When the bright light subsided, Hestia was already sitting back on her throne, while the other Eternals were sitting near the tea table, already eating a cake. Lord Blair was standing in shock, gazing at his hands. His short white hair grew and turned brown, while his beard became much denser. With a flip of my fingers, a mirror showed up in front of Blair, at which he stared for a long moment.
"Before you ask, it's not an easy thing to do. The cost is so immense that these three can only look this cool by sitting in the corner and pretending they are eating the cake," Hestia said, leaning a bit over Irene, who covered her face so as not to laugh too loud.
"Are you all right?" I asked, concerned.
"Are you joking? If not for the mana I have now, I would have fainted back then. And if not for Eriar's intervention, we would maybe rejuvenate him twenty years, max." Hestia grinned and leaned on her throne, breathing slowly.
"Impressive work." I smiled at her. "Thank you, my Darling." She winked playfully in response and looked at Blair.
"Lord General Dastra Blair, now that you are young once again, would you help us, the Royal Family of Avalon, to safeguard our people and lands?" Hestia asked with a warm smile.
"Forever!" He bellowed and smashed his fist on his wide chest.
"I am placing under your direct command five thousand Guardsmen with five hundred auxiliary forces, an unnumbered immortal legion, and the right to increase the number of troops. Your base of operation will be the capital of the western region- The Dungeon City of Westwood." I grinned at the man and threw him an edict, which he caught with laughter. "You don't have to play around pretending to be the governor or bother with figuring out where supplies are. The local Governor is Lavender May, The Dryad Queen. She doesn't have any power over the military. Your orders are to keep borders safe, cities and villages secure, and safety levels of the region in check."
"It will be done as you ordered, my King!" He bowed to me with a smile. "It's good to be young again, Your Majesties!"
•••
The silence of the Royal Mausoleum, located in the furthest corner of the Royal Garden, was interrupted. The Praetorians were holding guards around the row of fresh sarcophaguses in which the direct ancestors of Queen Aoi were laying. Zephyr was kneeling silently in front of a large wall behind which his love and wife, Grandine, was resting forever. As I promised them, I brought to Avalon the remains of the Dragonkin Royal Family. Here, they found eternal rest. Irene herself used her prayers, blessing the Aoi's ancestors and helping a few of them to move forward.
"Zephyr, Aoi." I quietly called their names. "During the retrieval and preparation of the remains for burial in Avalon, we found two items that belonged to Grandine. I believe you should have them."
I gave the diamond hairpin and a dragon scale to Zephyr, who smiled and immediately gave the scale to Aoi. She looked at it and paled.
EPIC MYTHICAL grade item.
Grandine was the most noble of all of the Dragons. From the true love between her and God Zephyr, a child was born. To this scale, Grandine poured most of her power, which she planned to give her descendants as an heirloom. Before she managed to do that, she died from the claws of Tiamat.
This item grants an entire plethora of effects.
+2 skill points per level.
Grants fire damage to any skill or/and weapon equipped (+10% of total dmg).
Grants a 25% physical defence increase.
Grants a 25% magical defence increase.
Grants +1 HP per minute recovery.
Grants +1 SP per minute recovery.
Once per day (24h) prevent receiving fatal damage. Damage immunity for 5min if triggered.
Universal Set Part.
This item can be worn only by descendants of the house of Ignis.
Aoi slowly closed her hands on the Scale and put it closer to her heart. With determination, Aoi equipped the item and fused it with her soul. Zephyr smiled, seeing his granddaughter, and blew gently on the diamond hairpin. He then put the hairpin into her hair and smiled.
"Now the pin I gave to Grandine belongs to you, my beloved Granddaughter."
•••
"How?!" Korkas smashed both his fists on the table, enraged by the reports.
It made no sense. No matter how he tried to counter that Hero, he always acted as if he knew every plan Korkas had conceived. Although he has been successful so far in stalling the Cridian Army, that was it. It has been a month since his crushing defeat, but since then, he won every major battle. Yet... his victories were empty; he couldn't coordinate a single successful raid, and his forces were not growing.
