Chapter 710 - The Queen Of Autumn

Newest Chapter For Highest Tier (September 2021)

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Vampire King Apollyon

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"If a Faerie accidentally bumped into me and I fall into the ground, they would think I die from the brittle bones I have."

"If this Archdemon spends most of his life sleeping--" He pointed at the Archdemon of Sloth with a forefinger, all the while giving Luna an annoyed glance as if telling her, 'Don't lump me in with that bastard.' "-- then his appearance would be the last thing on his mind. I would like to be treated as the royalty that I am if I use my true face." He said calmly, "Handsome looking men had privileges wherever we go."

She raised a curious eyebrow, "—and you are used to those privileges, huh?" 

"To become a tempting Archdemon one must wear the most angelic of faces." The pupils of his golden eyes darkened, and Apollyon witnessed how it sent shivers down her beloved's spine.

"Allow me to show the face  I have which you fell in love with to the Autumn Courts, Domina." Luna averted her gaze from the Archdemon so that she wouldn't fall under the devil's hypnosis. "Not this one century old human disguise you told us to use." 

Luna snorted at the old man.  "Isn't this obvious to you that this is a punishment? It's not like your magic couldn't handle  them."  Her reply might as well be a subtle dare for Ravin to see if he could stomach such a terrible disguise for a long period without breaking from his character, "Archdemon Magic is too strong for these Autumn Faeries to see the glamour." 

"What do you think the Fall Courts would think about our group with two Vampire Monarchs, a young Fae with wings instead of ears, a werewolf shape shifter, and two old and decrepit grandfathers trailing behind?" Ravin's countenance betrayed nothing but Apollyon scowled at his admonishing tone, "Have you ever thought of that?"

Apollyon realized that he did have a point, but his wife wasn't going to change her mind on his punishment just because it crushed Ravin's ego.

She shouldn't forget that she is their Master—the only one in control of her Familiars. 

"You shouldn't care about something so shallow, Archdemon. Your task here in this Realm is to keep my wife safe every  time Lilith takes control of her physical vessel. You and Sloth are supposed to contain the menace while we search for the Garden of the Four Seasons." Apollyon glowered into Ravin's golden eyes, and the longer he kept eye contact, the more his pupils narrowed into dangerous slits. "You only had one job but you f*cked it up." He didn't feel the need to shout because Ravin's incompetence as a protector can speak for itself, "You couldn't even save Luna when she is in danger." 

"Whose mistake do you think it is, Vampire King? My brother and I wanted to save her when we sensed that she was in danger but we can't get out of the cave no matter how hard we try." Ravin held his elbows wide from his body, thrusting his chest out to provoke, but Apollyon knew better than to fight him in front of Luna again. No more unnecessary violence. "You saw how the entrance to the rock shelter looked like when you got back. We destroyed half of it with multiple explosion  but the barrier where the entrance was supposed to be wouldn't budge. I suggest that Domina released our true names from the bindings because it it too powerful. This way,  the restriction wouldn't happen again."

"Do you think we are stupid, Ravin?" Luna asked him with a searing glance, "We aren't letting go of your true names from that one accident just so you could do everything you want."

"The mission that the Domina had given  to us during the binding ritual is a conflict of our interest but we had no choice but to follow it even if we are against anything that will send demons Lilith had summoned over here back to Hell." The Archdemon said as he wore a stubborn expression, and Luna only shook her head. "We are upholding our part of the contract as her Familiars and what happened isn't our fault. Next time, the two of you should stick to the group. Don't leave us out." 

Apollyon growled like an animal as his grip on his beloved's waist grew tighter when Ravin tried to approach her. 

"The Fall Courts is eerily silent as a graveyard. Now, this is a place I would like to live in the Material Realm." Sloth commented out-of-the-blue.

Everyone listened and watched what he was staring at in a daze.

The vivid autumn hues kindled in the treetops as acorns and leaves tinged with red and gold deserted their lofty branches.

They fell like gifts on the ground, adorning it with transient beauty as a few dead logs laid upon the grass.

They allowed this moment of silence to enjoy nature as the light spread over the horizon.

The first rays of the day lit the Kingdom, shining through a thin layer of grey clouds.

Yet, this wasn't where their mission would end since they still needed to journey onwards and move ahead as they searched for possible paths in the Fall Courts to the mythical gardens.

The portcullis of the fortress began to rise, and the first creatures they witnessed were dryads and nymphs exhibiting the colors of autumn—mostly green, gold, red and brown-- in their features.

"Someone is coming." Xerxes whispered as he treaded on the dried leaves and weary twigs, making them crunch, "The Queen of the Fall Courts had opened the gates for us."

Chill mixed with the scent of apples and roasted chestnuts under crackling fires permeated in the air.

From the gates, The Fall Queen emerged with beauty and grace and Apollyon didn't know how she looked since she wore a mask.

There was something about her smile that Apollyon couldn't quite put the finger on, causing this unexplained sense of fear niggling at the back of his mind. 

Hidden terror might lurk behind this warm and calming demeanor, or perhaps, he was reading too much into their natural charm.