Chapter 1043: A Secret Confrontation
I’m finally back to this place…
Erin lifted her head and gazed at the tall, magnificent palace. The boundless, deep dark sky outside the window and three round, scarlet moons continued to s.h.i.+ne upon the land. The scarlet moonlight spilled through the windows and reflected a gentle radiance off the pitch-black marble floor. The surrounding stone columns were beautifully engraved and decorated, yet couldn’t conceal the dispa.s.sionate, spiritual aura of death from the undead.
Erin let out a subtle sigh, stomping her foot on the ground. Even though the Dark Dragon was the king of darkness, darkness didn’t represent death as there were also forms of life. This was one of the reasons why Erin disliked coming home alone. Even though her big brother was the ruler of the undead nation, it didn’t mean that she, as his younger sister, could get along well with the undead creatures. No matter what, she was a living being and there was nothing worthy to make her feel happy in facing the ice-cold undead creatures that were wandering around her all day.
Even though her days in the Void Territory weren’t particularly memorable, they still lingered in her memory as the territory was like an entirely different world. Although the Void Territory was similar to the Country of Darkness where the pitch-black night had seemingly enveloped the sky, the sun was still able to provide warmth and light to the land over there as though it was filled with the joyful colors of life like a sweet, beautiful, and vibrant dream. Admiring the stunning scenery all day was enough to make Erin indulge in her thoughts.
Erin knew what her big brother was trying to do, but she wasn’t offended by being a political chip either. Since she was born into the royal family, she had to make some sacrifices. It wasn’t reasonable for her to take all the benefits and let her gain the freedom to do anything with a great amount of wealth. Besides, she also wasn’t totally disinterested in Rhode as when she first fought this young man in the Munn Kingdom, her curiosity piqued. Furthermore, she was by his side when he requested to head to the land of Chaos and open up the territory. It was impossible for her to not be interested in a smart, powerful, and mysterious man like Rhode. Moreover, Rhode had a beautiful appearance, which was quite in line with Erin’s aesthetic views. Yes, that’s right. Beautiful.
Fortunately, Erin didn’t mention that word before him. If not, their relations.h.i.+p would have fallen through.
But now, as Erin stood in the dark palace once again, she felt rather concerned. She wasn’t naive or slow-witted. If it weren’t for the fact that she, as the younger sister of the Dark Dragon, couldn’t engage in government affairs, perhaps she would be one of the four legendary generals now. She knew clearly how delicate the current situation was. After the war in Casabianca ended, her big brother temporarily stopped invading the Country of Light. But she was also aware that this wasn’t the end. She knew clearer than anyone her big brother’s ambitions. He attempted to accomplish something that no one had ever done: take over the entire continent. Of course, she knew that rather than referring to it as an ‘ideal’, it was more appropriate to treat it as a ‘dream’ to her big brother. But now, he was indeed heading toward that direction and almost no one could stop him in his tracks.
Yes. That, after all, was… no one.
Without the need of further thoughts, Erin knew that Rhode definitely wouldn’t sit idly by as Ion continued to expand his forces and territories. Perhaps others might think that Rhode and Lilian were purely in a favorable relations.h.i.+p, but Erin keenly realized that Lilian wasn’t opinionated at all and always followed Rhode blindly. Although Erin didn’t know what ‘controlling the political situation using the Emperor’ meant, she roughly understood the meaning of the expression. And now, Rhode did something similar.
On the surface, Lilian continued to show her independent side and Rhode also had no intention of taking over her territories. But after closer observations, it was apparent from their relations.h.i.+p that if this continued, the Country of Light and Void Territory would form a closer relations.h.i.+p than an alliance. Moreover, Lydia was around despite the unknown situation of the other two archangels. As long as Lydia was there, the Munn Kingdom and even the Country of Light wouldn’t possibly collapse so quickly. Unlike Rhode, the relations.h.i.+p between Erin and Lydia lasted for a long time. Of course, Erin was aware of Lydia’s wisdom and capabilities. Besides, in the Void Territory, there were also many talented people. Once both sides combined, perhaps not even her big brother could easily attain victory over them.
Based on her understanding of her big brother, perhaps he had also noticed this crucial point. Maybe he held some doubts earlier on, but after the war in Casabianca, he most likely wouldn’t continue to deny the possibilities. Erin was bewildered when she heard the rumors of Rhode using three magic wars.h.i.+ps to demolish Casabianca, not to mention what Ion felt.
