"Impressive!" Alaric clapped, offering encouragement.
"So, does this mean we can go hunt the King of Immortality Agalito next?" Lil' Amon suggested with keen interest. "I hear he's not exactly a saint, but his ship is top-notch."
"Great idea!" Alaric's eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly.
"It might be worth a try," Klein said after a moment's thought, not dismissing the idea outright. Among the pirate kings, Agalito was relatively weak. With their current strength, they could indeed take a shot at him.
"But I've heard Agalito is quite cunning and hard to pin down…" Alaric pointed out a critical issue.
"That's true," Lil' Amon nodded.
The group naturally segued into discussing plans to hunt Agalito, until a female voice joined their conversation.
"If this King of Immortality you speak of roams the seas, I might be able to lend a hand."
The voice belonged to Siatas, but it was clear someone else was speaking through her.
Alaric looked at her without surprise, seeing Siatas staring back with an expressionless face, while Mobet Zoroast beside her was visibly tense.
"Pleased to meet you, Your Majesty," Alaric said with a smile, recognizing that Cohinem's will had descended into Siatas's body.
"Pleased to meet you, sir," Cohinem replied, her tone polite but her expression unchanged. She looked at Alaric and continued, "I understand your intentions. If the forces behind you can truly protect and ensure the survival of the elves, I have no objection to the elves becoming your tool to counterbalance the Church of the Lord of Storms."
She sighed before adding, "After all, even without your involvement, the Church would not spare the elves, and I currently lack the power to protect my people."
Cohinem then fixed her gaze on Alaric. "But I suspect you want more than that."
"Heh!" Alaric chuckled. He could tell that, despite her apparent agreement, Cohinem's words were carefully chosen, leaving room for ambiguity rather than a firm commitment.
He wasn't surprised. "You're right, I do want more, but not too much," He said, meeting her gaze. "I'd like to know about the Western Continent. Can you tell me what you know, Your Majesty?"
For the first time, Cohinem's expression shifted. She studied Alaric closely before responding, "That is the true homeland of the elves, but I know little about it. The King might have known more, but he has fallen."
"That's fine. Just tell me what you do know," Alaric said with a smile. After a pause, he added slowly, "As for what the Elf King knew, I can ask him myself."
Cohinem's pupils visibly trembled. "I don't understand what you mean," She said.
"Don't worry, I don't know where the Elf King's revival contingency might be, or if it even exists. That's not important," Alaric said unhurriedly. "What matters is that I can let you see the Elf King of old, the one from thousands of years ago. Not now, of course."
Alaric had no intention of summoning the Elf King now... a being rivaling a Sequence 0 would be far too troublesome to handle.
His words were partly a bluff... not entirely, though, since he could summon the Elf King in the future if needed.
"I don't understand what you're saying," Cohinem said, visibly confused after a moment.
"It's hard to explain. Let's put it this way: is there anyone significant to you, someone long dead, whom you'd like to see again?" Alaric asked with a smile.
…
"An incredible power… I've never seen anything like it…" Cohinem's expression was a mix of shock and daze, having just witnessed the marvel of the Shadow of Time.
"This isn't my power... it's my mentor's," Alaric corrected, maintaining his "Jack" persona. "I don't know if you wish to see the Elf King again, but having seen this power, you should understand what it means."
Cohinem snapped out of her daze. She knew exactly what this power implied.
She also recognized that Alaric was both enticing and intimidating her.
If there was someone from her past she longed to see, she'd crave this power. If not, understanding its implications would make her acutely aware of Alaric's strength.
And she… Cohinem closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, she looked at Alaric and said, "The elves will serve you, and I will share all I know."
"What do you want?" Alaric asked, unsurprised by her response, a smile playing on his lips.
"I… want to see the King again," Cohinem said, her mind flooding with memories of days spent with the Elf King, their moments together.
Did the Elf King have a revival contingency? Of course... most ancient gods did, to some extent. High-sequence beings in this world were notoriously hard to kill permanently.
But having a contingency didn't guarantee revival, as the old Death could attest. And even if revival occurred, it didn't mean the revived was the same person, as seen with a certain Sun God.
"…So you truly loved each other?" Alaric didn't answer directly. Instead, after studying her for a few seconds, he asked with genuine curiosity.
High-sequence unions weren't rare, but those rooted in genuine emotion were. Trunsoest and Auernia were one pair, Tudor and Cheek another, albeit a chaotic one. Beyond them, emotional bonds among high-sequence couples were uncommon... most were driven by mutual benefit, the desire for each other's characteristics, or the need to produce offspring to shed excess characteristics.
So Alaric was genuinely curious: did the Elf King and Elf Queen truly share a bond of love?
"I am his wife, his queen. I don't know what love is. I only know I want to see him," Cohinem replied, her demeanor open and unashamed.
Alaric studied her for a few seconds, then smiled. "That sounds like love to me."
He continued, "I can help you see him, but not now. I won't allow an uncontrollable ancient god to appear in this world."
Cohinem fell silent for a moment, clearly disappointed. "How long must I wait?" She asked.
"Not long. Until my mentor ascends to Sequence 0, or the Lord of Mysteries emerges," Alaric replied candidly.
Cohinem paused again, then, surprisingly, smiled. "That's not long at all."
She didn't know the current state of the Lord of Mysteries contest, but she knew that before the apocalypse, a new Lord of Mysteries would inevitably arise.
Or perhaps the original Lord of Mysteries would awaken.
With the apocalypse just over a decade away, a dozen years was a mere blink compared to the thousands of years they'd been apart.
***
Hey guys! If you've been thinking about subscribing to my patron, now's the perfect time. There's currently up to 50% off!
[Every 100 Powerstones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
If you'd like to read up to 50 chapters ahead, please visit our p@treon: [email protected]/XElenea