After the whole ordeal with Diana and her epiphany, with her help, I secretly used one of her Clans teleporters without anyone except her assistant knowing, allowing me to quickly escape as I traveled through a dimensional rift, which ended up with me arriving just outside the Immortal Ocean Clan's territory.
Gracefully landing atop the beach, I glanced behind me, watching the dimensional rift dissipate before looking at the endless ocean in front of me while my feet comfortably sank into the sand. Furrowing my brows, I sent my divine sense into my dimensional ring as I checked upon Illumia, who was still entirely unconscious, showing no signs of waking up, which was starting to worry me.
Illumia was a True God King, an incredibly powerful cultivator, so only a high God-ranked poison would be capable of doing this, but even then, for such a poison to not only go entirely unnoticed by Illumia, along with keeping her unconscious for so long…
"... Does such an item even exist?" Thought Elif with a skeptical expression as he looked at Illumia, unable to find anything wrong with her.
Although I was by no means exceedingly knowledgeable when it came to poisons, especially such powerful poisons that were God Ranked, the more I contemplated Illumia's situation, the more I found it difficult to believe that a poison existed as powerful as the one she consumed. Given Illumia's cultivation, only one of the two should've been possible; either she wouldn't have sensed the poison, yet it would've been weak, or she would've sensed something was off, and the poison would've been strong.
Granted, if it were the latter, we wouldn't be in this situation, nor would I have any idea if the poison was strong or not, but I digress.
However, as I silently thought while staring into the endless ocean, a wild idea suddenly popped into my mind, which nearly caused me to immediately shake my head in refusal. However, given all the evidence I had, I simply couldn't refuse it.
'An Immortal poison could easily have done this to Illumia, yet there is no way Nerthus would've used an Immortal Poison… Right? No, there's no way.' Thought Elif with a troubled expression as he constantly attempted to deny such claims, though he couldn't believe himself.
Anything that was of Immortal rank was so unbelievably valuable that the thought of Nerthus using a poison of that rank never even crossed my mind until I exhausted all options, and although I still wanted to deny it, I did have to admit, she was a bit crazy for me. Nothing at the level of Elaine, of course, but if she had a chance to get into my pants, Nerthus wouldn't hesitate to take it, even if it meant ripping my pants off.
While all this was necessary, in the end, I was far too weak to properly analyze Illumia's condition, so scanning her with my divine sense was just a wasted effort, and my best bet would be to return to the Bubble-Dome City.
"I could ask Lucifer and his Master, whose name I forgot; I'm confident he would offer assistance. As for Cordelia? Hmm, I think I'll visit her first." Muttered Elif softly as he repeatedly tapped his chin, a faint glint passing through his eyes, only for him to smirk.
Lifting into the air, I shot across the ocean, flying through the sky as I made my way to Bubble-Dome City, which would take me several days as I was very slow, even at my fastest speed.
"I think I need this, though; after everything, serenity is just what I need." Said Elif softly as he gazed at the tranquil ocean before faintly smiling, enjoying his days of silence and peace.
___
___
After several days of flying through the sky and then the ocean, I finally returned to Bubble-Dome City; floating towards the city, I phased through the bubble dome, entering the somewhat loud and slightly active city, as I gently landed on the ground.
'It seems many people have joined during the days I was gone.' Thought Elif lightly as he walked through the street while observing the numerous people, though, of course, no woman could keep their eyes off him.
Winking at an occasional woman along the way, causing nearly everyone to swoon, I passed through the Redlight district, where both sexes stared at me in fascination and lust, causing me to further flaunt my beauty, though I came to a stop when I saw a familiar face exiting a brothel.
"Birger?" "Eh, P-Prince Elif?" Remarked Elif and Birger, respectively, as the former raised an eyebrow while the latter wryly smiled.
Glancing at the numerous kiss marks all over him and the somewhat haggard expression, I narrowed my eyes slightly and eyed Birger as he approached.
