_

  _

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  ‘Goodbye forever, Eithne…’

  ‘Goodbye…’

  ‘Who…

  Who is bidding farewell to me?

  I’m not dead yet…’

  ‘Goodbye…’

  ‘No… Don’t say such things. I’m still here. Am I?’

  …

  “Keek… keek … keek…”

  “Space rift… I… stuck… cannot interfere… Keek…”

  “Eithne… stand… stand up…”

  “Stand up… Eithne… stand up…”

  “Eithne… stand…”

  Head-throbbing cries went louder and louder.

  CLING CLANG!

  A flash vision of crimson chains flickered before Eithne’s eyes, destroyed her drowsiness. She woke up in the dark, struggling to remain conscious.

  ‘I fainted…’

  The darkness condensed into droplets of ink flowing down Eithne’s pale cheek. A stinging sensation reminded her that she had been unconscious in a dangerous place. By instinct, she wanted to use her right hand to wipe the liquid off her face, but her right arm was unresponsive.

  “What…”

  The voice that came out from her throat was awfully hoarse, no better than two sandpapers rubbing each other. Her head’s movement felt unusually free, Eithne felt that Barty’s throat was partly detached from her head.

  “Barty?”

  No fox’s yelp was heard. Eithne felt that their spiritual connection was abnormally loose, even Barty’s body had almost released its grip on Eithne’s head. She was always wary of the mysterious castle’s fox, but when their hold on to her was gone, she felt even more apprehensive rather than at ease, since having a chain dragging her was better than rotting still in this place.

  Swish! Swish!

  Noisy sounds transferred to her ears. Struggling in unease, Eithne looked down and realized what had happened to her.

  She has fallen into a pit of insidious energy. Its energy level has gone up to her chest, crossing her right shoulder.

  ‘Space rift!’

  Eithne widened her eyes. She had seen Demi Noceur with his space rift before, so she recognized a space rift right away. However, a person who hadn’t reached demi-god level dared to step in a space rift, their body would be torn apart by space forces!

  She pushed all her strength into her left arm to grab a nearby rock point, pulling what was left of her and Barty’s body out of the pit. Using a little bit of strength, Eithne escaped the pit with an unusual light feeling.

  “No…”

  The body part that had been inside the space rift was gone. Eithne was dragging herself with an arm and a neck that could not hold her head properly. When she saw the remnants of Barty in horror, the Fox’s unstable voice transferred to her mind.

  “…summon… body back…”

  ‘Barty?’

  A small signal from the Fox was as brief as a disturbance of air. However, Eithne held onto it with her dear life. She quickly closed her eyes to sense the familiar energy around her, just like how she had summoned the eyes of corruption before, she tried to summon Barty’s back using the same method.

  Swish!

  Eyeballs flew back up from the space rifts. Hearing her call, they gathered around Eithne then returned as pieces of Barty’s body. Gradually, the body shape was restored. However, Eithne could feel that the number of returning eyes was not enough.

  ‘The rest is gone…’

  Eithne’s face turned pale. Her summon echoed in the boundless space rifts, lost in the chaotic flows of energy with no returning call.

  She unsteadily stood up. Barty’s body felt like an empty shell, lacking most of its mass inside.

  ‘My overall strength is also reduced…’

  The Chaos elements that she built up inside Barty’s body were lost. Just a pinch on the arm could rip off the flesh – which quickly turned into an eyeball rolling back to its original spot. Without Chaos elements, Barty’s body only had a defense of a thin paper.

  Eithne shakily stood.

  “What should I do… Order, mighty Order…”

  She called towards the unknown, only to receive the silence.

  …

  --

  -

  Tick… tok … tick… tok… The clock’s hands ticked relentlessly.

  Raphael had been really drunk today, thinking that he wouldn’t open his eyes until the sun reached its peak, yet the man ended up waking up abruptly from his sleep.

  Even worse, he saw his boss standing with a wide smile next to his bed. Raphael knew right away who had forcefully woken him up from his drunken slumber.

  “Wakie wakie~!”

