1307 Past And Present Grudges[Part 1]
"Take care," Erinys said. "I will be waiting for you here."
"Okay," William said as he lightly patted her head. "I'll return as soon as I can."
Erinys nodded before giving William one last hug. A minute later, she reluctantly pulled back and stepped away.
"I'll be waiting for you inside my boat," Erinys stated before pointing at the black tower in the distance. "Your wife is located at the top of the Tower of Wrath. But beware, this place is the most chaotic place in the Underworld.
"Everyone here in the Plains of Wrath is out to kill you, so don't trust anyone. It will be safe if you just kill anyone you see. They are all bad guys anyway."
William smiled. "Don't miss me too much, okay?"
Erinys snorted. "Go. Make sure to keep your blood packs with you. I don't want to see you crying like a little kid when you get back because you ran out of blood packs."
"You're the small one here."
"Height is irrelevant! I'm a Half-ling! Have you seen a tall Half-ling?!"
William smirked before waving goodbye to Erinys.
As much as he wanted the little girl's company, the latter adamantly refused to accompany him across the Plains of Wrath, saying that none of the Ferryman were allowed to step on it without permission from above.
The Half-Elf didn't know whether Erinys was telling the truth or not, but he decided to trust her.
Watching his back grow smaller, and smaller in the distance. Erinys placed her right hand over her chest.
In truth, she could accompany William just fine. However, she didn't want to experience the discomfort she felt in Lust's Abode, when the Half-Elf was being intimate with his wives.
She was still confused about her feelings towards the black-haired teenager, who had drunk her blood several times during their trip down the River of Hell.
Erinys didn't even know if William treated her as a lady, instead of a little girl due to her small physique.
She didn't see him blushing when the two of them slept naked together, which made her feel that he didn't find her attractive, and only used her as his blood supply and a hug pillow that he could cuddle at night.
"Who am I kidding?" Erinys sighed. "I'm the one that forced that setting to him every night."
It was indeed her who liked to cuddle with William, and the one responsible for telling him to not wear anything when they sleep together, because she liked the warmth of his skin against hers.
'Is this what it means to become an adult?' Erinys thought as she rested her left hand over her chest. 'I didn't know that I'd feel this hurt to see someone leave me.'
Erinys sighed for the second time as William's image disappeared from her view.
"Come back soon… Will," Erinys muttered. "I'm lonely…"
—---
As William embarked on his journey in the Plains of Wrath, a great battle was taking place in the sky above the Ainsworth Empire.
After their loss against the Half-Elf's subordinates, the Pope became lowkey for nearly a month before launching an all out offensive against William's Empire.
Although there was suspicion that there was a spy among their ranks, the Pope once again gathered the five Pseudo-Gods and took them to the special domain that belonged to the Holy Order of Light.
After that, the Pseudo-Gods erected several barriers, and signed individual contracts with the Pope that none of them would leak their plans no matter what.
Because of this, they had managed to catch William's forces by surprise, taking the battlefield to the capital city of the Ainsworth Empire.
"Dammit! Don't you care about who we have as our hostages?!" Loxos cursed out loud as she guided the ranged attacks of her allies towards their enemies.
The Pseudo-Gods didn't respond and simply attacked their respective targets, according to the plan that the Pope had drafted beforehand.
The sound of the whistling wind reached Loxos' ears, forcing her to dodge to the side as Belle's arrow flew past her.
A moment later, a portal opened two meters in front of her, revealing one of the Pseudo-Gods that specialized in close ranged combat.
"Got you, girlie!" the Pseudo-God said as he delivered a powerful punch to Loxos' stomach, making the latter's body bend like a shrimp.
Loxos' pained gasp lasted for only a second before the Pseudo-God grabbed her body and pulled her back inside the portal, which closed as soon as she was captured by the enemy.
"No! Loxos!" Opis shouted. "Dammit!"
Hekaerge gritted her teeth before glaring in the direction where the young nymph was taken.
As someone that held the Divinity over distance, she was able to see where the enemy had taken her sister.
