Chapter 286: Inauspicious, Ominous Clouds
Two hours before Evil God's outburst,
Somewhere on the Devil Continent, or rather in the Imperial Palace in the center of the continent. A beautiful princess with long white hair and blood-red eyes was relaxing amidst the sparkling night. Yet, a somewhat worried expression was etched on her alluring face.
"Hu-umm... Ais is getting less and less replying to my messages. Is she that busy on the Human Continent? What might happen there? I get worried even though she is a Human Emperor unknown to the world." Sylvia smoothed her long white hair under the starry night sky.
She looked at the Human Continent even though it couldn't be seen from her position. As she was patting her Swype on her lap, she remembered her mistake. "No, Ais is not a Human Emperor. Stupid me, Ais is a girl, and Emperor is for a man. So, Ais is an unknown Human Empress, hehe... I'm smart, praise, praise~"
Sylvia stroked her own head in a rather silly manner, but sudden realization dawned on her face. "Wait, it's been a month now, right? Father hasn't informed me about the research yet, but it's been a month as promised. I've become an obedient girl by staying quiet in the palace, but now it's time for him to grant my wish, hum-hum~"
She hummed melodiously and walked with a rhythm like a dance. Still, she immediately changed her mind out of consideration for her father. "Forget it, I'll see father tomorrow. It's late at night."
"Ais and Elysia, hehe... I made two great and extraordinary friends the two times I ran away from home. It seems I should run away from home more often? I want to make more friends who are on the same page with me." Sylvia returned to the balcony of her room and sat on a lounge chair, looking up at the sky full of stars with a silly smile.
A few minutes later, Sylvia was bathed in moonlight as she considered her choice of wish, just one of many. She had to choose the best from the best but not cross her father's boundaries.
While Sylvia was relaxing and enjoying her time, she caught a glimpse of the dark clouds from afar. It was really far, but she could see it whatsoever. "What kind of pitch-black clouds is that? A storm? No, I don't think so... However, I felt a bad feeling from those clouds for some reason."
"No, I believe in my gut feeling. I know something is going on there. I should immediately tell my father about this. Yes, right now without delay." Sylvia stood up and paced back and forth, but she immediately made up her mind and rushed out of her room.
She ignored the guards and her protectors until she arrived at the door of her father's room. She knew her father was inside only because her father didn't deliberately hide his aura.
*Knock* *Knock*
"Fa-" Sylvia was just about to say something, but the door just opened.
"Come in."
An authoritative voice sounded from within, and Sylvia immediately entered without delay. After closing the door, she walked closer to her father, who was standing on the balcony.
"Father, have you noticed the pitch-black clouds? I got a bad feeling from that. Did something happen there?" Sylvia stood next to her father and pointed to the thick black clouds to the northwest.
"Hmm... It happened in the Septentrio Region, about 50 to 60 thousand kilometers to the northwest from here. What happened there?" Dylan murmured and inclined his head as he put his hand on his chin. He also just realized the pitch-black clouds, but he had no clue about this strange phenomenon.
He thought and tried to remember what might have happened, but he could only shake his head. One figure appeared in his mind, but he couldn't draw any conclusions.
Despite that, he tried to find out the details from his intel and subordinates, but the messages he sent could not reach them. Those pitch-black clouds messed with Swype's signal and connectivity.
"I'll check over there for a moment, just to make sure. You stay here, Sylvia." Dylan made a quick decision and prepared himself to leave. Unfortunately, when he was about to fly, his daughter held him from behind.
"Let me come too. I will obey your orders, father." Sylvia immediately hugged her father from behind like a koala. It was as if she would not let go of her arms before her father agreed.
"It can be dangerous there, silly daughter of mine." Like it or not, Dylan had to persuade his daughter first. He was aware that if he still left before doing that, his silly daughter would go alone by any means.
"I'm a big girl, and I'm a Devil Saint for a good reason. We're not there to fight with the Evil God or with Elysia, my Goddess friend, are we? So let's go!" Sylvia raised her hand high as if treating her father as her mount.
