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Chapter 637: An Audience

Alicia intently stared at Roel with ruby eyes filled with doubt while awaiting his answer.

She did notice that he carried the Mother Goddess’ aura while they were fighting, but she had attributed it to the Crown’s Stones then.

However, Carolyn later refuted that possibility. It was on this ground that she questioned Roel’s loyalty to humankind, which prompted Roel to admit that he had ties with the Mother Goddess, though he didn’t elaborate on it.

She might have been thinking too much into it, but Alicia felt that this was something significant, which was why she had chosen to ask about it after some hesitation.

On the other hand, Roel didn’t know where he should start explaining from.

For starters, he didn’t even know what his current relationship with the Mother Goddess was.

Had it been in the Witness State, he would have immediately answered that they were mother and son. She had showered him with unconditional love, making sacrifices for his sake without asking for anything in return. It was as if She was making up for Her past neglect by giving him the best there was in the world.

Her selflessness deeply moved his heart, which was why he came to acknowledge Her.

In terms of my soul as the Kingmaker, I am also the Mother Goddess’ child… and that’s probably the case for my body now too, Roel thought as he felt the tremendous power within the Indestructible Body the Mother Goddess had paid a heavy price to forge for him.

He suddenly missed Her a lot.

The Mother Goddess had said in the Witness State that his existence was Her salvation, but the truth was that Her existence had been his salvation too. It was regrettable that there was no way to turn back time and undo what had happened in history.

What the Mother Goddess had suffered couldn’t be so resolved with just a happy dream.

“Alicia, have you met the Mother Goddess?”

“You mean awake?”

“That’s right.”

“I met Her a couple of times,” Alicia replied with a nod.

Roel took a moment to gather his thoughts before he asked, “What’s your perception of the Mother Goddess? Is She a mortal? Is She a god? Or is She an incomprehensible existence?”

“…Lord Mother feels different from the cold and impassive gods. She feels like a human to me.”

“A human?”

“She doesn’t let it show, but my instincts tell me that Lord Mother is rich with emotions,” Alicia said as she recalled how forlorn the Mother Goddess looked as She sat alone at the long table under the moonlight. “Lord Mother has never let any emotions show, but sometimes, I can’t help but think that She’s crying beneath Her stoic face.”

“…I see.”

“What about you, Lord Brother? What’s your impression of Lord Mother?”

“…Naive and clumsy.”

“Ah?” Alicia was surprised by Roel’s blunt answer.

Roel immersed himself in his memories as he slowly drew out his truest thoughts from within. “You said that She doesn’t let any emotions show? That’s not true. She just doesn’t know how to express Herself. She had many chances, but they slipped past Her fingers because of that.”

“Lord Brother?” Alicia was taken aback by how assertive Roel sounded.

However, Roel wasn’t done yet. “Her thoughts are also ridiculously naive. Rather than a ruler, She feels more like a parent with many children. She tries Her best to be a good mother by not showing preference to anyone, but that only led to the estrangement of Her most beloved child.”

“Lord Brother, where did you meet Lord Mother? How did you come to…”

“I personally experienced it. I was brought to the ancient warring era through the Witness State, and it was there I met the Mother Goddess. The Mother Goddess I met then is different from the Mother Goddess you know now, but Their intrinsic nature should be the same.”

“I understand. What was your relationship with Her?” Alicia asked.

Roel fell silent before replying, “You can say I was a child She recognized.”

“Lord Brother too? Does that mean that we don’t have to fight anymore?” Alicia’s eyes lit up with hope upon hearing that.

Her greatest worry was her relationship with Roel. She could physically stay away from the Mother Goddess, but she couldn’t sever their tight relationship. Worst of all, that could further drive a wedge between Roel and the Mother Goddess.

She wouldn’t do anything disadvantageous to Roel now that she had regained her memories, but the Mother Goddess was an important existence to her too. She would be in turmoil if the Mother Goddess insisted on being hostile to Roel.

Thus, it excited her to see that there was hope for peaceful co-existence.

However, Roel let out a soft sigh and murmured, “…Will things go that smoothly?”

“Lord Brother?”

“The betrayal of the Kingmaker Clan in the ancient era has greatly hurt the Mother Goddess. Countless years have passed since. Many races have gone extinct, and divine towers have been destroyed by the flames of war. Everything She values is no longer around. Would you have forgiven the descendants of the clan who caused that if you were in Her place?”

“I…”

“I don’t think I’d be able to do it,” Roel replied sorrowfully as he shook his head.

He understood the Mother Goddess and Her naive ideals, but that was also why he dared not to confirm Her stance. He was afraid of Her answer.

“Lord Brother…” Sensing Roel’s pain, Alicia propped herself up and wrapped her hands around Roel’s neck to gently comfort him. “You have been through a lot. I know what’s going on now, so you don’t have to say anything more.”

“Alicia…”

“Let’s focus on surviving the present for now.”

“Surviving the present?” Roel frowned, not knowing what Alicia was getting at.

The space they were in was peaceful without anyone else. As powerful as Carolyn was, she couldn’t have entered this space without an intermediary, so they should have been safe here. Thus, Roel probed deeper into the matter, and the answer he received was shocking.

“Carolyn is hot on our tail—or, to be more exact, she’s pursuing Shrouding Fog.”

“Shrouding Fog? Could it be…”

“I suspect she’s trying to evict us by defeating Shrouding Fog,” Alicia replied solemnly.

“…” Roel fell silent.

Shrouding Fog had been greatly weakened by its fight with the Egg of the Beast God and Roel, but it was still a fully matured Calamity. Its prowess was not to be made light of.

Roel would have snorted in disdain if it had been anyone else confronting Shrouding Fog, but it was Carolyn they were talking about.

While he had consciously run in the direction of where Shrouding Fog and Light Devourer were when fleeing from Carolyn earlier, he didn’t think that the two Calamities would have been able to deal with Carolyn. On the contrary, they risked getting destroyed if they let their guards down.

He could say so with certainty because he had personally experienced how terrifyingly powerful Carolyn was.

“How long do you reckon we have?” Roel asked.

“I doubt she’ll catch up anytime soon; even she’ll find it a challenge to catch Shrouding Fog. However, given the nature of her Divine Domain, I’d say it’s only a matter of time before she catches up,” Alicia replied.

Roel heaved a sigh before falling into deep contemplation.

…

After years of war, most human soldiers were familiar with the tension prior to the outbreak of a major battle.

On the eastern border, this tension ebbed and flowed along with the arrival and departure of the deviants, and it had become as normal as rainfall. Veteran soldiers who had been through many battles were already numb to it.

But things were different today.

Rows of armed guards stood on palace walls with worried and nervous eyes.

Behind them was the palace they had defended countless times before, but the enemy before them this time was not the unintelligent deviants but fellow soldiers from their Austine Empire.

Lilian Ackermann’s soldiers filled the plains all the way to the horizon. Countless flags were hoisted up high, and all kinds of fortress sieging magic tools were in place. Morale amongst the soldiers was high, since the person at the forefront of the military formation was a revered elder.

Layton Seze.

This was a name known throughout the Austine Empire. Just his presence was enough to heap stress on the palace guards, which was why they prayed for negotiations to go smoothly.

Indeed, a negotiation between the two most powerful people in the Austine Empire over succession rights to the throne was going to be held today… or at least that was how it was known to outsiders.

Most Austinean soldiers secretly supported Imperial Princess Lilian Ackermann, who had been raking up accomplishments protecting humankind on the eastern border, over Paul Ackermann, the illegitimate son who had suddenly won Emperor Lukas’ favor.

As such, the palace guards weren’t inclined to fight this battle.

Behind the palace walls, Lilian was following an attendant for an audience with Emperor Lukas. She looked at the imperial guards standing at attention on both sides of the path as she thought about the intelligence Layton had provided her.

Centuries ago, Layton Seze was a rival and a close friend to Ro Ascart, but once, when the two of them were on a journey together, the Fallens suddenly assaulted Ro to steal his possession. The two of them were forced to part ways to flee, but this parting turned out to be eternal.

Shortly after that, Layton had inherited his good friend’s will and waged war on the Fallens as well. Over long years of fighting, he slowly became more and more certain that there were invisible enemies inside the empire too.

He couldn’t shake off the feeling that a shadow lurking in the Austine Empire was eyeing his every move. Each time he grasped hold of a vital clue, the trail of evidence would be suddenly cut for all kinds of reasons.

Such a situation lasted for many years. It was only after Layton went into seclusion for many years that the eyes on him loosened their guard, giving him an opportunity to uncover the truth.