THE WORLDThe Council was born after a long and brutal war through direct intervention from God. Well, inasmuch as God can give intervention. After the Great Phoenix War, God sent a stone tablet. If this sounds familiar, it should, stone tablets are one of the things God can do without risk of deus ex machina. A group of people gathered from different nations had met on an island to discuss how to keep the world from falling into ruin, or becoming just like they had heard of the original Earth with its endless wars and government meddling. They despaired that they would be able to make a difference, when suddenly, God gave them exactly what they needed.

    The stone tablet contained a list of laws, each of which were given roman numerals. It looked like the U.S. Constitution, until one looked closer. The laws were as follows:

    I. A governing body, thereafter known as the Anti-Government Council, or simply the Council, shall meet in this place. The Council consists leaders from each town, and only that town, unless there is an adjoining castle. Each leader can either be an elected official (such as a mayor), a hereditary official (such as a king or queen), military official (such as a daimyo or general), or other individual (such as elder, chief concubine, or shrine leader). Military leaders shall govern until defeated or killed in battle, elected officials rule for not more than ten years with re-election not more than three times, hereditary officials reign until they abdicate or die, and lastly, other officials follow whatever rules constitute their own power base (for instance, the chief concubine who shall no longer perform is relieved of office). The Council shall not be centralized government, and shall be committed to retaining sovereign towns. In order to change the nature of the Council, all members must be present to vote. All rights and privileges listed below shall be in effect so long as the Council remains.

    II. The Council shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion thereof or establishing a state religion. Nor abridging the freedom of speech. The right to free speech is granted by God above, no earthly power from either the government or private companies is allowed to restrict another person''s right to speak. Nor shall there be any law forbidding a free press, and any are allowed to write as they will without restriction. Nor shall any law prevent the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Council for a redress of grievances.

    III. Each government within the Council may hold its own army, yet there must also be a private militia to defend a free state. The rights of the people to hold arms in order to hunt, to fight, and to defend themselves against corrupt government shall not be restricted. The state shall not restrict this law except during imprisonment due to crime, and no false charges shall be used as pretext to disarm the populace. At all times, the technology of weapons should not be out of reach for self-defense, nor shall the state be sufficiently advanced to oppress the common people.

    IV. All citizens have the rights to be free of government authority in their private lives. No police, soldier, or other government officer is allowed to stay within a property without consent or warrant. Nor do any such officials have the right to conduct surveillance without consent or valid reason. Nor shall any of the people therein, such as one''s spouse, be molested in any way by them. Sёarch* The Novёl?ire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    V. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated. No such searches may be done without consent, whether or not there would be reasonable suspicion. A citizen is entitled any use of force to defend their property, and the lives therein from any intruder, provided no one outside the property is damaged (besides the intruder). A person cannot be arrested while in their own home.

    VI. No person shall be held to trial for a capital crime except under personal review by members of the Council. Nor shall anyone be compelled to testify in such a way that they testify against themselves. Nor shall anyone be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law in court. Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without compensation sufficient to build new property.

    VII. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial and educated jury of the town wherein the crime was committed. In capital cases mentioned above, the entire Council shall convene in the town to act as judges. They shall also enjoy the right to know the nature of their crime or have all charges dropped, and they shall have the right to know their accusers. All accused have the right to witnesses and lawyers in their defense. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor unjust tortures inflicted. A person may not be turned into stone, burned forever, have their soul trapped inside an object, or otherwise be punished beyond their natural lifespan.

    VIII. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the regions governed by the Council. Nor is a person allowed to be paid below the minimum of which would represent enough to afford housing, food, and clothing for a month''s wages. In the case of room and board, this requires that the person is not starved nor kept sleep deprived. Nor shall any taxes be levied on the direct earnings of another. A worker deserves his wages.

    IX. All people are born equal under the law. This is not to say the government grants equality, this is the natural state of being. As a result of good or bad choices, a person can enter into poverty or become arrested, be deported, or otherwise suffer. Yet all people, of any race or sex or magical status are born equal, with rights such as that of voting for elected officials, holding office in such areas, to buy or build property, to borrow or repay debt, to apply for citizenship provided one obeys the laws of the area, and to attend to one''s own needs through hunting, fishing, tent camping, or build fires in any area outside town. No tax shall be raised on land itself, although housing in poor repair may be taxed, in order to affect repairs. Any citizen may refuse these repairs, as they are a service.

