Chapter 2: Important Discussion
The surroundings were ashen and barren. The ground's surface was filled with cracks all over, so stepping on them would inevitably lead to a crunchy noise being produced afterward. Not a single tree was present neither, dead nor alive; every life form that related to mother nature was unwelcome on this continent.
There were a total of three dome barriers to prevent innocent and normal living beings from wandering into the place unknowingly.
The first dome surrounded the outer border, Beremont. This dome was stained with ink-black color making what lied beyond the barrier unseen and thoroughly hidden. The second dome was slightly more transparent than the first. This dome was tinted in a hint of crimson red, as if it wanted to warn people who dared to go any further. And last but not the least, the final dome was entirely see-through, allowing the naked eye to see what was on the other side as clear as day. Though it could not be seen it was the most difficult barrier to pass through. Only those with immense power or strength could easily trespass without breaking a sweat.
Unless you were given permission by the person who controlled the barrier, of course.
A castle purely made out of polished marble and gold was located in the center surrounded by the three dome barriers. One could say that it was extremely out of place, and indeed it was...
Peeking deep within the lavish looking castle's walls, the hallways were quite rich in texture, and rare crystals which were supposedly hard to find were carelessly embedded on the walls and often on the floor as they were treated like some sort of decoration instead.
Passing through the long corridors and carpeted hallways, a wooden door stood out from among the aesthetically pleasing ones. Beyond the thick door a large bed could be seen at the opposite side covered with warm and soft sheets.
An oddly shaped lump poked out from underneath the blankets as it faintly moved up and down. It was clear now that a person was sleeping soundly on this very bed.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Dang!
The grandfather clock positioned at the left side of the bed chimed as the time struck at exactly 2: 45 p.m. The clock's face suddenly clicked open and several sharp knives were thrown out as they swiftly approached and targeted the person who was still sleeping like a corpse. The tip of the knives were coated in what seemed like poison thus causing them to be 10x deadlier.
Fwip-
The blankets were tossed to the side as the person underneath had woken up. Their hand was blurred due to their movements being too quick for the average person to properly witness.
One... five... eleven and then twenty four.
A total of twenty four poison-coated knives were parried in the blink of an eye, as they all were carelessly blown away by the flick of the person's arm.
They rubbed their eyes and landed their gaze on the knives that were now lying on the ground below him.
"... He must really want me dead, huh."
He scratched his head as he blamed the first person that came into his mind. His mouth stretched as he yawned and stepped out of bed. His fingers snapped, and a pair of servants reacted accordingly as they appeared in his room and began cleaning the mess that was left behind.
***
"Lady Myrica."
Leonel stood up as he lowered his upper body to bow towards the woman by the entrance.
Myrica Pluedin sighed as she straightened her back and pushed her curly brown hair aside.
Leonel: "This butler is foolish for not being aware of your highness's presence."
Myrica: "No need for apologies. I purposely came unannounced and I never intended to inform you about my arrival either."
"Pardon my rudeness. Lady Myrica, correct?"
One of the princesses who were watching bu the sidelines until now, spoke up as she raised her hand to ask Myrica a question. Myrica didn't feel like wasting her time any longer as she immediately permitted her to ask away.
"Um, about what you said earlier... Why mustn't we speak of sir Leonel's tale to Z?"
"Perhaps Z finds it to be quite annoying on how it overlaps with his life?"
"But I've never heard of him mentioning the existence of this 'hero' stated in the story..."
Hearing the princesses refer to none other than the overlord of Geheliriem himself so intimately as even only calling him by his first name 'Z' caused Myrica's ears to perk.
Myrica: "Have the majority of you already forgotten the reason you were all brought here in the first place..?"
These princesses exactly like in the story Leonel told them, were also currently being held as hostages. They were forcibly kidnapped and taken away from their own blood-related families and labelled as hostages for the Overlord of the Geheliriem continent in order to corner these high-ranking nobles.
Myrica assumed that by reminding them of this fact would cause them to switch their attitudes, like how a normal hostage would react.
