The Dragon Girl’s Ascension Vol 4
Table of Contents
Putting Things Back In Their Rightful
Place
Ice
Throne
In a large city filled with Beastmen, inside a
large mansion, a Tigerman sat behind his desk looking at the reports handed to
him. “So this strange place is no longer our beast kingdom?”
“Sir, from what we can tell, we are surrounded
by jungle and strange structures. We have even found many races we have never
seen before. Some of which have taken refuge in our city.” A Goatman replied.
He pushed the glasses on his face up as he looked at his boss.
“I see. Make sure they are well taken care of.
We do not wish to make enemies of anyone just yet.” The Tigerman sighed as he
looked at the reports. He had only felt a strong shaking, and then he found
that the view from his window had drastically changed. Now, he was tearing his
fur out, trying to make sense of it all.
“I will do as you say,” Logan replied. “But
Sir Harland, what if this causes the other nobles to start an uprising?”
“Don’t worry about that. Once they see one
noble family wiped out, they will surely keep quiet. The thing nobles fear the
most is losing their status. To be honest, I wish to do away with such a
system.” Sir Harland answered, his eyes narrowing. “Don’t hold back, Logan.
There is no one here to protect the nobles any longer.”
“Understood…..” Logan turned to go do as he
was told but stopped when something came to mind. “Sir Harland, it seems the
dragon princess is in the city center…..”
“What!? Why is dragon royalty here!?” Sir
Harland cried out. He was shocked. He did not know when the last time a dragon
came to a beastkin city. Even if they were all related in a way, the beast
kingdom was separate from the kingdom run by dragons!
“I am not sure, but she is wearing what seems
to be priestess robes and is talking about some kind of ice Goddess. What’s
strange is she is protected by a group of soldiers that are all mixed races.
From humans to even elves.” Logan was perplexed when he heard about this, so he
went out to take a look himself.
“Let me get ready. I must meet with Her
Highness. Maybe she knows about our current situation if she is running around like this.” Sir Harland stood up. His mane swung in the
breeze, caused by his quick movements.
“I will take you there…” Logan was not sure if
this was the best of ideas since it seemed the dragon princess had gone nuts.
Twenty minutes later….
“The Ice Goddess Desaray is a kind, benevolent
Goddess who cares not for race. She is kind to all and is willing to take all
under her wing! As you can see just from those around me, all races are seen as
equal in our wonderful Holy Kingdom of Serenity.” At An’ne’s words, all the
guards sent to protect her puffed out their chests proudly. They were genuinely
proud of their kingdom.
“As High Priestess, I only ask that you see
our Ice Goddess as a kind Goddess who is worthy of your worship. We do not ask
for money. We do not ask for anything in return. Only your love for our ice
Goddess who is willing to help all those in need. Show her your faith, and she
will rain down happiness upon all of you.” An’ne was giving her best
performance from the bottom of her heart. The feeling she felt for her Goddess
was oozing out.
“Princess An’ne!” Sir Harland rushed over. He
was out of breath from trying to get here as quickly as possible.
“Hmmm? Sir Harland? It’s nice to see you. How
have you been? I do not think I have seen you since the alliance talks ten
years back.” An’ne smiled brightly as she saw Harland. “Did you come to listen
to my sermon as well?”
Sir Harland was a bit confused, but when he
looked around and saw thousands of beast kin standing there looking at him, he
was shocked. He had never expected so many people to be drawn in by the
princess. “Princess, what do you…”
“I… I see….” Sir Harland furrowed his brow. He
began to wonder if the princess had really lost her mind. But when he looked
around at the guards around her, he was shocked to see even Toblins and Gorcs!
“This…. What kind of kingdom did you run into?”
Shaking his head, unable to make sense of the
situation, he looked up at An’ne and asked: “When you are done, can you please
come to my estate? I would like to speak to you about this world.”
“Sure. I also wish to speak to you about
making The Church of the Ice Goddess a state religion.” An’ne replied with a
bright smile. She had no idea her sermon had actually gained Desaray another
two thousand followers in the short time she had appeared.
Current Followers: 6325
Inside Sir Harland’s estate, An’ne and her
entourage were currently sitting inside a large office. An’ne sat on the gray
couch while General Garret and his men stood behind her with their hands behind
their backs. “Princess, I…”
“High Priestess.” An’ne interrupted Sir
Hartland. “I have long given up the title of princess in the name of my Goddess
to be her devout follower. Even if my own father and mother came to me now and
asked me to return to the royal family, I would turn them down. After all, not
even my parents can match up to my Goddess. Not that they would care since it
would be one less child to fight over the throne. But let
me tell you this: in our Holy Kingdom, there is no such thing as infighting. We
have a single princess, our Goddess’s daughter, who is too cute not to love.”
“Right….” Sir Harland was having a hard time
dealing with An’ne’s way of always praising her Goddess. But he did not dare
say it out loud. No matter what, even if she denies it or not, she is still
part of the dragon clan’s royal family. “Ahem… Then… High Priestess, I would
like to ask you if you know anything about the current state of things. We just
suddenly appeared in a new location with strange ruins.”
“You speak of the merger. Yes, the same
happened to me. It was where I met my Goddess, who kindly took me in even
though she had just met me. I, who was lost and had no place to return to, was
given shelter, food, and even clothing, all for free. I spent days lazing
around, and everything was provided for me. But as I got to know the people of
Serenity and how they went about their daily activities, I found what a utopia
the Holy Kingdom of Serenity truly was.
“Everyone had their own jobs. If you needed
work, someone would do what they can to find a task that suits you the best.
The people were friendly. There was no crime. No poverty. The different races
all live in harmony without worrying about food, clothing, or shelter.
“When I first rode into your city, I noticed
the distinction between the rich and the poor. From the clothing they wear to
the places they can eat. This is not anything like Serenity, where everyone
lives and works in the same manner. Even our Goddess would live in a simple
abode if not for the fact that the people she ruled over wanted her to have a
palace of her own.” An’ne once more trailed off from the original question.
“Ah, yes. The merger is a merger between this
world and our own. You can think of it as parts of our world coming to this
one. From what I know, we are already on the third merger. Apostle Juna told me
this world was once one without magic. It ran off of what is called science,
and because of the merger, it destroyed the world we once knew as our world,
bringing mana to this world as well as the system. It changed the people of
this world and killed many.
“Goddess Desaray was originally from this
world as well. But after the merger, she gained the powers of a Goddess. Now,
she’s working to provide a home for her people, a place for those without one,
and a sanctuary for those who wish to make our holy kingdom their own. Monsters
were not a thing of this world yet. When the first merger happened, my Goddess
fought for her life and prevailed. She helped her loved ones and did her best
to survive.
“Even after losing her family as the land
split and rose into the air, she did not give up. She met new friends. Worked
hard and leveled up. She became stronger than most people in our original
world. But she has never attacked those who do not try to harm the innocent.
She will not see you as an enemy unless you do something to make it so she
does. She is so kind that every citizen in Serenity worries about her being
taken advantage of. You can say we look after her just as much as she looks
after us.” The more he heard, the more Sir Harland felt like this Ice Goddess
was truly a saint of some kind. A mortal who was being put up on a pedestal. He
was not sure how he felt about this.
“This… I will need to think about it. All the
information you have given me just now needs to be mulled over.” Sir Hartland
was unsure what he should think. From what he could tell, the princess in front
of him was not arrogant in the slightest and seemed to truly love this Ice
Goddess with her entire being. He was unsure of what to do, but he had to admit
he wished to meet this Ice Goddess himself. “Lets… Let’s set up a meeting with
your Goddess, and we can discuss the rest in fine detail. You may stay as long
as you wish. I will not stop you from holding sermons in the streets for the
time being.”
⧫⧫⧫
Deep in the dungeon on the third floor,
Desaray looked at her status menu and furrowed her brow. “How did I get so many
new followers!?”
Current Followers: 8456
Desaray was stumped. She looked at her quickly
rising follower bar in confusion. “This… What’s going on?”
“Your
Holiness? What’s wrong?” Juna asked. She could see something was wrong.
“My followers… It’s jumping up like crazy!”
Desaray exclaimed.
“Ah… That is probably An’ne. I kind of maybe…
just a little bit… You know… Suggested that she go to the Beast-kin city and
spread the word…” Juna looked away from Desaray as she said this and scratched
her chin. She did not know if she did the right thing or not, but she hoped she
did.
“Thank you.” Desaray beamed Juna a smile,
which caused Juna to blush. “If this keeps going up as it is. I think by
tomorrow, I can finally advance a realm.” Desaray had already hit level 64 and
had even gained six percent more in her ice affinity.
[Name]: Desaray Harris
[Race]: Ice Dragon Goddess
[Current Realm] Mortal
[Age]: 19
[Level]: 64
[Monster Rank]: E
[Realm Advance Requirements]: Reach Level 50,
Kill 1 thousand enemies, Raise your affinity with Ice to 70%, Create a domain
with 10,000 followers
[Evolution Requirements]: Reach level 100,
Kill 2 Demigods, Complete 3 level 100+ dungeons solo
[HP]: 34978/34978
[MP]: 27293/27293
[Elemental Affinity]: Ice (71%)
[Skills]
{Ice Breath (Lvl 5)} {Ice Immunity (Lvl Max)} {Apprasial
(Lvl 2)} {First Aid (Lvl 2)} {Toughened Skin (Lvl 2)} {Spark (Lvl 1)} {Cleanse
(Lvl 1)} {Drink (Lvl 1)} {Dig (Lvl 1} {Dry (Lvl 1)} {Ice Arrow (Lvl 5)}
{Fireball (Lvl 1)} {Detection (Lvl 3)} {Healing Snow (Lvl 5)} {Partial
Transformation (Lvl Max)} {Full Transformation (Lvl Max)} {Ice Manipulation
(Lvl 5)}{Summon Ice Elemental (Lvl 1)} {Prison Of Absolute Cold (Lvl 1)} {Mana
Reduction (Lvl 3)} {Mana Regeneration (Lvl 3)} {Twelve Steps (Lvl 1)}
{Empress’s Presence (Lvl 1)}
[Goddess Skills]
{Frozen Step (Lvl Max)} {Absolute Zero(Lvl 1)}
[Professions]
{Weapon Crafting (Lvl 3)} {Armor Crafting (Lvl
3)} {Hunting (Lvl 3)} {Foraging (Lvl 3)} {Cooking (Lvl 3)}
“Hehe.” Juna did not know what to say. She
suddenly felt bashful due to Desaray’s praise.
“Let’s rest. We have already been pushing
ourselves a bit too hard. I think a few days have already passed.” Desaray knew
they had gone too long already. Lilly was fine since Juna made a bed made of
roots for her to sleep on that would follow them around, but the rest have been
pushing forward this entire time.
“I will move over to the far wall with Lilly.
The rest of you gather around the fire.” Desaray did not wish to disturb
anyone’s sleep since her aura kept fluctuating and spreading out. Only Lilly
could be by her side without issue. She really did not know how her future
would be. The higher her affinity, the stronger her aura.
If things keep going on like this, she might end up freezing all of Serenity.
“Mama, are you okay?” Lilly looked up at her
mama in concern.
“Mm… I am just feeling happy that at least my
cute Lilly can stay by my side.” Desaray put away her gloomy expression and
smiled brightly at Lilly. She was indeed feeling a bit lonely. She knew that
her current rate of aura expansion was growing too much. Soon, she would need
to isolate herself from everyone else. She would not even be able to go out
into the city anymore without worrying about freezing the civilians.
As Desaray and Lilly chatted. Juna’s
expression was not good. “It grew stronger.”
“Mm…. We need to hurry and work on the ward to
help ward off her aura so that Her Holiness is not alone. She has Lilly, but
that is not enough. We need to be able to deal with the aura so that she can
still be her.” Oinktera looked at Juna with a sad expression. “You saw it,
right? Every once in a while, when she has to distance herself from others, she
will show a sad and lonely expression. I can’t take it anymore.”
“Mmm… If only we could figure something out to
offset it even just a bit to where it was before. Wait!” Juna suddenly cried
out as she looked at her menu. “Oink-oink[1], look at your skill list and tell me if you can find
Ice Resistance.”
“Hmmm? I have it! It’s all the way at the
bottom! It costs thirty points.” Oinktera eyes lit up. He looked at Juna, who
nodded to him. He grinned and quickly used his skill points on the skill, then
began leveling it up as much as he could. “I got it to level five.”
“Hmmm? Juna, what’s… wait, don’t come any
closer or… Huh?” Desaray looked at the two, who were shivering slightly but not
turning to ice in confusion. Mainly because they were standing a fewt feet away
from her, which should be impossible. “This….. How?”
“Hehe…. We both took Ice Resistance and got it
to level five. It’s not much, but it should allow us to always be together. If
we max it[2],
we should even be able to hold your hand again.” Juna smiled warmly as she
gazed at her Goddess. “You do not need to feel so lonely. With me, Oinktera,
and the princess at your side, you will never be alone.”
Desaray’s eyes began to drip with pearls of
ice as she looked at her two best friends. No, they were more like a brother
and sister to her now. They were her family. “You two are…. Thank you….”
“Mama, hugs!” Lilly reached up, hugged
Desaray’s neck, and kissed her cheek. “Mama will always have Lilly by her side,
too!”
Forty-seven floors down inside the dungeon,
Desaray was stunned at how quickly she was leveling up.
[Name]: Desaray Harris
[Race]: Ice Dragon Goddess
[Current Realm] Mortal
[Age]: 19
[Level]: 87
[Monster Rank]: E
[Evolution Requirements]: Reach level 100,
Kill 2 Demigods, Complete 3 level 100+ dungeons solo
[HP]: 56934/56934
[MP]: 43713/43713
[Elemental Affinity]: Ice (85%)
[Skill Points]: 271
[Skills]
{Ice Breath (Lvl 5)} {Ice Immunity (Lvl Max)}
{Appraisal (Lvl 2)} {First Aid (Lvl 2)} {Toughened Skin (Lvl 2)} {Spark (Lvl
1)} {Cleanse (Lvl 1)} {Drink (Lvl 1)} {Dig (Lvl 1} {Dry (Lvl 1)} {Ice Arrow
(Lvl 5)} {Fireball (Lvl 1)} {Detection (Lvl 3)} {Healing Snow (Lvl 5)} {Partial
Transformation (Lvl Max)} {Full Transformation (Lvl Max)} {Ice Manipulation
(Lvl 5)} {Summon Ice Elemental (Lvl 1)} {Prison Of Absolute Cold (Lvl 1)} {Mana
Reduction (Lvl 3)} {Mana Regeneration (Lvl 3)} {Twelve Steps (Lvl 1)} {Empress’s
Presence (Lvl 1)}
[Goddess Skills]
{Frozen Step (Lvl Max)} {Absolute Zero(Lvl 1)}
[Professions]
{Weapon Crafting (Lvl 3)} {Armor Crafting (Lvl
3)} {Hunting (Lvl 3)} {Foraging (Lvl 3)} {Cooking (Lvl 3)}
“Gah, I never want to fight that kind of boss
again!” Oinktera cried out. He had almost lost his arm a few times due to the
boss spamming lasers in every direction.
Desaray ignored the two’s banter. They were
now sitting next to her. Even the others had taken up ice resistance and began
slowly leveling it up. She had told them they did not need to use up all their
points just for her, but they would not listen. She looked at her own points
that she had racked up and pursed her lips. She did not know what to spend them
on just yet.
As she was pondering on what she should do. A
notification suddenly popped up in front of her.
[Followers: 10238]
[Realm Advancement Goal: Reached]
[Commencing Realm Advancement]
“Wait, what!?” Desaray only had a few seconds
to quickly push Lilly into Juna’s arms before she jumped back away from
everyone.
“Your Holiness!?” Juna was startled by the
change of events, but she soon realized something was about to happen.
“Mama!?” Lilly’s eyes watered up. Her mama has
never pushed her away like that before.
“It’s fine, Princess. I think Her Holiness is
about to undergo some kind of transformation.” Juna had no idea what was going
on. But she knew Desaray was looking at her menu, so if she was right, then her
Goddess was about to advance a realm.
The air trembled under a large pressure that
suddenly fell onto everyone. Ice began to spread out in all directions, causing
those with lower resistance to have to quickly back off. Juna held on to Lilly
and watched with Oinktera sitting at her side. They both
had leveled up their Ice resistance to the max, so they were still able to
endure the piercing cold that was spreading out.
*Dong!*
A bell toll sounded through the air. Followed
by another and another. This bell tolled seven times as a strong wave of mana
flooded the room, swirling around Desaray. Desaray started to feel an aching
pain in her head. Information she had never had before was slowly flooding into
her mind.
Places she had never seen before, people she
had never met before. Peaceful times, wars, sad and happy times. All these
things were flooding into her mind from a world she did not recognize. While
almost ninety-nine percent of what she saw, she did not know, there was one
thing she did know. One man. His face she recognized. He was the same man she
had seen in her first dungeon. As her eyes became heavy and the mana began to
wrap around her like a cocoon, Desaray’s lips parted as she spoke softly: “Silas…”
“Will Mama be okay?” Lilly looked up at Juna
with worry written all over her face. She even had tears forming in the corners
of her eyes.
“Yes. I am sure of it. Her Holiness is
amazing. She is the strongest.” Juna gazed at the now frozen corner of the
room. Even the mana had frozen over and turned into a bluish dome of ice. The
ripples that had formed from it swirling around Desaray were also frozen in
place, making it seem more like a work of art. Juna had to admit it looked very
beautiful.
“I hope so…” Lilly pouted as she leaned
against Juna.
Juna patted her back and held her close. She
knew Lilly was distraught. Juna also felt a bit apprehensive since she did not know what would happen. This was not an evolution but a
realm advancement. She wondered if her Goddess was now going to become
something more than just a mortal.
Seconds turned into minutes, and those minutes
turned into hours. Hours turned into days, and six days later, a cracking sound
was heard. Everyone turned their heads to see the dome of ice that had
concealed Desaray this entire time begin to crack and fall apart. A
blue-skinned hand suddenly broke through the ice. It broke off more chunks of
ice before finally making a large enough hole for the head of the person inside
to poke through.
[Realm Advancement Successful]
[You are now a Transcended]
[Name]: Desaray Harris
[Race]: Ice Dragon Goddess
[Current Realm] Transcended
[Age]: 19
[Level]: 87
[Monster Rank]: C
[Realm Advance Requirements]: Reach Level 200,
Kill 100 thousand enemies, Gain 100,000 followers
[Evolution Requirements]: Reach level 100,
Kill 2 Demigods, Complete 3 level 100+ dungeons solo
[HP]: 376,867/376,867
[MP]: 367,914/367,914
[Elemental Affinity]: Ice (110%)
[Skill Points]: 271
[Skills]
{Ice Breath (Lvl 5)} {Ice Immunity (Lvl Max)}
{Apprasial (Lvl 2)} {First Aid (Lvl 2)} {Toughened Skin (Lvl 2)} {Spark (Lvl 1)} {Cleanse (Lvl 1)} {Drink (Lvl 1)} {Dig (Lvl 1} {Dry
(Lvl 1)} {Ice Arrow (Lvl 5)} {Fireball (Lvl 1)} {Detection (Lvl 3)} {Healing
Snow (Lvl 5)} {Partial Transformation (Lvl Max)} {Full Transformation (Lvl
Max)} {Ice Manipulation (Lvl 5)} {Summon Ice Elemental (Lvl 1)} {Prison Of
Absolute Cold (Lvl 1)} {Mana Reduction (Lvl 3)} {Mana Regeneration (Lvl 3)}
{Twelve Steps (Lvl 1)} {Empress’s Presence (Lvl 1)}
[Goddess Skills]
{Frozen Step (Lvl Max)} {Absolute Zero(Lvl 1)}
[Professions]
{Weapon Crafting (Lvl 3)} {Armor Crafting (Lvl
3)} {Hunting (Lvl 3)} {Foraging (Lvl 3)} {Cooking (Lvl 3)}
A young woman with blue gems embedded between
her breasts. A blue floating gem crown on the young woman’s head bobbed up and
down as she appeared from within the cocoon of frozen mana. She stretched her
arms and looked around with her cold golden eyes that seemed to glow ever so
slightly. That was until they landed on a certain little girl. “Lilly!”
“Mama!” Lilly disappeared and reappeared at
her most beloved mama’s side and hugged her neck. This was her newest skill:
Instant transfer. It allowed her to jump anywhere instantly within her vision.
She can also combine it with a skill called Hawk Eyes, allowing her to travel
far distances instantly.
“It seems Her Holiness has become even more
holy. She no longer has the feel of a mortal being.” Juna couldn’t help but
feel that Desaray now felt unearthly.
“Yeah, she feels even more like a Goddess than
before!” Oinktera was already kneeling on the floor. Juna looked at her husband
and chuckled as she did the same thing. Everyone else followed
suit, and soon, the entire team was now prostrating themselves before their
Goddess.
“Ummm… What are you all doing?” Desaray
wrinkled her brow. She felt like everyone here was going a bit over the top.
“We are paying our respects to our Goddess,”
Juna replied without lifting her head.
Desaray held her head. She felt Lilly
squirming in her arms but held her back. She poked her daughter’s nose and said
sternly: “You are forbidden from doing that!”
“Hehe, yes Your Holiness!” Lilly grinned from
ear to ear. Only to get a knock on her head.
[New realm detected….]
[New Goddess Skill Acquired: Ice Throne ]
[Ice throne: Create a domain of ice. All
ice-related spell damage and healing will be amplified by 300 times.]
[Duration: 30-seconds]
[Cool Down: 24 hours.]
[Radius: 600 feet]
“Oh? New skill….” Desaray mumbled as she saw
the new notification. The skill Ice Throne was actually very beneficial, maybe
even a little overpowered. “I will have to try it out when I am alone.”
“Mama?” Lilly looked up at her mama, who was
mumbling to herself in confusion.
“It’s nothing… Let’s hit the fiftieth floor
and call it a day.” With her new strength, Desaray knew she would not need to
worry about much of anything. And sure enough, she wiped the floor with the
remaining floors and its bosses.
A portal suddenly appeared in front of them.
Desaray did not hesitate to walk towards it as she carried Lilly in her arms.
“Let’s head back to our home. We have been here long enough.”
Desaray did wish to finish the raid, but for
now, she had gone far enough. Although she still had no idea how to deal with
the golem pieces that she gained. But she figured if she gave them to Regal, he
might be able to figure something out.
As Desaray and her group passed through the
portal, they appeared right outside the dungeon entrance. Desaray did not waste
any time moving past the boss that was just outside and, in a single attack,
killed it. Her entire group, as of now, was between level 70 and 91, Desaray
being the highest at 91.
Juna was now level 86 and Oinktera the same.
Lilly jumped to level 72. Desaray found it amusing that her own daughter was
stronger than more than half her kingdom. But this was also good. Lilly had
been taking all defensive skills as well as illusion skills. So this way, she
could easily escape if anything had happened or could be used in battle if
needed to assist others. Desaray felt she was still too young to have any kind
of actual attack spells, but she did know how to use a bow, which was enough for
now.
What Desaray did not expect when she reached
Serenity was the large convoy of elaborate carriages. “What’s going on?”
Desaray wrinkled her brow. She had planned to just relax for a few days, but it
seemed something else was going on now.
“Alright… Desaray adjusted Lilly in her arms
and began walking forward. As she did, Regal suddenly felt the air around him
freeze solid. He quickly backed away. But what startled him was that everyone
else was able to get very close to Desaray. Juna and Oinktera were actually
walking at her side.
