The solemn voice of High Priest Drake echoed through the council chamber, announcing the opening of the Council of the Twelve High Priests.

A moment later, he raised his hand.

"Before we move on to the main agenda... there's something I'd like to bring up—if that's alright with everyone?"

Drake's majestic gaze swept across the room. But the others subtly avoided his eyes. They already had an idea of what he was going to say.

Seeing this, Drake sighed. He would still say it—but once again, it was unlikely that his hopes would be fulfilled.

"I'm talking about my position as Chief High Priest... Isn't it time I passed it on to someone else?"

Drake spoke carefully, watching everyone's reactions.

"I've held this position for over a hundred years now... It's becoming a bit much, honestly. Every department runs smoothly without me... and I don't see a real reason for me to keep holding on to this seat..."

He glanced around sheepishly as he continued.

The seat of the Chief High Priest—the de facto ruler of Shinshi and the highest position of authority in the city, a title that represents divine will. And yet, Drake wanted to step down from that very position.

Even Platinum Dragon Lord Tsaindoruks Vaision, seated among them as an external guest, subtly observed the room.

In Shinshi, aside from the deity sleeping beyond the sealed gates deep within the sanctum, the Chief High Priest held the highest authority.

His intentions could sway the direction of the entire city.

So, gauging the room's atmosphere was essential.

But Tsaindoruks wasn't too worried.

After all, this wasn't the first time Drake had tried to resign—he'd been making similar attempts for over a hundred years, every time a council meeting was held.

"I've been sitting in this seat for almost 200 years now... It's really starting to take a toll on me. I don't think I'm capable of bearing this burden anymore... So, is there anyone willing to take over?"

"....."

"....."

Drake's sharp eyes darted around, but the other high priests all looked away, feigned distraction—or even pretended to doze off.

Yes, it was the highest seat of authority in Shinshi. But with that power came a crushing weight of responsibility.

And yet, being able to wield the divine will of their god—who, while real, had been sleeping for the past two centuries—should have been attractive to most. But to these people, it wasn't.

They weren't ordinary people.

They were once NPCs.

Their way of thinking differed greatly from the common folk.

Their foremost loyalty was to the god they revered.

But that god, after proclaiming, "All of it is mine," had fallen into a deep slumber, giving no further instructions.

The city of Shinshi had continued to operate without divine direction ever since.

That meant the Chief High Priest, Drake, who ruled as a proxy of the divine, had to make decisions with no guidance—and bear the consequences.

That uncertainty, the constant fear that their god might one day awaken and pass judgment, made his position spiritually and mentally taxing.

If their god awoke, saw what had become of Shinshi—a city with rigid hierarchies among what were supposed to be equally owned subjects—and was displeased, who would be held responsible?

The Chief High Priest, of course.

That's why everyone avoided the position.

Worse still, as the highest authority, Drake hadn't enjoyed a proper break in over a century.

While others rotated through periods of rest, he had been endlessly working.

Not even a superhuman species like a dragonkin could endure such pressure forever.

Still, no one volunteered to take his place.

And as always, there's one idiot in every meeting who doesn't read the room.

"Mmmphh…!"

"If you don't keep that mouth shut, I'll toss you in the incubator the moment this meeting ends. I don't care how long your species lives, Monkey!"

Monkyspanner groaned pitifully, but his entire body was tied up so tightly he couldn't move an inch.

Beside him, the Serpent High Priest clenched his tail around Monkyspanner's bindings, grinding his teeth.

This wasn't the first time the damn monkey had caused a scene. At a past council meeting, when Drake made a similar resignation attempt, Monkyspanner had blurted out, "Then I'll do it!"

Three days later, after doing absolutely no work and abusing his authority to goof off in the residential district, Monkyspanner was captured by the council, bound with all sorts of seals and constraints, and tossed into a zoo exhibit.

After a vote, the position of Chief High Priest was forcefully returned to Drake.

Having his long-awaited vacation canceled and being forced back into the role of Chief High Priest, Drake—now at his limit—resisted with half-crazed determination, invoking his veto power.

Yet when the other priests began spouting things like "For the sake of the god," he ended up throwing a childish tantrum, even tearing up a little.

In the end, he had no choice but to resume his position once again.

Afterward, the other priests did their best to reduce his burden, and only thanks to their efforts was the current system even sustainable.

Still, Drake hadn't given up completely. He continued trying to pass off his position, making multiple attempts just like this one over the years.