Contrary to this, however, their reactions were all different as they chimed in with answers of their own.
"Weren't we invited for a tea party?"
"No, if I recall correctly it would be that he wanted to discuss something with us."
"I thought we willingly came over to play?"
"Oh! A sleepover perhaps?"
Myrica wore a deadpan expression as she finally realized that they had long forgotten the reason they were kept inside the castle and she dragged her feet to walk away from the uncomfortable friendly atmosphere. Leonel followed after her as he hurriedly paced his footsteps to match hers.
Leonel: "May my humble self know the reason behind your unannounced arrival?"
Myrica: "Ah, right. About that..."
Myrica hesitated a bit, but Leonel's curious expression prompted her to continue.
Myrica: "Could I trouble you to tell me where your lord is?"
Leonel: "Overlord Z? He usually wakes up at a very specific time nowadays."
Myrica: "Is that so? When does he get up then?"
Leonel flicked his wrist as he checked the time on his wristwatch. He blinked slowly before responding to her question.
Leonel: "If I had to be precise, he would have awoken from his slumber right at this very moment."
Myrica was caught off guard as she quickly turned her head to look at Leonel who as behind her. Wasn't it already afternoon? Just as she was about to speak, a familiar voice intervened in their conversation as his voice came from behind Myrica.
"I was looking all over for you."
His voice was cold and indifferent, causing Myrica's spine to shiver. She could easily recognize the owner of this voice and Leonel spoke to him to further confirm her theory.
Leonel: "Overlord Z. It seems that you've finally awoken. Was your dream pleasant this time?"
Z: "Says the person who used poisonous knives as my new alarm clock!! If you want me dead that badly, then I suggest you face me head on!!"
Leonel was nonchalant as he magically whipped out a bag and scrounged through it. He pulled out a black haired wig as he tossed it for Z to catch.
Leonel: "This subordinate only did so on behalf of Overlord Z's wellbeing. As the days pass by, Overlord Z's sleeping habits also tend to get the better of him as he becomes harder to interrupt while he is sleeping."
Z: "I'll excuse you for this once, but only because I'm in a particularly good mood. That aside, why'd you suddenly hand me my wig?"
Leonel: "In case 'that man' comes today."
Z: "What's the point when he's obviously not returning today either..."
While Z grumbled Leonel took his initiative to leave as he thought that his business with Myrica was finished with.
Myrica silently watched Leonel walk further away, and soon after she caressed her hair back and spoke to Z using a tone that sounded as if she genuinely couldn't believe what she had just heard.
Myrica: "... You're still waiting for him?"
***
Myrica accompanied Z as they headed to the secret garden hidden underground below the castle. Z suggested that they discuss Myrica's important topic somewhere more private and secure to ensure that people would not be able to eavesdrop on their conversation.
Arriving at the bottom-most floor, even lower than the castle's ground floor, Z moved his head left to right as he searched for something. Once he found it, he approached an object which seemed to resemble a lever. Pulling on it, a heavy noise was produced and a stone path was formed in front of them.
Step step
Myrica made sure not to lose balance as what waited her below was a neverending abyss. The stone path was the only support and path that allowed them to properly reach the garden on the other side. Of course, these stones were imbued with magic and they only activated once the lever from earlier was pulled by using magic.
Myrica's inner thoughts: 'I keep forgetting that this guy's a pure blood myth.'
Due to Z's personality being quite goofy most of the time, Myrica tends to forget that Z comes from a line of pure blood myths. Myths were neither human nor creature. They were born and created purely out of magic that came from a fallen corpse of an unknown god. And due to them possessing such a feature naturally these myths would all be extremely powerful. Not to the extent where one could call it unfair, yet not to the extent where one could casually shrug their shoulders.
They arrived at the garden and Z clasped his hands together. Another set of servants appeared as they immediately prepared a table and two chairs enough for both of them to sit.
Z: "Want some snacks or tea?"
Myrica: "I'd rather we get to the point."
Z gently waved his hand to signal that he no longer required the presence of his servants, and they teleported as instructed to.
