Chapter 199: Elaine's Cry

The six of us silently floated in the void, practically watching Maria and I's eldest son get brutally tortured by that recently turned Nether Monster while being unable to do anything other than quietly observe through our divine sense. Although I was infuriated by what I witnessed, I stayed rather composed, mainly because there was nothing I could do to help Elif; Progenitor Lourdes was protecting the realm, and even if I disobeyed her orders, I wouldn't be able to enter the realm; besides, I would just be forcefully immobilized by her words before I could even get close.

Still, I wasn't worried about Elaine, who was currently hiding in the void, seemingly waiting for her chance to strike the monster or Elif's well-being; their situation may be less than desirable, but they weren't dead, and I didn't believe Progenitor Lourdes would allow her descendants to die, at least not within her own domain.

Taking a breath to calm my raging emotions, I glanced at Maria, who was having a rather difficult time controlling herself, which was unsurprising as she's always been more prone to follow her heart rather than her brain; such a thing wasn't bad per se, but it has gotten the two of us into rather precarious situations during our younger days. Still, I love her just how she is, and I wouldn't change a thing about her.

I rested my hand on her shoulder, and although she didn't seem to even react to my presence, I could tell her anger was calming down, though just slightly; after all, I've hardly ever seen her so furious throughout our long lives together.

Just as I did so, all of a sudden, when it looked like the monster was about to kill Elif, causing all of us to watch intently with bated breaths, Elaine finally emerged from the depths of the void and attempted to ambush the monster while using nearly all of her Qi in the attack; though just as I and everyone else watching knew, the monster, who was still yet to be consumed by Nether Qi, had known of Elaine's presence the entire time.

"Elaine." Muttered Maria furiously while she subconsciously emitted her Qi, causing the surrounding void to intensely tremble as she watched Elaine get blasted with an attack from the Monster, nearly killing her.

"Dear, I know you're angry, but you must calm down." Said Tyler softly despite his anger, though his words only furthered Maria's rage as she snapped at him while blasting him with the full force of her Qi.

"Calm down!? YOU WANT ME TO CALM DOWN WHILE I'M FORCED TO WATCH MY CHILDREN NEARLY DIE! YET YOU'VE GOT THE AUDACITY TO TELL ME TO CALM DOWN FATHER!?" Exclaimed Maria with unbridled wrath as she glared at Tyler, who was effortlessly standing within her tsunami of Qi, which was more than capable of destroying thousands of Heavenly realms.

I knew Father was trying to help, but he should've known such words would only provoke Maria's anger, though before I could quell Maria's wrath, a portal suddenly appeared before us, followed by Elaine's injured body emerging. However, I wasn't even given the chance to question why there were two Elaines, one floating in the void before me and the other within the Heavenly realm as Mother and Father had instantly appeared beside Elaine.

"Elif's awakening requires an essential but necessary sacrifice; lucky for him, such things can be faked." Said Progenitor Lourdes as her voice traveled through the portal that Elaine emerged from before it disappeared along with her presence.

Although we had heard her words, we were too preoccupied with checking on Elaine to process what she said.

"My little baby girl!" Yelled Maria with teary eyes as she gazed upon Elaine's injured body, and though she wanted nothing more than to embrace her, she held herself back, not wishing to further her injuries.

Without any warning, I ripped a hole through space leading right to our castle, specifically Miss Lynda's office, only to see her calmly sitting at her desk; however, the instant she turned around and spotted us through the portal, I wasn't even required to say anything as she immediately lunged into the void alongside us and approached Elaine.

With Miss Lynda tending to Elaine, I wasn't worried about her well-being anymore, as I knew Miss Lynda would heal her to the best of her abilities. Besides, it's not like Elaine's injuries will be difficult to heal; all she really needs to do is dilute the Nether Qi within her body, and she'll be fine within a few days.

'Now that Elaine is safe, what did Progenitor Lourdes mean?' Mused Marcus while frowning as he observed the Heavenly realm, watching the monster threaten Elif with Elaine.

