"ARE YOU ready, dear?"
It was Arche de Moonasterio's question, his face and voice both expressed his concern.
"All you have to do is climb the stairs."
Easy peasy, right?
[Of course not. We're talking about a de Moonasterion test here.]
Neoma was looking at a staircase with thirteen steps.
At the top, a throne similar to the throne in the palace was waiting for her.
Yule, the Moon God, was sitting on the throne.
Emperor Primo and Empress Gwen were standing on the Moon God's right side while the Goddess of Life stood on his left side.
[They're waiting for me.]
"I have to climb and ascend the throne, huh?" Neoma asked, smirking. "So, what's the catch? Am I going to be ambushed with each step I take?"
Arche de Moonasterio smiled at her. "You'll find out soon, dear."
[I guess I'm right~]
"As a de Moonasterio, our greatest weakness is our feeble sanity," Aruna de Moonasterio said. She was still acting like a tsundere, but Neoma could tell that her ancient grandmother was just worried about her. "Be careful, Neoma."
[So, mind game it is.]
"I like the number thirteen," Neoma said while counting and making sure that the steps were indeed thirteen. "It's Taylor's lucky number."
But she could tell that she wouldn't be lucky this time.
Well, whatever.
[Here goes nothing.]
"Thank you for guiding me here, Grandma Aruna and Grandpa Arche. Let's have a long conversation after I passed the test," Neoma said confidently, then she looked up and made eye contact with Yule. "Lord Yule, wait for me. You have a lot of things to explain."
The Moon God had to explain why he wasn't there for Neoma of the first timeline, and the Moon God also had to make Neoma understand what he had been doing all this time.
[I won't let the Moon God's neglect slide this time.]
Yule, who seemed to have received Neoma's hostility, smiled sadly at her. "I'll be waiting here, Nene."
[You better.]
Neoma walked towards the staircase to hell, then took the first step unceremoniously.
Perhaps she had been too hasty.
After all, she wasn't prepared for the splitting headache that hit her as soon as she stepped foot on the first step. Then her body grew heavy. It was as if an invisible force was trying to crush her.
[FUCKING HELL– IT HURTS.]
Her knees buckled, but she quickly caught herself.
She refused to kneel down, and her sheer stubbornness kept her standing.
For now.
Soon, Neoma's head was flooded by vivid and horrific images.
She immediately recognized the "main character" in the "movie" that was currently playing in her head.
[Nicholas de Moonasterio?]
It was the previous emperor.
[Aka Papa Boss' father.]
Also, Neoma's biological grandfather she refused to acknowledge.
<"Bring me all those useless Silver Foxes!">
Neoma covered her ears with her hands when Nicholas de Moonasterio's voice rang loud in her ears.
It was no use, of course.
The previous emperor's voice continued to ring loudly in her head as vivid images played inside her mind nonstop.
Neoma saw it.
She saw the poor Silver Foxes being brought down to their knees in front of the emperor– and everyone was in a terrible state.
The male Silver Foxes had their limbs cut off.
The female Silver Foxes were obviously beaten up.
The elderly and the children were barely breathing.
Neoma's eyes burned with tears.
Those silver hair and golden eyes reminded her of Lewis, and she could easily picture Lewis being one of the victims even though her "son" wasn't in the picture.
[Ah, I feel like I'm going crazy…]
To be honest, Neoma had always wondered how the Silver Foxes had been wiped out by Nicholas de Moonasterio.
Of course, she wasn't underestimating her evil grandfather.
[He was still a de Moonasterio, and the de Moonasterios are the strongest bloodline in the human world.]
Even so, the Silver Fox Clan was also a clan known for its strength.
She didn't have to wonder long, though.
Soon, she noticed that the entire room was filled with strange plants that were emitting suspicious smoke.
The more the Silver Foxes inhaled that smoke, the weaker they had become.
[Ah, that must be the plant that is said to be the Silver Foxes' weakness.]
Neoma's thoughts were interrupted when she saw Nicholas de Moonasterio draw his sword and sever the head of a young Silver Fox.
It was a little boy.
"He's just a child, you fucking lunatic!" Neoma screamed while clutching her head tight. She knew everything was just in her head. That every single thing that she was seeing at the moment was nothing but a painful memory. Even so, she still couldn't stop herself from reacting violently. "You better pray we don't meet in Hell, you fucking bastard! I'll use all my karma points to fuck you up even more!"
She couldn't help it.
Neoma saw the young Lewis in the boy that Nicholas de Moonasterio had killed mercilessly, hence her violent reaction.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
She knew that the trial would test her mental health, but…
[I thought I was prepared, but I guess I was just being arrogant.]
And the craziest part?
It was just the first step.
[There are still twelve steps that I need to pass in order to reach the throne.]
Ah.
Wasn't Nicholas de Moonasterio among the worst emperors in history?
That was when the realization hit Neoma.
