Volume 8, Chapter 27 – Violent Separation

Hey, hey, this is no way to joke around!

Fia quickly shouted in her mind. If she could still entertain doubts about the horned Chaos before, now it was confirmed. The race at war with the undead was the Eye, who called her Father God, and they were excitedly flying toward her.

A black fleshy sphere over a hundred meters in diameter, covered in eyes, charging straight at her—it was truly a visually stunning sight.

No, this wasn’t the time to think about whether it was stunning. The key was how to handle the current situation.

Through the matter with Noreen, she had already tested that Lucitine would not yield an inch when it came to Chaos. If Lucitine ever found out that she and the Chaos she’d been fighting for over ten thousand years were on the same side, Lucitine’s enmity would very likely turn toward her. Admittedly, Lucitine stood no chance against her, but if they came to blows, the cooperation between the undead and herself would also fall through. She couldn’t rely on the naive, childlike idea that because she had given Lucitine a body, Lucitine would obediently go along with her.

What about seriously explaining to Lucitine that their real enemy was the Chaos under the World Tree Continent, that the Eye were allies who would turn around and help them in the final battle?

This was indeed an option. First, she could restrain Lucitine and make her listen to her explanation. Then, right in front of Lucitine, she could have the Eye tribe follow her orders. That way, Lucitine should believe the Eye were trustworthy Chaos.

But this was too idealistic.

Beings with higher intelligence were always complex. Even if a logic was objectively correct, you couldn’t expect them to understand and accept it. People would, for various reasons—whether their own knowledge fell short of the level needed for understanding, or because personal feelings prevented agreement—be unable to accept the outcome of reconciliation with the other party.

Like the conflict with her own father. In the end, Yelido understood that Veronica and Clark truly loved each other, yet in his anger, he almost ran them through with his spear. From an objective standpoint, Clark and Veronica’s love wasn’t the problem; it was Yelido himself who mistook Veronica’s admiration for her brother as love, to the point that even when Veronica explained, he wouldn’t listen.

However, when Yelido thrust his spear in anger, she herself felt that it settled everything. Even though objectively Yelido was the instigator of the tragedy and had no right to make that thrust, emotionally, there was still a feeling of “ah, this is how it should be.” This was an example of emotions at work.

She couldn’t guarantee that after hearing Chaos obeyed her commands, Lucitine would frankly accept reality. No matter how you dressed it up in words, it couldn’t change the fact that the Eye had inflicted enormous harm on the undead. Asking Lucitine to let go of the past, to act as if the ten-thousand-year conflict and the passing of over fifty generations of Queens of Death had never happened, and to join hands with the Eye against Chaos—this was too idealistic, too frivolous.

Moreover, there was a deeper problem right in front of her. The Queen of Death hated Chaos because Milan and his group, in their Chaos state, had harmed her. That is, the Chaos the Queen of Death understood was the Eye, not all Chaos. The real enemy in her eyes was the Eye tribe. Without the Eye, the undead and Chaos would never have fought at all, nor would there have been a ten-thousand-year war. Asking Lucitine to set aside her hatred for the Eye and deal with a Chaos that had never harmed them was clearly forcing the issue.

Of course, she had a simpler, more direct solution.

The reason reconciliation couldn’t be accepted was often that the price paid wasn’t high enough. Just as the elves could accept peace talks with the undead because continuing to fight would only increase casualties, if Lucitine also realized that continuing to fight would result in heavy losses for the undead, she would be forced, by her responsibility as queen, to sit at the negotiation table and sue for peace. And making the undead suffer heavy losses was quite simple for her. But she couldn’t turn her blade on friendly forces just to get them to the negotiation table, let alone the fact that once the undead suffered heavy losses, the point of cooperating with them would be lost.

Ultimately, this treated the symptoms, not the disease. Humiliating Lucitine, a future partner, served no purpose, and she didn’t agree with forcibly twisting others’ wills. Rather than forcing others, she should think about how to fundamentally solve the problem. Only by untangling the entangled past could everyone achieve happiness, could she save everyone.

Save everyone…

It seemed that back in the Human Alliance, she had been doing something similar. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it her born mission.

Fia breathed a sigh of relief in her heart.

Now that she was aware of her true intentions, the course of action became obvious.

