亚洲综合中美

“Yeah.”

An honest answer took the words out of her mouth, Igna studied her reaction and followed, “-my thoughts have an effect on the Overworld. I’m scared I might break the very thing I admire; the four goddesses have a place to live and call home. Trapped souls are sent to our domain by the helpful hand of fate, those reborn of our world do not know what exists beyond what is their reality. Multiple dimensions, ruled by multiple gods – it sounds too much to take in. I rather the people who stay here be free and live a relatively understanding life. I don’t much care for the perfect world, long as the majority are happy and chose freely, it’s their responsibility to turns things around. Look, Miira,” he had his hands in the pockets and shuffled forward, sandglass as a backdrop, they walked till a clearing in the distance. They stopped and stared, the blizzard and whips of frigid ice settled, “-are you and the goddesses happy?”

“Why ask that?”

“Answer the question. After taking what was important to Lucifer, he’ll surely return with much to say. When that time comes, it’ll be the end of my journey – he won’t be alone – the battle will take place in Draebala, the forsaken land. If my destiny is to die, I will gladly give my powers to my closest companions, them being the heavenly generals; Miira, Intherna, Lilith, and Gophy.”

“Sure you are,” she chuckled, “-I speak on my behalf, I’m happy. The land is blissful, the characters interesting and the advancements exciting. My duty is to safeguard the god of time’s property, his land, and his symbol. Time flows differently for the immortals, we don’t much care to live in the moment, there’s always something greater out there, something we don’t know, and something to discover. Igna, my friend, be careful. Taking Lucifer’s wings is a declaration of war, and besides, how did you win?”

“The Shadow Realm overpowered him – I might have altered the mana to suit my purpose. He lost, and I won, tis all that matters.”

.....

“A nightwalker kills a god; it’s as the ancient texts mention. Vampires are powerful and unknown, their curse, their blood, or should I say, Adete’s boon, has grown into quite a show.”

“It’s a lovely process,” the knees buckled to sit on one of the stairs, “-Winterpar Valley, the place where I met the Silver Guardians. To think my journey began from a simple text at a magical academy,” he laughed, “-it’s crazy even if I tell myself it’s not.”

“Silver Guardians, they sound friendly.”

“Trouble; very troublesome. Adelana and I butted heads all the time, I vaguely remember her trying to betray my trust or something, I don’t know. If not for the mission I sent her sister on, I’d have never realized the importance of human bonds. After I saw how injured she was – I had an epiphany, people in my entourage are there to support me, and I best deliver on their trust. The path shaped me as much as I shaped the path,” he smiled, “-Miira,” turned to match her light-blue eyes, “-thank you for having my back. And I promise on my name, if there’s ever trouble, send a message, I will rush without hesitation.”

“I know,” she held his hands tightly, “-about Raphael, have you seen him?”

“No,” he narrowed, “-speaking of troublemakers, where are the children?”

“Igna, listen to me,” she grabbed and pulled his cheek, “-time flows differently here. Draconis, Vanesa, Raphael, and Saniata are all sixteen, they’re adults. Draconis and Vanesa have much to learn, Raphael is on his way to learning dimension travel. After the assigned task, Draconis and Vanesa returned – they’re on a journey across worlds; a field trip. Yuria, Kaleem, and Cora are acting as chaperons, so don’t worry, I have a constant track on the location.”

“Why tell me this?”

“Tis the duty of children to surpass their parents and masters. Unluckily for them, ancient entities or not, Gophy, Intherna, and I are at the top. Yes I know,” she chuckled, “-we’re awesome. Not the point, the trio are putting their all in training body and soul. The rite of adulthood will arrive, and on said day, you, Igna, will have to battle them in good faith. The outcome will decide if they’re worthy to lead a life on their own or be part of the business. No buts,” she rose a finger, “-if they want to accompany to thy overworld, as a parent, you must accept. I doubt they’ll take much pleasure in the Overworld, the Shadow Realm is plenty of fun anyway. Besides,” she slyly looked around, “-I’ve assigned them to track down and capture various domains. Once swallowed, the Shadow Realm expands into a better version of itself – culture and technology skyrockets regardless of the absorbed world.”

“Troublemakers,” he shook his head, “-they’re out there making me powerful?”

“You know it,” she smiled, “-leave with an empty mind, Igna. Breathe and look back if taking a step forward grows hard – look and see how much the progress’s been.”

“Always the wise one,” he stood and moved to give a hug, she returned the motion with a tighter hold.

“Take care, Igna,” she tapped his cheeks and smiled, “-it’s always a pleasure to talk.”

“Let’s grab a drink sometime.”

“‘Twould be my pleasure,” a pulse swallowed his body, a lingering scent of darkened aura fluttered on where he stood. ‘-Igna,’ she made for the temple’s inside, ‘-the emotionless attitude and way of not speaking what’s on thy mind is what makes you, you. Deny it, doesn’t matter, we know you care, everyone knows Igna cares. And that, my friend, is why we vowed to follow till death do us part,’ *snap,* she teleported to the castle where sat the other generals. “-I have news, our friend has defeated Lucifer,” the words interjected in between her heels hitting the tiled floor.

“Great news, yes?”

“Depends,” added a voice of reason, “-Lucifer’s not dead, the name alone has power – moment said news reaches the demon world – a war will follow.”

