"DO YOU have iced coffee here, Your Majesty?" Neoma asked while wearing her sunglasses. Tteokbokki's red flame that was burning down the city was too bright, and it was starting to hurt her eyes. Hence, the need for protection. "I'm thirsty."
"Me, too," Tteokbokki, still in his human form, said while putting on his sunglasses as well. "Orange juice for me, please. Thank you."
Heh~
Tteokbokki learned how to say 'please' and 'thank you' since he worked in the service industry for a few years. He learned how difficult it was to deal with rude customers. Hence, the Soul Beast learned how to be polite.
[I'm a proud noona.]
Anyways…
Fortunately, even though they were just in their Spirit form, they still could use the items in her inventory.
Apparently, it was because the King of Hell gave them a vessel similar to a human body.
"I gave you a vessel so that the system of this world wouldn't count you as lost souls and drag you to prison," Drystan said in a tired voice. "Not for you to act like you're still in the human world."
"Okay," Neoma said. "So, do you have an iced coffee or what? When I was in Lord Yule's space, he turned the tea he served into my favorite drink. Since you're the King of Hell, I thought doing something like that should be within your capabilities."
The King of Hell sighed while shaking his head. "Can you really drink at a time like this? You're burning down my city."
Neoma shrugged. "With all due respect, it's Your Majesty's fault for trying to scam me."
"Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss," Tteokbokki said sarcastically. "The thug princess can't do anything wrong."
"Right?"
The King of Hell just shook his head again, then he snapped his fingers.
Neoma and Tteokbokki automatically caught the teacups that appeared right in front of them.
"Just think of your favorite drinks," Drystan instructed them. "Those teacups shall be transformed into whatever drink you want them to be as long as you have a clear image of what you want."
Easy peasy.
In just a few seconds, Neoma was already holding a cup of St*rbucks while Tteokbokki had a carton of his favorite orange drink.
"Praise the gods," Neoma said with a grateful heart. "Thank you, Your Majesty."
Drystan gave her a dire look. "You only remember to "praise" the gods when it's convenient for you, little princess."
Neoma sipped her coffee loudly before she responded. "You can't gaslight me, Your Majesty. I've met more bad gods than the good ones. And I'm fair. I disrespect other races that piss me off, too."
"Pfft." Tteokbokki almost choked on his orange juice. "You're really a rude little piece of sh…"
The Soul Beast stopped when she glared at him.
"Watch your language, Tteokbokki," she warned him. "Don't curse in front of the king."
Tteokbokki just looked at her in disbelief, then he sighed. "Whatever. I don't have the energy to argue with you."
"If you're trying to reserve your energy, why don't you at least help my people extinguish the fire you made?" Drystan asked the Soul Beast in a slightly annoyed voice. "Although the fire is already under control, your help will still be appreciated."
"I only take orders from the thug princess," Tteokbokki said, then he turned to Neoma. "Do you want me to take out the fire we made?"
"Nah," Neoma said casually. "Let `em burn."
"Little princess, you're lucky I can't be bothered by most things," the King of Hell said. "The previous king wouldn't take your attitude in silence."
Neoma grinned at the king. "I'm behaving this way because I know you're too lazy to fight back, Your Majesty. But I respect you. That's why I'm watching my mouth."
"Should I feel grateful?"
Neoma just shrugged.
Her Soul Beast answered for her.
"The thug princess cursed Levi, the Gods Among Gods or something, from head to toe," Tteokbokki said smugly. "My thug princess' ego is bigger than the universe. This "attitude" is her behaving herself. Except for the part where she burned down the city."
"Gosh," Neoma said, bumping into Tteokbokki's shoulder. "Don't praise me too much, Tteokbokki. I'm getting shy."
The Soul Beast gave her a dire stare. "That was a dig and not a compliment, thug princess."
"Same difference."
"Stop playing around," Drystan scolded the two of them in order to stop them from bickering. "Little princess, did you say that you're friends will be coming over? How many do you expect?"
Hmm.
There were actually many people who probably wanted to follow her to Hell.
But she left a will preventing her loved ones from dying for her, so she narrowed down her choices until there were only two names in her head.
"Two," Neoma said. "Trevor is part-demon, so it's easy for him to get here."
"Easy?" Drystan asked, obviously offended. "Now you're just looking down on me, little princess."
"Trevor will probably be with Ruto."
"Ah, the divine son of Lord Levi," the King of Hell said, nodding. "If Ruto Solfrid was with Trevor Kesser, then breaking into my territory would be a piece of cake for him."
"I get that Ruto is amazing, but don't ignore Trevor, Your Majesty," Neoma said in a serious tone. "Trevor can break into your territory even without Ruto's help."
