After setting themselves up in the largest meeting room in the palace, the church along with the class 4's from every Empire began the second meeting of the day.
"Pope, Dream had spoken to us earlier about how you and your forces wish to begin fighting the demons."
The Emperor started the meeting wanting to know about what their stance was.
"That is the case, Emperor. The demons are a scourge, an infection on this world. At all costs, they must be removed and destroyed. The church is prepared to fight with everything we have to stop their spread."
"Then I must ask, why only now has the church decided to take action?"
The other class 4's nodded, also wondering about this. The demons have been attacking for a few months, and they even had a grand meeting. If the church had an army and was ready to use it, then why would they wait so long?
"Our preparations have taken a long time. For that, I apologize. But it was definitely necessary."
"Preparations?"
"We had to organize our forces not only on this continent, but on the animal continent as well. In addition, we had to call upon the power of heaven to assist us. Through the power that we have been bestowed, we will be able to thoroughly purge the demons."
"What is this power that you have been bestowed?"
"The power of the Lord. Holy power. A power that is in direct opposition to the hellish power of the demons. You may not know, but the longer the demons reside on this world and the farther they expand, the more their power spreads and infects the world. Should this power spread far enough, they will be able to increase their power until their king ascends to become a class 5. And went that happens, we will be truly doomed."
"Ascension... If it truly is as you say, then we really do need to hurry."
"Of course. That's one of the reasons we sought to recruit Dream. He has the ability to provide the most efficient logistics this world has ever seen. Especially these bracelets. I did a test with one of the Cardinals and confirmed that it can communicate with other bracelets from any distance. Such a tool will be invaluable if we are to launch a large scale war against the demons. Though, it depends on how many he can make."
"Don't worry about the bracelets, Pope. I've already begun construction on more so as to equip as many people as possible. Within the next week, I should have enough to equip a few million."
"A few million? That seems like a lot."
"It is. It's going to take a huge amount of materials. Luckily I recently bolstered my mining teams, so that won't be a problem. The problem I foresee is distributing these bracelets out. I don't know who to give them to, so I'll need the help of everyone here to hand them out."
"If you're capable of getting them to us, then distribution won't be a problem. Will you need more resources to keep building?"
"No, though I'll never mind a bit of assistance. Especially since I'll need to build some more ships after the bracelets. Those will take many times more materials."
"Then allow us to help you. We can allot a portion of our resources to be sent to you."
"The alliance can also provide more resources as we did today."
"Alright. Thanks for the help."
"Of course. Now, since we're about on the same page, Emperor, what are your plans for battle?"
The Pope faced the Emperor. Since they had established that they were allies and that they would be fighting the demons, they needed to be clear on battle plans and cooperation.
"We don't have any immediate plans. Right now we're focusing on recovering from our most recent battle. By the way, I heard that one of the reasons for you to ally with Dream was so he could lead your armies. Is that true?"
"It is. And we had wanted to discuss this with Dream more, so now seems like the perfect time. Dream. One of my Cardinals told me that you accepted the arrangement."
"I did."
" Then I thank you. Now, we'll be able to go over it more in the future, but we should be more clear on what you will be doing with us. First, militarily, we wanted you to be our guide. Your intelligence gathering capabilities are better than even the Empires, so knowing the whole situation as in depth as you, you are naturally the best for the job of giving us a general direction. And as for smaller details, that would require cooperation with our generals."
"Alright. I can do that."
"As for the other responsibilities, well, you're already taking care of one. Communication. We were actually planning to ask you to build more of those bracelets so as to create a larger, more comprehensive network. But you're already doing that. For this, as I said before, we will allocate resources to cover costs. You can just send us a list of the resources you used."
"Alright."
"Other than that, everything else will come during the war. Your expertise in building things will come in handy when we need to build a base as we push back against the demons. Transportation will allow for many operations to be carried out in a short time. And then there are your soldiers who are truly a force to be reckoned with."
