Michael was sitting on his throne in the dimly lit throne hall. Gaya paced towards him after finishing her tasks.
"Claire has informed everyone you are going to Mazeroth as we told her to"
"Hmm" nodded Michael,
Instead of sitting on her throne beside Michael, she sat on his lap. She removed the masks on their faces and kissed him. The kiss made both of them feel lightened. With everything that happened, the kiss calmed their nerves.
Michael too enjoyed the passionate break. He gently caressed her hair while kissing her longer and deeper.
When his grab around her waist tightened, she purred
"Are you sure Michael?" After several minutes of kissing, she departed her lips from his.
"It's for the best. The longer I stick with the sect, the more they become the target to everyone else. Those who cannot hurt me will harm them and I won't be able to protect them forever"
"I can see that but we put so much effort into the sect and it's growing up to be a formidable force human" Gaya placed her forehead on his forehead. She was so close to him and wrapped her hands tight around his neck,
"Snake, I'm just talking about graduating from the sect, not completely abandoning them. We still manage the sect from behind the scenes"
He pinched her nose,
"I know human. I just wanted to hear you say that. I'm not gonna stop until our sect becomes the most powerful one in this fucking world. In the future, every sector should be in our control"
He could see the resolve in her eyes. It felt great to have her around. With a woman like her by his side, he could indeed take the entire world head-on.
As they were talking, Azazel appeared in the hall out of thin air,
"Oh, forgive me my lord, my lady. I will come back later" Azazel quickly said.
"Don't be a baby Sebas" Gaya chuckled, looking at the mighty demon who tried to be courteous.
"What is it Azazel?" asked Michael before the demon started to blush or something.
"I talked to Lady Aria, my lord. I informed her brothers should stay in the manor until you return. She asked for your permission to leave Gisal and stay with her brothers"
"Why not?"
Michael wasn't going to prevent Aria from spending time with her brothers. The longer she spent time with her brothers, the more she would feel grateful to him. Thus, her loyalty to him would increase.
He planned to make the two brothers his generals. Soon his undead army would grow in numbers and at that time, he would need loyal generals to command the army. Since Aria's brothers were soldiers, with enough training, they could become great generals. However, war and commanding an army was not Michael's area of expertise. Luckily, he had the princess of Nagaland with him.
Though Gaya had no prior experience commanding an army, there was no doubt in his mind. She would make a damn good queen and a superior commander.
"Another loose end tied. What else should we do before departing?" asked Gaya,
"Nightmare is saying his goodbyes, Vedora has entered into seclusion. Maxine will be busy mining the crystals in Stormveil mountain, Tiberius is building his own kingdom"
Michael had given orders to each of his subordinates while he was away.
"Caius and Heinberg are working with the Maven senators to merge the two kingdoms. The civil war in Maven is still young so it will take some time"
Said Michael as though he had nothing to do with the civil war in Maven.
He was the one who orchestrated the entire thing so he could merge Gisel with Maven with the support of the people of both kingdoms. Through Corey, he supplied weapons and resources to the freedom fighters in Maven who were fighting against Senator Vibius. They believed that Senator Vibius was raising taxes, driving the economy to drain, and militarizing the kingdom. They had no idea that Senator Vibius was long dead.
Michael's plan was to merge all the senate-ruled kingdoms into one single kingdom. For now, the merger of Gisel and Maven was enough. No matter what, he needed to protect the Stormveil mountain and the existence of the arch energy crystals from the Guardians.
"What about Sadie?" asked Gaya,
"Her task is to simply get stronger. I provided her with enough pills and potions to reach Core Formation level 7 within four months"
"The sooner she gets stronger, the better. We need to take over the SilverMoon as soon as possible. I'm getting sick of this Guardians"
Michael felt the same way. It was like no matter how strong he got, the Guardians seemed stronger. However, when he thought about the third persona, surprisingly he smiled,
"Did you forget darling? I am the fucking dark lord"
****************************************
Somewhere else, a man wearing long purple robes and half-moon spectacles was walking towards a giant banyan tree. A white dragon the size of a three months old puppy was standing on his shoulder and calmly looking around the surroundings. The figure was none other than Wulfric.
