Unfortunately, my rest was cut short as I felt something was off, though I had no way of pinpointing it, so I remained alert, curious if it were perhaps an attack; however, one never came. By the next day, Elaine exited the Aether realm, causing me to faintly smile while she sat firmly on my lap, which was a seat reserved specifically for her.
As I wrapped an arm around her waist, the two of us silently snuggled together while patiently waiting, though it seemed our waiting was pointless since we never saw Cordelia again; instead, she merely sent someone in her stead to get the job done. I didn't know who she was, but considering that neither Maxim nor Illumia dared to move against the Atlantean who glared at Elaine and I, it spoke volumes of her strength.
Of course, that was fine; I had no intention of keeping Suscila hidden forever; that would be dumb, especially within their territory. After the woman entered the dimensional rift, Elaine chuckled in amusement, causing me to sigh while shaking my head; a few minutes passed, and the woman exited the rift; if she had been angry before, then now she was enraged.
Unlike before, when her Qi was calm and contained, it was now aggressively circulating within her body, and I had to admit, it was terrifying since now I was able to get a much better grasp on her strength. Previously, it was akin to looking into an ocean; it was impossible to see the depth, but now it was a tsunami, towering over even the tallest of mountains.
'She seems to be about as strong as Father and Mother… Maybe weaker? It's hard to tell, considering everyone with a True God cultivation and above looks essentially the same; I'm far too weak to accurately grasp the difference.' Thought Elif softly as he gazed at the woman, who suddenly began approaching his location, prompting Maxim and Illumia to step forward.
Raising an eyebrow, I sat upright, fixing my posture while Elaine didn't bother to move, unconcerned with the woman, who waved her hand, forcefully separating Illumia and Maxim while immobilizing them. As she stood before us, I continued to stroke Elaine's cheek with the back of my hand while curiously staring at the woman, who silently glared at us.
"Who killed Suscila?" Asked the woman coldly as she looked between Elif and Elaine, prompting the latter to open an eye while the former tapped his chin.
"Hmm, who is asking?" Replied Elif curiously as he looked at the woman, whose eyes narrowed in fury.
"Zelle Alarin… Mother of Suscila Alarin." Stated Zelle calmly as she eyed Elif, causing him to whistle in awe before shaking his head.
"Ho, well, it wasn't me, Mrs Alarin. Sorry for your loss, though… If Cordelia didn't do what she did, I never would've wasted my time with Suscila." Remarked Elif lightly as he looked at Zelle before faintly shaking his head and sighing, causing her eyes to twitch.
"It was me, you old hag. Now, back away from Brother. I hate it when women are close to him." Stated Elaine in annoyance with a grunt as she looked at Zelle while dismissively waving her hand.
"So, you're the one who took my daughter away from me…" Muttered Zelle softly as she stared at Elaine, who casually nodded before closing her eyes and rolling onto her side, resting her head on Elif's shoulder.
She spoke no more words nor made any movements for numerous; all she did was silently stare at Elaine, which was a bit weird as I would expect her to at least attack, but no, she never once mobilized her Qi, not even to move through the water since she could naturally do that with ease.
Eventually, though, she turned around and floated away, saying nothing while freeing Illumia and Maxim, prompting them to instantly return to our side.
"Haa, we're slowly getting pushed out of our element, Illumia." "Their Majesties will arrive fairly soon enough; they shall offer better protection than we could." Remarked Maxim and Illumia, respectively, as the former slightly frowned in concern before gazing at the latter, who faintly nodded, only to glance at Elif and Elaine.
"Relax. You two are mostly deterrents; independent cultivators are the only people you're supposed to protect us from. People like Zelle aren't foolish enough to attack us as they understand the implication of the older generation attacking the younger… Besides, we've got our protective treasures on us. I make mine look good." Stated Elif as he glanced between Illumia and Maxim before closing his head and leaning back, only to smirk while removing a tree branch from his loose bun, causing it to unravel.