But…
Erin revealed a forced smile at this thought. Perhaps my trip here… isn’t good news for Big Brother.
While she pondered, the air around her suddenly turned cold. Then, a specter drifted in front of her, bowing deeply to the moon princess.
“Please come with me, Your Princess Highness. His Majesty is awaiting your arrival.”
“Okay.”
Erin nodded to the specter servant and followed it toward the end of the dark corridor. After a few moments under the specter’s lead, Erin arrived at a tall, pitch-black metal door. As she arrived, the door opened gradually. Erin nodded to the specter servant with a smile, before lifting her head and entering the room.
“Erin?”
A deep, imposing voice sounded. Erin looked up and saw Ion’s muscular and majestic figure. He stood by the window, gazing at the entire territory of darkness. The moon had dimmed, while dense layers of clouds concealed the sky. Rain fell from above, pitter-pattering on the window gla.s.ses. Ion blended into the darkness of the room. Although he merely stood there, Erin felt as though she was being seen through inside-out. But Erin was used to this manner of him, which was why she wasn’t mindful of his imposing presence. Upon hearing his doubt, Erin smiled and answered.
“Yes, Big Brother.”
“Didn’t you receive my order and headed to the Void Territory? Why are you back?”
“Well, this was what happened.”
Erin didn’t mind the self-centered tone in Ion’s voice. Instead, she reached into her pocket for an envelope.
“I’m representing His Majesty Rhode of the Void Territory to hand this envelope to you, Big Brother.”
“…”
Ion didn’t respond to her. His right hand moved a little and along with his movement, the envelope suddenly left the princess’s hand, drifting forward as though with self-awareness, and landed in his hand gently. Then, the envelope opened on its own and a white, spotless letter slipped out and unfolded in his hand.
Erin stood quietly on the spot, but couldn’t help size up her big brother in uncertainty. Of course, she knew what Rhode wrote in the letter and what worried her was whether Ion would accept Rhode’s request to stop attacking and even withdraw his troops. It seemed almost impossible to Erin. Even though Rhode was also a Creator Dragon, why would Ion attack the Country of Light if he regarded the Creator Dragons highly?
“Hmph!”
Ion finished reading the letter quickly and let out a grunt. Then, the letter in his hand burned up in a ball of green flames and turned into ashes. Upon hearing his grunt, Erin knitted her brows. Based on her understanding of him, perhaps this situation was far from easy.
“Got it. You can step down now, Erin.”
“Big Brother?”
Erin puckered her brows, but eventually asked with a smile.
“Please pardon my rudeness, but please leave it to me if you have a response, Big Brother.”
“…”
Upon hearing her answer, Ion turned around slightly and shot a grim look at the young lady.
“You should be aware of your ident.i.ty, Erin.”
“Yes, Big Brother, but it is different now, alright?”
Erin chuckled, crossing her arms and spoke.
“Just like you said, I shouldn’t intervene with these matters. But it’s a pity that… His Majesty Rhode has specially appointed me as the liaison representative between the Void Territory and Country of Darkness. He has given me full authority to take charge of diplomatic matters between both countries… Do you understand what I mean, Big Brother?”
Ion’s expression turned grim after hearing Erin’s words. He didn’t expect the young Creator Dragon to resort to this; putting a foreigner responsible for the diplomatic relations between the two countries, which was simply unheard. But it seemed like the Void Dragon had presented him a huge problem. What Rhode did was place Erin between him and Ion and also intervene with political affairs of the Country of Darkness. To Ion, this was considered a grievance that he had to keep to himself. If Erin were to have any positions in the Country of Darkness, Rhode definitely couldn’t do this. But it was precisely due to the fact that she didn’t have any position in the country, it made her the most suitable person for this job.
Ion was clearer than anyone of Erin’s talents. But it was also due to this that he strictly forbade Erin from joining politics. The situations in the Country of Darkness were complex with the various powerful factions. If she were involved, perhaps one might use her strength against Ion, which would be a terrible thing for the stability of the Country of Darkness. Besides, Erin was also aware of this, which was why she never attempted to interfere in politics. And now, Ion didn’t expect her to be caught in the hands of the Void Dragon…
At this thought, Ion’s expression turned grim as he finally understood Rhode’s motive in sending Erin back.