Book 9: Chapter 517: The Destruction of the Dark Realm and Foreboding of the Civil War in the Gabriel Empire

The main ruling area of the lost parallel world was located in the dark realm. The Dark King Gregory who was the leader of the Four Kings of Diablo rules over the “Dark District” that was located in the Northern part of Fernandes City. After Bella had slaughtered two of the Kings of Diablo, she finally came to challenge the leader of the pack who also happened to be Experimental Subject No.1.

Currently, Fernandes City was under chaos as two members of the Four Kings of Diablo were engaged in a civil war that was manipulated by Bella. The Two-Headed Ogre king, Dorn who governs the “Red District” in the Eastern part of the city had gotten a new head transplant after he was defeated by Bella in a sneak attack. Dorn who is now controlled by Bella, took his group of ogre warriors and magicians who didn’t even question his order and headed out to attack the southern part of the city.

By doing so, Skeleton King Albert, the king of the “White District” which lies at the southern part of Fernandes City, the very district that was suddenly attacked by the ogres was forced to lead his men against the ogres. The two parties fought fiercely on the street of the “Colorless District” that is located in the center of the city. Previously, this particular district was ruled by The King of Corpse Morka but since he had been killed by Bella, this area is no longer controlled by anyone.

With the Two-Headed Ogre King and the Skeleton King deep in combat, the Evil Spirit King Roscam, ruler of the “Grey District” which lies in the west of the city could have easily maneuvered his man to intervene them, but he selfishly chooses to remain neutral at this critical time. As such, the Dark King Gregory has no other choice but to send his own men to mediate the situation. This led to the lack of manpower to defend his Dark Palace. With the current lack of resources, Bella took the opportunity and headed straight to the Dark Throne to defeat The Dark King. Once defeated by Bella, the Dark King Gregory’s body began to quickly disintegrate.

“Your power is simply…But this dark realm belongs to me. You can’t kill me as long as the realm is still here!”

His next step took Bella by surprise as Prince Cruz who was previously defeated suddenly emerged in front of her. The body of the possessed Prince Cruz seems to take the form of a black shadow that resembles a human form with red energy balls for his eyes.

After it was called out, the black shadow of Prince Cruz rushed over and tried to infect Bella. In order to infect Bella, he had even prepared a group of infected people on standby to attack her. This group who were not attacking yet was made up of the master sword sage of the Hilikas Family that was previously infected. Even if more than a hundred swordmasters that were of that level were to attack Bella, they still won’t be able to defeat her, but they might be able to delay her from killing the Dark King Gregory.

Thinking that Bella was just like all the other Demon Kings, the Dark King Gregory was confident that he could control her as well with the infection. Sensing his intention, Bella deliberately lowered her own energy burst level to that of an average Demon king in order to trick him. Experimental subject No.1 who was overconfident fell for her trick and his lapse of judgment caused him to lose his chance to escape.

Knowing that the Dark king Gregory will fall for her trick, she took out a bottle that looked like Holy Water from the Radiance Church from her storage ring. Having it in hand, Bella quickly opened the lid and threw it to the black shadow of Experimental Subject No.1 who was leaping right towards her. The Holy Water of the Radiance Church was only effective when splattered directly to a demon’s physical body, but the body of the Dark king Gregory was only an illusion.

Thinking that the liquid in the bottle was indeed the Holy Water from the Radiance Church, The Dark King Emperor didn’t even make a move to avoid it and confidently stood there as the Holy Water was splashed to his face. He was stunned when the Holy water didn’t simply pass through him as he had anticipated but it instead managed to touch him.

Upon contact, a fierce burning sensation instantly starts to spread all over the Dark King Gregory.  Unpredictably, the liquid used by Bella was actually “Tears from the Creator of Light, Vianne”, the most powerful one among all of the “Tears of the Gods”. It is very much more potent than the ones from the Goddess of Light in this Dimension.

