The heavy echo of Guy Crimson's declaration still lingered against the star-black stone when his crimson eyes shifted directly onto Loki. The presiding Demon Lord folded his arms, his posture relaxed yet radiating an unmistakable, sharp demand for accountability.
"Before we discuss candidate qualifications or draw up new borders, we address the corpse left in the doorway," Guy said, his voice cutting cleanly through the ambient pressure of the hall. "You do not occupy another Demon Lord's territory and pretend the question does not exist. Clayman is dead. His domain in Jistav is currently occupied by your forces and your allies, Loki. Speak clearly. Are you claiming Jistav as your personal territory?"
A subtle shift passed through the gathered overlords. Dagruel leaned forward slightly, his dark eyes fixing on Loki, while Dino shifted in his seat, watching the exchange with sharp, quiet attention. Even Leon Cromwell turned his cold gaze toward Coleus's sovereign, anticipating an aggressive expansion of power.
Loki did not flinch under the weight of their scrutiny. He leaned back in his high-backed chair, steepling his fingers with measured calm.
"If I wanted to annex Jistav, Guy, you'd already be reading the tax reports," Loki replied smoothly. "Direct annexation would deny Jistav's people any real say in how they are governed. Replacing one tyrant with a stronger foreign occupier doesn't solve the problem; it just gives the locals a larger boot to live under. I have no intention of claiming Clayman's seat or absorbing his land into Coleus."
"A comforting speech," Luminous Valentine interjected, her silver hair catching the dim light as she tilted her head. Her heterochromatic eyes narrowed with sharp skepticism. "Yet your troops occupy their strongholds, and your influence dictates their future. If you claim no territory, who governs?"
"A provisional joint administration," Loki answered without hesitation. "Specifically, two individuals acting under international observation to stabilize the region until permanent structures can be established."
He gestured slightly, allowing Testarossa to step forward. She opened the black-edged folio in her hands, and pristine parchment copies of the proposed mandate appeared precisely before each seated ruler, detailing the division of power and the framework of oversight.
"These are provisional offices, not inherited thrones," Testarossa stated, her clear voice projecting composed administrative authority. "Mjurran controls the civil ministries. She understands Clayman's coercive system from the inside, has already risked herself for Jistav's ordinary people, and has the best chance of earning their trust. Her appointment remains provisional and cannot become permanent without public consent. Her immediate focus is relief, structural reform, and securing genuine civil stability."
"And the defense of a territory that borders volatile domains?" Dagruel asked, his low voice carrying across the table without effort. "A civilian administrator cannot hold back stray majin or rogue armies."
"Which brings us to the second half of the administration," Testarossa continued smoothly, gesturing to the open document. "Adalman commands only the forces assigned to defense, spiritual containment, and territorial restoration. His mandate is strictly military and containment-oriented. Securing unstable spiritual sites, defending the borders against opportunistic raiders, and containing dangerous remnants of Clayman's experiments. Neither governor may alter the other's mandate, and Lord Loki may intervene only to enforce the guarantees recorded here or answer an external attack. Both Mjurran and Adalman have accepted these provisional duties, but neither will be confirmed permanently without Jistav's eventual approval."
Luminous's posture hardened instantly at the mention of the undead archmage. Her voice turned dangerously cold, filling the chamber with sharp authority.
"An undead army operating near human settlements will inspire terror whether its intentions are peaceful or not," Luminous stated sharply. "Lubelius will not accept an unregulated necromantic force on the doorstep of human civilization without enforceable boundaries. What concrete safeguards prevent his forces from encroaching on living land or human territories?"
"They will operate under strict military oversight and remain barred from civilian settlements unless Mjurran authorizes an emergency deployment, and they will not cross into foreign territory," Loki countered steadily, meeting Luminous's gaze. "The mandate authorizes civil-administration and spiritual observers selected jointly by Jistav, Lubelius, and two neutral signatories. They may conduct scheduled inspections of the containment boundaries, casualty records, and restoration facilities, with emergency access following a documented breach. However, they will possess no governing authority inside Jistav, and their findings will be reported at fixed intervals to the Demon Lords who ratified the arrangement."
