Tales of Revenants

Chapter 81 – The Former Hero

The land and place aren't very welcoming for the outsiders.

Lionbrigade had enormous walls much higher they have seen around Eagleborn Town as they see from a distance. It's as if they had prepared a siege of the sort, fortifying its defenses even further.

Laken's party and the rest had driven off the Nightbeasts that tried to assault their carriage on the way, and they finally arrived at the eastern gate where balakhian soldier guards the passage before they can enter.

As far as Xenon can see, two balakhian soldiers are guarding a gate meant for the populace while the bigger gate guarded by five balakhian soldiers is meant for carriages or vehicles.

They were on a line for inspection and two more carriages before their belongings get examined, Tetra said something that she should tell from the beginning, "Remember Xenon, tell them we're all traveling merchants."

"Wait what?" Eirisse reacted.

"What're you implying? Can't we just tell them you're a Heavenly Hero so we can enter easily?" Xenon suggested.

"No, you fool! The empress said we must meet her with all secrecy because she can't trust her own soldiers after the fall of the emperor." Tetra implies.

"You are aware we can't just enter here without a special permit from the domain's merchant company right? Our merchant pass will get rejected." Eirisse pointed out the obvious.

"That's your problem now," after Tetra said such selfish statement, she used her technomagic arsenals to blend in the air. She utilized her camouflage skin so if ever the balakhian soldiers look inside the carriage, they won't be able to see her.

"Next!" A balakhian soldier beckoned Xenon as their carriage is the next in line.

"What are we going to do now? This is bad!" Xenon's panicking and doesn't know what to do nor what to say. Since their identity is at stake, Eirisse volunteered to disembark from the carriage and take care of the business.

She also doesn't have any scheme to simply get past through the soldiers by force because behind the walls, balakhian soldiers are everywhere. Though Eirisse had the idea of using her beauty to somehow manage to enter the domain as she did in the Frostwolf.

The balakhians soldiers are known to be strict and serious regarding their given task. Needless to say, they are still humans that had hidden desires. Eirisse wanted to take a risk by a simple smooth talk with them.

A soldier carrying a rifle shotgun approached Eirisse after she left the carriage, "Ma'am, tell us your race and what is your business here."

It was that instant she acted as alluring as possible by almost flashing her blossom at a risky view even though she doesn't want to.

She'll nevertheless do it even if her Metamorphosis isn't activated. She had no choice since she demonstrated it for Thalfeur hours ago.

Eirisse meticulously pulled the merchant pass between her chest to grab the soldier's attention as if sexually provoking him, "I am a vampire. We're the traveling merchant, Pandora Corporation."

"Uhm... do you, ha-have the special permit?" The soldier stuttered. She thinks it must be working somehow.

The next thing Eirisse did was to place her palms on her chest acting like she's in a distress, "We are new when it comes to trading so we'd like to get one in the city instead..."

"Is that so? Then let me check your merchant pass." The soldiers said and Eirisse simply gave the pass.

She waited for the soldier to sign a piece of parchment and then he gave back the pass together with the paper he just approved, "This is official permission that you can roam the domain. You may now enter."

"Thank you very much, sir!" Eirisse expressed her gratitude before she embarks on the carriage. Xenon scourged the mechanical horses when the soldier signaled him they can now enter the fortified domain.

"That was nice Eirisse, you nailed it," Alisa remarked.

"Yeah, you're so cool!" Luciella was observing her from the window.

"Doesn't matter anymore... it just felt odd." Eirisse became serious all of a sudden.

Thalfeur's attention shifted to her, "Hm? Something odd...?"

As things went smoothly without any problem, Tetra deactivated her camouflage as it costs a large portion of energy per second.

"No... it's just I think the balakhian soldier I talked with was acting too." Eirisse shared what's troubling her mind.

"I also felt something different about him. But I can see the soldier contains malice as a normal human does." Luciella was watching so she can tell.

"What are you implying?" Tetra asked Eirisse trying to grasp the situation.

"It's just weird when he blushed; his heart didn't beat much faster which is unlikely to happen. When a person gets an expression, their heart palpitates faster. But that balakhian soldier? His heart is stagnant." Eirisse explained.

While Tetra was sending the coordinates of the location of the empress, Xenon also noticed something unusual and said, "Yeah, and they didn't inspect our belonging. What can you say about this Laken?"

"This whole setup doesn't look like a trap to me. However, if ever the balakhian soldiers tried to be offensive, we'll not hesitate to push forward." Laken declared to them an idea they would agree.

Meanwhile, the same balakhian soldier who conversed with Eirisse was hiding in a secluded spot. The black miasma came out of his arm and it revealed the mark of an eye, a member of the Midnight Pentagram.

His body began to deteriorate and changed into the form of a lady who had glossy green hair and a fine figure. The soldier was a woman all along. It undoubtedly manifested her third and fourth eyes afterward, which signifies the possession of dark power.

