Inside the royal palace, Reiza's eyes squeezed shut before slowly opening up. In a daze, she found herself laying on a soft, comfortable bed, the silky sheets cool against her skin.
Xao was beside her, holding her hand gently. While Scarlett was sitting at the edge of the bed, her posture relaxed but her eyes watchful. Behind them stood Li Feng and Seiira side by side, like silent guards. Lunatic was sitting on the floor, her chin resting on her knees, her face was colorless, like she had fallen into so kind of deep depression.
Opposite Lunatic, Irish was literally floating in the air like she had grown butterfly wings, her body radiating soft, shifting rainbow colors, Completely opposite of black death was she was omitting soti before.
"You woke up?" Xao says, her voice soft and gentle as she squeezes Reiza's hand a little more tightly.
The mont Reiza rembers what had happened, her eyes imdiately widened. The embarrassnt, the frustration, it all ca flooding back. She imdiately shot up, ignoring the dizziness.
"No, Sister Xao, she cheated! I won't accept this!" she shouts imdiately, her voice filled with indignation.
At the sa ti, she turns and buries her face in Xao's chest, hugging her tightly. "Such a dirty way of fighting has to be illegal! I won't accept her win. I want a re-trial!" she says, her voice muffled by Xao's clothes, sounding like a child who had her favorite toy taken away.
"There... there," Xao lightly pats her head, not knowing where to even begin explaining the whole complicated situation.
"There's no need for a re-trial. I didn't win," Lunatic says in a depressed, hollow voice from her corner on the floor.
"No, I won't accept—" Reiza was about to whine again, but the realization of what Lunatic just said finally hit her brain.
"What did you say? Who won then? ?" she says, her head snapping up. At the sa ti, her eyes turn to look at Irish, whose smile was so wide it seed to be stretching beyond the seven heavens.
Lunatic sighs, a long, tired sound. "We wasted too much energy on each other that there was nothing much left for
to do. Besides, she turned out to be quite more powerful than I thought she would be."
"So is this for real?" Reiza's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of disbelief in them. She instinctively looks at Scarlett, the one person whose word was final.
And Scarlett gives her a slow, confirming nod.
Reiza was certainly in shock. She never expected Irish to actually win.
At that mont, both Reiza and Lunatic look at each other in the eyes, and a shared, silent understanding passes between them. They both imdiately open their mouths to say sothing, to protest, to make an excuse, but before they could get a single word out, Scarlett imdiately shuts them down.
"I won't hear any excuses. You both agreed to the terms before the match. So now, you will follow the results," Scarlett says, her voice firm and final, not leaving any room for argunt.
"Well, once so ti passes, they'll soon realize that there's no real difference between being first or last in this," Scarlett thinks to herself, sighing lightly.
"Yes! Make sure to watch how I'll carry my honey in my arms like a princess and officially marry her!" Irish finally stops floating around and lands gracefully on the ground, her rainbow aura fading slightly.
"Kyaa~! I can already imagine my honey in her wedding gown!" she shouts again, her voice filled with pure glee, clapping her hands together.
But Reiza and Lunatic could do nothing but twitch their lips in pure, unadulterated jealousy, their faces turning a slight shade of green.
"So, when are you going to et my parents? They are a bit toxic, though," Irish said, walking towards Scarlett and hugging her from behind, resting her chin on Scarlett's shoulder. "But I know they won't be able to say a word against you."
"Let's not be hasty. The decision is final, so you can rest assured," Scarlett replies calmly, her voice steady and unbothered by the hug.
"As you wish," Irish accepted Scarlett's words, her smile unwavering.
"Ahh, fuck. I guess there's no point in stressing over it," Lunatic exhales, letting out a long, tired breath. She stands up, stretching her limbs, trying to get her mood better and accept her fate.
"Wow, you got over it pretty fast," Scarlett was slightly impressed, a small smile on her face. She turns to look at Reiza, who was still pouting on the bed. "You should get over it as well," she says, her tone gentle but firm.
Reiza lets out a hard, dramatic sigh. "Okay, I'll just lay down here for a bit," she says, flopping back onto the bed and pulling the covers over her head, like a child hiding from the world.
