Spending My Retirement In A Game

After all, it wasn't a total impossibility that Eisen was telling the truth. At the end of the day, he was still a King, albeit of a Kingdom that had been abandoned for hundreds of years until he reclaimed it. He stood between the giants' country and the central continent, and seemed to have a more clear view of what was going on.

And of course, his strength and influence that he showed to each and every one of the chieftains wasn't anything that could be dismissed either, even if it wasn't at the level that they generally expected of the true 'Eisen'.

"Let's put the matter of his identity aside for now. Before we call him in to speak to us... what about his claim?

As the Bralfam already pointed out, what truly matters is whether or not this all is actually the will of the wicked man called 'Samuel'," the Irngrad pointed out, looking around the room, "Even if you hadn't until his appearance in this country, I'm sure that each and every one of you is aware of the events that unfolded in the central continent, connected to the figures of 'Samuel' and 'Eisen'."

"Are you talking about the 'Demon of the Pit' incident?" the Grandour asked quickly, though that was really an unnecessary question. That was clearly the thing that the Irngrad had referenced. The Giants' King nodded his head, "That is it.

The promise that had been voiced between Eisen, who in the form of a giant demon, made a man called 'Samuel' speak a promise, to keep their personal war between them only."

"Hasn't that event clearly been exaggerated?" the desert clan's chieftain sighed, shaking her head, "I mean, that was obviously just some show that was put on. If this 'Samuel' is as wicked as claimed, and has the ability to lead us to a war with the central continent, how could he be stupid enough to sign a contract like that? Especially so if it's actually 'Eisen' we're talking about here.

Even the gods wouldn't dare mess with him and the other originals."

"Well..." the cloud giant chieftain slowly spoke up, "I might be able to share some... insights, in that regard."

With dismay at the fact that he had to draw the attention of the other giants, the chieftain started to explain the situation, "I am sure that Eisen has already explained as such to you, but Samuel has the ability to interfere with people. Take over their bodies, and control their actions.

That is an ability that transcends causality, the restrictions placed onto the gods to prevent them from interfering with the mortals of the world too much. Causality is what holds the sacred 'system' in place. Without it, this world would not exist as it does."

"So? The gods have always given oracles and blessings, or put curses on certain people. It's not like the restrictions of causality truly prevent those gods from meddling with us down here," the desert giant chieftain pointed out, leaning back in her seat.

But the cloud giant chieftain simply laughed and shook his head, "I should have expected as such, but you are clearly not understanding that which has been explained to you plenty already. I am not talking about oracles. The people that are being controlled are not Samuel's acolytes. Any man, any woman.

Any being and creature living and breathing and existing within this world can have their mind and body completely stripped from them. Samuel will step into their bodies and use them as though they were his own. This is not meant in a metaphorical manner either. In the truest and clearest sense of what I said, that is how Samuel controls others."

The room was silent, to the point where the cloud giant chieftain could tell that the desert giant chieftain wasn't the only one that lacked true understanding of the situation. The cloud giant chieftain continued on, "And do you want to know what is the worst of all? They don't even remember it. I myself... have fallen victim to Samuel.

The only reason I have any sort of remembrance of these matters is because I hold a deep afinity to such magicks, as you all know."

The Irngrad stood up from his seat, staring into the cloud giant's face, "So you are saying that anyone could be the victim? And we would be never the wiser? Just how-"

"I believe that Eisen has a much clearer understanding of this as I do. I believe that it might be better for him to continue the explanation," the cloud giant chieftain interrupted. He knew that it was rude to do so to the Irngrad, as even he acknowledged a king's status, but this was an important enough matter for him to ignore this.

"...Fine," the Irngrad sighed, snapping his finger. With an echoe that pushed itself through the whole room, the large double doors on the other side of the room opened up, and a figure stepped inside. It was the form of a stone demon, with golden crystals growing in the crevices of his body, all trapping surging flames within them.

The Demon stood taller than the other giants in the room, who were simply in their relaxed forms, and was clad in a beautiful, ornate armor.

He stepped into the room, and was quickly met with the stares of the giant chieftains, "How do you do?" Eisen asked with a smile on his face, "It is a true pleasure to see you all again."

The Irngrad held his hand toward the chair placed on the other end of the enormous table that the chieftains had gathered around, "Please, have a seat."

Without having to be told a second time, Eisen sat down. Though, before he could even settle, a question was brought to him. It was the Bralfam, the chieftain of the stone giants, who had been more than collected up until now, "Explain to us, if you could... how does this 'Samuel' exert his control over others?"

Eisen looked around the room. He smiled at everyone, and then looked over at the cloud giant chieftain. If anyone here, then he would be the one that Samuel would take over. And while there were obviously ways for Samuel to look into this place in other ways, at this point, the fact that Eisen was going to do this was obvious.

Samuel wasn't stupid enough to believe that Eisen would stop spreading the truth. And while this was something that he had wanted to avoid, since it could cause to many more issues later on, the old man figured that even if he didn't reveal the whole truth, he could travel between the lines of lie and truth for this matter.

"Samuel is... something akin to a 'God' amongst even the gods, if that makes sense. He is the one that personally created the first, oldest, and most powerful goddess, Ari. When I first spoke to her, she was just a child. A child calling Samuel her father, excitedly telling me of the stories he had told her about me and the other originals.

He is the one that curated the seeds of this world, the one that gave power to the gods, while also putting restraints on them," Eisen explained, "In the end, there is no way for me to truly know exactly how much control he can still exert. But fact is, the only way to place certain restraints is if the one placing them has the ability to transcend them."

"Then... then how are we supposed to fight against a being of that sort? A truly omnipotent god?" the bralfam asked with a sense of hopelessness in his voice, but Eisen looked at him with a smile, "Oh, he is powerful, sure, but... he's definitely not omnipotent or omniscient."

As the old man said this, he took out a document. It was a large, gold-adorned piece of paper. It had deep sigils pressed into it, and in large letters, large enough for even the Irngrad on the other side of the table to read them, said, "Eisen de Grandour will make a statement overseen by the Goddess of Fate.

If he is to lie during this statement, he will be struck down immediately and henceforth resign his position as King of Asgard, placing all his power, servants, land, and treasures under the ownership of the Irngrad."

Eisen waited for a while until everyone had truly had the chance to read and comprehend what the text said, and then poured his mana into the contract. The letters started to light up briefly before detaching from the paper, as the paper itself started to fall apart into dust. The dust quickly formed a cloud that moved behind Eisen, as a reaper overseeing the contract appeared behind the old man.

A scythe was placed around his neck from behind, already pressing into his flesh as though it were made of cloth and not the rock that it had turned into in this Demonic form.

And with a smile, Eisen opened his mouth and began to speak.