"Now, Pope, this seems like a lot to be asking of Dream. Just the fact that he is equipping millions with these communication bracelets is insane. But now you're asking him to handle the logistics of your armies as well as provide an army of his own."
"Ah, rest assured, Dream will get plenty of remuneration from us, as I'm sure he will get from your alliance as well. Not only will he attain a great deal of power, but he will get what he has wanted. The destruction of the demons."
"I'm also okay with this arrangement, Emperor. Profits can wait until after the war. If I need to collect and dump more resources into the war effort, then I will. I have more than enough infrastructure to do so."
"...If you say so."
The Emperor shrugged, not really understanding why Dream would put so much in without reward.
"Emperor, since we need to cooperate and we are already giving Dream a large amount of military control, will you do the same? It will be much easier to organize our forces if it is done under one person."
"Doing that shouldn't be much of a problem, although I can imagine there are many people who would wish to have the generals cooperate. Putting such a huge responsibility on one person isn't wise, even when disregarding the amount of power being handed off. We can't expect him to control millions of soldiers every hour of the day."
"Of course not. But he won't have to. While we are giving him directional control, as I said, specifics come down to the generals who know their troops best. I know Dream can point us in the right direction as he can see everything the demons are doing. If we want to win this war against an enemy that outnumbers us, we need intelligence and tactics. Dream can provide us with the first, and generals handle the second."
"...I understand. If it's like that, then I doubt there will be many problems."
"Great. Now, more details can be talked about when we have more in our presence. Emperor, you said you all are recovering from a battle. Are there any plans for afterward?"
"Yes. After we recover we'll be heading to the other Empires to finalize this declaration of war. Once we have all the Empires on the same page, we'll be able to move forward and begin planning our attacks."
"I see... A proposal. How about you take us with you as you go around to these Empires? We would like to spread the news of our emergence, and we can also help you in making sure the Empires join in your war effort. Plus it will make coordination easier as we will need to meet with everyone."
"I see no problem with that. We had planned to leave tomorrow. And if Dream is going with us, then we'll be able to use his ships., making travel faster."
"I can go along."
"Good. Pope?"
"We have no problem leaving tomorrow."
"Then that's what we'll do. Until then, we can accommodate you all here at the palace."
"Thank you. Oh, and if they aren't busy, I have some generals and officers here that can meet with your own. They can have their own meetings."
"I don't believe they are. I'll arrange a room for them."
"Ok. And one more thing. One of my Cardinals is a healer. I'm sure he will be of great assistance to those of you who are injured."
"He will be. I thank him in advance."
"Of course."
Settling their matters, everyone began to disperse.
After walking out of the hall, Dream found Riddick and boarded a ship. The girls were at home, and they were both tired.
.........
......
"Honey, I'm home!"
With a shout, Dream walked into the cabin with Riddick. The girls, who had been in the living room watching a movie, turned to them and smiled.
"Hey. How'd the battle go?" (Luna)
"Not as well as we'd hoped. We lost 6 class 4's and one is in a coma." (Dream)
"Oh. I'm sorry. Hopefully we'll be able t- mmph."
Before she could finish her sentence, Dream came over and sealed her mouth. When they separated after a bit, Iris looked at him weirdly.
"What's with you?"
"What, you want some too?"
"No I jus- mmph!"
After giving her some sugar as well, Dream sat between them and brought them close.
"Love you two."
"We love you too?"
"A little unsure there, but I'll take it."
"Well you're...*sigh* Nevermind."
Sighing tiredly, Iris just laid her head on his shoulder. Luna looked at him and smiled, combing his silky hair with her fingers.
"By the way, Old Man, how's the suit working for you?"
Dream suddenly thought of something and turned to Riddick, who had put himself next to Selene.
"Great, actually. The ability to cast those spells instantly is very helpful. Plus it has amazing protective abilities. I was hit more times than I could count during that battle, but this armor protected me and never broke."
"Of course. That thing is basically a liquid. While it can go rigid to absorb an attack, deformation can be repaired instantly."
