Chapter 22 First Encounter With a God Empress

Chapter 22 First Encounter With A God Empress

"Hey! Hey! The position you are holding me in is embarrassing." Damien complained as he felt his stomach juices sloshing around while they jumped from branch to branch.

Due to Dark being one string above Lino, she could keep up with her even though Lino was almost travelling at light speed.

"SHUT UP!!!" Shouted Dark as her eyes looked at him.

Damien shivered when he looked into her eyes. They were like black holes devouring all light. There was no light since the sun had just set. They were all using their elemental sight to see as the trace elemental particles in the air provided a trace amount of illumination. But Dark's eyes had sucked in all the particles and no light could be seen in them.

"If we linger here, a god level beast will attack and I am not qualified to face it." She rapidly said as her heart beat sped up. Her eyes were moving around in her sockets as if she was wary of something in the darkness.

Damien could catch the quivering in her voice. She was scared.

"Why are you scared?" Asked Damien.

"....because I have never fought a god level lifeform." Said Dark after a minute of silence.

"Hahhhh!!! How can it be?!" Damien's mouth dropped open upon her reveal.

"Even though you lack combat experience, shouldn't you have sparred with the other gods?" Asked Damien.

"Never!!!" She denied vehemently as she shook her head.

"Stop!!!" Shouted Lino who was keeping pace with Dark.

Her face, which was glowing due to the light released by her white rose scheme, was staring directly in front of them and a look of terror was etched across it.

The two stopped at a branch in front of them.

Dark lowered Damien as her entire body entered a tense state.

Damien, who was standing at her right side was staring at her side profile and was shocked as he looked upon her frozen body.

"How did you survi...?" He was articulating the question while he turned his head to look in front before his face and body also froze as the two ladies beside him.

In front of them, a wide chasm was opened up simply floating in the space.

A silver colored pupil was in the middle of the dark chasm.

The beasts which had been chasing after them stopped abruptly before scattering into the night,so terrified that no sound was made. It was like they simply vanished.

"Damien! Hmmm, this wasn't supposed to be our first time meeting but I wanted to see for myself what kind of man you were before you fell in love with me." A sweet voice came from the pupil.

Surprise colored both Dark and Lino's faces upon hearing what the voice from the eye said.

"I won't introduce myself as that would mess up our first meeting in the timeline and lead to chaos." The voice continued.

"Harem...? I wonder what lead to it?" She posed the question but more to herself than the trio.

"I am a god empress. I simply wanted to take a peak into the past. We shall meet and spend our lifetimes together forever." The voice said as the chasm closed upon the pupil restoring peace to the place.

The trio collapsed onto the branch the moment the eye vanished. Strength had just left their bodies.

All three were currently drenched in perspiration due to the event which had just happened.

"How do yo-u kno-w the o-wner?" Lino asked as her voice quivered in her throat as she desperately tried to summon her willpower to calm herself down.

Her legs had buckled themselves prompting her into a kneeling position and she couldn't summon the strength to even stand up.

"I...don't know her. How should I know as I have never met her." Damien answered as his head was lowered deep in thought.

'The owner of the voice was terrifying. I had the sense that she could kill us even in this illusory world.' Thought Damien as the implications caused a chill to course down his spine.

"That was a god empress! They are the only ones capable of manipulating time. She must know the future you. The current you hasn't met her yet." Dark explained as she stood up and steadied herself.

Damien could see that she was merely feigning calm as her balled up fists were shaking as a little bit of light from Lino's shining body shined on them.

""Manipulation of time!"" Exclamations escaped from both Damien and Lino's lips as their curious eyes moved to focus on Dark.

"Yes, time! Gods can vest their strings with life, in order for them to advance, they must comprehend another divinity and merge it with the first one to become god kings/queens, upon which they gain the ability to manipulate space. They must then comprehend another law which can affect space upon which they breakthrough and become god emperors/empresses and gain the ability to manipulate time. Jumping levels to fight a god as a demigod is doable but fighting a god king/queen and a god emperor/empress when you are one realm below is impossible." Dark satiated their curiosity when she saw their hungry gazes.

"That means I have to become a god emperor if I want to meet with her? Challenge accepted!" Damien declared as he bumped his fists together. A determined glint could be seen in his eyes as if they had lit up with blood red flames.

"It might be possible considering she is from the future. Work hard!" Dark encouraged.

'But isn't my love going to come to an end? Competing with a god empress isn't feasible. I will lose. They will meet in the future, all I just have to do is win his heart before they meet.' She continued the sentence in her mind as her gaze never left the fired up Damien.

'More competition just arrived and its even someone he hasn't met yet! How absurd. I need to become a god as soon as possible.' Lino thought as their bodies vanished from the illusory world.

After meeting that god empress, no one was in the mood to continue exploring the illusory world.

The trio simultaneously opened their eyes back at the house and looked at each other silently, after which they collectively sighed.

"I hope I never meet such a big shot again!" Damien said as he leaned back and raised his eyes towards the ceiling.

""Me too"" the two women concurred.

"What are you talking about?" A voice came from behind Damien surprising them.

Itetia, clad in a blue long dress complementing her blue wavy hair and eyes, brightened up Damien's gaze when he looked behind himself.

"Oh my lady! You truly are beautiful in that dress. Too bad you aren't yet a god." Lamented Damien as he stood up and took in all that beauty.

"Thank you!?!, what do you mean by your second sentence?" Itetia accepted the complement with question marks before asking one of her own.

"You would have gained the qualifications to be my concubine if you were a goddess." Damien answered seriously as if it was only natural causing Itetia's mouth and eyes to widen.

"Don't listen to his crazy talk." Dark said as she stood up and walked towards her room.

"Where are you going?" Damien asked.

"To change. I have lost my appetite for sleep. Am going to take you somewhere so that the preparations for opening up the estate speed up." She said as she vanished into the corridor.

"Damien! I won't give up!" Lino abruptly said causing Damien and Itetia to shift their gazes to her. Her fists were clenched on top of her thighs.

"That's the spirit, Lino! Work hard. What say you..." He encouraged Lino before turning around to ask Itetia only for a chilling glare to silence him from her.

"I will never become yours. Stop daydreaming." Itetia said through gritted teeth as she moved down to occupy the position Dark had just left.

She took out her device and started playing with it and completely ignoring Damien.

His game roamed her form from her blue hair to her crossed legs before he lost interest and turned to chat with Lino.

"Lino! You two are going to be the first servants in the estate am planning to turn this place into. Your salary will be paid in the form of elemental strings you are lacking." Damien explained as he switched to his series persona.

Even Itetia, who had been immersed into her device's screen looked up and listened to him attentively.

"Your jobs will be to clean the houses occupied by the tenants." Damien said.

"Okay." Lino agreed as her pink eyes looked at Damien attentively. She liked him when he was seriously invested in his work.

"Why do I have to work like a maid? Am a noble lady!" Itetia protested as she hurriedly stood up and glared at him.

"Oh! If you don't want to work, then you can leave. I don't force anyone." Damien answered calmly without even looking at her.

He crossed his legs and leaned back into the sofa after saying his piece and resumed listlessly staring at the ceiling.

'When will I meet that empress?" He continuously asked himself.

Itetia raised her hand s and pointed at him but words failed to form in her mouth before she sat back down with a sour expression.

The trio, each lost in their thoughts sat quietly as they waited for Dark to change clothes.