Her hands were tense as she fidgeted in her chair, constantly shuffling about as her mind was in a complete disarray. Despite the honor that she held, she seemed tense as she sat alone in the lobby. "The king is ready to meet you."
A soft voice echoed thrusting her back into the reality that she was in. It was Lirien and she was at the royal palace. The slow opening doors opened and in front of her were numerous eyes that landed on her figure.
She had already seen most of these faces before and never thought much of them at the time and neither now however there was a face in particular that her eyes had locked onto.
Seated on the throne was the king of Aurorise, a tier six expert! At first she had thought of fleeing but given that Ashley was about, she knew that such an alternative would be fruitless.
As for the demon who thrusted Lirien into her current situation, she had already left not long ago. Her departure was unannounced even taking her by surprise.
"I greet my king." She said as she went on one knee. "Arise!" The king's voice ordered to which she stood. She tried to calm herself down as she knew that being flustered in her situation wouldn't bear any good results.
A tier six expert on the second array sat comfortably on the throne however a complicated look appeared on his face. His name was Nathaniel. It wasn't just him who was baffled when Lirien stood alone before them.
"My king! It would seem that my lady Ashley had chosen to leave unannounced. I had already informed her of the meeting and yet she treated it with disregard and left not so long ago." She took the liberty to explain.
'The arrogance of this gal! To actively turn down a meeting with the king?! How outlandish could she really be?!' Most thought however they couldn't do anything about it. She had taken down a tier seven beast on her own.
Thus making an enemy of such a foe wouldn't be ideal. 'Does she really hold no form of respect for me to give me face?' Nathaniel mused as he looked at Lirien. His smooth face that had a pronounced beard, golden hair that was held back and charming demeanor.
However he was in his sixties and yet he looked so young, like an individual in his thirties was due to his high tier cultivation. Such was a perk that one gained with the stronger they got, enabling them to surpass the average human lifespan.
The queen of the elves was already a several hundred years old because of both this and her race which enabled her to live longer with an average of five hundred years at the minimum.
"Do you know where she is headed?" Nathaniel asked in intrigue. "My king, she speculated that she was headed to Rien kingdom." Lirien responded curtly. 'Rien? What business could she have there?' He contemplated.
"My king, she however had a message that she wanted me to deliver." Nathaniel's brows raised slightly. "What is it?" She gave a small puff of air. "That the demonic queen would launch an attack on every single kingdom." Such news was mind boggling. "Very well. You are thereby dismissed."
Lirien made a small bow as she excused her figure out of the court. "To think that that lady would be so disrespectful like that! Comes to our kingdom then leaves!" Numerous comments came about from the nobles present.
The real reason as to why they were so displeased with her actions was because they didn't benefit in any way possible and Nathaniel knew this as he fell into thought.
"A meeting?! Did you fools forget what happened in Sablestone or are you all too clouded with profit to remember?!" A calm voice reigned in the hall making it fall silent. Of course they were all aware of what happened in Sablestone.
It was a complete face slap to the royal family and the nobles present as most of them were either butchered off, replaced or were presumed missing. Recalling this, most of them had grim faces. As for the voice, it was the princess of the kingdom, Zarina.
Nathaniel was internally pleased with her daughter as she wasn't clouded by greed. "Zarina is right. We should be lucky that that lady didn't directly confront us." Nathaniel added on. "As of now, the queen of the demons has issued a command across kingdoms!"
Many faces changed expressions as they heard this. "However she had made it clear that this will start in two months." 'In two months, isn't this also when all the rulers of the other kingdoms will meet in Sablestone?'
Zarina thought as she heard this. A beauty and a gem on the eyes no doubt. She was raised without a mother but that didn't hinder her in her roles, as if anything, it motivated her to push and be the best. 'It is what mother would have wanted.'
She would tell herself. Her breasts were abundant which were almost proportional to her rump. Lustful eyes would fall on her however they would be reminded the consequences with Nathaniel's presence.
"This court is adjourned!" Nathaniel proclaimed to which the nobles took their leave. Nathaniel and Zarina left the room as they made their way towards the garden. It was a routine for both of them to do so.
"For the demon queen to do something as drastic as this, she clearly must have a reason to do so." Zarina mused as she admired the landscape. "It could be due to the relation of the whirlpool manifesting out in the ocean."
Nathaniel added. "It is at times like these that we should all unite and fight as one." Zarina nodded in agreement. "But then again, what is the demonic queen's relation with that lady?" She posed to which they both fell silent.