"Mm. Now, I know it was talked about in the meeting, but how the hell did you come to get involved with the church?"
"No idea. I ran into them while I was at the Mountain picking up the payment. Then they dropped the whole wartime advisor thing on me. Now I've got all my constructo-bots building bracelets by the hundred. My stockpiles are being eaten away at."
"That's another thing. Are you seriously going to put so much effort into helping them? The church hasn't even given you anything and you're doing everything for them. And soon the Empires are going to leech off of you too. Why are you so okay with that?"
"Because it's the only way that things will finally get moving. At least faster than they have been. I mean, look at what's happening tomorrow. We're going to go around to the Empires and pull all the other class 4's on board with us. That wouldn't be happening tomorrow if not for me providing transport for everyone."
"I understand that."
"And there's also the organization of forces. With my bracelets, we'll be able to mobilize anyone from anywhere. That combined with my ships means that it won't take weeks for troops to move. Hell, even just the ability for everyone to communicate over long distances is vital. It allows for the fast transfer of orders."
"..."
"Like I said during the grand meeting. I'm fine with getting used if it means people are doing something about the demons. And now that the Mercenary Empire was attacked, at least I'm not the only one thinking what I am. Everyone will soon be fighting a war. It's the best outcome, and now we have another ally with a powerful force."
"Indeed. The church, at least from what I saw there, was extremely powerful. There were 20 Cardinals, plus the Pope. All of them were class 4's. That makes the church more powerful than all the Empires individually, especially now that we lost some of our own. Not to mention if those Cardinals weren't the only ones."
"Plus there's that weird power that they've been given. Holy mana. When I shook hands with a cardinal, I was able to pick up on it. It's a different kind of energy. Unfortunately I can't study it as that would require me to steal mana from a Cardinal."
"Right. *sigh* Will I need to go with you tomorrow, Boy? I'm tired from the battle."
"Not really. Oh, I should probably let Selene know about a future possibility."
"What is it?" (Selene)
"The church has forces on the animal continent. Do you know about them?"
"I do. The church has a large establishment in the United Empire and Dwarven Empires."
"Well, since I'm going to be their logistics coordinator and wartime advisor or whatever, I'm going to need to head over there and make contact with them. The Pope wishes to coordinate the war on all fronts. This means I'll have to gain control over the forces of those Empires. Or at least pull them onboard as allies. I'm assuming you know what that means."
"You'll be meeting the uppers of the Empires, including Raoul."
"Uh-huh. And as long as he's not an idiot, upon seeing my aircraft, he may connect some dots. Though he has no idea who I am personally, things may still get dangerous."
"Will I have to go with you, Boy?"
"God no. None of you will come with me. I'm just letting you know that the day will probably come. Besides, I can get through those meetings without showing him the ships and giving myself away. Worst case, I bring along Idona, Ciroc, and maybe the Pope and prepare some weapons. I should be fine."
"...We'll discuss that more when the day comes."
"Sure. Anyway, I just need to prepare for the coming days. I've got some things I want to do."
"Iris and I can come with you tomorrow."
"Okay. I can't guarantee it won't be boring, but at least we'll get to see a new city."
"Where?"
"The Sword School. We haven't been there yet, and I think it's gonna be the first stop tomorrow. I'm interested to see the place."
"Oh, so am I."
"Do you think I'll be able to fight some people there?" (Iris)
"Maybe. Just don't go attacking anyone randomly."
"No promises. Especially if they piss me off."
"Just stay on my shoulders like you always do. Then you won't get those lecherous stares"
"Hmph. Fine."
"Mm. Oh, and how did you like fighting those demons?"
"It was great! So much fun. Although we didn't kill several hundred thousand like your bots, Luna and I still killed a lot. I was able to fill my stomach."
"Good. Glad I was able to make up for last time."
"Yes, thank you."
"Hehe, now gimme those tails."
Smiling, Dream grabbed Iris's tails and started petting her. He would never get tired of that soft, cuddly fur.