[The thirteen steps that I must climb will show me the most horrifying sins that the previous emperors had committed in the past…]
Good fucking luck to Neoma's sanity.
***
[RAINDROPS?]
Hanna looked up and was surprised when she realized that it was "raining."
But the raindrops were actually made of Darkness.
[Oh, I see. The Ancient Devil has a Darkness attribute, too. It must be the reason why Helstor managed to entice him.]
While looking at the black raindrops, she was reminded of what the other Neoma had said.
<"Hanna Quinzel, are shadows the only dark matter you can gather to create THE Black Hole?">
That was what the older Neoma had given her as a piece of advice.
[There's a limited supply of shadows in the Underworld, but you know what's abundant now that the Ancient Devil is here?]
Yes, the answer was Darkness.
Hanna's train of thought was cut off when she felt Lewis take a step.
[Is he seriously going to attack the Ancient Devil?]
Lewis took another quick step.
[Ah, he's serious.]
Hanna grabbed Lewis' arm. She was apologetic because she knew he hated physical contact, but it was an emergency. "Lewis, don't," she said as she slowly removed the jacket that he used to cover her face earlier. "Let the adults fight."
Lewis looked dissatisfied at first, but he nodded in the end as if he understood. "Princess Neoma will be fine, right?"
"The Ancient Devil isn't here for Neoma, and the King of Hell won't let the Ancient Devil lay a hand on Neoma," she assured the fox boy, then she dropped his arm. "I'm sorry, but can you deal with Eloise in the meantime? There's something I wish to try."
"Alright," Lewis said without even pausing for a moment to think about it. "I'm assuming I can't kill her?"
"Yes, don't kill her," Hanna said, nodding. "Her life is mine to take."
Eloise, who was listening to their conversation, scoffed. "You should be grateful that I allowed you to take a breather because of the Ancient Devil's interruption."
Of course, Hanna just scoffed at Eloise' "generosity."
[That female Silver Fox didn't stop attacking us to allow us to have a short conversation with the Ancient Devil. She just used that as an opportunity to take a break since her current form is taking a toll on her body.]
Hanna wasn't blind or dense.
She could tell that Eloise was getting tired now, and the female Silver Fox had slowed down.
[I can also see that she's shrinking a bit.]
But in that case, Eloise had only one choice left.
[That wench will go all-out now before she depletes her energy.]
"Go, Lewis," Hanna said encouragingly. "I'll be quick with my little experiment."
Lewis nodded politely. "As you command, Princess Hanna."
And then Lewis was gone from her side.
Hanna didn't hesitate to look up and ignore Lewis' fight with Eloise because she knew that Lewis wouldn't let Eloise get near her. Moreover, she noticed that the two children Lewis was talking to earlier stood in front of her.
[These kids look familiar…]
"We'll protect you, Crown Princess!"
"Just praise us later, okay?"
Hanna laughed softly at the children's adorable request. "I'll do that, of course. Thank you, little gentlemen."
The children just grinned and gave each other a high-five.
Hanna would love to converse with the children who felt familiar to her but, unfortunately, she was busy.
She noticed that the black raindrops that were made of Darkness had started to change.
[They became jelly-like?]
Soon, the black jelly-like "raindrops" started to stick to each other. The more they did, the bigger they got. Then the big jellies got stacked on one another.
It was weird to watch at first.
But Hanna soon realized what was happening.
The "rain" finally stopped when there were enough stacked giant jellies surrounding Trevor Kesser's mansion.
[Ah, it's similar to Neoma's Dome.]
In short, they were trapped inside.
[Is this a means to stop the people from the outside to get in and rescue us?]
Hanna wouldn't let that happen, of course.
Those jellies…
[Should I "eat" them like how Neoma consumes Darkness?]
Hanna smiled at her own "silly" thought. "Neoma, you're really a bad influence sometimes."
***
NIKOLAI was surprised when Commander Ruto returned to his office.
This time, the young commander didn't come alone.
"Dahlia," Nikolai greeted the Black Witch, a bit surprised. "Have you made up your mind?"
That seemed to be the case, but he needed to confirm it first, of course.
"That's right, Your Imperial Majesty," Dahlia said politely, then she nervously let out a sigh before she continued talking. "I will help rescue Prince Nero from the throne room."
Nikolai turned to Commander Ruto.
He was glad to hear Dahlia's decision. But he also knew that the Black Witch wouldn't agree to help Nero that easily.
Hence, he questioned the young commander with his eyes.
[What did you promise her in return?]
Commander Ruto, who seemed to have the question in Nikolai's eyes, answered politely. "I'll come with Dahlia as her bodyguard, Your Imperial Majesty. But before that…"
Nikolai knitted his eyebrows when he noticed that Commnader Ruto turned to Gin who was already sweating and crying blood while still trying to open a portal to the Underworld. "What will you do?"
"I'll punch a portal to the Underworld," Ruto said casually, raising his hand covered with sparkling electricity. "It looks like Gin needs help, after all."
***
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