Chapter 90: The Aftermath: Shroud of Silence
The grand hall of the vanquished fortress was steeped in the cool, iron-scented air of the recent battle. Dust motes danced in the lone shaft of moonlight that pierced the ruined ceiling, illuminating the still-slick stone floor.
Leornars stood amidst the debris, his imposing, seven-foot silhouette a stark profile against the shadows. He looked down at the monstrous, obsidian-hued form his Transfiguration had taken—a form now rapidly dissolving. He let out a long, quiet sigh, the sound barely audible over the distant, mournful creak of a broken chandelier. The battle was done, but the cost still resonated in the deep thrumming silence.
He walked with deliberate steps toward the spot where he had physically separated the monstrous form of Luiphonia from his victims. There, nestled amongst the fractured stone, a faint, ethereal luminescence caught his eye. It was dim, a fragile spark against the vast darkness, but undeniably visible.
Bending down, the immense form of his transmutation slowly retracted, sinking back into the heavy black shadow pooling beneath him. As the light from the core intensified slightly, the shadow stretched and flowed, coalescing not into Leornars, but into the elegant, pallid form of Zhyelena.
"Damn, I thought I died there," Zhyelena rasped, her voice thin and edged with fatigue as she brushed phantom dust from her tailored black coat.
Leornars calmly picked up the objects. To his astonishment, they were two faint, pulsating spheres—the remnants, the very cores, of Julah's parents.
"But… you are undead, imbecile," Leornars stated, his voice a low, level murmur, devoid of sarcasm, simply stating a biological fact in this reality.
Zhyelena paused, offering a wry, tired smile. "A fair point. But even the undead can be inconvenienced by soul-rending explosions, Lord Leornars."
As he finished inspecting the cores, a sudden, soft whoosh of displaced air announced another arrival. At a distance, he had just noticed the shimmering outline of Stacian returning from her task. Now, in the blink of an eye, she teleported, appearing precisely in the space directly in front of him, her silver hair catching the faint moonlight like spun glass.
"Did you finish Jeremy?" Leornars asked, his gaze settling on her, waiting for the confirmation he already expected.
"Yes, even though he was Luiphonia's puppet, he still killed innocent people," Stacian replied, her tone utterly detached, like reporting the weather.
Zhyelena stepped forward, her expression contemplative as she gazed at the ruined city visible through the hall's broken arches. "He might have been justified as evil, but that doesn't excuse the fact that he was sided with Luiphonia in the first place. I've listened to the people, and none were on his side," she mused.
"Truly an unfair world," Zhyelena conceded, the light in her eyes flickering. "But did Luiphonia deserve to be permanently erased?"
Leornars walked past her, his eyes now fixed on the cores in his hand, a heavy finality in his words. "Luiphonia is denied redemption not because he can't change, but because his crimes erase the moral space where redemption could exist, he was rotten to the core, no piece of his soul was redeemable."
He turned and gently placed the two faintly glowing cores into the waiting, trembling hands of Julah, who had been standing silently by the entrance, watching the exchange.
"Thank you, Lord Leornars," Julah whispered, tears finally streaming down her face, the quiet joy of having the remnants of her parents outweighing the preceding horrors.
Leornars nodded, the corner of his lips turning up in the slightest, most ephemeral of smiles. "There are things that in life that are far more meaningful than wars and hate, to love and cherish peace is something I will persevere for." He pulled Julah into a gentle, protective embrace. As they began to walk toward the exit, the ruined fortress falling away behind them.
Outside, the silence of the royal city was oppressive. The cobblestone streets, moments ago filled with the cries of battle and the clash of swords, were now empty, slick with rain and shadow.
"The streets aren't rioting anymore. They're silent," Stacian said calmly, observing the ghost-like atmosphere.
"They realized what has happened," Leornars said.
"And that is?" Zhyelena pressed, her hand resting lightly on the hilt of a hidden blade.
"They had authority and power to unrule their dictatorial regimes, those fools let monsters wear crowns," Leornars said, the coldness in his voice chilling the night air.
The shadow at Leornars's feet stirred again, and a third figure, the youthful form of Zhyier, unfolded from the darkness.
"What about the king? What do we do with him?" Zhyier asked, his voice still carrying the innocence of a newly materialized spirit.
"He's the one who created this environment, he's the main root of all problems," Leornars stated plainly. "His death is eminent, non negotiable at all means, but he didn't do much like his son. For that, I will not kill his soul. I'll let him reincarnate. His crimes were petty and minor, from fraud to attempted invasion. Basically, he's just a worthless soul."
