Chapter 1953: Plan for Divinity Harvest
Chapter 1953: Plan for Divinity Harvest
Lilliana reclined in a chair of carved ivory; the wine in her glass caught the amber glow of at least a few dozens of floating candles. Behind her, two servants worked massive feathered fans in slow strokes; the breeze carried the faint sweetness of magical incense.
On the table to her right, an arrangement of fruits glistened.
Glowing grapes, sun-peaches with skin like spun gold, and even night-plums that seemed savoury.
Delicacies within the Grey Realm. Rarities worth a generation of a commoner’s wealth.
She ate one of the glowing grapes and tasted nothing special. Mediocre. She had eaten better from the roadside stall back in her own realm, and that fruit hadn’t been trying so desperately to impress her. Or perhaps this was because of the sourness that she was feeling right now.
Naturally, her mind was elsewhere.
Davina’s voice still echoed in the hollow of her thoughts.
In the hundreds of years she had lived with her own sister, she rarely heard that tremor, that unsteadiness, that barely contained distress in Davina’s voice. Most of the time—her voice was cool precision. Like a warlord that never lost a battle.
From that alone, she knew that things were really bad.
And one reason that could make Davina shaken like that was the fact that Rex was the one shaken first.
Lilliana would be lying if she said that she wasn’t worried about what was going on.
As far as she remembered, the assignment within the Grey Realm went smoothly. Both enemy forces— on the northern and southern Divine Source were intercepted and trapped perfectly. If anything—this is a cause for celebration, not this uncertain grimness.
It was especially worrying when High Millinar Alexander also departed quickly to the Cavity.
He cared not for the corpses of the enemy Demigods that littered near the Divine Source and bolted.
Something like that was too careless for him to do, as the corpses of Demigods would cause all kinds of problems within the Grey Realm if not handled well. Fortunately, there were some soldiers who realized that and went to work.
But worry was a luxury she couldn’t afford right now.
Her task within this realm remained.
She had confirmed it again with Davina through telepathy earlier.
...
"Does he want me back?" Lilliana asked after learning the dire situation.
Frankly, she thought Rex was one-of-a-kind, someone who was chosen to be blessed with strength.
But she was wrong.
Someone else had been blessed with strength out there, and that person was working for the enemy as Rex did with High Lord Rashal. And this person had sneaked into the Cavity and ransacked everything while the Red Skull Elite Force was chasing hollow rats.
It was unthinkable that they were fooled this hard.
’No—I don’t think so.’ Davina answered. ’His other aim for coming to the Grey Realm is the task you were doing right now. It’s most likely important for him. You should stay there and handle the task well to ease his burden. But don’t go overboard; the High Lord still needs the inhabitants.’
"Okay, keep me updated," Lilliana nodded even though Davina couldn’t see her. "And about what you said earlier, that you were surprised to see him overwhelmed... Embrace that side of him. I don’t have much experience in battle like you, but I know about these things. Men like him hold back a lot. If he’s showing something, don’t react badly.
"I am a wife until recently, so you should listen to me." She added.
’Okay...’ Davina answered after a brief pause. ’I was only surprised that he could be like that. Now, I’ll be fine.’
...
Davina said that Rex would probably want her to complete her task. So, she stayed behind.
The bulk of the Red Skull Elite Force had already returned to the Cavity with Alexander—and Lilliana had been called back as well. But the fair soldiers assigned directly to Rex, or what remained of them, refused to follow.
Instead, they told Alexander they would stay behind—to clean up the realm and oversee its stability.
Making sure that no remnants of the enemy forces remained.
And also make sure that the Grey Realm remained stable.
Of course, this wasn’t entirely the reason—the soldiers were giving Lilliana cover.
All of them could tell that she wanted to stay, so they stepped up and helped her come up with a reason.
’Since things aren’t going well on the High Lord side—I need to make sure that it went well for Rex,’ Lilliana thought inwardly with determination flashing inside her eyes. ’And for that—I need more than a few neighbouring kingdoms slaughtered. I need a big one.’
She had already asked the emperor and George about Rex’s directives.
And from those two—she was told that Rex wanted these four mortal soldiers, marked with something she did not fully understand, to slaughter the neighbouring factions. He had not explained much about the reason, but she could somewhat tell.
’It’s most likely tied to his divinity.’ Lilliana thought.
She glanced to the female servant beside her, and her eyes flickered.
From this seemingly normal female servant, she could sense something else within her entirely.
Something close to the energy that she had felt from the people in the God Realm.
Ever since becoming a Silverstar, something within her changed. She could feel a strand of higher power was shaping her body into a new and stronger version. It was clear that she now wasn’t merely a mortal like she was.
A being somewhere between Demigod and Mortal.
And due to that, she could somewhat feel the power that Demigods possessed.
Not sense it like an energy, but more like a gut feeling that differentiates Demigods from Mortals.
Lilliana also experienced that same gut feeling within this female servant. Even though she was nothing more than a mortal, not even the peak within the Grey Realm, she emanated the same scent as the beings in Larta City.