After he was strongly attacked twice, the Dark King Gregory decides to retreat back to his Dark Throne. The dark blue flame of the Dark Throne was enchanted with a defense barrier that was able to resist and block most attacks. He was the first demon to be able to withstand the attack of the “Tears of God”. Even though the bottled-up “Tears of God” has been diluted with clean water making it less pure and less potent, it is still admirable that the Dark King was able to withstand it.

“Do you think you would be safe by hiding in there? This world needs light!”

“Such a strong radiance! You must be crazy to be using such powerful holy equipment. Wait, don’t come over. We can discuss this…”

“There is nothing to discuss over. You need to sleep forever…”

Without hesitation, Bella took out the orb called the “Praise of Light”. Since experimental Subject No.1 was able to withstand the “Tears of God”, Bella decided that it would be too dangerous to let heal and evolve as it would be harder to defeat him in the future. Hence, Bella decided to immediately end the life of the Dark King Gregory.

“The Praise of Light” emitted a dazzling glow and a huge ray of light beams across the night sky. It pierced through the pitch-black sky and filled it with light. This particular “Praise of Light” was different for any other ones because Bella had directly borrowed it from the Creator of Light, Vianne. Most “Praise of Light” were kept in a box, but this particular orb was always worn over the neck of Vianne.  

After a long period of time, the orb that was worn by Vianne, the Creator of Light, has managed to absorb and contain a huge amount of energy that was far beyond an average “Praise of Light”. Instead of naming this particular orb the “Praise of Light” like all others, it would be more suitable to call it the “Origin of Light.”

Two distinct lines of blood appeared at the corner of Bella’s mouth. The power of this particular orb was too terrifying to be handled by a World Destructor that was not in a full combat form. Regardless of if it is a demon or an Evil God, one would still be affected simply by touching this orb. 

With sheer determination, Bella held on to the orb in her right hand and rushed towards the Dark Throne. With her fist clenching tightly to the orb, she shot it upwards at the Dark Throne. The faint blue flame of the Dark Throne shimmered from top to bottom and vanished instantly. From the Dark Throne, the energy of the sacred light radiated and covered the place in a circular motion.

The whole of the dark palace was being wrapped by the beam of radiance. It didn’t take long before the whole of Fernandes City was blanketed by the bright energy. This marks the end of the dark realm and the blood-red moon along with the pale sun that guarded the sky gradually disappeared as the bright light cloaked the entire realm.

In this particular dimension, the dark realm is over, and the dimension shook violently as if it was about to crash. The Dark Capital, Fernandes City, was about to collapse. The demons living in this realm, regardless of the fact that they were ghosts with no physical body or the undead or even a skeleton with proper physical bodies, every one of them had been wiped out by the radiance light.

A huge explosion can be heard from the direction of the south and west of the city. This was the sound made as a high-level monster crumbles and explodes when they are touched by the radiance light. The Skeleton King Albert along with the Spirit King Roscam who were enjoying the battle between the ogres and the skeletons were both purified by the divine light. A mirror was placed behind the Dark Throne and this mirror was able to connect the Dark Realm to the outside world .

Apparently, the Demon King Gregory is no longer her in the Dark Realm. In fact, after he himself was infected, he didn’t step foot into the Dark Realm. For now, Bella could not sense his direct location.

“As long as your realm is destroyed, it is all over for you. Gregory, I was planning to retrieve you, but I see no reason in doing so anymore.”

The shadow of Dark King Gregory finally dissipated on the Dark Throne. In the end, even before he could say a single word to curse Bella, he was dissolved by the powerful radiance. The God of Creation that created this dimension was still not a match for the Creator of Light, Vianne.

The members of the Hilikas Family that tried to harm Bella ware also blinded by the dazzling light. Since Experimental Subject No.1 has been defeated, the infection will soon be lifted from them as well. As such they will soon regain their consciousness, but an infected person would still lose all their memory during the time that they were infected. Bella does not want them to see her current appearance, so she quickly walked over to the seat behind the dark throne and from there, she was transported back to her original realm through the mirror.