Seeing this, Regal did not know how to feel.
He felt left out. “I will need to go with Her Holiness the next time she goes
to the raid. I can’t keep my position as an apostle at this rate.”
But, he could tell one thing. Desaray had
become a lot stronger. Her aura was much stronger than it had ever been before.
Regal followed behind the group as closely as he could. He quickly told the
guards to make a path up ahead so that no one would end up being affected by
Desaray’s aura.
When the citizens of Serenity saw Desaray,
they all knelt down and clasped their hands together. But had to quickly back
up when they realized that their Goddess’s aura had become even stronger than
before.
A goat man quickly made his way over but
stopped short when he felt the icy coldness of the air and looked at the woman
walking in the lead. “This is…. A Goddess? The Goddess of Ice!?” He had no
solid proof if this was true or not, but he felt a pressure from her that he
had never experienced before, and he had even met the dragon emperor.
Decision
Inside a room that was now half frozen,
Desaray sat on a throne made of ice as she looked at the Goatman in front of
her. In her lap, Lilly sat quietly, snuggled in her embrace with a peaceful
expression on her lips as she began to slowly fall asleep. “You said your name
is Logan?”
“Yes, Ice Goddess. My name is Logan, and I am
here on behalf of Sir Harland, who is now in charge of the Beastkin city of
Rain Ford. Sir Harland would like to speak with you. He hopes you can travel
to….” Before Logan could finish, Juna suddenly stepped forward and interrupted
him.
“Who is this, Sir Harland? He dares to ask for
our Goddess to visit him? Is he more important than the ruler of our holy
kingdom!? Logan, was it? I think you need to go back and talk to your leader
and tell them that if he wishes to speak to our Goddess, he will need to come
here. We will not be going anywhere. If you wish to form ties with our Holy
Kingdom, you need to first learn that this is our Goddess’ world, not your
world.
“She knows more about it than any of you
beastkin. We aren’t seeking undue attention, but beings of great strength
deserve to be shown proper respect. Is this not the way of our world? I do not
believe your Sir Harland is stronger than our Goddess.” Desaray did not stop
Juna from speaking for two reasons. One, it was not good to appear weak by
giving in to someone who wants you to go to them. It would not look good for
her kingdom. And two because she did not wish to leave home after spending so
much time in a dungeon.
“Good. We are always open to talk with other
leaders. We are not looking to make things hard on you, but we must remember
the ways. Strength rules all.” Juna stated clearly. Desaray had to admit Juna
looked very cool at this time.
“Understood.” Logan bowed his head. While he
did make a mistake and understood this, he also understood one thing. Even the
apostles under the Ice Goddess had the strength enough to destroy all. To be
able to stand at the Ice Goddess’s side without being affected by the freezing
cold told him a lot. He could barely withstand the temperature, and he was
almost thirty feet away.
“Now, I am sure you did not come here to just
speak about a meeting, correct?” Desaray smiled at Logan. “We are a peaceful
nation, but we do have our own set of rules. We can answer what we can and help
those who are friendly.”
“We… We wish to know about the merger. Your
High Priestess has spoken about it, but we still don’t know much about the
cause of the merger and what will be happening from here on out. So any
information you can give us would be very appreciated.” Logan got to the second
main reason he had come here.
“The merger… There is not much I can tell you
about it. There is only the fact that our worlds had split at one time. This
split seems to only be temporary. Because our worlds took
two vastly different paths, the merger seems to be trying to compensate for the
difference. My world was basically destroyed while yours is merging into mine.
The planet itself might be undergoing changes that I do not know about. We only
know that each merger so far has brought about slow changes since the first
merger, which caused the biggest change. You may not know this, but I used to
be human—that was until after the first merger and killing a goblin. I turned
into an Ice Dragon, and now I am a Goddess of sorts, I guess you could say.”
Desaray never really considered herself a Goddess, but it seemed her version of
the system was forcing it upon her.
“Your Holiness, you are a Goddess.” Juna
corrected. “We of Serenity all look up to you, our savior, who helped us in our
time of need. When we were lost, you gave us a home. You have saved lives and
built up a place for all races. There isn’t a single person within Serenity who
would not call you our Goddess.”
Desaray sighed and gave Logan a look that
said: ‘see’. “Anyway, I will just say this. My kingdom is willing to open talks
with your Rain Ford City as long as they are willing to come here to speak. I
have already been away for too long and have many things to do here. But I
would suggest you tell Sir Harland to make sure he sets up proper defenses
before leaving. The fourth merger could happen at any time, and we do not know
what that will bring.”
Rain Ford City a week later….
“Sir Harland, this is what I was told,” Logan
repeated everything that was said. The more he said, the more Sir Harland’s
expression sank.
“Sir, from what I can tell after meeting with
the Ice Goddess… She is, in fact, very real. And her power is something that I
do not even wish to test. Just standing near her, I felt as if I was going to
freeze to death. Her apostles were just as strong since they could stand very
close without issue. She might not be an actual Goddess, but I can say this.
The feeling I get from her is not something any mortal could make me feel. I
have met the dragon emperor, and not even he made me feel the pressure she did.
But I must say, while talking about politics, she is very much to the rules of
old. And outside of politics, she is very kind. I do not know how many times
she apologized for her frozen aura.”
Logan paused to calm his mind since just
thinking about that aura sent shivers down his spine. He saw how everything
around her froze. It was as if she was the embodiment of ice. “I believe
forming ties with the Holy Kingdom of Serenity and making it a state religion
will be beneficial to us. If what she said is true and the mergers will happen
as she says, then we must prepare and find allies. If a human kingdom suddenly
pops up near us and decides to invade and take our citizens as slaves like they
do all the time, then we will be unable to protect ourselves. But if we align
ourselves with Serenity, then we might be able to call on them for aid at any
time.”
“I see…. As of now, we do not know the future,
and having strong allies is indeed a good idea. Let’s do this then. Logan, I
will have you stay here, and I will leave with a few guards and head to the
Holy Kingdom of Serenity. Your words are my words. I trust you to be able to
hold the fort while I am gone. To form ties, two rules
need to be met. And I have been wanting to meet with this Ice Goddess myself.”
Sir Harland had not wanted to travel, but he understood that Logan’s words were
their new reality. It was better to make friends than enemies. If the Ice
Goddess was as strong as the dragon emperor or even stronger, as Logan said,
then it was worth the time and humiliation of lowering his head to protect his
people.
“You have my word. I will make sure nothing
happens to Rain Ford City.” Logan bowed his head and knelt down. As of now, he
saw Sir Harland as the new ruler of the beastkin. He has the people’s trust,
and he has the know-how to rule the city. He would not be surprised if he
decided to make this the Rain Ford Kingdom soon. Logan decided to make plans
just in case this did come to be. He would be sure to mention it in a few weeks
time.
⧫⧫⧫
“Ahh Choo!” Desaray sneezed. She rubbed her
nose and pursed her lips. It was not like she could catch a cold, so why did
she sneeze? “Is someone talking about me?”
“Your Holiness?” Juna looked up at Desaray
with a questioning look.
“Nothing. So, did Oinktera take Regal and the
rest to the raid?” Desaray asked.
“Yes. He said he would be sure to bring
everyone back alive.” Juna replied firmly. She knew her husband best. He was
never one to make promises he could not keep.
“Then I am sure Regal will not be so gloomy.
He was basically pouting about being left behind in levels.” Desaray chuckled.
“You all need to stop neglecting your status
points. They are not something you can get easily!” Desaray sighed. But at the
same time, she was very happy. So many were willing to do so much so that she
would not feel alone.
“Hehe… Your Holiness, you are blushing.” Juna
teased, causing Desaray to blush more. In her embarrassment, Desaray flicked
her finger, created a snowball, and smacked Juna in the face with it. Juna let
out a loud laugh as she wiped the snow off her face. Her Goddess was just too
cute! “Haha!”
“You know, Juna, you can just call me by my
name when we are alone. We are family after all now.” Desaray missed being
called by her name.
“Then, Desa.” Juna smiled. She would do
anything her Goddess asked.
“Mmm!” Desaray was all smiles. She hugged
Juna, feeling very happy.
“Ah! No fair. I want to hug Mama, too!” Lilly
came bounding over and hopped on Desaray, hugging her from behind.
In a large cavern surrounded by molten lava, a
purple-skinned woman sat on a stone throne carved out of the rocky wall. She
had red hair and three black horns on the top of her head. Her pointy ears
twitched as she felt a change in the air. “Hmm? The seal was broken?”
The woman’s whole body suddenly lit up and was
now covered in deep reddish-orange flames. Her eyes glowed with a golden light
as she rose from her throne. It had been a long time since the Demon Queen of
Cinder had risen. Her path of destruction almost engulfed the old world millions
of years ago, her conquest long forgotten. Only written down in books that
would collect dust in the darkest corners of a kingdom’s library. But now she
has risen once again. She could finally complete her conquest and get revenge
on the races who dared to seal her away.
“After all these years, I can finally turn the
land to cinder. I, the Demon Queen of Cinder, shall destroy everything and
anyone in my path.” Thousands upon thousands of fire imps jumped out of the
pools of lava. The lava itself began to slowly disappear as more and more fire
imps formed. The lava was actually not lava itself but her minions.
The fire imps all lined up behind their queen
as she slowly walked towards the exit of the carven, her eyes shining with
delight. The thought of massacring all the living was something she truly
wished to see firsthand. The thrill of bringing her enemies to char excited her
to no end.
When she reached the end of the cavern, her
brows furrowed as she looked at the stone wall in front of her. She raised her
hand and pressed it against the wall, causing it to slowly melt and turn into
magma. She walked forward with little to no effort, creating a new path up to
the surface. “How many years have passed?”
After almost an hour, the Demon Queen of
Cinder reached the surface. Her gaze landed on the strange landscape in front
of her that had strange objects lying around covered in greenery. “This…. This
disgusting place! My little ones go forth and burn this land! Make it a place
where no life can exist, and then I will rule it all.”
The fire imps rushed out of the opening the
Demon Queen of Cinder had made and began burning everything they touched. The
fire quickly spread outwards engulfing almost a mile in an instant as the fire
imps spread out in all directions. A small root lit ablaze and turned to ash
virtually in an instant.
⧫⧫⧫
Juna frowned slightly. She looked out over the
horizon and knew that something terrible was coming. She did not have enough
time to check to see what had attacked her root, but she knew it had burned. No
normal fire could have destroyed her root, which meant that the one to attack
it used fire created from magic. “Desa, we might have an issue.”
“Oh?” Desaray was sucking on a roasted chicken
popsicle. She looked at Juna, who was frowning, and knew something serious had
just happened.
“I am not completely sure yet, but I just lost
contact with over ten of my roots. All were set aflame. I still do not know
what attacked them. I am checking now. I should have another root close by in….” Juna paused as her face paled. Her eyes
widened in shock. “Fire imps? But why? They went extinct millions of years
ago.”
Juna did not know about the Demon Queen of
Cinder, but she did know about fire imps as they were written about on a cave
wall she had discovered one day. Desaray looked at Juna with concern and asked:
“ What is a fire imp?”
“It’s a magical creature, born from the
hottest lava, but these are different. There are thousands of them, maybe more.
They are also spawning from the flames that are burning the forest down. If
this keeps going like this, the fire will reach here in three days’ time. No
wait…. There is another figure in the flames, but I can’t make it out.” Juna
bit her lip. She wished she had the ability to resist flames. She was very weak
versus such flames.
“Hmmm… Then, I will freeze it all before it
arrives. We will need to gather our forces. Leave half in the city, and the
rest will need to follow me to the outskirts of our kingdom. We will protect
everything within our borders.” Desaray made a quick decision: she did not wish
to have her kingdom lands destroyed. They relied on them.
Outside The gates to the newly named Holy
City, Desaray stood in the air with over one thousand soldiers in front of her.
“Most of you have already heard, but we are about to face an unknown entity.
What it is, I do not know. But the flames are strong enough to burn Apostle
Juna’s roots. Which means they are no ordinary flames. But no matter what we
are facing, we need to try to protect our lands. The flames will soon reach our
home. Our job is to try to make sure they can not harm an inch of it. I need
your help to dig wide trenches along the border so I can fill them with ice. I
will also be building a twenty-foot ice wall all around our territory while you
are doing that. I know what I am asking is not easy work,
but I hope with all of you helping me, we can get this done before the flames
reach us. Let’s set out!”
“Raaaarr!” Every single soldier roared at the
top of their lungs. They were more than happy to do their Goddess bidding.
Desaray and her army began their trip towards
the border while Juna began shoring up their defenses in the city. “Everyone
will be working shifts and patrolling the inner and outer areas of the city.
Anything suspicious should be reported immediately. Apprehend any suspects
quickly and quietly, but don’t mistreat them. We need to be sure we are not
harming our own citizens. Your job is to protect the peace and the people
living here, not harm them for a false alarm. Does everyone hear me!?”
“Yes!” The soldiers below replied in unison.
They would have to be crazy not to. Juna was second in charge. Her words were
their Goddess’s words.
“Then let’s get to work!” Juna yelled out as
she raised her hand. A dome of roots suddenly covered the city, encasing it in
a protective barrier. She made sure to let light in around the areas where the
farms were. She did not wish to destroy any crops.
“Good work, Apostle Juna.” Nina grinned as she
patted Juna’s shoulder. She had Lilly in her free arm.
“I am just doing what I need to. And Nina,
just call me Juna. No need for formalities when it is not a formal setting.” It
was just the three of them there, so she didn’t see any reason to be formal in
any way.
“Hehe… I am a little envious of you all. You
get to be next to Her Holiness now without issues, while I still need to stay
far away. I need to work on leveling up as well.” Nina sighed. While she loved her current life and she was handsomely paid while
getting free room and board, she still wished to be of service to Desaray, if
even by just a little.
“I spent almost all my points on ice
resistance to be able to stand near her, and even then, I am still quite cold,
but it is worth it to make sure she does not feel alone,” Juna replied with a
smile. Just thinking about it made her happy.
“Then I will need to get your husband to run
me through the raid as well if that is okay.” Nina would never ask Oinktera
first since this was Juna’s husband. She did not want to cause
misunderstandings.
“Of course. I will make sure he does. Since
you are the Princess’s and Her Holiness’s caretaker, you need to be able to
stay close to them at all times. But Nina, you are already doing an amazing
job, you know that? You deal with the cold pretty well for someone who has no
resistance.” Juna was glad that Nina was so willing to stay by Desaray’s side.
She has to deal with temperatures that could freeze a normal person to the
bone.
“Thank you.” Nina blushed as she looked at
Lilly, who was grinning away. “What are you smiling at?”
“Aunty Nina is cute!” Lilly replied as she
hugged Nina’s neck.
“The little cutie is calling me cute, so I
guess that means I am cute then.” Nina grinned and hugged Lilly tightly. Lilly
giggled and tried to match Nina’s hug.
Juna watched the scene from the side with warm
eyes. She, too, hoped one day to have a daughter, but she was still making sure
that Oinktera was wrapped around her fingers. If she knew her husband would end
up so handsome after evolving, she would have shoved him
back into the mana cocoon so he could stay a pigman forever. She loved
Oinktera, but she also worried that these girls who had eyes on him might sway
his heart one day. It was not that she did not trust him. She was just the
jealous type. But with how he acted so indifferent to other girls, she knew she
had no problems, but that lingering fear in her heart just would not disappear.
⧫⧫⧫
On the border of her kingdom, Desaray stood at
the edge and raised her hand. “Let’s start, shall we?”
*Rumble!*
The ground shook violently as a massive wall
of ice shot up into the air. It extended in both directions as far as the eye
could see. Desaray kept a solid picture in her mind of what the entire kingdom
looked like from a top-down view and instantly created an ice wall that covered
the whole border. “I need a small break⸺then I will create a pathway on the
main highway leading into the territory.”
“Burn! Burn! Let the world catch on fire. A
world only for me. A world that only I can walk upon.” The Demon Queen of
Cinder cried out. Her maniacal laugh filled the air amongst the crackling of
flames.
Her flames were spreading out in all
directions, but she had felt a strong magical reaction to her south. This was
something she couldn’t ignore. She quickly made her way towards the reaction.
She couldn’t let any magic power that seemed too threatening go unchecked. To
get there faster, she had even pulled back many of her fire imps to assist.
“Sir!” One of the soldiers who were appointed
to guard Sir Harland called out to him. “Sir, we have a major issue!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?” Sir Harland stuck his
head out the window to see a towering wall of ice. “This is…..”
“There does not seem to be an entrance. We
have checked both ways for a few miles, but we found nothing. It is also over
twenty feet tall, so it is not like we can climb over it.” The soldier
explained.
“I see… but Logan never mentioned anything
about a wall of ice….” Sir Harland was perplexed. He did not understand why
Logan would not mention such an important detail.
“Hello?” A voice came from above. Sir Harland
looked up and blushed when he saw a light blue-skinned girl with horns, wings,
and a tail standing in the sky in what looked like bikini armor. “Umm, are you
here to visit the Holy Kingdom of Serenity?”
“Huh? Ah! Yes! Yes, I am.” Sir Harland felt a
cold shiver run down his spine. He could swear that the temperature had just
dropped by twenty degrees.
“Alright, just hold on. I am about to open a
passage. I just put the wall up about two hours ago.” The young woman in the
sky smiled brightly before tapping her foot on the air and flapping her wings.
She then flew towards the wall of ice.
Sir Harland watched as, right before his eyes,
two large ice doors appeared. The ice doors slowly opened, allowing passage through what looked to be a thirty-foot-thick wall of ice.
It was not only tall but also thick.
“The gates are open. I am sorry, but can you
hurry through? I need to seal it back up.” The young woman said as she looked
up at the sky.
“I will. Thank you.” Sir Harland gave the
young woman a nod before signaling for his men to go.
His carriage began to move once more and
picked up speed quickly. When he reached the door, he was in awe at how pretty
the door was. The ice sparkled under the sunlight that pierced through the
clouds that were rolling in, making it look like a blue gem.
The young woman stood in the sky and scratched
her head. She had no idea who that man was, but from the direction he was
coming from, and what she could sense, he did not seem to be an enemy. He was
far too weak.
“Whoever he is, the carriage looked expensive,
and he was a beastkin from what I could tell… Maybe another delegation?” The
young woman pondered, unsure of what to make of all of this. “Anyway, I am done
here. I should head back. I made the doors, so I only need Juna’s signal to
open them if needed.”
The young woman was, indeed, Desaray. She was
hoping she made the right choice just now, letting that beastkin inside the
walls. If it was some kind of enemy that was hiding their power, then she might
have caused an issue. “Desa, you do not need to worry.” A voice came from her
shoulder. The root that was covered in ice sat upon it as if it was the most
natural thing to do.
“Oh? You know who that was?” Desaray asked.
“Then I will leave him to you two. Even if we
do not make any kind of agreement, we still can’t let him go without warning
him. So make sure you explain things to him first.” Desaray wanted to make ties
with the beastkin, but even if they did not wish for such a thing, she did not
plan to hold back information that might wipe them out.
“I will take care of things on my end. Desa,
the flames are moving much faster than we expected. I had another two roots
killed about a day out. They should not have been killed for at least another
two days more, so the flames are spreading much faster than we had originally
thought.” Juna was worried. She still could not make out the figure within the
flames. “And I believe the cause of these flames is making its way to us as
well.”
Clash Of Fire And Ice
“Your Holiness! The flames have been spotted
on the horizon!” A soldier ran over and informed.
Desaray was currently sitting in the ice house
she made on top of the wall with Dormar. “Thank you. When you see the flames
nearing our border, have those who can use water magic try to keep them at
bay.”
“Understood!”
The soldier saluted and quickly went to pass down the orders.
Desaray sat back in her ice chair and
scratched her head. “Dormar, what do you think?”
“I might be wrong, but I once heard a story
from one of the girls we captured. She was what humans called a scholar. She
once told Braful, her Gorc mate, when they were having a meal at the camp about
an ancient scroll she once read. It stated within it that there was once a
threat to the lands. Fire encompassed all of the world. It did not state any
more than that, but if I may put some kind of assumption on everything, then I
would like to say that maybe, just maybe, that ancient text was talking about a
powerful being that could control fire beyond what a normal being could. Kind
of like how Your Holiness is able to control ice beyond the normal means.”
Dormar had only just arrived and had come to meet with Desaray. After hearing
everything, the story that the woman had told popped into his mind.
“I see. And that scholar is now?” Desaray
asked. She was hoping she might still be around.
“She used her life to protect Braful. They
were both on a walk when a group of humans appeared. Thinking that she was
being kept against her will, they attacked him. To protect him from a fatal
blow, she jumped in front of the sword and was cut in two. Braful lost his mind
and killed the humans before killing himself. Those two truly loved each other.
Even though she was kidnapped, she still fell in love with Braful, who treated
her kindly.” Dormar lowered his head. He wished he could have done something to
protect the two.
“I hope so as well, or we will be in for one
hard fight.” Dormar sighed. “By the way, Your Holiness, do I need to sit this
far away?”
“Yes. You will turn into a Gorc ice cube if
you get any closer. You will need to raise your ice resistance to get close to
me.” Desaray replied with a helpless smile. She hated it, but she was fine with
it as well. She still had people who were willing to give up new skills in
order to stay by her side.
“Ah yeah, not exactly something I want.”
Dormar let out a nervous laugh. He was glad he did not try to push himself past
his limits.
“Report!” A guard came rushing into the room.
“The flames have already reached a mile out. Those who can use water magic are
trying their best to keep them at bay, but the flames are too hot and seem to
be imbued with high-level magic.”
“Alright, have everyone get ready with earth
and water magic. Those who can use wind magic will need to try to make dead
zones without any air. We need to try to make this work in our favor since we
don’t know what we are up against. I will be on the front lines as well, so
let’s get this done, shall we?” Desaray stood up.
Dormar and the soldier both knelt down and
clasped their hands together. “Praise the Goddess!”
“This is our first, real threat since forming
the small encampment with Oinktera and his people. I can not fail the people
who worship me, nor their expectations.” Desaray began walking towards the
roaring flames. She could see flames for miles, which made her frown. The area
that once used to be Manhattan was nothing but scorched earth under a sea of
flames.
“Are you the one!?” A voice entered Desaray’s
ears as she got closer. She looked around but did not see anyone.
“I am the one, what?” Desaray decided to ask.
She kept her eyes on the sea of flames since Juna had warned her that there was
an entity inside it.
After scanning the flames back and forth, in
the middle of the flames, off in the distance, a figure covered in those very
flames slowly rose up into the sky. “Are you the one who put this ice wall in
my path? Are you going against This Demon Queen, the Demon Queen of Cinder!?”
Desaray frowned. “You are burning land for no
reason and coming close to my borders. I have every right to protect what I
consider mine. If you wish to fight, then I will fight, but if you turn back
now and stop your destruction, then I will allow you to leave. No Demon Queen
can come to my world and expect to get away with destroying it.”
“Hmmm? Then what if I….” Desaray pointed her
finger at the ground. “Freeze!”
The flames below began to change color. From
red to blue and back to red, then finally back to blue again. They froze solid
in place, causing the Demon Queen of Cinder to frown. “Hmmm…. It seems you
might be worthy of me going all out.”’
Desaray turned her attention back to the Demon
Queen of Cinder to see her drawing strange symbols in the air. “This is….”
“Ancient rune scripting.” Hina suddenly
floated in front of Desaray. “Master, please allow me.”
