The Black Necromancer

Chapter 552: Silent Return

With a flash of light, Leon appeared in the middle of an open square. He looked around and spotted no one but a few White Millipede guards. However, they did not notice his presence. Beside him were Elena and Mica in his humanoid form.

With Leon's strength, erasing his presence from even the most powerful mortals was as easy as blinking. In fact, he did not even need to blink. It was as easy as passively circulating Divine Power through his body.

The three of them walked through the square and the street that led from the square to the Imperial Castle at the heart of the capital. While Leon could have chosen to teleport them there, he had decided not to, so that he could take in the sight of what the small and budding empire he had left behind had become.

At this point in time, he had no intention of meddling in the Cromwell Empire's affairs. It had now become a world power, strong enough to smash aside any opposition, so he did not have to worry about it. There were surely good leaders in place, with Raegan and Darren in charge of everything. There was no way those two kids would allow any corruption to grow in the empire.

Where corruption reared its ugly head, they would stamp out with no hesitation.

"It looks much better than when I left. When I left, even the foundation was still shaky. You all did a great job at keeping things together, even with the war." The compliments kept on rolling out of Leon's mouth as he led the two down different paths, evading the patrol routes of the guards while redirecting others by subtly messing with their perception.

"We did not actually do much. Raegan and Darren took care of everything for the most part. We only fought where we could. The two of them cracked their skulls at trying to keep everything together even when it seemed like the sky was falling." Mica chuckled as he looked around as well, keeping his wings tucked closely to his back.

Elena nodded and remained quiet, simply enjoying the peace she could finally get with Leon. It had been a long time since she did not need to worry about fighting or anything like that. She just wanted to savor this moment, hoping it never ended.

Leon walked through the market district, the smithing district, the military barracks, residential areas, and other places, before finally arriving in the court that laid just outside the main palace of the capital.

Unlike many other kingdoms and empires, there were no walls or gates separating the castle from the rest of the city. The walls had been brought down by the order of Raegan after some time. He felt that it would be easier to present himself, the Emperor of the Cromwell Empire, as more approachable to his people if there were no obstacles separating them from him.

Although this would not truly eliminate the issue of the distance between the mere common citizen and an Emperor, this was still a psychological trick that bore fruits.

Thud!

As Leon took in the sight of the open court, a dark figure landed a short distance away. The small cloud of dust that was raised cleared quickly, revealing Raegan's figure. His form radiated an eager aura as he laid eyes on Leon. Beside him, Darren slowly lowered himself onto the ground, a tired aura emanating from his body.

"Welcome back, Lord Father." Raegan said, bowing his head and falling to one knee. Darren moved to follow, but Leon waved his hand and both of them stood up straight.

"Enough of all that. I'm tired. I just want to rest and get away from the limelight for a long time." Leon shook his head tiredly. Beside him, Elena let a small smile spread over her features.

"...As you wish, Father." Raegan bowed his head slightly before turning around to leave. He understood what Leon wanted and knew that what he wanted the most at this time was peace and silence. He would not appreciate the presence of the two Obsidian Skeletons.

After the two left, Leon and Elena continued to explore the Cromwell Empire. Leon was quite happy to see how far the Empire had come after he had just randomly created it. It was a relief to see that it had survived the war and continued to prosper so well after it.

By the time morning came, Leon and Elena were seated at the edge of a cliff that gave a clear view of a large portion of the main city of the Cromwell Empire. Elena leaned on Leon's shoulder, staring at the distant rising sun.

"It's hard to believe everything is finally over." Elena sighed silently.

"I know how you feel. It is indeed a bit surreal." Leon had a playful smile on his face.

The couple spent the rest of the sunrise there before returning to the city. Simple disguises were enough to fool the citizens around while they returned to the central castle. All the important people resided there and Leon intended on having a short meeting with them concerning the future of the world now that the war was over.

He would first discuss with his people before reaching out to the other leaders of the major forces of Datar.

However, before he could get to that, a mental message reached him, making him throw aside everything he was doing and arrive in a secluded corner of the Empire's territory.

A slight breeze blew as Leon appeared on a beach. There, he saw a dazed woman standing, looking around and examining her body with surprise. She had a dark tanned skin tone and a pair of bright blue eyes. A head of long brown hair swiveled as the woman heard the sound of shifting sand a short distance away. She turned around, only to find a man with a face that she never thought she would see again.

"Eu-Eugene? Is... Is that really you?" Tears welled up in the woman's eyes as she held a hand to her mouth.