Once Bella’s eyes regained sight, she turned back to her form as Princess Felia and is standing in the Star Rain Palace. The mirror behind her was cracked and in front of her stood the Lost Demon King, Hailey Layman as well as Creation god of the White Dimension, Marry Lola and her sister, creation god of the darkness dimension, Mary Rose.

“Bella, you are finally out! I hope it isn’t too dangerous there.”

“No, I have dealt with the person that turned you strange. By the way, here is a gift for you.”

“This is too precious. Aren’t you also a Demon King? You’ll also need it for cultivation.”

Bella had previously taken out the whole piece of throne belonging to the Dark king Gregory and presented the Dark Throne as a gift to Hailey Layman.

Although most of its functions have been lost due to the dissipation of the evil energy on the Dark Throne, a large amount of dark energy is still stored in it and it could be extracted by a Demon King for cultivation purposes.

From the start, Hailey Layman was hesitant to accept such a precious gift. She hates owing favors to another person. In fact, Bella had once helped her when they were in the underground sewer system and to her, that counts as a huge favor. She was afraid that if she owes Bella for the second time, she may not be able to pay her back in the future.

“If you are not interested in it, I’ll just send it over to Aggy or Victoria. By then, it’ll be too late for you to regret it!”

“When did you hook up with them? Hold on, I didn’t say that I don’t want it. I won’t benefit them. I’ll accept this.”

When Hailey Layman heard that Bella was willing to send it over to Dark Night Demon King Aggy or even to Ocean Demon King Victoria, who just like her, also belongs to the Ancient Twelve Demon Kings, she succumbs to it. Even if she doesn’t want it, she would not let the other female kings benefit from it.

Looking at the arrogant Loli Demon King that was standing opposite her, Bella breathed out a sigh of relief. While Hailey Layman was busy inspecting her newly received gift, the Dark Throne, Bella quickly discussed it with the two sisters, Mary Lola and Mary Rose. They both agree to deal with the aftermath of the dark world.

All the demons that have once resided in the dark world have vanished once it had been baptized by the “Origin of Light”. The two Gods of Creation cleaned up the realm and as per their mission, all the humans that were imprisoned by the demons were returned back to their original location from where they were caught. Those people that were left there by Bella are insignificant to her because she had already transferred all the ones that she wanted in advance.

Emperor Alfred the Third was finally returned to his palace. He is currently being protected by several master Sword God of the Hilikas family that have also recovered from the infection. Even with the return of their emperor, the political farce of this city was far from over. When Bella and her companions return to the base camp of the Southern Alliance Army by going through the underground sewer system, the level vigilance here was still very high.

After the demise of the Dark King Gregory, the infected people in the Gabriels City of Gabriel Empire should automatically recover. As such, the emperor should recover as well. Ideally, when they were able to suppress the riot caused by the infected people, all major forces outside of the capital should withdraw all of their troops.

However, during Bella’s departure, the military forces led by the three princes and the three major families of the empire joined together and announced that they had formed the Northern Alliance. They did secretly send someone to contact Bella and her companion in regard to it. Their objective was to carve up and divide the Gabriel Empire into two with the Claudine River that runs across the empire being the dividing line. They are willing to hand over the Southern territory to the Southern Alliance as long as the Northern Alliance were allowed to take over the Northern territory.

This was all planned behind the back of Emperor Alfred the Third. By doing this as the current emperor is still alive, they have plainly shown that they do not want to go back in vain. With so many of their people surrounding the capital, it would be an embarrassment to them if they were to retreat simply because the emperor asked of it.

Because of the infection in the Imperial City by Experimental Subject no.1, more than half of the imperial guards of Emperor Alfred the Third were temporarily unable to battle even after they regained consciousness. This means that the emperor currently does not have any soldiers that he was able to mobilize in the event of an attack. All that he is now, is an emperor by name with no army to command.

