Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 712: Take two

Chapter 712: Take two

He was hurdled in a corner, trembling like a man caught in a snowstorm with nothing to protect him from the unforgiving winter chill.

Strange how he was dressed in the finest silk and had the entire room covered to ensure that it remained warm.

Regardless, he seemed to be muttering something to himself like a wizard conjuring a spell, but on closer inspection, even that was strange as he was not uttering any language charged with supernatural credence. Instead, he was merely speaking gibberish.

This was no mere man; nay, this was King Draco of Astoria, a man meant to be seated at the highest point in the affairs of the city-state.

Such a great figure had been reduced to a blundering idiot, not of his own machinations but due to the cruel hand dealt to him by fate in the form of a mental condition.

It has been diagnosed in him since he was a child and had stayed with him till adulthood, growing worse despite several attempts, both natural and supernatural, to cure him of the ailment.

Thalia knew about his condition when she fell in love with him but she thought she could fix him, that she could make him get better.

Now, watching her husband act like an unruly child, she had no choice but to accept the one simple yet ugly truth.

She had failed... woefully.

Currently, she was alone in the King’s chambers as no one was allowed to see the King when he was in such a state.

Usually, he was able to regain clarity after some time, making it an unfortunate cycle of madness and sanity.

But the problem was that he had been in this state for a long time with no signs of his sanity returning.

Thalia took steady steps towards him, her heart heavy as she spoke up. "Do you remember when we first got married?... The promise we made to one another?"

Naturally, there was no response as Draco was in a world of his own.

Her eyes wet, Thalia came to stand at an arm’s length from him, and from underneath her clothing, she revealed an ornamental knife carved from the finest Quillion and adorned with rubies of different shades.

"You have suffered enough, my dear husband." She softly said as her lips trembled. "I believe it is time you rest."

And with that, she struck without hesitation, her knife piercing the exposed back of King Draco of Astoria.

A moment passed and the mad king dropped dead, his royal blood staining the floors.

Then, the door to the room opened, and Urian stepped inside, seeking to speak with Thalia, only to freeze as he laid eyes on the dead King and his crying murderer.

His heart broke.

***

Alex returned to the inland valley where Victoria waited along with the corpse of the Broken Saintess.

Judging from her overall appearance, it seemed as though Victoria had recovered well enough after the failure of their last attempt to revive the Saintess.

Now, they would try again.

"Master." Victoria greeted as she laid eyes on the orb containing spiritual mass floating above Alex’s head.

Accompanied by the Fixer, Alex approached the Saintess corpse.

"So what now?" Alex asked, glancing at the Fixer. "How do we infuse the spirits into the Saintess?"

"I believe compressing them into a small enough ball that would then be sent into the corpse’s mouth should be one way to go about it."

"So basically, try out different methods until one works?"

The Fixer shrugged. "What you are about to do is honestly out of my area of expertise."

"Fine then," Alex remarked before shifting his attention to Victoria. "Let us begin."

"As you wish, Master," Victoria said with a bow.

Once she was upright again, a black and white circle appeared on her forehead.

"Take two." Alex calmly intoned as Victoria weaved a connection between herself and the Saintess, sharing her burgeoning life force with it.

Yet again, omnidirectional waves of negative emotions swept across the valley, causing the Fixer a great level of discomfort though he managed to persevere through it all.

Humphrey, who still remained active at Alex’s side, proceeded to compress the orb he’d created until it was so compact that a single mistake would cause an explosion of unknown proportions.

Then, slowly, he guided the compressed orb into the mouth of the Saintess.

It fit like a glove, passing through the opening mouth of the Saintess into its body.

Moments later a brilliant glow erupted, engulfing the Saintess corpse and leaving the trio of the Fixer, Alex and Victoria, momentarily blinded.

Once the light receded, a great thump was heard and the Broken Saintess... moved.

***

Elena waited on the island infested with seemingly alive mushrooms, which were as large as buildings and produced spores that she had no wish of knowing what they were capable of.

Utilizing her ability to project herself to another dimension while her true body remained in Confluence, she managed to avoid harm of any kind with the mushrooms forced to leave her alone as they had no way of attacking her.

Apart from that, she no longer needed to worry about being affected by the peculiar environment of the Abyss, and the voice she heard the first time she arrived in this twisted dimension was no longer reaching out to her.

She was currently seated within the crater the submarine forged by the Goddess and gifted to Alex, had made on the island, hopeful that once Ulysses was done with his communion with the Lord of Flesh and Blood, he would return to this exact spot.

As she waited, she couldn’t help but ponder Ulysses’ state once he managed to complete the Trial.

Would he manage to remain the same or would he be different?

If it turned out to be the latter, she felt it was her duty to ensure that the monster wearing Ulysses’ skin would never return to Eventide.

Just then, she sensed something causing her to glance in a certain direction.

But then, there was nothing there, leaving her confused... until she looked up and watched as a submarine forged of brass fell from the sky.

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