“Is it serious?” Desaray was confused. She did
not feel any threat from what was happening.
“Rune scripting is very powerful. It
originates from the fairy race. Only those with over a 100% elemental affinity
can use it.” Hina replied. She, too, began to write inscriptions in the air,
but hers were blue.
Desaray watched as Hina’s little finger
quickly made more and more runes, much faster than the Demon Queen of Cinder.
She finally stopped as she formed the last rune. “Aboth Fultrac Emso…”
Hina’s words were beyond Desaray’s
comprehension, but she soon realized they seemed to be some kind of activation
word. A massive magic circle appeared in front of them. Not too far away, a reddish-orange magic circle also formed. When the Demon
Queen of Cinder saw the blue magic circle, she frowned slightly and did not
know if she could win this exchange. She quickly began making preparations to
protect herself while at the same time reciting her activation word: “Faltama
Cistrio!”
Two massive blasts of flame and ice short
forth, each one covering almost a mile-wide area. The two forces clashed
head-on, creating a cloud of steam that spread out in all directions. Desaray
grinned as she waved her hand: “[Ice Throne]!”
*Dong!*
This was Desaray’s newest Goddess spell, [Ice
Throne]. It allowed her to amplify her ice magic by three hundred times for
thirty seconds. She sat on her throne and looked at the Demon Queen of Cinder
off in the distance and said: “Let’s see if you can take a total Ice domain.
Absolute Zero!”
“This…” The Demon Queen of Cinder was glad she
was prepared. She looked at the ice throne behind the blast of ice and then at
the ground freezing at an insanely fast speed and knew things were not going to
be good if she continued. “Just how powerful is this woman!? Ahhh!”
The Demon Queen of Cinder couldn’t help but
yell out in anger. She was supposed to be all-powerful. No one was supposed to
be able to stand up against her, but now… She had only just started her
conquest, and she was faced with an adversary so strong that she, who was made
of fire, felt a shiver run down her spine.
The field of ice that was expanding froze all
her fire imps instantly. There was no tug of war like before. The ice kept
expanding more and more until it finally reached her location, causing
the Demon Queen of Cinder to have no choice but to retreat.
Slowly, the ice came to a stop, but not after
consuming almost two hundred miles of her flames. The ice that was left behind
was not melting either, no matter how much the Demon Queen of Cinder tried to
break her fire imps free. “This is not right. This is just not right!”
“You called yourself the Demon Queen of
Cinder, right?” Desaray suddenly spoke up as Hina retreated back to sitting on
top of Desaray’s head.
“I do. I once controlled half this world.” The
Demon Queen of Cinder replied.
“Maybe the other world, but not this one.”
Desaray paused a second before saying: “This world is nothing like your old
one. This world is my world. It has never been your world. This world is the
world I was born and raised in. You only appeared in this world due to the
merger of our worlds. You came here due to this merger. But I will say this. If
you wish to turn my world into a world of cinder, then you will not get to
leave this place alive today. I will not allow you to harm my world.”
If it was before, the Demon Queen of Cinder
would have laughed at her statement. But now, after her display of power, she
knew better than anyone. That this was not a foe she could easily beat. She
began to wonder just how far her powers had fallen. “Even if we must fight, I
will say this now. My conquest will not go unhindered. Today, I will fall back,
but in the future, I will see to it that you and your kingdom are turned to
cinder.”
The Demon Queen of Cinder did not give Desaray
a chance to reply as she suddenly opened a portal and jumped through it. The fire imps that had been burning the land suddenly
transformed into a stream of light and entered the portal as well.
Desaray looked at the burnt land before her
and let out a sigh of relief. But she felt the future was not going to be easy.
“If she comes back even stronger, I do not think I can win…”
“You will just need to get stronger as well.
But I must apologize. I could not do anything to the portal. As soon as it
activated, I tried to freeze it over, but that portal was strange. My spell
rebounded.”
“It’s fine. We can only do what we can for the
time being. As you said, I will just need to get stronger. Let’s just hope the
damage done can be undone.” Desaray looked out over the scorched land and
sighed. She had hoped to stop the Demon Queen of Cinder here, but while she did
stop the flames from destroying anything else, she failed at getting rid of
such a huge threat.
⧫⧫⧫
Sitting in the throne room of the Holy Kingdom
of Serenity, Sir Harland was scared stiff. The person in front of him had an
aura so strong that he felt it was hard to breathe. But what made no sense to
him was not the woman standing there staring at him but the little girl who sat
on the throne swinging her legs back and forth.
“Umm…” Sir Harland wanted to say something,
but as soon as he spoke, the pressure on him got even heavier.
“Sir Harland, You have come a long way.” Juna
finally spoke. She was using some psychological tactics to make it so that she
would have the upper hand. She would put pressure on him while
using her mana while Lilly confused him by playing on the throne.
“Yes!” Sir Harland suddenly squeaked. He had
never squeaked like that in his entire life, but now… He felt very embarrassed.
Juna’s lips curled up as she looked down at
Sir Harland. She had won. This was the reaction she was going for. “I presume
you have come to make a treaty with us, an alliance?”
“This… Yes… Umm… If I may ask, are you the
Goddess?” Sir Harland did not know who he was supposed to be speaking to, but
from the aura he was getting from the woman in front of him, she was very
strong.
“I am flattered that you would think such a
thing, but no. I am just a mere Apostle who follows my Goddess’s wishes. Her
Holiness is actually making her way back now. She had to fend off a flame demon
who suddenly appeared. But now that she has chased it off, she will be
returning to greet you. As for the terms of the alliance, I hope you can wait
just a bit longer. I will be gathering all our council members as soon as Her
Holiness arrives. For now, I will have someone lead you to a waiting room and
serve you tea.” Juna clapped her hands, and the doors opened. A male Toblin
walked in with his head held high. Juna had one of her people appear here to
see this man’s reaction. She wanted to make sure that she understood who Sir
Harland was as a person.
“Sir Harland, if you would follow me.” The
Toblin spoke in a polite manner and even bowed according to normal etiquette.
Juna gave an approving nod. He had passed her
test for now. She would have to wait and see how they are treated when not
under her eyes. “Princess, Her Holiness will be back soon, so why don’t we go
make some ice cakes, shall we?”
“Yay! I know Mama loves ice cakes!” Lilly
jumped up from the throne and bounced into Juna’s arms. Juna smiled and hugged
the cute little fluff.
About an hour away from the gates of Serenity,
Desaray walked with her soldiers in tow. A few hundred less than before since
some had to stay on guard. Of course, they would be switched out later.
“Dormar, how are your wives?”
“Doing well. Their bellies are nice and round.
It seems their term might be shorter than we had thought. If all goes well, all
of them will birth the first female Gorcs.” Dormar was very excited about this.
He couldn’t wait to see his little princesses.
“Now, are you going to be able to marry them
out? You seem like you would be a father who would kill any man that got close
to them.” Desaray teased.
Dormar rubbed his nose. He really did not like
the idea, but… “While you are right, normally, I would do such a thing. Once
they come of age, I will have to. I have already chosen their husbands based on
the men that are closest to me. They will then hopefully give birth to new
female orcs as well. This way, the family line will slowly spread out to the
entire tribe. If we are lucky, in three years’ time, we will have a thriving
community. Eventually, I will also take one of their daughters born
from another to become my wife so I can hopefully get more daughters, one I can
truly spoil. Of course, I will also make sure my current daughters will also
have everything they need.”
“That’s good to hear. I wish your clan the
best. I would hate to see such good people die out due to nature’s flaws. I
have seen how you treat the girls under you. They are all happy from what I can
see. Even some of the women who were in the city have taken a liking to some of
your men. They are silly yet kind.” Desaray was glad she did not judge Dormar
too harshly.
“They are only like that now because of you,
Your Holiness. You gave us a reason to look towards a new future. You gave us
the ability to clear our names. They are more than willing to assist you in any
way and are loving their new lives. We owe all of this to you.” Dormar's words
were from his heart. If not for Desaray, he would not have seen a day like this
come. His people would still be grouped together with the orcs. But now they
had a chance to break free from it all and it was thanks to his Goddess.
⧫⧫⧫
Once more, Sir Harland was standing in the
throne room of the Holy Kingdom of Serenity. But this time, he was truly
afraid. The room had turned into an icy snow field. The only place not frozen
was the area where he was standing. He looked at the three people in front of
him; one was Juna the Apostle, the other was the little girl who was sitting on
the throne before, and the third was the person he had met earlier. Next to him
was An’ne, the dragon princess turned High Priestess.
“Sir Harland, I am glad you have come. My name
is Desaray, and I am the ruler of this kingdom.” Desaray introduced herself. “I
do apologize for not coming sooner, but there was a problem with some fire
demon that had shown up at my kingdom’s borders. This was
the reason why I built the ice wall to surround my kingdom. I learned a lot
from Logan, who was here before. Normally, a proxy is fine when signing a
treaty, but you wanted me to go to your city, which would have put my lands at
risk.”
“I do apologize. I did not know Your Holiness
was so powerful. If I had, I would have come myself earlier. But from what
Princess An’ne has…”
“It’s High Priestess!” An’ne interrupted but
quickly quieted down when both Juna and Desaray looked at her.
“Ahem…. My apologies. From what High Priestess
An’ne told me, I was having a hard time believing it all. But I guess seeing is
believing. I truly wish to form an alliance with the Holy Kingdom and take its
Church of the Ice Goddess as a state religion.” Sir Harland was trying his best
not to become drenched in sweat.
“I see. I have no issues forming an alliance
with you, but the terms will need to be fleshed out. We should move to a more
suitable place for such a thing. Also, Sir Harland, I do apologize for the
coldness you have to endure. My aura is something out of my control.” Desaray
felt bad since she could see the man shivering. Only if she knew he was
shivering in fear and not due to the cold.
“It’s alright. It shows just how powerful you
truly are.” Sir Harland replied with a forced smile through his trembling lips.
Juna snickered under her breath. She could
tell that Sir Harland was having a hard time. But she decided not to say
anything since it made for good entertainment. “Then, if you would follow me. I
will bring you to the meeting room.”
Juna stepped forward before turning to Desaray
and kneeling: “Praise the Ice Goddess.”
Everyone moved to a meeting room where Desaray
had to sit at the far side of the room on a throne that was basically a copy of
the one in the throne room. Juna had to act as her go-between in order to read
or sign any papers.
“Now then, shall we discuss the terms of our
alliance?” Juna began….
⧫⧫⧫
“Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!? Why!?
Why!?” The Demon Queen of Cinder yelled out over and over. She couldn’t
understand it. She could have burned the world to cinder, killing everything on
it but her. She could have had the entire world to herself. But…
“Where did that woman come from!? Why was she
so strong!? My flames, which I have been so proud of, lost to her ice!” The
Demon Queen of Cinder looked lost. She had no idea how this could have
happened. She had lost once, but that took many powerful beings, and even then,
they could not actually kill her. They could only seal her away. “I need to get
stronger… Hehe… Hahaha! How long has it been since I felt such pressure!? Even
when I lost before, I did not feel such pressure. If I do not gain more strength,
I will truly lose to this ice woman. Next time, I will
not try to burn the land. I will not let her know when I am attacking. I will
grow in strength then I will destroy her when she is least expecting it. Just
wait! I will get my revenge and finally kill you! Then… Your precious lands
will be turned to cinder!”
⧫⧫⧫
In a dark void, a handsome man sat looking at
the tear in space. “My Dear Aria, you are growing stronger by the day. I will
return to your side soon. I will wait for you to fall back in love with me. I
will be sure to protect you this time…”
“Silas, you are here.” A woman dressed in
black appeared in the dark void.
Silas looked at the woman. His eyes narrowed.
“I told you before, never appear in front of me.”
“Are you still mad over that woman!? It was
her fault for being weak! I only said a few words, and she… Gauh! Silas!?” The
woman felt her throat tighten as a handsome face appeared in front of her, his
hand clenching her neck.
“Be lucky that I am not killing you here and
now. That is not my job. My Aira will come and get her revenge. Just you wait,
Vinee.”
⧫⧫⧫
“So, Sir Harland, what do you have planned? I
am sure you have things you want as well.” Desaray was not dumb. Forming an
alliance had to go both ways, not just one. She was sure that Sir Harland had
requests of his own besides trying to appease her. Whether she could grant them
or not was another story altogether.
“I see. I do not see a problem with this. My
guess is that you will get backlash once you try to form a new kingdom, right?
You have nobles who will probably put up a fight, am I correct?” Desaray asked.
She kind of got the idea of where this was going. To form a kingdom, one would
need the backing of the people to be crowned king. And from what Logan had
said, there are nobles that lived in the city, so they would reject Sir Harland
from ever being king since they would most likely want that power.
“You are correct. The citizens are not a
problem. I have always run Rain Ford well and took care of my people, but the
nobles are different. I am always fighting with them. I have already started a
movement to push the nobles out and am trying to take control, but I am not
sure if this will go as smoothly as I wish. This is why I would like to request
your help in this matter.” Sir Harland explained. He reached up and wiped the
sweat from his brow. He was very nervous at this time. He knew he was asking a
lot, but to get the help of a Goddess, which his people seemed to have taken a
liking to, would mean more support for him.
“I am fine with that. If that is what it takes
to allow you to trust me, then I am willing.” Sir Harland bowed his head. He
was willing to do anything at this point. And he knew it was hard to trust
someone you just met. He knew the Goddess in front of him did not need such a
thing placed on her since, even with it, she could destroy him and his city
without issue. He had heard about the exploits of this Goddess from the Toblin
who served him tea. The Toblin went on and on, story after story. About how his
Goddess could easily solo dungeon bosses without even opening her eyes. Or how
she can point her finger and make the world stop. How much of this was true, he
did not know, but he was not willing to test it.
“Very well!” Desaray stood up and waved her
hand. A thin ice needle flew through the air and stabbed into Sir Harland’s
heart. He did not feel a single thing as it pierced his flesh and entered his
heart. It was done so quickly that he didn’t even realize it. “I have placed an
ice needle in you. Juna will write up the terms of the alliance, and we will
then both sign it. Until then, please take a rest. We will leave here in two
days’ time to head back to your kingdom.”
“Thank you.” Sir Harland bowed his head before
turning to see the Toblin from earlier standing there. He smiled and followed
the Toblin to his quarters.
Desaray
sat back in her chair and patted Lilly’s head as she looked at Juna. “So what
do you think?”
“I think this will work out well. To come to a
strange world and be forced to take control of the situation, I think he will
make a good leader and a good ally.” Juna replied.
“He does seem like an interesting fellow. At
least he has his priorities in place. He is not running, which is good. To have
an ally on our borders is a good thing. And now we can start trading goods,
which will boost both our economies.” Desaray was really hoping the two
kingdoms could grow alongside each other.
“Desa, you sound more and more like a ruler
every day.” Juna teased.
Desaray puffed her cheeks out as she glared at
Juna. “It's because you all pushed me into it!”
Usurpation
Rain Ford City….
“Logan, just give it up. We all know that we
are no longer part of the Beast Kingdom. These strange lands are not anywhere
close to where we once were. This city is now its own entity, which means a new
king needs to be crowned.” An owl man wearing a monocle looked at Logan, who
had seen better days, and sneered.
The soldiers protecting Logan were all that
was left. Logan had thought the soldiers were still loyal, but he was wrong. He
had no idea when it happened, but they had all changed sides and joined the
nobles. The hundred or so soldiers who were loyal were
outmatched. He intended to do a purge, but now he was the one being purged.
“Range, when did you all plan this? How long
have you been paying the soldiers? What false promises did you make to them?”
Logan asked through gritted teeth.
“You only have two options, surrender or die.
Either makes no difference to me. You should be happy I am even willing to give
you two. Normally, you would just be killed, but your abilities are quite
handy.” The owl man, Range replied.
“It makes all the difference. You might be the
one to make it this far, but what about the other nobles? Who will become king
once I am dead? What happens when Sir Harland returns? Do you plan to publicly
execute him? A man who is loved by his people?” Logan was trying to plan a way
out of this. He still had hopes of turning things around, but his mind was
blank. He could only try to buy a little time to try to figure things out.
“We will figure out who will be king after we
take control. As for Sir Harland, he is just a low-level bureaucrat; he has no
say in what we do. We will just pin him with raping a few girls and pay off
those families to testify. This will make his execution justified and our
usurpation also justified. You do not need to worry about other things. The new
kingdom will reign, and we will show this world that Beastkin are superior in
every way.” Range knew the real battle would begin after they took over. If he wanted
to be the new king, he would need to take out the other nobles, which was why
he had been doing some double-dealing to bring as many soldiers to his side.
“You are stupid. All of you nobles think you
are so high and mighty, but in truth, you have no idea what you are doing.
Being born into your family lines and not gaining anything for yourselves.
Only knowing how to sneak around in the dark. I can’t wait to see you fall.”
Logan looked at the soldiers in front of him. He had only one idea that would
work. But first, he had to surrender. “We surrender. Allow these soldiers to go
since they were only listening to my orders. Or else you will not get anything
you wish. Only I and Sir Harland know where all the funds are kept and the
method of accessing them.”
“Tch… Fine. They can live. It’s not like we
can’t deal with them if they dare to try anything. Drop your weapons and
surrender.” Range ordered. The soldiers who were trying to protect Logan turned
to look at him. When he nodded, they could only do as they were told.
“Oh? Range, you arrived first, huh? Figured as
much since you are much smarter than the rest of us.” A Wolfman walked in with
a few soldiers. He looked at Logan and the soldiers, who were now all kneeling,
and nodded. “Not bad you even captured our target.”
“Now we just need to wait for Sir Harland to
come back to finalize everything.” Range turned and looked at the Wolfman.
“Dilis try not to cause too much of a scene. I know you are prone to violence,
but hold back until things are officially settled.”
“Yeah, yeah, I ain't that stupid,” Dilis
replied. He waved his hand at his soldiers and said: “take the soldiers and
Logan down to the cells. Don’t treat them badly.”
“The two soldiers can go free. Just Logan will
do. It’s what I promised.” Range cut in.
“Alright. But if they make a scene, I will
kill them.” Dilis was a noble but one of the few who always followed Range’s
orders. He was basically a pawn to Range. Someone who did
not mind getting their feet and hands soaked in blood.
“We will need to get ready. Once we take down
Sir Harland, the other nobles will begin to move.” Range said softly.
“I know. Don’t worry. I have placed a few men
in good spots. I just need your word, and they will deal with things cleanly.
Just remember our deal, though. I don’t want power, but I want to be able to do
what I want within the city.” Dilis looked at Range, who nodded.
“Don’t worry. I will not break my promise as
long as everything works out as planned. And Logan, don’t say a word of any of
this to anyone, or you will die.” Range turned and stared at Logan.
“Like anyone would believe me,” Logan replied
with a snort. He was being helped up and now led out of the room. “Range, just
don’t regret the future.”
⧫⧫⧫
“Apostle Juna, welcome to Rain Ford City!” Sir
Harland yelled out from the window of his carriage. Desaray still had a few
things to take care of and could not join them right away. So Juna was the one
who followed Sir Harland back to the city.
“I see the walls were even transported as
well. So your entire city made the transfer without any damage?” Juna asked.
“Yes. Strangely enough, even the underground
water channels were transported over and are working. If it were not for the
fact that the castle is missing and the outside terrain is different, I would
not have realized anything at all.” Sir Harland scratched his chin as he said
this.
“It truly is a mystery.” Sir Harland could
only nod his head. This whole thing was above him.
“Something seems off.” Juna suddenly felt
something was wrong. The air in the city was different. Her roots were all over
the place, but she could not pinpoint what was wrong.
“Halt!” The guards at the gate suddenly
shouted.
“How dare you!? You are trying to stop Sir
Halrand’s carriage!? Are you rebelling!?” Sir Harland’s guard yelled back as
the soldiers he had brought with him all stood in front of the carriage.
“Times have changed! Sir Harland has done evil
deeds to the women of this city. Using his status and position to force young
maidens into bed.” The gate guard replied while drawing his sword. The gate
opened, and many more soldiers began to pour out.
“Wha!? I never!” Sir Harland was about to get
out of the carriage when Juna pulled him back.
“Sir Harland, you need to stay in the
carriage.” Juna’s eyes were cold as she said this. “It seems the cleaning up
you tried to do while you were gone has gone bad. We
should retreat for now until we have a better understanding of the situation.”
“Ri-Right… Please do not listen to their
words. I would never…” Sir Harland feared being misunderstood the most!
“Don’t worry. I know you wouldn’t. Logan did
nothing but praise you. Do you think under my watchful eye that he would be
able to pass one over on our Goddess?” Juna asked.
“No… There would be no way. He would be afraid
of death.” Sir Harland relaxed a little. “But if I do not enter the city, what
will happen to the citizens? What happened to Logan?”
“Don’t worry. I already sent my roots inside
the city. They will find out the situation, so we need to retreat for now.”
Juna was already working on getting a grasp of the situation. She stuck her
head out the window and waved her hand. A massive root suddenly appeared in
front of the soldiers who had been defending the carriage. “You men help the
carriage retreat! We need to leave now.”
“Yes!” The soldiers all saluted and quickly
began to get the carriage backed up. They did not hesitate in the slightest to
follow Juna’s orders. After all, they were all members of the Church of the Ice
Goddess. Juna might have said a lot about Her Goddess to the few soldiers as
they made their way to the city.
Inside Sir Harland’s office…
“What happened?” Range looked at the soldier
who was kneeling in front of him in confusion. “Didn’t you say Sir Harland has
reached the city? Why is he not being brought here to me as a criminal?”
“Tch… Where the hell did he find that woman!?
Where the hell did he go all this time!? Logan never said a word of this!”
Range did not know where Sir Harland was going, nor did he know that he was
forming a treaty with anyone. Range took a deep breath before saying: “Leave
only three soldiers to continue chasing and call the rest back. Sir Harland
will not abandon this city. He will come back. But we need to figure out what
he is planning, so make sure to tell the soldiers still chasing him to stay
hidden.”
“Understood. I will send someone now.” The
soldier stood up and saluted before leaving the room in a hurry.
“Range, you are really making yourself at
home.” A woman walked in. She was wearing a red dress that revealed a good
amount of cleavage. In her hand was a glass of wine that she lifted to her lips
and took a sip of.
“Rosemary. Your fox race looks more and more
human every day.” Range said with a snort. “What do you want? I thought you
were staying out of this.”
“Mmm… For now. But just know that if you do
something I don’t like…” Rosemary’s lips curled up. She walked to the door and
turned around while taking a sip of her wine. “Don’t forget I have the power to
wipe you and everyone here out.”
“That damned woman!” After Rosemary left,
Range couldn’t hold back his anger. He knew the biggest threat of them all was Rosemary. She really could kill all of them if she so
wished, but that girl had no ambition. She only cared about drinking wine and
lounging around all day. To her, being a ruler was too much work. She was a
lazy fox with enough power to destroy the entire city if she wanted to.
“Sir…” A soldier knelt in front of Range, his
back covered in a cold sweat.
“Do as we planned. And hurry. We need to take
Sir Harland into custody as soon as possible. Figure out their plans and lay
out an ambush. We will deal with things in a way that will allow us to look
like the good guys.” Range ordered before sending the guard off.
Range held his head in his hand. He never
thought things would end up like this. He was supposed to be able to quickly
deal with the entire situation, but in the end, not only did Sir Harland
escape, but now he had to worry about Rosemary.
