“This is mine!” Kasogonaga declared as he held Erchitu’s Beast Core in a vice grip. “You already got that Dragon’s head. This is mine!”
Psoglav chuckled as he moved closer to the Anteater who was looking at him with a determined expression.
“What are you talking about? I caught that Dragon’s head fair and square,” Psoglav said in a calm manner. “Also, I was the one that secured the storage ring from Elandorr.”
“Not only did you have that Dragon’s head and its Beast Core, you also ate that bastard Elf as well! You’ve already profited, so this is mine!”
The Anteater was adamant on keeping Erchitu’s Beast Core for himself. He planned to eat it in order to raise his ranks, and reach the peak of the Millennial Rank as soon as possible.
“How about we talk about this? Let’s negotiate like civil beasts.”
“Scram!”
The corner of Erchitu’s lips twitched as he watched his two friends started to wrestle in order to gain possession of his Beast Core.
The leader of William’s Revenants was very tempted to slap the two annoying creatures and say…
“Am I a joke to the two of you?”
A few minutes later, Kasogonaga happily gnawed on Erchitu’s Beast Core. Psoglav laid on the ground unconscious, because the Demigod resorted to violence and rolled all over the Demonic Dog until his eye rolled up in its socket.
This was the scene that William saw when he arrived to check on Erchitu’s condition.
Kasogonaga waved at him as crisp sounds came out of its mouth. It was eating Erchitu’s Beast Core as if it was eating a bag of potato chips.
“Erchitu, are you sure you don’t want to crossover?” William asked. “I will be performing the Ceremony of Purification in an hour. You can still change your mind.”
Erchitu shook his head. “No. I will continue to serve until you have crossed to the afterlife. This is what I, and the rest of the other Revenants, decided during our meeting.”
“Understood. However, if you ever change your mind, just tell me, okay?”
“Okay.”
William gave Kasogonaga a side-long glance before heading outside of the city. The rainbow-colored Anteater had a blissful expression on its face as it continued to eat Erchitu’s Beastcore.
The Half-Elf found this sight comedic, but since Erchitu had no qualms with it. He didn’t say anything as well.
An hour later…
William stood outside the city where the Super Soldiers, and the Ash Golems gathered. The millions of Skeleton Soldiers that had been in the Undying Lands for thousands of years, were also there.
Even though they were only bones right now, the blue blaze within their hollow eye sockets burned with anticipation.
William looked at this impressive army and sighed. The Undead Legion had protected the last bastion of Humanity for thousands of years. It was now time for them to rest.
Malacai had also given his silent approval of William’s actions. Although no words were shared between the two of them, the Dracolich kept mum on what William was about to do.
Instead of Humans, the Undead Elves now resided inside Avalon. They were the replacement army that would serve as the Fortress’ protectors for many years to come.
“On behalf of humanity, please, accept my sincerest gratitude for your bravery. Without you, we would not be enjoying the things that we now have today.” William bowed respectfully. “May all of you pass safely through the Cycle of Reincarnation and be blessed with new lives that are worthy of your sacrifices.”
The Skeletons raised their weapons in salute to William’s words.
The Three Goliaths, and the Three Sovereigns who were now mounted on Undead Qilins looked at their comrades. They had refused to cross over to the afterlife, and wished to remain in the World of Hestia.
William respected their decision, and was even glad that they planned to stay. As long as they were around, the Guardians of the Silvermoon Continent wouldn’t dare to renege on their promise of surrender.
Then the Half-Elf looked at the Ash Golems and the Super Soldiers that stood beside the Undead Legion.
“I also wish for all of you to find happiness in your new lives,” William said softly. “Rest assured, this land is now at peace. Your sacrifices will not be forgotten. I will see to it that none of you will be forgotten.”
The Ash Golems and the Super Soldiers made subtle movements. It was their way of thanking William for giving them a chance to cross over.
William raised his right hand, and it was soon covered with a white blaze.
The Flames of Purification burned brightly as its blaze rose over a hundred meters into the air.
“If Fate permits it, let us meet again,” William declared. “Goodbye, everyone.”
William waved his hand and the white flames fell over the Undead Legion, Ash Golems, and the Super Soldiers.
The flames spread quite fast, enveloping all of them as if they were dried leaves. The Elves, the Kraetor Army, the Minotaur Race, and the survivors of the Hellan Kingdom witnessed this amazing scene with solemn expressions.
Soon, a joyous laughter rang out from the flames. As if a spark was ignited, more laughter followed until it became the sound of cheering.
Thousands…
Tens of thousands…
Hundreds of thousands…
Millions…
Millions of souls rose up and circled around the skies of the capital. Some approached William and thanked him. Others wished him well, and some told him that they would return the favor if ever they crossed paths again in the future.
It was a joyous scene, and yet, William wasn’t able to stop his tears from falling. He had locked the emotions inside his heart after witnessing the darkness of humanity.
The darkness inside his heart hadn’t disappeared. It was still there, and yet, after hearing the champions of humanity, who stood against the armies of the Gods, thank him for letting them find true rest, he wasn’t able to stop the tears from falling like rain.
They were heroes in an era that had been long forgotten, and now, they would embark on a new journey, somewhere out there.
