City of Sin

Trouble

Back in the Church of Glory, Martin continued to stare at the communication circle with his characteristic smile. However, he was already lost in thought. An illusory figure formed behind him, hesitating a little before softly coughing him out of his trance. Looking at a young woman with four wings, he frowned, “Why are you out again?”

“I... I’m worried about you.”

“I should be the one worried about you! Appearing like this is a burden... But no need to worry anymore, I’ve found all the materials. