Chapter 49: Chapter 12
Inside the Neigal Kingdom's castle, King Jonathan sat on his throne with a serious face. He looked at the large screen showing four people with different hair colors and clothes.
"After the Argaint Kingdom, the next target is the Neigal Kingdom?" The person speaking is King Leonida. After hearing the explanation from King Jonathan, he became worried that his Kingdom could be the next target.
"I don't know if the chaos in my kingdom was caused by the same people who messed up in the Argaint Kingdom, but the commotion here wasn't as bad as yours." King Jonathan added an explanation.
"If the culprit could make such a big hole in an instant, couldn't he also do the same to the Royal castle?" King Gustave said, and the hall suddenly fell silent. They were afraid that his words would come true and that person would come to destroy the royal castle with the same attack.
"Cough!... We can't conclude that beforehand. We don't know if it's an ally or an enemy. We still have to investigate why he killed Marquis Jacobe and destroyed his residence, whether for revenge or some other reason. King Jonathan told me that Marquis Jacobe was a suspect in various crimes and had many enemies. So this might be the doing of one of them." King Elrick broke the silence and tried to calm the atmosphere. He also felt very worried about it, just like the other kings. But he kept his composure and didn't show it to the others.
"You're right. However, this should not interfere with our project. Because this would be very important for the human race on the Clorius continent." King Raghnall agrees with King Elrick's opinion.
"Don't worry. The Five Kingdoms project is running smoothly. The city of Vittoria, where the project is taking place, is also safe because it's at the border point of the Three Kingdoms. We can allocate our soldiers to guard against three directions. Not to mention the people in charge; there will be competent people." King Jonathan opened the map and pointed out a certain location. Geographically, the project site was still within the Neigal Kingdom's territory, but it was very close to the borders of the Argaint Kingdom and the Aurelia Kingdom.
"Good, so we only have to wait less than 1 year before the project is finished. King Jonathan, you should contact us immediately if you need anything else." King Leonida speaks on behalf of the other three Kings.
"Alright. Regarding the previous matter, I have given orders to my people for a thorough investigation. Once I get a hint or information about it, I will immediately let you know." King Jonathan spoke and ended the virtual meeting.
***
On a small island far north of the Clorius Continent, there was a magnificent building resembling a temple. It had a very wide circular space inside. In that hall, five giant statues were standing in a circle. Three of the statues are male, and two are female. Each statue has a different color. The male statue is white, gold, and silver, while the female statue is red and purple.
"Our experimental laboratory in the Neigal Kingdom has been destroyed along with the humans who guarded it." The white statue said in a deep voice.
"Didn't I already tell you? We can't entrust that to the monkeys. What could weak creatures like them do? Ah, by the way, do you know who did it?" The golden statue said its disappointment.
"I don't know yet." The white statue answered briefly.
"Is it possible that this has something to do with the person who caused our failure in the Argaint Kingdom?" A sound like a chiming bell rang out from the purple statue.
"I also think the same as you. But this can also be done by other people. So we have to be more careful with our movements from now on. Don't let Ashil and Asbil's failure happen again." The white statue looked at the silver statue, which had been quiet for a long time. But the silver statue was silent and didn't answer.
"I understand. We can learn from that failure. Have you found that person yet? I don't care about Ashil and Asbil, but the problem is that he took the World Altar fragment from us." Instead of the silver statue, it was the red statue that spoke.
"I'm still looking for it. My subordinates will report as soon as they find any clues. For now, let's put that aside. There's another matter I want to talk about." The White statue said in a serious tone.
"What's that?" The golden statue asked, representing the other 4 statues.
"It's about the human race in this world. They seem to be making a joint project of the five kingdoms. Their goal is to unite all of humanity on this continent and cultivate the talents of the younger generation." The white statue began to explain.
"Hee... They did something interesting." The silver statue that had been silent since the meeting started suddenly spoke.
"You're usually not interested in what humans do." The golden statue mocked him.
"Is there a problem with you?" The silver statue's voice turned hostile.
"Yes, I have it. Then what are you going to do to me? You're usually quiet, but this time suddenly spoke up after hearing about the monkeys. Do they catch your eye, coward?" The golden statue countered the silver statue.
