Chapter 134: The Odd World?
Xingyue looked at the empty space her master had left behind and sighed helplessly. Then, she turned her gaze toward the person who had been left behind.
The figure that had survived was a woman of the same power level as the other hooded figures, as if breaking the third limit was now the easiest thing in the world.
It seemed her moment to explain herself had finally arrived, but she was interrupted by the elf:
"Xingyue! Do you think your master would take me too? I want to call him that as well! And you have to tell me everything you know about him, please, please—" Celestia begged, her eyes sparkling.
"Stop acting like an idiot and don’t think I’m going to let you get close to him. Do you have any idea how many women far more outstanding than you have tried to approach him and been rejected?" Xingyue said proudly. She began recounting her master’s great feats, though as she continued, she herself started to look a little uncertain, as if she felt she wasn’t worthy of standing by his side either. She narrowed her eyes and, avoiding Celestia’s delighted gaze, shifted her attention to the other woman in the room. "Explain yourself. Who are you? Do I really have to stay in this place for something, or am I just wasting my time instead of going straight to my master?"
"Yes! I mean, no! I can see that your master and you are very strong... May I ask if you are already gods?"
Xingyue shook her head.
"Stop stalling."
The woman bit her lip nervously.
"I’m from the Empire of Serphes. It’s an empire allied with Valvradis, which Raymond mentioned earlier. He and Maxim are from there, and our base is also connected to the royal family of that place. I don’t know much. I was taken out of Serphes after a regime change that imposed a tyranny under a Blood Emperor. Serphes is no longer a place for the living like before; now it’s only filled with savage bloodsuckers—the unlivings."
She paused for a moment, staring at the floor as if remembering something or searching for it on the dirty, hard ground but unable to find it.
"Luckily, my homeland shouldn’t be a problem. They only trade slaves with Valvradis. If anyone comes to Skardos, it will be them." She stopped and glanced toward the group of dwarves who were listening. They truly understood what it meant that the envoys had died and the shipment hadn’t been delivered, but Cassian’s strength and confidence when he appeared—and now Xingyue calmly handling the situation—left them, for some reason, relieved.
The woman continued, now sounding more confident: "The dwarves might send someone too. The capital will be notified soon that the promised goods are missing, but I don’t think they’ll send anyone above the Transcendent level. No offense, but the dwarves don’t have much power. There were rumors about them in ancient times, but now..." She shook her head. "It’s no coincidence they send so much free material to Valvradis."
"Tyrants!" Gloin suddenly shouted from the ground, still not fully recovered or simply unwilling to get up.
Gimli nodded furiously beside him, while Thrain shook his head but didn’t deny it.
The woman sighed at their words, not denying them either.
"So this is just the doing of a simple empire?"
The woman receiving the question raised her eyes, looking at Xingyue, who stood with her arms crossed as if this were the easiest thing in the universe.
"Well... technically. Although my organization extends across the entire world, the only ones who cared about this place were them."
A smile spread across the lips of the woman with starry eyes. Celestia looked at her, knowing full well the fate of the place the terrifying woman was referring to, though she wasn’t sure what she meant by that last part...
But at that moment, Cassian’s voice echoed in the mind of his younger disciple.
"Don’t destroy the empire."
"Huh? Why?"
"I want you to see exactly what Nix is doing."
"But Master, this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with her. Why do you keep mentioning her?"
"I think there’s something strange about this world, Xingyue. I don’t have everything clear yet, so I’m asking you to investigate."
Xingyue puffed out her cheeks, and a sound that was half resigned and half annoyed escaped her lips.
"Fine..."
"I’m going to stop paying attention to what’s happening here now, Xingyue. You should be able to sense where I am if you get bored. Though I should let you know there may be people you need to meet... you and your sisters."
Xingyue frowned. An ominous feeling rose through her body, but she still replied:
"Alright..."
Celestia, who was standing beside her, looked on in confusion as Xingyue’s confidence dimmed.
"Fairy?"
The younger sister, who had just finished speaking with Cassian, looked at the silly elf, curious about how she had noticed the change in her.
Still, she shook her head as she began thinking of another way to resolve this situation. An idea wouldn’t take long to form in her mind.
But first, she needed to know one thing. She looked at the woman again, now studying her properly, as if she had suddenly gained much more importance. Then she glanced at the dead body and the dwarves to the side. Yes... this shouldn’t take too long, right?
...
In the streets of Demor, the sounds of screams and destruction continued to echo. From the Nexus headquarters, Adela and Elizabeth watched the chaos with serious expressions.
The first was nervously biting her lip with anxiety, while the second analyzed everything more coldly.
"Shouldn’t we intervene already?"
Elizabeth shook her head.
"The master said we should wait a bit, didn’t he?"
"Yes... but hasn’t it been enough already?"
The woman with long violet hair didn’t answer. She looked down as if waiting for something and murmured:
"It shouldn’t be much longer..."
Adela sighed and moved away from the window as if she no longer wanted to watch. She sat on one of the sofas and looked at Elizabeth with a lost gaze.
"I miss the master..."