Plans and movement

Almost an entire day had passed before Seth finally woke up.

Standing up from the ground, he looked at the destroyed land before fixing his eyes on Iris next to him.

Iris was still unconscious. Her face was drenched in her blood while her body kept spasming uncontrollably from time to time. The leakage from her flower garden seemed to have not stopped even after all this time. Seth could still feel his lust and perception energy running wildly throughout her body.

“How is she?” asked Seth, moving his hand to feel her pulse.

<Her fire source is destroyed, and the energy inside was cleansed before it could harm her body>

<Her soul is in slumber due to host’s energies, her source getting destroyed, and the impact of her loss.>

Seth nodded and asked: “What about me?”

<Perception source at 42% energy>

<Lust source at 2% energy>

<All other sources had recovered their energies>

<Damage to perception: 10%; Time: 12%; Destruction 34%>

Seth nodded and started gathering his perception and lust energies still running wild in Iris’s system. He then used destruction energy to clean her up and creation to cover her in a set of clothes.

“She’ll wake up, won’t she?” asked Seth looking at her slumbering face with a frown.

<Her will to live had crumbled, and her soul is in chaos. The will of her air source might push her forward, but a conclusion is impossible at the moment. >

“This is the best I could do, Maya….” Seth muttered while picking her up into a princess carry and starting to travel back towards Oath.

It took him less than an hour to get back to the city.

The city looked no different than when he had departed, with no one even aware that their long-time protector had fallen.

‘Give me a report.’

<The entire ascended teacher body is currently in the palace, protecting the king as per Isis’s orders.>

<The king is waiting for news and has declared you responsible for the incidents that have been happening lately. He also declared that the protector is currently in pursuit and will bring you to justice.>

‘In the end, I still ended up the villain…What about Elise, Cain, and Molly?’

<Elise has followed host’s instructions and recovered the unconscious Molly, moving along with Necros and Cain deep underground. They are currently 15 miles deep. Her wraith is currently in Necros’s underground office.>

Seth nodded and teleported while carrying Iris’s unconscious body into Necros’s office. Elise’s face lit up when she spotted Iris and exclaimed: “You won.”

Seth nodded and placed Iris on a couch nearby before saying: “Bring the others up. I’ll clean up the city.”

Elise dissolved into blood mist after a nod, and Seth started absorbing the perception energy that was still carrying his signature and floating around the city.

Three hours later, the earth shifted, and Elise, followed by Necros, Cain, and Molly, appeared from deep underground.

Necros immediately fell to his knees in front of Seth: “Master.”

Seth nodded and looked at Molly, who was already on the verge of tears. Smiling towards her, he extended his arms, and Molly dashed out of Cain’s arms into his.

She kept crying in his arms, her sniffles making even Cain have a slight smile on his lips.

“Seth. Thank you for coming.” said Cain while looking at the two from beside Elise.

Seth nodded and started rubbing Molly’s hair: “How could I not? This brat would hunt me if I didn’t.”

Cain sighed and looked towards the unconscious Iris. Seeing she was still breathing, he asked with a trace of murderous intent in his eyes: “Why is she still alive?”

Molly also lifted her tear-stained face and looked past Seth. A trace of hatred appeared on her face, and she asked: “Why?”

Seth rubbed his hair with a sigh and said: “Because I promised someone I love that I won’t be killing her. Molly, I know she hurt you a lot, but she’s already suffered enough. Can you let it go for me?”

Molly stared into Seth’s eyes in silence before deciding not to give him an answer and burying her face in his chest again.

Turning towards Cain, Seth said: “I have crippled her fire source, and her soul is injured. I don’t even know if she will ever wake up, but she won’t be able to hurt anyone again.”

Cain lowered his head and didn’t say anything either. Elise looked at the show with a slight smile and said: “I don’t care what you do with her. I’m just happy she’s gone. So, what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know…” said Seth. “I planned on slowly taking over the city, but I’ve become public enemy number one now. The people are in disarray, hating the king, hating me, scared of getting invaded, scared of getting killed...”

“It’s total chaos out there. I can easily take over the throne now, and no one would dare to oppose me if I marched in there carrying Iris’s body….”

“But?” asked Elise with a frown.

“But then, everyone will bear me as a tyrant. I don’t care if I must be the tyrant for other kingdoms, but not Oath.”

“Also, it will become almost impossible to control the population and block the news from spreading unless I lock them all inside the city walls.”

“The surrounding kingdoms will be able to figure out someone was playing them, and they might pull back… hah, I don’t feel like wasting all my effort now….”

Elise looked towards the unconscious Iris and asked: “If you feel like putting on a show, I always wanted to try something….”

Seth raised his head and looked into her eyes before asking: “You want her body?”

“I’ve been eating away at Xendar’s lifespan for far too long… I think her body would make a good host.”

Seth turned to look at Iris’s unconscious body and sighed: “It will, and you’ll have no issue taking root in her soul now, but her energy’s will is strong….”

“Stronger than mine?” asked Elise with a frown.

“I don’t know. There are still remnants in her soul from the fire influence, even if I destroyed the source, and her air will is intact. Her own will might be broken, but I still believe it will fight you off.”

“Hmph. A shattered will is a shattered will. I’ve lived for too long to be bested by that.” said Elise with a proud look.

Seth fell in thought and consulted with the system for a while before deciding.

“Fine, but you know that this deal is only temporary. Once her consciousness wakes, you must relinquish her body.”

Elise licked her lips and nodded, moving slowly towards Iris.

Seth caught Elise’s hand just as she passed by him, making her turn toward him.

