Chapter 23 - The Battle of Lordran (Part 3)
Outside the Palace of Eternal Night, a woman stared at the enormous building that embodied the center of government for all of England with a cold, emotionless expression.
The building that was supposed to be a symbol of glory, bravery and honor was tarnished by a cowardly, dirty man who didn't have the courage to face death head on.
Surrendering himself to the arms of madness and horror to serve a mad being for eternity, like a dog throughout life.
Just thinking about it, the face of Mereoleona Marttins, the Witch of Destruction, couldn't help but grit her teeth and her fists clenched tightly.
A red light shone in her yellow eyes, which resembled flames. Mereoleona was a woman with long, voluminous red hair, which fell like waves down her back and over her breasts.
Mereoleona looked about fifty, but she was actually 159 years old and would live for many years to come, at least forty more.
"What are we going to do Great Mother?" A black-haired, gray-eyed witch asked with a worried tone. Her eyes stared at the palace with a look of regret and sadness.
"If Duke Achille loses the fight..." Mereoleona stopped speaking for a moment, pondering her words. And when she did speak, her words were cold and rude. "Blow up the whole palace, we'll fill this damn building with sulphur and make the damn Russian bomb into a firework in comparison. Don't hesitate Mary, even if everyone inside the palace dies."
Mary sucked in a breath listening to the words of the Great Mother of the Midnight Citadel. What does it mean to blow up the Palace of Eternal Night right now?
At the very least, almost everyone inside will die with no chance of escape.
Mary knew that Mereoleona wasn't talking about civilians, but about half of Lordran's nobility were present at Marshall Rowan Gellert's birthday ball.
Let's not talk about what losing fifty percent or more of all England's executors would do to the country's situation. Only the economic consequences and the problems that would follow were extremely terrifying for England.
"Don't hesitate Mary, in the future when you become the Great Mother, remember that although ripping out cancer can be painful, it's better than perishing from the disease." Looking at her disciple, who was deathly pale, listening to her decision, Mereoleona spoke with a calm tone.
"But Duke Achille's sons and the Great Mother's nephew are inside the Palace at the moment." Mary asked with an uncertain tone.
The existence of Alastor and Roxane was happy news for the whole of England, they would be the country with the most Special Grade Beyonder in the world.
Two future Special Grade Beyonder!
Now knowing that she would probably kill these talented children if anything went wrong made Mary's face fill with hesitation. Hearing Mary's words, Mereoleona's face showed no change knowing that her nephew was inside the Palace.
She had known from the start, after all, it was she who had brought her own nephew to lower Rowan's guard, Marshall couldn't be suspicious that she and Achille were preparing a trap for him. Otherwise, he would run away without hesitation.
In the end, the plan worked and Rowan showed up in person at the ball, giving her the chance to successfully set the trap and arrest Rowan in his own home.
The price was risking the life of her nephew, whom she saw as a son, since she had never married. However, like Achille, she was a determined woman and not at all hesitant.
"If Carlos dies..." Mereoleona muttered to herself. "He'll know he died for something more important than his life. He'll be a hero I'll put in the books so they'll remember him."
Mary pressed her lips tightly shut, took a deep breath and let out a long, weary sigh, calming herself down. If the Great Mother was so calm in the face of her beloved nephew's death, she, who had no living relatives, shouldn't be feeling unnecessary feelings.
"You're right, Great Mother." Mary replied in a calm tone without any previous anxieties.
Seeing Mary recovering so quickly, Mereoleona couldn't help but nod in satisfaction at her choice to succeed her in the future. Although the pain of losing her nephew and being his murderer will haunt her for life, duty comes before any personal feelings. She couldn't risk the lives of everyone in England just for the sake of one life.
"Mary, don't worry too much, we'll only blow up the palace as a last resort, if Achille has forty percent of Ares' power, he'll kill Rowan." Patting her disciple on the shoulder, Mereoleona spoke in a calm but confident tone to the son of her former comrade-in-arms.
