Inside the royal palace, Enma was dodging Chrome's attack with everything he had. His current situation made him wonder why he had agreed to face such danger in the first place.
'Fuck it. Why did I think Chrome's life was precious? There is nothing more important in this world than my own life.'
Enma thought as he dodged another claw attack. Chrome was half-transformed by this point and his claws were dripping with poison. If he touched Enma then Enma would die, no questions asked.
"Oi, what are the both of you doing? Hurry up and help me out."
Enma cried out as he looked toward Rahan and Boras. They both were out of breath while fighting Chrome.
Usually, it would not be a challenge for them to take care of Chrome between the two of them. But the current situation was a little different from the expected ideal situation.
The demonic half of Chrome was powerful and the darkness was making his healing capabilities even more powerful.
Enma had read about this nightmarish fight in the book before but it had not lasted this long. Mainly because Adam had been the main lead and his dragon magic had eroded Chrome's curse.
'But we don't have the luxury to wait for Adam right now. I need to do something.'
Enma's thoughts and actions did not match each other. He needed to help out in some way but he had no magic.
He was also a kid so his body mass did not account for much. It was too easy for Chrome to send him flying away with the flick of his finger.
"God, when will the darkness go away?"
Boras complained as he held his broken arm delicately. He did not want to jolt it any more than he already had. Even taking a small action was painful for him.
Similar was the case with Rohan. His ribs were bruised and breathing was difficult for him right now.
But just as it looked like Chrome would kill them all, a miracle happened. The sky began to clear up and Chrome clutched his head in despair. His demonic half seemed to be retreating and Enma recognized the signs.
"Now! Hurry up and air for Chrome's head. We will be able to knock him out if we hit him now."
Enma did feel bad for Chrome when Boras railed into the emperor and managed to knock him on his back. Chrome's head hit the ground and he went still.
His stillness caused Enma to fear that they had somehow killed the emperor but then Boras picked himself up and flickered his finger.
"He's alive so don't give me that expression. Anyway, where should we put him to make him more comfortable?"
Boras was a nice man. He was concerned about Chrome now that the fight was over. It elevated Enma's impression of that man.
"Let him ho Boras. You are not marking the emperor of Akatsuki as a sparring partner. It would be better if you have nothing to do with him."
And whatever nice things Enma had thought about Boras came crashing down around him. His favorable impression fell fats as well.
It was finally Rahan who checked up on Chrome and declared him to be in the pink of his health.
"W-Wait! Where are you going? You cannot run away from this investigation again. I cannot let you."
Enma remembered that these two people were wanted criminals only after they were out of the window. He tried to reach toward Rhana's back and clutch his shirt.
But Enma did not have enough of a reach to grip Rahan's shirt without falling out of the window.
And although Rahan noticed this, he did not allow himself to be captured this easily. He created even more gap between himself and Enma by jumping back a few steps.
"Bye-Bye child. You were a fun person to be around but I hope we never have to meet each other again. Because next time, you will end up dead."
Rahan spoke about death like he was talking about the sky. It caused Enma to flinch back and close his eyes in fear. The next time he opened them, he was alone in front of the window.
///////////////////////////////////////
The palace was as much a mess as the temple had been. Elysia later got to hear what had happened at the palace from Enma and she was annoyed at herself.
It was her fault that the gate had opened up and it was also her fault that so many people had died. The only good thing that came out of this was the captive Head Priest finally had charges against him.
Chrome had woken up on time as well and he finally called for Elysia and the others for a meeting.
"How are you feeling now, Chrome? Is your head better?"
Elysia asked as she took in her cousin's white complexion. Chrome had a lost expression ever since he had woken up. She could tell that a lot was bothering her cousin.
Lucas was similarly distracted but Elysia knew the reason behind his distraction. He was trying to make sense of how Noctis had survived his death.
"I am alright. My head is just killing me but it will pass soon. But we have more important things to discuss."
No one spoke anything for a while, wanting someone else to start a topic for discussion. And finally, it was Elysia who brought up one.
"What should we do now? Did someone interrogate Head Priest Akane about why he messed up the ceremony?"
Elysia asked, wanting very much to know these answers. She also wanted to be the one to interrogate the head priest but she had been denied by Lucas.
And since it was Lucas who was in charge of this investigation, Elysia was expecting to hear some good news.
"He did not confess the exact reason how he opened this gate but we do know why he opened them. It was an act of revenge, to unbalance this world and to punish it. I think we all know the reason why he wanted to do this."
Lucas's words were followed by another stretch of silence. Elysia could guess the reason behind Head Priest Akane's actions and she understood him as well.
But she did not agree with him.
"This is not what is important right now. What's important is that we need to catch that Noctis look-alike. I will not allow that person to roam around with that face."
Lucas sounded angry. He was not even listening to Elysia's explanation. He was in denial about this Noctis look-alike was the same person he knew.
And at this point, Elysia had no idea how she was even going to convince her brother to accept reality when he did not want to accept it.
"You say that so easily but how are you expecting to find this 'look-alike' of yours? Are you going to go on some epic chase and leave us all behind?"
Chrome sounded bitter which made Lucas angry as well.
Elysia, the one who was sitting in between them both, was feeling the burn. It was wise of her not to speak up on this topic.
But Enma was not that attentive. And Elysia felt sorry for him.
"Noctis or someone else, it doesn't matter. Shouldn't we focus on stabilizing our position in the country? Isn't it a prime opportunity for us since both the queen and the temple are dead? And also, I will shut up now…"
Emma had a strong pinpoint when he said that. But his words went unheard by the two arguing people.
And then the worst thing that could have happened ended up happening. The guard opened his mouth and he realized that the atmosphere was too tense.
But it was too late for the guard to back down. Everyone in the room was looking at him with suspicious eyes. With a nervous glare, the guard hardened his heart.
"Sir, Emperor Adam, and Saintess Even are headed toward us. We have no permission to deal with them. How should we proceed?"
The guard's heart skipped a beat as the temperature dropped around the room. Only Elysia looked on with a calm expression.
"Why are there here so early? Their letter said that they would be coming later in the week." Chrome sounded even more stressed than before.
Elysia could tell that he was about to make a foolish decision and end up causing a misunderstanding. So before he could react anymore, Elysia ended up interrupting the guard.
"You can welcome them and treat them like you would any other royal guests. I will be down shortly to help you deal with them both."
The guard looked thankful for the dismissal. He turned to look at Elysia gratefully before escaping from the room with hurried footsteps. Today, Elysia had managed to save a life without even knowing.
"I will head out as well now. Adam and Eve need to be tended to."
With those words, Elysia left the
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