To think of the big picture, making Lucitine realize that the Eye had no ill intentions was too difficult. Making her aware that the Chaos under the World Tree Continent was the real enemy was much easier. As for the immediate situation, she undoubtedly had to stop the infighting first.

All of this happened in the space of a heartbeat.

The spherical Chaos covered in eyes was still heading straight for Fia, and the undead archmages on the city walls were still in chaos.

Whether it was the nightmare knights’ thrown spears or the undead archmages’ magic, striking the spherical Chaos usually only splashed up some black mucus, never dealing it a fatal wound. And in these few short seconds, the spherical Chaos had already flown from a distance to within less than a hundred meters of the fortress.

Reаd oո ΚаtReαⅾinɡСαfe

A Chaos of this size, combined with its powerful impact, would cause enormous losses once it hit the city wall, even if the minimum level of the undead here was Third Tier.

First, stop them.

Since thought transmission could only go from Chaos to Fia, Fia couldn’t reply in her mind. Therefore, she chose to fly out first and use [Celestial Guardian] to stop the Chaos’s advance.

However, before Fia could act, another figure appeared in everyone’s field of vision ahead of her.

Floor-length pink hair, black skirt fluttering in the wind. Although her body size was utterly insignificant compared to the Chaos, the moment she blocked the path before the city wall, everyone could feel a strong sense of security, as if this was the queen ruling the world.

It was Lucitine.

“Hmph!”

Clicking her tongue forcefully, the scales sword before Lucitine released an intense purple radiance. This purple, at a speed imperceptible to the eye, outlined a triangular pattern, expanding to a hundred meters in the blink of an eye. The moment the three lines formed, the Chaos heavily slammed into the triangular barrier.

CLANG!

A heavy, explosive sound as if striking an iron wall, a heaven-shaking hum that made the entire underground cavern vibrate. Countless stalactites shattered and fell. Fia, being nearby, covered her ears because of the huge explosion. The underground cavern seemed on the verge of collapse, resounding with one terrifying cracking sound after another.

Although Lucitine had blocked the attack, the situation wasn’t good. The magical barrier Lucitine had deployed was covered in cracks from the spherical Chaos’s impact, and due to insufficient magic power, Lucitine’s complexion wasn’t good.

Damn it.

Lucitine gritted her teeth. She could clearly feel that this Chaos was harder to deal with than past ones. It was observable that previous Chaos had never merged like this. That attack just now had already pressed her near her limit, yet she had only barely managed to defend against the Chaos’s attack.

Just before she went to fetch Fia, the Chaos hadn’t shown such strength, and she had even told Fia that this Chaos attack was far weaker than before.

Lucitine frowned. Could it be that the Chaos had first shown weakness to the enemy, then suddenly revealed its true power?

She immediately used the undead’s signature investigation magic. The moment the magic surged into her eyes, an extremely dazzling light, so intense it nearly blinded her, appeared before her. A blazing white brilliance became everything in her field of vision; she could no longer see anything clearly.

What is this!?

Lucitine’s heart lurched. In the undead’s investigation magic, she, as Ninth Tier, appeared deep red, while stronger individual Chaos appeared either orange-red or simply orange. The more it leaned toward red, the stronger the power. A color so blazing white it filled her entire vision, nearly blinding her—although she had never seen it before, she instinctively felt it was power far exceeding her own. She immediately deactivated her investigation magic and restored her sight.

How could Chaos be this powerful?

Could it be a curse? ¹ its the light from behind you~ =w=)

She recalled the earlier situation where she couldn’t teleport Fia. Although the current Chaos was powerful, it still couldn’t break through her defense, indicating its strength wasn’t greater than hers. If so, this must be a Chaos trick to confuse and mislead, attempting to disrupt her offensive rhythm.

They’ve gotten cunning.

Lucitine narrowed her eyes slightly, anger rising within her. Her hatred for Chaos was innate, let alone the fact that these filthy things dared to scheme against her, the queen.

Reаԁ οո КαtReаԁingCαfе

Then bring it on!

Despite the extremely obvious size difference, using the scales sword as her weapon, Lucitine, with a single thought, shot out a spatial rift that seemed intent on splitting the Chaos in two. A fierce battle immediately unfolded in the air.

I can’t let these two keep fighting.

