After staking the claims of these lands, Lord Fayngan did not linger to argue with the enraged powers.
It would have a moot exercise anyway- the Maure Zavary was potentially so precious that its owner could only be decided one way- by finding who had the largest stick. And the nobleman was very confident it was his empire that wielded it.
He also knew the seeds he wanted to sow in the minds had been planted- despite what the others might chime outwards, the chances of all four of them cooperating to thrash the empire were negligible.
The pie might have been big but still, it was not that big- certainly not enough to equally share it four ways.
That was also why the usually extremely laconic lord had gone out of his way to produce the obituaries in detail- naming the beast and one mage as deceased- specifically, only one, single, lone mage.
Then having said all he wanted to, the man simply disengaged from the meeting without any formalities and turned around to streak across the sky like a meteor toward his next destination- The Zanzium Palace.
He wished to bring the Lich King up to date on the whole thing immediately.
….
While back at ground zero, a sudden air of tension developed among the remaining four powers, each eying the other very warily.
Lord Fayngan was absolutely correct- the seed he had planted had not only stuck but taken only a second to successfully germinate.
They knew if any of them wanted a piece of this pie- they needed to spill blood, great quantities of it.
The trouble was, the strongest of the faction had basically declared war on them and individually none were its match.
But at the same time, they also could not just all agree to gang up on it.
Eschewing the immense difficulty of deciding who would get which part of the wasteland before such a grand alliance could be formed, even if all the power could somehow miraculously come to such an agreement, the fact of the matter was, the Zilou empire was a terrifying entity and fighting it was bound to make all sides suffer terrible losses- even if it was a four against one.
So what would happen if one of them were to experience a sudden grievous loss, such as a last ditch suicidal attack from the dying empire?
This would make them much weaker than the others… at which point… what was stopping the other three from suddenly deciding to kill two birds with one stone, decreasing the total number from five to straight three?
Admittedly this was not a likely scenario but still, it was a scenario everyone had to take into account.
No one wanted to risk sinking with the defeated after risking so much, becoming only a mere footnote in history.
And even if there was not such a huge betrayal, if one of them became too weak, the other powers would surely try to play other games, such as giving them a smaller portion of the promised rewards.
They might outright decrease the size of the land promised or just give the more infertile areas, and the wounded side would have little option but to accept.
This was the more realistic scenario as no one ever realistically thought all their losses would equal and no one was willing to gamble like this.
Hence they quickly gave up on that idea.
Instead now, they were trying to find an ally among their rivals.
This way they would at least be able to hold their ground even against the Zilou empire and perhaps even make some advances along the weaker fronts.
Combine this with the empire being possibly distracted by the other powers, and it was even possible for the two man alliance to make significant gains, snatching a large chuck of 'food' from the tiger's mouth and securely holding onto it.
At least that was the thought process in this preliminary stage- the finer details could be worked out and refined later depending on evolving circumstances.
This very similar conclusion was swiftly reached by all the powers.
With the sweet talking but scheming Fairy Agatha breaking the deadlock first, charmingly turning to Elder Cinthalo and affectionately cooing,
"Uncle Cinthalo, our Chateau of Life is very good at growing all kinds of magical herbs and raising many exotic animals. I am sure these lands will be home to all kinds of never before seen flora and fauna. How about your Chimeran Hoard of Plenty let us be in charge of this?"
The mature lady's voice seemed to be laced with the sweetest of honey as she said, and her eyes fluttered with infinite amorous charm. Even though she appeared as a voluptuous woman, right now, she seemed just like a playful young girl living right next door, petite and full of youthful energy.
If Lord Fayngan was here, he would have surely dry puked in disdain.
"Hehehe…" While Elder Cinthalo first silently cast a minor mind refreshing spell, dispelling the innocuous pheromones released by this girl. He had known Fairy Agatha since childhood and knew this was only a funny prank.
Then swiftly getting back to the topic, eagerly nodded in agreement to the proposal,
"Indeed, Fairy Agatha has made a great point. Our Great Hoard does lack the expertise to handle some of the rare faunas. So the Chateau's help will be greatly appreciated. We 'beast and animal kin' should always stick together."
The two powers had always a cordial relationship with each other, so the elder saw little reason to decline. If the deal still fell through later, then that would be due to the decision of his higher ups.
"Great! Then your Golden Holy Order will ally with my Ozeamriths Kingdom, Lady Esthrad."
Seeing that pair get formed so quickly, the imperious mermaid king hastily worked to seek the hand of the last remaining power, loudly declaring the union with great alacrity.
"....." Yet unlike Elder Cinthalo's charming response, he only received a very muted silence from the silver haired lady beside him.
But given the man's officious and brash nature, it was not hard to see why.
This prudent commander of the Holy Order knew very well that 'ally' was just another word for 'subordinate' to this man.
And if you needed proof, just look at how he phrased his proposal- Lady Esthrad's faction was to ally themselves with him, even though it would have been far more natural for the king to say,
'My Ozeamriths Kingdom will ally with your Golden Holy Order,' given it was him making the offer.
The prejudice and discrimination towards his 'ally' was practically dripping out of the mouth of the king.
It was something the other two too keenly noticed and wishing to drive a wedge between the union, interjected with cunning sniggers,
"Heh, Ozeamriths, you dare talk of alliances after what you did to the Guildmasters of the Deep. Weren't they also your allies? Ahh… didn't you also once vow to sink the Golden Holy Order to the bottom of the sea?" Fairy Agatha let her poisonous words flow freely without any shred of respect, digging up all the man's damning past right in front of him,
"You fish-folk only see everyone else as mules to drive around and work to death. Who would ever want to shake hands with you?"
"Hehehe, I also do not think it prudent for Your Majesty to interfere in this." Quickly chiming up following her, Elder Cinthalo was a lot more civil, letting out his signature gentle chortle and musing, "Your dominion lies on the sea, everything above and beneath it. You should concentrate there. The Maure Zavary is really too far away from your Thunder Crytal Palace. See how you were the last to come even though you are the fastest among us."
"....." Zavul Ozeamriths did not ask anything in response to all this, even though he felt a wave of intense anger and wanted to lash out viciously.
How could he not see their petty trick?
Yet it was precisely because of this that the man restrained himself, patiently waiting for the lady to make her decision before doing anything rash.
While Lady Esthrade very seriously weighed the pros and cons.
The perks of having the mighty Ozeamriths kingdom and especially the mighty Ozeamriths were obvious. He was a key pillar they needed if they wished to stand any realistic chance of challenging the Zilou empire and its undead hoards.
As for the cons- well now that she thought about it- they were actually not that many.
As Elder Cinthalo said it himself- The Ocean Kingdom of Ozeamriths ruled the seas. So if he wanted to project power so much in-land, they would no doubt need an ally- and her faction fit the bill perfectly.
Hence despite being the slightly weaker of the two on paper, Lady Esthrad thought when it came to splitting the booty at the end, they could actually ask for a bigger share.
"I will arrange for a meeting with the Empress, Your Highness. Let us discuss more then."