Chapter 106: The One That Monsters Fear

"Greetings. My name is Rhea Silva, General of the Fenrir Empire and Avatar of Pride."

The Queen jolted, her body shaking for the first time in years. Her eyes trembled as she gritted her teeth and frowned.

"How is this possible?" she asked.

*It has been a long time, Gluttony. I can see that you have been very busy lately.*

The Queen, very frustrated, asked.

"What do you mean? Why are you calling me? How did you get in touch with me? Where are you?"

In a snowy forest, in an open space next to a small house, there was a large table with transmission devices and cables on it.

All around, several people wearing strange black armor crossed with beams of purple light and helmets of which only the glowing eyes were visible.

Sitting on a chair beside a table, there was a young girl with long white hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a black military uniform along with a white cape and holding a device.

Right beside her was a young blonde girl with short curly hair who was busy cleaning the barrel of a machine gun.

Another girl was sitting beside them with long brown hair, who appeared to be slightly older than the other two.

The white-haired girl moved the device closer to her mouth.

"Our location is not important at the moment, let's get the formalities out of the way and focus on what matters. Red Queen, we know that an event called the Twilight of the Gods has begun in your territory."

Gloria clenched her fist. In the room, its pressure began to increase again, causing some device malfunctions.

*This event was a prediction from an ancient time and will bring apocalypse to this world, in the form of Disasters and Player rampaging. You may already know this, so I'm sure you also know that it's exactly that thing in your realm that you haven't been able to erase these past few days.*

The Queen let out a deep sigh and took a step forward.

"This has nothing to do with you! I have my own way of doing things, so stay out of this. And besides, this is my territory. How do you even know what's happening here?"

*You sound as nervous as ever. You should learn that only an idiot doesn't change.* Rhea answered calmly.

As tensions rose, the atmosphere turned orange and the scientists started to back away into another room.

*Regardless of how I know, it doesn't matter. Let's focus on the matter at hand. I have no interest in what's happening in your territory or how you operate. However, if the Twilight of Gods occurs, the consequences will inevitably affect Fenrir's Empire. We don't believe in your ability to deal with it, which is why I'm reaching out to you now.*

The General's eyes shone in a magnificent purple hue.

"Let's call a truce and put aside the Code. Fenrir's Empire is willing to ally with Ambrosia to put an end to the Twilight of Gods."

* * *

In the station, the group was faced with an important dilemma: flee the kingdom, and leave the Holy Knights and Dora to the Twilight of Gods, or go back and be inevitably caught by the Queen.

They looked defeated, frustration could be felt in some of their actions.

Finally, Freya closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked straight into Peter's eyes.

"I've made my decision, and as a psychotic idiot with no respect would say: my answer is no, and I mean Hell no."

Peters frowned but remained silent.

"I understand your concern, and somehow your position. You're a caring person who wants to protect his sister from two disasters, the one above and the talking one, it's understandable and honestly deserves praise. But for us, for your sister, we feel the same about the boy you're sequestering."

Peters facepalmed and sighed loudly.

"Seriously... How far are you planning to go just to have a Sin Avatar? I told you that the thing inside him was in control, are you that desperate for power?!"

The girl shook her head and when she raised her head, her gaze was filled with a brand new expression.

"Maybe he is a monster, maybe for some, maybe for real... But to me, he is someone I care about, and let me tell you that this is a rare species in my world. I wanted to see him as a monster because everything about him was above the normality... but the more I learned to know him, the less I felt pressured... He wanted to see me in his world, so if I was greedy to do whatever I could to achieve that, then I would be willing to be even greedier than the Sin in him.

She put a hand on her chest, a sad smile on her lips.

Cid groaned and looked away angrily.

Mercy nodded in turn and stood next to Freya.

"It's very wrong to say that power isn't everything when this was your only solution to protect us, Peet. Power is always good, not to be the biggest monster, but when you're the strongest, you can protect everyone. At first, I wanted to follow Dora to get power, be stronger than you, and get you from there... Do you know what Dora said when I talked about you?"

