The ruler felt confident, came out in the open, and then they died in an "accident" or from a sudden "stroke".
The Council's philosophy had always been to achieve the maximum result with the minimum involvement, in order to protect the secret of Awakening and its community.
This time, however, their usual approach had failed. Their tactics had managed to slow Thrud's advance but that was it. Sooner or later, she would conquer the entire Kingdom and then it would be too late to stop her.
Awakened were creatures of great longevity that counted time in decades and weren't used to being in a rush. It was the reason the Council had summoned all of its members, no matter their seniority or power, in hope to find a solution to their problem.
"I want to thank you all for being here." Raagu Drerian, the human representative of the Council said. "Before starting the meeting, I need to update you about the current state of the war and what the Council has already tried."
The Council Chamber was usually the size of a courtroom, but to accommodate so many people it had been enlarged with dimensional magic to the size of a stadium. Seeing so many Awakened filling the bleachers would have been a terrifying view for a regular person.
It worried even the representatives since those present were all the Awakened of the Garlen continent. In their eyes, there were too few of them and there was no time to grow their numbers.
"As soon as Baba Yaga informed us of Thrud's plans to destroy the Council, we sent our elders to stop her troops from invading the Kingdom's metropolises. Sadly, very few succeeded in their mission."
Raagu stood under a magical spotlight, her thin frame making her look taller than her normal1.6 meters (5'3") height. Her stern expression and weathered face gave her an old appearance for an Awakened, like that of a woman in her late fifties.
She could have shapeshifted or just rejuvenated herself to look younger, but after living for six hundred years she didn't care much about appearances.
"We had no idea where Thrud would deploy her troops so we had to dispatch the Council's elders and Regional Lords where the most important assets of the Kingdom are located.
"Most of them met the undead, but only a few actually found themselves in one of the cities targeted by the Mad Queen and faced her army. Of those few, barely a half succeeded.
"They were unprepared to face units of Awakened equipped with Adamant and capable of using Spirit Magic. Each of our elders is a very strong individual, but they are still one person.
"Our enemy used teamwork to make up for their inferior mana cores and experience. Due to Invigoration, they needed to buy each other the time of one breath to recover from most injuries.
"Only the elders who managed to protect the Warp Gate succeeded. The moment Thrud's army seized control of the dimensional portal, her troops swarmed in and the battle was lost. Those who stubbornly stayed behind instead of retreating died."
She pointed at several empty seats and sadness smoothed her expression, emphasizing her delicate features. The grey that streaked her long black hair along with the silver and orange made her look like a grieving mother.
"Now that Thrud's plan has become evident, we have dispatched more elders to protect the key assets of each region, but that will just buy us some time. The Mad Queen can make endless attempts and she needs only to succeed once to take control of a city.
"Killing Thrud in a direct confrontation proved to be foolish as well. She not only has somehow turned herself into a pureblood Griffon, but she has also achieved the white core.
"On top of that, her equipment is far more powerful than anything that we Council representatives have ever faced. We survived only thanks to our skill and a bit of luck." Raagu exposed her slender arm where a huge burn had yet to heal.
A testament to the power of the Mad Queen.
One of the young Awakened on the bleachers raised his hand and received permission to talk.
"I think we can be more optimistic. Even the elders who failed still achieved a partial success. Every rogue Awakened they killed has greatly weakened Thrud's army. Reaching a powerful core takes time that both we and she don't have."
"You would be right, if not for the Golden Griffon and its forbidden array." The giant oak tree that actually was Lotho the Treant spoke. His cracked bark spilled sap instead of blood and several branches on his body had been broken.
"Every Awakened we killed didn't die, they just returned to the Golden Griffon's core where they have been completely regenerated in the space of a few days. We suffered losses, Thrud barely a setback."
Murmurs of fear and panic spread through the arena as young and old Awakened tried to find a way to deal with a truly immortal enemy.
"Thrud may be a white core, but it must be recent. She can't have mastered its powers and even if she's now a Divine Beast, we can still take her down by attacking her together." An elder said after raising her hand.
"Indeed." Feela the Behemoth nodded, making the long tress her hair was arranged into bounce off her bosom and slid off her soft hips.
"The problem is that she knows it as well. During the first night of war, she caught us unprepared, but after discovering her true prowess, we had arranged several countermeasures.
"Yet we never had the occasion to use them because from that night onward Thrud never moves alone and she always brings the Golden Griffon along. The lost academy is an impregnable fortress we don't dare enter.
"If any of us gets captured and falls under its arrays, the Mad Queen would seize the most prized secrets of our bloodlines and add them to her arsenal. To make matters worse, the academy provides her with an endless stream of soldiers who have no reason to fear death.
"Until we don't draw her away from the Golden Griffon or find a way to destroy it, Thrud is out of our reach." Feela looked around the arena, to make sure that her younger peers understood the gravity of their situation.
She was the exact opposite of Raagu. Tall, shapely, and young. The Behemoth usually adopted an older appearance to command respect, but in times of war she needed her body to be in its prime.
"Let me get this straight." Another elder said in a distraught voice. "Thrud has the equivalent of an entire army of Awakened Liches who share one huge and indestructible phylactery.
"Also, she's a white-cored Divine Beast. Am I forgetting something?"
"Yes. You forgot about her old but still powerful Guardian Tier equipment." Inxialot the Lich King said, making the entire room groan in desperation.
For once, the undead representative was invested in the matter. Losing to Thrud also meant losing the resources that the Council had assigned to him so Inxialot was the one who had tried and failed the most to kill her.
Yet the only thing more disconcerting than his lack of tact was his odd choice of clothes.
