Suddenly, 59 explosions broke out one by one.

The Black Wings had each fired a bullet into the air to quell their screams.

“Defend yourself, Mary!”

“I’ll take on as many as I can!” The Bleeding Petal exclaimed, retrieving a petal-shaped throwing star. “Move the princess back!”

Yanarin threw her arms into an ‘x’ shape before her face, expecting the sound to trigger the instincts of the Puff Puffs.

However, it instead caused them to slowly part aside. They hopped happily, wearing smiles as though they were…

“… Yanarin. Are you… Was it the food? They look like they’re greeting us.” Mary was in utter disbelief. “Are these creatures supposed to be scary?”

“Mary. With all due respect – Those are Puff Puffs. And not just Puff Puffs. But their evolved versions. The Puffier Puffs. And the Puffiest Puff.”

The names threw Mary off entirely. If it weren’t for the reactions of Yanarin, then she would have believed this to be a joke, or the Nexus’ way of mocking them.

But to think that these adorable creatures were so dangerous… it was something that Mary struggled to comprehend.

“Just one Puffier Puff is at the level of a Phenom of Contempt. But they have an army of the Puffiest Puffs. It is beyond the creatures that naturally exist in Emvita and Brandar. Just one small Puff Puff requires a Diamond Ranked Adventurer or a party of Platinum Ranked Adventurers!”

Diamond Rank was the second highest Adventurer Rank. The Bleeding Petal, who was of the Radiant Rank, could kill a Puff Puff with relative ease. But a Puffier Puff required at least a high-grade Diamond Ranked Adventurer or a low-grade Radiant Ranked Adventuer.

As for the Puffiest Puffs?

“… We truly never stood a chance. Moons. Stars. Their reformed Healers... The Snowballs, the Snow Devourers… and the Winter Nightmare.”

Finally, those names caused Mary’s face to blanch. She recognized them immediately, causing their Aspiring Moon – the bunny girl – to smile elegantly as she moved to the largest Winter Nightmare and gave it a hug.

“Aren’t they cute? Thousands upon thousands of them live up there in our humble Nexus. Don’t mind them. They’re harmless, curious things~ They just came here to see the faces of our guests.”

It was not just her. Other Lunas stood amongst the monsters. Some leaned on them, whilst another allowed a Winter Nightmare to hold them in their mouth.

What was inside was why it was called a ‘nightmare’.

Millions of thin teeth ran across their upper and bottom jaws. They were so thin that it was like looking at the bristles of a broom. Within was a well of tentacles that would restrain prey. Afterwards, their tentacles would invade their prisoner, rearranging and rewiring their organs so that it could be used for the Winter Nightmare.

During this the unfortunate victim would be rendered down to a concoction of living liquid. They’d remain alive for as long as the Winter Nightmare was. If they were lucky, then they’d become a miserable seedbed for the Winter Nightmare.

As a result, they were seen as equally as terrifying as the Anids in the northern snowy Regions.

“To see our faces…?” Yanarin gulped.

What more was that the Puff Puffs could never forget a face.

Their fate was sealed. Even if they managed to escape here with their lives, they’d be remembered by these killing machines for as long as they lived.

“Princess Mary. I beg of you… confess everything you know to the Amalgam.”

This was the desired reaction. Fear would drive one to confess. Yanarin was as impressed as she was taken by fear. The Amalgam had expertly played on their emotions. By knowing secrets that were kept close to their hearts, it was as though the Amalgam could read their mind.

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As a result, their fears would cause them to confess more than the Amalgam knew. Yanarin didn’t say this out loud. But she thought that it was in Mary’s best interest to play along.

“I have never committed a crime.” Mary assured.

And there was a part of Yanarin that truly believed that the Amalgam knew everything that ran through their minds.

She looked up at the heights of the Nexus with reverence.

“But we have in the eyes of the Amalgam. We saw how it changed color. Black, and then red. The sounds of the trumpets shattered the palace windows. She’s furious with us.”

Her warning was seemingly based on superstitions.

But still, there was truth to them.