"Korkas... Kooorkassss..." A mocking voice was singing from near the corner of the tent. "You will die, you will die... The day is coming, the one with the sword is here... Oh, Korkas, stupid... Oh, Korkas, damned... You will die, oh, you will die..."
"Shut up, Verka!"
"Hahahahaha!"
•••
"Demesne, I must say it's incredible!" Amber looked at the map.
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"Thank you, my Queen! I was thinking about it for a long time. Establishing a stable revenue and focusing the economy around a specific craft might be beneficial." Demesne sounded happy.
"And that's why you decided to focus on wood and woodcraft?" Luna looked over the projects detailing an impressive wood mill and lumberjack village in the nearby forests.
"Yes. I wanted to increase the area of the dungeon, but I wanted to preserve the dense forest nearby. It would serve a dual purpose of being one of the few difficult hunting grounds and a source of herbs and wood nodes for planned industry." Demesne seemed nervous.
"What about your caves and inverted tower?"
"Oh, the caverns would be in the intermediate level area while the tower would simply progress with difficulty."
"I see, very good idea, Demesne." Amber beamed a smile.
"This leaves us with the granaries you should expand." Luna flipped a page in her notebook.
"I thought the King wanted me to expand the farms..." Demesne almost mumbled. "Also, where is he?"
"Theon is organising a brand new Legion for Blair, but he should join us in a few hours." Amber chuckled. "The plans changed since we found an entire region where we can expand and focus on agriculture. That's why the other Dungeon Cities will expand their granaries to be able to hold enough food for two years."
"Ohhhh..."
•••
The five Queens divided the official work among themselves so they could finish it faster. Irene, Hestia, and Aoi were sitting in one of the most exclusive restaurants of Wolf Manor, eating lunch with the local authorities. Hestia and Aoi's transition to the Queens of Avalon was almost finished as well, so they quickly caught up with the work. The restaurant had a large and well-lit interior decorated with flowers and various paintings of local landmarks and monsters. Viscount Fuellar Silverhand, Lord Tassarion Evarill, Tewrick, Cyfax and Bishop Zirna were happily talking about the progress they made and how the people adapted. The happy faces of the people they saw on their way here were excellent indicators of their success.
"My Queens! We have guests who just arrived," one of the Guardsmen informed Irene.
"Expand that thought." The Saintess of Avalon frowned and looked at her sisters.
"My Queen, the newly arrived caravan consists of about one thousand soldiers. They claim they are an official diplomatic mission, and they require the help of healers. They refuse to give us information about their destination until the head of the delegation meets with a representative of authority."
"Hmmm..." Irene nodded to herself. "Inform them I will listen to them. They can bring five people. Inform Queens Amber and Luna about this as well."
It wasn't even ten minutes later when the doors to the restaurant opened, and two women wearing dark green capes stood in front of Irene, Hestia, and Aoi. The women nodded to the Queens of Avalon, but the three knights that accompanied them dropped to their knees.
"Welcome to the lands of King Theon Avalon. My name is Irene va'Theon, the second Queen of Avalon." Irene slowly stood up, emanating her royal presence.
"Esteemed Queen Irene va'Theon, my name is Mia Francesca, the Queen of Hilgvar." The Nekomi woman dropped her hood and smiled warmly.
•••
Rizk'a knew he was in trouble since the day his father appointed him to be young Princess Mia's knight. It was thirty years ago, and he hardly remembered any prolonged moment of peace. His five-year-old self was more of a decoration back then for the palace when Princess was born. He was, however, drilling himself to the bone to be the best knight. When he was at the age of ten, the Princess treated him as her best friend, and he covered her every misadventure. For years, she played, and he protected her. She studied, and he trained. When she was fifteen, however, things weren't so simple anymore because Mia Francesca was growing to be a breathtaking woman. So naturally, he started training harder, encouraged by His Majesty the King, to 'be sure to have a mace around'. Except for a few low-ranking nobles or straight-up offending offers from the neighbourhood countries, there was no one for the beautiful princess.