"Finally, we got you," the Pope pulled Loxos' hair, who was sprawled on the deck of the flying ship after she was captured by the Pseudo-God under the Palace of Light.
Her hands, and feet were bound by golden manacles, preventing her from using her power. Right now, she was not different from an ordinary girl, which could be found all over Hestia.
"You like to curse right?" the Pope sneered as she pulled her hair harder. "Let's see how you talk big this time."
"You old hag, you won't get away with this!" Loxos shouted. "William will save me!"
The Pope smirked as she pulled Loxos' face close to hers. "That's what we're counting on. We've long wanted to catch that bastard and make him understand who he is dealing with."
Belle, who was standing at the helm of the ship, gave Loxos a side-long glance.
'Another one of his women,' Belle thought as she narrowed his eyes. 'Her name wasn't on the list last time. It seems that he has really forgotten his promise.'
The black-haired beauty then nocked another arrow on her bow as she aimed it at Triton, who was fighting against a Pseudo-God whose strength matched his. Her role was to support the other Pseudo-Gods as they followed their strategy to weaken William's forces.
Capturing Loxos, whom they deemed as the greatest threat in the battlefield, was only one of their strategies in order to gain the upper hand in the battle against foes that outnumbered them.
However, before she could even fire her arrow, something caught her attention, prompting her to jump back from where she stood. A moment later, a silver spear embedded itself into the helm of the ship, exactly where she was standing just a second ago.
After missing its target, the spear disengaged itself from the deck of the flying ship and flew towards the sky.
The Pope as well as the other Pseudo-Gods were alarmed because they hadn't noticed that an enemy had managed to get so close to them without them detecting their presence. This was simply unbelievable, and even Belle, who specialized in scouting long distances, didn't notice the enemy's attack until the very last second.
"You…," Belle muttered as she gazed at a familiar face.
"Yes. It is me."
A confident voice coming from someone that Belle had met in the past reached everyone's ears.
"... This is troubling," one of the Pseudo-Gods frowned as he looked up at the young lady who was riding on top of a wolf with lightning streaks in its fur.
The Pope snorted before letting go of Loxos' hair. She then pointed her finger at the newcomer who was standing fearlessly above their flying ship.
"Who are you?" the Pope asked. "Why are you getting in our way?"
The beautiful lady with long blonde hair that fluttered in the breeze, glanced down at the Pope with her clear blue eyes that were similar to the sky around her.
She was wearing a feathered helmet, and light-plated armor, which held a design that the Pope had not seen in the past.
"Who am I?" the blonde-beauty asked back. "You don't know who I am?"
The beautiful valkyrie pointed the tip of his spear towards Belle, ignoring the Pope completely. A smile adorned her beautiful face, and an air of confidence could be felt around her. It was as if she didn't care if the one she was fighting against were beings stronger than her.
"Since you don't know who I am, allow me to introduce myself," the Valkyrie said, ignoring the two Pseudo-Gods that had risen up in the air to confront her.
"I am the Prince of Darkness' First Wife…," Wendy announced, making the battles around her momentarily stop as everyone looked at her enchanting figure.
Even Loxos, who laid helplessly on the ground, forced herself to turn her head to look at the lady who claimed to be Wiliam's first wife.
Wendy ignored the gazes aimed in her direction, and stared down on the black-haired beauty, who was gazing back at her with a determined look on her face.
They had met once on Earth, and both of them knew that there would come a time when they would settle their score with each other.
"The Prince of Darkness' First Wife?" The Pope muttered as a dawn of understanding came upon her.
"Yes. His First Wife," Wendy gave Belle a sweet smile, making the latter arch an eyebrow at her.
Belle had been saved by Wendy during the battle in K-City. Back then, the black-haired beauty was even captivated by how amazing the Valkyrie was when she drove off the monsters that were trying to attack the people around her.
Now, that same person had reappeared in front of her. Only this time, she was pointing the tip of her weapon in her direction, as if challenging her into a duel in the name of the man they both loved.
"I am Wendy Von Ainsworth," Wendy declared. "And I have come to teach you trespassers a lesson you will never forget."