'Does this mean that this lady has sided with the demons? But if she has, then why would she take the time to raise a human queen in Sablestone?' Nathaniel thought at the two sides of the coin. They were both diversely different and yet they had a similar pattern.
"Regardless, we have to notify the rest of the kingdoms of such progressions." Zarina mused to which Nathaniel agreed with. If this was the case, then they wouldn't benefit if they hoarded the message. In fact, they would even face losses in certain aspects.
…
'It would seem that Ashley wanted to notify the king about this but why?' Similar to the king, she too couldn't understand why she would do this. She was seated calmly in her carriage heading back when she felt something sharp assault her mind.
"Arrgghh! Again?!" She groaned in pain as she clutched her head. "Are you okay miss Lirien?" Her coachman asked in worry. "I'm fine, just keep on going." She gave out her order to which the coachman could only obey.
As soon as she made it back to her place, she summoned a tier two servant and devoured her soul just like yesterday however a different outcome was resulted. The pain didn't reduce as if anything, it seemed to spike higher and higher.
That was the flaw with the trinket Ashley gave Lirien. 'Once given an ounce, it will crave more and more.' She had told her during her supper. Beads of sweat formed on her face as she fell to the floor, next to the body that she had devoured.
She writhed in pain as an idea formed in her mind. She struggled to get up. "Arrghh!" She groaned as she processed through the pain and made it to her table. She took out a mana communication stone and poured mana into it.
Five minutes later, a maidservant appeared in front of her. She was startled by the body she saw on the floor. She was on the third tier which was a better in comparison to the one that was on the floor however Lirien wasn't planning on devouring her.
She would start to run low on staffs, not to mention it would look weird if her servants started dying out of the blue. "How may I serve you Miss Lirien?" She asked as she tried to ignore the body on the floor. A small bag came out of Lirien's pocket ring as she handed it to her.
"I want you to go to the adventurer's guild and hire the top tier adventurers. The higher the better. And try to contact Sir Joseph." She added on as her face contorted in pain. "Miss, are you sure that you don't want me to have someone check up on you-"
"Just do what I've ordered you to do!!! And get someone to get rid of that body!!" She said as she shifted in her chair. The servant could only do as she was told and left the room. Shortly after, the body on the floor was hauled away.
'It's a miracle that I was able to control myself in front of the king.' She thought as she brought out a small vial of red blood. "It will help with the pangs of pain. Hahaha!" Ashely had given her earlier and now, she could only take it.
In a single gulp, she drank it down. The creases on her brows eased as she sat more comfortable in her chair. The pain subsided greatly however not completely and she knew that it was a matter of time before it spiked up again.
Her figure was completely drenched in sweat and so was the leather chair that she was in. She made her way towards her room before she took a refreshing shower. It would take a while for the adventurers to get her thus she took her time.
*Two hours later*
A bunch of people were walking through the beautiful garden. Some were all amazed by its splendor while others ignored it as they were led by a dainty lady. It wasn't long before they all arrived at a gazebo.
It was big enough to accommodate them all to which they all sat down. Snacks were already prepared beforehand. Some of them were eager while others were skeptical of the venue, why, because there was no one there.
It was just them, and for a manor as big as this, it made no sense why it seemed so desolate and empty. "Can you believe that Lirien is simply handing out money like this?" One of them spoke.
There were about seven of them and each of them were offered about ten gold quartz. Another added. "Is she stupid or something?" A third added. "For her to dish out so much, then what we are about to do will be no piece of cake!"
"Maybe she was gifted a fortune by that Lady! Who knows, right?" They all speculated as they thought what she would request from them. And with her recently known for associating with Ashley, it piqued the interest of many thus making it easier for the maidservant to recruit adventurers.
Three out of the seven of them were already in the fourth tier. One on the first array and two on the second, the rest were in the third tier. Two were on the verge of breaking into the fourth tier while the other two were on the fourth array.
"I'm so glad that you were able to accept my invitation." The seven of them heard a voice and its source was without a doubt Lirien. She made her way to the gazebo as she sat opposite of all of them.
She was dressed in an elegant red dress that greatly complimented her pale skin, making her a feast on the eyes. "I hope that I didn't keep any of you waiting." She said softly. "We didn't mind." One of them spoke.
"I know that all of you are experts in your field however the quest that I am about to issue will truly test your limits." She said with an attitude of seriousness hovering about her.
They all listened with keen intent. For her to hand out such serious money, it was without a doubt a game that would involve high stakes. She breathed in and out as she looked at the group in front of her.
"What I need you to do is die for me!"