Chapter 75: Seri the Eternal

To the north of the Yin Empire existed a land that not in a million years would the second emperor dare to touch, despite the two nation states sharing a thin, short border. The land of Althea, was the mythical home of the High Elf race, who called themself the Seris, for they were the "Children of Seri." Due to the unusual amount of "Flow of Magic" that circulated around their nation, despite being located in the far north, where the cold winds and snow would have certainly transformed the terrain into an inhospitable permafrost, the land of the High Elf strangely enjoyed a temperate climate, where almost three quarter of their territory was made of fertile green grassland. The ability to gather and bend the flow of magic to their will in order to terraform their land was nothing but a mere fraction of the High Elf's power. Had they wished for it, they could exert their influence and dominate the world, bringing at least half of the continent under their heels. Yet, for countless millennia, the Seris remained uninterested in the changing outside world. Rather than choosing the path of conquest and domination, the residents of Althea devoted their attention to studying and mastering the Flow of Magic. A self-isolated superpower, that was what the outside world called them. Over the span of tens of thousands of years, some groups of High Elves had either been banished or decided to leave their homeland on their own volitions. The descendants of these elves slowly transform into the Royal Family of the extinguished Kingdom of Yue or the Wood Elf that occupied the Vernys Forest…

「... Your master should be expecting me.」A large man walked up to the elven guards, who stood motionlessly in front of the large gate that was built into the side of the Northern snowy mountain. The mountain range that soared to an unimaginable height in the northernmost territory of Althea was the only place where the Seris did not terraform, allowing the natural freezing cold climate to rage on year round.

「Of course, Azragon dono of the Ennead.」Nodded the elven captain, who was dressed in silver armor. 「I shall lead you to Seri sama. Please follow me.」The door slowly opened, revealing a brightly lit hallway decorated with riches that rivaled even the heavenly realm of Modun or the fictitious Great Tomb of Nazarick.

The Ennead had visited the mythical citadel many times,yet as he walked along the hallway, he could not help but be awed by the countless ancient artifacts being displayed on the side. If any of these items were to fall into the hands of the other kingdoms in Esthar, he had no doubt that each and every artifact would be considered a national treasure. Yet, to the owner of this citadel, they were nothing but decorations. That was the extent of power and influence of the progenitor of the High Elves, Seri the Eternal. The only individual who even the Ennead would not dare to anger. The only individual who knew the real history of the world, of the days before the Ennead came into existence. The elven captain came to a quick stop as he stood at attention in front of a large wall at the end of the hallway, guarded by four elite elven troops in their bulky golden armor.

「Captain Vyseran has brought our esteemed guest, Azragon of the Enneads, who wishes to have an audience with Seri sama. Please open the way to her Throne room.」reported the elven captain. The other four simply nodded before raising their hands and simultaneously casted a spell that opened a circular swirling warp right in front of the Astral.

「Please go ahead, Azragon dono. Seri sama is waiting.」Vyseran stepped aside.

「A magic that is able to distort space… You high elves are impressive as always.」commented the Astral before he strided through the warp and vanished away in an instance.

The other side of the portal led to an expansive brightly lit room seemingly made of reflective Mythril crystals, with a gigantic throne situated at the end of a high stairs. Sitting on top of the throne, crossing her two smooth, tender legs while her cheek leaned onto her right fist, the progenitor of the High Elven kind leered down at her guest, viewing the leader of the Astral as nothing but a toddler. Her bright, red hair was a deviant from the three usual hair colors of the elven kind: light blue, golden yellow, or silvery white. Stranger yet was her eyes, for they were completely black, filled with countless sprinkles of starry dots, much like the majestic night sky or that of Rei's from Granblue Fantasy.

「Yo Az chan. Long time no see!」The elven girl smiled as she greeted her guest.「To what do I owe the pleasure of receiving an Astral today?」

「... Seri, how many times have I told you to quit calling me by that nickname?」Azragon turned visibly upset.