’Is he going to harvest the feeble divinity in them?’
Considering that Rex wanted to fight against the Blood Moon God, she was certain that every move he made would be tied to him trying to get stronger and stronger. So, it made perfect sense if his plan was to harvest divinity from the inhabitants within this realm that seemed special.
’Does he have a way to do that?’ Her lips curled into a smile. ’He probably has.’
Rex has always been mysterious.
His power and acute senses seemed supernatural.
If he knew a way to harvest divinity as the Overseer of Realm did through the Baby-blue Periwinkles, then she wouldn’t be surprised. Even though she wanted to slaughter more so that he would be satisfied with the result, she needed to be careful.
Davina did say that the High Lord still needed the inhabitants of this realm.
Killing too many would only create more trouble.
By now, several small kingdoms had already fallen; all thanks to the fact that she had poured a portion of her own power into those four marked soldiers. The reports came in minutes, neat columns of cities and casualties, and still she was not satisfied.
George and the emperor have ties with the neighbouring factions, so the pace was slow.
Other than the pace being too slow, the smaller factions are too compliant.
’It’s probably because the Grisian Empire has reach across the entire continent,’ Lilliana tapped a finger onto the armrest in slow, rhythmic beats. Contemplating. ’In that case—shouldn’t we be aiming for the factions outside of this continent?’
An idea prickled her mind.
She sat up straighter, the wine glass pausing halfway to her lips, and then flicked her fingers using her other hand. A sharp, imperious gesture that many would consider offensive. But even so, the emperor’s trusted advisor hurried through from the other end of the chamber near the entrance.
An old man with a beard like a waterfall of snow and robes that dragged behind him in a pool of silk.
He crossed the chamber with the brisk, head-bowed shuffle of a man who had long ago learned that it’s unwise to cross those who are way higher than him in terms of strength. And when he reached in front of her lavish chair, he folded into a bow so deep his beard almost brushed the floor.
"Do you need this old man for something, Lady Highborn?"
Lilliana looked at him for a moment; the wine glass still motionless in her hand.
Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes held a flicker of something mysterious.
"Bring me a map of the world."
"R-Right away."
It took the old man a minute before he came back to the chamber with a big scroll in her hand.
Behind him, two servants were carrying a big table with their heads kept down—as if raising their gazes would warrant them the punishment for gazing into a deity. And that punishment is death. And for fear of that punishment, their eyes never strayed from the carpet.
The table was placed neatly in front of Lilliana, and the old man unrolled the leather scroll.
It was the map of the entire world.
Lilliana’s eyes instantly fixated on the northern side, searching for the Divine Source where Alexander and the others had battled the enemy forces. To her surprise, the Divine Source was marked on the map with gold ink.
"What do you know about this?" She pointed at the Divine Source.
"It’s a prohibited area, Lady Highborn," the old man answered. "Locals—and special people called the Priest of the Realm are the only ones allowed to enter that area. From several ancient texts, the emperor of the past was approached by a higher being and was told to maintain this Divine Source."
"Great," Lilliana nodded.
Since the empire seems to know about the Divine Source, it saved Lilliana from having to explain.
It would be a drag to explain it to this old man.
"There are three Divine Sources across your entire world. One in the north, another at the center, and the third at the south. In that case, these areas..." Lilliana pointed at the western and eastern areas of the world. "Do they know about the Divine Sources?"
"Hmm?" the old man blinked—confusion flickering across his weathered face. The question unsettled him—but he knew better than to probe. "Almost none of the factions there truly understand the Divine Sources. They might know that the Divine Sources exist, that the world was blessed by a higher being because of them, but they don’t know for certain. It’s all rumor and half-remembered scripture there."
"Contact the emperor and George," Lilliana stood up and walked past the old man.
"As you wish," the old man nodded.
As Lilliana walked through the massive hallway, a smile tugged her lips.
She believed that the High Lord needed the inhabitants in order to make the Divine Sources operate, or something around that. If Lilliana slaughtered the factions that had a small idea about the Divine Sources, then there shouldn’t be a problem.
’Just a few big kingdoms until the casualties reach tens of millions should most certainly suffice.’
...
Meanwhile, Larta City.
It was chokingly tense inside this glass room.
The only thing that hummed inside was the air conditioner’s sterile drone. Rex and Alexander stood with their back straight like arrows; the silence coiled around their throats like an iron wire. A secretary was watching them blankly from the corner. Unblinking.
Like a mannequin in human skin.
Despite the early morning sun beautifully hanging in the sky, the room didn’t feel warm at all.
The stillness only stretched and thickened to the point of becoming unbearable.
Just then, the glass door behind them swung open.
Almost instantly, both men tensed in the same breath. Shoulders braced and fists half-curled as the chill of unseen presence slithered into the room. Neither turned. Not yet. But the silence had ended, replaced by the slow sound of thudding footsteps.
High Lord Rashal walked past them and then stopped by his table.
Even before turning around, Rex and Alexander could feel his rage leaking out.