After setting themselves up in the largest meeting room in the palace, the church along with the class 4's from every Empire began the second meeting of the day.
"Pope, Dream had spoken to us earlier about how you and your forces wish to begin fighting the demons."
The Emperor started the meeting wanting to know about what their stance was.
"That is the case, Emperor. The demons are a scourge, an infection on this world. At all costs, they must be removed and destroyed. The church is prepared to fight with everything we have to stop their spread."
"Then I must ask, why only now has the church decided to take action?"
The other class 4's nodded, also wondering about this. The demons have been attacking for a few months, and they even had a grand meeting. If the church had an army and was ready to use it, then why would they wait so long?
"Our preparations have taken a long time. For that, I apologize. But it was definitely necessary."
"Preparations?"
"We had to organize our forces not only on this continent, but on the animal continent as well. In addition, we had to call upon the power of heaven to assist us. Through the power that we have been bestowed, we will be able to thoroughly purge the demons."
"What is this power that you have been bestowed?"
"The power of the Lord. Holy power. A power that is in direct opposition to the hellish power of the demons. You may not know, but the longer the demons reside on this world and the farther they expand, the more their power spreads and infects the world. Should this power spread far enough, they will be able to increase their power until their king ascends to become a class 5. And went that happens, we will be truly doomed."
"Ascension... If it truly is as you say, then we really do need to hurry."
"Of course. That's one of the reasons we sought to recruit Dream. He has the ability to provide the most efficient logistics this world has ever seen. Especially these bracelets. I did a test with one of the Cardinals and confirmed that it can communicate with other bracelets from any distance. Such a tool will be invaluable if we are to launch a large scale war against the demons. Though, it depends on how many he can make."
"Don't worry about the bracelets, Pope. I've already begun construction on more so as to equip as many people as possible. Within the next week, I should have enough to equip a few million."
"A few million? That seems like a lot."
"It is. It's going to take a huge amount of materials. Luckily I recently bolstered my mining teams, so that won't be a problem. The problem I foresee is distributing these bracelets out. I don't know who to give them to, so I'll need the help of everyone here to hand them out."
"If you're capable of getting them to us, then distribution won't be a problem. Will you need more resources to keep building?"
"No, though I'll never mind a bit of assistance. Especially since I'll need to build some more ships after the bracelets. Those will take many times more materials."
"Then allow us to help you. We can allot a portion of our resources to be sent to you."
"The alliance can also provide more resources as we did today."
"Alright. Thanks for the help."
"Of course. Now, since we're about on the same page, Emperor, what are your plans for battle?"
The Pope faced the Emperor. Since they had established that they were allies and that they would be fighting the demons, they needed to be clear on battle plans and cooperation.
"We don't have any immediate plans. Right now we're focusing on recovering from our most recent battle. By the way, I heard that one of the reasons for you to ally with Dream was so he could lead your armies. Is that true?"
"It is. And we had wanted to discuss this with Dream more, so now seems like the perfect time. Dream. One of my Cardinals told me that you accepted the arrangement."
"I did."
" Then I thank you. Now, we'll be able to go over it more in the future, but we should be more clear on what you will be doing with us. First, militarily, we wanted you to be our guide. Your intelligence gathering capabilities are better than even the Empires, so knowing the whole situation as in depth as you, you are naturally the best for the job of giving us a general direction. And as for smaller details, that would require cooperation with our generals."
"Alright. I can do that."
"As for the other responsibilities, well, you're already taking care of one. Communication. We were actually planning to ask you to build more of those bracelets so as to create a larger, more comprehensive network. But you're already doing that. For this, as I said before, we will allocate resources to cover costs. You can just send us a list of the resources you used."
"Alright."
"Other than that, everything else will come during the war. Your expertise in building things will come in handy when we need to build a base as we push back against the demons. Transportation will allow for many operations to be carried out in a short time. And then there are your soldiers who are truly a force to be reckoned with."
