Chapter 458: So Close yet so Far

"You can give that to my Ely. Sayonara." Elena waved her hand once, then returned to her spirit form and entered Elysia's body. She still wanted to laze around in the Soul Realm until her promise with Elysia arrived.

Elysia and Elena overlooked that. Rhea stared somewhere inside Elysia's body with a deep gaze. She wanted to know how Elena got in and out of Elysia's body.

'Although very faint and hard to detect, that flash of energy was Master Elena, right? Where has Master Elena gone and where is she now? Was that the way to enter Master Elysia's Private Realm? That's a really unusual way.' Rhea muttered in her mind as if she didn't care if her train of thought passed to Elysia or not.

'Seems like Rhea really wants to visit our Private Realm, erm, our Soul Realm, Sister Elena.' Elysia only smiled faintly, not at Arthur but at Rhea.

'Then why don't we invite her in here, Ely? I will have one or more friends to play with. Oh! We can also ask for help decorating our Soul Realm, Ely! Yey, that's snagat amazing. Maybe, one or several floating islands will look interesting. And also, a magnificent palace of my dream. I'll be the architect and design the one that's super duper awesome!' Elena's eyes sparkled as the idea crossed her head.

She looked around. But, she could only see the boundaries like an ornate patterned 'outer space' filled with the colorful glow of stars and galaxies.

The Soul Realm was too vast and beautiful, not to mention very rich in cozy magic energy. Unfortunately, it was empty and a bit lonely. It was just like outer space without anything but the exquisite scenery and a comfy bed. And perhaps, it could be called a mini-universe.

'Even if I put my trust in Rhea, we don't know how to invite other people into our Soul Realm. We don't have the Private Realm's core to open the portal...' Elysia didn't even know much about the Soul Realm until now. So, inviting other people was almost impossible to do at the current moment.

'Ah, you're right too, Ely. We don't know yet... But, why do you say it like that? Do you feel unsure and suspicious of Rhea even though her life is dependent and connected to you?' Elena blinked a few times in surprise.

'Ehm, I'm not sure... Only time will tell. As you said, Sister Elena. Only real friends will stay until the end.' Elysia felt unsure. Lifa and Rhea already knew too much about her and Elena, but not the other way around. Lifa and Rhea were still quite a mystery in her mind.

'Mm, only time will tell...' Elena heaved a subtle sigh because that was what she had said a moment ago. Then, her expression instantly turned excited on an entirely different topic. "But, we're still going to build our Soul Realm into a mini-universe that's beyond amazing. You can create anything here, right, Ely? Right, right? Creation magic, the ultimate ability that you use only in our Soul Realm. You are the Absolute Goddess here, and I am your lovely confidant, hehe...'

'En, we'll try to do that tonight.' Elysia was also a little excited to build a mini-universe within her body, her soul.

'What do you want to do to me tonight, Ely? You turned out to be a naughty girl without my knowledge, ufufu...' Elena teased Elysia with a mischievous voice.

On the other hand, Elysia couldn't answer that with anything. And again, she had made the Emperor wait a few seconds in silence. Thus, she only gave Arthur an innocent expression as if she knew nothing and was just waiting for the latter to speak.

"Well, your master seems to be in such a hurry, Elysia. I haven't even finished to convey something and my proper gratitude to her... But she looks a bit lethargic. Did your master force herself to use her divine magic even though she is still feeling exhausted and haven't recovered yet?" Arthur became worried about the Goddess of Light's condition.

"My master wants to rest. You don't have to worry, Emperor Arthur. In a few hours, my master will be back because she has promised to spend the day with me." Elysia tried to reassure Arthur's worries with a relaxed smile without the slightest bit of anxiousness on her face.

"If you say so... Well, they are what I promised earlier to help your master recover her magic. Although this may not be much for a dicine being, please accept them and give these boxes to your master later, Elysia." Arthur simply handed the two black boxes to Elysia.

However, it was somewhat difficult for the girl holding a little girl to accept the two small boxes. As if knowing Elysia's predicament, Rhea received the two boxes with open arms. Although, those two black boxes were almost half the size of her body.

