Fill the Gap (5)
The only supercontinent, Latna.
At the heart of the vast land laid the Mediterranean Metis, the Three Continental Powers, and the Four Prohibited Areas.
“West of the Ice-Flame Forest, north of the Tower Mountain, east of the Grand Maze Kaltan, south of the Floating Island Avalta…”
Hollien continued slowly.
“It was Genovia’s plan to give up the beyond, to narrow the world to only the Three Continental Powers under Goddess’ protection.”
Kibie turned pale.
“You guys are so crazy…”
Indeed at that rate, Latna itself wouldn’t perish.
The world would be small enough to be maintained even with limited divinity.
No, the people of the three continental powers might feel that the world had become better.
As the range narrowed, the density of protection would increase, so all dungeons within the Three Continental Powers would disappear and not reappear.
At least the three kingdoms could completely repel the influence of Omphalos.
But in exchange…
The rest of the world would turn into hell.
That meant turning all but the central part of the continent into the Four Prohibited Areas!
“You’re going to throw away 70% of Latna and make a good habitat only for you with the remaining areas?”
Hollien bowed her head even more profoundly.
“Let’s do that… It was a plan to take the time to restore the world slowly. First of all…”
They would be a God and Goddesses by then.
They would have plenty of time.
“Sigh…”
Kibie sighed with her hands on her forehead.
She understood why the servants of the Top Three she’d met so far spoke in that way.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"}) -Nothing will happen in Latna!
-The world will not perish!
It was a difference of perspective.
For them, the world was all about the three continental powers, the great powers they were born and raised at.
The other places didn’t count as Latna at all.
Countless human beings were living in the countryside they ignored!
“I don’t quite understand how you can think that way…”
Kibie recited helplessly.
“Thinking about it, it’s common in human history.”
She could still keenly feel that she didn’t understand mortals.
Maybe the same went for the other five Goddesses.
Unlike what Kybriel did because of the power of Omphalos, the Goddesses didn’t confirm their sincerity.
“Could you sleep with such a terrible plan?”
“I’m sorry, Incarnation of the Goddess.”
Frightened, Hollien replied cautiously.
“We thought it wasn’t a bad choice for Latna’s future.”
First of all, the influence of Omphalos would be eliminated even in the Three Continental Powers.
And they would gradually expand Latna’s territory again.
In other words, they intended to recover the territory after a temporary retreat.
Most of the Goddess’s wisdom was sealed, but she could see that it was possible.
“And yet I still find it foolish and terrible.”
It was like parents with lots of children leaving one best child behind and raising him well, killing all the rest.
Afterward, only then would they take the time to have children again.
The concept was so human-like.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"}) “Thanks to that, one thing has become clear.”
The incarnation of darkness despised it.
“You have no chance of repenting for yourself.”
* * *
While Han-bin’s party was growing in strength, Allendia was also steadily preparing for the war.
When the original regime changed, there was bound to be a lot of noise.
There was no other choice but to have a conflict between the newly in power and the existing ones.
But nothing like a blood purge happened.
That was one of the reasons why they had established their cause by informing the world of the incarnation’s descent. And above all, it was thanks to that that they became the most dedicated collaborator who should represent the existing powers.
Former Fairy King Loflan Roel Strauss.
He was no longer a member of the royal family, but he was still the Head of the Strauss family.
He still had considerable influence throughout the kingdom, so if he secretly conspired with Kaldris and the Mado Kingdom, it would be a pretty severe blow for Allendia.
In fact, at first, he was going to do that.
Loflan didn’t accept the result even after his abdication.
For him, who didn’t know what was going on, it didn’t end in his downfall.
It was a terrible result of the traditional Fairy Kingdom being taken by the six denominations.
As the king of the country, he couldn’t just watch such an event happened. It was his duty to dream of a comeback.
But his attitude changed entirely after hearing the truth from his wife.
“Oh, my God! What have you done, Hollien?”
“I’m sorry, Loflan. I’m sorry…”
Loflan, who reunited with Hollien at the ruined royal villa, finally heard the whole story.
And he just let out a deep sigh.
He wasn’t in a situation to care about coming back on the throne.
His beloved wife had truly committed an indescribable sin against Latna as a whole.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"}) And her husband, Loflan, couldn’t be free of that responsibility either.
“I will do my best to cooperate with the incarnation of darkness and the six Churches.”
He immediately canceled his plan to recapture the Fairy Kingdom.
The reason Loflan’s crown was usurped wasn’t that he was stupid or he was a tyrant.
He didn’t know what had happened because it was beyond the common sense of the world.
If the Fairy Queen and the heir to the four royal families conspired to usurp the throne, Loflan would have noticed.
There must’ve been a political and military movement to match it.
But what Hollien was trying to do was not mundane.
Along with Archmage, who had always been close to her, she only conducted personal matters with the successors of the original four royal families.
There was no suspicious political movement in the process.
