Chapter 873: Mother’s Approval
Layla blinked in shock as she suddenly found herself standing before the main entrance of the Eryrth Grand Ducal Family’s residence, not on planet Aeturn, the capital of Hell’s Devildom, but on the Grand Duchy’s capital planet of Dauri.
She was understandably stunned, since she didn’t remember mentioning this location around Barda, and she couldn’t figure out how he knew to send her exactly here.
What she didn’t know was that Barda had just skimmed through her entire life along the time stream, identifying her mother and her current location within the Hell Universe.
Sending her here required nothing more than the snap of a finger.
Of course, her sudden arrival drew the attention of the sentries on patrol, but they quickly lowered their guards once they recognised her. Still, they were baffled, unable to understand how Layla had appeared right in front of the doors or how they hadn’t detected whatever method she used.
Layla didn’t address them, though, as she pressed her fingers to her temple and muttered, "Could’ve at least given me a heads-up."
She stepped into the building, and all the passing servants immediately stopped their tasks and bowed before her, receiving a nod as she made her way up to her mother’s study.
When Layla reached the door, her mother’s voice called from inside before she could knock, telling her to come in, so she did, closing the door behind her and turning to see her mother seated at the work desk, calmly sorting through a stack of storage drives.
Grand Duchess Iberis, originally from the Celiosa Duchy, was a woman with long black hair usually tied in a practical bun, and obsidian eyes that suited her face perfectly. Her usual stern expression gave her an appearance of constant annoyance, which contrasted with her true calm nature.
While Layla’s green eyes came from Conrad, Iberis had clearly passed on the almond shape and glossy black hair. If Layla adopted her mother’s stern look, she might even be mistaken for her sister rather than her daughter.
Taking a deep breath, Layla stepped forward and spoke.
"Good afternoon, Mother. I wish to speak with you about something."
"Does this have to do with the Prince’s sudden return from wherever he’s been the past 18 years?" Iberis asked without looking up from her work, and Layla nodded silently.
"I figured you’d come around soon enough," Iberis said, rubbing the label off a drive before continuing. "Let me guess, he wants you to follow him to wherever it is he’s been."
At the accurate guess, Layla nodded, then rubbed her chin for a moment before saying, "Well, in this case, I suppose not telling you would be completely unwise. The ’wherever it is he’s been’ is another universe."
Iberis’s hands paused briefly, a small sign that this was news to her. She hadn’t known where Arthur had been for the past 18 years, and now she understood why the information was kept hidden, especially given the number of people who wanted him dead.
If it got out that Arthur had left Hell, those after him could start making moves, either to stall him, track him down, or try to get to him before he reached his destination.
Either way, god-ruled universes finding out that Arthur wasn’t in Hell was definitely going to disrupt the stalemate that had held for the past few decades, and Diablo didn’t want that. That was why Arthur’s location had been kept secret, with only his immediate family and the few present when he first left the universe aware of it.
Continuing her work with her usual calm expression, Iberis spoke, "So you want to leave the bounds of the Hell universe and venture into unknown territory completely beyond the reach of your Father and me, where we couldn’t handle whatever problems might arise, especially regarding your safety."
Hearing Iberis’ words, far more attention than the woman usually spared, Layla’s lips curved into a small smile, and noticing it, Iberis froze, lifting her gaze and giving her daughter a confused look.
It didn’t seem like a situation to be smiling in, but Layla kept her smile and stepped forward, saying, "You know, Mother, for someone so strict, you really do coddle me a lot."
Iberis blinked, still slightly puzzled, and Layla, chuckling at her confusion, sat down on one of the chairs opposite her desk and said, "I want to get stronger as fast as I can, and the destination universe has a System that lets me absorb the maximum amount of power from any opponent I put six feet under."
Leaning back in her chair, she added, "Well, that was kind of the original reason I wanted to go, but now I have a window of opportunity to study under one of the oldest dragons that exists.
I don’t know exactly how old, but I do know she’s an expert in the Law of Creation, and a little gamble I took earlier paid off, so I have the chance to refine my control over creation."
Layla shrugged at the last part, then leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table and cupping her cheeks in her hands as she looked straight at her mother and asked, "So what do you say?"
Iberis could somehow sense that Layla was completely confident she’d agree, and that confidence grated on her just a little.
"You speak as if my acceptance is guaranteed," she said.
"Guaranteed, huh? Well, I won’t deny I think that way," Layla admitted without hesitation, meeting her mother’s gaze as she continued. "After all, strict as you are, Mother, I know you want what’s best for me, so are you really going to interfere with an opportunity for me to improve myself?"
Faced with that question, Iberis couldn’t exactly say no. She looked away, continuing to sort through her storage drives as she muttered, "You’re not going alone."
"Fair enough," Layla replied. "Never wanted to either way. I’ll take Number Two with me."
She selected one of the High-Tier Deity Realm existences who served her father, the Grand Duke, and Iberis calmly nodded.
"Is Harper’s daughter going along?"
"Nicole? Definitely. Her Undine is likely coming too, so that makes four of us. Arthur’s taking Esna no matter what, but Edward’s busy, so he’s going to miss out. Too bad for him."
Iberis silently nodded, pulling out the storage drive she needed and setting it aside before closing the box.
Just then, Layla spoke again.
"Hey, mum."
"..."