Testarossa touched one of the clauses projected before Luminous. "Their inspection rights are limited to the categories written here. They cannot command local forces, seize unrelated records, or interfere with civilian decisions. Emergency access requires credible evidence of a breach, and every such inspection must be documented in the next formal report."
Luminous examined the clause twice before allowing the smallest nod.
"And when one of those boundaries is crossed?" Roy Valentin chimed in from behind Luminous, projecting guarded hostility. "Words on parchment mean little when an undead vanguard marches past its grid."
"Any unauthorized crossing will trigger an immediate recall, investigation, and suspension of the responsible commander," Loki replied, his tone remaining even. "They do not have to trust Adalman. They only have to verify that he obeys the limits. Repeated or deliberate violations will allow Walpurgis to suspend Adalman's mandate and review the joint administration entirely."
"It still sounds remarkably like a disguised expansionist coalition," Roy pressed, looking around the table. "You establish two proxy rulers dependent on your backing, call it local autonomy, and keep a strategic realm under your total influence."
"Call it what you like, Roy," Loki said, his voice dropping into a cooler, heavier register. "I will accept any level of legitimate scrutiny Walpurgis demands. But I refuse any language or arrangement that treats Jistav's citizens as mere property attached to Clayman's empty seat. The people living there are not land tiles to be divided among us."
Loki paused, his gaze sweeping across the table, taking full ownership of the darker history underlying the conflict.
"Part of Adalman's mandate is preserving the remaining soul traces and building the containment infrastructure for the restoration I promised," Loki stated clearly. "Clayman built the system that treated those thirty thousand soldiers as expendable, and Yuuki's lies sent them charging into that canyon. But I was the one who killed them. That responsibility is mine. The actual resurrection has not begun. Before I attempt it, every recoverable identity must be recorded, every fragment stabilized, and a suitable body prepared for each soul. It is a slow, grueling effort to rebuild what was broken. Not a simple spell."
From the candidate's chair, Rimuru watched the room stop measuring Loki's power and start measuring his restraint. Standing behind him, Shizue watched with quiet intensity, while Diablo maintained his composed, watchful guard. Rimuru realized that Walpurgis was not merely asking whether Loki possessed the power to conquer Jistav. Everyone in the room already knew he could. They were evaluating whether a ruler powerful enough to enforce any answer possessed the discipline to establish a government that might eventually operate without him.
Across the table, Milim had paused her snacking, her wide eyes watching Loki with unusual stillness, while Frey and Carrion nodded in quiet understanding of the burden of command. Ramiris sat quietly above her seat, her usual hyperactive commentary subdued by the weight of sovereign accountability being laid bare.
Luminous remained silent for several long seconds, weighing every condition and calculating the political realities of the proposal.
"Add the containment boundaries, inspection rights, civilian exclusion zones, and breach procedures to the formal record," Luminous said at last, her eyes locking onto Loki. "If those terms are enforceable rather than decorative, Lubelius will not oppose the provisional administration."
Loki's proposal denied him control over Jistav's daily government while leaving him personally responsible for its guarantees. Authority was divided, but responsibility remained clear. The arrangement prevented a power vacuum without disguising annexation as relief, and Luminous's security conditions were now enforceable.
Guy Crimson let out a low, breathy hum, letting the room digest the resolution.
"Provisional joint governance under Mjurran and Adalman," Guy summarized, his deep voice carrying clearly off the star-black stone. "Strict containment boundaries for the undead, third-party monitoring, and zero direct annexation by Coleus. If the administration breaches these terms, Walpurgis will suspend its recognition and reopen the governing arrangement. Jistav's people will not become spoils merely because their provisional leaders fail."
Guy looked across the table, offering a final opportunity for objections. Dagruel gave a single, heavy nod of assent; Dino offered an indifferent shrug; and Leon offered no objection.
"Then the Jistav arrangement is provisionally accepted," Guy declared, his tone shifting as a dense wave of magicules flared outward from his seat.
Guy turned his sharp crimson eyes away from Loki, shifting his predatory focus across the grand table until his gaze locked directly onto Rimuru.
"Now that Jistav's provisional status is settled, we turn to the next question," Guy announced, his voice reverberating through the chamber. "Whether the newly awakened Rimuru Arashi possesses the strength and sovereignty to claim a permanent seat among us."
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