But how did Loflan not know what’s going on?
However, once he had grasped the situation, he could make a clear judgment.
“I don’t think there’s a chance for the incarnation of darkness to win, but…”
Even so, he had to side with Kibie.
“Garhan and Genovia are friendly towards you, Hollien. So even if we cooperate with the incarnation, there’s not much chance that they’ll be angry about it.”
She lost her strength.
She was working together with them to survive.
“Moreover, when they win, it means they’ll become a God and a Goddess. Most people who get their hands on what they want most are generous.”
On the other hand, the Goddess would work according to principles.
“Even if Kibie forgives you and feels bad for you, Kybriel won’t.”
Kybriel would rule out human emotions and strictly set punishment for Hollien’s sins, and punishment would proceed according to her atonement.
Hence, they had to cooperate with the incarnation of darkness.
So that regardless of which side would win…
“I will be able to protect the Strauss family and you.”
Loflan smiled softly, implying, ‘This is the best choice, both in terms of justice and reason.’
Hollien blinked at him blankly.
All along, Loflan never criticized her.
He was thinking about how to behave at that point.
“Don’t you blame me, Loflan?”
Loflan answered in vain to his dreadfully inquiring wife.
“Even if the Goddess didn’t forgive you, Hollien, I will.”
Later, Loflan actively cooperated with Sormel, the new Fairy King.
It comforted the opposition within Allendia and immensely helped the four new royal families take over.
In the meantime, of course, he didn’t forget the political negotiations.
The former four royal families of the fallen Fairy Kingdom limited their punishment to the leadership and allowed the family to maintain itself.
Sormel also readily accepted it.
He didn’t mean to execute them anyway.
He would rather be grateful if he could make a justification for forgiveness.
Thanks to that, the former four royal families lost only their royal status and retained their nobility.
Each family’s leaders also ended up with a reasonably light sentence of serving for Allendia in the war as a commoner.
Of course, it wasn’t satisfactory.
Some of them couldn’t be taken lightly.
* * *
At the Starlight Lantern Palace, a detached villa where Queen Hollien stayed, there was a shrill cry of Seira.
“What’s this, Raondel? There’s dust on the glass!”
Soon, a handsome Elf young man in uniform rushed over and lowered his head.
“I’m sorry, Princess Seira.”
“Get me a new one!”
“… Yes.”
Raondel, embracing the glass, hardened his face.
It was an unbearable humiliation for him, who had been propped up all his life.
And even more, if the person in charge had been his subordinate not too long ago.
‘What the hell is this?’
Seira squinted.
“Oh, you look spiteful. Do you have any complaints?”
Raondell managed his facial expression with great effort.
“No, I don’t think so.”
He turned his back, the glass in his hand, and gritted his teeth.
‘We’ll see, Seira! I’ll pay you back a thousand and ten thousand times for this humiliation!’
Crossing with him leaving the room, a silver-haired girl stepped inside.
Looking back at Raondel, who was moving away, Effir frowned.
“Is that alright?”
“What?”
“He just walked past with his eyes cursing.”
“Oh, I can see the look on his face without looking at it directly.”
Seira shrugged.
“I tried to break the glass and get it cleaned up like what he did before, but I can’t even break a decent glass…”
She hadn’t lived in poverty, but no matter how rich she was, a sane person wouldn’t destroy everyday things recklessly.
“Well, how did Raondel wake up so bratty, not knowing that it was such a waste? There’s a saying to put yourself in a different position, but in my case, I don’t understand it anymore just because my position has changed.”
“Well, he was unique in many ways.”
Smiling, Effir looked at Seira.
She then raised a question.
“You’re so nice, aren’t you?”
“What do you mean, nice?”
“Raondel was supposed to be a soldier to serve in a war.”
Seira deliberately took him as her servant.
It would have been difficult to live long if he had been dragged to the battlefield at Raondel’s level, so it could be said that she saved his life.
Frankly, Effir didn’t think she could have done that.
“Didn’t you just save his life despite being used like that?”
Seira’s answer was a bit surprising.
“You want me just to kill him just because of that?”
“Oh, were you deliberately trying to kill him slowly? Well, revenge is revenge…”
“Oh, I’m not doing this for revenge.”
Seira smiled insidiously, waving her hands.
“Even so, that feeling’s quite useful.”
* * *
At the same time, the Regent Palace of Kaldris.
A group of people lined up in front of Garhan.
The level of the middle-aged swordsman in front of the Thunder King was reflected.
[Race: Human. Magic Swordsman lv. 91]
The others with him were also powerful individuals in level 70s and 80s.
Kadris Special Forces, Einstale.
They were soldiers specialized in infiltration and secret operations.
Garhan asked them softly.
“Everyone must be familiar with the mission, right?”
“Of course.”
Horns, the commander of the Einstale unit, responded in a determined voice.
“Save Queen Hollien, and we will restore order in Latna!”