⧫⧫⧫
“And that is what happened.” Juna had just
finished explaining things to Desaray through one of her roots.
“Alright, I will set aside my work here and
head over now. Sir Harland is one of our allies, so we can’t allow his position
to be usurped. Keep him safe until I get there. Do not act until we know the
entire situation. They might have powerful people on their side that we do not
know about.” Desaray wanted to take every precaution. With the current threat
of the Demon Queen of Cinder and many other unknown factors, they had to be
careful with splitting their military up. So, for now, she was the only one who
could leave the city. The soldiers would have to stay behind. Luckily, there
were quite a few high-level people in the kingdom, so it
should hold out in case of an attack. Juna is also watching every side of the
ice wall and within the city.
“Understood. I will keep you up to date.
Please keep my root with you so you can find me.” Juna knew that once Desaray
got here, there would be no way for anything to happen to Sir Harland.
Desaray set aside her work and stood up. She
was about to leave a message for Nina when Lilly came running into the room.
“Mama! I will go with you!”
“You were eavesdropping again?” Desaray asked
as she put her hands on her hips and looked down at Lilly.
Lilly giggled and nodded her head. “You
allowed me to level up so much that I am one of the most powerful people in
this Serenity. If I go with you, I might be able to help. My knife skills are
really good now!”
“Lilly, I am going to help our ally reclaim
his throne, not a dungeon dive. I may even need to kill people. I can not let…”
Desaray wanted to explain things, but Lilly jumped up and put her hand on
Desaray’s mouth, not letting Desaray finish speaking.
“I have long killed people…” Lilly lowered her
head. “Before I met you, when I was on the streets, I killed a person who tried
to take the food I worked so hard for. I want to help you, Mama. I don’t want
to be a bird in a cage. I want to walk side by side with you. You are unable to
undo what I have been through. But you have given me a life I could never dream
of. Mama, you are my hero. You are my Goddess. You are the one I love more than
anyone else in the world. Just being your daughter is a blessing, me, a child
who was nothing more than a street rat.
Desaray held her head. It was true that
Lilly’s level was high. She was now level 85. She had protective skills as well
as some offensive skills. Her ability to hide in the shadows and sneak around
was something that might actually come in useful this time around.
“Fine… But… You will carry a few of my ice
needles on you, as well as two of Juna’s roots. The ice needles will protect
you from harm, while Juna’s roots will allow us to keep track of where you are.
You are not to go off on your own unless you get an okay from me. Do you
understand?” Desaray was worried, but she was sure that with Juna’s roots
following her, she would still be protected. She just did not wish to lose any
more family.
“Mmm! Thanks, Mama!”
⧫⧫⧫
“Her Holiness will be here in a day’s time at
most,” Juna informed. They were no longer in the carriage. They had abandoned
it in the opposite direction they were currently heading in.
“You have formed an alliance with our kingdom.
Her Holiness looks upon this alliance with great importance. She would not
leave you here without any means of retaliation. You do not need to worry. Once
she arrives, no matter who we are against, we will be able to take back what
belongs to you and see to it that you are crowned king.” Juna knew that having
an ally was important. Especially one that they could trust. Juna also knew
that Desaray wanted to surround Serenity with allies even if she had to expand
her lands more, which currently they could not do with so few people. They
would need to increase their population twofold in order to expand any further
and be able to protect it.
In some ways, the Demon Queen of Cinder had
done Desaray a favor by burning the lands near her open border. No one would
want ash-ridden lands. At least not until they began to rebound.
“I see.” Sir Harland let out a sigh of relief.
Just knowing that the alliance he had just formed was already coming in handy
was a breath of fresh air. If he had not been successful, he would have seen
the city he had worked so hard to keep going fall into another’s hands. He
would have probably been executed on the spot when the nobles rose up to
overthrow him. “I really do not know how I can repay you for this assistance.”
“Then make sure you stick to your agreement.
If and when Serenity comes under attack, you will need to send troops to
assist. This is all you need to worry about. Everything else is basic. But if
you fail to help out and Serenity falls, then even if I have to slaughter
through waves of enemies, I will destroy you for
betraying my Goddess.” Juna’s aura changed at the end. She would destroy the
world if it meant getting revenge for her Goddess. She was not the only one
either. If Sir Harland ever betrayed Desaray, then every citizen of Serenity
would probably take up arms and hunt him down. It was really a scary thought.
Especially since, if someone stood in their way, they and their kingdom would
become an enemy of Serenity.
This was one of the things Desaray worried
about the most. She did not wish for her Holy Kingdom to become a place where
the people looked down on others. She did not wish for them to wage any holy
crusades. If they went to war, it would be because they were attacked first.
There would be no retaliation against the kingdom that attacked them, only
defense. She wanted to prevent those who were worshiping her from going down
the wrong path.
She knew when allowing things to progress to
the point that they have, that there would be zealots. She also knew religions
were a hot potato. They could start wars over the littlest things. Earth’s
history was a sure sign of this. She was glad she liked history class and
learned as much as she could in her own time as well because history was
important so that no one would repeat the same mistakes.
Learn from the past. Seek a new path for the
future. This was Desaray’s current idealism when it came to her kingdom. While
this was all kind of forced upon her, she still decided to do it. And since she
decided to do it, she would be sure not to allow for any mistakes.
Little did she know that her followers were
already very much crazy about her as it was. If she were to ever die in battle,
her followers would be like lemmings, and one after the other, charge forth
until either they were dead or the ones who killed her
were dead. This included Juna. Juna had long crossed that thin line and was
very much a person who would start a holy crusade to avenge her Goddess.
“You needn’t worry. I will also be sure to
uphold my part of the alliance. I wouldn’t have sought you out if I didn’t plan
to uphold my end.” Sir Harland tried to express himself as best as possible.
“I know. You are a good man. I have seen the
city as it was before the current situation with my roots. I know for a fact
that the people of Rain Ford City are happy. Your poverty rate is only around
1%, which is very good. But I do think you should work a bit more on the
economy to reduce it to 0%. I know this is hard since you have so many
citizens, but if you extend your walls a bit and begin building up farmland
within the walls, you will be able to give jobs to that 1%.” Juna’s words
caused Sir Harland to open his eyes wide. He never thought of doing such a
thing. It would be very easy for those who use earth magic to move the walls.
“I will be sure to work out a plan for that
after all of this is over.”
Early the next morning, the morning dew was
still fresh for the taking. The low-lying fog covered the underbrush of the
forest as two men in black slowly and quietly made their way through it. “I see
tracks.”
“They should be close.”
“Should we try to take him out before or
afterward?”
“His Highness Range wants him back alive to
use as a means to quell the anger of the people. This will allow him to finally
take the throne.”
“We can only hope he doesn’t. Once he gets to
rule over the city, we will be entering a new age. I, for one, want my wife and
kids to live well. Since he promised he would treat those who assist him well,
I will take the promise and hope he fulfills it. Otherwise, we can just start a
new uprising.”
“I guess that is true. We are only in it for
the money and status, after all.”
“Hmmm? What are two idiots doing this far out
in the forest?” a delicate voice came from behind the two men in black. They
both almost tripped over their own feet as they stumbled forward and turned
around with swords drawn. What they saw was a beautiful woman wearing what
seemed to be a dress made of leaves sitting on top of a large root that had
sprung up out of nowhere. She was lazily swinging her legs back and forth,
staring at them with a confused expression.
“You… who are you!?” One of the men in black
yelled out after snapping out of his daze.
“Me? I am Juna. An Apostle of the benevolent
Ice Goddess Desaray. I ask you again, what are two idiots doing this far out in
the woods? This is not your domain.” Juna’s eyes suddenly turned cold. “Are you
perhaps looking for someone?”
“Yes… Yes we are, we are lo…” Before the man
could finish, two human-shaped figures appeared in front of them. One looked
silver, while the other looked gold.
“We did not come here for…”
“The gold one!”
“Oi! Stop being so greedy! This is definitely
a trap!”
“How can it be a trap!? Look at that gold! She
has to be the forest fairy!”
“Are you stupid!?”
“I already called you both idiots.” Juna
interrupted. “From the very start, I have called you both idiots. Why don’t you
just listen to me? After all… You are already dead.”
“Wha?…..”
Both men had never even realized that two
roots pierced through their chests, stabbing them right through the heart.
Their bodies collapsed to the ground with their eyes wide open in shock.
“Ah, I should have told them that these are
just golden and silver colored roots I made look like people… Awe, well… back
to camp.” Juna sunk into the ground and disappeared. The two men were also
wrapped up in roots and pulled underground. The earth once more returned to
normal as if no one was ever there. However, if one looked close enough, one
would notice the tiny droplets of blood on the ground.
“Understood.” Sir Harland nodded his head. He
once again had to come to terms with the fact that the woman in front of him
was very, very strong. She had the pressure one would get when standing in
front of an elder dragon.
“Oh right… The princess is coming as well. Her
abilities will help us a lot.” Juna had forgotten about this. She was actually
very surprised that Desaray would even allow it, but when she thought about how
Lilly was around the same level as her, was trained in daggers and archery, and
had stealth abilities, it did make sense. She was perfect for sneaking around
in areas her roots could not access easily.
“Ummm… you mean the little girl who was on the
throne when I first arrived?” Sir Harland had not discerned Lilly’s strength,
so this was a big surprise to him.
“Yes. She is just as strong as I am.” Juna
smiled as she watched Sir Harland’s face pale. “She is Her Holiness’s daughter,
after all.”
“That… How can such a little girl…” Sir
Harland was having a hard time comprehending any of this. He was so old yet was
not even strong enough to take on a little girl!
Submission
“What
is going on!? How could Sir Harland….”
In front of the citizens of Rain Ford City, a
large wanted poster was placed in the city center. The poster said dead or
alive with a reward of ten thousand gold. The reason for being wanted was
written at the bottom, causing a stir throughout the city.
“This has to be fake! Sir Harland would never
do such a thing!”
“But… That was before… Now…”
“Yeah, now that we are no longer part of the
Beast Kingdom…”
“No way…”
The citizens still did not wish to believe it,
but they could not hold out on the possibility that something like this did
happen. The idea of their beloved Sir Harland, a man who never forced high
taxes on them, being convicted of kidnapping girls and doing other
unquestionable acts was just…
⧫⧫⧫
“Seems you still have the people behind you
for the time being. But it only takes a few rumors and a bit of sway to end
that. They are already teetering away from trusting you.” Juna could see Sir
Harland’s face growing pale. But she was not worried at all. Once Desaray
arrived, and they began taking action, it would not be long before the people
would be bowing to her Goddess and the usurpers being ousted.
“What should we do?” Sir Harland took a moment
to calm himself down. He had no idea what he should be doing at this time.
The next day….
A cold aura befell the camp as a figure
descended from the sky. “Your Holiness!”
“Juna, we should not waste time. Only you and
Lilly can withstand my aura. So we need to move quickly. I want you to stick
three roots on Lilly’s shoulder. Two for protection and another for you to
teleport to. The two of us will make a scene at the city gates as we slowly
make our way into town. But your first priority is to protect my daughter. As
soon as she is in trouble you do not need to say a word and just teleport to
her.” Desaray hated the fact that she was sending Lilly out, but she couldn’t come
up with any argument that Lilly couldn’t counter. She also knew that she could
not stick Lilly in a cage. It would not be good for her growth. This was why
she brought her along. Lilly was definitely the right person for the job this
time.
“I understand. I will be watching over her.”
Juna nodded her head.
“That is no problem. Your Holiness, I thank
you for coming to my aide so soon.” Sir Harland knelt down and bowed his head.
“Praise the Ice Goddess….”
Desaray pursed her lips and turned to look at
Juna, who quickly turned her head away. She was bored, so she hammered in
everything good about her Goddess… Desaray shook her head and then looked at
the other soldiers. “I want all of you to stay back. We do not want anyone to
die needlessly. Sir Harland will also be enduring my aura as best as he can. If
we end up fighting, your job is to rush forward, grab Sir Harland, and retreat
as quickly as possible so you do not get caught up in the battle. I might end up
turning the entire front entrance of the city into a frozen wasteland.”
“We understand!” The soldiers all saluted and
bowed their heads. They were grateful that the Ice Goddess was so willing to
plan things and help them out.
“Alright, let’s move!” On Desaray’s command,
they all began moving out.
When they got to the edge of the forest, Lilly
ran off toward the entrance in her stealth form. She moved all the way to the
right side of the gates and squatted next to one of the guards. Seeing how
easily she could do such a thing and not get noticed proved that Lilly had
really been working hard.
Lilly waited for the signal. She stood at the
gate that was tightly shut, waiting for her chance to sneak in. And she did not
need to wait long. A large pillar of ice suddenly appeared and shot towards one
of the guards, slamming him into the wall. A loud bang was heard that shook the
sky as the guard and ice crashed into the city wall.
“What!?” The other guards were all shaken. But
this only lasted a second when one yelled out. “Attack! We are under attack!”
The sounds of bells began going off around the
city. The gates slowly opened to allow soldiers to make their way out of the
city to fight off the attackers. This was when Lilly made her move. Her small
yet light body quickly slipped in between a few of the soldiers and entered the
city. She did not dare stick around on the main road and quickly headed to a
side alley.
“Princess, follow my root. It will lead you to
the prison.” Juna’s voice was very low to the point that only Lilly could hear
it, even if she was standing near someone. Lilly did not say anything and only
nodded to the root in front of her. She did not dare speak at this time. She
did not want to alert anyone who might be nearby.
Outside the city, Desaray slowly walked up
towards the city entrance. “In the name of the Holy Kingdom of Serenity, I ask
you to stand down.”
“Who are you!? Why did you attack us!?” One of
the soldiers asked. He was the captain of the squad who had rushed out of the gate. He did not know who this woman was, but he knew
she was very powerful.
“I attacked? Do you have proof? I think that
guard got in the way of my ice pillar.” Desaray looked at the captain with a
confused expression. The captain also looked very confused. He did not
understand how a soldier standing in place was in the way of an ice pillar. The
biggest question of the day was why did an ice pillar suddenly shoot toward
their city! “I was only taking my ice pillar for a walk. It then decided to run
off. I am here to catch it.”
“You… Do you think I am…” The captain was
about to ask if the woman thought he was stupid when the ice pillar suddenly
bent in a strange way as if looking at the woman before the back half of it
began shaking like a tail. It then turned and charged at the woman, shrinking
in size while playfully jumping around the woman.
“Pillar, you need to relax. Come lay down.
Look, you smashed some innocent man.” Desaray pointed at the soldier who was
stuck in the wall. She even gave it a light tap on the back as if to punish it.
“This…” the captain did not know what to make
of this. He had never seen such a creature before. He did not know when ice
pillars gained life! Of course, there was no such thing as living ice pillars.
This was Hina messing around, making the ice pillar act like a dog. As an ice
fairy, she could do many things with ice, including making it look alive.
“Hmmm? What was that? These men usurped the
throne?” Desaray reeled back as she turned to look at the captain in shock and
disgust. “To think you would do such a thing!”
“What is going on here!?” A sultry voice fell
over everyone. Desaray looked up to see a fox woman in a red dress standing on
top of the wall.
“Hmmm? Sorry about that. But your wall and
guards got in the way of my ice pillar.” Desaray narrowed her eyes at the woman
and quietly appraised her.
[Name]: Rosemary
[Race]: Foxkin
[Age]: 89
[Level]: 120
Desaray raised an eyebrow. Eighty-nine years
old and still looked twenty. She was very lucky. Rosemary did not find Desaray
to be funny at all. She felt danger looking at the ice dragon. “What is a
dragon doing here? This is beastkin territory.”
“Heh… I am sorry to say, but these lands do
not belong to you. And where I go is not something you should care about. What
I want to know is, are you the one who usurped the throne?” Desaray knew Lilly
was already at the dungeon and was sneaking her way in, so she did not mind
asking this question. From the looks of it, the guards were only level 40. They
did not pose a risk to her daughter.
“Me? I have no use for such a thing. As long
as I get to live lazily, I do not care what happens.” Rosemary came to an
understanding. This ice woman was here for Regan and the others who were vying
for rule over the city.
“Hmmm… So Sir Harland was with you. It seems
the old owl will not be having his wish come true. I will step down. I have no
wish to fight. I just want to live peacefully, that is all… Is what I would
like to say, but…. Only strength talks.”
“So you want to fight then?” Desaray asked as
she flapped her wings and slowly rose into the air.
“It’s not that I want to, but I have to. In
order for me to listen to you, you must make me submit!” Rosemary only
submitted to the strong. The previous beast king was also strong. She had lost
to him, which was why she had become a noble with her own territory. But now
she was the strongest in Rain Ford City. She did not mind dealing with Sir
Harland since she was used to it. But now things were much different. This was
why she did not step in when Sir Harland’s position was in trouble. She only
went after promises to allow her the freedom to do as she pleased.
But now she had a dragon in front of her. And
a powerful one at that! She wanted to see if this dragon was worth her time. “I
will begin! [Fox Fire]!”
“[Ice Lance Gatling Gun.]” Desaray also called
out her spell. It was just that…
Rosemary looked up at the sky and saw large
lances made of ice but counted in the thousands, and her face paled. “Hah… I
think I really kicked the metal wall this time.”
It was not until a guard cried out that
Rosemary realized she had been duped. “Watch out!”
Rosemary looked down to see spikes of ice
rising up through the ground. But by the time she reacted, it was already too
late. The spikes of ice shot up all around her, some piercing through her arms.
Blood flowed from her wounds. She couldn’t move anymore. She looked at Desaray,
who was now hovering in front of her, and let out a small chuckle. “It seems I
overestimated myself.”
“No. I could tell you were powerful, so I took
the fight seriously.” This was a lie since she did not use a single god-tier
spell, but she did not wish to make Rosemary feel bad. So, a white lie was okay
in a time like this. Of course, Desaray was sure at some point, Rosemary would
realize she did lie, but she would save it for later.
“It’s fine. A defeat is a defeat. I am now
yours to command.” Rosemary’s tribe was a war fox clan. Everything was decided
by battles. Even marriage. If a man wanted to wed and bed a female from her
tribe, they would need to defeat them in battle. Only then would the female
submit.
The same also worked the other way around. If
the female had eyes on a man, she could challenge them, and if she won, she
could have the man of her dreams. But this was also true for those
who had multiple people. If two girls like the same man or two boys like the
same girl. They would fight it out, and then the winner would get to fight the
prospective partners.
Desaray frowned slightly before waving her
hand and removing the ice. She could tell Rosemary no longer had any will to
fight. “My name is Desaray Harris. The Ice Goddess of the Holy Kingdom of
Serenity. What is your name?”
“My name is Rosemary. I was once a
high-ranking noble of the Beast Kingdom, but now I am nothing more than your
underling. The rules of my clan state that I must submit to you since I have
lost.” Rosemary explained.
“I do not know the rules of your clan, but if
you really wish to serve under me, then that is fine. But for now, please lead
me to Logan.” Desaray waved her hand, and snow began to fall around Rosemary.
As the flakes hit Rosemary’s body, the wounds she had gotten all began to heal.
“This… to think even snow can heal. You are
truly an Ice Goddess…” Rosemary was stunned by this sudden ability. She never
thought she would see the day when snow would heal wounds.
“Anyway, take me to Logan, please.” Desaray
did not wish to talk about the whole Goddess stuff. She just wanted to finish
dealing with the task at hand.
“Yes, Your Holiness!” Rosemary nodded and
quickly got up. She did not care about the blood on her body as she jumped down
from the now partially destroyed wall and began running toward Logan.
Desaray flapped her wings and followed from
above while Juna took Sir Harland and disappeared into the ground. She could only move one person with her when using her roots to
teleport.
After everyone was gone, the guards looked at
the damage that had been done and then at each other before falling to the
ground. If they were not careful then all of them would have been diced up by
those ice spears! They really wondered just what level the dragon girl was to
be able to create so many of them. It was just insane that so many had
appeared.
A small figure walked down a damp and smelly
hallway. A white tail flickered back and forth. The barred rooms on each side
of the figure showed no response as it walked by. The figure walked to the end,
where it was the darkest, to see a goat man sitting inside a cell. The goat
man’s eyes were closed as he sat there with his legs crossed.
The figure smiled when it saw the goat man.
Its body flashed, and the bars that once blocked its path were now behind it.
“I see that you are doing well, Logan.”
“Who's there?” Logan opened his eyes and
looked around only to see a young fox girl he knew well appear in front of him.
“You are… Princess Lilly!”
“Shhh! You will be able to get out soon. My
mama is on the way. Sir Harland is also okay. We have come to get you out and
retake the city.” Lilly replied to him in a low voice.
“Sorry… I was just shocked to see you here.
How did you get in here?” Logan asked.
“I can teleport and sneak around very easily.
You can say that I have the best assassin skills. While I can not take you out
myself, I can at least stay here with you until my Mama comes. Which should be
any minute.” Lilly replied.
“Master, why do we need to go down there? I
can just send my own people!” A voice filled with complaint rang out, causing
Logan to shiver in fear.
“Quickly, go! If you stay here, you will be in
trouble.” Logan did not wish for Lilly to be in harm’s way. But when he heard
the next voice, he went from being scared to very confused.
“Rose, stop complaining. Her Holiness is here
to help get someone out of prison. Since you decided to submit, then you will
need to follow Her Holiness’s command!” Juna’s voice rang out. They did not
seem to care how loud they were. But one thing Logan did notice was the sudden
drop in temperature.
“I am not complaining! I am just saying. But
really, why is Master so cold!? I feel like my tail is about to freeze off!”
Rosemary really did not understand the aura coming off of Desaray. It was as if
she was stuck on top of a mountain during a snowstorm without any clothing on.
“Let’s just do what we came here to do.” Juna
quickly changed the subject because the cold aura that Desaray had was
something that really bothered her.
“Who are you to give me commands!? You didn’t
defeat me! Master did! If you want to be above me, then you need to defeat me!”
Rosemary replied with a snort. She was someone who did not submit to others
unless they were stronger than her!
Rosemary closed her mouth and pursed her lips.
She looked at Juna and did not understand why this girl would be able to defeat
her. Her [Fox Fire] could easily burn away her roots. “When this is over, let’s
fight!”
“Fine, but don’t cry to Her Holiness when you
lose!” Juna replied back with a mocking smile.
“I will not! And I will not lose!” Rosemary
shot back. She wished she could battle it out now!
“Mama!” A small snow-white figure appeared and
jumped onto Desaray. Desaray embraced the figure in her arms with a smile.
“You did good, Lilly.” Desaray gently stroked
the top of her daughter’s head.
“Cu-Cute!” Rosemary saw the young fox girl and
instantly fell in love. Such an adorable fox was causing her motherly instincts
to take over. She wanted to cuddle and spoil the fox girl with all her might!
“Hmmm? Wait… Mama?”
“Mmm… This is my Mama. Who are you?” Lilly did
not like the questioning tone Rosemary had and became defensive.
“She is Rosemary. You can ignore her. Lead me
to Logan.” Desaray did not want to spend too much time in this dungeon. The
smell was getting to her, and her feet felt weird against the dirty, frozen
rocks.
“Okay!”
Lilly jumped out of Desaray’s arms and grabbed her hand before leading her down
the hall.
“Ummm… Juna. Who is the cute fox? Why did she
call Master mama?” Rosemary was very eager to know who the fox girl was.
