Gloria was floating in the darkness. Death was not as painful as she thought it would be, she even felt a strange warmth and comfort. Gloria felt a racking movement as if she was sailing on a boat and she opened her eyes. She was surprised because for some reason she was still alive and she was laying in an incredibly comfortable bed in some sort of cart...

"Hey, you. You're finally awake."

•••

I sighed... Jester, and at this point, that's like his name, is certainly crazy, clearly murderous, perhaps a sadist and probably a pervert. I observed Jester's actions for a few hours now and he seems to be fulfilled in his new role. I also have to admit he is perfect for such a role. He is effective and obedient; so far he arrested four mercenaries, who will join slavers in the mine. The priestess he saved is right now with the overseer slime, who will explain to her what happened. I'll probably put her under house arrest and send her to the Everlight; maybe Knys will manage to convince her to join his guild. I took a look at the party from the capital and with disgust I made an internal note that no one cared about the missing priestess. They instead were more worried about missing mercenaries, which leads me to believe she was a sacrificial lamb from the beginning. They won't be staying here for a longer time, I'm sure of that, just by looking at how nervous they are. They are facing just a Jester; my denizens are staying back for now waiting for him to let them attack, but he was playing and looked like he had the greatest time of his life. Maybe if I introduce him to memes he could be recycled as a more... predictable asset

I took out the mithril sword and looked at it. According to the System, it can't be reforged, and unfortunately for me, Ragnar agrees. Once this was a beautiful and mighty weapon, that surly saw much use. According to Ragnar, the hero Marcus was a legendary swordsman and righteous knight that never refused to help anyone in need. I sighed.

"And where this took you, Marcus? Why you threw your life away in vain?" I sadly asked the sword laying on the table in front of me. "Why did you endanger the person you loved? Why did you allow your bravado to kill your Sidri, Marcus?"

I had their death embrace before my eyes; she had to die first since Marcus held her body and I can only guess what happened back then. A mithril sword for anyone else was worthless as even Ragnar was afraid to try to smelt it to not destroy precious metal. For me it was priceless; I could just absorb it and create a very low-yield resource node. But no. I sighed once more and I decided to keep this sword, Bjorn is preparing a display rack for this very room. Sword of Marcus, the sword that will be reminding me how fragile life is. We postponed Marcus and Sidri's funeral for a later date since I feel like I should be there, maybe to say farewells to my fellow Champion and his Kitsune. Maybe because this is just the only thing I can do for them. Sword of the Hero who failed... Maybe I'm too harsh on him, maybe I'm even wrong- but that's because I pity them, and because of that pity I had to form a harsh opinion. It was not romantic- their death was unnecessary and sad.

Hmmm... One thing eludes me now- a thought that is just beyond my grasp; I can feel it, almost see it and yet, it stays just out of my reach. I added an entry to my journal, paying attention to all the details about the discovery of the Blood Dungeon's secret cave and the finding of Marcus and Sidri's bodies...skeletons. Something is ringing my alert bells and I have no idea what it is, besides the fact it's not immediate or huge danger. More like something is not right... I gave up, for now, knowing I will not solve this problem right away. As much as I would like to sit and try to solve this puzzle, I have other things to do.

Thor send me a word they are combing the area. The local density of monsters is quite unusual and they had to work much slower than they thought. I ordered them to gather additional data, more intel never hurt. My four new scions should finish evolving in a few hours so I have time to deal with one more thing before that. I rubbed my eyes thinking what exactly I should do- should I now focus on building underground levels or should go to Everlight and prepare additional class quests or... Wait. I should give a class advancement quest for Lanka. I stood up and teleported to the Lanka's courtyard.

•••

"My Queen, my Lady." Rin opened the door to the tea room and brought an additional tea set. "His Majesty, King Theon, is heading this way."

Irene and Lanka barely managed to put down the teacups on the table before the butler opened the door for the King. Lanka, who was learning proper etiquette from Irene, just straightened her back and bowed her head to greet the King. King Theon smiled and slightly bowed back his head.

•••

"Good afternoon, Lady Lanka." I smiled and sat near Irene. "I hope I am not interrupting your afternoon tea?"

"No, Theon, you don't." Irene smiled slipping her hand under my arm and fixing herself slightly on the sofa. "What's brought you here?"

"First of all, I think we can give Lady Lanka class advancement quest as we talked about earlier. So...what class do you exactly want, Lanka?"

"About that... She will be Archbishop, Theon," Irene responded before Lanka could even think about it.

Or I thought so...

I took a breath to protest since I didn't like to interfere with the life of other people but judging by Lanka's facial expression, she was not against Irene's idea at all. Also, I need just one look at my Queen to notice her wink and pursed lips... Ok. Fine. If I learned anything during my life, is reading silent suggestions. Like this one: the decision has been already made. Without further discussion, I took out a sheet of paper and focused to create the quest. And... Fail? I focused even deeper and asked the System what was wrong.

