Cthulhu Gonfalon

In the Mifata Federation’s capital, there was a tower. On this “Supreme Tower,” ten magicians were sitting around a round table.

“We haven’t had such a gathering in a while, ever since Master shut this place down five hundred years ago…” An elder magician with hair that was growing white sighed.

“When Master had become a God, there was some excitement here for a while, but you were not present,” another elder magician quipped.

“Time flies. We’re all old now.”

“Yes, time flies, and the world is extremely different now as well. Somehow without us knowing, everything has changed…” A square-faced, thick-browed magician who looked more like a war veteran sighed. “I merely went on a single astral trip, and I came back to a completely different reality.”

“Master Mill, you’ve been gone for too long this time.”

“It was only sixty years, surely that’s not considered too long?”

“If one were to think carefully, it isn’t actually that long… However, in the past sixty years, too many changes have taken place.”

All the legendary magicians were silent. After a while, Mill spoke up again. “What’s this gathering for?”

“To decide our future.”

Among those present, the only one who was wearing a crown spoke up. “The Federation’s future looks extremely bleak at the moment. I think it’s time to think seriously about what we plan to do in the times ahead.”

Those present all looked at him.

“In the past few years, we’ve met with several misfortunes. Those who became gods eventually fell, the God of Mystery system was extinguished by humans, we have had a lot of internal issues, and the Master of Mystery has lost several under him. We’ve even faced problems of nationalism… In the past few years, we’ve met with several obstacles. In those times, we were under the guidance of masters and Your Majesty, the Master of Mystery… Now, we can only depend on ourselves.”

The magician bearing the crown sighed.

“Do we need to join forces to suppress those broken districts? If we work together, even if the Oracles come, we can still stay in control,” a magician with a beak-looking nose and who looked extremely gloomy, spoke up.

“But what if a god reveals himself?”

“How is that possible? A god’s real form is unable to permeate the Main Plane.”

“You have similarly not set foot on this earth for too long. That’s old news! Now, on the Main Plane, there’s a god called the “Void Mask” who has Divine Powers and can use it both in his movements and in war with ease.”

The magician with the beak nose was stumped, and he asked, “Why haven’t we sought his help as backup then?”

The rest were all equally stunned, and they stared at the younger magician who had spoken.

“What are you looking at me for? If he is really someone who can roam freely on the Main Plane and possesses Divine Power, even if we join forces, we will not be able win against him. To be blunt, even if we combined forces of all the living creatures in our countries, he might win against us—and even if we win, many will lose their lives for sure. If that’s the case, why don’t we directly trust him?”

The legendary magicians looked at each other in silence.

This magician was similar to Mill in the sense that they had not been active in this world over the last hundred years. They could be said to be extremely behind in current affairs. Thus, his attitude was biased towards objective neutrality and could only be considered as a personal gain. It was exactly because of this, though, that he was able to consider the issue from a viewpoint that eluded the other magicians.

After a while, an extremely old magician sighed and said, “Although the Void Mask Lord is strong, we have always had tumultuous relationships with gods.”

“We can humble ourselves. If we cannot win, we can surrender. That’s naturally the next possible course of action.”

“But… Master’s death and the Master of Mystery’s downfall along with Pyrotech City as well as other cities’ independence are all somewhat connected to him…”

“Isn’t it all the more pertinent that we surrender then? He hasn’t even shown his true hand yet, and we’re already in such a spot. We cannot possibly wait for him to strike as that would really be the death of us! At that point, he may no longer accept a surrender from us.”

With these words, the tension in the atmosphere intensified. Even though they were Legendary Masters, they were unable to come up with any positive words, and the meeting area was once again thrust into an uncomfortable silence.

After a while, the magician wearing the crown spoke. “We should return to the issue at hand first as it’s incredibly urgent. We should quickly regain order in the Federation and ensure we still have our peoples’ hearts. Let’s first think about whether there is any solution that is more reliable or less costly.”

“Would it be costly to surrender to a true god?”

“You can’t expect everyone to be as rational as you; everyone has feelings after all. Not everyone here can accept surrendering so easily.”

“Magicians should act with their heads and not their hearts…”

“However, a majority of the Federation, including most of the magicians, will not be able to achieve this.”

The magician with the beak nose shook his head and did not speak further.

He felt that he had already tried his best to present his point of view, and he intended to find the Void Mask Lord to surrender right after the meeting, or at least… He could leave the Main Plane and travel to other worlds for the next hundred years…

He had merely left for fifty to sixty years, but the world had already undergone such dramatic changes. If he left for yet another hundred years, the changes would be even more apparent. Perhaps when he returned, the conflicts would have decreased.

In any case, he resolved to no longer remain in Mifata as he had no desire to go against someone who could kill him easily with his Divine Power!

Through the discussions, the magicians eventually decided to first join forces to repress Golden Tower City.

Void Mask could walk the Main Plane with ease, but the Noble Lady could not. Nevertheless, they wanted to remove her church from Mifata first!

“Speaking of defeating the Church of the God of Aristocracy, something just occurred to me. Recently, there has been the continuous implementation of surname plans from the Northwest Republic to the Commonwealth of Gold Coins and the Dhaka Commercial Association.”

“What’s the significance of allowing the commoners to choose their surnames? Most are illiterate and unable to even write their names. Whether or not they have a surname is beside the point.”

“No, there’s a huge difference! With a surname, it insinuates that they belong to a family with inheritance. This was originally one of the special privileges of the aristocrats, and it was how they differentiated themselves from the commoners. Now, if the commoners have surnames as well, the aristocratic glory and status will be challenged.”

“So what? It’s not like the aristocrats were being useful.” One of the magicians snorted.

Upon hearing this, the eyes of the magician wearing the crown lit up, and he smiled.

“Everyone. What if we follow suit and do the same thing?”

The magicians froze and discussed the idea thoroughly before expressing their approval.

Since they had already decided to attack the Church of the God of Aristocracy, they were prepared to be at odds with the aristocrats. As Mifata was a magicians’ country, to these people, those arrogant aristocrats were simply tasked with the role of handling the country’s affairs and common folk. Thus, they gladly took this chance to teach them a lesson and stabilize the country as well.

Furthermore, through this method, they could increase the centripetal force of the commoners’ loyalty towards the country and solve their current issue at the same time.

So, they decided to resolve matters this way.