“That is Princess Lilly and Her Holiness’s
daughter whom she adopted. She was actually once human, but after her
evolution, she became a Mystic Snow Fox.” Juna explained. No one knew that
Lilly’s true race was not just a normal Mystic Snow Fox but a Mystic Snow
Dragon Fox, except for Lilly herself, Desaray, Nina, and Juna. Although Lilly
thought she was hiding this fact from the others. She did plan to surprise her
mama one day, though.
“I see…. Master is truly kind. And that girl’s
evolution is quite amazing.”
“Luck had nothing to do with it. Their meeting
was destiny. Think about it. Her Holiness’s aura freezes everything around her.
If she were to be alone all the time due to this, how would her life be? Would
she smile as she is now? Would she be here now helping so many? When I first
met Her Holiness, she was not as powerful as she is now. It has not even been a
year, and yet here she is. Strong enough to solo raid bosses of a higher level.
She is someone who has lost everything and began building anew. But at the same
time, she still holds a sadness of wishing she could see her family again.
“The person you are now following is kind
because she knows the meaning of loss. She knows the meaning of caring for
others. This is what makes Her Holiness so great. But her kindness only
stretches so far. When needed, she can deal with the situation at hand. I have
seen it myself. Rose, always remember that life is not easy, no matter how
strong you are. The only reason Her Holiness is able to
stay who she is is because of the Princess. This is why, in our kingdom, the
Princess is treated as everyone’s child. She is cherished by all. Yet she also
knows the pain of those who do not have much.
“When I first saw her, she had barely any meat
on her bones. She hardly ate anything each day in the otherworld. When she was
transported here, it was destiny that brought Her Holiness to her. She was
saved and given a loving home. If anything were to happen to her, I can say
this now. The world as you know it would become a frozen wasteland. And an army
of thousands of high levels like me would roam this land, killing everyone else
who has survived. You can say our Princess is a treasure that should never be
tainted.” Juna said so much that she had forgotten to even look at Rosemary
since she was lost in her rant. When she looked over at the fox woman, she saw
her trembling in fear.
“You okay?” Juna did not understand why
Rosemary was acting like this.
“Will I be okay? I wanted to fluff her tail
and scratch her ears…” Rosemary asked in a quivering voice.
“Haha!” Juna let out a laugh. “That is
something that you will need to ask the Princess. I fluff her tail and scratch
her ears all the time.”
“I see…” Rosemary let out a long sigh of
relief. She was glad that she was not going to be frozen to death.
“Umm… are you two done? I can’t get any
closer, or I will freeze Logan.” Desaray was standing in the middle of the
hallway. She did not want to get too close to any of the cells since she did not know who was who. She did not want to
accidentally kill someone.
“Your Holiness, can go back outside if you
wish. I can break the cells open.” Juna offered. She realized that Desaray was
doing her best not to harm anyone.
“Then I will go out with Lilly and wait.”
Desaray picked Lilly up and turned around. Rosemary quickly stepped to the side
and coated herself and Sir Harland, who was behind her, staying as quiet as can
be, in her fox fire while Desaray walked by. Luckily, Desaray was quick, and
only the outer portion of her fox fire froze. But this once more proved to
Rosemary that Desaray was very powerful.
“Now then.” Juna turned to the cell door. The
ground began to shake, and a massive root shot up from under the stone floor.
The door popped off easily under the force of the giant root. And just as
quickly as the root appeared, it disappeared. “Logan, we meet again.”
“Thank You… But… Miss Rosemary… Why?” Logan
did not understand why this woman was here.
“Logan. Don’t hold it against me for not
helping. But you know my rules. I only follow the strong. The old owl offered
me some extras for staying out of it. I did plan to protect the city, though,
as I have been for so long. But who knew that my new Master was so powerful? I
lost so fast that it made my fight with the beast king look like a walk in the
park. Anyway, I am now on your side, so no worries.” Rosemary explained.
Normally, she would not have said so much, but since she wanted to make sure
Juna understood her position, she said a lot more than normal.
“That is no problem. Sir Harland, if you can
come forward. I think you should say something.” Juna turned to look at the man
standing behind them with his head lowered. He had a hood covering his head, so
it was hard to see who it was.
Sir Harland stepped forward and removed his
hood. He looked at Logan and smiled. “It’s good you are still alive, old
friend. I am sorry that I took so long.”
Putting Things Back In Their Rightful Place
“You two can catch up later. We have more
important matters to deal with.” Juna reminded them. She also did not wish to
make Desaray wait too long for her.
“You are right. Sorry, Miss Juna. May I bother
you to let the soldiers out who had helped Logan?” Sir Harland asked with his
head bowed.
“No problem.” Juna waved her hand, and
multiple cells were broken apart by giant roots that quickly retreated, leaving
massive holes in the bars. “Alright, let’s go.”
Logan and Sir Harland both looked at each
other and felt the same thing. They were glad they were on the same side. If
they had to go to war against The Holy Kingdom of Serenity, they were sure that
they would lose. Just one of the higher-ranking people
was enough to destroy a kingdom, and not everyone was a dragon.
After Juna and the others left the dungeon,
they saw Desaray playing with Lilly out in the prison yard as if they were out
on a picnic. “Your Holiness, we are ready.”
“Alright. Then we shall go say hi to the
person who orchestrated all of this. We can’t let them off easily.” Desaray
would not dish out punishment herself. She would let Sir Harland do it.
In Sir Harland’s office, an owl man sat behind
the wooden desk, tapping his fingers off the table. “Why has no one come to
report the situation!? Why has no one come to tell me where Sir Harland is!?”
“Because they can’t.” A voice the owl man was
very familiar with entered his ears, causing the owl man to shiver in fear.
“How!?” The owl man asked as the door opened.
Sir Harland walked in and quickly stepped to the side, letting those behind him
enter. What he saw was a light blue-skinned girl wearing a dress made of ice
walking in with a little girl in her arms. The floor and area around her began
to freeze solid. The temperature in the room quickly dropped to below zero.
“I see… a noble, I presume?” Desaray asked as
she looked the owl man up and down. He was wearing very fine clothes and seemed
to have a lot of gold jewelry hanging from his person.
“Who? Who are you!?” The owl man asked in
fear. He couldn’t help but stand up and take a few steps back.
“My name is Desaray. The ruler of The Holy
Kingdom of Serenity. And the Goddess those of the Church of the Ice Goddess worship. Now tell me. What gave you the right to
usurp Sir Harland when he has made an alliance with my kingdom?” Desaray’s eyes
turned cold as she lifted her hand, causing the ice to spread out and form
around the owl man.
“Range, you really messed up this time. You
started this whole entire thing thinking you were going to win but to think you
picked a fight with an ally as powerful as Master.” Rosemary walked in, making
sure to stay back as far as she could so she didn’t freeze but still kept up
her normal temperament.
“You… Rosemary! We had a deal!” Range yelled
out. He did not understand why this woman was here. Nor did he understand why
she was calling this ice woman master!
“Deals only go so far. If I were stupid and
sided with you from the start and actually fought Master head-on, I would have
died without knowing how. I lost to her just because I was defending the city,
not for your sake but for the beastkin who live here. You are better off
surrendering. The soldiers outside are all frozen or wrapped up in roots.”
Rosemary replied. She disliked this old bastard anyway, so she did not care if
she was going against their deal.
“That…” Range did not understand how things
fell apart so easily. “Even if you do capture me, there are more nobles who
will rebel!”
“No, there are not…” Juna suddenly spoke up.
She then waved her hand, and the side wall exploded, and all the nobles Range
had conspired with were now wrapped in roots. All were quiet except for one.
“Let me go you bitch!” Dilis, the wolf man
yelled. “Fight me fairly! This is cowardly!”
Dilis looked at Juna’s cold expression filled
with murderous intent and closed his mouth. He understood if he spoke again, he
might end up being skewered in a place he did not even like touching himself.
“Good boy, I will make sure you get extra
gruel in your prison food.” Juna gave a mocking smile before turning to the owl
man. “So, Mr. Hooters, are you going to give in, or do I need to give the mutt
an example of what will happen if he keeps yapping away.”
“I surrender!” Range did not even need to
think about it. It was already over. And he sure as hell did not wish to be an
example!
“Good. Good. Now then…” Juna turned and looked
at Sir Harland. “Sir Harland, Logan, you can do as you please with these
nobles. This is not our job. But we will still need to work on restoring your
reputation. So leave the old owl there for now.”
⧫⧫⧫
In the forest next to the city, Desaray, Juna,
and Lily were all sitting around a campfire, albeit further away than most
would typically sit. “Desa, was it okay to leave Rose there?”
“Yeah, I don’t think she will go against me.
Plus, we have a few of your roots there. If something happens, you can just
bring us there.” Desaray replied while stroking her daughter’s head. Lily was
sound asleep.
“That is true.” Juna nodded and fell back onto
the ground, looking up at the stars above. “I wonder what the owl was even thinking. He did not look smart enough to rule over
anything. He seems like the kind of person who would use the masses as a means
to live lavishly, and when they revolted, he would not know what to do.
“If he had just kept things as they were, he
would not be sitting in a jail cell at this time. He even ruined a good man’s
reputation as well.” Juna sighed. She disliked people like Range. It made no
sense to her. He did something so stupid. He was living a good life and ruined
it all because he fell to greed.
“Things will be back to normal tomorrow. So we
do not need to worry about anything. Once Sir Harland is back in power, we can
go home. As long as nothing else happens between then and now, we will be able
to work on leveling up more. My fight with the Demon Queen of Cinder made me
realize that I am still too weak. I let such a powerful foe go. If she were to
show up while most of our high levels are away, then Serenity might be burnt to
the ground by the time we returned.” Desaray hated to say it, but she was
perturbed about the Demon Queen of Cinder. She hoped she would not be seeing
her for a long, long time.
“More and more are reaching the higher levels.
As long as we continue to grow in power, by the time the next merger happens,
Serenity will be in safe hands. From what I know, not even the dragons had too
many high levels. If they did, it would throw off the world balance. The elves
and dragons might have some ancestors who are level 150. The humans also had a
hero who was level 130 and a large standing army with levels 80 and up, which
is why they were able to keep their standing. But I could be wrong. I only know
about the major races. The rest are a mystery to me.” Juna did not know if
there were any secluded races out there that could have more powerful people.
“That is true. I never thought about it
before. I wonder if a new power besides Serenity will take rise.” Juna was
really curious about that. She loved to gain knowledge, which was why her roots
were spread far and wide. She was Serenity’s first line of defense to any
disaster it might be facing.
“I am sure some will. With the merger, more
land is appearing. There are also flying islands. Where these people appear
will depend on their luck.” Desaray frowned slightly. She couldn’t help but
think about her father when she thought about the flying islands.
“Let’s hope no one tries to start a war too
soon.” Juna sat up and leaned her head against Desaray’s shoulder. “As long as
Serenity and you are safe, then the vision you hold will last forever.”
“Don’t talk like that. It sounds as if you are
running to your death.” Desaray gave a light knock on Juna’s head, causing her
to giggle and say. “No, I would toss Oinktera in front of me before I died.”
“Haha!” Desaray couldn’t help but laugh out
loud.
“Mama? ”Lilly looked up at her mother, who was
laughing, and rubbed her eyes.
Hearing Lilly’s steady breathing, Desaray
smiled and leaned back against a block of ice she created. “I guess I should
catch some sleep as well.”
“Have a good night, Desa,” Juna said softly
before waving her hand and creating a backrest for herself made of roots. She,
too, closed her eyes and slowly fell asleep. She trusted Desaray’s aura to keep
them safe. That was basically the only good thing about her aura that froze
everything in sight. If it were not for her ice resistance, even her roots
would be frozen solid within less than a second. But because she maxed it out,
she was able to keep her roots from freezing, allowing her to do much more for
Desaray.
That night, all three girls slept under the
stars peacefully. The next day would ring in a new beginning for Rain Ford City
and the people who lived in it.
Early the next morning, in the center of Rain
Ford City, a large stage had been created out of roots. Upon it, Juna stood
with Sir Harland and Logan. Rosemary guarded Range and the other nobles at the
side. Up in the air, hovering over all of them, Desaray sat in the sky on a
throne made of ice, using her frozen step as a platform in which to pull this
off. In her lap was a cute fox girl who was resting in her arms.
“People of Rain Ford! I am the leader of the
Holy King of Serenity and the Ice Goddess that they all worship. Sir Harland
has been in my kingdom for a few days and has formed an alliance with my
kingdom. I did not think that he would need my help so soon.
“You are the masses. You are the ones who
define a kingdom. You are the ones who help keep a kingdom going. It is not the
nobles nor the king. It is the masses who pay the taxes in hopes of getting
back protection and stability in their lives.
“A kingdom is not a single man. It is all of
you. If you wish to believe in the lies of others and say that Sir Harland is a
vile man, then I do not mind destroying a city that could one day pose a threat
to my own. Make your choices. Do you wish to see those who brought all this
about, die or the man who has been working hard all these years so that you can
have better lives? Choose! Choose now! But know if you choose the second
option, you will die.” Desaray’s powerful empress-like aura swept outwards, causing
the people in the crowd to cower. They only had a single choice to choose from.
Only an idiot would choose the second option!
“What gives you the right to dictate what we
can and can not do!?” A young deer man yelled out. He did not seem to fear
Desaray at all.
“Her Holiness needs not to do anything. Since
those who work under her will rush to do it for her. Young man, it seems you do
not fear death. So be it.” Juna had only just finished her words when a root
stabbed out towards the man, only to be blocked by a wall of ice.
Juna lowered her head. She looked like a puppy
who was just yelled at. “I am sorry. Your Holiness. As you said, I acted on
emotions. It’s just that you do so much for people, and yet there are those who
still question you.”
“I do not do what I do to make everyone like
me. I only do it because I do not wish to see others suffer.” Desaray smiled
and looked at the crowd. “As you can see, people make mistakes. It is in the
nature of those who are sentient. We all make mistakes. I do not wish to
destroy this city. I do not want to harm anyone. I only hope that all of you
here now understand that this man, Sir Harland, Gerald Harland, only wants the
best for the people of Rain Ford. If you so wish to oust him, then he will
leave. I do not mind taking in such a talented man.
“But know that he has done nothing wrong. In
fact, he traveled into a battle zone against the Demon Queen of Cinder just to
meet with me. So I hope you can all give him the benefit of the doubt.” Desaray
finished what she wanted to say. She ignored the sly grin on Juna’s face. They
had planned out the whole man-in-the-crowd act. He was one of the guards who
protected Logan. Juna’s attack was also planned, as well as Desaray’s
interference.
But this did not mean just good things for Sir
Harland, Desaray was also benefiting from this. By showing her own power and
appearing before the people of Rain Ford City she was gaining more and more
followers.
Desaray waited a while before finally speaking
again. She wanted to give the people a chance to speak up, but no one said a
word. “Since no one has any proper objections, I now declare Gerald Harland as
the new Beast King, and the alliance with my Holy Kingdom of Serenity is now
fully valid. Let us work together to make both our kingdoms prosper!”
“Hurraaah!” A cheer rang out through the crowd
below as everyone bowed toward not their new king but to the dragon girl
standing in the air. Some were even doing proper prayers. This made Desaray let
out a long sigh. It seemed her follower count was rising by the day. She now
had over eighteen thousand followers.
After the announcement was made and telling
the masses that the date of the coronation ceremony would be announced later,
Desaray and her group were now inside a large room with Sir Harland. “I can’t
thank you enough, Your Holiness. Without you, the entirety of Rain Ford City
would have fallen into the hands of someone that was unable to give the people
a good life.”
“It is now the Rain Ford Kingdom, King
Harland,” Desaray said teasingly. “You do not need to thank me. I was only helping due to our alliance. Rose, for the time being until
after the coronation ceremony, will be staying here as your personal guard. A
few roots will also be roaming around the city and around you at all times for
protection. Juna can come here at any time if something happens. Take care to
finish things up in the next week. I will be back with a proper crown made by
an elder dwarf. I will ask them to put in some protection runes to keep you
safe. They are quite handy.”
“You really just want me to keep thanking you,
huh?” Sir Harland, now King Harland, smiled and bowed his head. “Once more,
thank you for everything.”
Desaray smiled, and the group chatted a bit
longer before Desaray took her leave. She wanted to return home. She had rushed
here to handle things and left many things unfinished. She was dreading all the
work she needed to do, but it had to be done.
“Desa, you were amazing,” Juna said with a
smile. “I know you hate doing all of these things, but you still played the
part very well.”
“It was good for me as well. I gained almost
eight thousand more followers. Although, this is just a drop in the bucket of
the amount I need. But at the very least, I will be able to work towards my
goals slowly. After we get back, I will need to finish my work and then head to
a dungeon. I think this time, I will go into the raid alone. I need levels. I
need to grow stronger. I need to become strong enough to protect everything.”
Desaray wanted to be stronger. She wanted to be able to protect the people who
trust her and worship her.
“Heh… I wonder what my father would think if
he knew that I had become a Goddess and even had my own religion.” She could picture her father facepalming and shaking his
head, saying something along the lines of: “Why does this sound like something
you would do?”
“I am sure he would be supportive and become a
follower himself.” Juna really thought this way. She was not just saying it to
make Desaray feel better.
“Either way, I have no means of figuring out
where they all went, so I will just keep doing what I am doing until one day I
can find them.” Desaray let out a depressed sigh. Lilly hugged her neck and
kissed her cheek. “Mama?”
“It’s nothing. Let’s go home.” Desaray reached
out for Juna’s hand, which Juna smiled and took. “If you would.”
“It will be strange, but just bear with it,”
Juna said as roots shot up from the ground. Juna pulled Desaray with her as she
stepped into one of the roots, merging into it and pulling Desaray and Lily
inside as well. Unlike with Sir Harland, Lily was small enough to be taken as
well. She did not need to worry about taking another adult with her.
This was Desaray’s and Lilly’s first time
using Juna’s wooden traversal skill, which she had upgraded. To her, it felt
weird. Like the root was her but not her at the same time. She watched as the
roots sunk into the ground, bringing them with them. That was when everything
became pitch black. “It’s dark, but it is quick. Instead of a few days’ travel
time, we can do it in almost a minute.”
“It is truly an enviable skill. Maybe one day,
I will have an instant transfer skill as well. However, I think to do that, I
would need to figure out how to gain space and time magic. Because a skill
based on ice would mean me needing to freeze the entire world
over.” Desaray sighed. She did not wish to freeze the world if the system did
not give magic based on what she hoped for.
⧫⧫⧫
“It’s good to be home!” While Desaray did not
need to do much due to her strength, she was a little bit disappointed that
there was no real political intrigue that could have entertained her just a
little bit.
Rosemary was strong, yes, but she was not
strong enough to fight Desaray even if Desaray was many levels below her.
Desaray even found it odd that she would have such thoughts, but now she felt
like she understood what a certain bald man from a manga felt. Too much
strength can be boring. If she was weaker and had to do something like make
alliances after infiltrating the city and then slowly gain allies while keeping
tabs on her enemies, then it might have been more fun. But when she thought
about it, she shook her head. All the extra work would only be fun at the start
before she would want to freeze the entire city.
“I wish I could take a hot bath….” Desaray
pursed her lips. She wondered when the last time it was that she could even
feel heat. To be able to sink her body into a hot bath and relax was something
he really wished for. But now she can’t even go near water. It would instantly
freeze. “I wonder if I can take a bath in lava….”
“Desa, I hate to break the news to you, but
you did freeze that woman, the Demon Queen of Cinder’s fire, which was much
hotter than any lava could be…” Juna did not want Desaray to get her hopes up
with such an idea.
Juna looked at Desaray and sighed. She thought
for a moment before saying: “To the far north, there is a volcano. I think you
can attempt this bath there.”
“Yay! Juna, you are the best!” Desaray was
actually very happy. She hoped the lava could hold on long enough just for her
to relax a little.
“I can only take us to the base of the
mountain. The entire place is a hot zone. My roots will burn up if I get too
close. I can't even get close to that place.” Juna did not see anything wrong
with the area, but her roots were very weak towards extreme heat. They would
start to wither. “I think I might max fire resistance next.”
“Then you might just become more powerful than
me.” Desaray wondered just how powerful Juna would become in the future. She
was already on par with herself.
“You jest. My roots can not survive your
absolute zero skill. If you combine that with your ice throne, then I might
just end up an ice cube. Resistances are just that: resistances. My ice
resistance might be maxed, but I can still feel the biting cold from your body
if I get too close. If you add in your magic spells, then I would freeze, no
questions asked.” Juna knew her max ice resistance would only get her so far.
For now, it was at least warding off Desaray’s aura. But if she were attacked
by a spell that was infused with magic, applying it more and one that was
considered a spell for gods, then she would end up a snowman made of ice in no
time.
“Then I will send you there now. When you are
done, just find my root in the same place.” Juna picked up Lily before
surrounding Desaray in roots. These roots sucked Desaray in and then
disappeared from whence they came.
In the blink of an eye or more like five
minutes, Desaray found herself in the far north. It was a strange place because
of the way the landscape looked. There was an area of forest filled with snow.
The closer you got to the volcano, the forest ended with a river of slush
leading into a big green grassy field. The higher the higher one went, the
hotter it became until even the landscape itself was on fire.
“An extraordinary place. I wonder why this
place is the way it is…” Desaray’s curiosity was piqued. She decided to take a
look after she finished her bath. She flapped her wings and flew over the
landscape that was glowing red due to the heat. The steam that rose into the
air was creating a dense fog, making it hard to see, but she still quickly
arrived at her target.
Below was a glowing orange and red pool of
lava. The bubbles popped, releasing the hot gasses inside that could easily
incinerate a normal human. Desaray still did not feel any heat even as she
slowly descended from the sky. “Now then… let’s dip a toe in, shall we?”
Desaray licked her lips as she landed on a blackish-red rock. The sound of
sizzling could be heard as her cold aura clashed with the heat of the rock. But
it did not take too long before it was soon covered in frost.
Yi Ling
Desaray moved to the lava pool’s shore and
stood there hesitating ever so slightly. She took a deep breath before letting
it out slowly before finally biting the bullet and stepping into the pool of
lava. To her surprise, a gentle warmth began to fill her body. She smiled a
smug grin before taking the plunge.
Steam rose into the air as Desaray sank into
the lava up to her shoulders. She could feel the warmth hugging her body, a
feeling she had not felt in so, so long. “This was a good idea!” She could feel
her muscles loosening up. But what amazed her was just how thick the lava was.
She would feel it surrounding her and pressing on her body, but at the same
time, it felt very good.
She had no idea how deep the pool of lava was,
but for now, she floated on its surface, allowing the heat to do its job. One
would probably not call this a bath, but for Desaray, this was the closest
thing she would ever get to a proper bath at this time.
Desaray floated on the lava surface for almost
three hours before it started to cool off slightly. “I guess I have soaked
enough… If I can even call this soaking. Anyway, let’s dive down and see what
there is to see.”
Desaray had already tested it, and she could
actually open her eyes inside the lava, but this time, she would be diving
blind since she could not see past the lava in front of her. But she did not
plan to swim around without a sense of direction. “I guess I can make a bubble
of ice so I have air to breathe as well.”
With a wave of her hand, Desaray was covered
in a sheet of ice that was three inches thick. Since such a thing would melt
right away, but this time, it was imbued with magic, so there was no way for it to melt so easily. Desaray waved her hand once
more, and the bubble in which she now resided began to penetrate the surface of
the lava.
She continued down for what seemed like hours
before suddenly passing through the last layer of lava into a room of some
sort. The bubble of ice held firm even as it slowly descended to the ground.
