Chapter 289
Chapter 289
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 289
Chapter Title: The Key to the Nine Myriad Layered Heavens (5)
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"Two hours from now, we will permit docking—but only for no more than ten unarmed personnel."
The envoy who had disembarked from the swift boat stammered it out with a face drained of color, though he strained to mimic the haughty expression typical of elves. But what he overlooked was that those receiving him were elves as well.
A race inherently arrogant by nature. A people with deep-rooted chosen-race ideology. And the elves of Reia had even witnessed the deaths of the Serpent Kings—more precisely, beings akin to racial gods—the veteran survivors of that era.
"Amusing."
Before outrage could erupt among them, Reia chuckled softly from her jade throne, legs crossed. She addressed the envoy standing rigidly below the audience chamber, staring straight at her.
"What is your name?"
"I am... I am Deirasil Oscara."
"You have committed two acts of rudeness. As a foreign sovereign, I have given you the chance to reflect on them and compose yourself. You have addressed the first, but not the second."
Reia regarded the envoy with impassive eyes. Among elves, the title of sovereign—that of Serpent King—carried immense weight. The envoy's face paled in an instant.
He was an elf of the Jerolen royal house. That meant the sovereign he served was a divine being who had ruled their people since the War in the Heavens. Standing before such a Serpent King was burdensome enough for him.
"What... what might that be?"
"Now it makes three acts of rudeness. Gwen."
"Yes, Your Highness!"
A burly Wildprince charged forth like lightning and promptly swept the envoy's shin, toppling him. The envoy crashed to the floor as if impaled, blood gushing from his nose as he lifted his head. In his blurred vision, Reia's face came into view.
"Your first rudeness was failing to declare your name in my presence. The second was failing to recognize who stands before you."
"It is the Sovereign in person! Kneel!"
Still collapsed, the envoy was forcibly hauled up by Gwen's arm and made to kneel. A cold blade hovered at his throat. Trembling, he raised his head.
"Now that you have corrected those two rudenesses, how admirable you look. Very well—here is your chance to reflect on the final one."
"P-please... spare... spare my life."
"And?"
"I apologize... I beg your forgiveness, Great Queen."
"Good. I am magnanimous, so I cannot take a life for each initial mistake. Convey this to your king: Two hours? Very well. I shall arrive in two hours. Ten personnel? No—I shall bring ten warships. And unarmed? That will not do. We shall approach with a salute of cannon fire. Thus speaks the Great Serpent Queen, Reia fin Gaimern. Deliver it to your king."
Reia tilted her head with a wicked smile. Gwen yanked the still-dazed envoy to his feet, bowed deeply to Reia in salute, and escorted him from the audience chamber.
The ministers and Wildprinces, who had maintained rigid postures until the envoy departed, exhaled heavily the moment the doors closed. One stepped forward, bowing deeply.
"Your Highness. Your humble servant Bialdeil fin Maksilas inquires."
"Speak."
"If it is Your Highness's intent to wage war, would it not be improper to sacrifice ten warships by hurling them into enemy territory?"
"What nonsense is that?"
"Pardon...? Your Highness means to provoke that fallen royal house and thereby justify a campaign to save their people..."
"Complicated. Speak simply, as I have told you many times. You mean I intend to sacrifice ten allied warships to gain pretext for executing them?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
Reia shook her head at the minister's words. She declared boldly.
"If I intended war, would I need justification? With only our two powers atop this great ocean—ours and theirs—who would condemn a war without pretext? If we have the strength, we simply subjugate. Moreover, those ten ships' crews are my subjects—how could I so casually send them to their deaths?"
"Then...?"
"It is not justification, but pride. Do you ministers lack pride? Was that brainless envoy's attitude fitting for one sovereign addressing another? We are a union of two races. Since the Great Exile, we are the first to unite two peoples into one—we are not mere heirs to a single royal house, but to our entire race!"
The ministers bowed their heads at Reia's words. She sprang to her feet and strode among their ranks. With each approaching footfall, the ministers and generals bowed deeper.
"Boldly!"
Raising each vassal who bowed in respect one by one, Reia clapped their shoulders and cried out.
"Be bold! You are not ministers of a single race—you are my palace officials responsible for the entire race! If you cannot be noble, then be arrogant! Lift your heads! That fallen sovereign slew our goddess to fatten his belly, but we revived her for ourselves! Our race's era is not twilight—it is dawn!"
The ministers' eyes blazed at Reia's words. Indeed. After the War in the Heavens, there had been an era when they lost continental hegemony and wandered the seas as refugees. Nomadic peoples barely holding form under a strong sovereign's rule.
In that age, as time passed, the race's spirit scattered. But that era was over. For the first time in history, two races had united. Now, nearly all elves in the world lived under one queen with unified will.
It was not an age of decline. It was an age of revival. They had not missed the golden era—it had simply not yet arrived. Reia strove tirelessly to instill this ideology in her vassals.
Ever arrogant and bold, yet approachable and unpretentious. A sovereign who lorded over her subjects yet never diminished their pride. The authority Reia built was not the absolute power of the Eternal Kings. It was voluntary authority born of her subjects' respect.
She grasped the audience chamber's door handle, turned back, and laughed freely.
"Are you not the ones who dine with your sovereign, sharing table and utensils? Our eyes are level— if you bow, I must bow too, and it ill suits me. Straighten your backs and walk tall!"
