Chapter 611 – BACK AT ELDRIDGE’S GATE, THE CITY RULER ON HIS KNEES, AND THE PLAN FOR THE JOURNEY HOME

Fresh mountain air greeted Sylvia’s party as they stepped out of the mouth of the dimensional rift, now sealed tight. The choking purple mist was gone, and so was the hum of corrupting energy crawling across their skin. Above the mining city of Eldridge, the sky had been gloomy and smothered by magical pollution. Now the warm morning sun swept it clean and lit the stone rooftops and the cobblestone streets, still wet with dew.

Outside the stone cave, Azure Dragon wagged his tail slowly. He was now a small dragon two meters long, with glittering deep-blue scales and a curved silver horn. He drew a deep breath and savored the open air after thousands of years confined in a hollow, dark obsidian space.

’This air...’ Azure Dragon murmured through telepathy. His voice sounded far lighter than when he had been bound in chains. ’It has been so long since I felt the wind beyond the barrier walls. This world has truly changed.’

’You’ll be even more surprised when you see Nocture,’ Sol replied from atop Sylvia’s shoulder. He was still in his small golden cat form, lazily grooming his fur. ’There are steel towers that pierce the clouds, carriages that move without horses, and most importantly, a palace kitchen that serves the best roast meat on the whole continent.’

’This golden cat seems to have very clear life priorities,’ Noir remarked flatly from within the shadows, though his black tail swayed slightly, enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Qilin walked beside Sylvia, his crystal horn glowing softly, and smiled in relief. ’Your Majesty, Azure Dragon, welcome back beneath the free sky. I am certain Her Majesty Alicia and Empress Sofia will welcome you with the finest feast in the palace.’

Sylvia did not comment right away. She smoothed her silver robe for a moment, then started down the rocky slope toward Eldridge’s southern gate. Behind them, the last traces of Stacia’s seal runes had vanished completely. Only ordinary rocks remained, peaceful, with no threat of an abyssal chasm beneath.

When they reached the plain outside the city gate, the scene before them was very different from a few hours earlier.

Hundreds of refugees who had lain limp with gray faces had now risen to their feet. Thanks to the soul-restoration magic of Alicia and Qilin, their skin had returned to its normal color. Children’s laughter had begun to ring out among the rows of makeshift tents, and the fragrance of warm soup drifted from the big cauldrons the city’s soldiers had set up.

Alicia floated slowly above the crowd. Her black staff gave off a soft blue glow to make sure no trace of soul-poison remained in the miners’ bodies. As soon as she saw Sylvia and her party coming down from the hill, she hurried over.

"Is the rift closed?" Alicia asked as she landed lightly beside Sylvia, her white robe fluttering gently in the morning wind.

"It is," Sylvia answered briefly. "And the entity behind it has been sent to the place of the predecessors. There will be no more purple mist ruining this city’s lungs."

"Good work," Alicia praised. Then her gaze shifted to the small blue dragon behind Sylvia, and one delicate eyebrow rose. "And... I take it we’ve gained a new member who is a bit smaller than expected."

Azure Dragon bowed respectfully to the Spirit Emperor. ’Greetings, Healing Emperor. Thank you for the light of restoration that saved my soul from the remnants of corruption.’

Before Alicia could answer his greeting, the thunder of iron footsteps rang out from the wide-open city gate. The gray-bearded guard captain from earlier came running toward Sylvia, followed by a dozen guards. His face was pale, not from fear but from shock after what he had witnessed inside the city ruler’s palace a short while ago.

"Y-Your Majesty..." the captain called, panting, and then knelt on one knee before Sylvia. "All citizens have been evacuated to the safe zone, and the critically ill miners have fully recovered. The city’s food storehouses have been opened as instructed... and..."

"And your city’s ruler?" Sylvia cut in flatly.

The captain swallowed hard. "Lord Gilded... he is still hiding under his desk in the throne room. After that black shadow cat left his message, he refused to come out and keeps babbling about black chains and the Queen of Death. His guards don’t dare approach him."

Noir snorted softly from Sylvia’s shadow. ’I didn’t even touch him. People these days have far more fragile minds than the low-level skeletons in Zark’s garrison.’

"Rise, Captain," Sylvia said calmly. She looked at the city gate, which now revealed Eldridge’s neatly arranged stone streets. "I have no interest in executing a coward who doesn’t even have the courage to face the problem in front of his own eyes. But this city needs new leadership."

The captain looked up, eyes wide. "Do you mean...?"

"From today on, Eldridge is under Nocture’s indirect protection," Sylvia declared firmly, her voice carrying clearly before the soldiers and refugees who had begun to gather and listen. "Food supplies will be delivered regularly through a new trade route, and the mines here will be run fairly, with no more forced labor that costs lives. And you..." Sylvia pointed at the gray-bearded captain with the tip of her finger, "...are appointed interim overseer of this city as of today. Lead them properly, or I will come back myself and overhaul the inside of that palace."

The captain was stunned for a moment, then tears of emotion welled in the corners of his eyes. He bowed so low that his forehead nearly touched the stone ground.

"I... I swear I will carry out this duty with my life, Your Majesty, Queen of Death!" he cried with full conviction. The hundreds of citizens and miners around them who heard this cheered in unison. The burden of oppression that had weighed on their chests for years was finally lifted by a single sentence from the woman in the black gown.

Alicia smiled faintly at the sight. "You always know how to make people kneel without spilling any blood, Sylvia."

"Spilling blood is troublesome," Sylvia replied indifferently. "Cleaning it off a gown is even more tiring."

’Ah, speaking of tiring,’ Sol chattered on her shoulder as he shifted into a more comfortable seat, ’Stacia must be raging in the alchemy tower because we’ve been gone so long. And don’t forget, she asked for a souvenir from this mining town.’

Sylvia paused. Her lovely brow furrowed slightly. "A souvenir? From a mining town full of rocks and purple mist?"

’Maybe there’s some strange gemstone or magical mineral she can use for a new explosive experiment,’ Sol replied casually.

"In that case..." Sylvia glanced toward the rocky hill on the western side, where the dimensional rift had been. With a small wave of her hand, a piece of pure obsidian crystal the size of a fist, which had absorbed the residual cosmic energy of Azure Dragon, rose and floated into her palm. The crystal gave off a very stable and beautiful silvery-purple glow. "This will do. Stacia can use it to stabilize an additional teleportation magic matrix."

’That’s far too good a gift for a scientist whose job is nagging about paperwork,’ Noir commented from the shadows.

"Precisely because she likes to nag, we give her an expensive toy to keep her busy for the next week," Sylvia replied coldly but with calculation.

Qilin laughed softly, the sound of his gentle laughter like wind chimes in the morning. ’Stacia-san will surely be delighted to receive it. Though she may complain that its shape isn’t symmetrical enough.’

"It’s time for us to go home," Sylvia said, turning toward Sol, who had begun to grow back into his giant golden dragon form in the open field. A warm gust swept over her silver robe as the dragon spread his magnificent golden wings.

News of the Queen of Death’s return from the northern cleansing mission spread quickly throughout Eldridge. Citizens lined the main road, waving in gratitude as Sylvia, Alicia, Qilin, and her two special pets climbed onto the golden dragon’s back. Azure Dragon, in his small form, leapt lightly up and took a spot near Sol’s head, beside the golden cat.

’Hold on tight,’ Sol said through telepathy just before his golden claws pushed off the ground. ’We’re going to leap straight through the northern cloud layer.’

BOOM!

With a single mighty beat of his wings, the giant golden dragon shot into the blue sky, leaving a trail of golden light glittering beautifully in the morning sun. Eldridge shrank below them, becoming a tiny dot amid the stone mountains, now peaceful again.

On the dragon’s back, the wind blew fiercely, but Sol’s air-manipulation shield muffled it completely. Sylvia sat leaning back calmly, closing her eyes for a moment to enjoy a rare stillness in the middle of their long journey. Beside her, Alicia was checking digital reports on her holographic bracelet, while Qilin chatted with Azure Dragon about the ancient history of the elemental guardians.

"Sofia must have warm tea ready in the east tower," Alicia whispered without taking her eyes off the holographic screen. "And the new pile of documents on her desk is surely twice as tall as before."

Sylvia slowly opened her eyes, the corner of her lips lifting in a faint smile that was almost invisible. "Let it be. Tonight, there will be no gods to deal with, no dimensional rifts, and no city ruler crying under a desk."

’And no reason for Stacia to steal my share of the roast meat,’ Sol added from the front in a triumphant tone.

Noir, who had melted back into the shadows of Sylvia’s robe, let out a satisfied snort. The airborne party split the southern horizon at full speed, bringing peace back to the magnificent metropolis of Nocture and awaiting a new Chapter in the tale of the Queen of Death, who kept conquering the boundaries of new worlds.