Blade of the Goddess-Chapter 137

"Infernal energy? Never heard of that before." Zion admitted

’It would be surprising if you did. Infernal energy isn’t something that is widely known in the middle world.’

"How can a type of energy that powerful not be known? That doesn’t make any sense." He argued

’That’s because the gods, myself included, made sure to keep it that way. You see, for when there is light, there is darkness. When there is Order, there is Chaos. Good and Evil.’

"What are you trying to say? There’s some evil god or something like that?" Zion joked

’Yes.’

"Oh." He was silent for a bit. "I was joking, by the way. Is there actually an evil god? Or well, a god that isn’t holy or something like that?"

’They aren’t called Gods. They’re called Devils.’

"Devlis? Aren’t Devils just a type of demon?"

’I don’t know where you got that knowledge from, but you couldn’t be further from the truth. Devils are to Gods what Demons are to Angels. Polar opposites. They are not necessarily evil or bad; they are just opposites in power.’

"Go on."

’Just as there are five gods, there are five devils. Infernal Energy is equivalent to Divine Energy, and holy power, something that would be akin to demonic energy, isn’t able to fight against it. That’s why your power didn’t work and your arms burned.’

"This information would have been very helpful earlier."

’I had no need to tell you this. After all, the devils should be sealed.’

"Says the goddess who should be dead." He countered

’Fair point.’

"So? Why weren’t you able to sense this Infernal Energy? You’re a goddess, aren’t you? I’m sure it’s within your capabilities."

’I’m not strong enough to do so right now. I wish I could help you more, but I can’t. However, I can give you a piece of advice. Devils, just like Gods, have apostles. They tend to share their power with many people instead of one, like we gods do. However, when someone is a Devil apostle, their demonic energy becomes stronger and turns red. Not to the same extent as Infernal energy, but it’s what you would call ’supercharged’. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to sense the person using this enhanced demonic energy unless they use it on you.’

"Can holy power handle it?"

’It can, but it will be more difficult.’

"Difficulty doesn’t matter. As long as I can kill the bastard using that power, that’s all that matters to me. Tessa, analyze the destroyed nanobots and see what you can do to improve their defensive capabilities so we can at least be protected when faced with this energy."

[I’ll see to it right away.]

"Zion! Zion, are you okay?" Valindra asked, clutching his face with worry.

"Aw, so you do care for me." He teased

"Shut up!" She pouted with a slight blush.

"Haha, yeah, I’m fine. But I just got news of something terrible." Zion told them the entire conversation he had with Lunminera, and to say they were shocked was an understatement.

"You’re telling me a being equivalent to a god is behind all of this?" Melina had to sit down, her mind a mess. She could feel herself lose a few years off her life with the number of things that happened within a few days.

"Mother! We have to inform everyone!"

"Calm down, child! We will not do such a thing."

"But mom!"

"Quite! Do you want to put the kingdom in a state of panic after we just overcame this current crisis? Acting out now will only make our enemy more vigilant and cautious. We need to be smart and move accordingly."

By the look in Valindra’s eyes, it was obvious that she didn’t agree with her mom. "Zion." She pleaded

"I agree with the Queen. We must act with intelligence and discretion and attempt to draw out whoever is orchestrating this from the shadows. Calling them out now will only make catching them even harder."

Melina smiled, glad he was on the same page as her. "What do you suggest?" She asked, eager to hear his opinion.

Zion thought to himself for a bit before answering. "Currently, our enemy knows two things: the first one is that you are actively trying to capture and kill any remaining demon or demonic elf who might be in hiding. The second thing is that with two of the world tree saplings now missing, you will put your focus on finding those missing saplings while also reinforcing the security on the ones that aren’t captured."

Melina agreed. "This means our enemy will either try and force their way through, stealing every sapling, leaving a trail of blood along the way, or try and distract us with something else that would need my immediate attention while also dividing my forces."

"Or both," Zion added. "The world tree is dying, your divine apostle is out of commission, two saplings have been stolen, and your land is still recovering from the demonic invasion. You’re already spread thin, and anything else would just be the cherry on top."

"And with you here, they will be even more cautious, especially if they know what happened in the Astir kingdom. They might try and get rid of you."

Zion laughed, "Heh, I’d like to see them try."

Melina smiled, amazed to see Zion still full of positive energy and not succumbing to despair. Then again, this wasn’t his land or people, so maybe he didn’t care as much as she would. But it seemed that he cared for her daughter, so she hoped he would care enough to aid her without any ill intentions.

"This has me in a difficult situation." She admitted. "I have the manpower to protect the saplings, world tree, rebuild, and search the kingdom for any remaining demons, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to respond to a threat without spreading my forces thin. I’ve been put in a difficult situation."

"Maybe we should ask another kingdom for help." Valindra proposed. "We’re close with the dragons. Do you think they would help? And even if they don’t, the Alithtos Alliance is on good terms with us."

Melina shook her head, disagreeing with her daughter. "Then we’ll be admitting that we can’t handle this situation on our own. Our enemies could take advantage of that. Also, according to what Zion told us earlier, every kingdom has some demonic presence there, so if we ask for help, we could be bringing more demon followers into our own home."

"Don’t worry about your forces spreading thin. I’ll handle everything else." Zion reassured them.

"How?" They both asked.

"I can’t tell you that. However, if you allow me to marry your daughter, I’ll be able to." He smirked

"Zion, my opinion of you was changing for the better, don’t make me think less of you."

"Don’t worry, I’m not giving you an ultimatum. I just don’t like to tell others about the things I have and can do unless they are in my inner circle. I already went as far as to reveal the power I possess during the tournament. Remember when I tried to blast Gonrod with a massive energy beam?"

Melina’s eyes widened. "You can do that again? At will? Didn’t that spell cost a bunch of mana? You collapsed after doing a wide range spell using your holy power. Wait, how can you even use magic in the first place?"

"So many questions." Zion laughed. "And I don’t mind answering them. However, trust is only given to people I know I can control or who have devoted themselves to my cause. So if you want to know how I’ll handle things, I’ll tell you. If you want to know how to use aura and magic, I’ll teach you. If you wish to obtain more strength, i’lll show you how."

"That sounds too good to be true. There’s a catch, isn’t there?" Melina asked

"Of course there is. You’ll have to become a follower of Luminera and abandon your faith in Freya."

"You! How dare you-"

Zion interrupted her. "I’m not telling you to do so, nor am I forcing your hand. I’m here to help, and so I will, without any ulterior motives. However, I won’t share my secrets with you unless I know I can trust you fully. However, my aid will only go as far as driving out the person behind this mess, nothing more, nothing less. Think about it."

Zion turned around and left the mother and daughter to think about the choices they could potentially make, or pass up.

The most uptodate nove𝙡s are published on fr(e)𝒆webnov(e)l.com