  The Queen of Lumovas with dark cycles around her eyes smiled creepily at Raphael, her hand still had pinkish traces of magic that brought Raphael from his sleep without making a noise. In the dark, her cherry-colored eyes seemed to gloom with blood color. Alipes Daneva, the midnight’s crazy woman had put on neat clothes and gears, ready to embark on an exciting journey that Raphael would use all the excuses he could think of to decline.

  Before Raphael could open his mouth to say something, Alipes said:

  “Do you want your salary to be cut? I can’t imagine you would waste time drinking and sleeping, while other temples have already made their moves!”

  “…” – Raphael was silent in two seconds, then he said: “How about I make you the new Saintess of Peace, your Majesty? You could represent our temple to chase up after other temples.”

  “Oh my, are you still drunk? Come on, we have works to do.”

  Alipes totally ignored Raphael’s retort. With a wide smile, she held an ancient bronze mirror in her hand, pointing at the window in Raphael’s room like a start-signaling flag.

  Raphael blankly looked in the direction of her mirror for three seconds.

  “…”

  He plopped back to bed, pulling the blanket up to cover his head.

  “I still have sick leave allowance. Leave me alone.” – Raphael’s muffed voice came through the thick cotton blanket.

  Alipes gasped.

  “Awake, for I have not crowned you with my trust to slumber when duty calls. Rise now, for even the stars tire, but we must shine on!”

  Despite Alipes nagging, Raphael remained stubborn in his cozy bed. The Queen clicked her tongue in disapproval, she then drew a teleportation magic circle in the air.

  “You have ten minutes to prepare before this magic circle sends you to the destination.”

  Leaving behind cruel words, Alipes tore the space and stepped into the space’s rift, disappearing after an eyeblink.

  “…”

  Raphael lay silently. Beneath a demi-god’s authority, he was nothing. Dragging himself up, he quickly grabbed all the necessary things before he was forcefully transported by Alipes’s magic.

  “Where is my wallet?”

  Raphael flipped the whole bed, but he couldn’t find his dearest possession.

  “Where is it???”

  ...

  The Queen of Lumovas stepped out from the space rift. She stayed afloat midair, facing the bizarre giant skeleton which hardly noticed her presence from fifty meters away. Under the moonless night, the shaky image of a giant skeleton was frightening. The monster appeared doddery, but every movement could easily bring upon the disaster that nobody wished for. Even worse, that monster possessed a strange ability that could interfere with space, indicating that its power was around demi-god level.

  “Hmm…”

  Alipes rested her chin on her palm, going through all the information about this monster. The winds blew her hair all over her face, but it couldn’t defy her classic beauty, even in her serious expression, this woman could only be more attractive.

  The giant skeleton monster was discovered yesterday, five days after the traces of foreign spies were found around this area. Since this part of Lumovas was closer to the Death temple, monsters were very active so it was hard to trace down the spies. Alipes has sent Raphael to investigate the shady activities happening around here, but that guy spent time drinking and sleeping instead of doing actual work!

  “Urgh…” - Alipes knocked on her own head in frustration.

  The Royal mages were tracing down the spies and caught up in irregular monster waves, leaving many urgent matters like aiding Kole fortress unavoidably postponed. The Queen’s faction was not invincible, her authority was still young, lacking support from traditional aristocrats who were loyal to the late king - her deceased husband. Alipes had no other choice but to cooperate with the War temple - the conservative beast that had their influence in all corners of Lumovas. Demir Noceur was mostly indifferent to the Queen’s faction, as long as she didn’t touch the War temple’s base, he would be a reliable ally when matters of national security arose. However, the Saint of Peace – a big figure in the Queen’s faction - recently had gotten on the bad side of the High Priest of War, due to his involvement in a recent incident causing a War priestess’s death.

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  Although the incident’s investigation pointed out that the Saint of Peace was innocent, the War temple still held their grudge.

  “This guy… Raphael… is causing me so much headache.”

  Raphael Ascian unfortunately was the strongest subordinate that Alipes could afford.