    X. The powers not delegated to the Council, are reserved to the people. The rights given shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people. Any such unjust “rights” which create specialized groups that hold unique privileges can and shall be abolished, or revised to work properly so as to uphold all rights given above.

    To say that the Council gave a great number of rights and freedoms is probably an understatement. Though they were deeply hypocritical and very much problematic, they nonetheless did a great deal of good in the world around them. However, everything rested on that one clause, “All rights and privileges listed below shall be in effect so long as the Council remains.” For today, something was about to change.

    It happened rather suddenly. Elder Lajila called to order the emergency meeting. The regular meeting had gone poorly, on account of King Yama''s demands. The follow-up meeting to hash out details of the arrangement had met with no solution, and a third meeting was required, this emergency meeting to discuss seriously what to do since these demands apparently could not be agreed upon. This was an important meeting, as the order of business was to force abdication of King Yama by vote. This time though, the walls of the tower where they convened echoed. This time, the room felt cold. The Council was missing a majority of its members.

    Lajila spoke first, true to her position as leader of the Council. “I call to order this meeting of the Anti-Government Council,” she said before looking around, “...why are there so few people at this meeting?” The guru of Shoten spoke up, “There has been unrest in the area around Zuran, so he was busy.” The Kirin chief spoke next, “Phoenix and Kushiyama have declared war on each other, so neither representative was able to arrive here.” The mayor of Ghobli shrugged, “Honestly, I don''t see why it has been so hard to show up. Our nation has been doing quite well, for the time.”

    His smug attitude wasn''t well received. The chief exorcist of Goji answered, “Too well in fact! You''ve bought the silence of some of the nearby nations so they wouldn''t speak against you in Council. How dare you, Mayor!” The Water King also argued with him, “You''ve even dumped into our oceans from your islands as part of your nation''s businesses. Speaking of which, I''d like to know just how you earn your money!” He angrily responded, “I''ll have you know I earned it honestly from trade with the evil wizard Yazim Jianne! I mean...”

    Hinata''s elder Lajila got to the point of stress where the veins in her face were showing. “Enough,” she fumed, “Bribery, war, consorting with dark wizards? What has happened with the Council?!? We used to be devoted to keeping countries autonomous, now look at us! We start wars, meddle in trade, and take hush money! Very well. I have decided. We shall vote. All those in favor of disbanding the Council?” Without exception, the guru of Shoten, the Kirin chief, the exorcist of Goji, and the Water King also said, “I abstain.” Lajila sighed, “I see. So none of you care, one way or another? Okay, then. I need your vote to decide, then, Mayor of Ghobli.” His answer was a foregone conclusion. And just like that, he voted to disband. Lajila threw up her hands, “So, thousands of years of history, and we just quit? Fine! Build your empires, and leave my sight!” She walked off in a huff.” In order to fully disband, the entire Council was needed, not just one vote. But no leader and most of the members out of the picture was enough to retire it until further notice.

    In another part of the New Earth, war was beginning. It raged on between Phoenix and Kushiyama. Things had been bad diplomatically, so Phoenix sent a diplomatic unit guarded by soldiers to smooth things out. However, things only became worse when a black man in Kushiyama, an Atticus Crispy, had been pelted by rocks by some visiting soldiers from Phoenix. Regular citizens got involved, and rioting took place everywhere.

    Well, everywhere but a few places. Hinata managed to stay out of the conflict because they were protected by treaty as a tourist town, unless they did something like attack other countries. Heaven of course because of its holy protection, and Hell also was not attacked because it was too hot for armored troops and nobody wanted to go there anyway. There were a few countries that managed to stay out because they were in the middle of nowhere and nobody wanted anything from them (like Gruumi), or were so heavily defended and self-sufficient that they basically could go on as if nothing had changed (Aiken Monastery was left alone), but strangest of all was Opening. Opening was a valuable town, with trained military who could be convinced to changed sides for enough money, and even some farms and merchants to supply resources. Troops stormed there ready to raid Opening for all it was worth, but as soon as they got anywhere near, wind storms knocked their air troops away, and thick vines pulled troops back. Those attacking survived, but were so shaken that they simply retreated. Soon, many troops would refuse orders to take Opening.