"Don't tell me this is your first instance leaving the brothel since arriving here?" Asked Elif as he suspiciously eyed Birger, who averted his gaze while coughing, causing his expression to twitch.
"These Atlanteans and other Fish-women genuinely know how to please a Man… I ended up losing track of time." Replied Birger in slight embarrassment as he faintly glanced at Elif, who blankly stared at him before shaking his head in disappointment.
"I'm not even your Mother, and I feel disappointed in you. Do you not have multiple concubines?" "They're all at home, back at my kingdom; I can't constantly commute between this city and my Kingdom whenever I need to relieve myself." Remarked Elif and Birger, respectively, as the former blankly eyed the latter, who attempted to argue his reasoning to no avail.
"Hmm, yes, sure, whatever you say, Birger. I truly don't care enough about your sexual life to argue with you." Said Elif lightly with a nod as he gazed upon Birger before shaking his head, causing him to wryly smile.
"Oh, speaking of Mother, did you visit her?" Asked Birger hesitantly as he glanced at Elif while walking beside him, causing his expression to twitch before nodding.
"Yes, and I was nearly raped in the process, possibly the closest I'd ever been. Why? Do you intend to apologize on her behalf?" Replied Elif with a nod as he turned and glanced at Birger, who widened his eyes before awkwardly shaking his head.
"I-I'll apologize on my behalf as I don't think my Mother regrets her actions… Well, maybe the fact she didn't get to, you know." Stated Birger awkwardly with a wry smile as he glanced at Elif, whose expression twitched at his words, causing him to avert his gaze.
"Have you ever tried to talk her out of it? She should at least listen to the word of her Son, no?" "Oh, I've tried, yet the moment I did, she forced me onto her lap while we watched videos of you… Nude." Said Elif and Birger, respectively, as the former curiously eyed the latter, who gulped and shook his head before glancing at him with a faint, lustful gaze.
"NO! I refuse!" Added Birger sternly as he closed his eyes and shook his head, causing Elif to cough awkwardly.
"You know, you can just erase those memories?" Said Elif lightly as he looked at Birger, who suddenly froze while his cheeks took on a crimson hue.
As I silently stared at Birger, he slowly and seemingly with great reluctance, retracted his finger from his head, removing a few memories from his soul, and just as he was about to destroy it, he suddenly stopped himself and swallowed it, causing me to faintly smirk in amusement as I patted his shoulder.
"It is alright, Birger, my beauty transcends sex; I won't think of you any less; as a matter of fact, I will think higher of you now that you've finally realized my sheer, unparalleled beauty. You're also not alone; many men, such as yourself, have fallen for my charms, even those who love women." Stated Elif with a mischievous smirk as he gently patted Birger's shoulder, causing him to cover his face before turning around and running away.
Watching Birger enter the Brothel again, I faintly shook my head while continuing down the street to my temporary residence. Birger may be trying to use the woman to reaffirm that he only likes women, but in the long run, it'll only have the opposite effect; after all, he'll subconsciously compare every woman he sleeps with to me and quickly realize my beauty utterly outshines every woman he'll ever come across.
"Haa, the troubles of being beautiful." Said Elif dramatically as he brushed aside his hair with a deep sigh while entering his residence.
As I entered the Residence, I stopped, only to retreat a few steps as I looked on either side of the entrance, yet no matter how hard I looked, the two royal guards were nowhere to be seen.
Furrowing my brows, I quickly entered the residence while expanding my divine sense, only for me to scowl at what I saw. Dashing through the residence, I emerged in the back courtyard, only to see my two royal guards hanging from trees with hundreds of tiny cuts littering their bodies.
They were long since dead, and it was apparent that they had been tortured as well; why they did so was something I doubt I'd ever uncover, but the fact that someone dared to do this infuriated me. However, before I could further dwell on this, I widened my eyes and swiftly entered my residence as I busted into Sarah's room, though when I saw a destroyed room with no inkling of Sarah anywhere, I subconsciously released a burst of Qi that leveled the entire residence, and causing the city to tremble.
"Sarah."