  Swish…

  A burst of purple light flared up beside Alipes, tearing open a space rift as turbulent energy swirled around it. From the churning void emerged a towering figure. The High Priest of War made his entrance in his formal attire, his presence pressured the air around him with an aura of dignity and pre-eminence, forcing the true royalty Alipes to slightly reduce her aura. Demir Noceur lightly nodded to the Queen:

  “Your Majesty.”

  “High Priest Noceur. Thanks for coming here tonight.”

  Alipes secretly cursed that arrogant old man for only giving her- the Queen of Lumovas a bare minimum standardized greeting, but for the greater good, she swallowed her frustration and acted generous, forgiving all of Demir’s rudeness.

  “The target monster is very dangerous and mysterious. I only ask for your sole support due to the fact that it might put others and us in greater danger if we bring more people tonight. Therefore, please understand my decision to summon only the strongest leaders.”

  Alipes courteously explained the reason for her urgent summon tonight to the High Priest of War. Demir Noceur, as a victorious lieutenant general from the previous dynasty and the teacher of all the current strongest royal generals and mages, deserved the Queen’s respect. Alipes persuaded herself like that.

  Demir was unbothered by Alipes’s complexity. He coldly glanced at the giant monster afar and asked just one question:

  “Where’s Raphael?”

  Not again… Alipes winced.

  "I believe the Saint is on his way."

  Alipes smiled politely, but her smile quickly froze with Demir’s next sentences.

  "The Saint of Peace is truly the man of leisure. Even if the country is on fire, he still comes later than your Majesty, the Empress of Lumovas. As far as I know, the Stero village has just thrown a big party for the priests of Peace. In such times, a dozen patients have lost their lives in Kole fortress, while waiting for the royalty's holy rescuers.

  Regardless, I trust that the Saint will have his reason for this rude lateness. I’m curious of what excuse he can say."

  “…”

  Demir normally was a cold man. He didn’t speak much. When he spoke, his words were only to strike his enemy. The mockery was more real than the big monster in front of them, and so dense that Alipes could even taste the saltiness in his tone.

  As truthful as she thought that herself had gone crazy, Alipes sometimes felt jealous because Demir would put Raphael as a more important, worth-to-care-about object than her – the actual Queen.

  'Come on Raphael... I can't hold Demir's feet any longer...'

  Silently clenching her fist, Alipes checked the status of her teleportation magic left at Raphael's place.

  Good gracious! Seven generous minutes left before it teleported Raphael! If only she had set the waiting time for three minutes then Raphael would be here already.

  Alipes faced Demir alone, unable to think of a good comeback. The incompetence of the Royal mages had been compensated by the aid of the War priests at Kole fortress. It was frustrating that the Queen didn’t have full control over the situation, but this was the best outcome for everyone at the time. Because of this, Demir Noceur could openly mock the Temple of Peace—the Queen’s faction without fear of any consequences.

  “…”

  "Your Majesty the Empress!"

  Amid the awkward silence, all of a sudden, sweet voices of children called out for Alipes. No, they must be angels, because they saved her from continuing this terrible conversation with Demir!

  Alipes quickly turned to find the sources of the voices.

  A carriage approached the vicinity, and from the carriage exited the three children who loudly greeted the Queen.

  They were the long-awaited Imperial prince Azriel Daneva, young lord Rigel Solinue and young lady Noori Gynren, who had been missing after the bloody incident at Kole fortress.

  Alipes descended from the sky with Demir behind. The prince instantly recognized the High Priest of War, so he respectfully bowed.

  “Your Eminence, the High Priest of War.”

  Demir Noceur greeted the prince indifferently like how he did with Alipes. Alipes ignored the grumpy old man, she focused on the children and two other people coming down from the carriage - a young Death priestess and an even younger Death priest – perhaps at the same age with the Imperial Prince.

  “And who this might be?”

  Alipes raised her eyebrows. She had never seen these two people before.

  The Death priests placed their left hand over their right chest and bowed down respectfully.

  ‘Totally much more likeable than the High Priest of War!’ - from Alipes’s perspective. She finally got the right treatment befitting a country’s ruler.

  “Your Majesty, the great Empress of Lumovas. My name is Pristine Benoiser, I’m a humble servant of Death and this country. With my companion, the Saint of Death, Frandaline Benoiser, we came for your summoning tonight, accompanying the prince and his friend to ensure their safety.”

