Emerging outside, the sun was right above, unobstructed by any clouds, casting a warm light upon this flat island of bright sand, simultaneously soft and glass-like as they reflected the light everywhere, a great place to meet with a master of darkness for certain, although it would certainly be rather annoying for those whose eyes could not handle receiving light, a problem no undead apart from vampires could possibly have.
A round table had been placed in the center of this island, which was rather wide considering its barren disposition, there were no trees, no signs of fauna or flora anywhere, just an enormous strip of sand bathed in a radiant light.
"The sunlight from this one is especially pure" commented Maiele.
Although the stage had already been set, Nitok seemed to be the first leader to have arrived, but not by much as an enormous shadow was cast over the island for a fraction of a second, followed by a figure falling from the sky accompanied by two enormous dragons.
Or rather accompanied by a gigantic, green-scaled wyvern and massive dragon whose body structure was oddly humanoid, these two majestic beings of incredible power settled down a distance away upon the sand as the one they were escorting walked up to King Nitok.
"Ah! You must be Nitok, right? I am not disappointed, you are just as strong as I imagined" speaking in a deep tone was what looked like a dragonkin of some kind, proportionally similar to a human, covered in black scales from head to toe, a tail and a pair of wings.
"You must be Ronarkatast then, I take it that you changed your form to accommodate for the meeting's conditions?" simply replied Nitok, extending his bony hand toward the dragonlord, who did not hesitate to shake it without an ounce of fear.
"Indeed, not only is the island way too small to fit my true body, but those scaredy cats asked that I maintain a smaller form as well, I swear, they are awfully bold, but that's what I like, they are scared but not spineless" laughing gleefully, it looked like to Nitok, that just like himself, the dragonlord was also keeping his overwhelming presence in check, it seemed that even in this diminutive appearance, the power of Ronarkatast wasn't actually diminished.
"I see that you didn't bring simple soldiers with you- I myself brought Arark and Temposi, they are of the most trustworthy warriors I have.. But perhaps I should have done like you and actually brought females, would have made the travel here more pleasant" he pointed behind himself at the two dragons, who seemed a little miffed at this remark.
"Indeed, I came with Körpersucher, one of my faithful gravelords, and Maiele Liameilos, my lovely wife!" the latter visibly cringed but didn't say anything.
"Is it strange to not bring regular warriors?" then quickly asked Nitok, seeking to extract some information before the meeting began.
"Absolutely, whenever those guys have had meetings in the past, they've never brought anything even remotely close to the best they have to offer, must be thinking that this is concealing their cards or whatever… I really don't see the point personally"
Ronarkatast seemed like a rather friendly fellow, perhaps it was just because he acknowledged King Nitok's strength, or because Nitok did in fact rule over dragons as well, in any case, it was a great sign, having a good relationship with Dragonnerie would basically solve all possible problems.
Dragonnerie being the only nation with proper means to attack the undead empire thanks to their continent being mobile and due to their forces consisting of legendary dragons whose power could level entire countries.
"I take it that neither Viridis nor Belliste were included into such meetings?"
"Well… Belliste was before it broke up into a warlord era, and Viridis used to as well but was similarly no longer considered a superpower as the continent was turned into countless different territories…" as he explained, the other leaders showed up in quick succession.
One emerged from the water, two manifested from a pillar of pure energy, whilst the last just popped out of the ground, not quite grand entrances all around but it seemed rather fitting.
Each of the arriving leaders showed no reaction as they analysed the centerpiece of this meeting, keeping their impression and thoughts to themselves as all gathered around the simple round table.
Although clearly carried distinctive, powerful regal presences, some of them definitely didn't look like one might have expected.
"Welcome everyone, and most importantly, welcome to Nitok, King Of The Undead Empire, who has definitely earned his spot alongside us as a superpower of this world" the one speaking was definitely the leader of Durter, the subterranean continent.
"Let's begin by stating our names… I am Artratac Dursol, Hierophant-Queen Of Durter"
It had been pretty easy to tell considering that she looked very much like a mole, with that pronounced nose and clawed hands, being also very much small having to stand on a stool brought along to reach over the table.
As the title indicated, Durter was a theocracy, the underground continent united by faith, their pope and ruler being one, dressed in ample robes and wearing a big mitre, her small eyes peering around at everyone present.
With a wave of the hand, she indicated for the next person to present themselves.
"Greetings to you all, I am Moilirus Poisseon, Queen-Empress Of Bermude" she too, wore which continent she ruled over all over her body, looking much like a mermaid, although the lower half looked more like that of a shark, one with an especially long tail as it was longer than her entire body.
As her particular title implied, she ruled over many nations as an empress, her control great enough to be deemed as the undisputed ruler of the entire submerged continent.
The two that accompanied her did have legs and had carried a container of water for their queen to stay in during the meeting.
Then, it was the turn of the two rulers that had arrived together.
"Greetings, I am Gargantax Torh, Sapient Golem King Of Lefaux"
"And I am Pylhta Hilio, Pure Spirit Queen Of Lefaux"
Lefaux wasn't split between territories, but in inhabitants, being mostly populated by sapient golems and pure spirits, and to ensure a certain level of harmony, the two sides had to marry one another.
The king was rather large, made up of soil for the most part, grass, flowers and even a small tree growing upon his back, hints of precious minerals and crystals forming over the body.
Meanwhile, the queen was just a bundle of pure energies in the overall shape of a humanoid woman, which was only for the time of the meeting, normally, she would just be a collection of colourful dots constantly shifting in shape floating around like a cloud.
Ronarkatast and Nitok also presented themselves, marking the first time the other leaders heard the undead speak since they had arrived, they had probably been expecting a hollow tone like like that of Loimos, instead, they got a suspiciously joyful sounding skeleton that still carried that undeniable sense of dread.
"Well, what are we going to talk about exactly?"