"What is going on here?"
Rhexan asked with a deep frown.
"None of us know. We’re waiting for him."
At the Abyss Archduke’s response, Rhexan simply chose a seat and settled down, deciding there was little point in speculating when the one who summoned them had yet to arrive.
"I thank you all for coming."
After several minutes, the doors swung open as the voice sounded, and a slender man with green hair and matching eyes stepped into the room with a calm, almost leisurely smile resting on his face.
"What is this, Edras? Why did you call us here?"
The Iron Archduke asked, his deep frown making it clear he wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries.
"Hmm... looks like none of you have heard yet."
"Heard what?"
"Atticus Ravenstein is here."
"!!!"
The eyes of the Archdukes constricted as a heavy, oppressive silence settled over the room.
"...Are you certain?"
Rhexan asked slowly after a moment. His fists were clenched beneath the table as he forced himself to remain seated.
"I am. He arrived minutes ago. From what I can tell, he intends to participate in the resource wars."
Another wave of shock rippled through the gathered Archdukes.
The image of Atticus slaughtering hundreds of gods during his ascension was still vivid in their minds. It was an unforgettable scene and none of them had expected that he would become relevant to their own affairs so soon.
"What kind of person is he, really? Didn’t he just ascend to the Span? How could he possibly get here this fast...?"
At the Abyss Archduke’s muttered disbelief, the others could only shake their heads in silent agreement.
The structure of the Span made every ascent incomparably harder than the last.
At the very bottom, only a single territory bordered one’s world. Ascending once turned that into three.
Conquer all three and ascend again, and four territories would border the ones below, with another three above.
The higher one climbed, the more territories pressed in from all sides, and with them came an ever increasing number of enemies and invasions that needed to be repelled.
In simple terms, ascension demanded time, years, even decades of careful planning, just to earn the chance to reach the mid parts.
What Atticus had achieved defied that logic entirely.
"He’s dangerous..." the Abyss god muttered quietly.
"And that’s precisely why I called you all here."
The Archdukes turned toward Edras as he stepped forward, now standing at the head of the table.
"It’s no secret that the boy slaughtered an ample number of our gods during his ascension. Beyond that, he climbed the Span at a pace never seen before. He’s an anomaly, one that could explode in our faces if we choose to ignore him. He needs to be dealt with."
Screechh.
"...Hm?"
Edras’s brows knit together as two Archdukes abruptly rose from their seats and began making their way toward the exits.
"You’re leaving?"
"It’s against our doctrine to band together against any enemy. Dangerous or not."
The iron Archduke replied calmly.
"I see. Then what about you?"
The second figure was Rhexan Virex, whose body now radiated a faint, steamy heat as he walked.
By all logic, the plane will should have suppressed any being descending from the summit to match the power ceiling of their current location. Ashkarion should have been no stronger than an Archduke here.
Yet his presence remained utterly overwhelming.
To the shock of every Archduke watching, the Iron Archduke, renowned for his unyielding pride, finally nodded, his movements stiff as he returned to his seat.
"You Redflames are always entertaining to watch. There’s something about your obsession with dominance that never fails to amuse me."
A second figure stepped into the room, his azure hair swaying faintly as glowing crimson eyes swept over the gathered Archdukes.
"Nature’s Spawn!"
The Archdukes trembled in shock. Crimson eyes and blue hair, what was a direct descendant of the Nature King doing here?
Even setting that aside, the sheer weight of his presence made his identity unmistakable.
Grand Sovereign Eldros, the highest ranking member of the Nature faction in the Span.
"I pay my respects to the Grand Sovereign..."
Edras dropped to one knee immediately, bowing with deep reverence.
"Edras. You’ve done well, as always."
"I’m merely carrying out my duties, Grand Sovereign."
"Hm."
Eldros gazed down at him with clear fondness, the look one might reserve for a favored pet.
The remaining Archdukes were completely frozen. One Grand Sovereign appearing was already beyond reason, but two, especially with one of them being a Nature’s Spawn, shifted the entire weight of the meeting into something far more dangerous.
The Nature King’s kin were known throughout the middle planes as monsters wearing human skin, objects of fear wherever they set foot.
With the appearance of not one but two such overwhelming figures, the Archdukes instinctively began to reassess the true significance of this meeting.

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