Ok... I took out a second sheet of paper. Then the next one, and one more... With growing dread, I hide the papers away and took out a blank book. With not only fear but sick curiosity I touched a book that started glowing with gold light. A sudden and rather over-dramatic gust of wind stirred the book pages as if an invisible force was filling the pages with its wisdom. I felt that Irene was channelling her power as well, forming her golden magic circles. I was not sure what is going on, but Irene was still snuggled to my arm and pouring her magic into a book with a calm facial expression. After a few moments, it was finished and the book changed into holy scripture, of some sort...probably? I opened it and turned a few pages with a growing surprise on my face but Irene took it from my hands kissing my cheek.

"Thank you, my Darling. I'll take it from here." She told me, with a satisfied smirk on her cute face.

Irene stood up, equipped her Halo, and she turned towards Lanka with the book we just created. Nekomi girl... Haha! I finally remembered that right. Anyway, Lanka stood up as well, and I just noticed she changed a dress she had before into some sort of priest-adventurer robe with insanely detailed ornaments and incredible runes employed in its layers. She was holding master-crafted staff, made from some kind of alloy that gave a slight blue glow. Lanka knelt on her right knee and bowed deeply her head in front of Irene. She then put her right hand on her heart and held the staff in her left hand. Irene smiled softly, once again using her holy magic, activating the magic circle, but this time I recognized her magic- a very powerful blessing.

"I Irene va'Theon the Saintess of Avalon and Oracle of Eriar ask you, priestess Lanka of Avalon the Saving Grace. Are you ready to fulfil your duty as archbishop? Are willing to step in my shadow and face the darkness of this world?" Irene asked with authority.

"Yes, my Lady!" Lanka replied without hesitation.

"Are you willing to banish the darkness and tear the veil of evil that holds our world in its clutches? Will you be loyal and diligent?" Magic rings stabilised and I saw the enormous strain on Irene. She was powerful but whatever she was trying to accomplish will drain all her inhumane mana pool in the next two maybe three dozen seconds.

I quickly came closer to her gentlemanly offering my arm. She leaned heavily on my side, still facing Lanka and continuing this ritual. I channelled my magic power, simultaneously wanting to help Irene and intrigued about what exactly is going on here. Meanwhile, Lanka continued without giving a break as if she hadn't noticed me, also forming her own magic circle, previously white- now it was silver but it rapidly was infused with gold of Irene's magic.

"Until the day I die, my Queen!" I felt the insane dent in my mana and Lanka and Irene's magic started acting as if they were two lake surfaces into which someone threw a stone. Both magic circles started gently waving, like ripples on the water, and with fascination, I observed as Lanka's magic was empowered by Irene and saw how the young Nekomi changed.

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"Then I, Irene va'Theon, the second Queen of Avalon, the Saintess of Eriar, grant you my blessing!" The magic torrent in the room was insane- blowing the curtains and moving most of the small objects but no one paid much attention to it. Well, no one besides me... Irene was once more clad in golden light with golden sparkles dancing around her. Her mana dropped to zero long ago and now she depended entirely on me, but despite her exhaustion, she continued. Irene raised her hand and pointed at Lanka, she shouted: "SANCTIFY!"

The gold waves that filled the room we were in started circling like a whirlpool forming a solid-like gold orb that shined astonishingly in the dim air. Irene forced herself to gently push it towards Lanka. Instead of floating calmly, as I expected, the orb changed into a golden ray that pierced Lanka as fast as lightning and she moaned slightly. The book we created flew slowly towards Lanka who now started to change; her fur changed its colour to a golden brown, and her hazelnut eyes turned to gold as well. Her hair was still like before but bright and sparkling golden strands appeared and highlighted her natural beauty. Lanka gracefully caught the book and at that moment her natural mana pool was increased once again, reaching 10000 mana in total.

Well... Irene is investing in this girl... Ummm...

Archbishop Lanka of Avalon, the Saving Grace, the Lady in Waiting of Queen Irene is now a resident of Avalon.

Excellent... For once I won't argue with the System. Lanka is right now way too powerful to risk her move elsewhere. As a resident, she will be staying in Avalon. Irene was panting slowly, once again regaining her normal colours, heavily leaning on my side. I held her barely feeling her weight, but felt a large dent in my mana instead. One million to be precise... Irene took out a juice glass from her holding space and drank it quickly, replenishing her mana and stamina. I helped her to sit down on the couch and looked at Lanka who avoided my gaze. I can play their game. Sure...

I looked around and saw that Rin was heavily panting as well. It looks like she is going to evolve into something stronger... I wonder if Lanka figured out that Rin is her familiar. But before I could ask about anything, Lanka noticed Rin's condition.

"Rin? Are you all right?" Lanka asked concerned.

"Oh, it's really nothing, Lady Lanka. I have to excuse myself so I can evolve." Rin responded smiling slightly at her Master who was in deep shock.

"What do you mean by evolving? I thought only familiars can evolve! Rin who you are?"

"I am your familiar, Lady Lanka." Rin smiled and suddenly lost her human form, transforming into a cobalt blue blob.

"Rin?! Rin!" Lanka quickly rushed to her familiar and gently picked her up from the floor. She then quickly ran out of the room holding unconscious Rin in her hands.

"I'm so sorry, Theon..." Irene was close to tears. She was seating next to me but not snuggled anymore as if she was afraid I was angry. "I thought I will be able to do this. I never meant to strain your mana so much..."

