1478 Colleagues
A couple of duchies away from Centaurus, the unconscious Sia and Sarah remained under the protection of Miss Calamity's clones.
The moment Varian disappeared with Zahara Onyx, however, the space around them cracked and drew them in, gently but swiftly.
It was stopped by a powerful force and a tug of war ensued. However, both sides took utmost care to not injure the women involved.
"…What is going on here?" Miss Calamity's clone sensed a world on the other side.
It looked like a Prime World with strong space, dense aura and unnatural area of land.
But that wasn't it.
Unlike a Prime World—a cut out from the original world distinguished by a few special attributes like space and aura—this place felt different.
As a life awakener in particular, she could feel the life inside were different from those out.
In the world at large, a person goes through his life until death is met. That much was common knowledge. But what occurs after death?
As far as Miss Calamity knew, if there's enough death essence and energy, the 'enough' differing for each race and even individuals within that race, a transformation begins.
The dead body would begin a new journey. The former soul would be twisted, corrupted during this transformation and a new 'self' would be born.
There could be accidents.
Some races would need a lot more death energy and essence for the transformation.
The soul of an individual could be too weak and collapse midway.
The life essence of a race, even after death, might be fundamentally opposed to such transformations, with a decay mechanism to counter any attempts.
Typically, the more attuned to life a race was, the harder it would be for them to turn into Undead.
As a member of the Vita tribe, the ruling section of Genesis Empire, Miss Calamity was confident that she would not turn into an Undead after her death.
But—
"It's weird, weird, weird."
The world inside had something crazy. A place or a domain of law, she wans't sure, but it promised to turn her into an Undead.
It wasn't so much the quality and quantity of death energy and essence that was surprising.
It was their subversive nature, the property to overturn common sense. How could a Vita tribe member turn into an Undead? Ridiculous!
Even strange, the world seemed capable of resisting the natural cycle of life and death.
And it wasn't through applying power like a celestial or divine ranker could. Nope. It appeared to be the property of the world.
For instance, the people inside could grow younger as time passed instead of older or with the precondition of soul safety, the dead could be resurrected instantly and so on.
Heck, it seemed to hold powers to even influence souls.
If Palarians had this world instead of Cradle, they wouldn't need any formations to handle the Fortune Spirit.
The World's Will would have done so by itself.
"Who the hell are you?"
Even though she was simultaneously surprised and impressed by this special world, Miss Calamity's clone prepared herself for a deadly attack to strike down this unknown entity.
There was a stretch of silence before two silhouttes emerged from the space cracks.
With pure white light seeping out of the opening and a powerful aura that blocked the clone's senses, the two people signaled something omnious.
'I'll have to hurry and call my other selves. But most of them are entangled with Zahara. That bitch…she's not spilling anything.'
Facing the risky possibility where no support might be available, the clone prepared herself for a deadly battle.
The enemies stepped out without even bothering to attack first.
A beautiful mature woman with an air of royalty stopped at the third step. Clad in a maid uniform with green touches, she stood like an elegant rose.
Next came another lady on the younger side in a maid uniform too, a bit more…fashionable compared to the other. Unlike her counterpart, she was bubbling youthful energy.
"…"
Miss Calamity's mouth opened but no words came out.
'Where are the enemies? I am a clone but I was ready to die! Give me back my emotions!'
Sensing something was wrong with the lady's expression, the Matriarch spoke up.
"Thank you for protecting the Queens. The signal sent by Master activated. We'll take them in for safety."
Hearing her respectful but dignified words, Hazel swallowed her saliva and parted her lips.
"Y-Yes! Yes! I want to thank you on the behalf of his majesty. Please allow me to show it in the form of a good feast."
As soon as she said those words, Hazel felt a chill down her spine.
Shifting her gaze to the side in confusion, she saw Matriarch looking at her with a professional smile.
Though not a single word was exchanged between the two, Hazel could hear her senior's icy and authoritative voice let loose in occassions like these.
'You little bitch! We don't know anything about her and you're inviting her in! Are you crazy? Have you considered the problems that may arise?'
Whether the dignified Matriarch would utter such curses was up to debate but Hazel was already immersed in the tenth minute of the disciplining session and shriveled like a dried cocumber.
"…What's up with her?" Miss Calamity asked with a pitying gaze.
"A very imaginative mind." The Matriach sighed lightly before lowering her head and performing a light bow. "Let me officially invite you in to the Empire of my Master."
"Hm," Miss Calamity nodded and the three walked to the entrance.
The grand new Hortus, a world of possibilities built to do the impossible, greeted them.
Unlike the Maids who swiftly moved the Queens to rest and recuperation, Miss Calamity's clone stood at the entrance, dumbfounded.
"Wh-What the heck is this world…"
She could sense it clearly now.
Three powerful divinities, no, to even call them divinities would be an insult.
These three must've touched the very peak of the known strength, were they each as strong as the Jai Emperor himself?
'Maybe even stronger…'
There was only one entity that could really achieve that.
'Primordial Gods.'
Her brother-in-law's secrets were way bigger than she ever imagined.
