Despite being surprised at the manner at which the scroll was delivered the actual contents of scroll itself held no shock whatsoever. If anyone else were to obtain it they may be rather befuddled as it contained no details nor did the owl provide any. This was not a problem for the serpent though as they only needed a glance to figure everything out despite a complex encryption method that shocked the snake - information warfare didn’t exist yet after all - all it contained was a set of seven numbers. First three are geographic coordinates, next two are dimensional co-ords with the sixth holding the time and lastly how many seconds until the opportunity no longer exists.

An opportunity to directly meet a ‘little black cat’.

Clearly it was a test for the primordial god seed which did make the serpent slightly displeased yet at the same time they understood the principle. If they thought Chesire wasn’t worth the effort they would never give the worries about her actions a second consideration; meanwhile the mortal cat had limited time. It was hardly surprising she put more priority on efficient usage of her finite life.

Even if she wasn’t generous - fortunately there was plenty of time to get to the destination marked on the scroll. Tyrant wasted no time in heading to the area as they had long ago wanted to meet with the troublemaker in question.

The area they eventually reached was far from what one would expect a meeting between two intellectual titans (one of them literal) yet at the same time should have been obvious. First and foremost in the world's mind was the fact that Cheshire was a criminal. Whether she was truly righteous or not she couldn’t just show up right in front of the powers at large by appearing in a tea house… At the same time she was no coward.

Hiding away was clearly a strategy for her and not due to anything such as cowardice despite what many had confidently spouted. Although the serpent wasn’t sure of this before this meeting they were now completely convinced the cat was anything but a coward. The reason for this was quite obvious upon arriving at this location.

All around numerous varying mountainous spires that seemed like spires trying to cut through the air to fittingly reach the heavens. Piercing through the dark clouds that appeared to ripple with purple sparks at the wounds inflicted upon them; the tallest spire of all was completely incomparable to the others in height, width and sharpness. Around these monoliths of nature were myriad shadows that showed no fear of the sparks from above.

There was certainly reason to fear though as occasionally some foreign entity - likely trying to breach into their nests whether to steal an egg - revealed. Upon entering under those dark clouds purple lightning came down like an executioner's axe making it so, if their mangled corpse even hit the ground, they should be counted as extremely fortunate. This came as no surprise to Dealmaker as they recognised that lightning anywhere.

What was surprising was that the little cat was able to locate the nesting ground of the infamous azure dragon as the arrogant dragon wasn’t exactly welcoming to guests. There were few he was willing to share his resting location with - in that regard at least he seemed knowledgeable about how much of an asshole he was. If it weren’t for the unfitting scene at the base of this nest Tyrant may have believed that the little black cat had set them up.

Rather there was no time offered up to take in anything in except for that large toothy grin which was pointinly directed towards them.

A table was sat in the open with a chess board in clear view of the snake however the pieces upon it were unusual. Although there were certainly black pieces, as one would expect, the other side was not white but instead produced from solid gold. The golden pieces themselves were on the side Dealmaker had approached while the open seat seemed to be enticing the snake to sit down to take command.

On either side of the table though there were a series of women of various sizes with one unifying factor between them; they were all birds. Most (except for one graceful one dressed in yellow with a face mask) wore dark blacks & pure whites. A majority 23 wore cloaks of feathers to symbolise their heritage that made them infamous even before Cheshires shenanigans.

They were a group of opportunistic bounty hunters called {Vul’Toorez} who sadistically circled around from above while picking their opponent to literal pieces over time. If they didn’t die from the blood loss they would lose from the sickness as they cowardly made use of bioweaponry for which they had gained an immunity to. Due to their brutal & cowardly style they had managed to take down far stronger beings - this included quite a few famous & infamous dragons of essentially every type.

Stranger yet was the secretary-like figure dressed in yellow who gracefully stood on one side of the black pieces. This figure was obviously a Three-Legged golden crow which were the servants of the strongest phoenix. So what was someone like that doing with all these criminals who didn’t care about the justice phoenix prioritised. Additionally there was something unfitting about them; despite always wearing an outfit that was reminiscent of the others they didn’t appear to actually fit with the theme. It may have been the yellow, however Dealmaker unconsciously believed it may have more to do with their goal as well as mystery  rather than anything else…

There were also other types of birds including an average heighted hawk & falcon who looked almost interchangeable. Both would be overshadowed by a large busty eagle who bursted with confidence as all three of them dressed in simple suits with slight variation. These three were known as a strong party who fought covering each other's weaknesses.

Lastly there was the head of this flock of birds, also wearing a cloak of feathers, yet being more refined than the ragged feathers of the unruly {Vul’Toorez}. Long black hair with a couple strands of grey hair - small pair of glasses balanced upon the small bridge of her nose to stand in front of her large eyes filled with wisdom. She was no less voluptuous than the eagle yet she was nowhere as dense as shown by the staff she held in her left hand - complimented with a large book held in her other. Dealmaker recognised this figure as the god of space who betrayed her own kin; {Artemis of Wisdom} who was one of the most powerful elders of the powerful wind focused owl immortal beasts. In search for greater knowledge she completely turned her back on her own to follow the cat as a loyal cat resulting in her feather being dyed in an abyssal black.

To summarise it up; in front of Dealmaker was a small army of incredibly powerful individuals yet despite that the aura of the one behind them all was far more terrifying.

A thick black canvas was propped up to create a little cave in which an abyss of pure darkness formed to hide all inside. From the treacherous depths of the shadows was only an unsettlingly large toothy smile that seemed all consuming.

It was comparable to the feeling a pitiful guppy must get upon looking toward the gaping jaw of a hungry megalodon.