Stacian let out a small, almost musical laugh. "Damn, at least try to sound... nicer."
"You people are not normal! How are you laughing while talking about murder!" Julah exclaimed, having finally regained a measure of composure, clutching the cores to her chest.
"Murder is a minor issue since death is normal," Stacian added, the casual cruelty of her comment hanging in the air.
Leornars gave a curt nod of agreement.
From within Leornars's very being, a resonant, telepathic voice—that of Althelia—spoke up. "Feels like anything I say would sound cruel, but I still stand on killing the nobility."
"That was the original plan, we have already planned on it," Leornars confirmed out loud.
Julah gasped, the sound sharp in the quiet street.
"Yes, Julah will bond very well with Zaryter," Stacian added, a glint of genuine excitement in her eyes.
"Killing children, allowing children prostitution, slavery, and attempted genocide on invading Avangard. That's enough of a reason to wipe out the nobility, no exceptions," Leornars summarized, his decree an inescapable law.
"What if some are manipulated to do it like Jeremy?" Zhyier asked, clearly still wrestling with the harsh logic.
Leornars stopped and turned, his gaze falling upon Zhyier, cold and piercing. "Survival doesn't justify desecration to any fault or mistake, you bare the burden you inflicted on to others, if that's not justified, I don't know what is."
"Hmm… I understand now," Zhyier conceded, his voice calm, the lesson absorbed.
Leornars then turned his calm gaze to Stacian. "Do you feel guilty of what you did?"
Stacian met his eyes without flinching. "He was unjust and his actions were null, he was a tragic person indeed. I don't know if it'll haunt me, but I had to be the one who had to do it. Tragedy or hate—both are irrelevant when it's trading a soul for millions of others. So no, I don't feel guilty of anything."
One day later…
The air still hummed with subdued tension, but a palpable sense of change had settled over the Kingdom of Seraphim.
King Theron Varelus was executed by the new Empress's order, a swift, final act. Soon after, Princess Louis was crowned the new Empress of Seraphim. The first week under her rule was a whirlwind of profound, unexpected change.
The manor where Leornars, Stacian, Zhyelena, and Zhyier—and even Bellian, who had just returned from Avangard—were staying was an oasis of calm amidst the revolution. Leornars, dressed simply in a blue short, a white vest, and black slippers, stood on the balcony, observing the city's progression.
Brothels were broken down to create orphanages. Apothecaries were converted to hospitals upon the ruling of the Queen. The city, though scarred, was becoming visibly more lively, shedding its old, toxic skin.
Leornars decided to take a walk, a simple stroll through the nation he had reshaped. Every corner he turned, he was met with genuinely warm greetings, not the fear-laden subservience of old. Meanwhile, Stacian had used her restorative powers to heal Jeremy's wife. It turned out her disease was a subtle poison Luiphonia had injected into her bloodstream, lying to Jeremy that the Pollium drug was the only cure.
"So this is the legacy I left? Was it justified? Did I become a threat? Was my action and chaos needed? These questions are what I myself must bare alone," Leornars mused, walking alone along a newly opened garden path. "There's no need for a ruling of a dictator in power in a new age, the age of revolution."
Julah, too, was healing, the trauma accumulated from Luiphonia finally beginning to recede. She had warmed up again to Leornars and the others, finding a strange, comforting stability in their unconventional group.
A messenger arrived for Stacian. It was a message from Ayesha: Zaryter was busy complaining about taxes again.
"Lord, I will be back if needed. Zaryter is in a loop," she announced, giving a small, weary salute.
"Don't worry, I got everything here handled," Leornars assured her.
Stacian vanished instantly in a silver flash of light.
_______
🌑 Meanwhile, at the Verizon Meeting…
The air in the chamber was thick and unnaturally cold, a pocket of true darkness cut off from the world. Six entities, the Six Calamities, sat at a massive, circular table, each completely shrouded by a dense, shifting veil of shadow.
"What's your assumption right now?" one asked in a deep, reverberating male voice.
"From the readings I have, he's the final seat. It's him. The White Plague. I'm certain of it," a clear, icy female voice replied.
"Then have him be escorted here," another said, his voice calm, yet carrying a terrifying, absolute authority that made the shadows themselves seem to bow.
_______
Leornars was deep into his walk through a busy market square, the smells of fresh bread and spices replacing the scent of war. He met Kurumi Yamauchi near a fountain, her familiar mischievous grin firmly in place.