  The young priestess with black, short hair said.

  “The Saint of Death?”

  Alipes was surprised at the introduction of the new Saint, even Demir stared at the very young boy in speculation. The young Saint had black hair and a pair of crimson eyes that resembled two pools of blood. Despite his youth, his innate elegance was already extraordinary. Showing no fear towards Alipes and Demir, he went toward them with an opening notebook in his hands.

  In the notebook was a long greeting written neatly.

  “Glory to the Lumovas Empire, greetings to the majestic Mother of Lumovas. My name is Frandaline Benoiser, a newly appointed believer of Death. It’s been a great honor to witness the heavenly appearance of Lumovas’s ruler today, your talent was truly beyond which the simple mindset of this servant could ever think of…

  To be invited to the joyful event held by Your Majesty tonight is my great pleasure. The Imperial Castle is adorned by wealth and auspiciousness, all thanks to your wise judgement over this country. I’m totally immersed in the stunning collection of artworks in the West garden, and the flowers in the East garden are as colorful as a rainbow. The servants are friendly and…”

  Reading the first paragraph, Alipes’s lips curved up in satisfaction, but the more she read, the stranger the idea in the paragraph became. When Frandaline saw Alipes’s beautiful smile turned into an unsymmetrical smirk, he turned the notebook back to look at his own writing in confusion.

  “It seems that the Saint has a lot of pleasant things to say to me…Not here, but in the Imperial palace.”

  Alipes bitterly said. She sighed deeply inside. Seriously, no temple really respected her. Even the greeting text was not thoroughly prepared.

  ‘Demir Noceur, Raphael Ascian, and even the new Death Saint… One day, I will make them pay for all of this!’

  Pristine shakily came up to apologize on Fradaline’s behalf.

  “Please forgive the Saint. He couldn’t talk so he spent a lot of time writing a long greeting to your Majesty, he had always thought that he would have an audience with you in the imperial palace. We rushed on the way here so he couldn’t find the time to correct his writing…”

  Frandaline hastily nodded after Pristine’s explanation and looked at Alipes with clear, innocent eyes.

  “…”

  Alipes silently stared at them, and at the prince who also looked at her pleadingly for his friend.

  “It’s… alright. I appreciate the Saint’s good intentions. I also need to thank Saint Benoiser for escorting the prince safely.”

  Alipes spoke each word with difficulty. She, as an Empress of Lumovas, received a careless greeting that was pre-written for another occasion. Alipes was angry, but soon, she felt much better when Frandaline presented the High Priest of War with the same greeting – just changing the name and location from the ‘glamourous Imperial palace’ to ‘the serene temple of War’.

  Demir Noceur burrowed his eyebrows when the Saint of Death quickly covered the part writing about the War temple with his hand and didn’t let the old man finished reading what Frandaline was trying to compliment about his temple.

  “Sorry…”

  Frandaline meekly wrote in his notebook. Since he was muted and so young, Alipes and Demir decided to forgive the little kid.

  “If the Twin Heads of Death have entrusted you with the operation tonight, I shall respect their decision.”

  Alipes smiled to Frandaline.

  “Thank you for your generosity, your Majesty!”

  Pristine deeply bowed her head and pushed Frandaline’s head down together with her.

  “Idiot.” - Pristine whispered to Frandaline.

  Frandaline: … (I didn’t mean it… I’m merely forgetful.)

  “Just wait until I tell the Head priestesses about this.” - Pristine said.

  Frandaline: …

  He rolled his eyes.

  “Alright.”

  Alipes clasped her hands. A teleportation magic circle appeared above Azriel, Rigel and Noori. Before the kids had any chance to start chitchatting, the magic had sent them straight back to the Imperial Palace.

  “Now that the children are safe, we shall commence the operation tonight - which is annihilating that monster.”

  Alipes gestured towards the monster. She smiled at the young Saint of Death.

  “Try to keep up, little Saint Benoiser.”