Z was the first to start the conversation by striking up an interesting topic.
Z: "I never knew you were going to come see me today. Why didn't you send a letter beforehand?"
Myrica: "You'd know if I was coming either way."
Z gave Myrica special treatment, as he permitted her as the only human allowed to freely trespass through his continent's borders and come and go as she pleased. It was an equally shared condition, however, since he would automatically be given notice once she entered through the borders.
Z: "Still, don't you have some decency left as a princess? Or perhaps you think you're all grown up now that you've gotten yourself a fiancé?"
Myrica: "Are you upset now that you're the only single one between us? Wait a minute, this isn't what I came here for."
Myrica shook her head as he recalled the reason for her visit, and Z quietly chuckled as he almost got the chance to throw her off track.
Myrica: "I came here to talk about 'him'."
Z: "Whoever do you mean? The way you phrase it sounds too broad for me."
Myrica: "Don't play dumb. You even talked about him a while ago with Sir Leonel."
Z roughly exhaled. As expected this topic was the one he wanted to avoid at all costs. Though it seemed as if the world truly wasn't too fond of him as they kept forcing him into scenarios in which he had no choice but to confront it unless he intended to start a blood bath.
Z: "... What about 'him' then? I doubt you have anything generally important to discuss seeing as how you've come all this way just to talk about that man."
Myrica: "You say that even though you've known this whole time that I only came here for that specific reason?"
Z: "My god, you remind me of my cousin... Just spit it out already."
Myrica huffed as she relaxed her back against the chair's backrest.
Myrica: "I've come here on behalf of your poor subordinates."
Z titled his head in confusion, thus prompting Myrica to further explain.
Myrica: "You're so hellbent on his return to the point that you've been distracted of what's supposed to be important. Think about your subjects, how would they feel after knowing that you've only been 'kidnapping' princesses in order to meet that man again?!"
Z: "This is none of your business, moreover, who told you that I only kidnap princesses these days? I do paperwork and physical labor too, you know."
Myrica: "Listen to yourself as you speak, I beg of you!! You're not even denying the fact that you've been fixated on that man for the past..."
Myrica mumbled to herself like a madman as he counted the fingers on her hands. Her teeth clenched together as she stood up from her chair and shoved both of her open hands onto Z.
Myrica: "TEN!!! TEN YEARS STRAIGHT AND STILL ONGOING!!!"
Z was surprisingly apathetic as he pushed her hands aside and corrected her statement with a blank face.
Z: "Eleven. My ten year milestone is soon going to turn eleven once a few months go by."
Myrica: "YOU EVEN-"
Clank
Myrica groaned in defeat as she plopped back to her seat. She covered her eyes as she rubbed her forehead in the process. Z was still baffled on why she looked so distressed by such a thing.
It was only a few years of patiently waiting for one person's return, not that big of a deal, really. Once again, due to the difference between average human beings and myths, they could not see eye to eye about the perspective of time depending on their race.
Myrica was able to recover her mentality as she spoke again.
Myrica: "The princesses you've 'kidnapped' this time seem to have lost track of time itself. And since you don't necessarily require the money or items from the human world, why don't you just return them to their families already?"
Z: "I may not require it, but my castle's aesthetic must be completed."
Z used the ransoms he supposedly earned by transforming them into decorations to improve his castle's layout. Myrica along with the rest of his subjects thought that he had finally gone off the deep end, as they also got a gist of what his plan was.
If you could be leisure enough to decorate your castle, surely you'd also be mindful enough to aid your subjects..?
Myrica's patience was beginning to thin and before it could snap she brought up something that sounded rather off topic to what they were currently arguing about.
Myrica: "Speaking of which, I would like to share something related to my fiancé..."
Z: "Guards, please take her away. And make sure that she returns home safely too."
Z wasn't interested as to what Myrica's lovelife had in store, and he quickly called for his guards to evict Myrica.
Myrica felt wronged as she glared daggers towards Z's direction all the while she was dragged out against her own will.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
-- Power
stone