Iberis froze, looking up at Layla, who had suddenly switched her mode of address from ’Mother’ to ’Mum.’
"Let’s go out for a bit, just the two of us," Layla said, maintaining eye contact.
Iberis stayed silent for a moment before finally agreeing. "Okay."
Her response elicited a bright smile from Layla.
◇ ◇ ◇
While Layla and her mother were out on their little outing, Wyndella was on Planet Kriez, the Apex World, where the Devildom’s Royal Academy that Arthur had once attended was located.
Of course, she wasn’t there for the Academy itself, but for the Devil seated across from her on the terrace of the tower they occupied.
"As always, you have collections that would make those shorties jealous," she said, holding up a ceramic bottle of wine labelled in a language that had gone extinct several billion years ago.
Without ceremony, she uncorked it and poured some of the wine into the glass in front of her as she spoke.
"Still, to think this is where you ended up after all these years. We’re not so different, after all."
"One certainly deserves a period of rest after a long stretch of work," Belphegor replied, collecting the bottle and pouring himself some wine.
"Tell that to that damn workaholic old man Aleksas! Barely awake, and he’s already slave driving me."
Wyndella sipped the wine, smiling at the taste, before returning to her complaint.
"We didn’t even sleep for a hundredth of the time we spent on nonstop activity, and he’s already going on about duty and bullshit. I needed a fucking breather."
Glancing at Belphegor from the side, she muttered, "Can I change races for a bit? Seems like you guys get vacations over on your side. And Quinn doesn’t bother you, does he?"
"Besides the occasional offer to return to service, no. And please refrain from statements that could be considered treasonous."
The late afternoon breeze ruffled his short grey hair as he spoke, and at his words, Wyndella rolled her eyes and replied,
"If literally stabbing that damn old man in the back wasn’t enough to count as ’treason,’ then this isn’t nearly enough."
She sipped her wine, looking up at the sky, her gaze instinctively piercing beyond the atmosphere and into the vastness of space.
"You found your home, huh? Lucky you," she murmured wistfully, a trace of melancholy in her expression.
"It required a fair bit of work since the location was changed, but I was indeed lucky to locate it."
At Belphegor’s words, Wyndella turned to him, scanning his body as she said,
"And so you decided to limit yourself below the Sub-Cosmic Realms and play butler for a bunch of Devils who haven’t even lived up to a micro-percent of your age? I can’t even remember being that weak.
You’re a strange one, you know that?"
She shook her head after speaking, turning her gaze back to the sky above.
Belphegor might not be as old as she was, but he was born in the same era and had been active on the Cosmic Stage for just as long. The fact that the Hell Universe was his home universe was just a small reminder of how ancient Hell really was.
That aside, regarding his choice to limit himself to the High-Tier Deity Realm, Belphegor didn’t see it any differently than how Wyndella and her siblings decided to take a billion-year nap.
"I just wanted a new perspective on things while stepping down from service. I’d found someone with the potential to take my place, but..."
She set down her glass, turning to Belphegor as she added, "But if I’m not mistaken, Akasha got to him, didn’t he? Arthur told me he was with Lostvayne before."
At this, Belphegor nodded, understanding that Arthur hadn’t told her about Lucifer’s revival, though it looked like he was nodding in agreement.
’Well, not that it matters anyway.’
"About Arthur..." Belphegor began, and when Wyndella raised an eyebrow, he continued.
"Would you mind keeping him away from this universe as much as possible?"
"That’s a rather strange request. Why?"
To her question, Belphegor briefly recounted an encounter he’d had when Arthur first left Hell for Valmone several decades ago.
"An Elder god from The Imperium located him here."
"Uh-oh. That’s not good," Wyndella responded, leaning back. "Did you eliminate them?"
Belphegor nodded, and Wyndella sighed.
"Bad move. Guess retirement made you lose your edge. It’s possible that whimsical snake might turn her gaze this way."
Putting aside Wyndella calling the Progenitor goddess a ’whimsical snake,’ Belphegor agreed with her.
"Oh well. I can’t make any promises. The old man’s preparing for the possibility of war, so I might get busy."
"Just do as much as you can manage without inconvenience," Belphegor replied. "As for the possibility of war, I suppose I’ll need to inform Lady Quinn about that."
Hearing the latter half of his words, Wyndella chuckled and stood up.
"You’re still thinking about that even though you’re supposed to be retired? Might as well just go back to work already."
"I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you."
The Ancient-Breed Devil turned his gentle-looking face toward Aeturn, his sharp gaze locking onto the Royal Castle there as he continued with a small smile, "This ’new perspective’ is one I find rather enjoyable, and I have no plans of changing it for the foreseeable future."
Seeing his expression, Wyndella shook her head and muttered, "You really do the strangest things."
She vanished after those words, leaving Belphegor behind, who downed the last of his wine and said, "Strange or not, it suits me well enough."
♧ ♧ ♧
Hey y’all, it’s your friendly neighbourhood author, _michael here. 👋🏽
I was planning to revamp Esna’s kit, and I was looking for suggestions on what powers or abilities to give her. I intend for her to remain an elemental mage type, but with a special ability or two added in.
I’ll be taking any suggestions you may have in the comments.
Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to you continuing on our Godslayer’s Legend.
This has been _michael.
Over and Out! ✌🏽
