Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Chapter 28 - Lightning #3
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The Sky Island of the Malkuth Kingdom.
The land where Queen Asiya, the eldest daughter of the Sea Goddess Adonai Melech and the founding queen of the Malkuth Kingdom, lay dormant.
It was supposed to rise from the deep sea only once every ten years, on the day of the ritual. Yet now, it was emerging from beyond the darkness.
In a way, it was inevitable.
The Hecatoncheires had attacked the capital and kidnapped Aru, the bearer of the royal bloodline, all to activate the Sky Island's ritual device.
‘But how?’
Even Luther had no clear knowledge of the precise mechanism behind the Sky Island's operation.
The only thing Luther knew from the original story was that the Hecatoncheires had simply waited until the ritual day—when the Sky Island would rise naturally.
‘They can make the Sky Island float even on a non-ritual day? Then why did they wait until the ritual in the original?’
Several reasons came to mind at once.
First, to minimize risks.
On the ritual day, the Sky Island's ascent was a natural phenomenon, so the Hecatoncheires only needed to accomplish the single task of seizing it.
But launching an operation on a day when it wouldn't normally rise, like now, created a two-stage structure: 'first make the Sky Island float, then seize it.' This increased the mission's difficulty.
‘But is that really all?’
Was there something more—a greater drawback—that made them wait until the ritual day?
For instance, perhaps the ritual device couldn't operate properly otherwise.
Luther paused his thoughts there. Then he considered something else.
The Sky Island's ascent.
The group that managed the Sky Island was the temple of the Sea Goddess Adonai Melech—led by the High Priestess.
So, was the High Priestess the real spy among the three suspects?
Luther cut off that line of thinking again.
And he resolved to act on what mattered most right now.
“We save Aru.”
He declared it to himself.
The situation was chaotic, but stepping back, the solution was simple.
‘The Hecatoncheires want the Sky Island's ritual device.’
And to activate it, they needed someone of the royal bloodline.
In the original, the Hecatoncheires had used First Princess Prel Yoru to activate the device. This time, they chose Second Princess Peliaru.
So, rescuing Aru from their hands would achieve the top priority: stopping the tsunami—preventing the ritual device's activation.
And that wasn't all.
He wanted to save Aru.
The image of Aru dangling limply from Ragnarok's arm was vividly etched in his mind.
Her face, which suited a brighter smile than anyone's, kept overlapping with the horrific corpse he had seen in the original story.
[Master, calm down.]
[Going alone to rescue Princess Aru is too reckless.]
[We need to borrow the power of the Malkuth Kingdom.]
[The Hecatoncheires need Aru to activate the ritual device, so her life should be safe for now.]
It was sound advice.
Ragnarok, who had kidnapped her, was a mid-tier dragonkin, and the skies and ground were still swarming with the Hecatoncheires' ardragons.
He needed to calm down.
At the very least, he had to secure Sandalphon's assistance before going to rescue her.
But Luther found it hard to steady himself.
Because he already knew the dangerous implication hidden in Integra's words.
‘Her life is safe.’
Which conversely meant that as long as she was kept alive, they could do anything else they wanted.
In fact, in the original, Yoru had become the core of the ritual device only after having both her arms severed by the Hecatoncheires.
If the same happened to Aru—if her arms were cut off—
[Master! A large force is heading toward the Moon Viewing Palace!]
[The one in the lead is Queen Reina!]
Luther hurriedly turned in the direction Integra indicated.
Indeed, a group was charging straight toward the Moon Viewing Palace.
There were many ardragons in between, but Queen Reina resolved them all.
“Grraaah! Graah!”
“Kraaa!”
The ardragons charging at Queen Reina suddenly turned around mid-leap, attacking their own kind to clear a path.
It was thanks to Queen Reina's hypnotic magic, which could bewitch even ardragons.
“Prel Yoru!”
At Queen Reina's booming call, Yoru, who had been huddled down, snapped her head up.
Luther added for Yoru and her guards.
“Queen Reina and the knights are coming.”
“Oh! Her Majesty the Queen!”
“Princess, you're safe now. Her Majesty the Queen is coming.”
Relieved by the guards' words, Yoru slumped her shoulders and panted heavily.
She seemed greatly comforted by the news of Queen Reina's approach.
[Third Princess Fileiru is with Queen Reina too.]
[It looks like they're moving to secure the princesses first.]
It was normal behavior for a queen.
She truly wasn't the spy, then.
“Yoru!”
“Mother!”
Queen Reina shouted again, and this time Yoru rushed to the window and raised her voice.
“Princess!”
“It's dangerous!”
As the guards tried to stop her, Luther reached out to Yoru, who was leaning perilously out the window, and said.
“Yoru! Over here!”
Yoru turned to Luther and instinctively grabbed his hand.
Luther pulled her up in one swift motion, cradling her in his arms before flying straight toward Queen Reina.
“Eek.”
Yoru let out a small squeak and clung to Luther as all eyes—Queen Reina, Iru, and the knights inside and outside the Moon Viewing Palace—fixed on him.
But Luther hadn't thought beyond saving time.
After landing a short distance from Queen Reina and setting Yoru down—she wobbled briefly before clutching her chest in surprise and running toward the queen.
“Mother! Iru!”
