Chapter 545: [A Hopeless World] [16] [Lead]

The barrier rippled as my hand passed through it.

Zenith inhaled sharply behind me.

"Himmel—!"

"Not now!" I said, trying to keep my focus on the thing. "Just stay back!"

"...."

I could feel her anxiety, but I didn’t pull my hand back.

Instead, I activated Anastasia’s divinity.

My hair turned golden as marks began to appear all around my body, covering me in a golden hue.

Much to my surprise, my antler-like horns also protruded, emitting a mix of golden and white light.

The moment my fingers touched the white creature, it reacted violently.

Its unstable body collapsed inward and then burst outward like smoke caught in a storm.

The air in the basement grew heavy as its entire body withered in pain.

The creature tried to cling to my skin.

Its white surface darkened where it made contact with me.

Golden light flowed from my arm into the creature like a silent flood.

The white mass trembled violently.

It tried to wrap around my wrist, stretching itself thin as if it wanted to crawl under my skin.

Zenith’s voice shook behind me.

"Himmel, it’s trying to—!"

"I know."

I increased the amount of divinity and made it even more unstable.

The creature let out one final silent scream and shattered.

It dissolved completely, leaving only empty air inside the barrier.

I took my hand out of the barrier and examined it. The places that were touched by the creature had turned black, but other than that, I was mostly fine.

Zenith was breathing heavily behind me.

"...Are you alright?"

"Yes."

I jerked my hand and let the divinity retreat back, including my horns.

The door of the basement opened violently as Aimar walked in.

"You should look at those creatures."

My feet began walking before my mind could understand the situation.

We quickly walked out into the open and looked up at Akasha.

The white ring around Akasha was no longer calm. It was unstable.

Fragments of white distortion flickered across it like cracks in glass.

’....Was it because of me?’

I wondered, letting out a soft chuckle as I looked down.

"So they are connected."

"The fuck did you do?" Aimar questioned with a weird look on his face.

"Nothing," I mumbled, rubbing the back of my neck. "Just some tests."

I ignored his grumbling as I moved to the outer area and sat down in the shade.

Zenith didn’t follow us, moving back inside while Aimar sat by my side.

"Arawn," I mumbled, leaning back until my back touched the tree behind me.

The elf arrived by my side. "Yes, my Lord."

"Those things can be killed with Anastasia’s divinity," I informed him. "Perhaps you know why?"

He lowered his head to think about it for a long while, and I didn’t disturb him.

"I don’t know," he said at last.

I nodded and closed my eyes for a second.

If I were to guess, perhaps it had to do with the fact that divinity was something much more complex than mana.

By infusing it with divinity, I made it short-circuit.

’But this idea is also far-fetched.’

Well, the good thing was that those creatures could die if exposed to divinity.

’I guess they aren’t as dangerous as I thought they are.’

"...."

No, I shouldn’t let my guard down right now.

It was better if I did a few more experiments on those things before coming to a conclusion.

’If divinity works, perhaps Muspelh and Neplh could also work.’

Better try them before I come to a conclusion.

"What are those things anyway?" Aimar grumbled, looking up at the sky. "They do look like sperms."

I opened my eyes as I replied, "They are more like eggs."

"Why?" he asked. "Because she is an Outer Goddess and not a God?"

"Gender hardly matters to those things," Arawn interrupted. "It is just a way we perceive them."

Aimar clicked his tongue. "Still looks weird as hell."

I ignored his comment as I stood up. "Go train, fucker."

He groaned while I looked at Arawn. "Would you be kind enough to bring me a few of those creatures?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

He bowed slightly. "Yes."

He vanished while I stretched my body and looked around.

At the far end of my sight, I saw something that made me pause.

It was the Princess of the Mermaids along with my daughter.

Kaelia playing with Iffa was already shocking, but what made me pause was her... smile.

’First time seeing her smile.’

I let out a sigh and returned to the basement.

---

[Arisha Kingdom, Vendrick Continent.]

A pair walked down the streets of an unnamed town within the kingdom of the newly crowned Amaury.

