City of Sin

Book 7, 5

Princess Apeiron

One of the saints waiting nearby walked out to block off the arch leading to the Archeron portal, butting heads with the head of the rune knights. His aura flared up, and despite some grunting, he managed to stop the mount from advancing. This rough-looking man was only middling for a saint, but he was still much stronger than an individual rune knight.

However, the rune knight was someone from the battlefield as well. A true-blooded Archeron himself, he wasn’t one to retreat just because the opponent was strong. He started pouring more energy into the confrontation, lifting his sword off his back.

With the imminent threat of being attacked by multiple rune knights, the saint’s eyes immediately bulged with a trace of fear. He immediately shouted out, “Are the Archerons so arrogant that they want to keep the blue moon to themselves? Do you want to become enemies of all of Faust?”

The rune knight simply ducked down in answer to the threat, taking a step back as he prepared to charge. However, he suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around, seeing Richard shake his head. Despite his unwillingness, he stood down. Richard moved over to the saint, who immediately took a step back himself in fear. That one step became many more as Extinction was pulled from its sword case.

“Wait a—” the man didn’t get to finish his words as Richard disappeared into a shower of blue sparks, jumping off his mount and cutting down. He raised his sword and bracer to block, but all he saw was a blue flame that just passed through both without hindrance before cutting across his neck. Before one could even tell, Richard was back on his mount and quenching a blue flame from his blade. A moment later, a soft breeze blew the saint’s head off his body, face still stuck in horror.

There was no shower of blood, but the onlookers still felt themselves losing control of their bodies. Even a saint had died so easily? The head hadn’t even fallen down before the sword and bracer shattered.

“A mere saint dares block the Archerons?” Richard’s voice thundered, waking everyone up from their stupor. There were still over a dozen saints here, but with one falling so easily the rest finally realised that they were at great risk. Nobody wanted to be the second to test his patience; Richard was known to have killed saints before he was even a grand mage.

“I’m going to the Church of the Eternal Dragon,” he continued, “Whoever dares to try and stop me will be killed.”

100 rune knights marched in unison, their auras flaring up in threat. Their bloody swords showed that it wasn’t an empty threat, and Richard had them march straight out through the crowd. Some people were about to join the saint who had blocked the path, but their words died before they were even spoken. A lot of people could be foolhardy when the outcome was certain, but dying in vain was completely different. The smouldering body on the ground showed Richard’s determination; even if every minor noble in Faust was here, they would just be walking into a bloodbath.

Richard’s march was open and uncontested. Nobles, soldiers, saints, and even multiple legendary beings watched him along the way, but not one stood up to fight for the blue moon. The killing intent Richard was radiating wasn’t fake, nor was that of his knights. The nobles couldn’t offend a major family, the soldiers couldn’t withstand the knights’ halberds, the saints couldn’t help but fear Richard himself, and the legendary beings eyed the tracking javelins the rune knights had in one hand.

Richard thus went all the way to the Church of the Eternal Dragon, his three boxes of offerings undisturbed.

......

Thor watched Richard enter the Church of the Eternal Dragon from the top floor of the Mage Association, shaking his head with a sigh, “He’s a really murderous kid.”

An old mage nearby coughed a few times, “Are you really letting him take the blue moon?”

Thor simply stroked his beard, “Maybe it was destined to be his.”

“I know not everything is mine to take,” the mage said with a wistful smile, “But that was an artefact with a soul...”

Thor nodded in understanding. Even legendary mages had to count on fate to get an artefact with a soul, but his concern right now was different. Seeing the old mage continue to cough, he asked with concern, “Don’t strain yourself, how bad was it?”

The mage sighed, “The spell breaking wasn’t the worst part. Some of the blue moonforce invaded my body, and it’s been ravaging it since. I still have no idea how to clear it out.”

“Oh? Alucia should only be an intermediate god now. You’ve been exploring the myriad planes for many years, how hard can it be to eliminate the power of a single one of her moons?”

“That’s what I thought,” the legendary mage smiled bitterly, “Now, I realise that isn’t the case about it all. How is Alucia only an intermediate deity? Even this one moon alone qualifies her to be a greater one.”

“Will you recover?”

“Oh, certainly, but it will take time. I underestimated the blue moon’s power. Hmm, we have a visitor.”

The old mage looked around, and Thor smiled coldly as well, “Since you’re already here, you might as well come in.”

The door opened up to reveal a middle-aged man in a dark swallow-tailed coat appeared, the same one who had confronted Richard a short while ago. He wore an elegant fake smile on his face, and even though he’d just opened the door he knocked in a false display of courtesy.

“And what is an exile like you doing here?” Thor’s eyes narrowed

The middle-aged man stroked his neatly trimmed moustache, “A ‘Hello, Julian’ would do. But since I have returned, Thor, do I really need to tell you what it means?”

Thor’s expression warped ever so slightly, and he exchanged a quiet glance with the old mage. Julian swayed with exaggerated poise as he walked inside, a cigar randomly appearing in his hand and lighting aflame. He took a deep whiff and puffed out a cloud of smoke, maintaining his smile, “Which family occupied island 6-6 right now? Do you mind if I destroy it?”

“You want to make enemies out of thin air just for an unknown blue moon? Don’t you even dare! The mere precedent of one of the fourteen being attacked... Unthinkable!”

Julian flashed a sinister smile, chuckling as he placed a hand on Thor’s shoulder and whispered in a hoarse voice, “You should know the nature of the blue moon better than me. Old man, I’m not asking for myself, I’m asking for her. Do you really want to stop me?”

Thor’s eyes flashed with momentary fear, “Who?”

Julian laughed softly, revealing pearly white teeth, “Have you forgotten Her Highness Apeiron after all this while?”

“Ap... Why is she coming back?” Thor lost his breath.

“Why shouldn’t she?” Julian straightened up and took another whiff, “Now, you should know you can’t intervene in this. Focus on the interests of the entire royal family instead. Now, I’ve brought you such important news; shouldn’t you take out a bottle or two of good wine?”

Thor calmed down, calling over two young apprentices and sending them off. A moment later, each of them carried a tray with three cups back. Seeing the six different shades of red, Julian’s breathing immediately grew hurried. However, he managed to restrain himself as he picked up the first glass and swirled it around, tasting the aroma before sipping on it with his eyes closed. His entire body trembled, and after a while he collapsed back into the seat he had taken with an orgasmic moan.

A few moments later, the middle-aged man seemed to awake from his stupor and picked up the second glass, repeating the same process. All six glasses were emptied in the blink of an eye, and his moans grew more and more erotic. His hair was matted down with sweat at this point, and his hands were shaking violently as though he was unstable, “Aaaaaahh... This feels so great. So many years...”

The two female apprentices grew scared and stepped back, but this retreat caught Julian’s attention. He turned his head and looked at them, his baggy and blood-shot eyes glowing with desire. Before they could even react he had flashed over, throwing them into the forest nearby and ripping apart their clothes as he penetrated the first of the two with no hesitation.