Peters flinched and looked at her with a little embarrassment.

"He said that he wanted to help me, cuz if I was the Holy knight, the Queen wouldn't be able to do anythin' to me or ya. Dora wants to use his Avatar's authority to save our family, does that sound like a monster to ya?"

Peters was a bit in shock. He clenched his fists and sighed more.

"Are you just ignoring the part where the Sin is..."

"I don't give a damn!" Mercy finally snapped.

She was trembling and biting her lips.

Peters seemed more concerned than before.

"I don't give a damn about that thing inside him... I know him, I ate with him, and hung out with him... I don't wanna hear ya say that it was a trap... stop that... Dora is Dora, and if it was me being captured... He wouldn't run away."

She grabbed her arms as if she was in deep cold.

Her speech was brief, but the emotion in it struck everyone.

Zuri lowered her head, wiggling her thumbs. She wanted to make a powerful speech and convey her emotions that much, but she felt overwhelmed by the purity and honesty in Mercy's speech.

Dora gave her the confidence to exist, she was surrounded by friends, but she lost her capability to talk, after hearing her friend.

Peters was taken back. He took a few steps back, Mercy's gaze seeming sharper than ever.

Eventually, he lowered his head and scratched his hair.

"... I see... I... You've changed a lot... guess that's what they call puberty?... this determination of ya is a big problem, I think I preferred when you were just a lil brat waiting for permission for anythin'."

He gave her a comforting smile and turned to Elizabeth.

"It's beautiful... and admirable but... We're talking about a Sin Avatar. You have a brother too, so please, try to understand."

Elizabeth's eyes started trembling and, with a faint smile, she closed her eyes and looked away.

Freya looked at Zuri with a smile, expecting one final blow to achieve Peters' will, but what she saw was a black mist covering the whole place.

***

A breath of joy crossed the room at Rhea's announcement.

Every scientist was jumping in joy and almost hugging each other.

Agiel, was standing in the same spot, thinking intensely.

The scientists near him couldn't hold their joy, chatting casually.

"This is a miracle! The Queen alone is unmatchable, but if even Pride joins us, with the black knights, we can't lose!"

"We don't even have to force Greed to awaken! Hurry, stop the operation!"

They rushed to another part of the building, before falling unconscious.

All the exclamations of joy faded away, and eyes turned towards this lady who was making the building shake again.

"Excuse me? Are you saying that you want to help me?"

She raised her head, a terrible expression on her face.

"Did I never ask for your help? Did I give you the permission to interfere with the operation of this kingdom? This is MY territory, MY world, Silva. I've never asked for anything and today isn't the day I will begin."

Everyone's mouth opened in disbelief, even Eryl looked at her mistress as if she had just said the most stupid thing possible.

*Oh? Is that so? Then why is it taking so long for your world to deal with the Rift? It's been days now.*

"It has nothing to do with you! For the last time, stay out of my kingdom's business! And I believe that what you're doing now is a violation of the Code," The Queen replied.

There was a moment of silence before a sinister laughter filled the room.

*Ah, yes, the Code they created after that day. Tell me, is this why you haven't taken care of anything after so many days? Because you've mastered the art of running away?*

Gloria's face was burning with rage. historical

*You're right, this is probably an infraction to the Code, especially since now you have no other choice than to stop the Twilight of Gods, after all, If even one monster sets foot on Fenrir, wouldn't that mean that you violated the Code?*

The Queen frowned, her eyes starting to shake.

*Good luck then, Fenrir won't move an inch. Use everything to save your kingdom from this Rift, because if my world is affected because of your incapacity, this Code won't save you from me.*

The communication ended abruptly.

The members of the room looked at the Queen with despair and incomprehension.

No one talked, no one made a noise, but their eyes were saying enough.

Many thoughts crossed the room, but in one single place, many ideas were created and erased hundreds of times in minutes.

In a very small place, in the center, more precisely a tank, a boy bathing in a shining orange liquid frowned.