Chapter 26: Comrades

"My Lord." 

Zagon was still standing at the palace entrance when a voice reached his ears. He turned around to a group of people kneeling behind him. At the head of the group was a man dressed in gold. He was a hulk of a man with a dignified expression on his breaded face. 

"We heard your voice and came to see if we could be of any use." 

Zagon smirked looking at the man. 

"Xeroi, your old master has returned." 

"I only have one master and that is you, Lord Zagon." 

"What if I told you she regained her powers as a Lord." 

"…Then I would put my life on the line to be your shield." 

"You hesitated, but it's reasonable. She was the rightful Lord." 

"I will not comment on who the title should belong to, however, I will say this." 

Xeroi looked up at Zagon. 

"I chose to follow you because I agree with your plans to save our people. It might be a bloody path we aren't accustomed to and we might be biting more than we can swallow, even so, I will still follow you." 

"Why?" 

"Because a man who would tarnish his name and legacy for all eternity for the prosperity of future generations is worth following. Even if you will be loathed, I will still follow you, throwing away my noble pride in the process." 

He clenched his fists tightly. 

"My pride, life, and legacy are small sacrifices if it means our people have a future! You agree don't you, my brothers?!" 

"Praises to the Lord!" 

The group shouted. Zagon looked down at them for a bit before smiling. 

"Stand, Xeroi. Stand all of you." 

He placed his hands on Xeroi's shoulders. 

"I'm glad to consider you all my friends. No, my comrades. I'll be relying on you all in the future." 

"You can count on us." 

"Good, because Kelz is coming and she'll be out for blood." 

"Do you know her next move?" 

"She'll definitely link up with our cousins. I subjugated them, but once they know she regained her Lord abilities they'll turn on me in a heartbeat." 

"If you know, why not destroy them now?" 

Zagon showed a bitter smile. 

"Because I want her to gather her strength and come at me with everything she got. It's the least I can do after literally stabbing her in her back last time." 

His grip tightened on Xeroi's shoulders. 

"I'll crush her at her full strength and show her that she's wrong. So, Golden Corps of my Holy Knights, prepare for war." 

"As the Lord wills it!" 

Meanwhile, in the holy temple, Kelz was walking with Raphael and his siblings with the High Priest in front of them, leading them to something that would heal Melissa. They were about to achieve their main objective. 

"Is it alright to give us the elixir now? What if we betray you?" 

Raphael asked. 

"We're about to fight together with the possibility of death. A little trust needs to be established before that." 

"You say that, but I bet you're certain you can take us down now your powers are back." 

Roxanne smirked. Kelz showed a sly smile. 

"Well, I took that into consideration as well." 

She and the siblings laughed together. 

(The mood is good. Now that Kelz has regained her strength, the playfield has evened out a bit. The only thing that'll give Zagon the edge is his Outsider allies.) 

"This war will be decided by Outsiders influence." 

Kelz spoke Raphael's thoughts. She looked at him. 

"That means you guys need to be better than those around Zagon." 

"Don't worry, once we've reached our payment, we'll carry out our job to the best of our abilities. That's Hell Militia's policy." 

Roxanne answered, to which Kelz nodded. 

"We're here." 

The High Priest spoke. They stopped in front of a door with the Phoenix on it. The High Priest placed his hand on the door and a bird cry resonated through the halls. The door slowly opened and he walked in. 

"After everything we've seen, I'm not even gonna ask…" 

Damini mumbled. They followed the High Priest and found themselves in a room with a giant Phoenix statue in the centre of a pond. 

"The statue is crying?" 

Gina muttered after examining the statue. Liquid flowed from the phoenix's eyes and filled the pond. 

"That is Phoenix Tears, an elixir that grants a new body as if being reborn. There are no side effects, it's the perfect elixir." 

Kelz walked up to the pond and placed her hand in her pocket and then into the water. 

"We use it to baptize newborns so they obtain a stronger body, so it's perfectly safe for Outsiders. It doesn't do anything for those who already have God Essence in their bodies though." 

She pulled out a vial of the glowing water and grinned. 

"With this, you've achieved your objective." 

Raphael nodded. 

"We've secured the payment, so it's time for us to get to work." 

After receiving the Phoenix Tears, Raphael and his siblings left the temple with Kelz. 

"Is it ok to just leave that High Priest like that?" 

Chul asked Kelz. 

