HPDBC Chapter 339: The Capital Prepares!
Chapter 339: The Capital Prepares!
Of the council of twelve lords, only two remained present. The rest either fell or defected to Alistair's side.
The council, once a beacon of power and unity, now stands fractured and weakened, a sad testament to Alistair's growing influence.
"Tell me, Bill Nelphim, why did you abandon your land and return to the capital?" Alistair's deep voice echoed—beside his throne, a mysterious woman in a black robe and veil covering her face stood without moving.
Bill's body knelt on the royal blue carpet leading to the throne, his balding head full of sweat. There was news that his cousin Alan rejected the rule of Alistair and began forming a resistance to start a rebellion.
Because of this, he fled from his port city in the west and returned to the capital, his heart heavy with fear and uncertainty. He sought to explain his cause and prove his loyalty to Alistair, not out of choice but out of sheer terror.
"Sire! My cousin Alan is a foolish man who refuses to believe your rule will bring the world peace. I beg you, allow me to return to my lands and convince him to stop this rebellious behaviour!"
A smirk tugged at Alistair's lips while his aura enveloped the entire room with an oppressive power. This was exactly what Alistair desired, for the two cousins to be in the same place at once. All so that his soldiers could cull them both; neither could be trusted, one a bumbling coward who bowed to the strongest existence present, the other righteous and unbreakable...
'Well, especially what I did to Maria, haha. That boy could never forgive me no matter what Bill says.'
"Rise, Bill. Your loyalty is without question. I shall have my knights prepare you an escort. But tell me, Bill, your cousin Alan... he does not have a wife, yes?"
"Pardon? Ah, y-yes, he always seemed to have someone in his heart but would never speak to the family. That is why uncle gave the territories to me."
Alistair stroked his short beard, his eyes blazing with interest. "Is that so? A woman so mysterious that not even you, his family, knew who she was or what she looked like."
"Indeed, your grace. Alan was never one for women or children, always engrossed in training and reading."
'Clueless dolt!'
Alistair realised just how foolish he might have been if he had known that Alan controlled Westrin and helped it grow and work like a well-oiled machine. He would have sought an alliance with him and never approached Maria, instead choosing another of the twelve lords to make them suffer.
Bill, the naïve little fool, made things far easier for him, as the lord of the lands across the western ocean had always been his target. His personality, along with knowing that his father taught him about the elves and Alistair wanted to meet them, and the cult needing more land to toy with, made things far easier for him.
'Still, those two could be my greatest foes, those that will fight against me until their final breath.'
The image of a young Silvaran noble turned prince with raven hair and red eyes, alongside him Alan Nelphim, who Alistair confirmed that Asura Phoenix saved him the night prior.
"I see very well, Bill—you shall head east and convince your cousin. Otherwise, he will lose everything, understood?" Alistair coldly warned, and Bill quickly nodded, his face pale and eyes teary.
"I won't fail you, my king." Bill declared, and with a wave of Alistair's hand, he dismissed Bill from his sight, wanting nothing more than to enact his plan as soon as possible.
A thick aura filled the room, silence the only melody playing in these halls.
'For now, I must play along. But as soon as they outlive their usefulness, I will drain their life and absorb their power.'
Alistair seemed to have forgotten that the ones who gave him this power were the cult themselves if he knew it was a defective and inferior version of Asura's natural power. Would he still have the same confidence or change his plans to avoid destruction?
A lone woman dressed in a black robe and hood concealed her features.
Her beautiful face and sparkling silver eyes remained unseen by any living being, while her blonde hair was concealed in a veil.
Abaddon walked down the empty palace corridors, the eerie quietness enough to unnerve her. But the woman continued down the path, turning a corner and reaching a dead end, her right hand extended forward as it pressed against the wall.
Suddenly, the sound of shifting stones echoed out, followed by a gushing sound of liquid dripping to the ground.
Abaddon gazed down to see a pool of blood form in front of her feet. "Oh, it seems a little rat tried to enter my room."
Her cold voice caused the heart of a corpse to skip a beat in its final moments as her foot stomped down, crushing it to pieces.
As the wall parted way, Abaddon entered. The passage returned to normal after she was inside. She smiled and walked forward, descending the hidden stairs beneath the palace and reaching the dark room after a few minutes.
With the snap of her fingers, flames began lighting across the room, revealing a beautiful and feminine space.
The room was large and spacious, with white walls and furniture well decorated and adorned in fine fabric and jewels. A fireplace was placed on one wall, and a set of two chairs faced each other, with a table in between.
Abaddon lowered herself onto a chair, her figure becoming more alluring as she leaned back with a creak to observe the enormous picture above the fire...
A painting of Asura Phoenix during his marriage, but the woman beside him wasn't Vela but Abaddon, her blonde hair tied in a fishtail. Her bright smile and the way Asura held her spoke volumes of their love.
"Heh... what an idiotic fool, you believed your enemy's words just because you are crazy about him!"
She took a drink from the wineglass on the table, scanning the image with her eyes, noting how radiant the Asura in the image seemed. Her mind seemed clear, but her heart clouded as she wondered if he would really keep his promise in the future.
'Can I truly trust in him? Or will he betray me and kill me?' Abaddon's ever-changing eyes became conflicted, her grip tightening on the glass until it shattered into pieces.
The scent of fresh blood filled her nose, and she smiled, a twisted sense of glee appearing in her chest.
"I will make him mine~ make him addicted to my body. We were born to become each other's mates. I will kill anyone who comes between us, even if that existence is that damn divine being!"
Nobody could tell when, but at some point, the saintess fell for the person Asura Phoenix rather than his title as the divine son.
She no longer wanted the divine son—instead wanted Asura himself... What effects this change might have, nobody in the current world could know.