“Doesn’t matter to us,” added another, “-let the demons blame the death on the gods. Far as the outside is concerned, the Shadow Realm is nothing.”

“Right,” thundered Miira, “-which is why I request for the heavenly generals to join forces and keep an eye on their movements.”

“Understood,” the other goddesses accepted, and in a sudden pull, each vanished to their estate. Left in said wake was the banner of their crests, Miira sat at the center with elbows on her desk.

“Lady Miira, Fallen’s call is playing,” added a maid.

“Oh, time already?” the ‘wiser’ leader had but one priority in the evening, soap operas.

*Gasp,* Igna reappeared on the same seat, the watch displayed two in the afternoon, ‘-a new gun,’ the briefcase laid on his lap, open as if nothing happened. ‘-Dear master Igna, I’m pleased to report, facilities and financial support provided by Phantom have been very generous. My team and I have begun incorporating our proprietary know-how into the weapons. Accept the improved version of Tharis, we heard the prior version was lost in the recent travels. A scout already found and returned said weapon. Nothing else to add, Marie Jude out.’

‘Marie Jude out?’ he blinked, ‘-bit of a weirdo, isn’t she,’ he looked in front and remained still, the much-used sense was freed to roam – movements in the bushes, foliage rubbing against one another, the wind carried a fresh scent, the warmth of his body and the cold of the outside balanced cozily. As for the sights, he simply chose to close his eyes and breathe. *Crunch, crunch,* feet against damp grass, tiny footsteps approached, he kept a tranquil aura and breathed till a sudden tug. Before stood a petite figure of a girl, she wore a simple dress covered in mud, her limbs were skinny, the long hair ran till below her waist. One shoe and the other, barefoot, the visage, partly covered by the hair, held a connivingly sinister leer, dark greenish and oily in appearance. One hand held a dirtied teddy, “-Vanesa?” he blinked. She rose her arms and leaped into a big embrace, the smell and damp feeling of her clothes wasn’t much pleasing on the scene. On holding her tightly, he noticed her hair, they were thick and smelled of the sea, “-Vanesa, don’t tell me...”

“I forgot to teleport,” she yawned, “-everyone left after the battle. Pops, I don’t know what happened, I lost memory... I wandered the world from town to town until I smelled you, again...” he pulled away and stared up and down, “-you’ve grown a little.”

“Pops, I’m...” her stomach growled, “-hungry.”

“Understood,” quick on his feet, “-tell me, Vanesa, any reason for the visit?”

“Lady Lilith said I learned everything she had to teach. She said I was free to do what I wanted. I tried napping,” her always listless stare held influence, it seemed the laziness carried onto those who stared her eyes directly, “-got lazy of napping. The Shadow Realm isn’t fun, I wanted to stay by your side, pops.”

“By my side, huh?” he smiled and hoisted her in his arms, “-light as a feather in the body of a middle schooler, don’t you want to increase the height?”

“To much work,” she yawned, “-I tried being grown up like lady Miira, I was tall and had her curves. Was too tiring walking in heels, I returned to being a child and tested age groups. Found this to be perfect for napping, it’s big enough to fight and small enough to be lazy.”

“Sure, talk much more.”

“Yes, lady Lilith said to talk even if I don’t want to. She said if I say enough words, the others will fall asleep.”

‘What has Lilith been teaching her?’ Out the park onto the pavement – cars muddled from left to right, the grandness of the streets carried the vehicles into an array of tall buildings in the distance.

“Pops, look,” she pointed to the side, “-a fast food joint.”

“Really, fast food?” he narrowed.

“Chips...”

“Say no more,” he shrugged and ambled into the crowded establishment – afternoon meant a break for many businesses. Vanesa’s appearances didn’t send good impressions on the guests, many of which wore formal attire. The lack of care had the tables muffle worrisome sentences about the girl, “-is that a trafficker?”

“I heard on the news children are exploited. Look at her, she’s dirty, no shoe and in a daze, maybe the man drugged her?”

“Call law enforcement,” motioned another. Unbeknownst to the sudden change in the air, Igna followed the queue till the register, there, he tapped Vanesa’s cheeks, “-go on, choose,” the worker gulped – a crowd gathered at the entrance, an alliance of workers and customers. Vanesa placed her order to no avail, the worker remained unresponsive.

“Ma’am,” he moved to the register, “-my daughter needs food, would thee kindly get back to thy job?”

“Enough,” said a man blasting from the staff-only area, “-you, sir, need to get away from the child.”

“I beg your pardon?” quipped Igna.

“Let go of the child,” cried the others, “-abductor!”

“Stop mistreating our children,” said another.

“Good,” he said and lowered Vanesa onto a nearby table, after which she instantly dropped her head and watched the drama.

“How could you drug a child?” pled a lady, “-have you abused her?”

“Silence,” he thundered, “-I’m proud of the strong morals, citizens,” the erase presence ability faded, “-it’s very good,” he smiled, “-I’m happy.”

“King Igna?” they narrowed, many instantly pulled on their phones, “-why are you here?” they stuttered, the manager stepped forth and blinked, “-m-m-majesty?”

“Let me clear a misunderstanding. Here, my people, is one of my children, Vanesa Haggard.”