Her words seemed to comfort Mary, for her expression relaxed slightly and she was no longer so nervous.
She was talking about Achille Agrece, the man who held the epithet of Archduke of Nightmares, one of the strongest Beyonder at only forty years of age.
"Great Mother." Hearing someone call out to her, Mereoleona looked over and saw a young woman wearing a complicated black Victorian dress and a small, elegant hat on top of her pale blonde hair. Her golden eyes looked cold and inexpressive.
Mereoleona knew the young woman in front of her, and it was because of the information from the young woman in front of her that the Great Mother of the Citadel discovered that Rowan had surrendered to Madness and become an Apostle of the First Light.
Odeliah Pedelian. One of the five House Grimms still remaining, but by no means the most powerful, on the contrary, it was the weakest and it had been seven hundred years since a Special Grade Beyonder had been born in House Pedelian.
House Vertium at least had some properties that it had preserved over the centuries, but House Pedelian was completely impoverished. Mereoleona still found it incredible that such a poor House could be lucky enough to give birth to a respected Maiden of Purity.
- Odeliah the Martyr.
This was an extremely rare human profession, which only women could be. The minimum requirement to begin this profession was to be a natural saint.
What is a Natural Saint?
A woman who was born blessed by Fate. Mary Magdalene, the mother of Jesus Christ, was a Natural Saint, born with the destiny of bringing the Holy Spirit into the world to eliminate the rampant madness of the Fourth Age of Ash.
Odeliah's destiny was the same, which meant that the Age of Ashes was coming for the fifth time. Fate had chosen Odeliah for something very important, whether Odeliah was to be the mother of a great being or she herself had an important role, Mereoleona didn't care, all that mattered was that the future would be something difficult to imagine.
"Maiden of Purity." Mereoleona greeted the young woman with respect. Although much weaker than her, she still respected Odeliah, a woman who had given herself completely to her mission.
However, the Maiden of Purity's next words surprised Mereoleona and Mary.
"Everyone inside the palace can die, but Alastor Agrece cannot die. He has to live, he's important to the world." She spoke with her usual expression of inexpressiveness. Her golden eyes shone with a strong emotion hidden in her gaze
Achille's son was an important part of Fate? Mereoleona frowned at her words. That was the only possibility she could think of, seeing such a reaction from the Maiden of Purity.
"It's impossible to open the Palace of Eternal Night to get the boy out. Rowan could escape and wreak even more havoc in the future. That is something I cannot allow, Maiden of Purity." The Great Mother of the Citadel spoke with an unquestioning tone. She couldn't allow someone to open the palace to rescue Alastor, it was too dangerous.
Letting Rowan escape made Mereoleona feel a chill run through her body, the amount of secrets Rowan possessed could easily cause natural disasters and risk the entire existence of the Golden Order.
This was something she could never allow to happen!
Odeliah for the first time showed a reaction on her face. Her delicate eyebrows drew together in frustration, she opened her purple lipstick-covered lips and spoke indifferently.
"I'm going in using my Gift. It won't break the barrier."
When Odeliah said this, Mereoleona and Mary looked into her eyes.
Despite this, both only saw the pure golden color, like molten gold, with no sign of the snake eyes that the Agrece possessed.
Mereoleona looked suspiciously at the young woman. She only imagined that Odeliah was lying to save Alastor.
Before she could deny the proposal again, a golden gleam appeared in Odeliah's eyes, a pair of golden eyes with slits that resembled the pupil of a snake.
This really surprised Mereoleona and Mary, both of whom knew that House Pedelian wasn't pure-blooded, otherwise they wouldn't have fallen so far.
"Are you sure you can enter the palace even with the barrier?" Mereoleona frowned and asked again with a serious tone. "I'm not going to save your ass if you're close to dying."
Odeliah didn't speak and stared silently at Mereoleona, his molten gold eyes full of determination.
Letting out a weary sigh, Mereoleona spoke. "I allow you to enter."
Gaining her permission, Odeliah waited no longer and walked towards the palace.
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