"So that’s what happened," Zion said as he finished retelling everything that happened to him. He decided to omit the ’intimate’ moments he had with Lilith, not to make Lidia jealous.
"Woah. So you were in the Fracture for nine years? That must have been hell." Lidia hugged Zion tighter.
"It was alright. I had Tessa and Aryah to keep me company. Still, fighting kept my mind off the time. Besides, look at me now, I bet I can beat my mom now."
"Just don’t let her hear you say that."
Zion winced. "I know. I’ll keep things to myself for now."
"So what are you going to do now?" Alice wondered.
"For now, I’ll help with the conquest of Midgard. Ignis is leading the charge here, so everything should be fine. Go and help her, I have business in the Valkoria Kingdom."
The three of them bid their farewells, and Zion rocketed off to the Valkoria Kingdom.
"Elian, you’re not listening. We aren’t stripping you of your power. You’ll just need to work for us now. You know, like how an Empire operates."
Zaleena was trying to talk down her raging friend, but it was going poorly.
Elian Valkoria, the king of Valkoria, was furious when he learned that Zaleena, one of his friends, had decided to attack his kingdom.
While she did offer peace at the start and promised not to strip him of his power, after reading the terms, he refused and declared war on Astir, since that was who Zaleena was representing.
"Liar! Do you take me for a fool?" He asked, clashing blades with Zaleena, but his strength was nothing compared to hers, even though he was at the true Transcendant stage.
"You just want to take out land, our home! An empire? Don’t make me laugh. I’ll be ruled by no one! I am king here, and I submit only to Lord Arion!" His blade sparked with lightning, and he swung his sword in an arc, shooting lightning bolts toward Zaleena.
"Elian, don’t make me hurt you." She warned, casually swatting the attack away.
He growled, clenching his sword so tightly that some blood started dripping down his hand. "You already did when you decided to attack my home. Where’s your loyalty to your friends?"
"My loyalty is to my children before anyone else. My son is destined for greatness, so as his mother, it’s my duty to follow him and guide him if he needs it."
He scoffed. "And that means burning bridges with the people you’ve formed connections with in the past?"
Zaleena’s blade hummed with power. "If they stand in my way, yes. Melina saw the vision. I hoped you would, too."
"No wonder Alfheim is staying silent. She’s working with you!" Elian snarled
"This is your final warning. Back down, or watch your kingdom burn." Now Zaleena wasn’t playing. Her voice held power, and her expression was serious.
Elian gulped, knowing that the game in their power was immense. Still, as king, he wouldn’t back down and would fight until his last breath.
"Ahh, things are getting so complicated now. Thankfully, Lord Arion told me to step in this time." Walking toward them was a man who appeared no older than 30. He had brown hair that flowed in the wind and brown eyes to match it. He wore silver armor that protected his vital points but wasn’t bulky or heavy.
Elian bowed when he saw the man coming his way.
"Ahh, you must be Konnor Wynfir, the divine apostle of Arion," Zaleena said with a smirk.
"You know who I am, yet you don’t bow your head before a being of higher status than you?" He asked with a raised brow, his voice sharp.
"Heh, kid, I bow to no one, not even my son, who is a Divine Apostle himself." She raised her sword at him.
"Disrespectful and unguided. Lord Arion is the god of our people, yet you do not follow him? Blasphemy. I’ll correct your ways and help you see the light. And if that doesn’t work, then your death was a part of Lord Arion’s will."
Zaleena couldn’t help but laugh after hearing what Konnor had to say. "I’d like to see you fucking try, you over glorified cock sucker."
A vein popped out of Konnor’s head as he heard her insult. At that moment, he gave up on trying to ’guide’ Zaleena and only wished to kill her.
"King Elian, I’ll handle this. Our people need you elsewhere."
"Yes, Lord Konnor." Elian gave one last look at his old friend before flying off into the distance.
"Now, where were w-" His voice was cut off when a sword nearly sliced off his throat. But being the Apostle of Arion had its perks, such as seeing things slower than they appeared, and being able to move at speeds higher than normal.
"Well, that was rude." He said, feeling a small cut on his neck. ’She was able to nick me even though I moved out of the way? She’s strong.’
"I’m not interested in chatting with you. Get out of my way or die." She demanded
"That’s not going to happen."
Zaleena nodded. "Then die it is."
Konnor branshished a sword, and Zaleena got into a battle stance. They stared at each other, waiting for one of them to make even the smallest of movements first, but no one budged.
Not seeing any openings in each other, they both lunged, attacking with all their might.
The two blades clashed with a devastating boom that destroyed the ground beneath them. Their powers were so intense that even the air was pushed back momentarily.
’What the...She’s in the Mystic Stage!’ Konnor realized as Zaleena overpowered him, knocking his blade upward and throwing off his footing.
A clean punch to the chest knocked Konnor back, and he crashed into a wall, tearing it down from the impact.
"Heh, I get it. No wonder you’re so confident." He got up, speeding his way toward Zaleena.
She struck, but missed as Konnor was too fast, but she stayed vigilant.
Her eyes moved around, studying his running pattern and anticipating where he would strike next.
’Here!’ She thought, swinging her blade behind her.
But again, she missed, and Konnor cut her back.
"Too slow!" He mocked
Again and again, she tried to hit him, but each time, she failed, and Konnor was able to land a hit on her.
’Fuck this.’ She stomped her foot, erupting the ground beneath them in a blazing glory of lava and fire.
"Oh shit!" Konnor jumped, avoiding the fire and lava, but a shadow was cast above him. When he looked up, he saw Zaleena grinning, and her fist collided with his chest, cracking his armor, and he crashed onto the ground so hard that he made an imprint with his body.