"Now, Pope, this seems like a lot to be asking of Dream. Just the fact that he is equipping millions with these communication bracelets is insane. But now you're asking him to handle the logistics of your armies as well as provide an army of his own."
"Ah, rest assured, Dream will get plenty of remuneration from us, as I'm sure he will get from your alliance as well. Not only will he attain a great deal of power, but he will get what he has wanted. The destruction of the demons."
"I'm also okay with this arrangement, Emperor. Profits can wait until after the war. If I need to collect and dump more resources into the war effort, then I will. I have more than enough infrastructure to do so."
"...If you say so."
The Emperor shrugged, not really understanding why Dream would put so much in without reward.
"Emperor, since we need to cooperate and we are already giving Dream a large amount of military control, will you do the same? It will be much easier to organize our forces if it is done under one person."
"Doing that shouldn't be much of a problem, although I can imagine there are many people who would wish to have the generals cooperate. Putting such a huge responsibility on one person isn't wise, even when disregarding the amount of power being handed off. We can't expect him to control millions of soldiers every hour of the day."
"Of course not. But he won't have to. While we are giving him directional control, as I said, specifics come down to the generals who know their troops best. I know Dream can point us in the right direction as he can see everything the demons are doing. If we want to win this war against an enemy that outnumbers us, we need intelligence and tactics. Dream can provide us with the first, and generals handle the second."
"...I understand. If it's like that, then I doubt there will be many problems."
"Great. Now, more details can be talked about when we have more in our presence. Emperor, you said you all are recovering from a battle. Are there any plans for afterward?"
"Yes. After we recover we'll be heading to the other Empires to finalize this declaration of war. Once we have all the Empires on the same page, we'll be able to move forward and begin planning our attacks."
"I see... A proposal. How about you take us with you as you go around to these Empires? We would like to spread the news of our emergence, and we can also help you in making sure the Empires join in your war effort. Plus it will make coordination easier as we will need to meet with everyone."
"I see no problem with that. We had planned to leave tomorrow. And if Dream is going with us, then we'll be able to use his ships., making travel faster."
"I can go along."
"Good. Pope?"
"We have no problem leaving tomorrow."
"Then that's what we'll do. Until then, we can accommodate you all here at the palace."
"Thank you. Oh, and if they aren't busy, I have some generals and officers here that can meet with your own. They can have their own meetings."
"I don't believe they are. I'll arrange a room for them."
"Ok. And one more thing. One of my Cardinals is a healer. I'm sure he will be of great assistance to those of you who are injured."
"He will be. I thank him in advance."
"Of course."
Settling their matters, everyone began to disperse.
After walking out of the hall, Dream found Riddick and boarded a ship. The girls were at home, and they were both tired.
.........
......
"Honey, I'm home!"
With a shout, Dream walked into the cabin with Riddick. The girls, who had been in the living room watching a movie, turned to them and smiled.
"Hey. How'd the battle go?" (Luna)
"Not as well as we'd hoped. We lost 6 class 4's and one is in a coma." (Dream)
"Oh. I'm sorry. Hopefully we'll be able t- mmph."
Before she could finish her sentence, Dream came over and sealed her mouth. When they separated after a bit, Iris looked at him weirdly.
"What's with you?"
"What, you want some too?"
"No I jus- mmph!"
After giving her some sugar as well, Dream sat between them and brought them close.
"Love you two."
"We love you too?"
"A little unsure there, but I'll take it."
"Well you're...*sigh* Nevermind."
Sighing tiredly, Iris just laid her head on his shoulder. Luna looked at him and smiled, combing his silky hair with her fingers.
"By the way, Old Man, how's the suit working for you?"
Dream suddenly thought of something and turned to Riddick, who had put himself next to Selene.
"Great, actually. The ability to cast those spells instantly is very helpful. Plus it has amazing protective abilities. I was hit more times than I could count during that battle, but this armor protected me and never broke."
"Of course. That thing is basically a liquid. While it can go rigid to absorb an attack, deformation can be repaired instantly."
"Mm. Now, I know it was talked about in the meeting, but how the hell did you come to get involved with the church?"
"No idea. I ran into them while I was at the Mountain picking up the payment. Then they dropped the whole wartime advisor thing on me. Now I've got all my constructo-bots building bracelets by the hundred. My stockpiles are being eaten away at."
"That's another thing. Are you seriously going to put so much effort into helping them? The church hasn't even given you anything and you're doing everything for them. And soon the Empires are going to leech off of you too. Why are you so okay with that?"
"Because it's the only way that things will finally get moving. At least faster than they have been. I mean, look at what's happening tomorrow. We're going to go around to the Empires and pull all the other class 4's on board with us. That wouldn't be happening tomorrow if not for me providing transport for everyone."
"I understand that."
"And there's also the organization of forces. With my bracelets, we'll be able to mobilize anyone from anywhere. That combined with my ships means that it won't take weeks for troops to move. Hell, even just the ability for everyone to communicate over long distances is vital. It allows for the fast transfer of orders."
"..."
"Like I said during the grand meeting. I'm fine with getting used if it means people are doing something about the demons. And now that the Mercenary Empire was attacked, at least I'm not the only one thinking what I am. Everyone will soon be fighting a war. It's the best outcome, and now we have another ally with a powerful force."
"Indeed. The church, at least from what I saw there, was extremely powerful. There were 20 Cardinals, plus the Pope. All of them were class 4's. That makes the church more powerful than all the Empires individually, especially now that we lost some of our own. Not to mention if those Cardinals weren't the only ones."
"Plus there's that weird power that they've been given. Holy mana. When I shook hands with a cardinal, I was able to pick up on it. It's a different kind of energy. Unfortunately I can't study it as that would require me to steal mana from a Cardinal."
"Right. *sigh* Will I need to go with you tomorrow, Boy? I'm tired from the battle."
"Not really. Oh, I should probably let Selene know about a future possibility."
"What is it?" (Selene)
"The church has forces on the animal continent. Do you know about them?"
"I do. The church has a large establishment in the United Empire and Dwarven Empires."
"Well, since I'm going to be their logistics coordinator and wartime advisor or whatever, I'm going to need to head over there and make contact with them. The Pope wishes to coordinate the war on all fronts. This means I'll have to gain control over the forces of those Empires. Or at least pull them onboard as allies. I'm assuming you know what that means."
"You'll be meeting the uppers of the Empires, including Raoul."
"Uh-huh. And as long as he's not an idiot, upon seeing my aircraft, he may connect some dots. Though he has no idea who I am personally, things may still get dangerous."
"Will I have to go with you, Boy?"
"God no. None of you will come with me. I'm just letting you know that the day will probably come. Besides, I can get through those meetings without showing him the ships and giving myself away. Worst case, I bring along Idona, Ciroc, and maybe the Pope and prepare some weapons. I should be fine."
"...We'll discuss that more when the day comes."
"Sure. Anyway, I just need to prepare for the coming days. I've got some things I want to do."
"Iris and I can come with you tomorrow."
"Okay. I can't guarantee it won't be boring, but at least we'll get to see a new city."
"Where?"
"The Sword School. We haven't been there yet, and I think it's gonna be the first stop tomorrow. I'm interested to see the place."
"Oh, so am I."
"Do you think I'll be able to fight some people there?" (Iris)
"Maybe. Just don't go attacking anyone randomly."
"No promises. Especially if they piss me off."
"Just stay on my shoulders like you always do. Then you won't get those lecherous stares"
"Hmph. Fine."
"Mm. Oh, and how did you like fighting those demons?"
"It was great! So much fun. Although we didn't kill several hundred thousand like your bots, Luna and I still killed a lot. I was able to fill my stomach."
"Good. Glad I was able to make up for last time."
"Yes, thank you."
"Hehe, now gimme those tails."
Smiling, Dream grabbed Iris's tails and started petting her. He would never get tired of that soft, cuddly fur.
