Chapter 200: Envoy/Messenger
"I see."
Standing to the side of the wooden table, the old Ancestor Dracontis gently placed his silver fork down beside his plate.
He wiped his mouth with a cloth, maintaining a warm, grandfatherly smile before looking up at the silent group.
"You are Ethen Algar, yes?" he asked, his voice calm, yet carrying a weight that demanded absolute attention.
As a high-ranking member of the Dragon Council, he was well aware of the sudden arrival of the so-called Messenger of Karth.
The military intelligence network had been buzzing with the news of a mortal surviving a divine encounter.
Unfortunately, due to the secretive nature of the military base, he had only learned that Ethen was staying in the Dracontis quarters a few hours ago.
He had come personally to verify the rumors surrounding this monstrous young talent.
The unannounced arrival of a Messenger of Karth was not something the Dragon Council could simply ignore or push aside.
Even among the many powerful, influential figures operating within the vast human territories, a Messenger held a highly special position.
They were the direct mouthpieces of the Almighty Gods, carrying absolute authority that bypassed normal military ranks entirely.
"Yes." Ethen nodded respectfully, keeping his posture perfectly straight under the old man’s piercing gaze.
Angels were still the top governing officials, even within the highly competitive hierarchy of the Bastion.
In fact, without a single exception, all recognized Angels were heavily integrated into the core leadership of the Bastion.
So obviously, the old man already knew every single detail about Ethen’s newly acquired divine status.
He also knew full well that Ethen was no ordinary Demi God who had simply stumbled into a lucky breakthrough.
"Talent really is talent," the Ancestor muttered quietly, his eyes glowing faintly as he assessed Ethen’s foundation.
He could see the immense, suppressed vitality radiating from the young man’s physical form.
His ancient eyes briefly moved toward the sizzling, grilled meat resting on the wooden table.
He could instantly recognize the terrifying, Godbeast-level aura leaking from the carefully cut portions.
But he didn’t bother asking Ethen exactly where or how he had managed to get his hands on it.
There was simply no need to pry into the dangerous secrets of a divine envoy.
The old Ancestor was experienced enough in the brutal politics of the Nether Realm to understand that some things were much better left unasked.
Instead of questioning the source, he simply picked up another piece of the grilled meat and took a slow, deliberate bite.
"This specific meat is incredibly hard to get. It is a rare treasure on any battlefield," the old man said calmly.
"If your hidden supplier has more, we of the Dragon Council will gladly buy it at five times the current market rate."
He spoke casually, but his voice was pitched loudly enough for absolutely everyone in the courtyard to hear his offer clearly.
The exact moment those heavy words left his mouth, the entire atmosphere around the dining table changed drastically.
Five times the established market price?
The surrounding family members and Dragon Knights held their breath in sheer disbelief.
This was a biological resource so difficult to securely obtain that the supreme Dragon Council was willing to pay five times the standard price for it.
The thought alone instantly made the cuts of meat sitting in front of them seem exponentially more valuable than before.
A strange, ringing sensation quickly spread through their ears as they stared down at their plates.
Psychologically, the rich taste of the meat suddenly became several times more succulent to their senses.
The exact same piece they had been casually eating moments ago suddenly seemed completely different and far more sacred.
Whatever ancient essence was hidden inside this meat was definitely special, capable of moving the absolute highest authorities.
Ethen immediately noticed the stunned, greedy reactions forming around him and smiled slightly.
"Ahh, I’ll certainly make some inquiries with my contacts," Ethen replied, his tone perfectly matching the diplomatic dance.
He already had a solid plan to cross over to the enemy’s side of Dragon Ridge using his newfound Envoy title.
The only actual obstacle stopping him from executing his plan was the truly enormous price required for even one kilogram of the Godbeast meat.
It was simply too expensive for him to acquire in the massive quantities he desperately needed for his cultivation.
With the wealthy Dragon Council actively offering to foot the bill, however, he had found the perfect solution to his funding problem in an instant.
He didn’t need to spend a single drop of his own limited resources to acquire the evolution materials.
The supreme council wanted the high-grade meat to strengthen their elite bloodline warriors.
He had the unique, untouchable diplomatic access required to quietly provide it to them.
Both sides would ultimately get exactly what they wanted out of the transaction without breaking any formal treaties.
"This arrangement is also very good. Let Liana know exactly how much capital you’ll need to secure the goods," the Ancestor added.
He looked over at Liana, giving the stunned matriarch an incredibly rare, approving nod.
"She will report the financial figures to me directly."
The underlying political meaning behind his casual words was immediately obvious to everyone listening in the yard.
From this point onward, Lady Liana would officially serve as the direct correspondent between Ethen and the Dragon Council regarding the trade.
This singular appointment alone instantly elevated her political status within the clan hierarchy by several times.
She now held an exclusive, direct line of communication to the supreme Ancestor of the entire clan.
"Thank you, Ancestor! I will not fail you!"
Liana completely lost her usual composed demeanor and couldn’t help herself.
She immediately fell into a deep, trembling bow, her heart pounding frantically against her ribs.
She had never expected to receive such an overwhelming honor in her entire lifetime.
The Dragon Council was arguably one of the most important governing bodies within all the human clans connected to dragon bloodlines.
