King Jason stepped into the inner chambers of the palace, greeted by his spies as he smiled "Well everyone, all things considered, that could've gotten a hell of a lot worse eh?" the spies didn't laugh, but he did hear some sigh.
"My liege, the summoning of four world-threatening creatures, one of those being the fallen god is not let's just say, good for the morning journal, as you surely know by now," The spymaster said "Here we have reports of priests and paladins already making movements to invade the capital and hunt down Miss Hope and then we have good intel that the devils and demons coupled with a few fallen plus an odd dozen neutral Gods also making moves to defend the young woman"
King Jason nodded "Well it is a good thing the more radical elements of the All-Father's church are notoriously known for not being able to coordinate amongst themselves for the life of them, plus most of their paladins are stashed away in the mountains near the Principality and those elves aren't known for sleeping on potential threats. Have the borders reinforced with more Diviners and Mages"
The spymaster nodded and went away as King Jason sat on his chair and began reading through the pages of reports of his people, Contact with the woman of the hour had not been established yet, she was still reaping the many awards that battle gave her and her people, Hope on the other hand was scheduled to meet him and his wife soon, as they moved to make her engagement with their son official.
Malphas was fuming at the thought, she had come to dislike the girl quite profoundly, the same for her own son and even Kaine, that one was what worried Jason, his mastery of Chronomancy was a terrifying proposition, as it could end battles with a snap of his fingers, nevermind the fact the Goddess of Time was very unwilling to share the secrets to master her domain.
A genius as his friend and Kaine's father said Jason, sighed and flipped the page, ah yes now that was a face and name that was on the lips of every noble in town, Mister Richard Silverbrand, who just a few days ago was nothing but a well connected young man son of a pair of good merchants.
Now? the young man had the loyalty of every orc alive in the kingdom and beyond, Jason had watched the magical recordings of his fight against Malphas numerous times already, actual hand-to-hand combat empowered by the Goddess of the Orcs, the millennial accord between Vermilion and the Orcs against the sea elves made manifest in the middle of the biggest battle the land had seen in nearly 30 years.
When he asked Malphas about it the woman smiled he often forgot that the life of the Queen had only appeased the fire of war inside his wife, not smothered completely, the rage she had for Hope and the rest. Richard was spared.
Even after using a Tear on her.
Jason laughed, of course, Lucrezia found the missing relic and gave it to him, that woman was a whole year ahead of everyone and he knew it, seeing those massive airships, the enemies of the Kingdom joining hands and coming to battle, he knew that if she wanted she could've done far worse, never mind civil war with the people she had? the birth of a new empire using Vermilion and the surrounding countries as stepping stones was possible.
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Yet the reports said the woman of the hour was in a grim mood, often reflecting alone in meditation on top of the main Academy building, Jason wondered if the battle and her brush with death had given her some deeper insight, or the push to search for such insight, it was a common thing among those who fought in battles after all, he wished to pick her brain apart and see what made her tick now but that was something for the future.
The king sighed as he recalled he was due several meetings with a number of diplomats and in a very particular case with the monarchs of a certain kingdom, he was not a fan of those but it was his duty, to smooth things over and then help his people whether this well cosmic event, given Lady's Lucrezia daring summonings of what his informants in the Golden City of the Gods called a Terminus Level entity, 2 as matter of fact.
"Capable of leveling continents within hours, incredibly dangerous," the God said as Jason's memory went on to less sinister things, like that Rage Avatar his wife called down, oh yes that also had repercussions with the Divine Folk, very bad repercussions that were hand waved away by the big man himself, together with Lucrezia's own transgressions according to the God.
Many of the Divines were not happy, but that was life Jason thought to himself as he kept reading the files, but he couldn't deny to himself, he was glad no one had died, and that most of the people came out of the whole ordeal in good spirits and even better in selected cases.
As his old man used to say "We must always accept the good news first, the bad ones will come as they sure do, but the good news? those we must cherish" He smiled and wondered what his father would've thought about this whole thing, probably come up with a random saying or such.
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Queen Malphas watched as her son walked down to meet the master of ceremonies, on his right side that pest of a woman, with red hair and a fair face, Hope smiled at her, her face full of defiance.
Malphas didn't miss Kaine and the Kitsune lady decked out in what had to be an improved magi-tech armor, nor the staff concealed by magic in his back and on her back, time magic was a strong thing and she wouldn't be caught sleeping on the job should anything come to happen.
But the star of their little party was the boy she fought at the fields, Richard Silverbrand stood to Kaine's left side, in his chest a pendant with the tear of the All-Father on it, dressed in common garbs the boy's eyes were laser-focused on her.
Her blessing flexed and she felt Hope's own absurd blessing flex with it, these people...Malphas was ready for a fight but to see her son so happy melted her heart a bit, even if it was with all the wrong people.
Malphas's daughter spoke with her brother and the lass, and they laughed a little as the master of ceremonies did his whole spiel of blessing their relationship and all that, boring but decorum must be followed her husband said, otherwise what's the point?
After the ceremony was over, the man left his station and Arthur together with Hope came closer to where Malphas and Jason were, they bowed as Hope pulled a parchment from her clothes.
The sigil in it made Malphas's blood boil.
"For the queen, from an...concerned third party, a list of names of those a certain someone wronged and is in need of aid" The girl smiled with her teeth out, zero fear in her eyes, Malphas sighed knowing her son was on her side now, committed to the last.
The power of Rage flowed through both of them as Malphas took the paper with rage in her face, Jason was already getting up from his seat but Malphas held him off "Tell this concerned third party that this will be taken care of"
Hope and Arthur nodded and left, Malphas was fuming but for the good of the promise she made to the well, entire godsdamned kingdom she held her hand, but fate would turn in her favor, even if she had to wait decades for it.
And the Gods knew she would wait, and enact her revenge.