"It's fine. The High Priest must always show loyalty to the Lord. Since he witnessed me being chosen, he won't dare to interfere or defy me." 

"I see." 

"Yup, so call back your soldiers and don't bother trying to erase him." 

"…I see your abilities as a Lord gives you omniscience." 

Raphael said before glancing at Gina. She nodded. 

"Alfa, abort." 

Kelz sighed. 

"Do you people think about anything besides murder?" 

"We do. We think about kidnapping, arson, and occasionally torture." 

"…I can't tell if you're joking or not." 

"Then I guess being a Lord doesn't make you omniscient." 

Raphael laughed a bit while Kelz smiled. That smile slowly faded. 

"We have a problem." 

"Did your allies betray you?" 

Kelz nodded. 

"I can currently see Brix, Fayax, and the others in restraints." 

(We should be several kilometres away and she can still see the situation….A Lord's abilities are no joke.) 

Raphael thought. 

"So, do we prepare for a fight? If they betrayed you then everyone here is an enemy." 

"No need. They betrayed me because it's considered impossible to go up against a Lord. Especially Zagan who has Outsiders on his side. It's natural they'd turn on me for trying to drag them into something they have no chance of winning." 

"Self-preservation, huh." 

Roxanne looked at Kelz. 

"So what do we do?" 

Kelz smirked. 

"I'll just show them we have a chance." 

After hurrying, the group reached a mansion in under an hour. 

"Alright, let me handle this." 

The siblings nodded. Kelz opened the gate and walked in. They silently followed behind her while being vigilant. They walked up to the door and it opened without them touching it. 

"Kelz, it's been a while." 

A woman appeared behind the door. Her azure hair had golden streaks in it like Kelz's. It was tied in a ponytail and she was donning an alluring slit dress. 

"It's been a while, Zyna. Are you well?" 

"I was until I got a surprise visit from your people. I thought you had given up after 40 years but I guess not." 

"How could I give up what's mine?" 

Kelz smirked. 

"Speaking of, why don't you give my people back?" 

"That depends." 

Zyna returned the smirk. 

"Did you regain your abilities as Lord?" 

"So Fayax told you." 

"You know that boy won't keep secrets from me. I am his wife after all." 

"He probably said it to get you on our side. It's because you're his wife that he doesn't want you to fight me." 

Zyna laughed. 

"We say wife but I haven't seen him in 40 years. I could've fallen in love with someone else during that time, an Outsider maybe." 

She looked past Kelz and at the siblings. 

"I see you've gotten quite close with some of them yourself." 

"They're comrades just like you." 

"Oh, you still consider me your comrade even though I've locked up your subordinates?" 

"Yes, you didn't hand them over to Zagon after all. You waited until I came so that you could decide on who to stick with." 

Zyna shook her head. 

"That's where you're wrong. I didn't wait until you came to meet me, I made my decision the moment I heard you went to the temple. I just had to be extra sure." 

She stepped away from the door. 

"Come in, cousin." 

Kelz smiled and looked at the siblings. 

"Told you I'll handle it." 

She entered the mansion with them behind her. 

"You knew I regained my powers from the beginning, huh?" 

Kelz spoke to Zyna who rang a bell. 

"You siblings had been special since we were kids, so I figured you'd get your way somehow. Only you two could become Lords at the same time." 

People started appearing in the hall. They all had golden streaks in their hair like Kelz. They looked at Kelz and kneeled. 

"Praise to the Lord!" 

Zyna kneeled before Kelz while keeping eye contact. 

"Welcome back, my Lord. We who share your blood are ready to fight in your honour." 

Kelz grinned. 

"Wait for me, my stupid brother." 

At the same time, Zagon was talking to Julius. 

"A new super soldier?" 

"Yes, My Lord. It was created using a sample of an Outsider provided by Drax before his death. Feng is in the final stages, but before he finishes, I'm imploring you to take a look." 

"Why? Does it frighten you?" 

"The sample is a man who was viewed as an anomaly even in the Outside world. His strength rivalled a High-Level Warrior despite his old age. Taking everything in account, including his personality, he could become a real threat." 

"Or a great asset." 

Julius remained silent. 

"Don't worry, I'm not ignoring your views. In fact, I've decided to take a look for myself to see if it's something useful or not." 

Julius bowed his head. 

"Thank you, Lord." 

"Don't worry about it." 

(If things go in my favour we could use this new soldier to take down Kelz and her faction.)