Waking up early in the morning, Yin made another meal for Lisandra before pulling out a map that was generated by Shiro's Argus system.
"Let's see… Where are the southern isles from here. Considering the fact that they had to evacuate with everyone, it shouldn't be that far from the Vatican. Though there may be a teleport shrine near by that I don't know about." Yin muttered while navigating the map.
"The last report didn't exactly give us a coordinate so we're still in the dark in regards to their position."
"Well they would probably keep a shrine prepared just in case, it's very likely that its existence was only revealed in a state of emergency." Lisandra suggested as Yin agreed.
"True… I wonder if the Argus system can search for teleport shrines. They may be hard to spot from space, but their mana signatures should be linking to one another, forming a web of mana that wraps the world."
Attempting to adjust the search parameters, Yin tried to search for the teleport shrines but her lack of knowledge around the Argus system was displayed as she only zoomed in and out of the map.
". . ."
Furrowing her brows in frustration, she was surprised to see a notification on the Argus system from Nan Tian.
[Are you looking for something? I happen to notice that you were doing nothing but zooming in and out of the map for the last 10 minutes. – Nan Tian.]
Typing a response back, Yin asked for a bit of help as she didn't know how to adjust the search parameters.
[Alright, I'll get that sorted for you. If you want, I can also scan for clumps of signatures underground. That way you can get a rough idea of where they are. – Nan Tian.]
Thanking Nan Tian, Yin waited for a moment before the information popped up on her interface.
"Man, he's getting really good at using mum's nanobots." Yin scratched her head while checking the map.
Seeing that there were quite a few teleport shrines nearby that was hidden within man made mountains, Yin understood that Lisandra's theory was correct and that they were shrines used in situations of emergency. To the far far south, there was a cluster of human signatures along with a mix of other races.
Key thing to note was that they were surrounded by monsters with one having the aura of a Queen.
"Well I suppose we should rush there before anything bad happens. Sis, will you be able to hold on?" Yin asked with a serious face as Lisandra nodded her head.
Transforming into a phoenix, Yin placed Lisandra on her back as she tore open the rift and flew towards the south, hoping that she would get there in time.
###
Who the f*ck do they think I am? When I had found out that they were living nearby I did not persecute them. No, instead I offered them help, gave them food and helped drive the monsters away so that they could live in peace since they did not want to come under my rule.
However, these ungrateful f*ckers actually sent a party of invaders to come to MY city, to raid MY supplies, to kill MY subordinates then dare to complain that I'm in the wrong?!
"Drive them into a corner, take away everything they hold dear then slaughter them like pigs!" Morin shouted out in anger. She couldn't believe that her help was actually repaid in such a manner.
Seeing their fearful faces as the monsters approached their location, cornering them off at every turn, Morin had no remorse in what she was about to do.
"Stop! I thought we had an agreement!" One of the paladins shouted out while parrying an attack from a monster. None of the attacks were meant to take lives just yet as Morin wanted to corner them more.
"Ha! That agreement was broken long ago by people of your side! If you want forgiveness then sure! Drag those bastards out and kill them in front of me!"
"You know we can't do that! With the world as it is, it's imperative that we have to stick together! You don't know if they were forced or not! This decision is rash!"
"Bullsh*t! It's especially in these times that the bad need to be weeded out! Especially those that are willing to do rash things for selfish reasons and endanger your entire group! Did I not lend you my aid!? Did I not spare you what food I could? Offer you protection? I didn't even force you to come under my rule and allowed you to live safety on the isle but for what!? For you two tell me to forgive two rats that decide to put everyone at risk??? There is no more talking to be done today, either you give me their cold dead corpses or everyone can go with them. I will not suffer the ridicule of letting worms like you trample over my kindness!" Morin shouted back as her aura flared.
[Morin LVL 900 Queen of Quakes]
Slamming her hand down, the water around the islands erupted as the land itself was torn apart. Flicking her finger up, everyone on the island lost their footing as the paladin gritted his teeth in anger.
While they would not be affected by the earthquakes, the same couldn't be said for the civilians.
"We can still talk about this! There's no need to go that far! Aren't your subordinates still alive!?"
Hearing this, a vein bulged up as everyone felt suffocated by Morin's killing intent.
"Had the medics not reached them in time, do you think we'll still be able to revive them!? You're more foolish than I thought. The time for talk had long pass, I had hoped that you'll make the smart choice but it seems like I'm mistaken." Morin shook her head as she raised her arm.
Her mana flared as she prepared to slam it down once more but something grabbed her wrist.
Widening her eyes, Morin glanced back in shock as she didn't sense the other party at all.
Pulling open the rift, Yin popped her head out.
"Ahem. I didn't hear much but it would be awfully inconvenient should they die on me. Perhaps we can strike a bargain?" Yin forced a smile as she was just in time to hear the stupid reasoning the paladin gave them.
Sure her subordinates was alive but to pick such a sore topic out of all things, it was surprising that the Queen didn't kill them sooner.
"Who are you?" Morin asked as she was in a contest of strength against Yin. Yin was holding her spell back while she was still trying to kill the survivors of the Vatican City.
"Hmm, it'll be easier if you've been to a few of the events that the system had set for the Queens. Perhaps you're familiar with my mothers crest." Yin smiled as she pulled out a carving of Shiro's crest from the rift.
Feeling a cold chill down her spine, Morin furrowed her brows and stopped casting her spell.
Gesturing with her spare hand for her subordinates to stand down, Morin took a deep breath and signed.
"Can I presume that you're the daughter of Shiro? The mythical Phoenix that consumes everything." Morin asked as all of her subordinates froze up in shock.
"Bahaha, seems like I'm also quite famous. But you got one thing wrong, I can't consume everything. I wish I did though. But setting that aside, how about we sit down and have a nice chat? I would love to know more about what had transpired and if I can offer a solution without killing them that would be fantastic." Yin grinned as Morin glared at the survivors before nodding her head.
"Very well. I shall prepare the venue. In the meantime feel free to browse my city to your leisure. My subordinates will seek you out once a fitting venue has been prepared. Now if you'll excuse me, they will be set under observation but you can interact with them however you wish." Morin bowed respectfully before teleporting away.
Smiling at her response, Yin brought Lisandra out of the rift and made her way towards the survivors. Seeing the wings behind Lisandra who was sitting on the wheelchair, most of the civilians who couldn't hear the conversation started to kneel down and prayed to themselves while Yin and Lisandra ignored them.
As for the knights and paladins, they looked at the two of them with weariness but a few recognised them from a while ago as they spent quite a while in the Vatican City without Shiro. However, within the myriad of gazes, there was one that stood out to Lisandra. A gaze that was filled with turbulent emotions. One that seemed to recognise her condition. Following the gaze, Lisandra could see that it belonged to an armoured elf who seemed to hold a rather high position within paladins. This was not the same person who was conversing with Morin earlier as that young man was standing next to the elf respectfully.
Whispering something to Yin, Lisandra kept her eye on the elf as Yin started to approach them with Lisandra.