An emperor that has no military power or one that has lost his army was no different than a puppet. Excluding Bella’s forces who have yet to make a statement, all the other forces have bound together unanimously and these forces were hoping that Emperor Alfred the Third was willing to abdicate his throne. Someone would need to take responsibility for the spread of the infection in the city and the leader should be the one who takes responsibility. In this case, the leader was the emperor. Hence, an emperor’s abdication is the best solution for this.

The Hilikas family which were previously the empire’s guardian family and a strong supporter of Emperor Alfred the Third now no longer extend their support to him. Instead, they are adopting a wait-and-see attitude, causing the other forces to daringly rebel against and attack the emperor. Without the strong support and protection of the Hilikas family, it would be only a matter of time before Emperor Alfred the Third is replaced.

It is indeed true that Emperor Alfred the Third has entered a political dead end. Currently, he has no supporters. Even his father-in-law, Prince Angus, who has always supported him, was asking for his abdication in hopes of crowning his own heir, Crown Prince Daniel, to be the next emperor. The other two princes, Prince Brad and Prince Frauer also wished for him to step down immediately.

The Imperial Union that is currently focusing all their energy in dealing with the red tide that had attacked the eastern part of the mainland has no extra resources to help with the turmoil on the southern part of the mainland. Even if Emperor Alfred the Third wanted to wait for their help to mediate, no one else would have the patience to do so. The citizens of the capital who were previously infected have been weakened by the infection and none of them were able to fight if they were ever to engage in a war. In this highly advanced city with nearly 30 million citizens, the ones who could actually stand up to a fight was probably only around ten thousand people.

But things are not as easy as they seem and Emperor Alfred the Third has many things to worry about. First of all, if he were to abdicate and pass his throne over to Prince Daniel in advance before his time, he would feel as if he was wronged, and he would obviously be ashamed to lose his position as an Emperor. Second of all, Prince Daniel has always been dissatisfied with Duchess Bellina. If he were to succeed the throne, he would definitely make a move against the Southern Alliance, resulting in a civil war.

The artillery of the Southern Alliance could easily reach the gates of the capital. Judging by how poor Prince Daniel was in political strategy, it won’t be a surprise that the moment he is crowned, he would immediately provoke Bella in the capital city. Even if Bella were to ignore him, there are many other generals in the Southern Alliance whom each command a large number of troops. It is not impossible for a war to break out in the capital city.

While all that was ongoing, Bella was enjoying delicious food and talking to Kriss at the base camp of the Southern Alliance. In the very same place, a banquet for the imperial princesses was being held at the Leader’s camp. Aside from Kriss, the rest of the “Five Royal Sword maidens” of the Gabriel Empire were in attendance. The atmosphere of the banquet was very harmonious,

Even the Lost Demon King Hailey Layman who had come back with Bella, had changed into a little girl’s dress and was enjoying the cakes and dessert that’s served at the banquet while pretending to be a little girl. Besides Hailey Layman, there were also other numerous loli with terrifying identities that were feasting at the banquet.

The Collapsing Evil Dragon Emperor Tiffany Lolita, the Devouring Holy Dragon Euphenisia and also Cursed Demonic Dragon Queen Stimmons were all there at the banquet. They all sat down at a quiet corner and started eating while using the disguises of little girls.

Aside from the two God of Creations who went to clean up the dark realm, the Sword Goddess Claudine who was secretly imprisoned and the Fire Mage Wendy also did not attend the banquet. Most of Bella’s best friends that she knew from Gabriel Empire (Nation of the Sword) were here at the banquet. No male was attending the banquet because Bella has not made any acquaintance with the male nobleman at the empire.

From time to time, there would also be various nobles who would send gifts to Bella which would be handed over to Bella through their messengers. These gifts were mostly gold or silver jewelries and precious stones, as well as other items. Currently, things are unstable between the North and the South of the empire and a civil war may break out at any time soon. The Northern Alliance were led by the three princes and their three imperial families where else the Southern Alliance was backed by the Sarnia Duchy.