What magic would be appropriate…

“Please step back, Your Highness the Queen.”

Lost in thought, a maid dressed in black and white appeared beside Fia. Because she lowered her head in a respectful bow to Fia, Fia took a careful look before recognizing the maid’s identity.

It was the maid she had taught a lesson to, named Afla.

Her current humble appearance showed no trace of her former arrogance.

Since Fia didn’t move, the maid added another sentence. Compared to just now, this time her tone was quite stiff.

“…If you are caught up in the battle and harmed, we too would suffer the consequences. We have an obligation to protect you.”

No wonder she was humble; she was afraid of being implicated by her.

Fia pouted.

“If even I could be caught up in the aftermath, stepping back or not makes little difference. I’ll go help Lucitine up front. You focus on dealing with the ordinary Chaos below.”

“Both the Chaos and Her Majesty the Queen are Ninth Tier powerhouses. If you go, you’ll only add to Her Majesty’s troubles. War is no child’s play; I hope you won’t be overconfident.”

“What, just because I taught you a lesson, you’ve already forgotten? What do you think allows me to come alone to the kingdom of the dead? Trust that your queen won’t harm me? Don’t get too presumptuous. You’re not qualified to speak to me.”

“Arrog—Ugh.”

Before Afla could finish uttering the word “arrogant,” Fia fixed her gaze on Afla with those lustrous yet restrained crimson eyes. In an instant, a strong chill invaded Afla’s brain. Although she had no blood, she could feel the bone-chilling cold of blood freezing. This chill rapidly turned into terror. Before these emotionless bright red eyes, she was no longer the arrogant one of the Thirteen Attendants. The Fia before her appeared in her eyes as colossal and oppressive as a giant. Her legs couldn’t help but tremble, her voice caught in her throat, unable to utter a single word.

This was the effect of [Intimidate] combined with [Art of the Sage].

Fia’s tone was cold.

“Don’t forget, you still owe me a bet. Scram.”

“Urk…”

Afla opened her mouth, but in the end, couldn’t utter a single word. Her face ashen, she retreated to the rear.

Let these people see for themselves. Mistake my kindness for weakness, will they?

Rеаⅾ оո KαtRеaԁingCαfе

Fia turned back toward the battlefield. Although only a few short exchanges had passed, the battle between Chaos and Lucitine was already showing signs of nearing a conclusion—with only thirty percent of her magic power restored, and the Chaos using its full strength to meet her, Lucitine was already showing signs of decline.

[Flight]

Wings of iridescent butterfly light, suffused with a sacred aura, extended from behind Fia. Accompanied by a sonic boom that deafened the ears, Fia instantly flew to a position between the Chaos and Lucitine. In her field of vision, a magic she had seen before reappeared—magic circles slowly rotating emerged in the golden eyeballs on the spherical Chaos. Golden particles of light began drifting through the surrounding air, flowing toward the slowly rotating magic circles, coalescing into magic circles whose magical fluctuations grew increasingly terrifying.

There were more than ten of them.

These guys are going for the kill right from the start.

Fia clicked her tongue inwardly. Even [Celestial Guardian] would be pierced by this kind of golden magic, let alone Lucitine, whose strength was inferior to her own.

“Fia! Get out of the way!”

“Don’t worry.”

Fia’s sudden appearance before her made Lucitine’s pupils dilate rapidly. She had inherited memories from the previous Queen of Death and knew the intensity of the magic the Chaos was preparing. Even at her peak, she wouldn’t be foolish enough to take this bizarre magic head-on.

Had she sensed the terror of this magic and come to help? But this was too reckless!

As a warm current surged in her heart, Lucitine grabbed Fia by the shoulder, trying to pull her away. However, she discovered that Fia’s strength was far greater than she had imagined; she couldn’t budge her an inch.

Anxiety instantly magnified in her heart.

At that moment, the magic being cast by the golden eyeballs was also complete. The magic circles in their eyes condensed to a single point, and then each golden eyeball released an incredibly focused golden beam, no larger than the tip of a needle. The end point of each beam was Lucitine, behind Fia.

Just looking at them made one’s eyes feel a burning pain.

“Fia!”

You just need to dodge these things, no need to take them head-on!

