Chapter 137: A journey to the North
Seraphina walked towards the eastern corner of the Fate Realm.
Thud... thud...
Walking behind her, Hecate quietly stared at the back of the High Priestess with a burning intensity.
The humiliation that she faced a few minutes ago still burned fresh in her mind. Thinking of how the High Priestess trampled all over her pride, she felt her mind clouding with rage.
’How dare she???’
’I’m the future HIGH PRIESTESS!’
She clenched and unclenched her fists and though she tried to control it, she could not help her qi swirling erratically within her body.
Her emotions were unstable, the shame clung to her like a cloak, like a second skin that she simply couldn’t get rid of.
Glaring at the High Prietess’s back, she felt her hands brushing against the hem of her black gown and for the first time, dark thoughts filled her mind as thoughts of treason against the Demoness Sect filled her mind.
Staring at her neck, she could feel the dagger strapped to her waist like it was an extension of her body.
Just as her hand brushed against the hilt of the dagger, her voice sounded.
"You want to stab me right?"
Hecate froze.
Seraphina scoffed, then she snorted. "Naïve. You think you’re the first genius in all of history?" She asked without looking at her. "You think you’re the first woman to wield such power at your age?"
"That’s the thing about you, you always think the world revolves around you". She snorted again. "Now let me tell you, before you, there were countless just like you".
Seraphina finally arrived at the eastern edge of the Fate Realm, then she turned and faced Hecate. "A one in a million talent? I was labelled that once too," she smirked, then her face turned cold.
"You think being labeled one in a million is impressive? Do you know what my sister was labeled as?"
Hecate just stared back at her coldly.
"ANSWER ME!" Seraphina glared at her and bellowed.
Hecate flinched, then she shook her head. "No". Her face was even colder now.
Unfazed by it, Seraphina smirked. "You wouldn’t know. Afterall, you were not born then".
"We were both the granddaughters of the founding Priestess. While I was seen as a one in a million talent, my sister was seen as a one in a billion talent".
"At 20, no C Rank Awakened count survive a 1v1 encounter with her".
"At B Rank, she was already killing A Rank Awakened," her eyes gleamed. "She was the first A Rank Awakened that I’ve seen who survived a dreadful encounter against an S Rank Awakened".
Seraphina looked Hecate up and down and scoffed. "You think you can survive a life and death encounter with me?"
"You think you can survive the pursuit of any S Rank Sovereign even?"
"Yet my sister did it as an A Rank, not even Level 99 yet. You know what that means?" She snorted. "Your talent simply can’t compare to hers".
"As an S Rank Sovereign, her power was catastrophic".
"She was a 4-fold domain Sovereign," her eyes gleamed with longing as she briefly reminisced. "She was one of the strongest Awakened in the world. When she entered a setting, other S Rank Sovereigns were forced to acknowledge her and bow".
"And yet in the Great Battle 10 years ago, despite fighting against her and countless other S Rank Sovereigns including me, she died to Zaratul’s blade".
Seraphina’s eyes ignited with anger and hatred.
She transferred that aggression on Hecate as she glared at her. "My sister was far more talented than you, yet she died to Zaratul like a helpless lamb".
"You know what that means?" She snorted. "It means that all your pride means nothing in the face of that man, that monster, Zaratul".
"Your pride is as worth as a pig in the field before him. Before him, you’re no different from a dog".
Hecate’s eyes narrowed but Seraphina didn’t even react to it.
She continued. "That’s the enemy we’re currently facing, do you understand what I’m trying to say?"
"Even in the future at your best if you theoretically reach your full potential, you’ll still stand 0 chance against him at his best. Now, you see how insignificant and foolish your pride is right?"
Hecate just stared at her.
"Right now, Zaratul is weak and is desperately looking for ways to recover. This is the best chance that we’ll ever get to kill him in forever".
"So listen," she walked towards her and tapped her index finger against her chest. "This is beyond you, or me".
"This is about the Demoness Sect, this is about our history and heritage".
"If Zaratul doesn’t die, we’ll die, and the key to his death is in that letter that is in your hand".
She looked him up and down again, then she smirked. "And trust me, your beauty means nothing to him. He has even more beautiful women around him".
