On the streets of Rome, a luxurious sedan drove by, in the back seat sat a middle-aged man and a young, beautiful girl.
The middle-aged man was nearly forty years old, with a face as perfect as a David statue, radiating an aura of intellect and elegance. He leaned back in his seat, his steady eyes gazing at the Roman cityscape flashing past the window, lost in thought.
He was Paul Brontry, the Grand Master of the Italian Magic Society, the "Bronze Black Cross".
Summoned by the 'King' from his headquarters in Milan, Paul Brontry did not intend to go to the Vatican to see the 'King' immediately, but instead headed to the headquarters of the Italian Magic Society's "She-Wolf", to hold a crucial meeting first.
Sitting beside Paul Brontry was a dazzling Italian girl, she appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, but her body was well-developed, with luscious golden hair cascading down her back. She wore a red dress, her waist straight, revealing her snow-white shoulders and a glimpse of white skin at the neckline, her mature demeanor beyond her years attracting attention.
The girl sat beside Paul Brontry, her expression sharp, like a drawn sword, yet exuding the elegance and grace of a noble lady.
"Uncle, aren't we going to see the new King? This doesn't seem to be the way to the Vatican, but the She-Wolf headquarters."
The girl looked at the scenery outside the window, her beautiful brow furrowed slightly, and she asked in a melodious, questioning tone.
"Elica, before we go to see the 'King', our seven Italian 'Sisters' need to hold a meeting first. You've met the leaders of the other six Magic Societies, but you've never participated in such a formal 'Alliance Meeting', this is your chance."
Paul Brontry said gently, his words were simple, yet revealed a lot of information.
Elica Brontry's furrowed brow smoothed, a hint of excitement in her expression. Her uncle, the Grand Master of the "Bronze Black Cross", was taking her to such an important meeting, it was already a clear indication of his regard for her, perhaps the title of 'Crimson Demon' would finally fall into her hands.
But quickly, Elica suppressed the turmoil in her heart. Compared to the glory she would gain from defeating her competitors, the deeper meaning of this meeting was more concerning to her.
"Uncle, is it because of the new King and Salvatore Toni?"
Elica asked with a hint of concern.
Paul didn't speak, just nodded slightly in confirmation of Elica's guess, the atmosphere in the car gradually froze, neither of them spoke again, until the car drove into the 'She-Wolf' headquarters.
Underneath the red dress, a jade foot clad in a white velvet sock stepped onto an equally vibrant red high heel, the heel tapping on the ground made a 'click-clack' sound. Elica ignored the other young magicians in the She-Wolf headquarters, whether they were amazed, awed, or infatuated, she held her head high and walked with her chest out, following behind her uncle, entering the headquarters meeting room.
The She-Wolf headquarters was already filled with the best knights and magicians in Italy. In the center of the hall was a round table with seven seats, the positions of the 'Seven Sisters' leaders.
Five people were already seated on these seven chairs. The seventh Magic Society was currently in a state of turmoil and had not yet chosen their new Grand Master, so they were excluded from this meeting.
Elica only glanced around briefly before seeing a familiar face.
The silver-haired knight maiden stood straight behind a woman dressed quite young, she looked straight ahead, her posture erect. Though she had equally beautiful features, she lacked the girlish naivety, and had an air of seriousness that was befitting a knight.
Liliana Cranichal, the eldest daughter of the prestigious magic family Cranichal, belonged to the magic organization "Bronze Black Cross".
The 'Bronze Black Cross' and the 'Bronze Black Cross' were allies of the Seven Sisters, but the two Magic Societies, both headquartered in Milan, had been rivals for hundreds of years, so Elica and Liliana had a good private relationship, but were also competitors.
Seeing a familiar face, Elica's delicate features showed a playful smile, and she winked at Liliana.
Liliana simply glared back at Elica, then continued to look straight ahead, ignoring her provocation.
Elica didn't continue to tease Liliana, soon she, like Liliana, became serious, standing behind her uncle.
All the people in this meeting hall were big names in the Italian magic world, she, a junior, couldn't be too casual here, it would lose face for their 'Bronze Black Cross' and make people think she was disrespectful.
"Paul Brontry is here, let's start the meeting. Don't keep the new King waiting for us."
