The Table

"Why did you protect the Utheani?" Adrian asked. He had excused Eloise moments before—this was not a conversation for her ears.
"I found a reason to," Valhalla replied, his tone calm but firm. "Is there a problem?"
Adrian shook his head, though his fingers drifted to the spot between his brows, tapping lightly. If my men begin to act outside my plans, their reasons may one day clash with mine.
"…No. Not at all."
He let the silence linger before gesturing toward the door. "Wait outside. You and Zethar both."
The room grew quiet as their footsteps faded. Only then did Adrian allow his thoughts to unravel. He was beginning to see it clearly—how dependent he had become on those around him. Without Valhalla and Zethar's strength, without Ragnarök, he was vulnerable. Against foes beyond the Advanced—those who stood at the gates of Heaven—his own hands could do nothing.
Yet once, not long ago, he had stood unmatched in the realm of mages. His understanding of magic had been absolute, peerless. Even now, he had seen none who could grasp its nature as he could. But that brilliance was no longer enough.
He continued tapping his forehead. I need a way we could all meet and agree, a long-term one."Eureka!" He clicked his fingers, but then bit his lip. "I never imagined myself saying that."
The scene warped, replaced by different walls—cave-like walls—those of his pocket dimension.
Adrian opened his Peerless Eyes and gazed at the space. He began pulling threads and restructuring the entire realm.
A table, like that at the Stardom, appeared at the room's center. Orbs appeared over each seat.
<<You are changing my home like so. At least show me a pinch of respect... With your mana signature, it might just collapse on you.>>
The others have mana of similar but different frequencies. They'll be able to negate the world's notice, he replied, then stopped weaving.
He headed for the throne that ordinarily belonged to the count and sat. Then tapped on the table.
Swoosh.
Dazzling lights fell from the orbs onto a seat. They slowly took the forms of Adrian's summons (the permanent ones), Ragnarök and Shadow, though they looked ghost-like and see-through.
Then in the seat directly opposite Adrian, a special addition to the design of the Stardom table of the Lords: a small blue dragon came down.
"So that's what you look like." Adrian smirked as he watched Long's miniature form.
<<I am Xiao Long, his source of power.>> Long ignored Adrian and addressed the rest.
"I summoned you all here because there is disunity," Adrian began his explanation, noticing their perplexed looks. "Don't worry, it's only a split of your consciousnesses that are here. When you grow accustomed to it, like Valhalla and Zethar already have, you'll be able to operate here and there," he pointed out.
Noticing Adrian's gaze, Long smirked. <<Wait a sec, did you seriously expect to easily destroy an Anti-creature?>>
"You mean it's the same Anulian?" Valhalla frowned.
<<An Anulian is just a unit of a collective will. Once that unit is born, it can't be destroyed, at least not at your level.>> Long paused, letting his words settle before continuing. <<That Anulian became the queen of a hive. It shares its power with creatures—not completely devouring their "Is," but still maintaining its "Devour.">>
"So they are my natural enemies then." Adrian sighed.
<<You know what, I've regained a percent of all my memories. When you take over Uthean, I'll teach you a thing or two about the Alchemy of Life.>> He looked at Valhalla and Zethar. <<I mean, true life.>>
Adrian tapped his forehead. "Is there anything else?"
<<You remember asking the Crime Lords to blow up some power plants?>> Long said.
"I need to change plans then." He massaged his eyes and sighed. How could he forget—Anulians are drawn to energy.
"Master, you need to stop them!" Valhalla rose with a look of urgency.
"I can't." Adrian shook his head.
Valhalla looked at him pleadingly. "Please..."
"They've got a tier 5 Advanced mage u their sleeves." Tobey explained. He was mostly in charge of survey and information. When Adrian got a whiff of the Crime Lords possible betrayal, he sent Tobey to investigate " Your Annihilation Protocol is only enough to take out tier 4 advanceds with the aid of Zethar and the rest of us from Ragnarok."
The Tier 5 of the Advanced rank was were
TO BE CONTINUED.
...
I'm going back to school, preparing for a major exam, so updates may take a while, after which I would have 4 months of updating time..
Wait for "The Table 2"