"Um, can someone tell me what's going on first?" Lux asked as he looked at his Master, Cleo, and an Old Man he hadn't seen before, who were currently inside his room.
He and Eiko were taking a nap when he was suddenly woken up by his Master, Gaap, who had a solemn look on his face.
A moment later, he sensed two other presences inside the room. One of them was the Saintess, Cleo, and the other was the Old Man, who introduced himself as Darius.
The first thing that Darius demanded Lux was to return his comrade, Sion, who was "accidentally" swallowed by a certain black coffin.
After hearing the details of what happened, beads of sweat started to form on the Half-Elf's forehead. He finally understood why everyone in the room had serious expressions on their faces.
Left with no choice, Lux summoned Blackfire, and the Black Coffin answered his call.
"Did you swallow a Saint earlier?" Lux asked.
Blackfire nodded its head like a polite child.
"Can you spit him out?" Lux asked before pointing at Cleo and Darius. "His friends are very worried for his safety."
Blackfire tilted its head as if pondering whether he should obey Lux's request. A minute later, the Black Coffin shook its body side to side, which everyone easily understood as a "no".
"That won't do," Darius stated. "If His Majesty comes to know that one of the Saints of Agartha is currently confined inside this… thing, I don't know how he will react to the news."
"You heard him, Blackfire," Lux said.
However, Blackfire still shook its head, not caring about Darius' subtle threat.
A moment later, rows of text appeared in front of everyone, which caught everyone by surprise.
[This Saint sent Bounty Hunters to capture my Master, so he is a bad person. Also, based on his personality, I am certain that he will carry a grudge against my Master, which might result in further attacks in the future. In order to ensure that such a thing will not happen, I will confine him until my Master leaves Agartha.]
Darius frowned after reading the message that seemed to be coming from the Black Coffin.
Lux, on the other hand, was mind-blown as this was the first time he found out that Blackfire had means to communicate after it had transformed into a Divine Artifact.
"That's not possible," Darius replied. "I'm sure that His Majesty will demand Sion's release as soon as he hears this news. If you don't comply, then your Master's safety will still be jeopardized."
Blackfire tilted its head to the side once again as if thinking of a proper reply to Darius' comment.
A minute later, rows of text once again appeared in front of everyone, which was Blackfire's reply.
[Then, tell me, Old Man. Can you guarantee that this bad person will no longer target my Master after he is released? Are you willing to sign a Contract of Fealty to my Master stating that if you or your King fails to prevent this bad person from harming my Master again, you will become my Master's subordinate for a thousand years?]
The corner of Darius' lips twitched after seeing Blackfire's reply.
He knew that his comrade was someone who held grudges, and there was no way in hell that he would sign a Contract of Fealty for Sion's sake.
Darius was confident that after a day or two, the Juggernaut of Agartha would come looking for trouble again, which would trigger the Contract, binding him to become Lux's subordinate.
Even so, he still remained firm and tried to reason with the Black Coffin, who seemed adamant about confining Sion inside its body.
"But His Majesty might be upset with your Master if Sion isn't released," Darius insisted.
Blackfire's reply was simple.
[Then let him become upset. It's not my problem.]
"Didn't you hear me earlier?" Darius sighed. "His Majesty might target your Master and might even hold him in confinement. He just gained his freedom not long ago, but he might even be forced to stay here in Agartha for life."
Blackfire turned its body to the side as if glancing at its Master before shifting its attention back to the Old Man in front of it.
[Your King has given a decree that allowed safe passage to my Master. One of his subjects defied this decree, and you are also considered an accomplice since you knew about it and didn't stop it. Tell me, what is the punishment for defying your King's direct order?]
[Also, I can spread this news through the entirety of Agartha in a heartbeat. A Saint attacked a Highlander in El Hazard because my Master is more good-looking than him. This Saint also insisted that King Septimius decree doesn't hold power over him because he is a Saint and is above the law.]
[I will also add that an old Saint named Darius was the Bad Person's accomplice and even encouraged the Bad Person to send Bounty Hunters to capture my Master for five million gold coins. How do you think your people will react after hearing this news?]
Darius laughed out loud because he didn't expect the Black Coffin would resort to blackmail. He found all of this very funny because he didn't believe that the people of Agartha would believe this news if it was spread throughout their kingdom.