"If I die and the Demoness Sect falls, you’ll also fall".
"So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to take this letter, run, and abandon the sect like you’re planning on doing or you’re going to think of the bigger picture and deliver the letter to the Sovereign of War?"
Hecate quietly stared at the High Priestess, she wasn’t surprised that Seraphina managed to realize what she intended to do.
Afterall, this was a Fate Witch at the pinnacle of the Witch Class.
Hecate raised her hand and looked at the envelop with the letter again. ’What am I going to do?’
She wasn’t sure.
In the end, it all boiled down to a different question. ’Do I intend to sacrifice everything for the Demoness Sect?’
The immediate answer that came to her head was no, but now, she thought of her... Sandrana.
’What would she think if I abandoned the sect that she sacrificed her life to protect and spent her entire life building?’ The answer made her scowl.
Seraphina quietly looked at her, waiting for her to make her decision.
Hecate stood in silence for minutes, lost in her thoughts, and then she looked at Seraphina again. Sensing the High Priestess’s gaze on her irked her.
She still didn’t like Seraphina, but just like the High Priestess said, this wasn’t about them.
This was about the Demoness Sect.
Hecate took a deep breath. "I’m ready".
Seraphina nodded calmly. She didn’t thank her, she didn’t say any words of motivation or camaraderie either to push the narrative that they were close, she knew that such gimmicks would only serve to irk her more.
Instead, she started the ritual immediately as her gray qi swirled.
Instant Ritual!
Having carved the ritual sigils ahead of time already, drawing them in the shape of space, compression, and movement, she finally sent her qi into them.
Instantly, the center of the ritual began shimmering with an energy that twisted the space around on itself.
"It’s ready". She said and stepped back.
Hecate didn’t look at her once, she simply took a step forward and entered the middle of the ritual dais.
The qi swirled around her body, acting as the bridge between her body and the ritual effects.
Space warped around her, and then she disappeared.
BZZZ!
...
Blink!
Hecate opened her eyes and casually looked around.
The first thing she noticed was that she was no longer in the Midnight Forest. Instead, she was now standing inside a mostly deserted Town with very few people staying behind, mostly the elderly and the recklessly brave.
These were part of those who refused to migrate due to the ongoing war between Dreadmoor and the Demoness Sect.
’I’ve escaped the net...’ she thought calmly.
The next moment, Hecate felt a premonition but due to still being disoriented by the intricate spatial turbulence that Seraphina weaved with her ritual, she was unable to react on time.
Tap!
Flabbergasted, Hecate looked at her hand where something just touched!
"...!" She looked up only to see an old man, a Fox kin.
Seeing her looks, he froze slightly before smiling in a sheepish manner. "Young lady, you’re so beautiful. What is a beautiful lady like you doing out here all by yourself? I’ve not seen you here before, are you a traveler?"
He grinned. "If you’re new here, you can spend the night at my house".
"I own the big manor over there".
Hecate just looked at him quietly.
A few minutes later...
"ARGHHHHHHH...!" A shrill scream cut through the morning.
"MURDER! Old man Carl is dead!"
"A girl just slit his throat and left!"
The Town reacted immediately as the able-bodied men gathered towards where the scream came from, only to discover old man Carl laying in a pool of his blood. He was already dead.
He was killed by a clean slit through his throat.
His eyes were wide in terror and disbelief, reflecting what he felt in his last moments before dying.
The men in this Town had seen a lot of things as they lived not far from the Midnight Forest, but still, the sight of the old man’s corpse still unnerved all those who saw it. They looked around uneasily as if they would see a beautiful girl who’ll suddenly come to slit their throat too.
In the end, they buried him without raising a fuss.
One thing that those who live close to the Midnight Forest knew which led to a survival rule was that if you encounter something you don’t understand, leave it be and not probe further.
Just like that, old man Carl was gone.
...
That morning, Lilith woke up feeling like something significant have happened but she couldn’t quite wrap her fingers around it.
She didn’t receive any prophesy.
In the evening of that same day, Hecate arrived in the North in the Empire of Giants and Barbarians.
She completed the journey to the Valor Dynasty.