'Sacrifice and faked? Hmm, does Progenitor Lourdes mean that for Elif to awaken, Elaine must be killed? If that's true, that would make sense as to why Elaine within the Heavenly realm is a fake.' Pondered Marcus with a thoughtful expression, easily able to determine which was the real Elaine, though before he could continue thinking, the monster suddenly killed the fake Elaine.

Seeing the monster kill Elaine, although everyone here was able to determine it was fake, meaning none of us felt much turbulence within our hearts other than slight anger; the same couldn't be said for Elif. To make matters worse, the connection to Elaine that comes with practicing the Royal Elven cultivation manual has disappeared, so to Elif; it's as if he had just truly watched Elaine die.

"Elif." Muttered Marcus softly as he clenched his fist in pain, knowing Elif was experiencing something none of them had felt before.

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Snapping my eyes open, I looked around, and to my confusion, I spotted Miss Lynda tending to my body, which only sparked more confusion within myself as I should be dead.

'Shouldn't I be dead? I clearly felt my soul get destroyed, so why am I seeing Miss Lynda? Did she also die?' Questioned Elaine in confusion as she attempted to look around, only to stop when she felt a stinging pain in her head, or more specifically, her soul.

"I advise you to keep still, your Highness, and limit the use of your soul; you're in stable condition, so your life is not in danger, but you're still very much injured." Advised Miss Lynda softly while her hands hovered above Elaine's body as tiny but numerous threads of Qi emerged from her fingertips and entered Elaine's body.

"So I'm not dead?" Asked Elaine as she looked around, spotting Maria, Marcus, Tyler, Tiana, Maxim, and Illumia floating in the void while all were seemingly looking toward a realm in the distance.

"No, you're not dear." Said Maria with a lovely smile as she turned around and approached Elaine, concealing the large amounts of anger.

Sighing in relief at such news, I closed my eyes, only to open them again as I realized Brother was still fighting for his life against that monster, though before I could speak to Mother, I felt her divine sense enter my mind and instill me with knowledge of our whole situation which took me a few seconds to sort through.

While I was quite annoyed with Progenitor Lourdes for the stunt she pulled, I was also relieved knowing Brother's life wasn't in any real danger; however, Mother didn't stop there as she used her divine sense to show me everything she was seeing, causing me to smile at seeing Brother still alive, though that wasn't for long.

"Mother, shouldn't Brother not know what's happening? Why does he keep insisting I'm alive?" Asked Elaine with furrowed brows as she watched through Maria's divine sense while Elif kept vehemently refusing the idea of Elaine's death, even going so far as to subconsciously trap himself within an illusion.

"He doesn't know Elaine; your death was too big of a burden for Elif to properly process, so he's subconsciously trapped himself within an illusion, finding it better to stay trapped within an Illusion than to face the truth." Stated Marcus with a frown, not knowing how to feel about the whole situation as he, himself, doesn't know how he'd act if Maria were to die.

Hearing Father speak, I was conflicted about how I should feel; on the one hand, I was ecstatic that Brother couldn't properly live without me, but on the other hand, I was slightly sad that my death caused such pain that he subconsciously viewed it safer to stay trapped in an illusion than face reality.

And while I was in my own little world thinking, through Mother's divine sense, the entire realm, except for Elif, seemingly froze, coming to a complete standing still as a familiar presence along with a majestic and powerful voice appeared within the void.

'Progenitor Lourdes, so that's what she sounds like.' Mused Elaine as she watched the conversation between Elif and Progenitor Lourdes.

From how they spoke, it seemed like it wasn't their first time conversing, though the instant she mentioned my name, Brother yelled angrily as he called her profanities that I'd never heard him use. If it weren't for the current atmosphere, I might've laughed, but now wasn't the time for such things, as it seemed like progenitor Lourdes was attempting to force Brother to face the reality of my death.

Eventually, she managed to do so, though that only led Brother to cry my name in sadness, pain, and guilt as he started sobbing. Such a scene was surprising as I've never seen Brother cry before; in fact, I think this is the first he's ever cried in his life, not even when he was a newborn did he cry. However, for the next multiple hours, Brother just stood there sobbing, a sight that filled me with unimaginable warmth even though I was also crying.

"Brother." Muttered Elaine softly while wiping her tears.