A dozen or so minutes later, the old man set down the letter and looked up at Archbishop Link.
His feelings toward this younger brother, who by rights should have been younger than his own sons, were complicated. All three of his sons had died in the war, yet his brother had survived. Now the man would even have to share his bed with the old man's wife, just to leave him a son in name.
Still, his own brother was better than anyone else. As he grew older, there were fewer and fewer people in the City-State he could trust.
"Take a look at this." The old man pushed the letter forward.
Archbishop Link leaned over and took it without betraying any reaction.
It was a lengthy intelligence report describing a newly risen nation in the South: a vast realm ruled by the undead. Its population had likely passed twenty million, it ruled dozens of races, and it possessed formidable military strength and a taste for aggression. It was now expanding rapidly into the surrounding lands.
Archbishop Link frowned slightly. He had never expected such a vast, powerful nation to exist in this barren Void World. Had he known, he would have gone there instead. He would have had far more room to operate.
But it was too late for that. His Split Soul had already fused with this body, and separating it again would come at a cost.
Link worked up the appropriate emotion, then looked at the old man in surprise. "Is this... is this intelligence reliable? Can a nation that large really exist? How many people do we even have in the City-State? Not even three million!"
The old man nodded gravely. "This is an enemy unlike any we've faced before. It's vast and aggressive, and