As far as one could see, there was nothing but the banyan tree and Wolfric in the place. One could wonder how such a giant tree grew on a land paved with marble stones. Several cone-shaped mountains were floating in the sky as though they were balloons. Wulfric calmly walked towards the tree.
As he approached the tree, the tree moved, not the entire tree but the bark of the tree.
"Destiny is a mysterious thing" another calm voice sounded from within the tree. Soon, a figure emerged from inside the tree. A humanoid figure and the face of a man could be seen in the tree.
"Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same" the words were spoken in a gruff voice,
"How are you, old friend?" Wolfric asked the figure stuck to the tree,
"Same old Wulfric, asking the questions you already know the answer to" the figure seemed to be chuckling but the mouth did not move much,
"Elidyr" Wulfric uttered the name,
"It's been ages since I heard that name," said Elidyr. He sounded exhausted. It was not a surprise as he was being tortured by the Skyhall for the last three thousand years.
Elidyr was one of the founding fathers of the infamous Order of Death. He started a cult to suppress the Skyhall. With geniuses and prodigies from every corner of the world, he and the fellow founding fathers managed to create a power that rivaled the Skyhall itself in a mere thousand years.
But like many powers who challenged the Skyhall, they were obliterated.
"When did we last meet? Thousand years ago or twenty one years ago?" Elidyr amused,
"Same old Elidyr, asking the questions you already know the answer to"
Wulfric began to walk around the tree with a calm smile on his face. Since Elidyr was stuck to the tree and couldn't move his neck, he waited until Wolfric came before him.
"What's troubling you my friend? What you did twenty one years ago?"
"You said it yourself Eldity, dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same. You cannot escape destiny" Wolfric sighed,
"You also cannot imprison the destiny Wulfric" This time, Elidyr's lips curved upwards, letting out an amused smile,
"No prison in the universe could hold him back. He is here, isn't he?"
Wolfric smiled. There was no fear in his eyes, just exhaustion.
"He's coming here Elidyr. I invited him"
Elidyr was surprised and yet, ever since he knew Wolfric, it had always been impossible to know the reasons for his actions.
"He goes by the name Ghost and he has already started to grasp the power of darkness"
One could not see any expression on Elidyr's almost wooden like face. But inside, Elidyr was excited. Three thousand years of torture grew into a giant tree of anger towards SKyhall in his heart. He was waiting for the day of the Dark Lord's arrival. Elidyr wanted nothing but to see him burn the SKyhall to the ground and everyone who helped Skyhall decimate the Order of Death as well as his friends.,
But still, Elidyr had one question after hearing Wulfric,
"And if you know this, why don't you go kill him?"
The dragon looked at Wulfric. She also had the same question as the dark elf,
"Meddling with gods' will only lead to catastrophe, my friend. I learned that the hard way. If the world's destiny is to get destroyed by the Dark Lord and reborn as a new world, no mortal can stop that from happening"
Eldyr remained silent for a few moments before asking,
"Still, why did you invite him? Let me guess, you are not going to tell me"
Once again, Wulficr smiled gently,
"Goodbye old friend" As he said, Wulfric placed his hand on Elidyr's head as numerous symbols appeared on the tree. The faint sound of vibrations reverberated the area. Soon, Elidyr's eyes began to glow too.
"AHHHHH" Elidyr screamed as the dragon watched the dark elf with a bewildered face. Soon, the dark elf's scream abruptly stopped,
"Master, what was that?"
"I erased his memories of me" Wulfric almost sounded sad. He patted Elidyr on the shoulder which was covered by bark and a green moth. He then looked around, enjoying the serenity of the Akilan realm one last time,
"Soon, everything is going to change"
Wulfric closed his eyes, stroking his long white beard. A gentle breeze arrived at the same time gathering all the green leaves shed by the banyan tree. The trees brushed past him and when the breeze settled down, Wulfric and the dragon were nowhere to be found. They disappeared into the thin air.