All MILFs are Mine

Chapter 386: Gorgon Mountain

Vandiem Royal Castle….

The air inside the grand meeting room was suffocating.

An oval table of polished, dark oak anchored the center of the space, surrounded by men whose faces were carved with grim anxiety. On the far left sat Adwin, his powerful posture rigid, his sharp eyes locked onto a detailed world map spread out before him as if trying to read the future in its ink.

*Creak.*

The heavy doors groaned open. A man with silver hair stepped into the room, a palpable wave of dread trailing in his wake.

“Evening, gentlemen… unfortunately, I can’t call it a ‘good evening,’ as a very big problem is walking towards us as we speak,” he announced, his voice tight but steady.

He moved toward the front wall, the rhythmic tap of his boots the only sound in the tense silence. “My name is Frenir. I am an alchemist, and a mage as well, although I am not the best at any of my classes and by class, I am just a farmer. But as they say: a jack of all trades is a master of none, yet oftentimes better than a master of one.

I will be addressing the tragedy that we have brought upon ourselves. Let’s begin.”

With a sharp flick of his wand, a massive canvas map unrolled across the stone wall, snapping into place..

“Gentlemen, as we all know, there are thirteen known human kingdoms. Out of those thirteen, only three share a common mining site: the Gorgon Mountain. We didn’t know where that name originated, as all historical records related to the mountain were burned in a great fire centuries ago.

We also didn’t know who the mountain truly belonged to. So, the three kingdoms, Vandiem, Rowanmen, and my own kingdom, Grundum, decided to share it instead of going to war. It had sufficient iron ore mines to fulfill the needs of all three nations.”

Suddenly, Frenir choked on his words, his expression turning stark and hollow.

Seeing the young man falter, Adwin leaned forward, his fierce gaze softening into a sympathetic expression. “Son… you don’t have to do it. I can get another strategist to explain your findings if you want to grieve for your loss.”

Frenir swallowed hard, shaking his head. “N-No… Please, no one can explain this better than me, sir.” He took a breath, anchoring himself against the edge of the table.

“Three days ago, many of our workers who were mining the ores on the south-western side of the Gorgon Mountain didn’t return home in the evening. We immediately dispatched a platoon of elite guards to search for them, but unfortunately, even that platoon of our best guards didn’t make it back that night.

“The next morning, we prepared a full army of knights and raided the mountains to search for the missing men. This army was being led by my father, King Trevor J. Raymond. The force consisted of twenty-four hundred knights and fifteen hundred mages, out of which three were royal mages.”

Frenir leaned forward, his knuckles turning white against the oak. “Now, gentlemen, I want you to focus on this next piece of detail very carefully, as it will explain the absolute depth of the situation we are in right now. Out of an army of thirty-nine hundred men… only thirteen made it back.”

A collective wave of shock rippled through the room. The hardened army generals, the proud royal mages, and the calculating strategists all paled. Some placed their hands over their mouths in disbelief, while others began to sweat under their heavy robes.

An utter, deathly silence covered the room. Adwin’s face turned incredibly dark.

“W-What h-happened to the others?” one of the strategists finally stammered, breaking the silence.

“The thirteen who came back… ten of them were in a state of catatonic shock and are still being treated in our church,” Frenir said, his voice dropping into a grave whisper.

“One was brutally injured beyond recognition, and the remaining two provided me with answers that made me question reality itself. Their exact words were ‘There were statues, and they moved… They killed, and they can’t be killed.ʼ”

Frenir began to pace, the shadows of the room stretching over his silver hair.

“After this incident, I was forced to go to that mining site myself with a detachment of guards and mages to search for my father. I also wanted to find out what the knights saw that made them so terrified.

As I ventured deep into the forests, I found the empty mining sites, but there were absolutely no traces of human life. No blood, no bodies.

But after searching for a while, I found footprints that led me to a cave entirely unknown to all three kingdoms. It was sealed shut with massive boulders. There were noises coming from inside, noises as if someone was grinding thousands of huge stones together at the exact same time.

“The moment I ordered the mages to remove the boulders, the noises stopped instantly. And once the entrance was cleared… I saw something that would be impossible to believe if you didn’t see it with your own eyes.

There were thousands of statues stuffed inside that cave. But these statues weren’t normal stone carvings. They were the exact same men who went missing in those very mountains”

“Kid… are you telling us that someone turned everyone into stone?” one of the army generals interrupted, his brow furrowed in deep skepticism.

“Someone, or something,” Frenir corrected, his hands slamming flat onto the table as he leaned over the maps. “But that is not the real problem. Those statues had a terrifying property. The ones at the front of the cave were standing perfectly still, as stone should be. But the statues in the back…”

“What?” the general pressed.

“…The statues in the back were alive. They were moving, and they were observing me just as I observed them.”

“That’s stupidity!” a royal mage scoffed, standing up with a highly offended, serious expression. “There is no magic in existence that can turn flesh to stone, and even if it did, what would be the point of petrifying them if they can still move?”

“I am not as wise as you, sir,” Frenir replied coldly, unbothered by the outburst. “But I remembered the words of the surviving knight, and I realized something crucial: the statues don’t move when light falls upon their bodies. I haves tested it. Why don’t you come with me and see it for yourselves? I have brought one of them back. Please, follow me.”

Frenir turned on his heel and walked out of the meeting room.

Without a word, Adwin stood up from his chair, his imposing aura shifting the room. Instantly, the rest of the council fell into line, their arguments dying in their throats as they quietly followed him out into the corridor.