The Matriarch was enjoying the fruits of her political success.
She incited the opposition to act against the invaders and got them killed by Prince Shak's and others' teams.
Then, she punished the invaders by banishing them into the eternal hell "Mad Zone".
The whole event was shining the contrast between the two sides.
The matriarch who's successful in disposing of the invaders and the opposition who were pathetically slaughtered.
This created an unprecedented appeal for the Matriarch that she was placed alongside the legendary leaders of their race.
As she deliberately spread more and more 'rumors' about herself, the half-truths and half-lies were exaggerated by the crowd and turned her into a living legend.
Even a common courtesan could now see that the Matriarch was no longer a ruler but something akin to hope for their race and kingdom.
"Ah~ the taste of power. I finally achieved the goal of my life." The Matriarch sipped the sweet wine collected from exquisite fruits and sighed in delight.
She was currently sitting on the balcony that overlooked the palace garden.
In addition to the beautiful and delicate flower beds, there were also plenty of precious herbs, resourceful trees, and plants grown in the garden. Just a simple breath of air from it would rejuvenate even a mid awakener.
But what the Matriarch liked more was the statue that was being built from the precious alloys.
The statue of a beautiful, mature woman with a grace of a saintess and the demeanor of a warrior, the perfect combination of kindness and cruelty, the Matriarch of Hortians.
As she listened to the chirping of the palace birds and the singing of the delicate animals, the Matriarch descended into a pleasant and calm state.
Seeing her like this, one of the palace maids pressing her shoulders asked with caution. "M-Matriarch, may I ask you something?"
The Matriarch would've reprimanded the maid for the courage to ask her in normal times. But now she's in a good mood. So she simply hummed, "Hm."
"Tw-Mad Zone, can those I-invaders come out?"
The Matriarch's expression froze for a moment before she let out a soft chuckle. "No. It's impossible. We lost countless warriors to that damn place. None of them came out. Even the Sovereigns didn't."
"B-But the legends say Sovereigns came out after paying a price and that's how we learn the reality of that place." The maid couldn't help her curiosity.
"The price," The Matriarch paused and exhaled. "Is a treasure that they shouldn't have wasted. Remember, the reason we learned the reality of that place is a treasure, not people. No one can return from that place, after all, it is…"
The Matriarch trailed off and opened her eyes. Looking at the horizon, she spoke in a cold voice. "What a great way to ruin my mood. It seems like you are asking for whipping."
"P-Please forgive me," The maid cried out. "I…I lost my grandfather to the invaders. I saw them up close when I was a child. T-They're strong. Much stronger than our Sovereigns. I was just afraid that they can do something our Sovereigns couldn't."
The Matriarch waved her hand and the maid shut her mouth. Her stiff body, however, loosened.
Even though the Matriarch could be ruthless, she wasn't unreasonable. To the people who didn't go against her, she was even quite tolerant and willing to listen.
If this same scenario occurred with any previous ruler, they'd have punished the maid severely.
Perhaps this tolerance to the common people and subordinates was one of the unspoken reasons for Matriarch's popularity.
"It's not a question of strong or weak Sovereign," the Matriarch stretched her body and looked at the northwest as if she could see the Twilight Zone lurking there. "Twilight Zone, Infinity Zone, and Deviant Zone, they aren't things that any mortal being can overcome."
"Any mortal being…" The Maid repeated in a daze.
The Matriarch smiled at the young maid and patted her soft cheek. With a meaningful expression, she mused. "Why do you think our scriptures called these zones divine? Or they praised them as a blessing?"
"No way…" The Maid felt her worldview collapse. "M-Matriarch, I-isn't that just some random rambling? How can it be created by gods?"
"Then you tell me." The Matriarch smirked. "Who in this world can make a place to resurrect a dead person and make a dead an Undead? And to make a place that would last for tens, no, hundreds of thousands of years without any intervention?"
"…Are there really gods in the world out there? Did the gods come to us?" The Maid's eyes started tearing up. "T-Then why did they abandon us? Why did they lock us up in this world? Why? What sin did we commit? What sin did I commit?"
The Matriarch's smile receded and she held onto the railings of the balcony and looked at the sky. "The gods walked in this land in the distant past. They are the creators of this world. They are our creators too.
And no, they didn't abandon us. They selected us. We are the inhabitants of the greatest world created by the gods. Only a person of great destiny can clear the trials of this place and become the lord of this world.
Alas, the gods set the bar too high. Even after hundreds of millions of years, no one passed the trial. No one was worthy enough.
So, little one, we aren't cursed. We didn't sin. We are blessed. It's just, our blessings are too much that we suffer."
The depth of the Matriarch's words and their implications weren't grasped by the young maid or the maids with her.
But they were curious about the gods.
"T-Then, M-Matriarch, will the gods return one day and set us free?"
"Hahahaha!" The Matriarch burst out laughing as if she heard the funniest thing in the world.
The maids were bewildered and grew stiff thinking they pissed her off.
But after a few minutes of continuous laughter, the Matriarch looked at the young maid and said in the softest voice she could muster.
"The gods are dead."