“Elise. I’m not fooling around. I only agreed since you helped me a lot, and this idea would let me continue my plans, but if anything happens to her, I’ll end you myself.”

Elise looked into Seth’s eyes before nodding and saying: “But I’ll still need a host once she wakes up. Without one, staying in my core form, I’ll regress.”

Seth nodded back and said: “No problem. I’ll break another ascended for you and allow you to possess his soul fully.”

“Deal.” Replied Elise before Seth released her hand.

Walking to the unconscious Iris, Elise cut a small wound on her forehead and placed her hand on the blood that flowed through.

Then, under the stunned eyes of Molly and Cain, Elise’s body started changing from the legs up, turning bulkier as a tiny filament of blood started moving up her body.

She slowly changed back to Xendar, but this time Xendar’s hair was pure black, and his pale skin tone was starting to turn rosy.

After all the blood gathered at Elise’s hand, it flowed inside Iris’s body, and Xendar fell to the ground unconscious.

Iris’s body started turning paler, her silver hair losing its luster and turning a more ashen tone. After a few minutes, her eyes snapped open, a blood-red color inside them.

She turned towards Seth and smiled brightly: “Success.”

“How is her soul?” asked Seth, knowing that the blood race had a more profound ability to understand souls than he ever did.

Elise closed her eyes before shaking her head: “I can’t even get inside. I only isolated it for now and took control of her body. Also, if she regains consciousness, I’m done for….”

Seth nodded: “You should be fine for a while, but still be careful and leave her body as soon as you feel anything wrong.”

Elise stretched her new body for a while and said: “The problem is that I can’t use her energy at all.”

“What else did you expect? You have no knowledge of it, and the source is not yours.” asked Seth.

“True. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. Her lifespan is excellent.” Elise shrugged and moved to lift Xendar from the ground.

Placing his body on the couch where she just stood, she sighed and said: “Rest well, old friend. You deserve it.”

“Necros. Take care of this boy for me.” Said Elise, but Necros acted like he didn’t even hear her, remaining stoic with his eyes fixed on Seth.

Seth turned towards Necros and chuckled as he said: “You know she’s still Elise, right?”

“Yes, master, but she’s also Iris. I’ve been ordered to try and stay away from Iris Golden.” Replied Necros.

Elise and Seth laughed before Molly asked: “What just happened?”

Elise smiled and moved to touch Molly’s face, only for Molly to recoil deeper in Seth’s arms.

Seeing her reaction, Elise retracted her hand and said: “She really did a number on you, didn’t she? Don’t worry. I’m not in the habit of cutting fingers.”

Molly looked at Elise and shook her head: “I’m more disgusted than anything.”

Seth sighed and lifted Molly’s hand, looking at the stumps on her hand. Molly tried to hide her hand from Seth, but Seth didn’t let her as he said: “There’s someone in my kingdom which can heal this wound easily, don’t worry.”

Molly looked into Seth’s eyes and asked: “Really?”

Seth nodded and rubbed her hand before letting it go: “Really! She’s also a nice girl. I think you’ll be great friends.”

After calming Molly, the group then started discussing their plans.

Since Elise couldn’t use Iris’s energy at all and Iris had a habit of flying almost everywhere, they decided to meet with the king in private first. Still, to do that, they had to get rid of the group of ascended keeping guard all the time.

Since for their plan to work, Seth had to remain hidden, this task proved a lot more complicated than everyone expected.

“We could cause some more trouble throughout the city. It’s chaos anyway, and this will definitely make the ascended act.” Said Elise.

“It might, but I don’t think all of them will move. The strongest might still choose to remain by Lian’s side since even a first shell ascended could easily deal with the masses. Not to mention that even the shadows might be enough, and we also created enough trouble as it is…” replied Seth with a shake of his head.

“Why not simply wait?” blurted Cain, causing Elise and Seth to turn toward him. “If enough time passes, the others will suspect that Iris might have lost. The king and the public will become restless, and a shift will happen. Also, the ascended can’t keep guard over Lian forever.”

Seth lowered his head, finding Cain’s plan not that bad.

‘System, how is the movement of the other kingdoms?’

<They had already made contact with four destruction ascended and many more earth ones. The earth ascended are all at the first and second shells and will be used to ambush the blood race.>

<A third-shell destruction from Life will infiltrate Oath. He will start moving in about a month.>

<Two fifth-shell destruction ascended from Life will move to attack Endora from the far south, embarking on a ship from the Kingdom of Pain.>

<The last destruction ascended from Death will move with the armies passing through Loss and Wrath to attack Endora.>

Seth’s eyes widened as he asked: ‘Where did they get the gold to hire ascended like that? Also, there should be no possibility of hiring destruction ascended that strong. Is the sixth shell Tarquin?’

<Affirmative. Tarquin has made a deal in secret with Ronald.>

<The ascended from Life’s prices were decreased by Soren just before the ascended were hired. Also, the two fifth shell were hired at third shells. Not even Iwan knows their true strength.>

‘So Soren plans to fish in troubled waters... as for Tarquin, that fool’s ambition really knows no limit...’

<Affirmative. Nasha also prohibited all the ascended from Death from getting involved in the war. However, Tarquin still moved against that order.>

‘With Nasha’s connection to that thing, he definitely knows of Tarquin’s plans. Keep an eye on Nasha and find out what he’s planning.’

<Understood.>

‘This is a bit more annoying, but it’s not that bad. Destruction ascended are still easy to deal with. The urgent one is the one heading for Oath. A month until he leaves, two more until they arrive in Oath. Then it’s fine. I have time to wait.’

Having worked through the enemy movement, Seth looked up towards the others.

“Fine. For the lack of a better solution, we’ll do as Cain said.”