“Who goes there!?” A voice yelled out, causing
Desaray to frown, mainly because she had heard this voice before. “It’s you!”
Desaray quickly went on guard as she stared at
the person in front of her. “No wonder the lava was hot enough….”
The Demon Queen of Cinder stood frozen as she
looked at the blue-scaled girl exiting the bubble of ice. She did not know how
this woman had tracked her down. But worse yet, she was currently still
recuperating! She had used way too much mana trying to create this place to be
a perfect place for her new castle. But now… “Ice Dragon, why have you come!?”
“Demon Queen of Cinder….” Desaray stared
coldly at the woman in front of her. That was when an idea came to mind. “I
will make you a deal. I will not kill you now, only if you make the lava
upstairs stay for a while. But the first time you even think about burning the
world down again, I will freeze this entire mountain and you as well. You know
I can. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have run away.”
“Do you take me for a fool!? I will achieve my
goals! If you wish to fight, then we can just fight! I do not wish to sit here
and talk as if we are companions.” The Demon Queen of Cinder was already
readying a teleportation spell. She could not sit around and
fight this woman. She was almost out of mana, so she had no choice but to buy a
little time while she got her spell ready.
Desaray sighed as she raised her hand. “Then a
fight, it shall be. Ice maiden…” This was a spell Desaray made up herself and
did not even register on her skill list. It was part of her [Ice Manipulation]
skill. She, of course, took inspiration from certain sources, but it was
basically a large coffin with ice spikes inside it.
“Weak!” The Demon Queen of Cinder quickly
fired a massive explosion of flames, trying to melt the coffin that was trying
to surround her.
Flames and ice clashed. The overwhelming heat
and ice-cold air caused the entire room to be filled with mist. Desaray frowned
even more, seeing her spell was being easily blocked. She had to figure out how
to quickly deal a final blow to this woman. “[Frozen Earth]!”
Spikes of ice shot up from the ground, heading
straight for the Demon Queen of Cinder. “This is still too weak!” While she
shouted these words, the Demon Queen of Cinder still had no other choice but to
dodge the attack. This only served to make her madder since it now seemed like
she was dancing to this Ice woman’s tune. But luckily, delaying long enough
worked out well. “It seems my state is not good. Until….”
“You are not going anywhere! Not this time!”
Desaray shouted. “Ice Throne! Absolute Zero!”
“Do you think you can stop me!? Flame Stride!”
The Demon Queen of Cinder’s body was enveloped in flames that quickly
disappeared, revealing an empty space where the Demon Queen of
Cinder once resided. The ice from Desaray's spell froze the area over an
instant after the spell went off.
“Damn it! She’s like a cockroach!” Desaray did
not know why this woman wanted to destroy the world. But she knew one thing was
for sure—she just missed the best chance to kill her.
“I just need to get stronger...” Desaray
sighed as she looked around. The place she was in was quite big, it seemed that
the Demon Queen of Cinder was planning on making this place her lair.
*Crack!*
The sound of rocks cracking could be heard
nearby. Desaray turned to see a hole forming where her ice and the hot rocks
were. “Hmmm? What is this?”
Desaray had walked over to the crack and
pulled it apart to reveal a passage to a cave of some kind. She dug it out
until she could fit through and stepped into the new space with a look of
excitement in her eyes. This could be considered her first time going on an
adventure.
She looked around to see that the new area was
dimly lit by glowing mushrooms and the blue puddles of water that pooled on the
ground in the dips of the cave floor. But what caught her eye the most was the
massive blue, glowing rock in the middle of the room. “Hey, Hina, do you know
what that is?”
Hina parted Desaray’s hair and looked around.
When her eyes fell on the glowing blue stone her eyes went wide in surprise.
“Level ore! And a big one!”
“Level ore? What is that?” Desaray had never
heard of such a thing before.
“Alright then, I will drink the pools of water
then. As for the ore itself… I will have to bring it back and set up a place
where it can help everyone in the kingdom. Hina, how long would the effects of
such an ore last?” Desaray was glad to know she had found something amazing.
But what made her happier was the fact that she had actually found something
that the Demon Queen of Cinders would have stumbled upon if not for her coming
here. In a way, this was more than just a lucky find.
“One this size should last at least one
hundred years. Even if it were used every day by thousands of people, they
would all slowly level up.” Hina replied. “Also, there are small chunks lying
around as well. You need to grab it all. Do not let any of it go.”
“I won’t. Something this good can not fall
into anyone else’s hands.” Desaray first went over to one of the pools of water
on the floor. She looked at the glowing blue water that was clear as can be
before kneeling, leaning her head down, and taking a sip.
[Experience Points Gained….]
[Level Up!]
“Instant level, this is just…” Desaray was not
complaining, but she felt as if she had found an actual life hack or more like
a level hack. She began slurping up the water from the
cave floor, making sure to drink up every last drop. From puddle to puddle, she
licked the stone dry, making sure she did not leave a single drop. The entire
time, her level kept going higher and higher.
[Experience Points Gained….]
[Level Up!]
[Experience Points Gained….]
[Level Up!]
[Experience Points Gained….]
[Level Up!]
[Experience Points Gained….]
[Level Up!]
Desaray’s level kept rising until it hit level
105. She had gotten 14 levels instantly just from drinking all the pools of
water on the floor. “My aura got stronger again!”
Desaray complained as she watched her ice
field expanding a few feet in all directions. “But my level did jump as well as
my strength. But why do I feel much stronger than before?”
“The effects of that liquid were mixed with
the minerals from the rocks within this cave. This means the pools of water had
become a natural potion that nourished your body as well. It can be considered
something that can not be reproduced since it would take millions of years to
ever create such pools. If I am not wrong, this place has been untouched for at
least twenty million years. With how big the level ore that is.” Hina was still
trying to wrap her head around how lucky her master was. To be able to find this
big of level ore was beyond imagination.
“I see…. Alright, let’s collect the rest of
this stuff, then we will head back to Juna’s root and get a ride home. Hina,
thanks for letting me know. I would have just thought it was some kind of rock. Hell, even now, I still have not used appraisal on
the thing.” Desaray scratched her head as she checked the level or with
appraisal.
[Level Ore]
[Helps those nearby to slowly level up.]
[Quality]: Rare
“Juna, take me home.” Desaray had frozen all
the level ore into a cube of ice and had it floating in the air in front of her
as she landed at the base of the mountain where Juna’s root was waiting.
“Okay, get ready!” Juna replied through her
root. Desaray closed her eyes right as a bunch of roots shot out of the ground
and surrounded her. The next thing she knew, she was standing just outside the
city, which is where she had asked Juna to return her to on her return so that
the roots would not damage anything by accident.
“Your Holiness, what is that?” A familiar
voice entered her ears, causing Desaray to turn her head.
When she saw who it was, she smiled brightly
and said: “Regal! I see you have leveled up quite a bit!”
“Haha, it is all thanks to Apostle Oinktera.
He went all out and began soloing everything at a crazy speed. We reached the
fiftieth floor before I knew it.” Regal replied. He had never thought he would
reach level eighty like this. But here he was, feeling younger than ever with
how high his level jumped.
“I kinda figured he would have. He loves to
smash things. Anyway, I am glad you are back, and it seems you have also raised
your ice resistance.” It was only now that she realized how close Regal was to
her.
“I see. Well, thank you. Also, to answer your
question. This here is a thing called level ore. It will help you level up
slowly. I want to build a building where this is hanging from the ceiling. A
place where people can go and gain knowledge while passively gaining experience
to level up. A library.” Desaray explained.
“Level ore… Never heard of it before. I do not
think we had such a thing in the other world.” Regal tried to recall such an
ore, but he had never heard of it.
“That’s because it only forms naturally at
deep depths. To find one, you would need to dig deep underground.” Hina
suddenly flew out and explained. “It is a treasure amongst treasures.”
“I see… That would explain why no one had ever
seen one before. If they only appear deep underground. I guess we were lucky to
get such an item. I will work to make a library where people can come to read
books. But how are we going to fill out the shelves?” Regal did not know where
they were going to get the books needed to even fill a single shelf.
“We will make an expedition to one of the
schools not far from here. We can get all the books we need from there. There
will even be materials to learn how to read and write the language from this
world.” Desaray explained. While she did not need it, the others would and
there were plenty of people in the kingdom who could read and write English
along with the schools she had set up as well.
“Alright, then, I will get the library built
as soon as possible.” Regal was happy to know that there was a place for all
citizens to go and not only learn but also get some passive experience. By
getting others to learn more, they could do more things, and the kingdom itself
would also benefit from it.
“Also, make sure you put a protection rune on
the rock so it can’t be stolen.” Desaray did not think anyone would do such a
thing, but just in case, she wanted to be safe rather than sorry. Because even
if she did keep the rock’s effects a secret, it would only be a matter of time
before someone figured it out. After all, a large rock hanging from the ceiling
that glows would be hard to miss.
So, in order to protect such a thing, she
wanted to make sure no one could take it by sticking some runes on it. Regal
also felt this was a good idea as well. “I will get to work on it right away. I
haven't made anything for a while, so these old bones are screaming for a good
workout.”
“Alright, let me know when it is almost done.
I will be storing this at my house for now.” Desaray knew such a massive rock
would end up in the way if she left it at the construction site, so she wanted
to bring it over later on. She also did not wish to risk it getting damaged in
any way.
“Thanks. I will make sure the door to the
library is a double door so we can fit it inside afterward. The support beam
will be the biggest issue. I think I will need to frame the entire thing in metal….” Regal was lost in thought about how he was
going to build this new library. Desaray did not stop him either as the dwarf
walked away. She knew that with him on the job, things would work out nicely.
“Oh right, Regal, before you start on that,
can you do me a favor and make a few chains for these fragments?” Desaray held
out her hand, showing the smaller fragments she had picked up as well.
“Hmmm? Five chains? No problem.” Regal nodded
and took the fragments. “I will have them done by tonight. I will gather people
tomorrow for the library.”
“I really appreciate it. I will go out
tomorrow with a group to gather books. It’s best to get as many as we can now.”
Desaray wanted to make sure she did not miss out on books. She planned to hit a
few bookstores as well on the way. That is, if they were still around.
While during the technology era of Earth,
before everything changed, books were mainly things people read on their
phones, tablets, and PCs. But many still liked the physical copy and would
still go to bookstores to buy them, which allowed a few of these bookstores to
survive the tests of time. That is, if they were able to survive the last few
mergers.
After saying goodbye to Regal, Desaray was
stopped by some of her citizens, who all bowed and prayed to her. Desaray still
felt uncomfortable when people did this, but to keep her people happy, she was
willing to put up with it even if it seemed off to her. She had to have many
followers. And would need many more if she wished to continue growing in
strength. This meant the Church of the Ice Goddess would need to continue to
spread. As such, she knew these kinds of things would
keep happening even if she did not want them to.
Desaray walked to the church, where she saw
An’ne humming a song while sweeping. “An’ne!”
“Hmm? Your Holiness!” An’ne smiled brightly as
she quickly hopped over to Desaray like the little fangirl she was.
“An’ne, I must thank you for all the hard work
you did in Rain Ford. You really helped me out. Is there anything you want?”
Desaray asked. However, it felt awkward since An’ne got too close and was now
shivering. Her lips were even turning blue, but she was still trying to stand
as close as possible.
“I-I-I-I-I-I…” An’ne couldn’t even talk. She
was too cold, and nothing came out but a stutter.
“Please back up so that you are not affected
by my aura!” Desaray held her head. She wondered if this girl had mental
issues.
An’ne pouted, but did as she was told. Soon as
she got a few more feet away, her lips returned to being a nice pink color
while her shivers disappeared. “I-I do not need a reward. I am just doing what
a High Priestess should do. Your Holiness, you have shown me a new path in
life. I can not be any more grateful than I am now. Thanks to you, I no longer
need to put up any front and can be myself. I have found that I have even grown
in confidence and can do much more than I could before. This is all thanks to
you.
“Without you, I might have continued being a
spoiled princess who did not care about anything but pretty clothes, the best
foods, and jewelry. I would have still been ignorant of the world around me.
You have given me a new lease on life, which I do not
regret one bit.” An’ne couldn’t thank Desaray more for finding her that day.
She did not even want to think about what would have happened to her otherwise.
Desaray smiled and scratched her head. “Well,
if you ever think of anything, let me know.”
“I will, but I am very happy with everything I
have now. I could not want for more.” An’ne replied.
“Then I will be heading home. I am sure Lilly
is missing me. If you want to grow stronger, ask Oinktera to take you to the
dungeon. He will be more than happy to power-level you for a few days. But
remember that you'll need to learn to fight. Strength without skill means
death.” Desaray left these words before heading to her house.
An’ne stood there for a moment in thought
before nodding her head. “Yes, in order to make people answer the call, they
must know that even a simple, no-name high priestess is also very powerful. As
Her Holiness’s follower, I should not let her down.” With this thought in mind,
An’ne rushed off to find Oinktera with a broom in hand.
In another area, Juna was busy overseeing a
new project. “Set up the fields over there. They do not need to be big, but we
need to keep them far enough apart to not affect each other.”
“Apostle Juna, what are your plans for these
few fields?” A young man asked. He had just mustered up the courage to speak to
Juna, whom he looked up to as one of the leaders of the kingdom. He also had a
crush on her because of her beauty as well.
“We will be testing new seeds we are currently
developing. They will be new strands that will be resistant to the different elements and magic. We need to make sure we always have
some form of backup in case something happens. We want our crops to survive any
disaster.”
“Is that even possible?” The young man was
shocked to hear about this. He did not think it would be possible to create
such seeds that could grow plants that could withstand anything.
“We do not know. That is why we are
researching it and hoping things will work out. Our main priority is keeping
crops from freezing. I would love to allow Her Holiness to be able to eat
something once again.” This was the main reason Juna was working on this
project. She was hoping to give crops ice resistance so that she could then
cook a few meals for Desaray.
“I will work hard then! I hope this will
really work and Her Holiness can eat the food we grow!” The young man’s burning
passion to farm suddenly sprang forth, knowing that this was for Desaray. He
waved goodbye to Juna before running over to help till the fields. No matter
what, he had to make sure they were in a proper state. Soon, word spread, and
the other workers began working even harder. The fields needed for testing
crops were quickly finished in a few hours.
While the Holy Kingdom of Serenity was
beginning to breathe even more new life into their kingdom, on the other side
of the world, a great battle was taking place. In a land that once used to be
China, waves of different races were fighting over territory.
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” A massive army of humans
marched forth. Their numbers were nearing a million. On the other side,
monsters were charging forward as well, under the command of the sub-races who
learned monster taming.
Stuck between these magic-wielding masters
were the original people of China, who had taken up arms to try to take down
their invaders. “Shore up our defenses! While they fight amongst themselves, we
will take this time to take as many as we can out!”
“Leader, I do not think we can hold out for
long. We can only cast low-level spells.” A young woman cried out to the
red-headed girl covered in flames.
“We have no choice. We have to try to save our
homeland. We can not allow our people to die. We were the chosen ones. We are
the ones who have gained the ability to use magic and have leveled up enough to
hold our ground. Even if we must all die here today, we must keep going. Our
world is ours! I do not know how many countries have fallen, but I can say
this. For those who have not fallen yet, they must be doing their best to fight
back!
“We all gathered together so that we could put
up a fight. Months have passed, and we have lost many, but we are still
fighting! So stop complaining and shore up our defenses! We can not let them
break this line of defense!” The red-headed girl looked at the young man with a
stern expression, causing him to cower slightly. The
Fire Fairy, beautiful yet deadly. Her flames covered most of her body, causing
her to have to walk around naked, but none of her important bits could be seen.
The flames around acted as a kind of dress. She had evolved into a high-fire
elemental.
Whether it was luck or not, from the start,
she was powerful enough to destroy a city. She could wield fire freely with
just a wave of her hand. One could say she was immortal, but this did not mean
she was. One could kill her if they were able to put out her flames…
“Yi Ling, don’t push yourself too hard. If we
can not hold out, we should retreat.” An older man walked over and said. “We
know you want nothing more than to get revenge for your parent's deaths, but if
you push yourself too far and get your own men killed, then what?”
Yi Ling knew this was true, but when so many
were invading, what was she supposed to do? Her parents died in a battle that
broke out between the new races that suddenly appeared. They began flinging
magic all over the place, and one of their spells blew up her home where her
parents were. Her kind and caring parents were killed for no reason.
She witnessed it all with her own eyes. If not
for the fact that a monster had charged through the flames to get at her, and
she had killed it by a stroke of luck, she would not be here today. “If things
look bad, I will have everyone retreat…..”
She did not wish to kill others because of her
own stubbornness and suicidal thought process. She just wanted her enemies to
die in her fiery flames.
The Land Of Frozen Death
“Damn it!” No matter how strong Yi Ling was,
she was unable to ward off so many enemies. Even if they were fighting amongst
themselves, they still had too many people who could turn and attack them all
at the same time. The strong would always target the weakest link. This was to
allow them to save a bit more strength by not having to deal with the weaker
armies when fighting the stronger armies. “There is no other way. All men fall
back to the second defensive line! We have no choice but to give up this
location.”
“You heard her! Fall back!” The orders were
quickly passed down, and the humans from Earth began their retreat. Just
looking at the massive armies that had appeared on this continent proved just
how lucky Desaray was. She would never have had the time to build up what she
had now if she was attacked from all sides.
“Kill them! Kill them all! Don’t let a single
one escape!” An elf yelled out. His men, along with the others, moved to wipe
out Yi Ling and her people.
“Inferno Wall!” Yi Ling slammed her fists onto
the ground, causing a tall wall of flames to shoot into the air. It stretched
many miles to the left and right of her, putting up a protective barrier to
shield her people from the enemies who were rushing forward. “Quickly run! I
can’t hold it for too long!”
“Yi Ling! What are you doing!? Retreat!” The
old man from before ran over to Yi Ling, who was using every ounce of her
powers to hold the wall up.
The old man looked at his granddaughter and
felt ashamed. He could do nothing. There was no way he could take her place.
“Yi Ling… I will go… You must run away as soon as you can.”
“Mm…” Yi Ling smiled and nodded. She knew it
was not possible, but to make her grandfather feel better, she would agree.
“Just go. Leave this place to me.”
The old man ran off to lead the soldiers away.
He couldn’t help but take one look back at his granddaughter, who was standing
there, giving her all to keep them alive. He knew if he stayed, he would only
be in the way, but he wondered how he was going to tell his son and
daughter-in-law about this when he visited their grave. He could only hope she
would be able to escape after they had retreated.
Not far away, a small inconspicuous root
slithered along the battle-worn ground. It seemed to be looking at the girl,
giving her all to protect her people.
In another place halfway around the world,
Juna furrowed her brow. She was currently standing in the meeting room next to
Desaray. “Your Holiness, may I interrupt?”
“Mmm… what’s the matter?” Desaray turned her
attention to Juna. She knew Juna would never interrupt a meeting unless it was
an emergency.
“Hmmm? If you say so. I do not mind. We can
leave at any time.” Desaray stood up and looked at the elders, who did not seem
to mind if things were interrupted mid-way. “When I finish things, I will
finalize all your proposals. I am sorry for not being able to finish today's
meeting.”
“Your Holiness does not need to mind us. Do
what you do best and save more people.” Fel was the one to speak. He no longer
saw himself as a prince but as an avid follower of the Church of the Ice
Goddess.
“Then I will be off. Juna, let’s leave the
city and move there now.” Desaray did not know where they were going and did
not even know that they were about to take a trip to China. Never in her
wildest dreams would she think that Juna could now spread her roots across the
globe. She was like the ultimate secret agent who could spy on anyone just
because no one would expect a small root sticking out of the ground to be a
part of her.
Outside the city, Juna wrapped both herself
and Desaray in her roots and drilled underground. “It will take a few minutes.
I do hope we can make it in time.”
“Juna, how far away are they, exactly?”
Desaray asked.
“Umm… The other continent…”
As a fire elemental, her body was made up of
fire. But that didn’t mean she could contentiously use fire. She seemed to be
limited to her mana consumption, and if she pushed herself too much, she would
end up using her life force.
“If you want, I can help.” A voice came from
behind Yi Ling. She turned her head as if her neck was a rusted-up robot and
looked at the blue-skinned girl standing there with a small smile on her face.
“You! Who are you?” Yi Ling spoke in Chinese,
but because of the system, Desaray could easily understand her. It made all
languages null and void.
“My name is Desaray, once a fellow human such
as yourself and now ruler of the Holy Kingdom of Serenity. If you are willing
to follow me. I will save not only you, but all of your people as well.”
Desaray did not know if this young woman would join her or not, but once she
laid eyes on her, she knew she would make an excellent addition to her kingdom.
“This…” Yi Ling was confused. She did not
understand where this woman even came from. But if she used to be human, that
meant she was like her… But more importantly… She looked at the ice under the
newcomer’s feet that spread out almost twenty feet in all directions in shock.
Even her flames did not do such a thing.
Yi Ling did not know how to answer. But she
knew if she dragged on too long, she would die and maybe even lose a chance to
really save her people. “If you can protect them, I am willing.”
“Good.” Desaray smiled before reaching out
with her hand and freezing the flames that Yi Ling had made. The wall of flames
that stretched in all directions that Yi Ling used her all to create was
instantly frozen into ice. Not extinguished, but frozen.
Yi Ling stared at the frozen flames in awe.
She never thought something was possible. But here she was, looking at her very
own flames turned into ice. “Just… How?”
“Things will be explained at a later time. For
now, rest. Juna give her a mana potion. She looks as if she will drop at any
time. I will go and converse with the attacking armies.” Desaray flapped her
wings and flew into the sky, leaving behind a dumbfounded Yi Ling and Juna, who
walked over and produced a glass vial with a blue substance inside.
“Thanks…” In her daze, she drank the vial of
fluid and only realized what she had done after the fact. She could only hope
that she would not end up dead from suddenly drinking some kind of poison. But
luckily, she was perfectly fine. In fact, she felt her mana quickly
regenerating.
With
her mind finally cleared, she looked at Juna’s beautiful face and asked: “Who
are you, people?”
“My name is Juna, and I am an Apostle to Her
Holiness, the Ice Goddess Desaray. You might find it strange, but she has saved
thousands of people already and has built up a kingdom where all races can
coexist without discrimination. Therefore, by agreeing to follow her, you will
not regret it. Your people will be safe. These low-level soldiers can not
defeat her.” Juna replied with a smile. She then began telling Yi Ling all
about Desaray.
While Juna was indoctrinating, Yi Ling,
Desaray stood above the blood-soaked battlefield and sighed. She took a deep
breath and yelled out: “People of the other world! Cease your actions now or be
turned into ice!”
Sadly, with no means of amplifying her voice,
no one was listening to her. Still, Desaray did not care about this as she
raised her hand and sent a wave of frozen air over the battlefield, causing
everyone’s actions to slow to almost a stop. “I said to cease your actions. Do
not make me repeat myself.”
It was only now that the soldiers below all
looked up. It did not matter which race it was; they all looked up at the
blue-skinned dragon girl in the air. While the battle slowed, a few figures
quickly arrived in front of Desaray. “What right do you have to stop our battle
dragon?”
Desaray looked at the elf, who spoke out and
snorted. “Because you are on land that belongs to the people of my world. If
you dare to continue what you are doing and do not return to your encampments,
then I will make sure none of you can return. Elf, human, beast kin, monsters,
I do not care who you are. This battle ends here, and these lands are to be
vacated. They are now under my protection. I am only
giving you two choices. Leave, or I will turn this land into a frozen land of
ice statues.”