"Anyway, Elaine, can I ask you to find out who works for Aurora? He must be pulling the strings from the shadows, but he must have someone reporting information back to him; this should force him to come to Bubble Dome City personally." Asked Elif softly as he looked at Elaine, who raised an eyebrow before flashing a smile.
"So you want me to sneak around the city, investigate several people of various backgrounds, torture a few of them along the way, and kill people? Fufu, Brother, you know me so well!" Remarked Elaine curiously as she looked up at Elif, who nodded, causing her to hug him tightly while kissing his cheek.
"Of course, I'll do those things, Brother, anything for you. However, before that, can I refill my jars? They're all empty." Added Elaine with a smile as she nodded before whispering into Elif's ear while gently rubbing his crotch, causing him to roll his eyes.
"Just one, we've got things to do, okay." "Awe, fine." Said Elif and Elaine, respectively, as the former softly sighed before nodding, causing the latter to pout while they promptly vanished into illumia's dimension ring.
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After Elaine refilled one of her jars with my seed, along with drinking some straight from the source, she left to do what I'd asked of her while I remained slightly unsatisfied, sexually, of course.
As for my three servants blocking access to the Aether realm, I ended that farce; it wasn't proving that effective at what I wanted it to do; everyone remained quiet, and none tried to stop me, which was a bit annoying.
For now, we returned to our temporary residence so I could ponder what I should do next; right now, my goal was to get someone from the six Hegemonies, preferably a direct heir, to confront me. I'd mock them, defeat them, basic stuff, and hope it would infuriate the other five who were watching from the shadows to take action; however, if no one dared to step up, my plan wouldn't work.
"Seems I'll have to go the overbearing route and make the moves instead of goading others to do so… Annoying." Muttered Elif with closed eyes as he repeatedly tapped his thigh while resting his head against his fist.
"So, Her Majesty's way?" Asked Illumia lightly as she glanced at Elif, who flashed a faint smile before nodding.
"Yes, I suppose I'll take a page out of Mother's book. Though he comes to the next question… Who should I target?" Said Elif softly as he glanced at Illumai with a thoughtful expression.
"Aurora, Cordelia, and Tiamat are out of the window, leaving me with Baihu, Ivan, and whoever the heir is to the Golem Empire… Hmm, is it embarrassing that I don't know who they are?" Added Elif as he tapped his thigh and glanced at Illumia before gazing into the sky.
"Embarrassing? No. However, it is very weird and a bit disrespectful, though I would say it's fine, seeing how Valquen has made no attempts to contact you." Remarked Illumia as she glanced at Elif, who hummed before nodding with a raised eyebrow.
"So his name is Valquen?" "Her name, your Highness." Stated Elif and Illumia, respectively, as the former brushed aside his streak of purple hair while the latter quickly corrected him.
"Huh, so you're saying women are dominating men this generation? Among the seven heirs, eight, if you include Elaine, five are women, and three are men." Remarked Elif with a faint smirk as he glanced at Illumia, who nodded.
"Anyway, I digress. I suggest Ivan. Baihu is calm, so although we will eventually fight, I see no reason to damage our personal relationship." Added Elif lightly as he stood up and stretched, causing Illumia to gulp while staring at his butt.
"Eventually, someone will get annoyed that I'm doing as I please, and they'll try to stop me. After all, they will only allow their name to be tarnished and dragged through the mud for so long." Stated Elif as he stood upright and glanced at Illumia, who snapped her eyes away from his butt with a faint blush while nodding.
"Yes, of course, your Highness." Said Illumia softly as she firmly nodded, causing Elif to skeptically eye her before shrugging his shoulders.
"What about Sarah?" Asked Illumia as she followed Elif, whose expression turned ugly.
"Tsk, what can I do? Aurora has her; I know he does, but I do not know where he is. I can do nothing other than to goad him out of hiding. However, honestly, I'm already fearing I'm too late." Remarked Elif in anger as he tightly clenched his fist, only to shake his head, causing his expression to return to normal while exiting his residence, heading for the Immortal Heavenly Empire.