  As soon as she finished the sentence, Alipes and Demir – the two demigods disappeared from their spots in an eyeblink and reappeared in the sky, right above the giant skeleton’s head. The giant skeleton noticed their presence, its gaze slowly drifted upward curiously, while its mumbling jaws were sending out soundwaves constantly to the demigods. The sight of the monster was distorted as it released an insidious aura, bending the reality of surroundings into unpleasant illusions.

  Frandaline widened his blood-colored eyes.

  Rumble! A crimson spike rose up from the ground beneath his feet and turned into a huge earth serpent, quickly carrying him and Pristine toward the monster.

  “The monster is not entirely in our space, it is standing between many space rifts. Let’s lock it in our space before it has a chance to escape to another realm.”

  Alipes said. She attacked first, opening her palm in the monster’s direction.

  Crackle! Crackle!

  The air surrounding the giant skeleton hardened and turned into reflective planes like countless sharp pieces of mirrors. The mirrors hampered the movement of the giant skeleton, successfully provoking the undead colossus. Its form was no longer unstable in the human’s vision, now exposed and reachable. When the monster realized that these creatures had trapped it down in one realm, it shrieked like an explosion, the soundwaves then became sound tsunamis, bombarding its enemies’ ears.

  “SHRIEEEEEKKK!”

  Rumble! Rumble!

  The incoherent sounds shook the air, tearing out countless tiny space rifts. As the turbulent energy from the space rifts rushed towards everyone, Frandaline frowned. He pointed at the skeleton. Large red spikes followed his command, rising from the ground and mercilessly impaling the monster’s ribcage.

  BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

  The earth spikes pierced through the monster’s tough body, creating exploding yet satisfying sounds. Frandaline exhaled in relief when the noises created by the monster had ended.

  “Not bad.”

  Alipes complimented him.

  However, to everyone’s surprise, the giant skeleton wobbly stood up. The earth spikes went through its body as if the creature was just a light illusion. Alipes smirked.

  ‘This bastard…’ – She cursed inside.

  The monster had found another temporary space rift to escape from them. What totally belonged in the real world – such as Frandaline’s magic could not affect it anymore. The possibility of space rifts creation was endless, Alipes’s mirrors couldn’t block them all! If the monster escaped and went on rampaging, it would cause immense damage!

  Alipes saw the monster’s figure fading away, knowing that it was fleeing, she clenched her fist – making all of the sharp mirrors chasing after the monster. Before Alipes could make any big move, she sensed a chaotic power next to her.

  Swish!

  A long javelin materialized in Demir’s hand. Violet ominous power swayed at its tail, the javelin launched from the man’s powerful throw like a shooting star, flying in a beautiful parabolic line before landed on the skull of the monster. Even if the skeleton was standing in a space rift, the javelin of Chaos cut through all hinderance and aimed right at its head. Its sharp tip drilled against the monster’s hard skull, shooting out colorful fire sparks that lit up the uncertain space cracks where the monster was hiding.

  BANG!

  “SHRIEKEKKKKKKK!!”

  The monster’s jaws were agape. The javelin went through its skull, sending out destructive energy on its way. However, the undead monster was still resisting. It madly swung the bony hand toward the people in the sky, wanting to catch them all.

  Alipes and Demir quickly flew back to dodge.

  At that moment, a bright teleportation magic circle appeared in the air, right before the monster’s hand.

  “Shit! I coordinated the teleportation close my exact position!”

  Alipes quickly attempted to cancel her magic, but it was too late. A man in white was thrown out from the magic circle, falling right in the monster’s palm.

  Raphael: ?

  Demir raised his eyebrows in surprise. He had never thought the Saint of Peace would show up in this way – bold and impressive - throwing himself at the monster. His prepared schemes to secretly kick Raphael to the dangerous spot had gone to waste, since the Saint had fallen into the devil’s trap all by himself.

  Raphael: ??

  “Ah! No!”

  Alipes shouted in regret as the giant monster threw Raphael in its wide mouth, swallowing him easily like a grain of salt.

  Raphael: ????????

  Before the giant bony jaws closed up, the last words that Alipes heard from Raphael were:

  “Your Majesty… Curse youuuuu!”

  ….

  END CHAPTER 19