(AN: This chapter was commissioned by Jack1938. Those events happened not long after Sol left for the Astral world.)
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Out of the seven countries, two were mysterious for they were the only ones with races that had the particularity of being partially made of energy, not unlike the divine beasts.
For one, there were the flowing islands of Slothein, belonging to angels. Because of their laid-back attitude toward expansion, Slothein was basically the most respected country.
Meanwhile, the second one, Envilya, was a city created by demons. Like with the beast-men of Wratharis, the term <<demons>> was loosely used to describe a race composed of various sub races.
The Demon’s generally lived in a rather anarchical society where schemes and betrayals were as common as pebbles on the road. Even the dwarves of Greed Dike could hardly hold a candle to them when it came to betrayal.
—
“Explain yourself, Dracula!”
Sitting on her throne, a voluptuous woman with golden hair and blue eyes was staring coldly at the man kneeling in front of her.
One of the four generals of Envilya—Dracula Nosferatu
Even though the pressure she was emanating was so powerful that he could barely breathe, the man did not lose his composure. After all, with all his years of experience, he has grown used to such situations.
“Your highness, I believe that I have made no mistake worthy of such remonstrance. If it’s about the vampire attack on Envilya, I believe that I already atoned for the mistake of my subordinates.”
Pandora gave an angry laugh as she remembered something so unpleasant in a situation where she was already angry.
“You dare speak so boldly about what happened back then?”
Vampires had attacked Southern Pride, some had even infiltrated deep within the upper echelon.
Even now, she did not understand how they did it. After all, the only way vampires could entice people was by promising them longevity after they were changed into thralls.
But such enticement should be worthless for the prideful elves. It wasn’t as if vampires lived that much longer than elves anyways.
“Back then, If I hadn’t sent my daughter; Anastasia, as a way to show our complete support. Those warmongering elves would have not hesitated to declare war on us! In the end, all it resulted in was fostering a good relationship between Lustburg and Southern Pride.”
Pandora massaged her temple in weariness. As a friend, she was happy that Lilith’s daughter had managed to create some good relationships between humans and elves.
But as a queen, this was something unacceptable. She didn’t want an outright war. But having all the countries in a cold war was the best for them.
Dracula kept his head lowered and gritted his teeth as the queen continued to spew profanities above his head.
There was nothing he could do, for his plan had indeed gone wrong. Still, he had paid enough to the queen and had even sworn to help her in her fight for power against the supreme daughter, Wisteria Humanitas.
Why was she attacking him once again then?
As if reading his thoughts, Pandora sneered and snapped her fingers and the scene of the throne room changed to one completely different.
Dracula hissed between his teeth as cold sweat covered his back,
‘Dreamscape!’
This was the special skill of the queen. The power to pull people in illusions and nightmares. He did not even know when he had been ensnared.
‘Is she going to kill me!?’
“Your highness!”
No matter how powerful he was, he was no match for a King ranked powerhouse like the queen. If she decided to stop playing the political game, then it would be the end for him.
Thankfully,
“Do not worry. I will not tear open all pretense just because of you. So shut up and watch.”
Dracula had never felt so happy to be insulted in his entire life.
Sadly, the more he watched the scene that was presented to him, the less happy he felt. Until all that was left was a cold feeling of dread in his stomach.
Even after the scene stopped playing and everything went back to normal, Dracula still keep kneeling as low as possible without uttering the slightest word.
“Do you know why you are still alive?”
The voice of the Queen took a gentle and slightly seductive tone but for the Dracula, the more it was so, the more he was frightened.
“The only reason I did not take your measly worthless life is that I know that a pathetic coward like you would never dare to truly ally with those Chaos bastards.”
The look she gave him was one of utter disgust and disregard.
Even so, Dracula knew that it wouldn’t end like this. He knew very well how much the Queen hated everything related to Chaos after what happened to the King of Lustburg.
“Now then, Worthless bloodsucker. Because of your stupid daughter, our relationship with Lustburg—Nay. My relationship with Camelia and Lilith might come to a freezing halt. Tell me, how should I punish you?”
The cold smile on her face showed clearly that she would show no pity.
—
Once a shivering Dracula left the room, the woman made out of steel who cursed like a professional sailor vanished and was replaced by a young-looking woman with softer features and a pure white robe that showed no skin as well as long and beautiful blonde hair.
“Hgh! Acting like mother is so tiring.”
The girl slightly grumbled as her headache slowly stopped. The skill she had just used was called <<Acting>>.
By superimposing the image of her mother on herself, she was able to impersonate her down to the very thought she would have. Basically, she was dreaming of becoming Pandora and thus she became Pandora.
Of course, there were many limitations for this skill and it wasn’t without risk.
Acting was only that. While it was true that Dreams could become reality, it was important to never let oneself get blinded by dreams. If she failed to do so, she would slowly lose her sense of self until she really began to think that she was Pandora.
“Good job, Minerva.”
Walking out from a secret door, a purple-haired girl wearing a knight attire smiled warmly and opened her arms wide
“Anastasia!”
Screaming in glee, Minerva jumped in the arms of her big sister and hugged her tightly.
“There, there, there. It must have been hard. I am sure that mother would be proud.”
“Really!?”
Looking at the sparkling eyes of her little sister, it was hard to believe that the little girl was the one who had pushed the powerful General Dracula into a corner. Then again, she knew under how much stress Minerva was currently.
If it was revealed that Pandora was currently outside of Envilya, the situation would spiral out of control. The power of the royal family was already pretty low as most of it had been seized by the church of Humanitas and they could barely hang on because of how powerful Pandora was.
Minerva was still a young girl. Barely a baby when counting the longevity of demons like them. Still, simply because she had been Blessed, she had to take responsibility too heavy for her small shoulders.
“Of course. Never forget that you are the greatest pride of our family.”
Minerva beamed as she received a small kiss on her forehead.
“Still, why did mother rush toward Lustburg while disguised as you, again? The same happened when she went to Southern Pride.”
Anastasia smiled bitterly. This was also one of the reasons most succubus became crazy. Because they always impersonated people and always lived in dreams, they slowly rejected reality and would rather dream forever.
Anastasia had heard so many legendary feats done by <<Anastasia>> that sometimes, she didn’t even know if she was truly Anastasia or if she was just a dream.
Shaking her head, she explained calmly
“Since I am not Blessed, using my identity to travel around is the best. Meanwhile, I will stay here and guard you should anything happen.”
“I know but…”
Anastasia understood the worry in her sister’s eyes. After all, Minerva may be young but she was wise beyond her years. How could she not understand the mental state of her beloved sister?
Still, now was not the time to falter. She couldn’t endanger the royal family because of her own health.
She just hoped that her mother would be done with her business in Lustburg before she became crazy.
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