Its smooth top was beautifully inlaid with veins of living vines that pulsed with a soft, natural luminescence.

He continued; "I have to say... thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for honoring my rather sudden request and agreeing to come all the way here to Verdant Spire today."

He sat positioned at one elegantly curved end of the large, oval-shaped table that dominated the wide and truly impressive great hall.

The entire hall itself had been formed entirely from massive, towering ironwood trunks that rose like ancient pillars.

While strange, twisting vines had woven themselves into graceful, elegant arches high overhead.

Soft, golden sunlight filtered gently down through the living canopy far above, casting ever-shifting, dappled patterns of light and shadow that danced slowly across the faces and figures of all the gathered leaders.

At the exact opposite end of that same grand table sat a visibly irritated and pissed-off Elara.

Her powerful, yet incredibly feminine, arms were folded tightly across her chest as she stared straight ahead with a hard, unyielding expression etched deeply into her features.

Behind her stood Lotus and Marina, both remaining perfectly silent and watchful, their postures straight and alert, bodies poised and ready for anything that might unfold.

Several fierce-looking Amazons stood guard at the wide entrance of the hall, their spears and swords gripped firmly in strong hands, their sharp eyes scanning every single movement in the room with intense, unwavering vigilance.

Positioned directly behind Renard stood two distinct figures.

The first was the fiery and formidable Amazon known as Izra, the first-born daughter of Elara herself.

Her long silver hair had been carefully braided into one thick, impressive line that cascaded down her back.

And her dark eyes carried a nearly mocking glint of amusement as she watched her clearly grumpy mother with barely concealed delight.

The second figure behind him remained calm and perfectly composed.

She smiled in a hauntingly professional and elegant manner while her gaze rested thoughtfully upon the short Fairy Queen, who was currently busy nagging at a pink-haired fairy standing right beside her seat.

This woman possessed striking blue eyes that seemed to sparkle with devious intelligence, and her blonde hair was tied up in an intricate, beautifully feminine style made of elegant braids and wrapped coils that gracefully framed her face.

"It was an invitation extended directly from you, Renard, we cannot refuse," a pink-haired woman with sharp, piercing amber eyes responded in a cool and measured tone.

She held a long, elegant kiseru pipe gracefully between her slender fingers, the faint and fragrant scent of her smoke curling slowly upward into the air around her.

Behind her was a Tengu and a golden haired bunny girl with red eyes, and a scandalous but regal gown.

She continued; "Ordinarily speaking, an empty threat coming from some savage beast would be of absolutely no concern to someone like me."

"C’mon now, Sakura... please, play nice here, would you?" Renard furrowed his brows deeply and scolded the beast queen with a long, tired sigh that carried the weight of someone who had done this many times before. "We’re all here together, so let’s try to keep things civil at least."

"Yeah! What he said!" The silver-haired fairy with her signature twin braids snapped back almost immediately as well, her delicate butterfly wings fluttering and agitating rapidly behind her small frame in clear agitation.

She whined; "Elara even went out of her way to let all of us come here to play— I m-mean, to see her after all these long centuries apart. You should at least be a little grateful for that kindness!"

"Silence, Titania..." Elara glared sharply across the wide table at the petite girl who was practically shouting her words for everyone to hear.

Her voice cut through the air like a whip. "This is not playtime... I know exactly what you did to me..."

Titania immediately clamped her mouth shut tight, her small body going perfectly still as if frozen in place.

The table was so enormously large that even when she sat down properly, only her chest and head barely managed to reach the surface, which made her appear even smaller and more delicate than she usually did.

Standing right behind the tiny fairy were two other popular figures.

First came the former superior spirit of creation herself, Vaelora;

Dressed in a wonderful flowing white gown that draped elegantly around her form, cinched neatly at the waist with a delicate golden clip that shimmered softly with its own inner light.

And right next to her sat a woman dressed in a smart, professional-looking pale green long-sleeved top paired with a short green skirt that suited her perfectly.

She had striking green crystal eyes that seemed to gleam with confidence, and her green hair was tied up neatly in two cute twin buns.

This was none other than Isabelle, who had long since proclaimed herself to be a rival to Lotus.

The rest of the gathered leaders included;

The ogre princess Dynamis, with one burly and intimidating ogre, and one more slender one, standing respectfully and silently behind her seat like loyal protectors.

The dwarf king Mótsognir sat comfortably with his reddish-brown hair and full, thick beard that covered much of his face.

His noticeable pot belly was pressing gently against the edge of the grand table.

The Elven empress Belladova watched everything unfolding around her with the usual dignity and grace.

Her long elegant ears twitching slightly at every sound, her light green hair tied back neatly in a simple ponytail, and delicate glasses perched precisely on the bridge of her nose.

These were not ordinary people by any stretch of the imagination.

Without any exaggeration, all of them together were more than capable of destroying entire worlds if they truly decided, on a whim, to pool their immense powers together in perfect unison.

"I know that I asked all of us to come together here today specifically because of that rather terrible threat Elara made," Renard began speaking again after a brief pause, his tone suddenly shifting into something far more casual and relaxed as he leaned back comfortably in his seat, letting his shoulders loosen a little.

He breathed; "but honestly, there’s really no need for any of us to be so incredibly uptight and tense about everything, people! C’mon now! We’ve mostly all known one another for many centuries at this point; aren’t we... well, you know... something close to frien—"

"No!"

Everyone there managed to mutter at the same time, their eyes already bored of the sentiment.