The next day, after the three had breakfast, Shannon kept her promise.
Instead of telling the Half-Elf everything that had happened, she used her power to show him the great battle between him and the forces of the Holy Order of Light.
The images on Shannon’s canvas came to life. Similar to a movie that was already edited to be watched by the people who went to the cinemas, the great battle happened in great detail, making the Half-Elf unable to shift his gaze away from the scenes that were happening in front of him.
“Why can’t I hear what she’s saying?” William asked as he pointed at the black-haired beauty who was talking to him during the battle.
“I can hear her just fine,” Shannon tilted her head in confusion before shifting her gaze towards Erinys.
“I can hear her, too,” Erinys commented.
William frowned but after Shannon rewinded the scene, he still couldn’t hear what Belle had said.
———-
“My name is Belle. Does it ring any bell to you?”
“I guess someone is sleeping on the floor tonight.”
—–—–
Erinys said the words that William wasn’t able to hear, and it made the Half-Elf wonder why he was unable to hear the words of the lady named Belle, who seemed to know him as well.
For the time being, he set this matter aside as he continued to watch the battle.
Several minutes later it ended with William being hit by a bright beam of white light, making him fall from the sky.
He saw how Shannon caught him with a red-like lasso made of ink, and Erinys’ flying ship passed through a purple portal, which took them away from the battlefield.
“This is the battle where you lost your memories,” Shannon stated. “And it was something that I orchestrated to a certain extent. I wanted you, Will, but I wanted the version of you who had lost his memories. I thought that, by doing this, I would be able to make you mine, and the three of us could live happily in the Western Continent before the world ends.”
“Before the world ends?” William inquired. “What do you mean?”
“I mean it literally, Will. This world is about to be destroyed by the Army of Destruction, which had already destroyed countless worlds. Many worlds, far stronger than Hestia, have lost to them in battle.”
Shannon sighed before taking out another canvas from her storage ring, and showed William a battle that happened on a world that was also headed for destruction.
“Giants, Titans, Fomorians, Trolls, and other monstrous beasts compose the Army of Destruction,” Shannon explained. “The greatest threat you have faced in this world are Pseudo-Gods, but the one that leads this mighty army is a bonafide God of Destruction.
“Even Gods have died fighting against him and his forces, so even if all of the Pseudo-Gods and Demigods we have in this world worked together, it will still be hopeless.”
Shannon allowed the images to linger, so that William could see how another world was destroyed. This was one of the reasons why she wanted to be with him, because she knew that the world was about to end.
Her mother, and father, had already accepted the world’s fate, and had even made arrangements in the Underworld for Shannon, to allow her to bypass death, so she could transfer to another world, where she could live happily.
A world that was not headed for destruction.
“You say that this world is about to end, but do you know when exactly it will end?” William inquired.
Shannon shook her head because she really didn’t know the answer to this question. The Army of Destruction had already tried to invade Hestia twice.
The first one was the battle in the Void, where James, Ella, and Malacai, blocked their path.
The second one was when the Army of Destruction appeared in the Silvermoon Continent, and was dealt with William one-sidedly.
Unfortunately, those forces were mere scouts.
Just a drop in a bucket, and a single hair on a bull’s back.
The Army of Destruction had grown large over the years, numbering almost a billion. With each world they destroyed, their strength and numbers grew, making them the most powerful army in existence known to Mortals and Gods alike.
“They could arrive a year from now, or two years from now,” Shannon said softly. “Or, they could arrive today, tomorrow, or the day after. All I know is that they will arrive in less than two years. However, my mother feels that they will be here in less than a year.”
“Your mother?”
“Yes. My mother, The Goddess Hestia. The Goddess of Hearth and Home, and the same Goddess which this world took its name from. Well, I do hope that they will arrive after a year. After all, I planned to give birth to your babies first, and take them with me to the other world, where my parents planned to send me. Don’t worry. I promise I won’t marry again, and I will raise them properly.”
p anda nOvel.cO,m William blinked once then twice before the gears in his mind finally started to turn.
He didn’t expect that he actually made love with the daughter of the Goddess Hestia, and Shannon even wanted to give birth to his babies.
This information even made Erinys look at Shannon in a different light. It was not easy to cheat death, and the bribe that the fox lady’s parents had to have given to the God of Death for him to agree to such a deal must have been priceless beyond words.
“It must be nice having doting parents,” Erinys said to Shannon, who only smiled at her.
“Your father also loves you,” Shannon replied. “But his love is a bit different from the love of my parents. Perhaps after living in the Underworld for so long, his version of love has become as cold as the souls of the dead that pass through his domain.”
Erinys lowered her head because her father and her meet very rarely. During those meetings, they would only exchange a few words before an awkward silence would fall inside the room.
The Half-ling liked to talk to others, but when it came to her father, she was at a loss when it came to what to say. Their conversations would start with “How are you?”, and more often than not, it would also end in that manner as well.
It was only when William was about to leave the Underworld that her father said so many things to her. Unfortunately, she had decided to come with the Half-Elf to the Surface World, to understand what it was like to walk under the sun.
“I have a good idea!” Shannon clapped her hands happily. “How about you return to the Underworld with a baby? I’m sure that if that happens, your father will be happy because he has turned into a grandfather, right?”
Erinys pondered Shannon’s words for a bit, and found the idea quite appealing. However, she was not aware that if she really were to return to the Underworld with William’s baby, her father would lock William’s soul somewhere in the new layer of Hell he created, and torture the Half-Elf for eternity.