"I can tell you now that even if you spread this news, people will just think it was a bunch of lies." Darius sneered. "You're just making things more difficult for your Master by doing this."
Blackfire seemed unperturbed by Darius' statement and replied in a heartbeat.
[Is that your final answer, Old Man?]
"Hahaha! You cheeky little coffin. Do you think you can cause waves in Agartha by spreading false rumors?" Darius laughed. "I'd like to see you try."
Blackfire nodded.
[Well, if you insist. I'll make sure to bring flowers to your funeral, Old Man. No. Scratch that. I'll just devour you when you die.]
The Black Coffin then made several rows of text that only Lux could see, which made the Half-Elf's eyes widen in shock.
He then looked at Blackfire and gave it the "are serious" gaze, and the black coffin only nodded its head as if to assure its Master that everything was under its control.
"Okay, let's do this," Lux replied.
He was also annoyed that a Saint dared to bully him in El Hazard, and he wanted to let the Kingdom of Agartha know that he wasn't a pushover.
A few seconds later, Blackfire disappeared from the room and reappeared on the rooftop of the Inn.
However, he wasn't alone.
Seraphina, who was Lux's Battle Angel, was with it.
The Black Coffin then communicated with the Angel of Heaven, which made the latter giggle.
"You're a very bad boy, Blackfire," Seraphina said as she lightly patted the black coffin. "But this sounds fun. I'm in."
The Battle Angel then flew towards the sky. Once she was thousands of meters high in the air, she pressed her hands together and started to make an announcement.
Although her Divine Powers were greatly diminished upon arriving in the mortal plane, she still retained a few of her abilities, and one of them was to broadcast an announcement to an entire continent.
Although this wasn't as powerful as a Worldwide Announcement, it was still suitable for Blackfire's plan to come to fruition.
While everyone in Agartha was going about their daily routines, an angelic voice resounded in the heavens and spread in the entirety of the Ancient Kingdom.
"I am a messenger of the Earth Goddess Cybele, and I have come to relay her dissatisfaction towards the King of Agartha, King Septimius Vi Agartha III, for something that his subordinates have done in the City of El Hazard…"
Darius, who was feeling smug a moment ago, instantly stiffened after hearing the angelic voice in the sky.
He thought that Blackfire was just bluffing when it said it could spread its fabricated blackmail to the entirety of Agartha in a heartbeat.
The Saint didn't expect the Black Coffin to resort to a fake "Heaven's Announcement," and when he heard it, all the colors from his face were immediately drained.
All the Agarthians worship the Goddess Cybele, and all of them were her pious worshipers.
If a Heavenly Announcement mentioning her name was spread in their Kingdom, there was a 100% chance that everyone would believe it, even if they were lies!
"Stop! Are you trying to blaspheme our God?! Are you not worried about Divine Retribution?!" Darius growled in anger towards the Half-Elf who had a calm look on his face.
"Worried about Divine Retribution?" Lux replied. "Nope. Not at all."
The Half-Elf even smiled at the Old Saint, which made Darius look at him in a dumbfounded manner.
Lux was one of the few people who knew that Elysium had already been abandoned by the Gods.
The only God that was governing Elysium was Eriol, and he was on Lux's side.
Even if the Goddess Cybele were to hear of Lux's unwarranted use of her name, there was nothing she could do about it.
Since she had already abandoned the world, she no longer had any say about what happened in this world.
This was the reason why Blackfire was very confident about its Blackmailing tactic and even resorted to having a Divine Angel from Heaven to spread the news to give it more authenticity.
Even King Septimius, who was taking a nap inside his Royal Palace at that time, immediately became wide awake after hearing the voice from Heaven.
Unlike his people, a Supreme like him was able to tell if something was genuine or not.
Although the voice was indeed angelic and had a tinge of Divinity in it, this was very different from the Heavenly Announcement that he knew.
'City of El Hazard?' King Septimius thought. 'Just what happened in that place?'
Without any hesitation, the King of Agartha immediately used the Teleportation Gate of the Royal Palace in order to instantly travel to El Hazard.
He wanted to get into the bottom of this incident, and he had a feeling that the answers would present themselves once he arrived at the Border City where Lux was currently located.
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