Chapter 266: Too Slow, As Always

Only three days before Shin’s return.

81st Floor — Meeting Hall of the Eight Greats

Lilith and seven other people waited before a massive gate, still on the outskirts of the 80th floor. None of them were allowed to bring guards or anyone else with them.

The eight great clans recognized by the Imperial Princess were only allowed to send a single representative to the meeting.

With a single exception, in all clans the one chosen to this meeting, was the person who held the biggest prestige and power in the clan, be it their direct leader or their main counselor.

And still, they needed to wait until the guards opened the gates, in a subtle display and reminder that the imperial queen was well above them.

Lilith personally found the weight humiliating, and she could guess the others around her thought the same. But still, all she could do was smile, and remain in silence waiting.

Even hurting the imperial queen seemed impossible for her at that point.

Anyway, eventually the gigantic stone portal shimmered to life, a blue light emerging on its center. And after a few seconds, a semi-transparent layer showed the passage for the next floor.

The guards had finally allowed the clan leaders entrance. And right after they stepped into the 81° floor, the portal behind them was closed.

Waiting for them were fully armored knights. There were four of them, who stood motionless at the floor’s entrance, all wearing the exact same armor, identical plates of polished obsidian, identical helms that hid their faces entirely, leaving no glimpse of eyes, no hint of expression, no trace of personality.

They might have been statues, or puppets, or the same man cloned four times, and the clan leader would never know.

In Lilith’s opinion, there was something deeply unsettling about them, these silent figures who had no face to read, no weakness to exploit.

Still, one of them spoke, even if so briefly that one could easily have missed his words.

"Follow us," were the first and last words the knights would have said up to the end of their small trip.

Turning with mechanical precision and synchronization, almost like robots, they began leading the way into a forest.

The witch followed them, but still she looked with a grimace back at that portal. If she could get her hands on a portal that could be opened and closed like that, it would be so useful. With a thing like that, one could avoid any invasion, or inconvenient guests.

But only the Imperial Queen was allowed to have something like that.

As they went on, the guards proved their use, guiding the eight representatives and protecting them from the powerful monsters of the 81st floor.

Lilith watched them, wondering how well she would perform against the creatures they were killing. She knew she could kill most of the things they saw along the way, but the fact that they passed by monsters she was not sure she could kill gave her the chills.

Finally, the silent journey ended, and the witch saw a familiar, but always mesmerizing place: the imperial hall of meeting.

It was a place of staggering, almost exaggerated extravagance, whose unnecessary size could possibly make even a giant feel small.

The castle rose from the heart of the forest like a mountain, not a building made by humans. Its towers pierced the sky so high that their spires vanished into the clouds, cutting through them as if the heavens themselves had been claimed as part of the construction.

It casted a shadow so vast that it swallowed the treeline before it, painting everything that stood in its path in its shadow,

Its walls were clad in pale marble veined with gold, gleaming even in the shade, and every window was framed by intricate carvings of vines, beasts, and crowned figures.

The main gate alone was tall enough to admit a marching army, its doors forged of dark metal and inlaid with a mural of the Tower itself, every floor rendered in exquisite detail, from the first to the hundredth, with the Imperial Queen’s figure enthroned at the very top.

Lilith’s lips pressed into a thin line as she took it all in. No matter how many times she saw it, the sight never failed to make her feel small. That’s why she hated that place.

In absolute silence, one of the four guards stepped forward and opened the great doors, allowing the representatives filed inside.

The interior was as extravagant as one might expect, with dozens of stained-glass windows and works of art depicting the same blonde woman.

Once there, everyone sat on the thrones prepared for them, and in an instant, two wordless guards were standing at the side of each representative.

In theory, they were there to protect the clan leaders, but they also served as a reminder of the Imperial Queen’s power.

But Lilith didn’t mind it that much. In fact, it was thanks to the guards being present that the Blue Dragon Clan representative and the Shiwha Clan representative weren’t fighting this time around.

Finally, a representative of the Imperial Queen announced that she would make a change to the expansion system, making sure new guilds could not be created while the expansion system was deactivated. That alone would solve the problem Eva had created.

Besides, from here on, the period of the newcomers’ test would be set to a maximum of twenty-five days, after which any newcomer who failed to enter the Tower would die.

Lilith let out a sigh, thinking the Imperial Queen was late, as usual, and that the changes didn’t matter anymore. After all, Shin had already gained what he wanted and caused enough chaos.

And, as expected, even if it was called a meeting, it was simply an announcement from the Imperial Queen, telling them about her decision.

The opinions of the so-called Eight Great Clans barely held any importance for that woman, who lived far away on the 100th Floor, largely ignorant of how the rest of the Tower operated.

In the end, small changes would never change anything for her.