That was all that Dealmaker could see however it was also all they needed to see in order to know exactly who they were dealing with. Seeing the grin made them look around as if trying to find the brother yet slowly something stretched out the abyss - a malnourished and scarred hand with nails coated in metal - to slowly move a black knight forward. Within the silence the clacking of the piece against the board brought a tenseness to Dealmaker’s face.

Still they didn’t give in to cowardice so began to move forward her own pawns as the two quickly got started on their game. At the side the members of {Vul’Toorez} held kettles in their hand while the unnamed yellow figure seductively grinned at the chaotic scene. All the while Artemis served the figure shrouded in abyss milk & wine prepared by the others as the final trio seemed to be standing guard; unsurprising considering they were sat in front of the ‘final boss’.

The fight between the cat & snake went above the bird’s head nevertheless nobody speaked a single word as Dealmaker put ahead winding trap after trap. Due to this many major pieces were lost before being able to reach their full potential, however that was hardly the end of the game for black side. For black it seemed they put more effort into information than overall success so were more than finding sacrificing piece after piece like a gambler who was uncaring about their losses no matter how major. And, in this pursuit for information she gave up anything, even having the all important queen be the third piece she lost.

While many may see this as a game set in stone the end result was an army rising from the shadows in the form of the pawns being able to instead be used to their maximum. At the end of it they were both left with only a single piece left each.

A pair of black & gold kings stood proudly in the middle of the board after having sacrificed all their other pieces….

From this result a croaking & dry laugh broke out from the abyss containing a madness that could not be compared to mere mortals. At this point Tyrant no longer believed Cheshire to be a weakling mortal either. Their eyes which could see far more than most, even if they were physically weak, told them a terrifying truth.

Somewhere within that abyss there was a third eye which held an even darker abyss that wished to devour all. Although it was closed Dealmaker could feel it shuddering as if trying to open after a long time asleep - behind that eye was a fearsome divinity which easily reached heights which even the other primordial gods couldn’t reach. Only thing comparable would be that of Atlas yet they weren’t completely sure.

To top this terrifying being off… They should be dead.

This wasn’t an expression of disgust nor a medical analysis but a mere fact according to the red ribbons of fate. Every mortal being, and even gods to some extent, are bound by fate which is why the mighty Atlas was able to be brought down. Despite that this entity somehow had fought against the malicious fate pushed upon her even when the primordial goddess had obviously been tampering with her quite a lot.

What was unsettling to Dealmaker wasn’t the fact she managed to overcome fate though but instead the fact that it gave some insight to her goal…

Now that was terrifying.

It was only then, with unnerving realisation, that those grinding teeth parted to let her voice carry out from the abyss.

“My homuncular {Mafia - Maltreated Avians & Feline Intrigued in Agony} happened upon some beguiling information you may want to act on… There subsits another primordial god seed in the world of potential that one can only claim to be completely… Absolute…” <Cheshire>

Long breaks were taken between each sentence as if the being in front of the serpent found it hard to even speak. Then again, with their constant struggle just to live, if this was the case it would not be surprising at all. Even then Dealmaker couldn’t find themselves pitying the entity yet it appeared that she didn’t want this pity either.

Tyrant wanted to say something yet the sound of cracking began to echo out all around making them finally take their focus off the cat for the first time since arriving. What they saw was truly mortifying as it wasn’t a case of simple glass breaking; nor was it even the sound of someone's bones being ground to dust. Instead an explosion spread out over those countless earthen spires from which cracks in space itself began to settle. From between those cracks the fearsome beasts of void crawled out where the horrific screams of the mighty dragons flying above could be heard.

Being as knowledgeable as they were Dealmaker was also aware it was essentially suicide to stay around here any longer. They had no real way to deal with those chains since it was unlikely that the void could be influenced by the power of covenants. It was then that a manic laughter broke out which was soon combined by those birds surrounding the table.

“Mucheche*cough*hehehe*cough**cough*haha*cough*ha~!” <Cheshire>

Now they realised why Cheshire was here as well as the true insanity of the cat who hid behind the abyss. In truth Dealmaker felt as if nearly all the birds themselves, even the malevolent bounty hunters, were only laughing out of sheer fear of what would happen if Cheshire thought they didn’t find her ‘joke’ funny. At the same time they felt as if all their worries & fears about the ‘thing’ in front of them had been completely affirmed.

Even now the void was leaking out from the wounded space; spreading around with no control or end in sight. No fear could be seen in the little black cat who just remained sitting confidently under their thick canvas that blocked out all light. This wasn’t due to confidence she had in her servants but rather she was finding the suffering of these confident beasts around her to truly be more hilarious than threatening.

“Why… Are you helping those mortals?” <Dealmaker>

Dealmaker couldn’t help asking despite being well aware of the answer.

“Do you not already know… Suffice to say that there will always be a greater debt incurred from the side that gives the impression to be losing… Mortals who do not have any worth are given worth by me - in this regard they will be greatly indebted to me. Meanwhile I gain with little effort nor time… Though I’m curious…” <Cheshire>

Hearing that strange phrase toward the end, Tyrant tilted their head while having a sudden horrible feeling down their spine. Sure enough the words spoken next gave a sudden burst of insight despite the innocent nature of them. One that brought a sadistic grin upon the kitten.

“Where is the azure dragon…?” <Cheshire>

It was at that precise moment that the world, no realm, itself began to shake as if its foundation was suddenly coming apart. Without so much as another word Dealmaker turned around to rush towards the ocean with haste beyond anything seen before. In return to this rudeness the little black cat only broke out into another sadistic laughter that combined with the nervous laughter of her servants and horrific exclamations of the dragons behind her.