The holy ritual of the kingdom was set to begin.
As suspected, this had less to do with ceremonies and more with a real obstacle that had to be cleared.
The whole process happened in a Synthetic world with high constraints. As far as the myths go, this Synthetic World was the 'home' of Palarians, where the first of their kind emerged.
To draw parallel, they're like the indigenous members of Hortus who broke out of their isolated world and stepped onto the world stage.
"Any rank 9 could do it with ease. In fact, they were the ones for this job. But that synthetic world has become too fragile. One time, it came close to destruction. From then, they avoided even rank 8s and went to using only rank 7s."
Sonya explained in a nervous voice, her eyes trailing to a veiled woman sitting next to her.
'Miss Calamity…it's really her!'
Other than confusion, there was also nervousness in sitting with a powerhouse who would soon reach the divine rank.
Sonya spent the last five centuries chasing after her sister's footsteps, trying to fill her shoes and realizing every single time that she's not enough. She's never enough.
Her shattered self-esteem would've been further bogged down had she Miss Calamity any other time.
But after meeting the mysterious 'brother-in-law', she gradually learned some truths that twisted her world view.
Varian himself didn't say anything. It was Isadora who 'ranted' her frustrations about a 'monster' in the house.
'A 19 year old rank 7.'
'He awakened a year and half ago.'
'I'm just saying this, Sonya. But there's a chance…only a little though, very very little, that he might reach the divine ranks before I do.'
When the confident expression of that monstrous man reflected in her eyes, she didn't feel any inferiority towards Miss Calamity.
While they had great differences in talent, the differences between them and Varian were much larger and eclipsed that gap. It's like two ants competing in front of a lion.
"So, we'll be competing against the strongest rank 7s of the kingdom?" Sarah, still with a light blue veil on, asked in a rather cold voice.
"A-Almost." Sonya straightened her back and answered in a stiff voice.
She couldn't help it.
Even though the question was directed at her, Sarah's sky blue eyes were looking at Miss Calamity who was sitting across her.
Miss Calamity and Sonya were on one sofa while Varian and Enigma were on other. Sarah sat alone. In a triangular formation, they all faced each other. Perhaps because of the proximity, Sonya shivered at the cold breeze.
Enigma didn't show it in the open but she was clinging to Varian more than usual.
It's not jealousy.
They were both suspicious of Miss Calamity and apprehensive of her motives.
Even more so after they realized she knew his identity as 'Constantine'.
'If she tried to attack you, we'll stop her, if only for one moment. Use that opportunity and return to Hortus. Avenge us later.'
Before this meeting, Sarah told Varian those words.
She wasn't joking.
In her defense, Varian had a tendency to get into dangers everywhere he went. And Miss Calamity's behavior was very unexpected.
As Isadora's 'disciple', Sarah learned a lot about the woman. What's certain was that, while Isadora accepted a divine ranker as a master, it's only in name. Forget a proper apprenticeship, she didn't even see her master more than a couple times.
Miss Calamity, the junior disciple, was excited about her senior. Isadora treated her well, as she did with Sonya and others.
But Sarah found it hard to believe that a person would remember the kindness and act decently after five full centuries.
Was she becoming too cynical or was Miss Calamity concealing her intentions too well?
"If we're just going to fight against rank 7s, consider it done." Varian shrugged but his voice contained no hint of pride, as if it's normal and expected.
Princess Sonya wanted to shed some silent tears. From barely being able to win her to crushing her with a single punch, he'd grown too much, too soon.
Due to her own experience, Sonya had no doubts that Miss Calamity too would be in the same boat.
"It's not that simple." The silent Enigma looked at Miss Calamity for a long moment before continuing. "Not anticapting danger is dangerous. We should make contingency plans."
"Eeh?" Miss Calamity tilted her head. "Just make sure you handle the things inside. With me around, no one can trouble you outside."
"…Yeah." Sarah nodded with a small smile but even Sonya who met her recently could tell it was only a polite smile.
It's unclear whether Miss Calamity couldn't feel their hostilities or decided to simply ignore them. But the conversation carried on smoothly.
"Alright~ I'm on a break anyway, so don't mind my presence."
Without any awkwardness, Miss Calamity stood up and picked up a room to live in.
Once she left, the atmosphere cooled down and the trio looked at each other in heavy silence.
It's the type of silence you'd see before the criminals decide to murder the innocent woman.
'Scary!'
Sonya planned to escape and slowly got up.
"So this centerpiece of the home world, tell me about it."
Varian's words caused her to freeze in an awkward posture where she was half-seated and half-standing.
The little princess stayed like that, as if she was doing an exercise and began talking.
"Anvil of Fortune or Fortune Anvil, it's described even in the oldest myths. It's said that All-Mother Asherah sough a powerful divine being to create a complex tool to serve as the foundation of an entire race."
"Nexus Empire?"
"Yes. The natal treasures of Palarians are linked to Fortune Anvil. It's…I'm not sure how it does or what it does. But it's the reason why this race is what it is." Sonya herself didn't know much about it.
Their original mission was very simple. In that context, perhaps knowing this much was not even encouraged.
"This is a taboo topic and I shouldn't be saying this…but I've been informed this because I was a candidate for the crown princess."
The little princess had a wry smile on her face. Perhaps she was looking back at her attempts to snatch the throne. It's funny how her plans were completely flipped.
"There are a lot of protocols in cases of emergency.
For instance, a rank 9 warrior sneaking through the kingdom's barrier was because of a traitor.
If the situation is repeated again, the crown princess would have the power to mobilize the patrolling armed units and create a blockade to the intruder.
One of the protocol, the last in fact, refers to the scenario where the Pala kingdom gets invaded and crushed by a foreign force.
At that point, the King and Martial Saint are obliged to protect the rising geniuses.
The leader of the next generation, the crown princess is obliged to protect not the capital but the home world.
And if she had to choose between all the rising geniuses and Fortune Anvil, no, even every single member of the race and Fortune Anvil, she is ordered to pick the Fortune Anvil."