Glancing around the chamber once again, Drake let out a long sigh.

"Well, no helping it. I'll keep doing it... this time too."

The other high priests visibly relaxed at those words.

Drake sighed again, this time in quick succession, watching their reactions.

O god, forgive your pitiful servant. It seems I must suffer through a few more decades of this hell...

But he hadn't given up. One day, he would shove this crushing responsibility onto someone else—specifically, he had his eyes on the Serpent Priest, Earth Priest, or the West Priest.

Those three were the ones who had bound Monkyspanner during his little rebellion and forced Drake back into the Chief High Priest's seat.

Drake swore to himself that someday they would experience firsthand the heavy burden of being closest to the divine.

Once the brief commotion passed and the tense atmosphere had loosened a bit, Drake subtly glanced around and spoke again.

"Now then, shall we get to the real agenda? The matter for which this meeting was called... Chaa?"

"Mm."

At the call of his name, Tsaindoruks Vaision, also known as the Platinum Dragon Lord, stood. Clad in armor—no, his body was armor—he would normally have drawn attention.

But in this chamber, there were others even more eye-catching, so his appearance didn't stand out all that much.

Besides, everyone present already knew him.

Across the entire world, only a few dozen individuals could refer to him by nickname—and most of them were seated right here.

Just by looking at Monkyspanner, Orochi, and Drake, it was obvious: everyone here addressed him with casual familiarity.

"To begin... as you all know, I am Platinum Dragon Lord Tsaindoruks Vaision. May I speak?"

"Whatever."

"Just get on with it, Chaa."

"Hurry it up, Chaa."

Complaints echoed from all sides, but Tsaindoruks pressed on undeterred.

"Prior to this meeting, I requested several times that Drake convene the Council of High Priests. The topic is the Cycle—that is, the Yggdrasils that fall into this world every hundred years. I'm referring to beings like yourselves... Well, no need for lengthy explanations. It'll be quicker to just show you."

Tsaindoruks pulled his hand from within his armor, revealing a magic crystal glowing with seven iridescent colors.

Normally, magic crystals are used to seal and preserve specific spells so that someone other than the caster can activate them. But this one had a different function—it stored a video projection.

Because Tsaindoruks's current form was just a suit of armor inhabited by his consciousness—not his true body—he couldn't directly project memories via magic. So he had pre-recorded footage into the crystal in advance.

"This is footage I recorded a few months ago during my travels. I encountered and briefly clashed with what I believe to be an anomalous entity. Let's watch it together."

Tsaindoruks slid the crystal into the center of the round table.

The crystal activated, emitting a gentle light, and the recording began to play.

Since it was recorded from Tsaindoruks's perspective, his armored form wasn't visible.

Instead, the screen showed vast skies and the earth flying past at high speed, as if from someone soaring through the air.

Had it gone on a little longer, some of the priests might have started complaining out of boredom—but what Tsaindoruks wanted to show appeared almost immediately.

As the view flew above a forest canopy, something caught his attention.

A blood-red aura—or perhaps "malice incarnate" was a more fitting description—rose into the heavens, pulsing with a wicked and ominous energy.

Invisible to the average person, but not to Tsaindoruks. The red aura surged like a spear piercing the sky. Alarmed by its ominous intensity, he instinctively veered toward the source.

Before long, Tsaindoruks's flight brought him to the source of that rising ominous aura—and what he saw there was strange indeed.

In the heart of a remote forest clearing, utterly out of place, stood a young girl clad in an extravagantly ornate dress.

—What is this...?

From a human perspective, she would be considered breathtakingly beautiful. Her dress, dyed deep crimson and adorned with frilly pink lace, was rich in fabric and detail. Her doll-like skin was pale as snow, and her eyes shimmered with the crimson hue of blood.

Long silver hair cascaded down her back, partially hidden beneath a hood attached to her dress.

Large pink and purple striped ribbons decorated her hair like something from a noble's portrait.

Everything about her appearance was elegant, refined—more suited to a royal estate or ballroom than the middle of a forest. But to Tsaindoruks's eyes, there was nothing fragile or helpless about her.

That blood-red aura shot skyward, radiating a clear and undeniable sense of evil. And in one hand, the girl gripped a massive weapon—one that clashed bizarrely with her delicate appearance.

"Hmph... now that's unusual."

"Hoo..."

A few of the high priests murmured in awe.