* * *

Over 700 people marched along the central highway of Atlas. Flanking them were the watchful Puff Puffs and their evolved forms. Grey-haired men and women wearing white robes stood at the sides. They read through parchments of paper that bleed as the muffled cry of a hoisted whale heart silenced their voices.

No more than murmur could be spoken. The Stormweaver Continuity and magic-orientated nations were severely weakened by the [Silence] Condition. As this was neutral territory, no us of magic was permitted.

Then again, it was not even possible for them to use magic in the first place unless they could cast magic without chanting.

They were brought to a building that resembled a palace. Atlas had many large buildings, and this was easily one of the largest. Its walls were designed like that of a city’s battlements, and the banners of over 500 unique Kingdoms decorated it.

And this was for only one side.

A Kingdom, no matter how small or large, was eligible to proudly hang their nation’s banner. However, Mary quickly realized that many of the 59 Kingdoms present did not have their banners hoisted along the walls.

Instead, they were hung from one spire to another along a thin wire. This was to show which nations were part of the current Assembly.

“We’re here…” Mary muttered beneath her breath. “The Stage… The Amalgam is right behind here.”

They stood before a double door that was over 40 meters wide. A piece of iron at this size would take months of work by Mary’s own craftsmen. It would be a treasure that would not be exposed to the weathers, and here – the Nexus used it as nothing more than a door.

But it was fitting, as this was a place where people from across the world conglomerated.

Mary grew cold feet. If possible, she did not wish to enter.

But then what kind of a ruler would she be if she turned her back now?

My Empire is on the line. My life. Everything. I have to see this through to the end…

… and I am curious as to what the Amalgam looks like.

Finally, the doors slowly recessed into the ground with an eerily silent whirl.

A rush of cold air threatened to throw them off their feet, but an equally powerful wave of terror kept them planted firmly in place. A chamber as spacious as the exterior suggested resided within.

It was a mostly pale hall with a black ceiling containing a map of Elysia.

Thousands of seats, and dozens of rows of desks ran in a ring-like shape. The furthest rings were elevated so that all could see the stage in the center. Mary was reminded of an auditorium or a theatre.

And there, standing on an elevated platform at the furthest end of the Stage, right beneath the banner of a crown, was a being unlike any other.

“My blood… is reacting to that person…”

Mary uttered in complete shock.

She had been in the presence of Bathory the Scarlet Fall. She knew how a Third Generation Vampire’s blood was supposed to react to an Honored One.

But it did not boil in this person’s presence.

It trembled.

No… My blood… is becoming heavy. It’s as if I’m being ordered… to prostrate… Not even ordered. It’s like the difference of our Blood Purity is so vast that I’m being forced to lay down my life for them… What… are they…?

“Princess…”

“Agh…”

“We can barely stand… Is it… because of them?”

It was not just Mary whose blood reacted. Her Dukes, Dutchesses, the Bleeding Petal and Yanarin struggled to stay conscious in the presence of who they could only believe to be as:

“The Amalgam… Is an Honored One? But Honored Ones don’t have this presence. Could she be…?”

The words she wanted to say did not leave her mouth. But she and her group collectively sounded it out with dread within their minds.

Then, a Healer with a strand of red hair appeared before them. And like the Amalgam, they carried a presence that did not allow them to gaze back into their eyes.

“Vampires? The Progenitor’s going to like that.” She scoffed before clapping her hands. “You may enter in an orderly manner. The Amalgam is kindly waiting for you to take your seat upon her Stage. To the right of me are the seats that are for the virtuous. To the left of me are the seats of the sinners. Your first task is to sort yourselves into one of these two sides.”

Quiet murmurs exploded. Questions were flung in this Healer’s direction, but she dismissed them. Her eyes broadened, and her irises spiraled with utmost contempt as she wore an innocent smile.

“A penalty will be given to those who sort themselves incorrectly. Therefore, it is in your best interest to be honest with yourselves for once in your life.”

The disdain in her voice was expertly hidden behind her sweet, tantalizing voice.

But they could tell that this Healer could not care less if they were bleeding out in front of them.

She had already made up her mind on the type of people they were.

“Now then – Please, take a seat. As patient as the Amalgam is, the same cannot be said about her aides.”