If they do not take in the account of over ten million demon reinforcements from the Darkness Sacred Region, both sides have similar strength in regard to the number of their soldiers. The Southern Alliance who are armed with firearms and artillery has a slightly higher advantage than it’s opponent and there were many nobles who were very optimistic about the chances of the Southern Alliance winning the battle. Afterall, the Southern Alliance were led by Bella in support of Princess Kriss. Although Bella had a little trouble with her reputation, she was still considered a far more reliable person than that of the leaders of the Northern Alliance where all the three princes were trying to pull their own agendas.

Since the higher ranks of the Southern Alliance are composed of females, many of the nobles who supported them do not dare to publicly show their support. As such, they will arrange for gifts to be sent over to show their preference. They do not know who is the real leader between Bella and Princess Kriss since the two of them often swap their role as if playing a game.

“Bella, did you manage to find the queen? Yesterday, the imperial envoy said that the queen and many of the imperial concubines were still missing after the infection.”

“Kriss, this… they are fine as they are being temporarily isolated for treatment. They would be back after some time!”

“I see. Oh, right, my father has stated in his letter that he hopes that as the special envoy of the Imperial Union, Sister Olya could help to intervene.”

“I think that we can forget about mediating. This is the kind of situation that could not be quelled without a war.”

In order to conceal her involvement in secretly transferring and hiding the queen as well as the rest of them, Bella pretends to remain calm and analytical. Dragon Knight General Olya realized that she could no longer understand Bella. The ninth princess Felia who suddenly reappeared after disappearing for months has not only come back with powers above those of a Dragon Knight but she also brought with her a team of people with terrifying power such as Lolita, Dragon Euphenisia and Stimmons.

The dishes at the banquet were extremely rich. When the human generals of Bella’s southern Alliance helped organize the banquet, after much consideration and deliberation, they decided to raise the standard to that of an emperor’s banquet which Bella did not refuse. There has been news that some of the princes from the Northern Alliance have already prepared a set of dragon robes and emperor seals.  Bella was in no hurry to join the circus.

The Hilikas family also appointed a messenger to look for Bella. While the Northern Alliance was still fighting over themselves for the position of the leader, it is much easier to deal with a stable alliance such as the Southern Alliance where Bella alone is the main leader. Since their eldest twin, both Calman and Cahlia have long been abducted, they could only arrange a different person to look for Bella.

The eldest daughters of the three princes and the daughters of the three empire families as well as the twin daughters of the Hilikas, Calman and Cahlia, all appeared at this banquet that was held by Bella. The young ladies who were lost during the Hundred Flower Festival also appeared at this banquet. This caused the soldiers to believe that the Northern Alliance and Southern Alliance have both reached a mutual understanding.

In regard to the messengers that were sent by the Hilikas family as well as the messenger from Emperor Alfred the Third and the liaison ambassador of the Northern Alliance, Bella had come up with an excuse to delay their meeting until a few days after the banquet. This happened because the person who was dispatching them did not understand her requirement and sent all male envoys. None of them were female. If only they had sent a female envoy, Bella would have graciously received them much earlier.

The purpose of all the three envoys was very simple. First off, the northern Alliance wanted the cooperation of the Southern Alliance. They are looking for a way to jointly force Emperor Alfred the Third to abdicate his throne. As for the Hilikas family, they wanted to confirm Bella’s true intention and from there, the family will then decide which team they would support as well as the countermeasures to make based on the situation. Lastly, the emperor’s special envoy was there to ask for Bella’s help. The situation for him was so bad that the emperor who usually hated asking the help of a woman would stoop so low.

Emperor Alfred the Third desperately needs the support of a powerful nobleman to help him stabilize the situation in the capital of the empire. Currently, only Bella could be considered as a suitable candidate. For now, she only holds the title of a Duchess. He is hoping that by giving her the title of a princess regnant, he would be able to tempt her to join his side. The other three princes were already of the highest title. Apart from handing them his throne, there is no other rank that he could confer on them. The method of rewarding them with a title would not work on the three princes.