Their country was small, without many talents or natural resources. During one of the border skirmishes with the Verksa Kingdom, King Ji, and his father, General Landts, were killed in battle. Since that day, Queen Mia assumed the throne of Hilgvar. With her acumen and brilliant mind, she led her people to prosperity that lasted up until five years ago. Their farmlands were destroyed by saboteurs, and Rizk'a firmly believed they were Cridian agents. But without firm evidence, he couldn't do anything. Rizk'a was in love with his Queen, but for her, he was more like an older brother on whom she could always count. She, in a moment of sincerity, asked him to find himself a wife because they were not destined to be together. As cruel as it was, she was right, but, so far, he had no luck, or to be precise, he had not put any effort into it. There was also a newfound issue of Princess Tia, the twin sister of Queen Mia, whose entire existence was a secret so big that he learnt only about her after his father's death when Rizk'a became general.
It was hard. Their trade declined, hunters and foragers became the driving factor in their economy. The queen did everything that was in her power to make The Tower Of the Infinity Dungeon accessible so they could rely on the resources from it to survive. It was hard, but Hilgvar, under the wise rule of Queen Mia, was once again rebuilding. Then, almost two weeks ago, they were contacted by a servant of Lord Theon and their lives changed. The war was approaching their Kingdom and Rizk'a could only laugh at his abilities as a general. His Queen was a far better and more cunning leader than he could ever be. In a moment of her usual brilliance, she ordered the entire army to disperse and fled to Avalon. He may have played a small role in convincing her to do that, but he knew that was silly. No matter how powerful ‘King’ Theon's servants were, he was just a renegade about to be crushed by the far more powerful Cridian Army. Rizk'a hoped to convince Queen Mia to banish the thought of even meeting with that man, but she was stubborn.
Their caravan consisted of wagons and carts pulled by the docile beasts that lived in the gardens of the Tower of Infinity. The first week of their travel went in a flash and, surprisingly, without a single incident. But the second one... It wasn't the best week for Rizk'a. Monster attacks, bandits and even marauders from beaten Cridian regiments attacked them openly, disregarding their diplomatic status, sometimes even ambushing them outright. In one such ambush, Rizk'a was wounded and, if not for his people, he would have died back then. Everything was then a hazed memory of pain and exhaustion, since his wounds wouldn't heal. Somehow they reached the fabled Avalon without even coming into contact with the Avalon's forces, which only showed how early-stage this civil war was and how inadequate Avalon's forces were. In the fortress, Rizk'a received healing that put him together, but he was advised to rest. He had to admit that Avalon was amazing, the largest City Rizk'a had ever seen...
"General! The Queen and her sister took two hundred men with them and they went on to the meeting with the Royal Family of Avalon!"
"What?! She should have waited for me..."
He sighed but smiled, fixing himself in a comfortable bed because he knew how stubborn his Princess was. Especially when it came to the king of Avalon. He sighed again. There was nothing to stop the Princess from achieving her goals as long as she could do something about it. Rizk'a smiled and corrected himself; she was the Queen, but she still liked to be called Princess when they were talking in private. Rizk'a was lost in his thoughts for a while and he did not even realise he had fallen asleep. He was suddenly awakened by the panicked voice of one of his subordinates.
"Sir! Queen and everyone who accompanied her disappeared!"
•••
Rizk'a, with a grim face, stormed towards the place where his Queen disappeared. He couldn't enjoy the magnificence of this place or wonder how happy and prosperous its people were. Instead, he opened the doors to the inn, but there was no one to face his wrath. No signs of a fight or any struggle at all. He checked each door he found, and finally, behind one of them, he saw a tall and muscular man who was reading a note.
"You! Where is my Princess!?" He was angry with himself that he called his Queen the way she always liked.
The stranger put the note on the table and turned towards them. He was wearing incredibly expensive clothes, but no visible weapon on his person. The man's eyes glowed with the blue light, and they saw his amused smile.
"I'm sorry, but your Princess is in another castle." After that, the stranger vanished without a trace.