「By what? "Chan"? That's just how people from Terra show their affection, Az chan.」Seri teasingly said. 「At least that's what my star pupil taught me ten thousands years ago, before you guys destroyed him along with 99% of lives on Esthar.」

「I will not warn you a second time.」said the pissed off Astral, who slowly raised his arm in front of his body. Small flames began to pop up on top of his fingers before he curled them back into a fist, then flicked them out, sending the small flames flying at Seri. The five embers started to grow bigger and bigger as they traveled along their projectile before transforming into a raging inferno that could easily melt a one ton block of Adamantine metal into a pool of liquid in mere seconds. Despite the incoming scorching attack, Seri remained calm before she tapped her finger onto the handle of her throne. With just a small gesture and no audible incantation, the Flow of Magic began to move around turbulently, causing the temperature of the room to plummet and the five burning balls of fire stopped short on their tracks. Despite the intense heat that could be compared to a mini sun, ice crystals still quickly formed around them and before long, the Astral's warning attacks were completely frozen in ice. Another tap by the elven girl sitting on the throne room caused the attack shattered into thousands pieces and fell onto the floor.

「Are you here to talk or to finally make an attempt on my life, Azragon?」Seri sternly asked, though she herself had also stepped back from provoking the Ennead any further, elected to call him by his formal name again.

「Attempt on your life? We both know that even my real body would struggle in a fight against you, let alone this piece of homunculus vessel that I'm possessing.」Azragon laughed. He might be an Enneads, one of the most powerful Astral but he knew his limit. After all, Seri was the reason why the Astral never dared to perform the "Harvest" on the High Elf population residing within Althea. 「Enough with the pleasantries. I'm here to talk about that star pupil of yours.」

「What about Zaeryn? Did you not kill him thousands of years ago?」

「... We did but we have just learned recently that he had reincarnated and is currently living on Esthar as an ogre-incubus hybrid.」answered the Astral.

「Oh, did he now?」Whistled Seri

「Let me be frank here…Is his reincarnation your work?」asked Azragon. 「He's an Irregularity that showed up 10 thousands years ago, right before our last Harvest and now, he had again reappeared in this era, with all his memories of his past life intact…」

「Well, he's an Irregularity, of course he would still retain his memories. And why are you asking as if I'm orchestrating something? Weren't you guys the one who brought his soul into this world in the first place?」

「That was what we thought… at first.」Azragon glared at Seri.「But after our close call concerning his rebellion against us, Freya did some research regarding our summon ritual and guess what she found?」

「What?」

「The soul that was supposed to be summoned got swapped with Zaeryn's soul, it's as if somehow, his own soul had a greater affinity to Esthar… either that or someone messed with our ritual.」

「And the only person who could do that was me. Is that why you're suspecting me of messing with you guys?」

「Indeed. Your transmigrating magic rivaled Freya's summoning Ultimate Arte so it's not unimaginable that you were able to affect the ritual. On top of that, you even took him in as your pupil and trained him as a spell caster despite the fact that you have not interacted with anyone from the outside world for tens of millennia. Aren't all that too much of a coincidence?」

「... You want to know the real reason why I took him in?」Seri suddenly turned serious.

「...Yes.」Azragon could feel a droplet of sweat rolling down his forehead. If Seri was behind the incidents surrounding Zaeryn, that would mean she purposefully broke the non aggression pact between the High Elves and his people. If that was the case, then the ever-lasting balance that the Astral yearned for would be broken. Azragon froze in place, awaiting the answer from the High Elf progenitor.

「Ha… Hahaha… Fine! I will tell you!」The girl excitedly yelled before declaring 「It's because of these!」The Astral quickly took a defensive stance for he noticed Seri had swung her hand outward as if she was casting a monstrous spell. Yet, to his surprise, the elven girl merely took out a small booklet that she hid on the side of her throne and showed it to him.

「That's…」

「Don't you know? These things are called Manga!」Seri grinned. 「It's a form of treasure that existed in Terra.」

「What?」Azragon's eyes widened in disbelief.