Werewolves passed all around them, talking to themselves while ignoring them.

They wore simple hoods that covered their facial features and bodies.

Elijah looked around carefully as he could feel the gloominess within the place.

He adjusted the hood over his head and kept walking.

Beside him, Heather walked quietly, her hands hidden inside her cloak.

The town was loud but not in a cheerful way.

The streets were crowded with werewolves moving from one place to another.

Black banners hung from every building as if they were all ready for war.

"...It feels different," Heather muttered softly. "This isn’t the kingdom that I know."

Heather had been in this kingdom before; she had seen how much better it was before.

It was nothing like now.

She felt a deep sense of fear from the bottom of her heart at the change in the kingdom in mere months.

A chill rushed from the back of her head, spreading across her entire body, bringing with it obvious yet real shudders.

Elijah squeezed her hand as a way to reassure her, but he was also afraid of what he was seeing.

He could see soldiers breaking families apart, taking away young and able men for war.

"How could he do such a thing?" Elijah mumbled in anger.

It was as if he had witnessed a familiar friend become a stranger in a very short span of time.

Could it be that Amaury had always been a war-hungry person and it was just him who couldn’t see it?

Elijah drew in a deep breath and focused on what he had come here for.

’I just need to find a way to meet with him and talk him out of this.’

Heather kept her head lowered as they walked past another group of soldiers dragging a young man away.

They turned into a narrower street to avoid a patrol.

Most of the houses were closed as if they were all hiding.

Elijah stopped when he saw a familiar sign carved into a wooden wall.

It was a sign of beer, and along with it was a sword.

’I am sure they sell information.’

Taking in a deep breath, he opened the door of the shop and walked inside.

There was no one inside the shop except an old man who was cleaning cups.

"No free drinks and no pay later," the old man said. "If you don’t have money, then get out."

Elijah walked towards the main desk and slid a gold coin towards the old man.

The man paused and looked at the coin before he took it.

"What do you want to know?" he asked, resuming his work.

Elijah lowered his hood slightly but kept most of his face hidden.

"We want to know how to meet the king," he said calmly.

The old man stopped wiping the cup.

For a second, the only sound in the tavern was the soft crackling of a small fireplace in the corner.

"It’s not possible," he said clearly. "You can go now."

’That was a stupid question.’

Elijah inwardly clicked his tongue but didn’t let go of the chance.

"Wait," Elijah said, leaning closer. "Then can you tell me what he is actually planning?"

"It’s not a secret," the old man said. "He wants to unite all the clans within Vendrick Continent and make them all his subjects."

"All of them?" Heather asked with a frown.

"All of them," he affirmed.

"But that’s not possible," she rebuked. "There are a lot of clans that would rather die than submit."

"Ask the king then," he replied calmly. "Why he is doing this."

Elijah bit his lip as he looked at him. "Anything else?"

The old man paused for a second before he asked, "Do you know about the 13 families of Kandam Continent?"

Elijah nodded his head as he had heard of them from Himmel.

The 13 families were the heads of Kandam, holding most of the power, much more than most kingdoms.

They had been ruling the continent since the time of the second epoch, when Buinal hadn’t even conquered Akasha.

"The king is supplying soldiers to two of the families in their war," he said, placing down the cup.

"Which two families?" Elijah asked, swallowing his fear.

"The Baelish family and House Atretic."

Elijah froze in his place as he looked at the man with a blank expression.

For a moment, he thought he had misheard.

"...Say that again," he said quietly.

The old man did not repeat himself. "You heard me."

"W-what happened?" Heather asked, sensing the tension in his voice. "Who are they—?"

Elijah grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the shop.

"Fuck...."

He kept dragging Heather to a safer place.

"Elijah!"

Heather snapped, stopping in the center of a narrow street.

"W-what happened?"

Elijah drew in a deep breath to get a hold of himself.

"H-house Atretic," he said in a soft voice. "Is the family that was behind the war of demigure and elves."

Heather froze in her place as well. "W-what?"

"Amaury," Elijah said, anger clear in his eyes.

"He is selling his people into slavery."