Zarina could only watch from afar as the kingdom that she had grown up in fall to such dire states.
A strong sense of hatred and resentment grew from Lirien's figure, unaware that she was merely a pawn, played and toyed with for someone else's entertainment.
'Don't think that I'll ever forgive you for this. Lirien!' Her heart cursed. The eagle that was carrying her was slowly getting weaker and she felt it. Looking way back at Aurorise, she could see multiple crimson and white tendrils sprouting all over ensnaring the entire kingdom.
...
Lirien expanded her reaches, making herself the core of it all. Her faint and seemingly frail soul hovered above it all as multiple tendrils shot out. Screams and cries came from all over.
Be it children, mothers or fathers alike, they all fell as prey to the tendrils. She could feel her own existence getting stronger and a faint tint of bliss resorted from this.
"Ahh!" She sighed as she enjoyed every single moment of it. Bodies in the streets would be holstered way up into the sky before their souls were extracted and left to fall to their demise.
As for those who chose to hide, their fate's were still as grim as they were constantly bashed around as they lost hope and caved in.
*Four hours later*
The sun had already started to set and yet in the midst of the deadly calmness that there was, a figure stood in the midst of it all.
Lirien had reverted her existence back to that of a mortal. During the attack Nathaniel delivered, she converted her own existence as a mortal and into a soul however there were grave consequences for doing so.
If they were not strong enough, then their souls would shatter however thanks to her already having a constant supply of souls to devour, this wasn't a problem.
'It seems that I am still in the fifth tier.' She sighed as she sat on the throne. 'It seems that should I want to gain higher tiers, then I would have to devour their souls whilst in my mortal body.'
Sure she was virtually invincible in her soul state that also meant that she couldn't progress in advancement in such a state.
'But with that, it means that I can launch surprise attacks on my enemies. Not to mention I can traverse much more quickly without having to worry about dealing with damage.'
Sure she didn't make a step into the next tier, but now she had a better understanding of what she was capable of. Not to mention with such a huge amount of souls devoured, it would be quite a while before she needed to devour again.
Not only that but also she felt that she had a greater control over her devouring capabilities which she deemed better than being strong but lacking control.
'There are few tier six experts. Even some kingdoms don't have them such as Rien. Now I should be able to withstand the presence of tier six experts better and even face them head on.'
She had devoured the soul of a tier six expert thus she had some experience with facing them. 'Provided they aren't too seasoned, then they shouldn't be that much of a problem.'
Despite wanting to revel in her own success, she knew that she couldn't stay here for long. The death if an entire kingdom was something that happened so casually.
She made her way to Nathaniel's body which had crashed hard into the ground. His head was turned into minced paste with several bones shattered.
She searched his body to gauge whether she would find anything of value. It wasn't just Nathaniel but the surrounding bodies as well. Sifting through their belongings trying to find anything of value.
'A half empty vial of the poison of a Tier Four Lothern Spider. Up to a hundred thousand platinum quartz, several tiers of mana disc cores from various creatures and weapons. Not to mention several grades of spells.'
She could sell the tier fours as most of them were on the fourth tier. As for money, a hundred thousand platinum quartz was more than enough to sustain her for hundreds of years.
'Considering the war that will be underway, things will no doubt get more expensive.' She tried to gather all valuable loot she could get her hands on. After gathering and run sacking all places of interest, she left on a horse making her way deep into the forest.
'You finally managed to pull through.' She heard a voice as she made her way towards the closest kingdom other than Rien. 'Now is usually the time I would betray you however it would seem that you have proven your worth.'
'Congratulations.' She ignored Ashley's remark as she continued to make her way through the beaten path. 'And since it seems that you wanted to advance onto the sixth tier so badly, I have a gift for you.'
Lirien piqued interest as she heard this. 'However it comes in the form of another trial but unlike last one, this will be more bearable.'
'Another trial?' She had barely finished her last one, almost losing her life and degrading herself to accomplish it and yet here Ashley was ready to hand her another one.
But aware of her situation, she could only fall silent. 'I want you to go to Sablestone and ask Sevyn to hand you a tier six mana core.'
Lirien was baffled as she heard this. She was expecting her to be more absurd, similar to the last one but seeing that had to do something so simple, she was glad.
'I'm grateful.' She said flatly. 'For a servant, you certainly do have an attitude. Meet me in Rein before head over to Sablestone first.' She heard Ashley's remark. And here she thought that she would break free from her clutches. She had to meet with her again.
'Be here in four days.' Ashley finally added. 'Four days?! Is this bitch out of her fucking mind? It took her a week to get there and yet she wants me to get there in four days?!'
