BXBX NOVEL Chapter 314 314 - The Duty Of Heavenly Bodies
"Ouroboros…" She muttered, pressing her hands against the sandstone artifact. "The devourer of the world, the herald to the apocalypse, and one so blinded by his pursuit for power he devourers himself whole."
"Sounds familiar, doesn\'t it?" Appearing out of thin air, the cloudy image of the prince of hell stood leaning against the walls of the passage right behind Helga.
For once, she didn\'t mind his deplorable presence. Instead, she was glad that he was here so they could settle on something extremely important.
"You and I both know how this ends," turning to the prince, Helga folded her hand and leaned back against the mural. "If that demon has acquired that title, then nothing can stop him except us, that too only if we move quickly."
Kicking the wall, the prince stood straight up and conjured a light to smoke while the two talked. Even though it was just a reflection of him from the underworld, Helga could still smell the tobacco as he burned the end of his cigar.
"Well, what do you suggest we do then?" Blowing smoke towards the Valkyrie, the prince huffed a sigh and continued. "Not only is that maggot on the path to steal my title, but he\'s also your biggest enemy against the world\'s end. For all we know he might never let you destroy it if he gets strong enough before those goons of yours get him under control."
"And your hellspawns, how effective have they been?" Helga shot back, her eyes scowling behind the iron visor.
"More than that elf and human you\'re commanding. I\'ve even gotten hold of one of his minions, Riley Phoenix she\'s called," The prince retorted, blowing smoke right onto her face again.
Fanning it off, Helga gritted her teeth and threw a punch right through the prince\'s illusionary body. To the surprise of neither, her fist went him and she was left grunting behind the image of the prince.
"It\'s not my fault you refuse to defy your duties and just get your own fingers down in the mud," taking a final hit of the cigar, the prince threw it in Helga\'s direction but that too went right through her body. "It\'d be much easier if you just bend the rules for a day or two, that monster doesn\'t stand a chance against your strength."
"Shut up!" Screaming at him, Helga turned to look the prince in the eyes. Lifting up her iron visor she glared at him with her iris glowing a piercing emerald. "Unlike you, I have a duty to uphold and a set of rules to abide by! If I go against them and kill even an ant on Atlas before the apocalypse, then what difference will be left between you and me?"
The prince\'s indifference quickly dropped into utter disappointment. He hadn\'t come here just to boast about his own progress, but he\'d expected Helga to have acquired some sense and break the vows that held her back from unleashing her true power.
"And here I thought you must have changed after killing one go after the other," clicking his tongue, the image of the prince of hell disappeared from before Helga\'s eyes.
Left alone in the crypt, she took a deep breath to calm herself before gazing at the mural once more. A giant serpent or a dragon, hard to tell yet disastrously all the same. Eating at its own tail, it signified a cycle, a cycle of perpetual life and death along with…
\'A symbol of the world\'s end and perhaps the birth of another as well.\' Unsure exactly which one Haruki would be, Helga knew something had to be done, but breaking the rules of her vows to do so wasn\'t really an option. \'There must be something that I-\'
"My queen," walking up behind her, one of the Valyrian guards knelt down behind Helga.
Taking just a moment to wash her expression, Helga lowered her visor and turned to the girl.
"What is it? Coming in here without my permission, this better be important, soldier," Helga asked, wearing a stern expression.
"Your messengers in Atlas have caught something of interest," peering up at her queen through her own visor, the Valkyrie added. "I believe it requires your immediate attention and that\'s why I barged into the sacred sanctum despite not being worthy."
"And you know the punishment?" Conjuring her trident, Helga got ready to carry out the supposed punishment.
Without even a word, the Valkyrie simply lowered her head and got ready for yet another trip to the fountain of life as a newborn.
"Very well, I\'ll check with the others what they\'ve found," glaring down at her soldier, Helga felt a sense of pride from the girl\'s actions. "You did well, now rest for a while."
Whispering those last few words, the queen did what had to be done. As the soldier\'s head rolled off her shoulders, her body burst into a glister and the dust trailed off into the direction of the fountain.
With not even a speck of the Valkyrie\'s ashes left behind, Helga marched towards the exit and made her way back to her tent.
***
"Asmodia and Haruki aren\'t in their camp at the moment, this is our chance to grab the war general and potentially one of the demi-humans he\'s close to as well," talking directly to Michael through the minds, the elven scout gave them the green to invade the demons\' tents.
"Alright, you guys can return to the village, don\'t want the other elves to blame me for your deaths too in case that happens," with a simple order from Micheal, the scout bagged his telescope and went on to meet with the others from his group so they could return home safely.
Not too far away from the scouting area, Micheal and Razor were ready to assault the demon\'s camp with a handful of adventurers and some demi-human tribesmen who\'d agreed to help them reduce Haruki\'s influence in Atlas.
Gathered under the trees, they\'d so far managed to slip unnoticed but now it was time to reveal themselves and take down some demons. And even though some of the participants in the upcoming battle didn\'t seem to be the most reliable bet, they were all ready to lay their lives on the line for a change of freedom from a growing tyrant.
"Alright, let me remind you of your roles again," gathering everyone into files, Razor stood near a raised tree, looking down at the others as he relayed the agreed-upon orders. "Demons, monsters, and demi-humans are all sensitive to light, and so when Michael creates a bright distraction in the sky, the human adventurers are to follow me and grab as many hostages as possible, mainly that Greta girl, and if and only if possible Asuka, Haruki\'s closest aide."
Shifting his gaze to the group of demi-humans, Razor glanced through their ranks before relaying their orders as well.
"All demi-humans are to shield their eyes until Michael\'s distraction is over, but the moment it\'s let down you\'re all going to make sure that the adventurers aren\'t followed while retreating with the haul. But do keep in mind, if you get captured yourself nobody will come to get you so be careful," lastly moving onto the monster tribes they\'d gathered under their banner from here and there, Razor parted his lips for one last set of orders. "As for you guys, act as if you\'re rogue monsters and keep watch on the demons once everything is settled."
\'Never thought I would say this when I first met the adventurers, but with Asmodia and Haruki both away, we can definitely put up a front against the demons.\' Although still not that confident in the abilities of his new companions, Razor was beginning to wonder if they could actually take down the decaying god.
The only problem so far had been the Mistress of Lust, and the other demon lords on Haruki\'s side. Fighting them would\'ve been definite suicide, but since they\'ve been scatted all over the land of Atlas currently, this was the perfect time to create an opening that they could use later on to finally get rid of them all.
Feeling optimistic, Razor glanced over to Micheal at the very end of the gathered army of soldiers. Unlike him, however, the elf seemed to be musing in quite the opposite manner.
\'What kind of can of worms will kidnapping Greta and Asuka open? Maybe we can finally find out what happened to Nabe and Dominion as well as many other secrets. Yet, for some reason, I doubt Haruki will stay silent for long once he finds out what we\'ve done…\' Heaving a sigh, Micheal raised his gaze to meet Razor\'s, and with a hesitant nod, he finally signaled the start of their operation.