And now, out of nowhere, her previously marginalized branch had been officially given a direct connection to its core leadership.
All of this unprecedented fortune was happening entirely because of Ethen.
That same young, supposedly ordinary man from the rural Bark Empire who had married into her family.
Things had changed far too quickly for her to fully process, but she was more than ready to seize the opportunity.
"You may rise, Liana."
The Dracontis Ancestor smiled warmly, adjusting his ancient Chinese robes before casually picking up his empty plate.
Then, completely without another word of warning or farewell, his physical figure suddenly disappeared from the courtyard.
There was absolutely no explosion of spiritual energy or spatial distortion.
No dramatic, sweeping movement to signal his departure from the physical plane.
One second he was standing there holding his plate.
The very next second, he was completely gone, leaving only the faint scent of ozone behind in the evening air.
The whole interaction had happened within an incredibly short period of time, lasting only a few tense minutes.
But its political and economic effects would definitely resound through the military base for much, much longer.
Liana remained standing completely frozen for a long moment, staring blankly at the empty patch of grass where the Ancestor had just disappeared.
She thoroughly understood the massive weight of what had just happened here today.
Her position within the sprawling, highly competitive family had been permanently and drastically changed.
And Ethen’s previously vague position within the military camp had become even more firmly, undeniably established.
The surrounding elite Dragon Knights also remained completely quiet, their hands gripping their weapons tightly.
They had just witnessed firsthand how casually an Angel could influence the absolute highest levels of the Dragon Council with a few simple words.
Ethen, however, ignored the lingering shock in the air and simply returned his full attention to the grilling meat.
He had already begun actively calculating exactly how much Godbeast flesh he could obtain from his captive.
Now that the Dragon Council was willingly stepping in to pay five times the price, his cultivation path was fully secured.
.....
"We’ve just received a formal diplomatic request from a newly appointed envoy to the supreme council."
Deep on the completely opposite side of the contested Dragon Ridge, a few high-ranking demi-human officers spoke quietly inside a dark tent.
They were thoroughly exhausted, rubbing their temples while reading through several thick layers of stamped military documents.
The sealed documents had safely passed through several intelligence hands and border checkpoints before finally reaching their forward command desk.
Despite the heavy encryption and formal seals, the core contents of the message were actually simple enough to understand.
A human Envoy had officially made a request to cross the border and visit their side of the contested territory.
The designated Envoy system was an absolutely essential, non-negotiable part of this endless border war.
It was the only fragile diplomatic thread that made sure Angels and God Almightys didn’t simply lose their tempers.
Without it, they would go around indiscriminately killing mortals and completely destroying every single military encampment in the entire region.
Without the strict Envoy system keeping communications open, the devastating battles between the strongest members of both opposing sides would escalate rapidly.
Those apocalyptic clashes would have long since turned the entire geographical area of Dragon Ridge into nothing more than a highly toxic, irradiated wasteland.
The ancient, blood-soaked land had only survived for so long because there were strict, universally agreed-upon limits placed on how the strongest beings could directly interfere.
If that delicate balance of power wasn’t the case, this ancient, resource-rich land would have long since been destroyed by the sheer collateral damage of both sides.
The veteran demi-human officers sitting in the command tent understood this grim reality much better than most newly recruited soldiers.
A brutal fight between ordinary, mortal soldiers could severely damage a small section of the battlefield trenches.
A serious, unrestrained fight between two Demi Gods could easily destroy entire military positions and collapse the canyon walls.
And if actual Angels or God Almightys were ever allowed to act upon their grudges without any diplomatic restriction, the consequences would be even worse.
Entire mountain ranges would be erased from the map in a matter of seconds.
"It’s the Ao Clan’s scheduled turn to receive the human envoys this cycle, no?" one of the Demi Humans asked, letting out a long, heavy sigh.
He was clearly exhausted by the entire tedious matter of handling diplomatic escorts during an active war.
He looked through the stamped approval documents one last time before carelessly pushing them aside on the wooden desk.
"Send the approval notice directly to their clan’s front office."
The other officers sitting around the dimly lit table nodded in quick, absolute agreement.
There was absolutely no reason for their specific division to become directly involved in this massive political headache.
The powerful Ao Clan was strictly responsible for receiving and hosting the Envoy this time around the diplomatic rotation.
And that meant they would forcefully have to handle absolutely everything that came with hosting a divine messenger from the enemy Bastion.
Humans were notoriously, extremely nosy whenever they were granted safe passage behind enemy lines.
If the human delegation were to come to their specific encampment right now, the officers would need to halt all operations.
They would have to painstakingly hide every single military secret they had until the Envoy finally finished their inspection and left.
Every newly discovered resource vein, every hidden troop movement operation, and every highly sensitive strategic matter would have to be heavily guarded and kept completely out of sight.
It was incredibly annoying to deal with human spies hiding behind diplomatic immunity.
It was troublesome and entirely disruptive to their actual, ongoing war efforts against the Bastion’s front lines.
But fortunately, it wasn’t their division’s duty to do all that tedious cover-up work this time around.
It was the sole, contractual obligation of the mighty Ao Clan to host them.
And for the stressed demi-human officers sitting around the command table, that was the only truly good thing about this sudden request.