“Sister!”
Third Princess Iru, who had been hiding behind Queen Reina with a frightened face, ran out and hugged Yoru tightly, bursting into tears.
Yoru hugged Iru back, shedding a few tears herself.
The guards rushed over to protect Yoru and Iru while surrounding Luther.
With ardragons rampaging in the skies and on the ground, and explosions and fires breaking out across the palace, it was natural to be wary of him.
So Luther ignored the guards and looked straight at Queen Reina.
“Your Majesty, Princess Peliaru has been kidnapped. The enemies' goal is the Sky Island's ritual device.”
The Sky Island was already rising.
An intelligent woman like Queen Reina would grasp the meaning of his words immediately.
But the guards didn't.
“What makes you say that!”
“Your Majesty! He's suspicious! He might be colluding with the enemy!”
It wasn't foolishness on their part.
From their perspective, it was a reasonable interrogation.
To the Malkuth Kingdom, Luther was just a sudden outsider.
Moreover, the kidnapped one was Second Princess Peliaru, closest to him.
Blindly trusting Luther without considering he might have kidnapped her himself and pretended ignorance would be the weirder scenario.
But Luther said it anyway, knowing all this.
Because he was certain Queen Reina—if not a spy—would believe him, regardless of her sharpness.
“No, Sir Luther is telling the truth.”
Queen Reina spoke softly, and the guards, poised to lunge at him, deflated instantly.
Everyone knew the Sea Witch queen could detect lies.
“Order Sir Sandalphon, headed to the Fire Palace, to return. If Aru has already been taken, we need to regroup here too. If their goal is truly the Sky Island's ritual device, they'll need her alive, so they won't kill her right away.”
At the word 'kill,' Yoru and Iru paled.
But Queen Reina stayed composed, turning to gaze at the Sky Island as the guards hurriedly activated communication artifacts.
[Master, Queen Reina definitely isn't the spy.]
[With her help, we can save Princess Aru. So don't worry too much.]
Integra spoke gently, gripping Luther's hand tightly.
Though only for 7 seconds, she shared her warmth to soothe him.
And right then.
Amid Sandalphon's roar echoing from the distant Fire Palace, Queen Reina turned back to Luther.
“Grand General Azrael will soon launch a counterattack. The two grand generals in the undersea will hear too.”
She paused to catch her breath, then eyed Luther warily.
“Sir Luther, you stated their goal is the Sky Island's ritual device. How do you know? Do you know something about the enemies?”
Queen Reina believed Luther wasn't lying.
But that didn't mean she fully dropped her guard. He might be revealing partial truths to betray them at a critical moment.
Queen Reina wasn't the spy.
That's why she could suspect Luther.
Luther steadied his breath.
He hadn't anticipated this exactly, but he knew how to respond.
“The enemies are the Hecatoncheires, a group of dragonkin. They're the ones who tried to kidnap Princess Peliaru in the west. I learned they were plotting something in the Malkuth Kingdom and came here to stop them.”
All true.
And since Queen Reina could detect lies, she could trust his words without needing the full process explained.
Moreover, she was the Sea Witch.
“Hecatoncheires...? Truly them?”
Queen Reina knew of the Hecatoncheires.
Even hearing of Aru's kidnapping hadn't shaken her, but now shock spread across her face.
“The Hecatoncheires are after the ritual device. If we don't stop them, the entire south—”
That was it.
Luther, trying to drive home the threat, stopped speaking involuntarily.
It wasn't forced.
Nor had some sudden crisis arisen demanding silence.
The Hecatoncheires' goal.
Manipulating the Sky Island's ritual device to unleash a tsunami devastating the south.
But—
Was that even possible?
It wasn't about the device being fake or real.
In the original, they had indeed caused the tsunami and razed the south.
The issue was timing, location, circumstances.
The original and current situations differed greatly.
In the original, two of the three spy suspects were eliminated on ritual day, regardless of who the spy was.
But not now.
Queen Reina stood before him, effectively controlling the situation as the royal family's true head.
The grand general was unlikely the spy, and he was leading the Royal Guard.
Even if he were, the High Priestess was likely safe elsewhere.
‘In other words, they have no way to control the situation.’
In the original, two of the three who could sway the palace were dead, and one betrayed them.
Thus, the Hecatoncheires secured ample time to activate the device and wipe out the south.
The kingdom couldn't mount a proper counter.
But now?
The palace itself wasn't subdued.
As Queen Reina said, if the grand general began an organized counterattack, they could defend it and even assault the Sky Island.
Did the Hecatoncheires not know this?
Or did they believe they could hold the Sky Island?
And if neither, then with the changed situation, had the Hecatoncheires shifted plans?
Luther turned to look at the Sky Island.
He rethought the current situation from the Hecatoncheires' perspective.
What would he do in their place?
What would be most efficient?
Luther realized.
So this time, he turned his gaze to the sea.
It was still calm.
But in Luther's eyes, the impending catastrophe was as clear as day.
“Not the south.”
The capital.
Unleash the tsunami on the Malkuth Kingdom's capital.
It would block attacks on the Sky Island and buy time to ravage the south again.
[Master! The Sky Island!]
At Integra's voice, Luther looked back.
A pure white light—clearly emitted from the ritual device—pierced the darkness.