Chapter 197 - To Celebrate Or To Mourn
The halls inside the castle made of darkness were silent. It was barren with life even when there were people inside.
Even when the maids were walking around the Hell's Castle, and guards and knights were patrolling, life still wasn't felt.
"We need to get them on our side," Appetite said to Void as they stood above a tower. "There are only half of us in this alliance and the half are all very loyal to her. If we could just flip the balance–"
"That's impossible," Void replied. "Sora and Blithe are already too far gone, Anastasia, Devilo, and Litpink are almost there and Lilith is still under her hypnosis."
" She's not even a demon," Appetite sighed. "How did Lilith became a Vassal? She's an Infernal. And most of the ones she recruit couldn't even make it to knighthood."
"That's because she's not aiming for Lilith," Void turned to his friend with a serious expression. "She's aiming for the Prophet. And once the Prophesized Boy will be eliminated, so will Lilith and her siblings. Count her father with it. They're all going to die."
"How can we stop her now, then?" Appetite asked. He massaged his temples with both his hands as he thought deeply. "Even with Bruno, we couldn't defeat Malice. We need at least ten Vassals to–"
They both froze when a blast of energy hit them. Void and Appetite looked at each other in pure shock, gulping when Malice's terrifying aura followed.
"How dare them send a threar like that to me?!" Malice screamed from her throne room. The shock from her scream broke everything inside, crushing them like a surge of a powerful explosion had just exploded.
"What happened?" Void ran inside, seeing all the other Vassals there.
"That energy was from Terra," Bruno said. "Five massive energies shining in all the Realms. Each of them… equals to a Vassal."
They all had to hide the smirks on their faces. The energies that just bursted out from all of the lands were unidentified. They couldn't know who and why the people did that."
"It must be that prince," Malice slammed her hands on her armrest, breaking her diamond throne in the process. "Why do we need more time to prepare? The longer we delay, the stronger that boy will become."
"But your majesty," Bruno bowed. "We need to confirm that we are not going to be trapped by Heaven. It will be all our loss if we attack them now and our scouts are still in doubt about the Angels' actions."
Malice slumped back on her broken throne. She placed her hand on her forehead and leaned back, using her magic to slowly reform the throne.
"Two months," Malice said. "If you still couldn't get anything within two months, I'll destroy Terra myself."
–
"Drink! Drink! Drink!"
Elliot slammed his glass on the table, laughing as he just finished his nineteenth beer. "I can't anymore."
"You can still do it!" Ethan said.
Everyone in the guild was partying for the return of their Campaigners. Elliot didn't even knew some of them went on a Campaign.
A Campaign that lasted for half a year to which nine people went on to a different kingdom to hunt a monster flower.
"How come I didn't know we had something like this?" Elliot asked. "It seems like I had missed…" hiccup "a lot before."
"This is the second best squad, Squad Metatron," Midnight introduced. Everyone on the guild was drunk except for Midnight and Sun who were serving, and a few more who weren't into drinking.
"Sun, please get Ed down the table," Midnight said. "Dustin is watching their drunkenness, and I don't want him to be alcoholics like them in the future."
"If Dustin chooses to become an Adventurer, then he will become an alcoholic," a man said and sat on the stool beside Dustin. "What's up, little dude? Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Dustin replied. "Who are you, mister?"
"Oh, my name is Aquarius, I'm the leader of the Campaigners that just went back," Aquarius said. "And do you know I have the same affinity as you?"
Aquarius had a lean and tall build. His hair was deep blue and his eyes were ocean blue. His skin was pale, like he was submerged into water for so long, but they weren't wrinkly. He had a calm demeanor, and would take anything lightly.
Dustin shook his head, "The only other person I know who uses water affinity is my mom."
"Oh, so you got your element from your mom," Aquarius chuckled. "But do you know that you could transform water into different phases? Here, I'll teach you."
"Should we stop him?" Sun asked his older brother. "Dustin is good for his age but this maybe a little too much."
"Let him be," another man said. He was leaning on the counter, his back facing the wooden slab while he rests his arms there. "Aquarius is tipsy. He can't handle the alcohol, you know that."
"Minos–" Midnight stopped. "Okay, whatever. So, how was the Campaign?"
Meanwhile, Minos is a large man with short hair. He had an eyepatch on his right eye with a scar hidden behind it. His looks alone, with his heavy armor and a large shield and sword behind him, screams tank.
Minos stood properly and suddenly became serious. "How do you say that there were a hundred odd things about the kingdom of Corpora but you don't know what."
Midnight stopped cleaning a glass and leaned in, "What do you mean?"
"The creatures were acting… differently when we came back," Minos said. "I mean, it was alright when we started the campaign, going to Corpora without any issues, but when we came back, there were sharks in rivers, monkeys eating lions, birds who weren't supposed to migrate at this time, started to fly."
"It was… odd," Minos sighed, shaking his head as he remembered his experience. "The world is really changing."
Midnight looked at the crowd of people in the middle of their guild, all laughing and enjoying each other's company.
"I think it is," Midnight said. "I think the world is changing too."
While the others are enjoying themselves downstairs, two people were smoking on the roof, overlooking the city.
"When started to get drunk, all of them lost control of their auras?" Luck asked, taking a whiff of his cigarette. "Even Lance?"
"Even him," Frederick sighed. "But not everyone felt that. Especially in Terra. They seemed to have released it through the borders of the Realms, all at the same time."
"I received a report from Isabelle earlier too," Luck said. "She could swear there were five Alpha Strike-level beast in her field, but it was just them."
"They're loosing grip of their power as they get stronger," Frederick tsked and rubbed his forehead with his free hand. "I thought it was just him, but it's all of them."
"But he has two, he should have lost it all by now," Luck said. "He is the Prophesized Boy after all. The light and darkness in him are starting to lose their balance."
"When that time comes, I hope we're ready," Frederick said. His cigarette was all gone so he burned the butt with his flames, turning them into dust that floated into nothingness.. "When that time comes, it's either we celebrate, or we mourn."