"Hey, Boss. So I heard what you did. It was cold, to be precise. I honestly didn't expect you to be that merciful to King Valerus," she greeted him, leaning against the fountain's edge.
"Oh, where did you acquire that information? I'm getting curious," Leornars asked, a spark of amusement in his eye.
"Hey, a girl has her connections," she said in a happy, knowing tone.
"Just keep them away from Zhyelena, she'll probably see them as hostile and decide to kill your connections," Leornars said, the sarcasm sharp and direct.
Kurumi threw her head back and laughed, a bright, melodic sound. "Good point. I don't want to face the Keeper of Silence." She then leaned in conspiratorially. "But tell me this, how did you know your plan would work?"
"Because I planned on the plan, detected flaws, and swiftly dealt with them—that being Jeremy. If he was seen as a tragic person, I'd face backlash rather than support. That's why I wanted Jeremy out, and Stacian decided to do it, so I had Luiphonia for myself," Leornars explained, his logic impeccable and ruthless.
Kurumi looked genuinely impressed. "In my world called Earth, there are books called manga, and characters like you are either main characters or the main character's friend—smart and flawless."
"Even in my own life, I don't want to be the main character, sounds like a hustle," Leornars said calmly.
"But tell me more about this Japan you speak of," Leornars prompted, genuinely intrigued.
"You wanna know about my home? Then we do a trade," she said, her eyes shining with the excitement of a new bargain.
"I'm listening."
"Tell me all on how you planned your idea for Seraphim Kingdom, and I will tell you about my world. Sounds fair," she proposed.
"Sounds reasonable, but if you have any skill or artifact that records voices, I'll kill you," Leornars warned, his tone instantly serious.
"I'm clean. I'm just planning to write a book and need an interesting plot device," she assured him, holding up her hands in mock surrender.
"A book? Whatever. I'm aware the Pollium drug surfaced three months ago in the Durmount Kingdom and spread to the Dirrium Nation, then to Seraphim. Most people who used it were people with anxiety and depression—that was on the first tube," Leornars began, his voice dropping into a methodical narrative. "And then I made the drug. It was consumed, so I was looking for something or anyone people hated until I heard it from Ayesha and Julah and had the target: Prince Luiphonia. And he was everything I hoped: stupid, immature, and a racist noble. So it was the perfect target."
He continued walking, tracing the steps of his complex trap.
"I wrote the formula for the Pollium drug and sold it to a sketchy merchant, together with other merchandise. Since he was headed to Seraphim Kingdom, I knew the odds he'd sell it to Luiphonia were high. I had Stacian confiscate any dime Luiphonia made and supplied him with gold, which he took. I saw another side of him: lustrous to anyone. So I made Diane from dead corpses and handed him his doom flag, which he took it happily. I had to broadcast the entire thing to the people, fight him appearing weak, which almost killed me. I made the world view Luiphonia as evil for the Pollium drug, and killing him looked like it was justified."
"So you basically created Pollium drug for Luiphonia?" Kurumi asked, stunned by the revelation.
"I created it for both geopolitics and economical warfare against everything Luiphonia treasured. I destroyed him mentally and emotionally by letting him sleep with a corpse of various monsters. He was my pawn for over five months and three weeks to be exact. I could have killed him any day, but I needed him to know what he did," Leornars finished, a chilling pride in his voice.
"Dang, even I wouldn't have thought about that. That's some next-level planning," she breathed.
"I basically created a cage for him without him knowing. All along, he was on my hands, that desecrated baboon," Leornars said as Kurumi laughed loudly again.
"Remind me not to be your enemy," she said, shaking her head.
"We'll let fate decide that." Leornars simply replied.
"So what are you doing now?" she asked.
"I already have created the cure for Pollium drug and will mass-produce it so everyone can get it for free, apart from the nobility. They pay, since they squander the people's money," Leornars said, the fairness of his new rule immediately apparent.
"And then?" Kurumi prompted.
"Probably head back to Avangard. I'm not entirely sure. The Empress has her hands tied, and I need to help a bit, so I've created a banquet," Leornars said.
"Ooooooh, I feel this is interesting, I'll come too," she immediately volunteered.
"Yeah, do. I need the extra hand since I've dispatched Zhyier and Bellian to Avangard. Can you create barriers?" Leornars asked.
"That's easy for me, I got you covered," she said confidently, tapping her chest.
"Okay, now for the second Banquet," Leornars said calmly, turning his gaze towards a new horizon, already plotting his next move in the grand chess game of kingdoms.