The Grand Master of the Magic Society "Lily of the Valley" was the first to speak. He was a young man under thirty, his real name had been abandoned, and he had inherited the name of the "Lily of the Valley" Grand Master of every generation - Purple Knight.
The Grand Master of the Magic Society "Old Lady" Terino followed, "… I think you all know the purpose of this meeting, let's not waste time talking about it, I'll just ask one question. Who has detailed information about the new King? This concerns our Seven Sisters Alliance, I hope you all don't have any secrets."
The Grand Master of the "Bronze Black Cross" was the young woman dressed in front of Liliana. Her name was Diana Milito. As soon as Terino finished speaking, she followed, "… 'Old Lady', you've actually come out of your headquarters, it seems the new King has put a lot of pressure on you as well… According to the information we received from the Vatican Cross Church, the new King is said to be a sixteen-year-old boy, only two years older than my Liliana."
“… The new King's power can only be speculated as being related to 'Michael', even those 'idle people' in Greenwich haven't investigated any more detailed information. This 'King' has no records of any actions, the process by which he slew the god is also unknown. Since the Cross Church has identified him as a god slayer, we must treat him as we would a god slayer. The Cross Church still has some credibility."
"Those who slay gods are never powerful magicians…"
Paul Brontry said in an elegant voice, "… I've had many encounters with the English god slayer, 'Black Prince', and witnessed the horror of the Un-God with my own eyes. Even with my strength, I would be powerless like a child in the face of an Un-God. Those who can slay gods should never be judged by their age, god slayers are just so 'unreasonable', they are an existence that has nothing to do with us knights and magicians."
The meeting room fell silent, everyone's breath was a little heavy, Paul Brontry was undoubtedly the pinnacle of Italian knights and magicians, he was arguably the strongest, but even he said so, it only made people feel despair and sadness about god slayers and Un-Gods.
Not everyone had seen an Un-God. Though Un-Gods are natural disasters, they may not appear for several years, and even if they do, it would not be up to them, these magicians, to face them. The 'King' would personally take action.
Even the young Grand Master of the "Lily of the Valley" had not witnessed an Un-God, the other young magicians present were even less likely to have seen one.
But precisely because they had not seen an Un-God, it would create a sense of 'discontent' in their hearts that was difficult to detect.
"Don't talk about your feats anymore, Paul Brontry, this is not the place to tell your glorious past!"
As a hostile magic society, Diana Milito interrupted Paul, her tone quite harsh, "… We know too little about the new King, but from the little information we have, the new King's character is quite 'self-willed'. We can consider it the whims of a young man, so we are here to vote, do we choose to continue to support our southern European ally, Salvatore Toni, or do we choose to betray him and throw ourselves into the arms of the new King…"
"Excuse me for interrupting Ms. Milito, please listen to me, Liliana and I have had contact with Salvatore, his character is not suitable for allegiance, especially if the new King's character is too arbitrary, we may be punished for disobeying his orders! Especially Salvatore, he is just our nominal ally, we 'Seven Sisters' are not his true subordinates, this is not considered betrayal, so I suggest…"
Elica faced the gazes of many Italian magic world bigwigs, she was not afraid, speaking boldly, her confident posture made the old magicians present nod secretly, envious of the 'Bronze Black Cross' for having such an excellent junior.
But before Elica could finish, she was interrupted by the young Grand Master of "Lily of the Valley", "…Elica Brontry, please be mindful of the occasion. You may be a promising junior of the 'Bronze Black Cross', but you have no right to speak here…"
This 'Purple Knight' was very unhappy.
Elica's face flushed red, all her words were choked back. She endured for a while, finally sighing, she bowed and said, "… Elica has spoken out of turn, I hope you esteemed masters will forgive me."
Paul Brontry was just about to comfort his niece when the door to the meeting room suddenly burst open.
Everyone frowned, there shouldn't be anyone else coming here, who dared to be so disrespectful to barge into such an important meeting room?
Countless eyes turned towards the door, where a young man in a cardinal's robe appeared. He had his right hand in his pocket, and he was looking at them with amusement.
"My dear subjects are all gathered together, you've saved me the trouble of finding each of you. I'm very happy about your thoughtfulness… But I asked you to meet me, why would I find you having a meeting here?"
As his words fell, all the magicians and knights in the room changed their expressions.