Chapter 437: The Tower
Lyrel Fruor quietly hummed to herself as she tended her garden. It was a task made more difficult by the grey skies above but one that she was determined to accomplish. Such was her dedication that she’d made quiet arrangements for solar lights to be sent to her from parts of Araqlun that were less invested in the maintenance of their green spaces, and the results were quite fabulous.
Not as fabulous as they had been, but beggars could not be choosers now that Araqlun had finished relocating to Ayther. She let out a small sigh, nostalgic for the subtle glow that had permeated her garden when the mana had flowed freely through the city. Now, most of it was being consumed for "defenses," whatever that meant.
The Choirs were still reeling from the Heavenfall, but Lyrel had recognized the danger her House’s leadership was failing to acknowledge as they tried to wed themselves to the "Grand Arch Seraphim" Vinam Victoriam’s cause. Was it a coincidence that the Choirs were decapitated in the most successful demonic attack in remembered history? Lyrel didn’t believe so, not with how the demons had concentrated themselves.
She had little head for tactics, but she knew a losing fight when she saw one, and with the Executioners practically running the government now, she’d decided to leave the stage as gracefully as possible in order to preserve her lifestyle for herself and her immediate family. But grace was a hard state to maintain when all she knew was boredom and waiting for the next bad thing to drop.
"Maybe I should acquire one of those Aytherian druids..." she murmured as she found a wilted stem amidst the buds of a stellar rosebush. She was loathe to let anyone else touch her garden - especially how her hobby was regarded by those who considered angels as above "playing in the dirt," but perhaps she could make an exception for a like-minded soul...
"Excuse me..." a male voice said from behind her.
Lyrel turned, gasping as she saw the horns on the man’s head, a tail two-measures long, and violet eyes that seemed to bore through to her very soul.
"D-demon!"
"First off, you’re half-wrong, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. You’re a politician-type, yeah?" He gestured flippantly around the garden and in the vague direction of her mansion.
"I-I was... Until Victoriam came to power." She gulped, her heart pounding. Lyrel hadn’t read a book in ages, but she remembered being a moderately rebellious youth, and novels about lone demons invading Heaven for some nefarious purpose had featured prominently in her reading list until they’d been wiped from the servers. "A-are you here to ravish me?"
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