Not even the dark clouds that hung over the Southern Continent could block their path. The surroundings had already turned dark, but the millions of souls shone like countless stars in the sky.
William waved his hand to see them all off, and they waved back at him before ascending towards the heavens.
“Beautiful,” Wendy said softly.
Celine, Ashe, Est, and Isaac, who were standing beside her nodded their heads in agreement. It was indeed a beautiful sight.
A sight that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
—–
A few hours after William finished his Purification Ceremony…
Empress Sidonie looked at her reflection in the mirror and giggled. Her hand caressed the slave collar on her neck that marked her as someone who belonged to William.
According to the customs of the Kraetor Empire, members of the Royal Family that had been given a slave collar, out of their own free will, would become the lifelong partners of the one that placed the collars on their necks.
Although this may sound like a weird tradition, it was actually a rule that was passed down by the First Emperor of the Empire when it was first founded.
It was more like a game.
Every member of the Royal Family in the world of Hestia was protected from the effects of a slave collar. Meaning, even if they were forced to wear collars on their necks, they could disobey the orders of their so-called masters.
This also held true for the members of the Kraetor Royal Family. However, Aamon’s condition, before he became their Protector God, was that this game must be added to their tradition. Naturally, he also imposed a requirement for it.
The slave collar must be worn on their own free will. If anyone dared to place a slave collar on the Royal Bloodline of the Kraetor Empire, they would be cursed by Aamon himself and their souls would be dragged down to Hell, to suffer eternal torture, when they died.
As long as this rule was honored, one of the Gods from Hell–who wouldn’t lose to Cernunnos when it came to mood swings–would remain the Kraetor Empire’s Protector Deity.
Since then, members of the Royal Family had followed this rule. Even the reigning Emperor of the Kraetor Empire proudly wore a slave collar on his neck. This proved how inviolable this custom was.
“Although there were a lot of mishaps, we still did it in the end, Morgana,” Empress Sidonie said as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
< Yes. >
The reflection on the mirror smirked. Morgana then caressed the collar on her neck and sighed.
< The moment the Elves decided to come here to negotiate, their fates had already been sealed. >
Morgana smiled sweetly at her other half, who was looking back at her with a devilish smirk.
Contrary to what the Elven Delegation thought, Empress Sidonie had successfully planted her Charm Spell inside their consciousness, the moment they laid their eyes on her.
From the beginning, Elandorr, and Alessio had already fallen into her hands. However, she didn’t exert her control over them until the last minute.
The only one that managed to resist her Charm Spell was Eneru.
A Myriad Beast was not very easy to subjugate, however, when he was injured during his solo attack on the Hellan Kingdom, Prince Ernest was forced to use Heaven’s Fury. This attack had not only cut off Eneru’s Arm, but also cut dimensional space.
This allowed Lady Eros to send a strand of her Divine Charm to penetrate Eneru’s body, while he was fleeing. This was done in utmost secrecy, because Lady Eros needed to follow certain rules imposed upon them by the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods.
If Prince Ernest hadn’t used that attack, Lady Eros wouldn’t have been able to place a Charm Spell on Eneru’s body, that she could use to manipulate him anytime.
Everything that the Elves planned was known to Sidonie, because she could see, and hear, what her Charmed Ones could. This allowed her to gain full access to confidential information that was known only to the Elves.
Empress Sidonie also gave subtle commands to Elandorr, which had prevented the Elven Commander from issuing critical commands at the right moment.
< Still… Lady Eros should have told us her plan. Eneru suddenly attacking Darling was not something we knew beforehand. If we’ve only known what our Goddess was planning, we might have made our own preparations. >
‘True. But, if we knew about her plan, I’m afraid that the outcome would not be the same. Perhaps Lady Eros knew that we would overthink things and decided to keep us in the dark.”
Eneru’s attempt to kill William was orchestrated by the Goddess of Lust. It was her way of helping her girls form a deeper connection with the red-headed boy whom her daughters loved.
Empress Sidonie and Morgana knew that William was someone who cared about people important to him. They were quite touched when the latter used his life saving artifact in order to bring them back to life.
The armor they were wearing was called Immortal Empress Armor. It was Lady Eros’ gift to them to ensure their safety. Anyone who wore the armor would be revived from death after an hour passed.
This ability could be activated once every three days.
The Young Empress took a calculated risk, and it paid off.
If William hadn’t revived them then their feelings towards William might have changed. Princess Sidonie was looking for someone that would be willing to love her with all of their heart. William’s selfless act had made her love for the Half-Elf burn even brighter inside her heart.
‘With this, Sir William will be our fiance.’
< Yes! Now, we just need to have a good relationship with his other lovers and it will be perfect. Also, he mentioned that he is planning to visit the Kraetor Empire in the Central Continent. Once he’s there… we can immediately make the wedding preparations! We’ll be on our home turf! >
Empress Sidonie smiled and nodded her head. She was sure that William would resist with all of his might, but if he really needed to do something inside the Kraetor Empire, he would have to gain the permission of the Royal Family first.
The beautiful lady blushed as she heard Morgana’s devious plan to milk William dry and get his babies. Although she had gotten used to her other half’s lustful nature, she didn’t mind having William’s children.
She had long decided that she would only give birth to the children of the man that would capture her heart.