She exclaimed at the absurd request. 'But if I utilize my soul form, it will greatly cut my time. It's not that it's impossible, just barely doable.' She gave off a light sigh before making a stop.
She prepared herself a meal before turning into a soul and gliding through the night. In the night, she seemed more of a ghoul rather than a soul, as her white form was replaced with a dark red color for better camouflage.
...
Ashley looked out the window of her carriage as she saw Rien. Her carriage was briefly stopped before it kept on going through. She made her presence known as she made let off a tier seven pressure which succumbed the entire kingdom.
The king was worried, wondering who had invaded but after sending some men, he was startled to see Ashley here. He knew the story that hang around this girl thus he had to ensure that she was sated and happy.
...
'It seems that she finally caught up to me.' Orsen gave of a chuckling smile as he sat peacefully, seating on the chair as his mind was absorbed by the book that was in his hands.
'As for Lirien, it seems that making her a target wasn't a complete waste of time. Not to mention what she has already done in Aurorise. However she let a powerful player fall through her grasp.'
He was talking about Zarina. It was clear that she would come much later on to exact her revenge. 'As for Vivienne, it seems that she is making a name for herself.' Be laughed off as he sunk deeper into his seat.
...
'It has been nine days now since I came here. The trial must already be over however unlike my brothers, it seems that I was the one who came out with the most benefits.'
Zayne thought as he felt the tiring procedure of refining and advancing into the fifth tier. He had internally been counting the days and nine exact days had passed.
As he came out of his room, he went into the adjacent room to find Rhys perfectly seated. "So how did the trials go?" Orsen looked at Zayne with a ridiculing expression.
"What trials? It has only been a day. The champions of the other princes went over to the castle for a detailed briefing which Hedon did on my behalf."
'It has been nine days and I'm sure of it.' Before his answer was gifted to him, another figure came into the room. 'How was the trials?' Arabella asked the same question.
'But knowing you two, I doubt that you'd lose.' Orsen knew that a strange misunderstanding was clear and he knew what. "The reason why you feel that multiple days have passed is because I locked you in a hype time chamber accelerant."
"I hastened the time you experienced as you were refining. Condensing those nine days you felt pass into a day. Speaking of passing, you have an important guest that's passing here."
"What?!" Zayne had multiple questions to ask Orsen however he brushed them off. "You better have a good explanation to your father not only where you were but also how you became so powerful."
Arabella couldn't believe that he was treating a prince in such a manner, it was beyond ridiculing. Recalling what he say, he knew that he couldn't stay here and took his leave.
"It seems that your gamble paid off." Orsen mused as he briefly glanced at her figure before delving back into his book. Arabella had taken a chance with fate with the tier four mana disc core that she had in her possession.
Brute forcing her way upwards. She had several reasons for doing so. First, she wasn't wary about any backlash on the physical aspect as the slime would heal any injury she would experience.
Secondly, as for her own mana disc core, despite how much pressure she would exert into it, it seemed unyielding and invincible giving her a favor as she wouldn't have to worry about becoming a cripple.
Not to mention, she knew that Orsen was keeping an eye on her and felt that with his goal, he would be forced to help her. Knowing what she was about to do and yet he didn't stop her meant that he was confident that she would pull through.
Unlike Zayne who had nine days flash in an instant, for Arabella, it was about four weeks. A meal was already laid out for her to which she didn't hesitate and dug in.
"I've been thinking about restoring your voice, provided you learnt your lesson, then I think you should have it back." Arabella paused as she heard this. She was growing weary of communicating with her thoughts.
Sure she didn't have to exert her vocals but it felt as if she opened nothing about herself. From her mind to her body as they would intercept and read her mind, she yearned for boundaries.
'When do you plan on doing so?' She quizzed as she kept on feasting. Orsen was still engrossed in his book. "Later this week. I still confirmation from someone specific. Though I doubt they'll agree."
Arabella's face fell grim as she heard this. "But for the time being, I'll allow it." Her ears perked up as she heard this. She immediately thought that it would be a complicated procedure to get through however to her shock...
*Snap*
A casual snap from his fingers was all it took. "Hmm! Wait! I can finally talk!" She sighed in relief. She could finally talk once more. She felt the scar on her throat fade off and heal completely.
However her moment of happiness came to a dramatic halt. "However that doesn't mean that you can talk whenever you wish. You still need to ask me for permission or it'll go back to the way that it was."
"What? Why do I need confirmation from you to talk?" Orsen put his book down as he finally stretched forward. "Do you think that you still have free will given your situation? Dogs are meant to bark when I wish."
He finished off as he stood up and left the room. Arabella felt a wave of emotions in her mind and yet she couldn't express any of them. She looked at the meal laid out for her however her appetite seemed to vanish.