"Mm, I'll pass these on to my master, Emperor Arthur. Now, it would be best if you free your wife from the crystal pyramid seal and treat her with the utmost intensive care. I'm afraid something happened to Queen Amelie before our help came." Elysia became reminded of Queen  Amelie's previous state. Even though she was worried, she could only see the results later.

"Hum, that's for sure. However, first, I also need to express my gratitude to you, Elysia. Thank you for providing the help to my wife. I will express my gratitude more appropriately in the future. For now, allow me to excuse myself." After saying that, Arthur rushed toward his wife.

He put his finger to his wife's forehead to check her condition directly. At first glance, his wife was in good condition. Magic circuits, energy fluctuations, blood circulation, and breath looked normal. He couldn't even find any fault or impact on his wife's body.

As expected from divine magic... His wife only looked like she was sleeping without ever being possessed by an evil spirit or contaminated by that terrifying energy.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. He went to a corner of the room to activate some mechanisms. Then, he went to several other spots to activate and trigger various things to free his wife from the shackles of the crystal pyramid.

*Clack*

The crystal pyramid shook slightly, and several tiny prisms popped out from it. Red and purple magic circles also immediately appeared below it.

After that, Arthur returned to the center of the hall to perform the final touch.

Meanwhile, Elysia just put the two black boxes into her Space Bag. She returned to her group and watched what would happen to the Emperor and his wife. Perhaps, a dramatic moment with cries and tears. So close yet so far, it was clearly deep anguish to know one's loved one was right in front, but the truth wasn't.

"Ely, you looked so cool just now. I'm so surprised that a slap from you and continued by the Goddess of Nature could undo that terrible explosion magic just now. Ah, you're amazing too, o the Goddess of Nature." Evelyn chirped in a whisper just as her best friend came to her side.

"Hehe, thanks, Eve. A little trick to cancel your opponent's magic, don't wait for them to finish doing what they want. Disrupt their concentration before their magic is ready to be used." Elysia gave a wink.

"Ooh..." Evelyn nodded a few times in understanding.

Even so, she glanced back at the Baby Goddess, the little girl in Elysia's arms. She didn't know why, but this divine being was attached to Elysia for some reason. It was as if Elysia had a Patron Goddess, not to mention Elysia's divine master.

"Mm, you're amazing, Ely. It's really good to be a Goddess's disciple. You can do many things under divine's guidance. Emm... Is it possible for me to apply to become one?" Sylvia wondered as if she had high hopes.

"You want to worship a Human Goddess? But, well... you need to ask my master directly, Sylvi." Elysia smiled in amusement. Perhaps, Sylvia would be the first devil to choose to be a follower of a Human Goddess over her own race's God.

"Why not? It's me and I'll decide what's good and what's not. Isn't that what you said to my father and I that night? Uh, I mean, thanks, I'll be pleading with the Goddess of Light later, hehe..." Sylvia corrected her statement with a silly smile.

*Crack*

At that very instant, everyone's attention was drawn to the center of the hall. The crystal pyramid split into several small prisms and seemed to shrink into a tiny prism. It just fell to the ground with a clang.

The queen's body lost the support of the one supporting her to remain in a semi-standing position. However, Arthur caught his wife's body swiftly and hugged her in a princess carry.

"The dark days and nightmares are finally over. Welcome back, Amelie. Everything will be fine. I promise you won't suffer anymore. Please forgive my weak self for failing to protect you from the evil spirit's attack that day..." Arthur muttered in a whisper-like voice while staring at his wife's pale face.

"Ehm, hng..." Amelie's eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her breathing pattern changed.

Slowly but surely, Arthur was there to watch his wife wake up from her slumber. He was the first person she saw, and that was what he wanted.

"Hmm?" Amelie felt her vision was quite blurry, but slowly she could see the figure of a man with reddish-black hair.

She realized that she was in that man's arms. However, she couldn't do anything but surrender herself because she felt so weak and powerless.

Arthur looked into his wife's azure eyes with happiness on his face. While Amelie just stared into the orange eyes of the man in front of her in a daze.

"Welcome back Amelie, my Amelie." Arthur greeted with a smile.

"Wh, who?" Amelie asked in complete ignorance.