"Alright... We're all on the same ship. Why should there be such enmity." The purple statue intervened, trying to stop their bickering.
"You don't have to meddle in my business, bitch!" The golden statue turned his irritation to the purple statue.
"What are you saying!?" The purple statue said coldly, and the atmosphere in the place changed. The aura emitted by the purple statue made the bright temple dim.
"Enough!" The white statue watched them for a long time and finally spoke to stop them. An immense pressure filled the entire temple. The purple statue retracted her aura, and the atmosphere in the temple returned to normal.
"According to the information, the project will start in less than a year from now. I want you to take care of it, Lilith." The white statue explained his plan and gave orders to the purple statue.
"I understand." The purple statue answered briefly.
"Don't let the humans get stronger. It would be disastrous for us, the Fallen Gods." The eyes of the white statue emitted a red glow that looked so terrifying and will make others tremble in fear when they saw it.
***
In the morning at Duke Hazell's residence, Ziel was doing his routine sword training in the mansion's back garden.
"How long are you going to stand there, my lady?" Ziel spoke while swinging his sword. He sensed that someone was staring at him from the window.
"Since when did you notice?" Clara chuckled and walked out from behind the window.
"I noticed it since you started staring at me." Ziel answered honestly without looking at Clara.
"Even though I've hidden well. Then why didn't you call me earlier and pretend not to notice until your training was almost over?" Clara puffed her cheeks, looking so adorable.
"I won't be able to focus on my practice if you show up early, my lady." Ziel stopped swinging his sword and wiped his sweaty face with the towel he had brought.
Clara was fascinated when she saw that because she felt that Ziel was very sexy and masculine right now. Then she blushed after realizing she had been staring at Ziel for a long time. Still, Clara couldn't take her eyes off the scene before her.
"Lady...my lady..." Ziel tries to call Clara, who suddenly falls silent while staring at him.
"Huh! What's wrong, Ken?" Clara was surprised and immediately turned her face away from Ziel. She was embarrassed, and her face turned red to her ears like an apple.
"Nothing. I was just worried because you suddenly became quiet." Ziel pretended not to see her blushing face.
"Okay. In that case, I'll be back inside. I remember that I still have something I have to do." Clara left the place and entered the mansion in a hurry. Ziel just kept silent and followed her from behind.
***
When he arrived at the living room, Ziel saw Duke Hazell and his wife chatting with Beatrix. Ziel earned a piercing glance from Beatrix when she saw him with Clara. But he pretended not to notice and gave her a small nod.
"Clara, where have you been so early?" Duke Hazell smiled and asked his daughter.
"Ah... I just did a little exercise in the back garden." Clara turned her blushing face away.
"Hehe... You can't get up early but suddenly want to exercise? It looks like there's going to be a storm tonight." Eleanor teased Clara when she saw her strange behavior and blushing face.
"Mom, what are you saying!? I can wake up early too!!" Clara's face was getting redder after being teased by her mother. Then She occasionally glanced at Ziel.
"All right, I'm just kidding with you. You can get up early, but only if you have a specific goal." Eleanor chuckled and continued to tease her daughter.
"Mom!!" Clara seems to have reached her limit. Her face was completely red with embarrassment as if smoke was coming from above her head.
"Honey, stop it. Can't you see Clara is already like an apple?" Duke Hazell joins in on teasing Clara.
"Dad! Not you too! Stop teasing me!" Clara finally exploded and covered her face.
"Haha... Alright. I won't tease you anymore." Duke Hazell laughed when he saw his daughter's adorable behavior.
While chatting and joking around in the living room, Duke Hazell saw Raven suddenly approach him. Afterward, he whispered something to him.
"What!?" Duke Hazell subconsciously shouted after hearing what Raven said. His wife, daughter, and Beatrix became curious about why he had reacted the way he did.
"Honey, what happened?" Eleanor anxiously asked her husband.
"The residence of Marquis Jacobe and everything in it has disappeared from the Neigal Kingdom." Duke Hazell replied with a solemn face.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone