Chapter 202

Chapter 202
## Chapter 202

The Second Continental Summit (3)

The frosty tension filling the massive assembly hall slowly began to dissipate once the representatives of the Talia Kingdom took their places in a corner and a bit of time passed.

Whisper, whisper—

“Ahem, well…”

“Ah— that makes sense.”

The attendees began to converse in low tones once more.

Everyone present was fully aware of the vampires’—those formidable creatures’—incredibly sharp senses, so they refrained from discussing them openly. However, they were unable to stop themselves from casting frequent glances toward that specific corner.

‘Heinz Hybrid the Second, the current sovereign of the Talia Kingdom. A vampire originating from the Brokoslack Clan who has attained the rank of Sacred Blood.’

Because the attendees were all high-ranking envoys representing their respective nations, they had received exhaustive intelligence beforehand.

Naturally, they were completely informed about the faction of vampires that had seized control of a kingdom, as well as the identity of their commander, Heinz.

Of course, having prior information did little to diminish the intense dread that initially filled the room.

When it came down to it, vampires were apex predators whose very existence depended on consuming the lifeblood of others.

It was an entirely instinctive response—a mixture of primal terror and the deeply unsettling pressure they naturally radiated.

Furthermore…

Swoosh—

“Oh? Viscount Pristine?”

“Pardon my intrusion for a moment, Your Highness.”

Isea stepped forward without a sound and took up a position directly behind Riley, who stood at the center of the gathering.

Riley directed a bewildered look toward her, but Isea paid no attention and held her ground.

She remained deeply suspicious of the vampires… or to be completely precise, Heinz the Second.

She was prepared to strike instantly if any threat materialized.

‘…His power is immense. Do I even possess the capability to intercept a sudden strike? Given that the cathedral’s barrier encompasses this area, it might be feasible. If I can merely delay him long enough, the Church will step in, so I must prepare to…’

If the visitors possessed even a shred of prudence, they wouldn’t dare instigate a conflict within the absolute center of the Church, but a practitioner of magic always planned for the worst-case scenario.

After all, Riley had been snatched away by the Immortal King despite standing right beside her previously.

It was only reasonable to exercise extreme vigilance.

‘………!’

Right at that instant, Heinz, who had been resting passively, directed a brief glance in her direction.

It was a mere passing look, seemingly devoid of any malice, but during that brief microsecond, countless magical formulations materialized and dissolved inside Isea’s mind.

‘…Tsk, he is deliberately attempting to intimidate me.’

Once his eyes shifted away,

She exhaled a long breath, though she refused to lower her guard.

Her instincts, which had been sharpened to a nearly divine degree, screamed at her to maintain absolute alertness without a single moment of relaxation.

She was far from the only individual experiencing this profound unease.

“Hehehe—. He is certainly an impressive specimen.”

The High Shaman of Calcos, Morna, remarked, flanked by her subordinate—the very same one who had previously been staring into space.

“Hmm… This proves quite fascinating. What an extraordinary aura. Just as I anticipated.”

The leader of the Magic Tower Alliance murmured, unable to mask his immense fascination regarding the emergence of a Sacred Blood, a legendary entity described only in ancient chronicles.

“This landmass is teeming with incredibly powerful adversaries. You have endured quite an ordeal, Lord Rapori.”

“Hahaha… My duties have merely involved communicating with the Church. My true concerns lie with Lydia, who will be confronting the genuine hardships ahead.”

These words came from the High Elves of the Elven Kingdom, who had journeyed across from the Enamel Continent.

“Hmph! This makes me highly uncomfortable. Are we absolutely certain this is wise?”

And the beastman envoy from Wild Land, Lionel…

Every single high-tier powerhouse acting as a bodyguard for the various delegations stood on absolute alert, tracking the vampires’ movements as though monitoring a live explosive.

Meanwhile, Heinz, who stood as the focal point of all this scrutiny…

‘I anticipated a reaction, but this surpasses my calculations. Perhaps I should have suppressed my aura a bit more?’

He rubbed his jaw with a contemplative look, wondering if he had overplayed his hand.

He had intentionally projected his power to claim psychological dominance, but it appeared the effect was overly potent.

When he had cast his eyes over to Isea, her cognitive faculties had accelerated to a frantic degree, instantly assembling and discarding all manner of spell arrays.

She appeared legitimately terrified.

“Tsk, they are goggling at us as though we are some sort of carnival exhibit. How incredibly uncouth.”

“It is only natural. It is completely without precedent for our kind to walk openly and attend an assembly within the holy territory. Particularly when our High Lord is a mythical Sacred Blood.”

“While that may be true…”

Freesia Brokoslack, who had joined the delegation as a guard to demonstrate their military might, clicked her tongue in irritation. Mulo, who was also present in a supporting role, attempted to soothe her frustration.

Even with Heinz the Second holding the status of a Sacred Blood, they still required a handful of potent vampires—specifically those at the True Blood echelon—to adequately demonstrate their authority.

Mulo had been included due to his high utility as an intelligence operative, while Freesia, a frontline combatant, had found herself idle after recently crushing a treasonous conspiracy, meaning she was brought along simply to keep her occupied.

‘I despise watching my subordinates idle about while I am buried in work. Besides, Freesia formerly lived the life of a noblewoman, so she is well-acquainted with high-society functions.’

The members of the Brokoslack clan actually felt quite pleased, assuming he was showing preferential treatment to those from their lineage, the original architects of Hybrid.

Still, as long as the outcome left everyone content, it was a positive development, was it not?

Naturally, because they were acting on behalf of a sovereign state, there were also individuals present to manage the actual diplomatic business.

“Ah, the representatives of the Church are arriving. It appears the session is on the verge of commencing. Allow me to guide you to the primary table, High Lord. Shall we proceed?”

Spoke Duke Bright, who had previously served as a representative during the inaugural summit.

Having transitioned into a Pureblood vampire, he was now participating in this second summit as the director of strategic operations.

“Hmm, let us proceed.”

The moment Heinz shifted into motion,

The envoys from the various nations, who had been lingering in fragmented clusters, began converging toward the center of the hall.

As they took their places, cautious and judgmental looks were constantly traded, but…

Fortunately, every individual managed to occupy their designated seats without any major altercations breaking out.

A brief moment later,

“I express my gratitude to all of you for gathering here today, regardless of your demanding obligations.”

The instant Liesta, Heinrich, and Cardinal Cordelia stepped into the council room and took their places at the circular table,

“With that, I declare the second Continental Summit officially open.”

The brief introductory words from Cardinal Cordelia signaled the formal commencement of the assembly.

—

Throughout the duration of the proceedings, Heinz maintained absolute silence, keeping his arms folded across his chest.

There was simply no role for him to play just yet.

The course of the meeting mirrored the events of the inaugural summit.

Ultimately, the primary subject centered on how they might salvage the world from this catastrophe by merging their military assets.

The initial item on the agenda involved the formal activation of the Continental Allied Force, a concept that had been deliberated upon during their prior gathering. They additionally finalized a mechanism for instantaneous troop relocation to any hot zone through synchronized efforts between the Church and the various Magic Towers.

The designated target for their premier military intervention was the Rohan Duchy, which was currently clinging to survival by a thread within its capital city.

Their forces had been faltering significantly, and the sudden manifestation of a White Giant had dealt them a devastating blow. They had reached a threshold where total collapse was inevitable without immediate external reinforcement.

“…I offer my deepest thanks for your intervention.”

Duke Dennis Rohan, his features completely drained of color, managed to form a strained smile as he offered a profound bow of gratitude.

They had abandoned all expectations of liberating their sovereign lands, meaning the cooperative army’s objective was restricted to ensuring the survivors of Rohan could safely migrate into the Empire…

Yet he possessed no alternative options.

The subsequent matter brought before the council was the phenomenon known as the ‘White Giant’.

“That colossal entity materialized within our Republic as well. We managed to organize a swift counteroffensive and neutralize it, but the cost in soldiers and civilian lives was devastating.”

The initial testimony regarding the matter was brought forward by Kayla McClair, the Vice President of the Zepia Republic.

She appeared visibly worn down by the recent catastrophe, rubbing her forehead while releasing a exhausted breath.

“I have been informed that the Saint possesses the visionary power to predict the targeted locations of the Immortal King’s strikes. Is there any mechanism by which we can ascertain ahead of time when a giant will manifest? If we could merely obtain that data, we could drastically minimize future loss of life.”

“…I must confess with great humility that my visionary gifts remain incomplete. I am incapable of observing every event. The colossi that breach our world from the abyss exist entirely beyond the scope of my visions.”

“Understood… I ask that you forgive my lack of consideration, Saint. Predicting such anomalies must be an extraordinary burden. I regret burdening you with my grievances.”

Kayla offered her regrets with a subtle nod, leaving Heinrich locked in deep contemplation as he returned the gesture.

‘If we possessed the means to identify the precise moment and coordinate of a giant’s arrival, the hero party could mobilize instantaneously to neutralize it.’

There were severe constraints on how rapidly the hero party could deploy to crises that fell outside his ‘visionary’ window.

By the time an emergency was communicated to the Church, passed along to Heinrich, and Isea finished calculating the spatial matrices required for long-range teleportation…

‘With a stroke of fortune, we might manage to show up before total destruction occurs, but relying on the defensive forces of individual nations yields far more consistent results than relying on luck.’

It was an incredibly aggravating reality for him… or to put it more accurately, for Harley.

If they could harvest the White Giant directly by their own hands, they could secure its valuable core…

“A solution exists.”

Right at that moment,

A sudden declaration broke through his internal monologue.

“We have successfully formulated a detection strategy following an extensive series of trials and adjustments. It does not operate on prophetic vision. However, at the exact microsecond a colossus utilizes the abyss to transition into our realm…”

The speaker was Saintess Liesta, who occupied the seat directly beside him.

“I am capable of sensing that exact transition.”

The moment she finished speaking, a brilliant radiance flickered within her golden eyes.

A sudden memory clicked into place for Heinrich.

‘Now that I think about it, Liesta does command that specific attribute.’

An immensely vast, macro-scale divine favor designed specifically to track down malevolent forces.

Hans had been forced to employ extreme measures simply to evade its tracking.

He had ultimately achieved near-flawless stealth techniques, which he was currently utilizing with great success back on Earth…

‘But wasn’t it established that her tracking range had been severely compromised due to the corruption permeating the globe?’

Furthermore, the colossus possessed an inherent immunity to divine energy, meaning tracking it would be no simple feat.

It appeared she had been working tirelessly behind the scenes.

“Oh! Truly, we would expect nothing less from the Saintess!”

“If such detection is feasible, we can undoubtedly mitigate the scale of destruction.”

“In that scenario, the most efficient strategy for neutralizing the colossus would involve…”

While the gathered nobility celebrated the encouraging breakthrough, Heinrich pursued his earlier line of reasoning.

‘If this is factual, we can pinpoint the exact moment and destination of the giant’s arrival.’

They would possess the capability to identify the precise spatial coordinates.

However, a singular hurdle remained that required their immediate attention.

Heinrich directed his attention toward Liesta, and she appeared to share his exact chain of thought, offering a soft smile as their eyes locked.

“Therefore, Saint? Would you permit me to join your deployment?”

The Saintess composedly volunteered to place herself directly in harm’s way to minimize the body count.

For the Saintess to align herself with the mobilization forces commanded by the Saint represented an undeniable exhibition of the Church’s total commitment.

Yet, in stark contrast to the inspired reactions of the assembly, Heinrich’s immediate reaction was entirely irreverent.

‘…She must have absolutely despised managing paperwork.’

Naturally, that couldn’t possibly be her sole motivation.

…Though it was highly probable that it formed a significant part of it.