Desaray’s frozen aura was quickly expanding as
her anger grew. The elf who spoke to Desaray shivered. He looked at the others
and saw they, too, were shivering from the cold. Desaray's eyes swept past the
few men who were standing in the air and used appraisal on them. From what she
saw, they were all around level eighty, which meant that there were quite a few
people around this level on this side of the world. “What will you decide? I do
not have all day. I am a busy person.”
The elf and the others looked at each other
before nodding. “We would like to see if you have the ability to defeat all of
us.” The elf and the others all shot forward to attack Desaray.
“I see…” Desaray sighed. She hoped to solve
this peacefully. “Then you can die. Ice Throne!”
A throne made of ice condensed in the air.
Desaray sat upon it and crossed one leg over the other as she lazily rested her
chin on her hand. “I gave you a choice, and you made your decision. Absolute
Zero…”
The elf and the others froze in place and fell
from the sky. The area in front of Desaray on the ground froze over instantly.
All the soldiers of every race and the monsters all turned into ice statues.
Desaray showed no emotion as she coldly looked over the battlefield to make
sure no one was missed. The massive armies of millions were now frozen statues.
This place would one day become known as the
Land of Frozen Death, mainly because the ice here would never melt. Even
Desaray would not know why this had happened, and any means
of trying to figure it out went unanswered. Only one being knew the answer, and
she was too busy curling up in Desaray’s hair to care. She was only making sure
that this place would never cause her master trouble ever again. But her
actions would also add to Desaray’s infamy. But this is a story for another
time.
Seeing as the job was now done. Desaray
dispersed her Ice throne and flew back down to where Juna was talking to Yi
Ling. “All set.”
“You worked hard, Your Holiness.” Juna smiled
at Desaray before turning to Yi Ling. “As you have heard, the enemy has been
defeated.”
“Thank you.” Yi Ling wanted to cry, but
because her body was made of flames, she could not. The only good thing about
her body at this time was that she could stand close to Desaray without
freezing to death.
“I only did as I promised. And I hope you can
keep your promise as well.” Desaray looked at Yi Ling meaningfully.
“I will keep my word. May I speak with my
people? I want to let them know they are now safe and sound.” Yi Ling was
beyond grateful. She couldn’t care less if Desaray asked for her soul in
exchange, as long as her people were safe. But she had to at least let her
grandfather know things were settled.
“That’s fine. But…” Desaray scratched her
head. “While you might be fine around me due to being made of fire, my aura
will freeze anyone who gets close if they do not have the proper stats.”
“Ah right… Ummm…” Yi Ling saw this as a
problem.
“Juna, how do you plan to do that when she
will light your roots on fire?” Desaray was actually worrying about how she was
going to get Yi Ling back to Serenity.
“She is a lower level than me, so her flames
can not harm my roots,” Juna replied. She only needed to cover them in a layer
of her mana to keep them safe.
“Okay then. Just be careful. I will be here
waiting.” Desaray waved her hand and created a chair to sit on. She really did
not know what else to do at this time, so this was her best bet.
“Thank you! Thank you!” Yi Ling was about to
get on her hands and knees to prostrate herself to Desaray when Desaray created
a cube of ice that slowly rose to stop her.
“You do not need to bow to me like that. I am
also stealing you from your people. Go do what you need to do. If you need a
day, take it. Juna will be with you.” Desaray did not like the whole
prostrating thing that some people from China still do to this day. While she
had to put up with it for the prayers in his situation, Yi Ling was bowing to
her in thanks. But she did not wish to have it become a habit, so she quickly
put a stop to it.
“Then, Your Holiness, we will be back.” Juna
smiled before waving her hand, sucking both of them into a large root that sank
into the ground.
Desaray stretched and let out a yawn before
leaning back in her chair. “Maybe I should take a nap?”
“Grandfather, everything has been taken care
of. The invaders have all been defeated.” Yi Ling wanted to give her
grandfather a hug, but she couldn’t.
“Wha? What do you mean? Have the armies really
been defeated? But how!?” Yi Ling’s grandfather was confused. He knew Yi Ling
was strong, but not this strong!
“It was…” Yi Ling was about to explain when
she was cut off.
“Her Holiness, Goddess Desaray, took care of
it. Although I believe the land will not recover anytime soon, if at all.”
Juna, who was sitting on top of a large root, appeared behind Yi Ling.
“You!? Who are you!?” Yi Ling’s grandfather
quickly went on guard and drew his gun.
“Grandfather, stop! This is Apostle Juna, a
follower of the Ice Goddess. The Ice Goddess was the one who took care of the
enemy for us. Millions of them are now nothing more than frozen statues.
Goddess Desaray is so strong that she could easily freeze my flame, creating a
massive wall of frozen fire.” Yi Ling was still having a hard time believing
what she had seen herself, but it was all true.
“This… I’m sorry.” Yi Ling’s grandfather put
away his gun and apologized. He was always one who knew when to take a step
back.
“It’s fine. I showed up out of nowhere, so it
is expected that you would go on guard. But even if you did shoot, that weapon
would not have harmed me. Nor would it have harmed those who attacked you. This
is why you were losing.
“A single monster would take a platoon of
soldiers to fight off. I have witnessed it firsthand. I suggest taking up the
sword. It might not be as quick as those firearms, but it has a better chance
of cutting a monster down.
“I would also suggest looking more into magic.
Find a few dungeons and level up. Once you have the magic needed to survive,
you and your people will no longer need to worry about a mass invasion.
Strength is what rules this world now, just like it did for the people of the
other world, including myself.” Juna was not trying to be mean by her words but
was trying to teach these people the path to protecting themselves. She did not
wish to see the people Desaray saved die soon after because they were still stuck
in their old ways.
“I see. I will look more into this. I never
thought a gun would be so useless.” Yi Ling’s grandfather sighed. As a military
man, he was trained to use a gun. He had killed many monsters since the fall,
but now he learned that even some monsters would be unkillable with such a
weapon. It was as if his many years of training were for naught.
“Grandfather. I will be leaving. In order to
save everyone, I promised to work for Her Holiness. Since she kept her word, so
must I. I will become an Apostle. But if you ever need help, you can call me
through this.” Yi Ling held out one of Juna’s roots.
“Then I must thank you.” Yi Ling’s grandfather
was glad he had formed some kind of alliance with a powerful being. “So, Little
Ling, you have really decided?”
“Yes, I will follow them. I did promise, after
all. Plus, I will be able to grow much stronger as well. So, grandfather, make
sure you call if you need help.” Yi Ling was worried her grandfather would be
concerned about disturbing her, so she had to make sure that he knew he could
ask for help at any time.
“I will. Little Ling, I will go speak with the
higher-ups and tell them everything is fine now and that we can return home.”
Yi Ling’s grandfather smiled warmly at Yi Ling before turning to Juna. “About
the field of ice… Is it, umm, safe?”
“I would not test it. Currently, it should be
considered a forbidden zone. It stretches pretty far, so unless you have
enemies to the north, I would suggest only putting a light patrol on this side
of your territory. And heavier patrols on the outskirts.” Juna did not know how
much territory these people had under control, so she could only suggest this
much for now.
“I will… And thank you. I leave my
granddaughter to you all.”
“We’re back.” Juna walked over and knelt down
in front of Desaray. “Praise the Goddess.”
“Changed? I think you are as beautiful as you
have always been, Your Holiness,” Juna replied honestly.
“Not looks wise, but mentally. I mean, I just
killed millions of people. That makes me no different from them, does it not?”
Desaray had been thinking all this time. The idea of how she was once just an
innocent girl living a normal life was now a mass murderer who killed millions
of people. And she did it without feeling anything. Even now, as she questioned
her actions, she still felt nothing. It was like she was emotionless when
killing others. It just came naturally to her.
“No… Desa…” Juna realized Desaray was trying
to figure her own self out and switched from worship mode to best-friend mode.
“You are still you. You are the one who saved all of Yi Ling’s people. You are
the one who has made a place for all races. Even if you have had to take the
lives of many to protect the few, you are more of a hero than a murderer. You
have done no wrong. Those people wanted to invade others and kill and plunder,
maybe even worse. But you stopped them. Don’t think about it as killing people
but saving people.
“Being a ruler is a double-edged sword. It can
make you question your decisions. I know this because I have done it myself as
the princess of my tribe. You have to make decisions and bloody your hands in
order to keep those you wish to keep safe, safe.
“You really have a way with words.” Desaray
smiled and hugged Juna back.
Yi Ling looked at the two and realized that
Desaray, while strong, was also weak. Kind, but ruthless when needed. She had
every quality a true leader needed. She could see why Desaray was the ruler of
her kingdom.
“Alright. Sorry. You are right. I will not
care too much about it from now on. It’s not like I go looking for people to
kill.” Desaray smiled and let out a relieved sigh. Juna was indeed good at
cheering her up. She wondered if it was some kind of special skill.
“Then I will take us back.” Juna smiled before
waving her hand. Giant roots surrounded the three girls.
Yi Ling didn’t even get to ask where they were
going before the light of day once more filled her eyes. She looked up at the
white stone walls in front of her with glowing engravings on them in shock and
awe. “This is?”
“Welcome to the Holy Kingdom of Serenity,”
Desaray said with a smile.
“Mama!!!!!” A tiny figure flashed and slammed
into Desaray.
“Lilly!” Desaray smiled from ear to ear as she
hugged her daughter. “Why are you acting as if I have not been around for many
years?”
“Because!
I missed Mama!” Lilly grinned and hugged Desaray’s neck.
“I missed you too!” Desaray squeezed the
little fox girl in her arms while Juna looked on with a warm smile, and Yi Ling
looked on in surprise.
Seeing her shocked gaze, Juna leaned over and
whispered: “Lilly is our Princess and Her Holiness’s adopted daughter. She is
from the other world and was a human orphan. When she first arrived, she looked
as if she had not eaten for many years. But now look at her. Chubby cheeks, a
cute smile with dimples that just scream to let you pinch her. Princess Lilly
is a blessing for her Holiness, who only had her for the longest time and who
could stand by Her Holiness’s side. But many of us worked hard. We raised our
levels and used all our points into ice resistance in order to stand by Her
Holiness. Luckily, you are made of fire, so you don’t need to worry as much.
Huh? Why does it look like you want to cry!?”
“Because. The little girl had such a hard
life, and now she has such a loving mother!” Yi Ling couldn’t help but wish she
could shed some tears. She had always had a soft spot for such stories, and now
here she was hearing a real-life tale. This also made her opinion of Desaray
grow even more.
“That is because Her Holiness is amazing. She
never discriminates and stands up for what she believes in. You will come to
find out just how great Her Holiness is over time.” Juna smiled and walked over
to the gate guards.
“I think I can already see just why so many
people are drawn to her…” Yi Ling mumbled, her eyes fixated on the
mother-daughter pair.
Fourth Merger Begins
Yi Ling was nervous. Besides living in China
and knowing everyone around her, she was now in a strange land with no one she
really knew except for Juna and Desaray. Juna had left, leaving her alone with
Desaray. “So, umm… What am I supposed to do?”
“Hmm? For today, we can relax. We all went through
a lot, so it must have been tiring on you, right?” Desaray replied with a
smile. “Also, I noticed you can walk around without burning things.”
Yi Ling looked down at herself, who was now
standing in Desaray’s home, and nodded. “Yes, it is strange, but my flames will
only burn when I want them to. Although if I get too flustered, I might
accidentally burn something.”
“I am kind of envious. My ice aura does not
stop. I have been told I have controlled it a few times, but I have not been
able to control it of my own free will. I have tried many things. Luckily,
those closest to me are able to get close to me without issue now. I do not
know what I would have become if I was always stuck being alone.” Desaray did
not know why she was telling Yi Ling this, seeing how they had just met. Maybe
it was a kind of connection to someone who might have felt the same at one point.
She did not know, but in a way, it was good to get these kinds of thoughts off
her chest.
“I wonder why that is. If it were me, I would
have long fallen into depression. But here you are with so many people looking
up to you. I wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I had many people looking at me
as some kind of hero, but I couldn’t stand it. I can
only give commands on the battlefield, unlike you, who have people kneeling to
you.” As they walked through the city, Yi Ling noticed the citizens all
kneeling as they walked by, praying to Desaray. It was a sight she never
thought she would ever see, but it was open worship for the girl whom all the
people in this kingdom depended on.
“I really dislike it. But I have no choice. My
system is different from others. I need to gather followers to raise my
strength. Only by raising my strength can I protect the people of this kingdom.
And also find my family and friends.” Desaray hated it, but she had no choice
in the matter.
“It’s almost like this new world wants you to
be its goddess. Kind of neat, in a way.” Yi Ling smiled. She could tell Desaray
was a kind person. She was willing to protect the things she felt needed to be
protected. Even if her goal was to bring her to her kingdom, which is why she
saved her people, it did not matter because, in the end, she dirtied her own
hands in order to do so. She did not send others to do it for her.
“I do not know. Whatever the case may be, I
only wish to grow strong. Protect Serenity and find my family. Then, after
that, I do not know what is next.” Desaray sighed as she sat down on a chair
made of stone. Desaray had long forgotten what a warm, comfortable chair really
felt like since everything she touches freezes.
“I wish to grow stronger, too. I did not like
being at the whims of others. I am sure if we had lost that battle, I would
have died or ended up a plaything. I hate thinking about it, but that would
probably have been the best-case scenario.” Yi Ling’s words surprised Desaray
since she did not know what would be worse than becoming someone’s plaything.
“What
is the worst-case scenario?” Desaray asked out of curiosity.
“Being forced to kill innocent people against
your will. I would rather be toyed with than kill innocents who have no reason
to die. Just thinking about it scares me. My powers are strong. If I grow in
strength, they will grow even stronger. Powers that can destroy a nation with a
wave of your hand who wouldn’t want to covet such powers? At least I thought I
was strong enough for such a thing.” Yi Ling did not wish to kill other people
who were innocent. She had strict morals, after all.
“I guess you are right, but a plaything is
right up there for me as well.” Desaray looked down at her hands and shook her
head. “I can’t talk about killing others, not after how many I killed. I feel
no remorse for my deeds. It saddens me to know my own way of thinking is
changing gradually.
“I used to be a normal girl. Going to school
and hanging out with my friends. Going home and doing just everyday teenage
stuff, but now… I rule a kingdom and have killed soldiers who might have been
out there fighting against their will. But I feel nothing. I know I would
probably have puked over and over if I had done such a thing before, but now I
feel numb. As if my heart had long gotten used to such things.” Desaray let out
a long sigh as she leaned back.
“I know how you feel. I may not look it, but I
am only sixteen years old. But my system says I am twenty.”
“You are right, though. The world has changed.
We have changed not just physically, but also mentally. I have also killed
many. Ever since this happened, and I turned into a fire elemental, I have been
fighting on the battlefield. We have been killing
monsters and other races since. Our land had been shrinking and shrinking as
time went on.
“I got to level 35 this way. If not for my
flames being very strong, I would have died many times over, never mind killing
the monsters and humans they sent at us. But as time went on, the enemies
slowly became stronger, and then we were faced with overwhelming forces. We
were retreating to the next defensive line when you appeared.” Yi Ling did not
know how to repay Desaray for what she had done for her and her people. She had
basically saved thousands of lives.
“Juna was the one who stumbled upon you. That
girl’s strength is growing at a crazy rate, but when she told me about you, I
just had to pull you to my side. I am not sure how well you would have
progressed on your own if you somehow got out of the situation you were in, but
I couldn’t let you die. I saved you for selfish reasons. I hope you do not hate
me for that.” Desaray scratched her head. She did not wish to be hated for her
selfishness.
“I could never. Whether you brought me here
for your own reasons or not, you kept your promise, and I thank you from the
bottom of my heart.” Yi Ling bowed her head once more.
“Please don’t bow… Actually, I think we
already did all this once.” Desaray chuckled. “Come, it’s a little late, but
there is a nice place I want to take you.”
“A nice place?” Yi Ling’s eyes lit up.
“Yeah. It’s a spot I go to sometimes when I
like to think. I think I am the only one who goes there, but I can not get as
close as I used to, or it will ruin the scenery. But the air there is very nice,” Desaray explained as she got up and walked out of
the room. Yi Ling quickly followed.
The two left the house and stood under the
moon that gave off a violet hue as it shined down on the land below. The violet
moonlight dyed the landscape in its color. With Yi Ling’s flames lighting the
way, the two girls walked towards the massive wall not too far away. “Your
hand.” Desaray held her hand out to Yi Ling, who blushed slightly as she
stretched her hand out and placed it gently in Desaray’s hand. A sizzling sound
could be heard as the fire and ice collided with one another, but they seemed to
off-set at the same time. Giving an equal balance between the two elements.
While Yi Ling’s flames did not burn at all,
the sizzling sound came from their elemental affinities clashing. Yi Ling did
not even realize she had instinctively tried to ward off the coldness coming
from Desaray’s hand, which caused this reaction to even happen.
Yi Ling herself could not fly, but seeing
Desaray flapping her wings and lifting her off the ground made her slightly
nervous. She ended up gripping Desaray’s hand tighter, which Desaray held
firmly. “You will be fine. We are just hopping over the wall.”
“Okay…” Yi Ling nodded, and the short trip
over the wall quickly came to an end.
Yi Ling let out a sigh of relief. It took her
a moment to realize she was actually hugging Desaray’s arm. She quickly let go
and took a few steps back. “Sorry… I have never been good with heights.”
Desaray smiled and shook her head. “It’s fine.
Everyone has something they are scared of. But you should learn to get used to it. Eventually, you, too, should be able to fly. Once
you learn to manipulate your flames better, creating a pair of flame wings
should be possible, no?”
“I am not sure. I never tried to solidify my
flames before. Maybe one day I will be able to.” Yi Ling couldn’t help but
shiver slightly at the thought of flying through the air, but she did start to
feel that if she was in control, she might just be able to do it.
“Once you gain more levels, you can try it
out. And once you get the hang of it, I think you will be able to fly with no
problem.” Desaray replied with a smile as she walked forward.
Yi Ling tried to picture it, but it still made
her dizzy. “Anyway, where are we going?” She decided to change the subject.
“We are going to a small pond I found a while
back. It is very pretty and is one of my secret places, since it is well
hidden.” Desaray really liked the pond they were heading to. It had a small
waterfall that flowed into it. Why the water had never spilled out was beyond
her understanding, but it was such a calming place to be.
Yi Ling sighed as she walked next to Desaray:
“The night here is quiet. I wonder when it was since I last heard silence.
Between here and my homeland, the difference is like heaven and earth.”
“I… No, Serenity has been lucky. The area
around here has had many visitors, some bad but mostly good. People who are
willing to build a nation with me. Build a home for all races. While I do need
this kingdom for my own benefit, I do care about each and every one of my
citizens. I don’t wish for them to suffer in the slightest. I do what I can to
make their day-to-day lives seem normal.
“When I can visit my grandfather again, I will
talk to him. The higher-ups might not wish to give up power so easily. Even in
times like these, they are still clinging to whatever they can. The idea of
losing control scares them. They had lived through everything and are still
clinging to it as if it was life itself. They probably have some grand plans to
make some new country, but how can they do that if they are hiding in their
bunkers while the people are slowly dying off? I know many will wish to take you
up on your offer.” Yi Ling smiled. She knew her people would love to live in a
kingdom where they did not need to fight wars every day. They did not need to
worry about losing their lives or watching their houses being destroyed and
losing family members. They could live real lives once more.
“I will leave that to you, then. I will speak
with Regal about expanding our walls more to accommodate more citizens.”
Desaray knew once more she was doing this for self-interest, but at the same
time, she did wish to help Yi Ling’s people. To her, whether they were
American, Chinese, or from some other country, it did not matter. It is not the
people who are at fault for the government's policies and wrongdoings.
The two girls walked under the pale violet
moonlight. And soon arrived at their destination. Tucked away in the forest was
an oasis. A place that had a calming effect on the mind.
Yi Ling immediately felt her entire body relax as she entered the strange field
that had been formed there.
“It really is beautiful here.” Yi Ling looked
at the blue, glowing water that had a tinge of violet to it due to the
moonlight. The glowing balls of light slowly rose off its surface, only to
slowly fall back down after reaching a certain height.
The small waterfall that spilled water from
the stream that flowed into the pond created a nice, relaxing white noise that
tuned out everything else. Desaray walked over to a large rock and sat down.
She pulled her feet close, bending her knees, and leaned back to look up at the
sky. “I come here from time to time. Just to gaze at the stars and wonder if my
father and my friends are looking at the same sky as me. Or if they are already
on the other side of the world.
“You are the first person I brought here. Not
even Lilly has been here. It’s a kind of retreat from it all. My private space.
Although I am not sure if only I know about this place.” Desaray said as she
looked over at Yi Ling, who was standing at the side and patted the spot next
to her. “Have a seat.”
Yi Ling climbed up on the rock and looked up
at the stars as well. She could tell right away that the sky above was
different from her own. “If you haven’t even brought your daughter here, why
did you bring me?”
“Because you are like me and because you are
now far from home. I think if I had discovered this place earlier, before I met
Lilly, I would have brought her here as well. While I do plan to bring her at
some point, for now… I just felt this place might help you relax,” Desaray
replied honestly.
“What if magic has always existed here, but
the government used every means possible to hide it from the populace? The
things that are unexplained. Everything is making me think outside the box
since the change.” Yi Ling sighed. She was never superstitious before, but now…
Too much has happened to not think that everything else is real as well.
“You know I have wondered this myself before.”
Desaray could understand Yi Ling’s thought process. “Throughout the history of
ancient times, they spoke of magic and other mystical things. Even elves and
dwarves appeared long ago in stories. It’s like the creations of what we
thought to be fantasy were actually just ancient memories resurfacing in the
minds of the authors. As if the world did not wish for us to forget about the
other races.
“There are many unknowns in this world. Well,
the old world. But now everything from dragons to goblins exists. We are now
living in such a fantasy world. And once we killed one of said mythical
creatures, we too turned into such creatures. Our bodies evolved to their
original state. I think the so-called theory of evolution is now nothing more
than a joke.” Desaray found it funny that people were turning into different
races. When she thought about it after listening to Yi Ling, it was as if
dormant DNA had activated, returning them to what they truly should be.
“We have to go.” She reached out her hand to
Yi Ling, who bit her lip and reluctantly took it. She had no choice but to hold
on to Desaray as Desaray flew up into the sky and sped towards the city.
“Is this another merger?” Yi Ling asked.
“Yes, and I need to help put up a protective
barrier around the city. We can not allow the city to be attacked as soon as
the merger is over.” Desaray quickly arrived back at the city, where the
citizens were already being ushered toward the shelters. She landed down on the
platform where Regal and Juna were located. “Juna, how are things?”
“We are evacuating the women and children. The
men are staying behind and taking up arms to protect our city. Even some women
are doing the same. Dormar and the Gorcs are helping them move to the shelters
while we are organizing the soldiers.” Juna replied.
“Alright. We need to brace ourselves. This
should be the final merger. We do not know what will happen. The shaking is
hundreds of times stronger than before. Be careful of any fissures in the
ground as well. Tell the soldiers to look out for any cracks in the ground and
notify the higher-ups immediately. We can not be careless. One crack could mean
the start of a new floating island, and I will be damned
if I let my kingdom get split in two!” Desaray’s voice rang far and wide. An
aura that rarely appears from Desaray swept through the city center. It was the
aura of an empress.
