Elliott exhaled a sigh after the high-level discussion was over. He looked at his wife on the bed, then at his son, who was standing nearby.
"Ronan, stay here and protect your mother. I will go outside to lead the joint force to the border of the continent." Elliott rose from the chair and tapped his son on the shoulder.
"Leave it to me, royal father. May victory and grace always be with you." Ronan put his hand on his side chest in the typical knight salute.
Elliott just nodded and headed for his wife. "Anna, I'm leaving. Please bless me." He touched his wife's cheek gently with a smile.
"Do you really have to go, dear?" Anna looked at her beloved husband with anxious and troubled eyes. To be honest, she didn't want him to leave.
"Yes, I will go with the elite force to join the troops guarding the frontier. Emperor Raphael will also come directly to the meeting place. The joint forces are waiting for me at the southern city gate. I am with the Eastern Emperor and more than 200 elites above Spirit-level for investigations, I will return safely. Let's pray that this is not a terrible thing." Elliott stroked his wife's cheek attentively, trying to reassure her with a gentle speech.
Even though he spoke like that, he and the other Emperors had prepared for the worst-case scenario. Besides the joint investigative force, several brigades were ready to dispatch in case the worst guess happened.
"All right," Anna muttered softly, but Elliott heard it clearly. Then, he knelt in front of his wife, and the latter touched both of his shoulders shortly after.
"Our Almighty Goddess, all glory to you, please hear your humble servant prayer. Show your mercy so my husband may slay the enemies and comes back safely. I plead this of you in your divine presence, o bringer of life. Bless us with your eternal wisdom." After saying that, Anna kissed her husband's forehead.
A yellowish gleam glowed from Elliott's body and dimmed a moment after. He had been blessed with Holy Magic from his wife, which gave him a lot of confidence.
Although it didn't really increase his ability drastically, it was so different mentally. His wife was a kind from the one who came looking for copper and found gold, after all... Annabel Cooper, his treasured gold.
"We will be victorious!" Elliott stood up and put on his epic knight king helmet. He turned around, and his cape was fluttering as he walked toward the exit.
Anna clasped her hands together in prayer, wishing all good for her husband.
"Announce level five alert for all cities near the continental border. We're leaving now." Elliott ordered his subordinates, who were waiting in the corridor. After that, they rushed to leave the palace, which immediately went into closed defense mode.
As soon as Elliott joined the elite investigative force outside the southern city's gate, they rushed over to the continent's border at full speed. They flew off with acceleration magic to arrive quickly.
It only took them about an hour to reach the defensive city on the border. Elliott led a battalion of experts towards the Devil Continent after gathering information and integrating with other combined forces.
At that moment, Elysia had just left the Cuttexus City for the Devil Continent. She utterly oblivious to the city's state that had entered level five alert simply due to her focus on saving Nell.
Meanwhile, Dylan and his daughter had arrived near the location, a hundred kilometers from the giant ball of energy floating high in the air.
He only took no more than 30 minutes to arrive at the nearest city to the destination due to his pride acceleration magic. After joining the other forces and the Devil Emperor who had come under his orders, they went near the phenomenon center.
And there they were, listening to Sylvia's chirp. This girl was curious about the giant energy ball in the distance.
"Look, look! What kind of gigantic energy ball is that? I can feel its turmoil, its power, and... Bad omen? Uhh, ice is everywhere, even though it's spring! It's too dark here without any light, and here we are enveloped in the darkness. Hiding, lurking, and finding out what's going on--" Sylvia went here and there. She pointed at this and that while chirped like a tireless bird.
She and more than 300 devil elites were enveloped by her father's dark barrier to block out voices and protect them as well. They were there to investigate, after all.
A giant purple man folded his arms to stare at Sylvia, then glanced at Dylan. It was beyond rare for him to see this treasured Devil Princess being taken to a dangerous zone. "My Lor-"
Yet, Dylan immediately spoke as if he knew what his subordinate Devil Emperor was going to say. "No, don't talk about it, Doominick. Just ignore her for a while. She'll be tired and quiet before long. Anyway, did the vanguard team get any information?"