Sylvia had already given the signal, but her father did not move at all. She wiggled her hips slightly as a cue, but he turned to the side and looked at her instead.
"What's the matter, father? We're not leaving?" Sylvia asked with an innocent expression.
"Why are you ordering me? I gave the orders, and not the other way around." Dylan narrowed his eyes, feeling dissatisfied.
"Yes-yes, that's it. C'mon, let's go." Sylvia nodded, although she didn't take it seriously.
Dylan just sighed and immediately flew away. He would only waste time if he argued with his daughter. On their way to the scene with acceleration magic, he wondered if this strange phenomenon had something to do with the Evil God's plans.
This strange phenomenon in the northwest region of the Devil Continent and affected parts of the Southern Region of the Human Continent was also noticed by many parties.
Not only the devils, the humans, and the other races were also aware of the dense dark cloud that was spreading widely across the Devil Continent and Human Continent.
Even the Human Emperors and other higher-ups were also talking about it at that very second.
"Sorry for the emergency call in the middle of the night. Ominous dark clouds are spreading from the Devil Continent and reaching the sky of Cuttexus City. The night here is a dark night without moonlight and stars. Can you all see it? I'll be doing a deeper investigation with my elite troops in five minutes. Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this." Elliott spoke while staring out the window then back to the semi-transparent screens in front of him.
At this time, he was holding a precarious meeting with the other Human Emperors and their confidants for a brief discussion before he took action.
"You don't need to apologize, Elliott. I can also see those ominous clouds a little faintly from Arthur's Imperial Palace. My granddaughters are in your kingdom. Make sure they're safe in the city." Alexander used his magic vision and binoculars to aid in seeing the far southern sky.
Meanwhile, Arthur just sat next to Alexander with a slightly annoyed expression. He still remembered how he was thrown out of bed a few seconds ago by this Holy Grandfather.
Ridiculous, he was an Emperor, but he was nothing more than a kid in front of this old man. Not to mention, this old man barged into his room so freely. Even so, he couldn't get mad at his half-teacher somehow.
"The safety of your granddaughter and her friends is on my guarantee. The secret guard team and Hannah are in charge of it. Right now, they are sleeping comfortably in the Reinhard Family's mansion." Elliott only vouched for it, though he didn't understand why Pope Alexander mentioned 'granddaughter' as a plural word.
"Emperor Elliott, why is there always a mist coming out of your mouth every time you speak? The temperature drops drastically there? What about the current situation?" Arthur asked the obvious for confirmation.
"Yes, you are right, Emperor Arthur. The temperature has dropped dramatically. It is now around 10 degrees Celsius here. According to reports, the temperature continues to fall as we get closer to the Devil Continent. Huff..." Elliott let out a deep breath, creating a white mist from his mouth on purpose.
"My position is too far from the scene, but my daughter is there. I will send some reinforcements from the Mage Association to you, Emperor Elliott." Kevin tried to look out the window, but he saw nothing but a glimpse of the night sky.
Then, he glanced at his overly worried wife and took her hand without a word. His wife reciprocated by clasping his hand back. They were pretty worried about Evelyn.
"Is this similar to what happened in Avrora Forest? But, the range for this one is wider. Hmm, we haven't found any other clues besides ominous dark clouds and temperatures that have dropped dramatically. Emperor Elliott, tell me your plans for the investigation. I'll be part of it." Eastern Emperor stated it with self-assurance.
The incident in Avrora Forest last month only covered the vast forest area, but the shock that came was quite intense... Not to mention the big explosion and the terrible storm. However, these inauspicious yet ominous clouds hadn't shown anything despite the obvious. Apart from that, he was sure something terrible was taking place somewhere on the Devil Continent.
They continued their brief discussion for a cooperative decision and action. Each Emperor was aware of something that might have happened considering what had happened recently, especially the sealed area and the accursed monsters...
After reaching a consensus, all the Emperors dispatched their elite forces to join Emperor Elliott's investigative troops. Regrettably, the Western Region was absent for such an obvious thing and couldn't help for so many apparent reasons.