“Yes, Your Holiness!” Everyone’s voice rang
out as they knelt down and clasped their hands together.
Juna began quickly passing down orders. Regal
got his people ready to make repairs at any time and to seal any cracks with
runes until the ground settled. Desaray was about to hop into the sky when Yi
Ling stopped her and asked: “What should I do?”
“You are not familiar with things yet, so you
can either hide at my home or stay here with me. But know if we do get
attacked, we will be going to war.” Desaray did not wish for war, but if she
had no other choice, she would fight it out. She could no longer abandon what
she built up. Juna could allow the old and young to escape to Rain Ford, but
she would need to stay and defend the kingdom with all she had.
“Mama!” Lilly ran over and jumped into
Desaray’s arms. “Mama, I will stay with you.”
“Then you can sit in my lap while I form a
barrier around the city.” Everyone had their own jobs, and Desaray’s job was to
stay and oversee things. She flapped her wings and was about to step into the
air when she turned and looked at Yi Ling. “Do you wish to come?”
“Yes.” Yi Ling nodded and stretched out her
hand. Desaray smiled and pulled Yi Ling up into the air with her. The girl was
scared, but she also did not wish to be alone right now. She sat on a chair of
ice that Desaray made in the air and looked out over the city. Strangely, she
felt this was not too bad. She could see out, but she
could tell the chair she was in was solid and would not fall for any reason.
She watched as Desaray raised her hand in the
air and said: “[Prison of Absolute Cold]…”
A massive barrier made of ice formed around
the city. It was her best defensive spell. It would freeze anyone or anything
that touched it. She had even used some points to upgrade it to max level. With
so many unknowns, Desaray couldn’t help but be more cautious. She had no idea
what was to come. A castle could fall on their heads for all she knew or appear
inside the city, killing many. This was her biggest fear.
The violent shaking continued as the people of
the Kingdom of Serenity hurriedly took cover or were on patrol. The shelters
that the elder dwarves had built dampened the shaking by a lot, but if not for
the barriers that protected the shelter interior, it would have caved in long
ago.
“Your Holiness!” Juna rose up on a root to
stand before Desaray. “We have spread our troops out all over the city. So far,
the interior of the city is fine, but….”
“But what?” Desaray had a bad feeling.
“Not more than ten miles to the east, a
massive city appeared in our territory, and there was a castle sitting in the
middle. From what I can tell, it seems to be a human city. And… To the south, a
large encampment of high-level monsters has appeared. They seem to be
semi-sentient, from what I can tell, since they are living in a kind of primal
community with a single leader passing down orders. From what I can tell, they
number in the thousands. Their levels range from level 80 to 100… I have never
seen such monsters before in my life, so I think they might come from the Dark Forest that no one dared to enter. They look
like minotaurs, but they do not have a cow head but that of a goat and wear
armor and wield weapons.”
“Keep an eye on both. No one can move with all
this shaking. We will have a few people keep an eye on the monsters, but our
main threat is the humans. Are they within the borders of the ice wall?”
Desaray was not so worried about monsters, but humans were different. From what
she knew of the other world humans, they did not like demi-humans at all, and
she did not plan to allow them to harm her people.
“Yes, they are about a half mile away from the
ice wall. I think we will have no choice but to go to war…” Juna frowned as she
said this. This was not what she wanted at all.
“We will start moving troops to the east as
soon as the merger is over. I hate to say it, but they will either need to
submit or move from our lands. I do not want to share our lands with someone
else. It would be best if they submitted. I will not extend my reach to others’
lands, but I will not give an inch of my own to anyone.” Desaray was firm on
this. She worked too hard to line out her own territory. While she would need
to leave at some point to find higher-level dungeons, she did not plan to expand
her territory any more than it already was.
“Understood. I will tell Oinktera and the
other commanders to get ready for anything.” Juna knelt down and prayed before
going about her duty.
Desaray rubbed the spot between her brow. She
could only hope the castle was empty and only the citizens had come over. Just
like how An’ne was teleported elsewhere. “Umm… Your Holiness…”
“Then… Desa… Are you really going to fight
those humans?” Yi Ling was worried.
“I will try to talk to them first, maybe even
show a bit of force. But I do not think they will listen all that well. Anyone
in power will try to stay in power for as long as they can. If I asked them to
give up their power and join me, they would probably just laugh. If I tell them
to pack up and leave, they will probably just laugh. I will need to use a bit
of force, I think, in order to make these people take a proper look. Show them
that they can not win even if they try. I would like to refrain from bloodshed.
But if they are powerful, then things will be difficult.” Desaray did not want
a full-out war.
“Why would it be difficult?” Yi Ling was
confused. As far as she knew, Desaray was very powerful and could defeat
anyone.
“Because there could be an old monster behind
them who is much stronger than me. Even if I can fight them head-on, what would
the outcome be? My people would still need to march to war and fight off the
invader’s army. I know they did not show up here by choice, but this is my
land. I am quite stingy, you know.” Desaray had always been one of those,
what’s mine is mine, and that was that kind of attitude.
“I see… I can understand that. So even if they
are more powerful than you, you would fight?” Yi Ling asked out of curiosity.
She found Desaray to be a kind of enigma.
Three Choices
In a throne room filled with officials, a man
in ruby red velvet kingly robes sat on a high throne, looking down at the
officials below. One of the officials stood at the podium just below the king.
“Your Majesty, from what we have researched, due to all the disappearances of
villages and soldiers, we have moved to another realm.
“The shaking of the ground seems to be an
indicator of these sudden changes. As of now, we seem to be within the borders
of another territory. The ice wall behind us is made of pure elemental ice and
by a powerful person at that. One of our men froze just from touching it.” The
official reported. He did not realize this was not due to the ice, but the
barrier Desaray put up.
“And what is your opinion on what we should
do? Our capital city has landed in the backyard of another border. They are
sure to send an envoy here to negotiate with us. They will either tell us to
submit or leave. Now… let me ask you, what should we do?” The king’s voice was
firm. He was a man who would never give up his position. He had killed his own
siblings to take the throne. There was no way he was going to give it up so
easily.
“Mmm… I was thinking the same thing. Good. We
will do it like you said. Pass down my orders. We are to start preparing for
wa….” The king’s words were disrupted when the door to the hall was kicked
open. The king’s face turned red with anger as he yelled out: “Who dares to
interrupt me?”
“I do. My name is Juna. I am an Apostle of the
Ice Goddess Desaray, who rules the Holy Kingdom of Serenity. I have come with
word from her Holiness herself. You have three choices: submit, leave, or die.
Please choose now.” Juna was not messing around. She slowly made her way into
the room and rose up high on the root she was sitting on so that she was eye to
eye with the king, which made the king's face turn purple.
“You! You dare to sit at the same height as
me!?” The king was so angered he wanted to kill the girl right then and there,
but when he looked into the girl's eyes, he felt a heavy pressure coming from
her.
Juna’s arrogance and mocking tone made the
king’s anger snap. He got up and pointed at Juna and yelled out. “How dare you!
You want to know my answer? We will make your tiny kingdom submit to us humans.
Someone come and kill this stupid woman and feed her to the pigs!”
“As expected… Your Holiness, I did try.”
Juna's words confused everyone there. But they then soon heard another voice.
“Then Juna, come back. Oinktera has been
complaining that he and his men haven’t had any fun lately. Let’s have him take
care of it.” Desaray’s voice filled the room. No one understood where the voice
was coming from.
“As you command, Your Holiness,” Juna replied
respectfully before turning and smiling at the king. “Send your army of
millions. Let’s see if you can fight a squad of level 100 plus.”
With a bright smile on her face, Juna sunk
into her root, and the root itself borrowed into the ground, leaving only a
hole in the rock that was used to make the room. As for the king, who watched
his enemy appear and disappear like it was nothing, he smashed his fists off
his chair and yelled at the officials below. “Hurry up and send out the troops.
I want that city conquered by nightfall!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!” While the officials
wanted to say something about Juna’s final words, they did not dare say anything when the king was already so angry. They would
lose their heads otherwise.
Inside Serenity, Juna sat on her root, looking
at Desaray, pouting. “Why didn’t you let me kill him? I could have killed them
all!”
“Juna, if we deal with everything ourselves
all the time, our soldiers will have no battlefield experience. We need to let
them fight once in a while. Plus, you shouldn’t be so willing to kill. Let them
fight soldier to soldier. When they see that they can’t make any ground, they
will rethink their options.”
⧫⧫⧫
“Men, we are in a new land.” The human king
began. “We are about to claim new territory and rebuild our kingdom back to its
former glory. Right now, we are facing small numbers. We can easily win with
our great power. The demi-humans of this land think they can defeat humans, but
what demi-human has never fallen under us humans? We are the rulers of this new
world, and we will rise to the top and bring all demi-humans underfoot. So my
men, kill, ransack, do as you please. Show these demi-humans what real terror
is!”
“By your will, Your Majesty!” The roar of the
soldiers below made the human king smile. He could not wait to show the
demi-humans just how powerful the humans are. He wanted to see just what a
small city with small numbers could do.
⧫⧫⧫
“So he says.” Juna pursed her lips. She really
wished she had killed that bastard.
“He’s just a blockhead, humph!” Juna snorted
and turned her head away. Lilly and Yi Ling both giggled. They found Juna to be
very cute.
Oinktera stood in front of the small squad he
had in front of him. There were not many people, but all of them were at level
100 now, and each of them was very powerful. “We are about to face an army of
one million. How do you feel!?”
“Amazing! I can’t wait to show that bastard
what it means to disobey our Goddess!”
“Yeah! For our Goddess, I am willing to face
them all by myself!”
“For our Goddess! Long live Her Holiness!”
Oinktera nodded his head in approval. These
people understood what was important. Their Goddess! “Then let’s move out! We
will be nice to them and meet them halfway. Remember to kill everyone you see who
is a soldier or that stupid king. Show them we are not to be underestimated. I
will handle the king myself.”
Oinktera really did not like the human king.
He had yelled at his wife! That was the second worst thing they could do
besides bad-mouthing Desaray. In other words, he was more willing to beat
someone up for bad-mouthing Desaray than his wife. She would always come
second, and he knew he was second in Juna’s heart as well. This was what made
them perfect for each other. If one had to be sacrificed
to save Desaray, they would not hesitate to do so.
Oinktera lead his men straight toward the
human city without caring if they could be seen or not. And indeed, scouts were
watching them. One even ran back to inform the human king.
“Your Majesty, I have a report.” The scout
knelt to the ground after barging into the meeting room.
“Report. Quickly.” The human king was slightly
angry to have someone barge in like this, but he had to be a good king in
situations like this. He just glanced at the man next to him, who made a small
note.
“The enemy has sent out forces. There are…
There are fifty in total.” The scout answered.
“What!? Do they really look down on us so
much!? Let’s see what happens when these warriors they send out are all dead!
Tell our men to move faster. I want those fifty men’s heads on pikes and
marched across the battlefield and strung up on the enemy's gate!” The human
king could not help but be angry. He felt that he was being slapped in the
face.
“By your will, Your Majesty!” The scout
quickly retreated before he was beheaded. Little did he know he was not going
to live much longer if they did win.
The human king looked at the door closing and
snorted. “Kill that idiot once this war is over. I do not want to even see him
again.”
⧫⧫⧫
“Apostle Oinktera, what happens if the enemy
is strong?” One of the men asked.
“Heh… do you think a few humans can match up
to a single boss in that dungeon? These men would all die quickly. Just pay
attention like you were taught, and no one will come to any harm. Anyway, I am
going out.” Oinktera cracked his knuckles and began walking towards the enemy
army.
“General, someone is coming!” A soldier
announced as the human army marched.
“Oh? It seems they do have some ethics, huh?
Good! I will go meet this fool who dares to oppose us. Have the men halt!” The
general commanded before moving his horse forward.
He rode until he came to be about a hundred
feet from Oinktera. Oinktera did not stop walking and walked all the way up to
the General, who was staring at him with anger in his eyes and smiled. “Good
day, foolish human of the other world. You have come a long way. I will give
you a choice. Submit or die. Pick. You only have one second.”
“You! This is not how this works!” The General
was so mad that he drew his sword and attacked Oinktera, but Oinktera grabbed
the sword with his bare hand as it came slamming down on him.
“It’s about time!” Oinktera’s men all rushed
forward and began their slaughter. The human army was quickly in disarray. They
had no idea what was going on. Their general had suddenly died, and now their
comrades were being killed one after the other. The attacking army was so few,
but they had already slaughtered hundreds of their own.
“What is this!? They’re monsters!” One of the
soldiers yelled out before turning to run.
It is said that it only takes one to panic to
cause a chain reaction. It was slow at first, but soon, all the soldiers had
begun to turn and run away. Even the captains who were supposed to be passing
down orders began to run for their lives. The scene of a million men running
from what could be considered mice was actually quite amusing. It was just that
these mice were able to slaughter many at one time.
Oinktera did not join in on the fun. Instead,
he knelt on the ground as a large root emerged in front of him. “Your
Holiness.”
“Good work, Oinktera.” Desaray smiled as she
stepped out of the root. She was followed by Juna, Lilly, and Yi Ling.
“Should we go ahead of them?” Juna asked.
“No. We will stay behind and let our people do
their thing. The humans of the other world only know fear when their lives are
about to be taken. I want to instill as much fear as possible in these people.
While I do not like slaughter, this time, it is needed to
pressure the people of this city into understanding that they stand no chance
against Serenity. I do not want people to think just because we are few that we
are weak. Plus. If they fear me, can’t we turn this fear into devotion? I could
really use a boost in followers.” Desaray had thought of many different
outcomes for this battle, but none were without bloodshed. While she did not
like killing, to begin with, it was important sometimes to put aside such
thoughts and become a demon herself.
She hoped this would make the people fear her
now, and when she took over and began introducing new concepts, it would turn
into devotion. By doing so, she hoped to make her follower count reach the
millions, and then she would be set for a while. Plus, having more people in
her kingdom would make her kingdom look more lively.
“You are right. This is one way to make people
see you in a new light. A ruler who shows no mercy to her enemies but to her
people is very kind and generous. This makes them fear, yet worship you. Your
Holiness’s way of thinking is truly amazing.” Juna liked this idea a lot,
especially with humans from the other world who normally had a major prejudice
against demi-humans of any kind.
Yi Ling was shocked at how well Desaray was
able to see so far ahead. To think up such a way to be able to reach her goals
was just amazing. She knew her people would not be able to do such a thing
since they did not have the power, but against so many, just a few people from
Serenity were able to push back an army of millions, killing thousands in the
process without even coming to harm. She could see that the people sent out
were used to battles with multiple enemies. Each one moved in sync with the other
as if they had practiced hundreds of times.
It did not take long for a path within the
enemy troops to open up. Those who surrendered did not die; only those who
dared to try to fight back or ran in fear were cut down if they were in the
way. Oinktera did not want to kill too many needlessly, but he was forming a
plan on how to make these men tougher once they were pulled into the ranks of
the Serenity army. He had long made plans to use these men to bolster
Serenity’s forces. Those who could make the cut in the end would be able to
stay. Those who still ran would be kicked out and forced to do manual labor as
punishment. He was slowly working out his plan. He just hoped it would work
well.
“Your Majesty! We have trouble! They have
entered the city!” An older man rushed into the room.
“Prime Minister Cedric, what do you mean they
entered the city?” The king was startled by this sudden development. “What are
our men doing!?”
“Your Majesty, from what I can tell, they are
unable to defeat the few people sent by those demi-humans. I do not think this
is like our world. The demi-humans here are very powerful. And… One of them
seems to be a dragon…” Prime Minister Cedric replied. “I am sorry, Your
Majesty, but I think we will need to submit. No matter
how unwilling you are. We can not allow our people to die because you are
unwilling to give you your rule.”
“What!? You dare rebel!?” The king’s face
flushed red as he pointed at the man in front of him. “Do you know what it
means to go against me!?”
“Your Majesty, we are no longer in the human
kingdom where your rule means something. These lands do not belong to us. They
belong to the demi-humans. Our million-man army was no match for the fifty of
them who slaughtered thousands of our soldiers without trying. If you wish to
keep fighting, you can go to the front lines yourself. I, for one, would rather
submit and live another day. Maybe working under a demi-human would not be so
bad.” Prime Minister Cedric finished what he had to say and turned around to
leave.
The king’s body shook with anger. He reached
to the side, pulled out a sword, and stabbed it forward, only for it to be
reflected off a barrier. Prime Minister Cedric turned and sneered at the man,
who was blinded by power. “I guess it is true, all tyrants will one day lose
their head. It seems your time has come. Even if you do run away, there is no
telling what is lurking beyond the wall of ice or if you would even be able to
get far before being captured.”
“You! You bastard! I should have killed you
long ago!” The king roared in anger, but Prime Minister Cedric did not even
glance at him as he walked out of the room. The knights in the room quickly
followed after him. Once they knew what was going on, all loyalty was gone.
Maybe if he was a good king, he would have had many people willing to protect
him, but he was not a good king.
“Not everyone is as good as you, Your
Holiness. You are able to bring happiness to your people, and your people
worship you in kind. This is because you are amazing on so many levels.” Juna
praised, making Desaray wrinkle your nose.
“What are you trying to get out of me, Juna?”
Desaray asked teasingly.
“I mean what I say!” Juna pouted. She was not
lying because of how Desaray ruled the people of Serenity loved her to death.
They would stand in front of her if it meant saving her life because she was
needed in this world. Her presence was the reason the entire area had been so
peaceful until now.
“Hehe.” Desaray giggled and patted Juna’s
head, making her puff her cheeks out. She did not think her Goddess would tease
her!
“You two have a very good relationship.” Yi
Ling was a little jealous of the kind of relationship the two had.
“It’s because Her Holiness is my sister. We
share the same last name and are family, but even if this was not the case, I
do believe that we would still be the same.” Juna replied.
“You are family?” Yi Ling was confused.
“Regal, Juna, and Oinktera are considered my
sister and brothers as my Apostles. Each one took my last name, Harris.”
Desaray explained.
“That is up to you. Regal, Juna, and Oinktera
did not have family names. I gave them one. If you wish to not have my family
name, that is fine. I will not force it upon you.” Desaray replied with a
smile.
“Someone is coming.” Juna pointed towards the
man in scholar-looking robes and the ten knights around him walking towards
them.
“Hmmm? Juna, see what they have to say. Only
attack if they move to attack.” Desaray did not think they came here to fight,
but that man did not look like any king.
“Understood.” Juna moved her root forward and
came to a stop in front of the man and the knights. “Hmmm? I saw you before
when I came before.”
“Yes, you did miss. My name is Cedric, former
Prime Minister of this kingdom.” Cedric replied.
“Former?” Juna raised an eyebrow. She wondered
what had happened.
“I just quit my job because our king does not
seem to understand he has lost. All the men and staff within the castle are
also packing their things to take their leave. I came to ask you to please let
them by. Only the king seems to still be against your rule,” Cedric explained
while lowering his head. As the attacking nation, he knew he had no right to
make requests, but he was still worried about those who were innocent.
“Don’t worry. We will not attack anyone who
does not attack us. Once we meet this king of yours who seems to be quite defiant since he is now sitting on his throne, we will be
holding a meeting on what to do next.”
Inside the castle…
“Mama, that man with the crooked crown is
sweating buckets.” Lilly was very nice to point out this fact.
“Mmm… He is also mumbling crazy things to
himself.” Juna added.
“This is what happens when you let power get
to your head. There is no point in talking to this man. Let’s do this…” Desaray
reached out with her hand and snapped her fingers. The old man on the throne
turned into a humancicle. “Juna, let’s make sure the castle is clear. Take
anything of value that can be used to help the people of this nation. We will be
switching the currency to match our own. They can exchange the current gold and
silver currency they are using now to get the equivalent in ours. Once this
castle is cleared, destroy it and make a hole to be filled with water. The
castle grounds will become a lake. We will call it Lake Hope.”
“As you wish.” Juna bowed and turned to leave
to do as she was told.
Yi Ling stood at the side, swinging her arms
around, unsure of what she should be doing. It took her a minute to finally
ask: “Umm… Desa, what should I do?”
“You just stick with me. Currently, your level
is too low. It is safer to stay at my side. After you level up, you can do much
more. But I think I might make you my personal bodyguard. Since I am of an ice
element, having a flame elemental as a bodyguard will allow me to have a second
element at my side,” Desaray answered. She did not wish to let Yi Ling fight
until she was truly ready. While Yi Ling did have battle
experience, it was still not enough.
“Then I will follow at your side.” Yi Ling
felt happy that Desaray was thinking of her well-being and the fact that she
got to serve at Desaray’s side.
Desaray carried Lily and led Yi Ling out of
the castle. She held Yi Ling’s waist and flew into the air looking for the
Prime Minister, who she quickly found trying to comfort the citizens of the
city.
“Please calm down! We are working with the
people of this land to figure out what we are going to do next. The king
himself will be captured and dealt with. There is no need to raise up arms.”
Cedric was having a hard time. He had a lot of sway in the kingdom before, but
in times like this, it was hard to calm the public’s anger.
“I see you are having issues, Cedric,” Desaray
called down to the man below, who was trying his hardest not to let the
citizens start a riot.
Cedric and the citizens all turned their eyes
skyward. When they saw the dragon girl standing there with a flame girl at her
side while carrying a young fox girl in her arms, the crowd fell silent.
“People of this city. The human kingdom is no
more. I will give you all two choices. Stay and become citizens of my Holy
Kingdom of Serenity, or leave and find new lands elsewhere. But I will say this
now. The world you are in is not like the world you are from. The landscape
will not match your memories. But I can guarantee that you will have a good
life if you stay within my kingdom. The only difference is that this is a
kingdom where all races are welcome, and forced slavery
is not allowed. This means your slaves will be freed. Anyone caught trying to
keep any slaves will be punished on the spot. Slavery is not allowed in my
kingdom unless it is due to crime-related reasons.
“Those caught with slaves that are not working
for you willingly will be sentenced to become a slave themselves. Eye for an
eye. You kill someone, you die. Think before you commit a crime. This is the
only way you will be able to live in harmony.
“For those who had loved ones who were sent to
battle, a memorial will be built to honor their lives. They were forced to go
to war, and war is never good no matter who starts it.” Desaray hated this
topic the most, but she had to speak about it.
“Why didn’t you just submit!? Why did my son
have to die for some demi-human!?” A man suddenly shouted from below. Desaray
turned and looked at the man. She raised her hand and pointed at him. His
entire body suddenly turned to ice. “I will not be listening to complaints.
Those who have such idiotic thoughts need to realize that if you are willing to
go to war, the enemy will not sit there and do nothing. We only used a small
squad of men to defeat your million-man army. Do you really think you have a right
to question us? It was your king who decided to make us your enemy. Now, he is
no different from that man there.
“Humans and demi-humans can get along. Each
one of us that you see before was once human. We became what we are now through
evolution. Demi-humans and humans are not much different. We can even reproduce
between our races without issue. So why do you look down on them? What have
they done to you all from the very start? Why must humans always have this
human superiority ideology? You, me, the little girl in my arms. We are all
different races, but we all do the same thing. We have
families; we provide for them, and we raise our young to live happy lives. We
do our best to stay alive. Our differences are nothing but stupid ideology that
those at the top have pushed into your heads.
“From this moment on, forget everything you thought about before. Humans are just as weak as the next race out there. But together, we can be strong and become people who work together to build a society that everyone can live in.”
