Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 511: ... the entire space froze

Chapter 511: ... the entire space froze

The sound of aggressive footsteps echoed in the hallway followed by...

"Cassie, wait up!"

"What?" Nadia turned aggressively to face Arwen, her expression complicated as she stared at the Banshee.

"... Running away won’t solve anything. Death will still come."

"Do you think I don’t know that!?"

"I..."

"I thought I’d managed to escape it but no, the curse still came, and now..." Nadia trailed off, feeling choked.

Arwen bit down on her lower lip, feeling guilty for being the bearer of bad news.

"I’m sorry."

"..."

"It’s all my fault, if I hadn’t slept, none of this would have happened."

Seeing Arwen turn melancholic, Nadia realized that she was being too hard on the young girl.

In the first place, she was blaming the wrong person.

It wasn’t Arwen who decided to kill Arthur.

She was merely a messenger, a mouthpiece for the entity seeking to claim Arthur’s life.

Closing her eyes, she let out a tired breath. "It’s fine, Arwen, I’m just... not in the right frame of mind."

"What do we do?" Arwen inquired.

Nadia shook her head. "I don’t know, but I’m not going to sit back and let Arthur die. We beat death before, we can do it again. You said he died on a battlefield, right?"

"Mn."

"Then this is the first step, preventing him from fighting."

"Who won’t be fighting?"

Both women paused before glancing toward the origin of the voice to find Elena standing in the hallway.

Noting the tense atmosphere, Elena raised a brow. "Did I interrupt something?"

***

Lucille was still meditating in the garden when Victoria arrived, looking rather strained from the rushed journey back.

"You are here." Lucille acknowledged her presence, cutting short her meditation to regard the Vampire. "Is the Dark Lord with you?"

"No, he is in a meeting," Victoria replied, causing Lucille to raise a brow.

"With who?"

"The Monarchs."

Lucille’s expression fell as she shot to her feet. "What are you planning?"

"Calm yourself. The Dark Lord has no plans of working with those traitorous scum. To think that they would dare to rebel against him."

Realizing that Victoria wasn’t lying, Lucille calmed down somewhat though she remained apprehensive. "Isn’t it dangerous to leave him alone with them?"

"The Dark Lord is fine. Those unworthy fools wouldn’t dare to do anything against him."

"I see. So why are you here instead of with him?"

"He asked that I return to pass across a message to you."

"What message?" Lucille asked.

"He hopes to hold a meeting soon, not just with the Monarchs but with the Great Family Heads as well."

"An alliance?"

Victoria nodded. "Indeed. The Abyss has used the current state of the Empire to its benefit. My Lord has deigned it necessary to work together to deal with its scourge before it’s too late."

"I am unsure if the Family Heads would be willing to work with those bloodsuckers."

"And this is where my Lord’s wisdom shines brightly. They would be fools to allow their grievances to get in the way of the safety of the continent. Remember one thing, the Dark Lord doesn’t care if this continent lives or dies."

"So why does he act?... For his sister?"

"That is not the only reason," Victoria remarked. "He is also aware of the danger of allowing the Abyss to continue unabated. He would rather carry on his mission in a world free of madness."

"I see. In that case, I’ll reach out to BlackWatch. Get them informed."

"It would be for the best. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must return to the master."

Watching Victoria leave, Lucille took a moment to gather her thoughts before letting out an audible sigh.

An alliance between the Great Families and the Night Kindred?... Perhaps only a mysterious figure like the Dark Lord would be able to facilitate such a monumental event.

***

Alex noted the hostility in Adelia’s gaze but chose not to bother with it.

Regardless of her anger, she knew well enough that she alone could not deal with Eternal Winter.

That was precisely why she hadn’t attacked yet and why she had provided the temporal aid needed for Alex to break free from the 1st-class Otherworldly.

And so with that understanding, he shifted his attention to the grotesque creature in the sky, ignoring Adelia’s question.

"I am talking to you," Adelia growled as she flashed her canines.

Pa

Charlotte emerged from Alex’s shadow while he remarked. "Focus. You can hate me but don’t allow your hate to dull your senses. We have much bigger things to worry about."

Adelia glared daggers at him before ultimately turning away.

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right.

"Don’t get in my way." She remarked before proceeding to tap her paw in the snow.

Immediately, Phineas and the other Exarchs revealed themselves.

Unfrozen and no longer under the mental influence of Eternal Winter, they seemed prepared for a life-or-death match with the Otherworldly.

Alex wasn’t so keen on working with suicidal maniacs because as much as he had an extra life, he couldn’t be certain that dying here wouldn’t have adverse effects.

He wasn’t quick to forget Lucille’s warning.

"Smiley, devour." Adelia suddenly remarked with Phineas responding.

"As you wish, my lady."

Alex watched as the Chimera tore off his shirt, revealing a wide mouth on his stomach.

A frown painted his visage.

The mouth opened and began to suck in air but it didn’t take long for all the snow in the vicinity to be drawn toward it.

The more it devoured, the fatter Phineas seemed to get until his appearance resembled an overinflated ball.

Then, he opened his mouth, and a beam of concentrated flames shot toward Eternal Winter.

The resulting explosion left Alex shocked beyond reasonable doubt.

But alas, if a simple explosion was all it took to defeat Eternal Winter, perhaps it wouldn’t deserve to be called the Abyss version of a deity.

A cry erupted.

Before they could react, the entire space froze.