"For that, we can only wait a little longer. Swype's signal is terrible here. Do you think the Evil God is behind this strange phenomenon, My Lord?" Doominick inspected his troops for a moment, but the team in question had not returned. They could only wait before going any further, afraid of their transient guesses.
"I'm sure that 50 percent is what happens. The density of this Dark Magic and this energy aura makes me pretty sure. However, it's still doubtful because the giant ball of energy there is a bad omen. Cursed energy, cursed creatures, what could possibly happen?" Dylan raised his head, staring deep at the ball of energy.
He wondered about the information in the ancient book he just got, about lost history. Therefore, he did not act alone and was not reckless to find out. If it was the Evil God, who was behind all this... What was the aim of that mad God?
*Crack* *Kaboom!*
The thin air burst out of the blue, and followed by an explosion, two figures appeared right between the towering mountains in the distance. One was a fierce black devil, and the other was a tiny fairy who glowed like a firefly in the dark night.
It was the Evil God! But, who was the other one? That was a question that arose in the minds of Dylan and everyone around him.
"Father, father, that is the Evil God! He is fighting someone fiercely. Eh, where did they come from anyway? They just appeared all of a sudden." Sylvia floated towards her father and tugged his sleeve.
"As I thought, the Evil God is behind all this. That little fairy, I think I've seen her somewhere in the Human Continent. Golden energy aura, hmm... Is she the Human Goddess, the Goddess of Blessings?" Dylan ignored his daughter for a while because his mind was working on something else.
"I can confirm that, My Lord. I believe the one who is fighting the Evil God right now is the Goddess of Blessings. The image of the Human Goddess is present in every Holy Church on the Human Continent." Doominick pursed his lips. The situation grew tense and precarious.
"Oo, that little one is the Goddess of Blessings. She is so tiny and radiant. Is she a human or a fairy, or maybe the extinct pixie? Well, she is a Human Goddess, so she is a human, I guess?" Sylvia tried to guess, and it couldn't be more than true because it was apparent.
Explosion after the explosion occurred in the distance. The clash between Holy Magic and Dark Magic caused the ground to shake. It was a God-class battle, and the Goddess of Blessings seemed to be on the losing side.
"My Lord, we'd better get away from here. We will only have one outcome if we interfere with that Evil God affair. Even the Goddess of Blessings is no match for that Evil God." Doominick narrowed his eyes in his magic vision. For some reason, anger and hatred were radiating in his eyes.
"No need. That God-level battle seems to be stuck near that giant ball of dark energy. We are safe in my barrier then. Let's see first hand that God class battle." Dylan rejected the suggestion after observing the situation more closely.
Silly but true, he silently hoped the Goddess of Blessings to win the battle, rather than Evil God. What could he do with that? The Devil God was no more, only the Evil God who had ignored the Devil Race. This Evil God even caused so many significant problems that it gave his head slight dizziness just thinking about it.
"Father, where did they appear earlier? What was that crack in the air? Do you support the Evil God or the Goddess of Blessings?" Sylvia tugged her father's sleeve tighter for attention. She demanded the answers.
"Hm, looks like they were fighting in the Evil God's dark domain earlier. It cracked and shattered due to their clash of attacks." Dylan quenched his daughter's curiosity with his analysis, albeit he chose not to answer one last question.
After saying that, Dylan realized something was wrong, and he could feel it. His dark barrier blocked the energy aura and sound from the inside out, but not the other way around. Even so, he couldn't hear any conversations from the Evil God and the Goddess of Blessings.
It was only a God-class battle commotion. No voice could be heard other than the power clashes, even though he realized that the Evil God and the Goddess of Blessings opened their mouths to speak. What happened? Did something block those two God-level beings' voices?