Scarlett also stands up. "I'll be going then, I got other things to do," she says, turning around to leave the room.
As she does, she gestures at Li Feng, who was standing by the door. "Any reports from Kroenen? Anything abnormal?" she asks, her expression turning serious and focused.
"This is what's most abnormal: everything's so normal," Li Feng says, his voice low and concerned. "We literally have one of their core mbers, we killed two Holy Knight mbers, we saved the second prince, and we failed their plans to kill all the leaders of the other kingdoms. Yet, there's no reaction at all. Nothing."
Cryptus was also there, standing silently in the corner. His reaction clearly said that Li Feng had just voiced the exact sa thoughts he had been having.
"Weird indeed. It's like they are cooking sothing up," Scarlett rubs her chin, whispering it lightly, her mind working through the possibilities.
"Should we send so spies to extract information?" Li Feng suggests, his eyes fixed on Scarlett.
"Spies? We have spies?" Scarlett repeats, genuinely surprised by the statent. Her goal had always focused on making DreadHaven self-sustainable, never on spying on others or learning their secrets.
"August— I an, Kroenen was training up a group of spies. Maybe they'll be useful," Li Feng answers casually, as if it were common knowledge.
Scarlett rubs her chin once again, thinking deeply about it. Kroenen used to be an assassin in his previous life, from so other universe where Hitler actually won the world war. His experience and skills regarding spies would definitely be quite advanced, far beyond anything they currently had.
"If it's Kroenen..." Scarlett says but then shakes her head. "Still, there's no need to take unnecessary risks. Let Kroenen co back. I'll personally assess their skills and only then decide," she says. When it ca to the people of DreadHaven, she wasn't going to take unnecessary risks and lose them.
With that, she left the room, going back to her work for the day, her mind already shifting to the next problem.
****
anwhile, in the territory of the dead demon king, Xulgorath, a certain red sli's body twitches, slowly regaining its consciousness.
"Err... Ughh!... Where am I? What just happened? My body feels so weird," it thinks to itself, its thoughts slow and jumbled.
The sli couldn't see anything; its vision was a blurry, confusing ss of colors. It tries to move its body, but the body felt way too unfamiliar, like it had no bones at all, just a soft, jiggly mass.
At that mont, a calm, robotic voice speaks directly in its mind.
"A voice? From where?" it thinks, confused and a little scared. But then, with no other choice, it focuses its thoughts and thinks, 'Yes'.
And the next mont, its body starts to calm down. The panic and confusion fade away, replaced by a sense of peace. The situation feels very calm and normal, like there was nothing to worry about.
"Who are you? Where am I? No wait... who am I?" it thinks again, the questions forming in its now-clearer mind, a deep sense of loss and confusion settling in.
The voice in his head was calm and clear.
"Raphael? Is that an angel?" It asks, it's thoughts still fuzzy.
Cassie replied.
"Umm... So like, you can answer my questions?" It thought, a glimr of hope rising in his confused mind.
"Cool... I guess?" It thought, not sure how to feel. "So, is there any power which can make
rember who I am? And see clearly?" It asks, desperate for answers.
"Ahhh... I rembered... I rembered everything! No need to say anything more," he says quickly, his mind flooding with embarrassing mories.
"That's right, I rember it was Halloween day. I was again intoxicated in my fantasies as the savior and punisher, Pumpkin Slayer, running around the road wearing a pumpkin head with underwear... and ended up getting hit by a truck," he thought, the mory coming back in a cringe-worthy wave.
Cassie confird.
"Don't just listen to my thoughts!" he shouts inside his mind, feeling his privacy was being invaded.
"Okay, so about my second question, could you let
see?" he says to himself, trying to change the subject.
Cassie said.
The next mont, it's as if everything becos clear to him. The sunlight filtering through the leaves, the vibrant green grass, the tall, imposing trees. He started to see everything in sharp, crisp detail.
Sam instinctively jumps in his slimy body, which just caused him to wobble. "Whoah... Everything's so... so... Just so tall! Am I in another world? Born as a child? But a child of what?" he thought, looking up at the giant trees.
"What?! Of course not! Wait can you even do that?"
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