Lucitine wanted to shout these words from her throat, but time didn’t allow for hesitation. Her futile tugging at Fia having failed, she instead hugged Fia from behind, trying to twist her body to swap positions with Fia. Yet this effort still failed to budge Fia.

Damn it!

She was the Queen of Death; even if her physical body was damaged, her soul wouldn’t perish. But Fia was different—soul damage would be real damage.

How could this child be so foolish!

Frustration and anger boiled within Lucitine.

Then, that frustration and anger turned into stunned disbelief.

All the golden rays shot toward Fia stopped dead in mid-air, as if frozen in time, halting abruptly just one meter from Fia. Fia then made another grasping motion, and the golden rays solidified in the air were crushed by force like insects in amber. Immediately after, a black hole erupted with immense suction force within the underground hollow. Although it measured less than ten meters across, its gravitational pull was so immense that even the spherical Chaos was drawn, little by little, toward the black hole. Lucitine felt her hair and clothes about to be sucked into the hole; the gale-force wind made it impossible to keep her eyes open.

Rеаⅾ оn КаtReαⅾinɡСаfe

This was a magic called [Absolute Stillness]. Similar to [Spatial Confinement], both were magics that acted upon space. However, [Absolute Stillness] was the highest-tiered among all the magics Fia had encountered. Compared to [Spatial Confinement], [Absolute Stillness] was absolute in the literal sense. Aside from [Orbital Beacon Bombardment], no magic could shake it in the slightest. And if Fia actively destroyed [Absolute Stillness], it would form spatial tears similar to [Spatial Rift].

What kind of magic was this?

Even with Lucitine’s knowledge, at this moment she could only hold tight to Fia while racking her brains. In history, only one Queen of Death had successfully resisted the frontal bombardment of the golden eyeballs, but even that had damaged the scales sword. The best way to deal with the golden eyeballs was to avoid their magic—this had become common knowledge.

And here she was, witnessing a living person defend from the frontal bombardment of golden eyeballs, and moreover handling ten at once. It was like a dream. Just what tier was Fia?

Suddenly, Lucitine recalled Fia’s helpless remark on the way here: “Don’t you think I’m stronger than you?” Her stunned expression gradually froze, and her arms hugging Fia grew stiff.

Clearly, Fia hadn’t been joking then.

The image she had imagined of Fia sacrificing herself for her country was merely her own self-indulgent sentimentality. The reality was that Fia looked down on her, and had never taken the so-called threat seriously from the start.

“Ugh…”

Then, recalling her own arrogant declarations about taking responsibility for Fia and wanting to make Fia her queen, Lucitine’s face reddened to the point that if her kin saw her, they would question whether she was truly an undead. Only groaning, incoherent sounds escaped her throat.

But Fia’s actions weren’t over yet.

She heard the confused voices of the Antler Chaos in her thought transmission. They didn’t understand why she was protecting the person who had “kidnapped” her. However, because Lucitine was hugging her from behind, she couldn’t explain verbally. Instead, she chose to use her Spatial Hand to grab the Chaos and push it away into the distance. Unfortunately, due to the limits of her magic, the Spatial Hand couldn’t move the Chaos sphere.

Was there a suitable magic—ah, got it.

Her goal was to separate both sides. In that case, no magic was more suitable than [Blessing of the Mother Goddess].

“You go back first. I’ll deal with the Chaos.”

Rapidly calculating coordinates and range in her mind, Fia silently intoned the name of that magic while gently pushing Lucitine away.

[Blessing of the Mother Goddess]

Creeeaaak, crack, boom—

First came the sound of rock splitting, then a dull, heavy grinding noise of some massive object scraping amidst rumbling sounds. In just two seconds, all the undead wore expressions of horror. They watched as the ground gradually rose, seeming about to crush everything at the center of the battlefield. The distance between ceiling and ground rapidly closed. Finally, amid the shouts of the undead and the “BOOM” of rock grinding together, the originally spacious underground hollow became a narrow canyon. Those on the city wall were left facing only an extremely solid, steep rock face, close enough to touch.

The sea of Chaos covering the ground below, and that especially troublesome spherical Chaos, had both vanished. More critically, Fia, who had intervened at the crucial moment, was also nowhere to be seen.

All the undead looked at each other in bewilderment, unsure how to react.