"Don't worry, while it was a significant amount of mana, I don't mind it. You seemed very happy to do this. But tell me, why and what exactly is that book?" I asked putting my left hand over her shoulder and pulling her closer to me. She tried to resist but sighed and leaned on my side. She put her left on my cheek and lifted herself enough to kiss me. Her blue and silver-coloured royal gown was incredibly fit to her body making me swallow. She is so gorgeous...

"Thank you, Theon, and you are right. I owe you some explanation." She fixed her gown and herself on the sofa and took a deep breath. "As you know, I'm Eriar's Saintess and Lanka is his only priestess. So what we did we have established Avalon as my seat of power..." She covered her mouth and swallowed loudly. "I forgot to ask for your permission! I was so excited about this that I totally forgot about your permission! Forgive me..."

"Irene, you don't have to. Avalon IS your seat of power as long as we will be alive. This is my Kingdom where my three Queens rule alongside me. And I can guess what you meant by your seat of power." I smiled softly at her. The System is making it hard for us to act differently; Amber, Irene and Luna consider everything that belongs to me as their property and everything they have as mine, including them. This world never heard of marriage articles it looks like...

"You can?" She fidgeted on the sofa and cleared her throat, hiding her mouth behind her delicate hand. "*ekhm* sorry... I don't know what it is."

"It's an upgrade for the Palace and the Cathedral in the middle castle." I smiled slightly still looking over the new unlocks. "But we will have a hard time upgrading Cathedral and upgrading the Palace is impossible for now. We don't have the required materials, my Darling. But there are several other upgrades and unlocks that... Oh my..."

"Something wrong?" She asked surprised by the tone of my voice.

"On the contrary!" I startled her a bit when I stood up and lifted her in the air by her waist. She squealed like an adolescent girl when I lifted her in the air, holding her around the waist over my head. She started laughing when I twisted in place. "Thanks to you I received two very rare gemstones nodes. Sapphire and Emerald nodes! This is incredible!"

"I'm so glad it turned this way!" Irene's mood instantly improved. Her blue eyes were shining like the sapphires I will soon enough be able to obtain.

"So do I." I put her down and we sat down on the sofa with happy smiles.

Not before long Lanka returned and sat in front of us with a worried facial expression. "I'm so sorry, your Highnesses!"

"Don't mention it. I'm glad to see you are taking care of your familiar needs, Lanka." I waved my hand with a smile.

"Thank you, my Lord." She smiled lightly.

"So Lanka, tell us about your new shiny book." I barely could hold my curiosity.

When I looked inside it, it was half empty and half full of gibberish. But I know it was finished only when Lanka touched it for the first time. She nodded happily and took it out from her ring of storage and when she opened it she gasped paralyzed for a moment.

Half of what I spent was returned to me, which is nice. It looks like Lanka is now locked by the system... Oh shit!

"Lanka, take it easy. We have all the time in the world so really, consider everything slowly!" I quickly assured her hoping she hears me. I don't want her to rush through some decisions she might have to do now just because we are here. I looked at Irene who was terrified as well, but hopefully, Lanka learned enough about us to not make stupid decisions. "I really hope she can hear us..."

We sat in silence, disturbed only by the butler who brought us excellent tea. Now when you think about it... Where do they get tea from? Its herbal scent and taste are anything but what I normally would call tea but it's light and refreshing. It's also just a drink without any special buffs or bonuses...

"I'm again terribly sorry, my King and Queen, you had to wait for me. It's very embarrassing..." Lanka's voice cut my internal tea investigation bringing me back to reality. I just waved my hand dismissively and Irene smiled at her subordinate. "This is a spell book, your Highnesses."

She passed the book to me. I opened it and tried to look at a few spells but they made no sense to me. Nonetheless, I glossed over the entire book from beginning to its end and learned a new skill.

The light flash is a status-type skill. Its main effect is to stun and deafen your target.

So I learned the magic equivalent of flashbang... Actually, sarcasm stop. This is an extremely useful skill to have. I made sure there is nothing more and looked at the book itself.

Item grade: Mythical

The spell book of Archbishop of Eriar, Lanka of Avalon contains the ancient and long-forgotten spells of ruin and protection.

Item Type: Staff, Offhand.

Holy Damage +35%

Magic Detection +50%

Grants +10 MP per minute recovery.

Can be only used by followers of Eriar.

This item can be only gifted in good faith.

Mana storage item.

0/100000

Okay... This is actually an incredibly powerful item. Especially its rule that it can be used as staff or with staff as an offhand weapon. I passed the book to Irene who opened it as well and gasped with shock, she probably can learn more if not all the spells in that book. I returned to my tea but left the tea investigation for later. Irene needed five minutes and as I expected, she told us about learning every single spell from that book. But she seemed concerned.

"Lanka, while spells from the book of Serenity are incredible, some spells from the book of Wrath had to be used with the utmost care. Some of them are so devastating I am really surprised they are under holy magic." She explained, returning scripture to Lanka who took it with care.

Oh? Devastating and terrifying spells? This is something I certainly want to learn about...