「I don't know if you remember, but 10 thousands years ago, Zaeryn once tried to seek an audience with me. After he persisted for almost 30 decades, I finally relented… wait… that does not sound right… Maybe it was 3 decades? I just have the hardest time keeping track of time. Anyways, when he met me, he personally begged me to teach him everything he needed to know about magic since he had already mastered his Nen and his Ultimate Artes. Imagine that. A mortal asking the first and greatest magic caster to teach him.」Seri laughed. 「Of course I denied his request. But then, fascinatingly, he had the audacity to propose to teach me anything he knew that I don't in exchange for me to teach him magic. I tried to dazzle me with the so-called science of Terra: thermodynamics, transport phenomenon, biomechanics… Of course, I had all learned about them from prior Irregularity that you Astral brought to Esthar. But then, unexpectedly, he showed me something that I had never seen before, something that he bragged, only a selected few enlightened individuals on Terra would master: The treasure of Manga!!!」Seri excitedly revealed, much to the visibly disappointed Astral standing down below.

「... What?」

「Yes, the art of storytelling using drawing as a medium. I was hooked after he showed me this manga called Naruto, which he replicated from his memory… He happily showed me a few volumes, but then he stopped right after Orochimaru attacked the Leaf…. Man, I still remembered his smirking face when he proposed for me to teach him magic in exchange for the next volume…」Seri ground her teeth in annoyance.「I had no choice but to agree to his demand. I intended to teach him only some basics about magic, just long enough for me to finish reading Naruto, but then he got me hooked on this Manga called One-punch Man… By the end, he already learned everything he could from me and rose up to be my star pupil…」Seri leaned back and flipped through the worn pages. 「And that is why I took him under my wing.」

「Stop kidding me!」Azragon yelled. 「As if I believe your story」

「Trust me. That's all there is to it. I still honored our pact and did not try to mess with you guys. After all, if we were to fight against one another, this world will probably be devastated beyond salvation.」Smiled Seri.「I don't know why he got reincarnated again into this era. Just like how his soul got swapped with the other 10k years ago, the chance of him reincarnated now is low, but never 0. Maybe all of this is, truly, just a coincidence. If you don't trust me, there's nothing I can do to prove otherwise.」

「... Then just promise me to not see him again this time.」Azragon resigned. After all, there was nothing he could do to Seri. His trip to this mountainous region was merely to extract this exact promise from the first magic caster.「We will monitor his movement. If we see that he's meeting with you, then don't expect us to honor our N.A.P anymore. Even if it'd cost us dearly, we will make sure to wipe Althea off the map of Esthar.」

「... Such a menacing threat.」Seri licked her full, blood red lip. 「I will make sure to maintain my distance with Zaeryn's reincarnation. It's not like I have much attachment to my star pupil… I let him and all his loved ones died once before, did I not?」

「Indeed.」

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The room has become much more quiet now that the Astral had left after extracting a guarantee from the Elven girl. Seri had switched her focus back to the volume of manga that she read countless of times these past 10k years. Though, the sound of the flipping pages was quickly disrupted by a voice that spoke to her from behind her throne.

「I guess he finally left.」The man slowly came out of the shadow of Seri's throne before looking around.「I have seen this many times but it still amazes me how advanced is your illusion magic, great master! Even one of the greatest Astral could not tell everything here is nothing but a mirage.」

「There's a reason why I'm the greatest magic caster, Matelus kun.」Smiled Seri before using her hand to tear through the illusion like when Shinki revealed Aizen's spying when the mastermind was still his lieutenant. Once the ripple in space finally dispelled her magic away, the image of the youthful Seri disappeared. On top of the throne now sat an immobilized and withered elven corpse, with half of the flesh on its face had melted away, much of its rib cage bone was exposed. The image of the very Seri that was conversing with Azragon suddenly reappeared at the foot of the high throne, her hand still held onto the manga she was reading.

「I wonder what the Astral would think if they knew of your real body, great master.」Matelus leaped down, standing next to the younger image of Seri.

「Heh, if they see my real corpse-like body up there, they would falsely believe they may stand a chance of defeating me.」Seri laughed.「Hiding the deterioration of my body is not really for my benefit, but for theirs. If I were to give them some false hope, they may do something rash and foolish… I have no patience playing with those kids. I'm more interested in the monster that they kept hidden away… All the pieces that I put in place more than 10k years ago… Soon enough, whether it by your hands or Zaeryn's, my goal will finally be fulfilled.」

「... Each of us has our own agenda… I wonder whose dream will be fulfilled in the end.」Matelus subtly reminded Seri of the divergence in their end goals.

「Only time will tell.」