    This was a total war so anything went. Traders often gave away wood or blankets that spread disease when used. What was left of the stock market after the New Earth wasn''t terribly substantial, but bankers would buy low and then sell suddenly to screw with the market, or buy massive shares of markets controlled by the other country to gain 51% shares. Fighters came from all over with bows and swords and all sorts of armor and shields. Alchemists built golems wielding weapons that the Council frowned upon, and used elemental alchemy to wreak massive destruction. The same was true of the wonder-workers, offensive wizards flung lightning or fire or ice around. Clerics healed and revived troops, and necromancers sent forth zombies. There was even rumored to be instances of using cosmic energy (what was formerly called nuclear energy, but this also included the use of magic to produce cleaner radiation) as wonder-workers gathered in groups of thirteen to use mass destruction ritual magic. Some soldiers even posed as “refugees”, dressing in poor quality clothing and demanding amnesty. They would later find their way to transportation golems and drive them into crowded areas, use bombs to destroy buildings, collect massive amounts of government services to collapse the government, or simply outwork the citizens resulting in poverty and starvation for the citizens. The conflict was to last for years. In order to restore order, a Council was needed. But none existed at the moment, or would for the next few years.

    NEVRAS

    The Council had fallen. I had heard the news on returning to Kirin. As we tried to move north, our little group was thwarted by troops stationed at the mountain pass. We had to head south again, and since Kirin''s port was also blocked, we wandered towards the nearest port, a small fishing dock in a remote portion of the continent.

    We were adrift. Aside from Kirin, we were in the middle of nowhere and it was becoming cold. Not that we could really freeze to death with Ambrosia''s passive defenses against the environment, but it was still uncomfortable. We went inside the tent to stay inside our party town for the night, but when the morning came, it was just as cold as ever. The party town provided us with cheap rations of grain-bean buns, yet we needed real food. We gathered some wood and built a fire in the snow. It was damp, and hard to maintain, but gradually the land dried enough that we could maintain the fire. And maintain we did. I used my impossibly sharp obsidian-edged blade to slice through nearby trees, chop off thick logs, and I kept feeding the fire. We only had to find some sort of animal to cook. I sent Aqorm off to hunt something, but before she could leave, a bunny ran up and jumped into the fire. By the time it was salvaged, it was already cooked. Seriously, that was some Osamu Tesuka stuff.

    After a very light meal, considering the size of our group (Aqorm decided not to eat , on account of getting freaked out), we continued on. Our path was blocked by a Heart Eater. It resembled not much more than a giant scaled ovoid mass with a mouth similar to that of a lamprey. The circular maw had more rows of teeth than I cared to deal with right now, but thankfully it couldn''t move. We could just walk away from this stationary creature... only, as we tried to walk away, we just got closer. I noticed it was breathing in, and a fair amount of air appeared to be getting sucked in. Uh oh.

    Thinking quickly, I used one of my techniques in an unorthodox way. You see, my techniques are more than just attacks. I can use the Wave Thrust for digging and tilling soil. The Speed Slash was good for chopping vegetables up. The Dragon Roar technique, well... I guess you could use it to demolish houses. In any case, the Vacuum Slice could create lethally sharp slice by using Void energy to remove sections of a creature, but I could also alter this to a technique known as Vacuum Spin. This produced a hole that could suck small creatures in. It usually was worthless in battle, except for getting rid of creatures smaller than a cat, and I had to stay still while using it, but for the purposes of this use, it was sufficient. The two vacuums canceled each other out, despite the mouth of the Heart Eater being much larger. “Everyone stand behind me!” I shouted. They did as they were told. The vortex was constant, so I maintained my own vacuum, although I could feel myself gradually getting tired. The creature didn''t sit quietly though.

    It screamed, breaking the vortex for the barest second, an attack loosely called a Wave of Destruct. This effect created a harsh vibration. I started bleeding internally. I had just enough time to dodge out of the way before it also shook the ground in our direction. I was spent, and I was bleeding from the lungs to the kidneys, and even after Elias healed the lot of us from massive damage, I had enough physical trauma that I needed to sit down for a bit. If Elias had been weaker in his healing, I would have died instantly as liver and spleen damage filled my system with toxins, but he quickly followed up the healing with anti-venom techniques. Despite being fully healed, this sort of treatment put strain on my body, so I would understandably need a rest. The others attacked or used magic for quite awhile, but the creature had thick skin and it was taking awhile. Attack after attack the beastie took, but it gave about as bad as it got. The creatures in this land... This wasn''t even a boss creature but a wandering beast, but look how strong it was! Seeing damage wasn''t doing much good against the rugged thing, and wondering just when Elias would become just as I was, Ambrosia started with her whole martial arts dance routine. This one was a different one from before. It must be the Crest of Thanatos.