She faced the wall and a silhouette of a person resembled as she speaks, "My lord... Tetra Sylvana has arrived as your prediction... the asrial and the other Revenants are with her."

"You did a good job, Artarel. Follow the plan as I said, and we shall take control of the Balakh Empire, and sooner, the world!" The man revealed the woman's name to be Artarel. Behind the shadows, he's planning to take over the world.

"I shall follow you, my lord. For the world is yours alone." Artarel uttered before she commenced their evil deeds.

The subtle change of atmosphere Luciella felt around the southern part of the domain is because it's a suburb division. It doesn't look like it's adventurer friendly for first-timers as they don't maintain cleanliness to the surrounding.

The streets were pretty lively, but it has a striking difference from other places like Dethrim and Archreverie.

They can't seem to see someone who uses magic. Even their street lights use electricity coming from the towers of cables around. It was simply depressing for those who came expecting the domain to be a nice place.

Laken's party and the rest arrived at the coordinates Tetra gave. In front of them is a massive division of land that almost covers one-fourth of the domain from north-east direction.

There's no one guarding the gate so Eris simply opened it and Xenon scourged the horses so they can let the carriage inside.

"Hey, are you sure this isn't a trap?" Xenon was slightly worried. It's the mansion of an empress and no one is guarding the place. For him, it sounded so unreal that maybe it's a blunder.

"Don't worry, the pride of the valkyries is present inside the premises. No small-time thug could dare to enter the empress' mansion anyways." Tetra clarified.

When they have reached a certain distance, Luciella has seen a mansion from afar. As they move closer, they were checking the surroundings if there's someone or something that's tailing them.

No one knows what actually could ensue, but once they've arrived at the mansion, they disembarked from the carriage to enter the premises. The structure of the emperor's mansion was quite a classic for their eyes.

The windows are a type of glass pane where it's tinted; meaning those who are inside can see who's approaching while guests can't take a glimpse from outside.

After Tetra gestured from the vicinity, a group of maids came from the entrance as they welcome everyone, "You all may enter. Feel free to feel at home," said by a maiden who's seemingly the head house-maid.

The maids were all quite scary for Luciella considering they wear a black masquerade mask and frilly white dress.

As they enter the mansion, Luciella is carefully observing the maids since she's really interested in their style. But when Laken walked past them, they all suddenly all knelt which surprised her.

The head maid ushered everyone in a first room around the left midsection. The maid wanted to open the door for them though Tetra halts her and volunteered to do it for some reason.

The second the door opened, the rest of them were greeted by three personalities. A woman was sitting on a fancy chair who had clear black hair, wearing a red loose dress pertains to her position as the empress.

Beside her must be a valkyrie, and on the other side was a puny little girl. They all stood up when Laken's party and Tetra entered the room.

Before even introductions happened, the valkyrie knelt down together with the empress and the little girl bowing down.

Luciella can't believe the empress just showed her respect right off the bat. King and queens, emperors and empress only bow down to anyone they deem worthy of such honor. She's wondering if the empress was bestowing honor to Tetra since she's helping her.

After showing formalities, the empress steps forward and said, "Welcome brave warriors, I'm Marielye Nerwingilm, Empress of the Balakh Empire."

The puny little girl beside butted and bluntly said, "Queen of the Archreverie, Nimrie Seredhel." She's way too serious and she looks like a girl who quickly matured, is what Luciella thinks of her.

"Frainan Ladross. It's an honor to meet you again, captain." The valkyrie simply said and she's literally looking at Laken which made Luciella confused.

Eirisse and Alisa couldn't believe she's actually the real deal. The valkyrie who conquered the half a million balakhian soldiers. The savior of the Archreverie and conqueror of the Ladross Prairie.

If she's involved together with the queen of Archreverie and the empress of the Balakh Empire, it was the time they knew how dangerous the quest they've undertaken this time.

Luciella poked Alisa to get her attention and then she asked, "Why is the valkyrie calling Laken, captain?"

"Oh, now that I remember, it seems we forgot to mention it and I'm sure you never saw it in our fragments of memories.... but Laken is..." Alisa's reply got halted when the empress gave them a formal speech.

"I'm truly delighted you arrived safely Tetra, and Laken, despite your false image, you will always be the pride of all humankind. Laken Fernandez, former first Heavenly Hero." Marielye bowed down once again for Laken.

"The past is merely the image of oneself, for I am no longer who I was," Laken replied the empress with humble words.

Luciella was shocked to an extent that changed her perception towards him.

She thought Laken was a commander of knights in the Skyhaven Kingdom before he ventured the world. But it turns out Luciella was the only one who doesn't know he's a previous Heavenly Hero.

Now Luciella fathoms why he can rival the current second Heavenly Hero, Morgan, as well as his unparalleled and overwhelming skill of swordsmanship.

Everyone present at the room was given a chair, and the exchange of information begins to ensue another revelation.