Chapter 1100 May The Light Shine Upon You
William stood before the shrine that he had made for his wives and friends in the center of the Magic Crystal Cave.
He had been gazing at them for almost half an hour, while Lilith and Chloee stood a few meters behind him.
Suddenly, a sigh escaped William’s lips as he rested his hand on Princess Sidonie’s face, who was protected by a thick layer of ice.
“Looking at all of this, I finally realize that something is very wrong with me,” William said softly as he reluctantly took his hand back from caressing Princess Sidonie’s beautiful face. “I should be feeling sad, and heartbroken. And yet, right now, I don’t feel anything. I guess I have really turned into a monster.”
William then turned around to look at Lilith and Chloee, who both had sad expressions on their faces.
“Are both of you disappointed in me?” William asked. “It’s fine, just tell me what you think.”
Lilith shook his head. “I think you misunderstand the situation, Will.”
Chloee nodded in agreement to Lilith’s words.
“I think the real you has just retreated to the deepest part of your heart,” Chloee replied. “If you are really as indifferent and unfeeling as you claimed to be then you wouldn’t be crying right now.”
“Crying?” William asked in confusion. He then wiped the side of his face with his right hand and felt something wet. The Half-Elf then summoned a mirror to have a better look on his face.
In the reflection on the mirror, he saw a black-haired teenager with tears streaming down the sides of his face. Although he didn’t look particularly sad, the tears continued to fall without any signs of stopping.
“… What a sorry sight,” William said as he wiped away the tears in his eyes. “But, this is also a good thing. At least I know that I am still able to feel sadness, even though it doesn’t show on the surface.”
“Then, how do you feel about Felix and Ahriman?” Lilith asked.
“Oh, them?” William’s overall atmosphere immediately changed after hearing Felix’s and Ahriman’s names.
Black lightning crackled around him, as a powerful pressure excluded from his body. However, it only lasted for a brief moment before everything disappeared like a dream.
“That was close,” William said as he patted his chest. “I am still not stable right now. I almost destroyed this place because of my overflowing emotions.”
William hurriedly walked towards the exit of the cave without looking back. He was afraid that if he continued to stay inside the cave, his power might slip out of his control and destroy it completely. The bodies of his wives were currently preserved in a thick layer of ice, and seemed to only be sleeping.
Deep inside William knew that if he accidentally destroyed their icy prisons, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Only when he was at a safe distance from the cave did he finally stop and place both of his hands behind his back.
Truth be told, he liked nothing more than to step on Felix’s body, and grind all of his bones into mush. As for Ahriman, he wanted to drink all of his blood until none of it was left. After that, he would burn his body in holy flames, so that he could suffer for eternity.
It was at that moment when a great and murderous anger surged up from the very detphs of his heart. The Half-Elf closed his eyes as he embraced the heart-breaking hatred that was rising from his body.
“Don’t worry, I promise that I will avenge them,” William said softly as he coaxed the half of himself that was grieving in the deepest part of his heart.
After all of his memories of Belle were taken away from him, the dam that was preventing the Darkness from corrupting the other half of his soul had broken. Free from its prison, the Darkness started to corrupt the other half of his soul in order to become whole again.
It was at that moment when the Half-Elf’s instinct kicked in and he summoned the silver bell that resided in his heart, to prevent his soul from being corrupted completely.
William was only able to safeguard a quarter of his soul from the corruption, due to the power of Bell of Anthanasia, that Ella had left him before she disappeared. Ella knew that the Primordial Goddess wanted to corrupt William’s entire soul, and make him fall completely into Darkness.
Although a part of his soul was bound to be taken over, she still strived to save a part of it to retain William’s essence. That was the only thing she could think to do to prevent the Primordial Goddess from having her way with her adopted son.
William, was a special existence.
Because of this reason, she decided to become a constellation and wait for the right moment to guide him down the right path. Unfortunately, the Primordial Goddess discovered his true identity as well, which made her covet him completely.
After the anger in his heart subsided, the overpowering pressure that William was releasing also disappeared. His sharp eyes gazed in the distance as the power inside him circulated to every part of his body.
“Lilith, Chloee, I am returning to the Sand Clan,” William said without turning around to look at his two lovers. “What are your plans?”
“I’ll go with you.”
“Me, too.”
“Okay.”
William opened a portal in front of him and walked through it. Lilith and Chloee glanced at each other before following behind him. Today was the day when the Sand Clan, as well as the Rhanes Clan, would migrate to his Thousand Beast Domain.
The black-haired teenager had prepared everything beforehand, and positioned the two clans on the opposite side of the Domain, away from the other clans that served under him.
Cassey had returned to the Rahjah Clan to prepare her people for an evacuation. She had already told William that she planned to join him in the fight against Felix and Ahriman, so the Half-Elf agreed to have her entire clan migrate to the Thousand Beast Domain as well.
Athrun’s Clan had strong connections with the Demon Lord, so he knew that they wouldn’t budge no matter what he told them. However, he asked William to allow the members of his merchant guild to seek refuge inside his Domain to escape the conflict that was about to sweep the entire Demon Realm.
William accepted Athrun’s request because he considered the Demon who had accompanied him on his journey a friend. This was the least he could do for him. He also didn’t mind having connections with a merchant that had a good head on his shoulders.
Even though the world was about to descend into chaos, thinking about what the future would hold when everything was over was important as well.
—–
Somewhere in Hestia…
“Celeste said that?” a middle-aged woman, who was wearing a papal robe asked. “Are you sure that the Prince of Darkness is preventing her from leaving?”
“Yes,” Byron replied. “She said that William had ordered her to stay by his side. I guess this is only natural because she had somehow become his Bride, and her sister, the Bride of the Heir of Darkness.
“Such pitiful sisters.” the middle-aged woman frowned. “However, this is truly a problem. Celeste’s Virtue is in danger of being tainted by that foul man’s touch. She needs to be returned here to the Palace of Light. Only when all the Virtues are present will we be able to give our warriors the highest blessing that will enable them to better fight against the forces of Darkness.”
“Will the blessing work even if she’s not there?”
“It will work, but it will not be as powerful as when all the Virtues are gathered together. Having her here is a must. Do your best to bring her back before that man takes her Chastity away from her.”
Byron sighed as he nodded his head in understanding. “I’ll do everything on my end, so make sure to finish the preparations on your end.”
The middle-aged woman nodded. “May the light shine upon you.”
After the connection ended, the middle-aged woman stood from her throne, and teleported to the highest vantage point of the Palace of Light.
“Filthy creatures,” the middle-aged woman muttered as she gazed in the direction of the Demon Continent where the power of Darkness was gathering. “I’ll make sure to erase each and everyone of you and rid this world of your evils even if it’s the last thing I do!”
The middle-aged woman then looked at the giant statue that stood behind their palace, which had weathered the storm of Hestia for thousands of years.
“Your Excellency, the time is nigh,” the middle-aged woman said. “Twilight falls and the enemies await.”
The giant statue briefly glowed in a radiant splendor as if acknowledging the middle-aged woman’s words. The time had come for the forces of light to gather and stand on the opposite side of Darkness.
Like they had done once before, during the Era of the Gods, when the entire world was covered in Darkness.