The weapon she held was bizarre—less like a spear and more like a conical mass of jagged edges.

From its violent, spike-studded blade extended ornate rings and a round purple core, as if more ornament than armament.

A thick grip encased her hand, and on the spear's opposite end, heavy cables snaked from it, vanishing beneath the ribbons and into her dress.

It was magnificent, yet impractical—or so it seemed.

Despite that, several priests gasped softly at its presence, though something about it unsettled Tsaindoruks. He let the recording play on.

—Who are you?

—Where do you come from?

—What are you?

—Do you refuse to speak? Or do you not understand me?

—Say anything. Anything at all.

Tsaindoruks called out to the girl.

But the girl said nothing.

Her eyes—those blood-red eyes—stared directly at him, yet there was no recognition in them. No feeling. No will. No thought. It was as if she was observing something meaningless. A doll.

Eventually, he realized there was no point in asking. He began to slowly approach.

He had intended to examine her more closely—though the aura was undoubtedly sinister, he did not plan to strike first.

But the moment he stepped closer, the girl moved.

With zero hesitation, she drove the massive spear into his shoulder.

The weapon—despite its extravagant design—pierced through the numerous magical wards embedded in his armor, bypassing defenses that should have held against even divine attacks.

Staggered by the blow, Tsaindoruks shot into the sky, summoning his weapons. As the girl soared after him, brandishing the monstrous lance, he retaliated—unleashing a barrage of magical weapons that slammed her into the earth.

What followed was several minutes of brutal combat, devastating the entire area.

The girl batted away his attacks with unnatural ease, each swing of her lance slicing through the enchanted weapons that Tsaindoruks prided himself on. Even his armor was left scarred by her strikes.

The force of the battle razed the forest floor. His scattered weapons returned from all directions, forming a relentless storm of steel, while Tsaindoruks himself launched a direct assault—finally driving a blade into her stomach.

The injury was deep. Yet in less than a few seconds, the wound sealed as if it had never been.

It wasn't healing magic.

It was regeneration—innate and terrifying.

A regenerative ability far surpassing even trolls. And to his horror, he saw her spilled blood flow backward, as if reversing time, slipping back into her body.

It was then that Tsaindoruks realized the truth.

A vampire.

He continued his assault a while longer, but quickly grasped the futility of fighting in his armor form. If the battle continued, he risked losing the entire suit.

Thankfully, when he created some distance, the girl did not pursue. She simply returned to her original spot, lowered her gaze as before, and stood motionless—lost in that same vacant trance.

He considered observing longer, but his armor was already damaged. Worse, if she had an ally nearby—or if someone had created her—he didn't want to push his luck.

He decided to retreat. If the armor were to be destroyed or captured by another, the consequences could be catastrophic.

And so, Tsaindoruks pulled his consciousness back and recalled the armor to his current location.

The vision ended with the final moment of Tsaindoruks's gaze pulling away from the girl, gradually fading into the distance. As the projection ceased, the magic crystal lost its light and fell silent. Tsaindoruks retrieved it, then looked around the room.

"This concludes my report… Judging by your faces, I take it you all have questions."

"....."

It was obvious. Their expressions brimmed with unspoken emotion—curiosity, unease, hostility, suspicion… a swirling mess of feelings.

Yet no one dared to break the silence and speak first, wary of when or who should open the floodgate of questions.

And then—

"Guess that means it's my turn now, huh?"

Monkyspanner suddenly sprang to his feet.

"…What? Why are you all looking at me like that?"

He scratched his head, bewildered by the wave of hostile glares suddenly focused on him. Drake sighed and pressed a hand to his forehead.

This tactless idiot… Everyone's holding back, waiting for the right moment to ask something serious, and now he just bursts in and smashes the whole mood to pieces…

Still, Monkyspanner wasn't entirely without cause.

"What's your problem? I've got something to say too, okay? And it's actually related to that video Chaa just showed us—so how about you all just watch and quit glaring?"

He met their hostile stares with his usual irreverent indifference, then pulled a magic crystal from his pocket and slid it across the round table, just like Tsaindoruks had done earlier.

Then, from the bag slung at his side, he pulled out a thick stack of documents and tossed them into the air.

The papers looked carelessly thrown, but mid-air they split into fifteen clean sets—each one fluttering neatly into place before every participant.

"…What's this supposed to be?"

"Just read it first," Monkyspanner said smugly, "I'll take questions after."

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