Chapter 247: Borrowing and Beauty
Gurgle, gurgle! The fragrance of meat rose with the steam from the broth, endlessly washing over the three by the campfire.
Ruger and Layden blinked, ignoring the broth's enthusiasm.
"The Supreme Council has always wanted to establish a true foothold in the Nightmare World. This strange and vast place would be an incomparably suitable choice. It will be a long-term plan; for now, this is merely preliminary preparation," Mewtris said softly. "The two Nightmare Lords still gestating will not be able to escape the Supreme Council's grasp either. They may be subdued, or they may be fixed in one place... And she wants to borrow a little of the power being nurtured within a Lord..."
Ruger had been listening with great interest. When his gaze met Mewtris's for an instant, he understood. The "she" Mewtris spoke of was naturally that wrinkled, diminutive figure.
"We're too weak..." Ruger began.
"It is precisely because you are weak! Your value lies in your weakness! Before things beyond imagination, myself included, we are all weak—like tiny fleas on the bodies of subterranean beasts. Even if we shouted with all our strength, we would not draw their attention," Mewtris said with a smile. "The Supreme Council's restrictions exist only out of caution. We are merely insignificant little bugs. I even believe that not even a three-ring wizard could awaken them, much less disrupt the balance between them."
Ruger and Layden sat there, quietly absorbing her judgments and speculations, accepting what was about to happen.
"So this matter is not as dangerous as we imagined..." Layden said in a low voice.
Ruger sniffed. He thought the meat broth in the pot was ready to eat.
Mewtris seemed to think so as well. Instead of responding to Layden, she took out the