Chapter 253

Chapter 253: Round Table Meeting

In a space shrouded in immense chaos and completely enveloped in fog, a meeting was underway.

Participants couldn’t attend in person due to battling various enemies across different fronts.

Yet the "Fantasy Tree of Subspace" possessed remote-meeting capabilities. Through its sprawling branches and roots, images representing demon gods’ wills could transmit to designated locations.

This process consumed vast magical resources, placing it beyond most demon gods’ reach.

Only "core councilor"-tier beings could afford such expenditure.

Those below required "subsidies" from core councilors to achieve remote "materialization."

Even among the twelve core councilors, this method was seldom used—

except for matters of utmost importance!

Such as core seat re-rankings, or admitting new chaos deities into the Core Council.

Now both proposals advanced simultaneously—

an unprecedented event since the Chaos Council’s founding.

Presiding was the Second Seat: Agareth of the Endless Altar.

"Ahem…"

A raspy voice echoed through the gathering.

Being a virtual assembly, participants projected avatars—either divine forms or mortal guises.

Agareth chose his mortal visage: a balding, robe-draped elder with a falcon perched on his shoulder.

Yet the aged voice came not from the sage-like man, but from the falcon…

"The motion to add one council seat passes unanimously."

"Next agenda: disciplinary measures against Twelfth Seat councilor Lady Xidi!"

Agareth’s eyes glinted with satisfaction as he spoke.

Lady Xidi provoked envy.

Her raw power fell short of First Seat Barbatos and even Agareth himself. Yet her irreplaceable role secured the Twelfth Seat—outranking Agareth!

Why did "twelfth" outrank "second"? These seats followed round table protocol:

The First and Twelfth seats held equal prominence, as did Second and Eleventh, Third and Tenth, and so forth.

Thus the Twelfth Seat stood as second-in-command beneath the First Seat, surpassing the Second Seat.

Though numbered twelfth, Lady Xidi ranked second among the core twelve.

A "second" faced peril—targeted by the top seat while coveted by the third. Alliance between first and third against second was nearly inevitable.

Especially since Barbatos and Agareth shared common origins.

True, their opposition stemmed from factional politics—but Lady Xidi had angered more than these two!

"Hmph!"

"About time!"

Eighth Seat member Barbatos chimed in.

Today, Barbatos chose to attend the meeting as a "mortal."

He wore a fitted green dress that accentuated a woman’s perfect, alluring curves—yet compared to Lady Xidi’s human projection, Barbatos’s figure seemed decidedly "slender."

Think "C" versus "F" in terms of slenderness.

This very "slenderness" fueled Barbatos’s envy toward the "voluptuous" Lady Xidi.

Even though Lady Xidi hadn’t taken mortal form today, instead projecting her draconic will as a dragon-body manifestation.

This only stoked Barbatos’s fury.

Seeing that divine form—so similar to his own yet far "sturdier"—Barbatos’s soul soured entirely.

"That woman first failed against the Star-Eater Plutonium Dragons, then lost to that upstart ‘Giant God’! Utterly incompetent!"

"And she dares cling to her seat in the Chaos Council?"

…

Barbatos’s tirade became a battle cry. Core councilors of chaos swiftly turned their spears toward Lady Xidi, unleashing relentless criticism.

Lady Xidi, however, seemed unbothered, calmly preening her iridescent feathers with bowed head.

She’d clearly foreseen this storm.

Finally, after the onslaught, Agareth laid bare his intent.

"Enough. Expelling Lady Xidi outright seems overly harsh."

"Coincidentally, we’ve resolved to elevate the vacant Thirteenth Seat to core councilor status—though ranked below the original twelve."

"Let us demote Lady Xidi to the Thirteenth Seat."

"Merely dropping one rank. Hardly a severe penalty, no?"

The suggestion reeked of malice.

While the new Thirteenth Seat held core status, if the first twelve sat at the round table, the Thirteenth was but a humble stool placed outside it.

Though the seat number fell by one and voting rights remained, the standing plummeted utterly.

Barbatos, savoring sweet vengeance, shot Lady Xidi a gloating look.

"Ha!"

"You pretentious hag!"

"Struggle pathetically for me!"

"Show me your wretched, squalid despair!"

"Hahaha…"

Yet Barbatos’s triumph soon curdled.

"Oh…"

"I see."

"Accept the punishment."

Without rebuttal or struggle, Lady Xidi calmly accepted the chaos councilor’s decision. To her, the prestigious "Twelfth Seat"—a position second only to one—felt like a gnawed bone, easily tossed aside without regret.

"This…"

Neither Agareth nor Barbatos, nor any core councilor present, could comprehend Lady Xidi’s unnervingly placid reaction.

They refused to believe she’d relinquish power so easily.

Something felt deeply amiss.

"What scheme is she weaving?"

"Scheme? Planning?"

Lady Xidi met Agareth’s gaze squarely. Though her predator’s fierce Double Eyes now shone with serenity, her words cut deep.

"Believe what you will."

"But rest assured, nothing within the Core Council or Chaos Council holds value for me now."

"Cast me out, even banish me from the Chaos Demon God system—it matters not."

"Besides, wouldn’t clearing the path for rising talents benefit us all?"

…

Only then did Barbatos and Agareth recall: Lady Xidi was no ordinary demon god dependent on the Chaos Council’s structure for survival!

Her low profile within the council stemmed not from weakness, but from her having used the Chaos Demon God system merely as a tool to fulfill her ambitions.

Perhaps she’d already found a sharper instrument!

Thus, her words rang not as defense, but as warning—*If this place rejects me, another will welcome me. Should all doors close…*

*Blood for the Giant God! Flesh for the Divine Throne!*

This time, Lady Xidi acknowledged her misstep and accepted the penalty.

But let them ponder well: *Who truly needs whom?*

"Tsk…"

Agareth scoffed. Yet his composure swiftly returned.

After all, he’d finally dislodged the Twelfth Seat obstructing his path!

Whatever Lady Xidi claimed, her lost authority was undeniable. Now, the seat itself awaited a new claimant!

"The core councilor’s seat cannot remain vacant!"

"But promotions demand caution—quality over haste."

"Hence, three paths exist:"

"First: mastery of a ‘Power’ granting absolute dominance over a domain!"

"Second: defeat of a sitting councilor!"

"Third: victory over the emerging ‘Giant God’!"

Thus…"

Agareth’s eyes swept the chamber, lingering on Lady Xidi—now stripped of rank, seated on a "little bench" beyond the round table—before he proudly raised his aged head.

"I!"

"Agareth, shall challenge the Giant God!"

Confidence surged within him as he rehearsed his flawless strategy:

"My approach will differ entirely!"

"It exploits the Giant God’s fatal flaw!"

"Yes! He forever charges ahead, blind to all else."

"Therefore… I shall strike his sanctuary—the ‘Bubble World’ of Themis!"