"You sound confident, little princess."
"I'm Trevor's muse, and he's fueled by the power of love that he has for me," Neoma said proudly. "Everyone I inspire becomes OP."
"I have no idea of what you're talking about, but let me ask you another question," Drystan said, ignoring the things that Neoma said earlier. "Little princess, between the two young men who would arrive here later, who do you think would be willing to give their heart for you?"
"Huh?"
"You need a heart to be revived since you refuse the easy way of doing it."
"Why a heart?"
"Because your heart was damaged when your Core broke, little princess.
Right.
"I'm not sure about Ruto, but I bet Trevor would give me his heart without any questions asked," Neoma said, frowning. "But I'd prefer it if no one would need to sacrifice themselves for me."
"Stop being a hypocrite, little princess," Drystan scolded her. "If you were willing to die for your people, then you should accept the fact that those people were also willing to die for you."
Ouch.
***
RUFUS, no matter how much he wanted to come home and stay by his wife's side afte rshe recovered, couldn't leave his post.
He didn't even have time to send off his daughter.
[Hanna, you're away on a dangerous mission again. I'm sorry I wasn't able to send you off. But I'll always be praying for your safety, sweetheart.]
"Your Grace!"
Rufus' train of thought was interrupted when Vice-captain Jaxson Emmett came running to his tent that was serving as his temporary tent.
His private army was stationed near the border where the reanimated corpses had crossed earlier. He decided to keep his army at bay because the village near that border was actually the village with the biggest slum area there.
And most peasants refused to leave the place.
"What happened, Jaxson?" Rufus asked worriedly when he got up from his seat. "Are we getting attacked again?"
Jaxson Emmett shook his head, but his face remained pale. "There are no intruders, but a strange miasma has emerged from the ground."
He knitted his eyebrows. "Miasma?"
Instead of waiting for the vice-captain's response, he immediately ran out of the tent.
[Oh, god…]
He thought the Darkness covering the sky had dropped to the ground.
The miasma was dark in color, but not as much as the Darkness that was swallowing up the moon and the sun.
It was more like dark purple.
[That looks ominous.]
Rufus raised his hand and was about to use his Shadow to drive away the miasma.
But, much to his shock, Jaxson Emmett suddenly grabbed his arm in an attempt to stop him from attacking the dangerous vapor.
"Please don't, Your Grace," Jaxson Emmett pleaded while shaking his head. "You might lose your Mana, too."
"'Too?'" Rufus asked, confused. Then he realized that Jaxson Emmett's presence felt significantly weak at the moment. Which was weird since he asked the vice-captain to always be on guard. "Jaxson Emmett, did you lose your Mana to the miasma?"
***
NIKOLAI frowned as soon as he stepped out of the balcony and saw the strange miasma emerging from the ground.
The vapor was dark purple in color.
But to the naked eye of the civilians, the miasma would probably appear like Darkness since both possessed dark colors.
[The citizens are probably panic-stricken again.]
"Investigate the miasma," Nikolai said to the White Tiger and the Blue Dragon that were both in their human forms at the moment. "Let me know in what way that thing is harmful."
"As you command, Your Majesty."
And, just like that, the two Soul Beasts disappeared.
"Your Majesty, it's not Darkness."
Nikolai turned to Monik who suddenly appeared beside him, sitting on the handrail of the balcony. His father instinct suddenly kicked in. "Don't sit there, child. It's dangerous."
Monik looked confused.
He just cleared his throat before he changed the topic because he was too embarrassed to admit that he got worried about Monik as if he was his daughter. "I can tell that the miasma is different from Darkness. But does it matter?"
"Of course, Your Majesty," Monik said bluntly. "We can purify it."
"Ah," Nikolai said. "Is that why the Second Calamity is for us to deal with? But if it was the case, then wouldn't Mona do a better job than me? My wife has a powerful purifying ability, after all."
"Our purifying ability is different from Empress Mona's. Her Imperial Majesty's purification ability is a gift from Nature. However, ours came from the Light Goddess."
"I didn't know that. I've always thought my purifying ability is the extension of my divine power."
Moreover, he rarely used his divine power for purification.
Aside from the fact that he didn't feel that need to do so, he was more used to using his power to, uh… what was that thing Neoma often said?
Ah, right.
["Committing violence."]
"It's not like Your Majesty had a reason to activate your full potential as a 'Cleanser' before," Monik said, then she stared at the awful view of the miasma in front of her. "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will help you awaken the Light power in you."
Hmm.
Nikolai wasn't sure if he wanted to be taught by a child who sounded like she would scold him if he made a simple mistake.
[Monik is really Juliet's reincarnation, huh?]
***
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