interrupted him as they all felt unwilling.
"I propose we ready a strike squad and kill all those bastards in the imperial capital!"
"As long as we act fast enough, not only would they not be able to react, but that could serve as a warning to all those forces who started paying attention to us once the ancestor got injured, "said Magnus as he thought back to his ancestor's injury.
Clenching his fist unwillingly, if only 'that' incident had never happened, then the Voss family wouldn't be as they are today, coveted by various forces and unable to do much.
Ancestor Thaddeus Rhun – "The Bone Sculptor"
A man who was hailed as the god of necromancers, with millions of bone dragons, giants, and all kinds of undead at his very beck and call
In this world, where eighth orders run the show, various top forces did, in fact, have ninth orders. However, all of them were hidden.
Either trying to break through and become demigods, or in deep slumber, preserving what little lifespan they had left, hoping for a chance of advancement in the far future
And their Ancestor was one of these hidden ninth orders; however, fifty years ago, to break through demigod. He found the hideout of a living demigod and launched an attack, fully confident in his own strength.
However, not only was his skeleton sea with millions of undead beaten back into dust. But he himself was seriously injured, bearly escaping with his life.
Now, fifty years later, these injuries remain. The demigod's divinity constantly damaging his body.
So, hearing Magnus' proposal, without the backing of their ancestor, did they really want to tear up their relationship with the empire, which potentially had a hidden ninth order?
All the elders instantly began to think, as they weighed the pros and cons of Magnus' idea.
A few minutes passed, and before any of the Elders could come to a conclusion, a huge bang instantly attracted their attention.
"You old foggies! How dare you lock me up!"
"Also, Theron, how dare you almost die! If you dare do something like this again, I'll kill you!"
Walking into the room, Elizabeth, with an angry face, stormed in with Theron and Isabella right behind her.
All of a sudden, the atmosphere of the room instantly froze as they each looked at Elder Crowe with a sympathetic expression. After all, he was the one who proposed to lock her up to prevent her from acting.
And Crowe, seeing this, could only have a wry smile on his face as he saw her angry face.
"Patriarch, Matriarch, it's good to see you. Please have a seat."
"We were just beginning this meeting."