"Yes!! Your Highness!!"
"And prepare ten ships' worth of envoys. I shall personally take the helm at the lead!"
"Yes...? Your Highness...?"
Reia slipped out of the chamber, leaving the stunned ministers to rush after her toward the entrance.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!! Wait, just a moment!! Have mercy, please!!"
"Your Highness!! If you intended that, why provoke the envoy in the first place!!"
"Ah!! That bastard was so irritating!"
* * *
"That's how it happened. Prepare."
Fernandez swept his gaze over Reia, who grumbled irritably, and the ministers stiff-faced behind her. He closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
"You threatened the envoy's life out of annoyance?"
"Yeah."
"And you'll provoke them with a salute?"
"Correct."
"...Why do you love cannon salutes so much?"
"It's the most dignified protocol. Should we slink in like cowards?"
"I feel like kneeling myself..."
Fernandez sighed.
"May I object?"
"...You don't plan to accompany us?"
"What are you saying? I have business in Jerolen. I mean I'd rather you didn't go."
"Haha! Hilarious! Listen to this guy!"
Reia laughed heartily, glancing at her lined-up ministers. They did not smile with her, merely watching silently. Reia's face fell.
"Guys?"
"The noble guest speaks truly. Your Highness, it would be wise to reconsider a personal visit."
"You're too formal. You arrogant lot!"
"Your Highness commanded it, so we obey as loyal subjects."
Reia fidgeted and turned away. Watching, Fernandez addressed the ministers.
"The Serpent Queen's words are not wrong. The Jerolen royal envoy was excessively rude, and you are not so weak as to yield to their demands. Pride is not arrogance. However..."
"Yes, Duke Cerned. A personal visit by Your Highness carries too great a risk."
"Indeed. The Serpent Queen is your nation's most precious treasure, the unifying force of two races. She must not be lost lightly."
"Then what would be best?"
"Your response was lacking. Why must we go to them first?"
Fernandez chuckled lightly and continued.
"We should summon them."
"...Pardon?"
"Send them back as is. Tell King Jerolen to come himself."
"You mean dispatch another envoy?"
"No, that lacks face. Let us invite with a more elegant metaphor. They gave two hours—perfect. I'll prepare it myself."
Fernandez nodded and departed. Reia and the ministers stared blankly at his retreating back.
* * *
Precisely two hours later, as Reia and her vassals pondered whether to seek Fernandez—
-Kugugugung!!
A sudden tremor shook the flagship entirely. For a fortress-sized ship to rock was no different from an earthquake. The ministers panicked, surrounding Reia to shield against potential falling debris.
"What in the...!"
"An attack...? Did Jerolen strike first? Hey! Why no warning from the observation post!"
"No! It's not an attack! This is... this is..."
The ministers remembered this sensation. They could never forget. That moment when everything changed—the oppressive presence felt at Infermer...
"Atillatl...!!"
Reia ground her teeth, staring at one of the flagship's spires. The isolated tower she had granted Fernandez for his workshop, where he could research freely—an immense presence emanated from it.
The presence of a dragon. Gaimern retainers recalled Infermer; Malern retainers, the moment their flagship shattered.
"Such a... flashy bastard...!!"
Reia swallowed and whispered. Was it because it bore the goddess's divinity? The dragon's presence burned more intensely than before. Yes. This sensation—no Jerolen could ignore it. An elf Serpent King's flagship could only be harmed by great demons' curses, dwarven cannons, or a dragon's breath!
"Fire... the salute!"
"Pardon...? Your Highness?"
" Fernandez is working on it—we must lend a hand! Fire the salute! Make it a clearer warning. Jerolen won't hold back from coming himself!"
"Yes, Your Highness!!"
The ministers and generals scattered in groups to the flagship's cannons. A fortress-sized vessel meant time even to relay orders to each battery.
"You could have given some warning! Such a contrary fellow!"
Reia grumbled through clenched teeth. She hadn't knelt only thanks to her pride. Her legs still trembled. A dragon bearing two goddesses' divinities. The full unveiling of such a being's presence... awe outstripped fear.
* * *
And on that lone island beyond the horizon. Even from Jerolen's flagship, the presence was felt. No elf could ignore it, no matter the distance.
"Melisildur...?"
"No. That's... astonishing. It's an Atillatl."
"There were still Atillatls left in this world...?"
"I didn't know either, Jerolen. Truly. Who could it be? Who survived? Why not tell me until now?"
"You were not abandoned."
"Heh... thank you."
An elf wearing an ornate golden crown embossed with feathers embraced the shoulders of a woman with fiery red hair and whispered. The woman smiled sadly and looked toward the horizon.
"Want to go see?"
"Yes."
"If you do, I'll follow."
"It could be a trap. Those are the ones who killed our king."
"Truth be told, Lacrishir—you know it too. All who bear the Serpent King name deserved death."
"Does that include you?"
At the woman's playful words, the elf kissed her forehead and whispered.
"Of course. I live because I failed to die."
"Let us go then. A trap not so unromantic for two undying lovers to enter."
The presence of a goddess thought long dead. And amid it, the unmistakable presence of an extinct race. Undying wanderers entering a trap laid by the dead. Quite poetic, isn't it?
Jerolen nodded and stepped back. Flames engulfed the woman's body. And—
A red dragon soared into the sky.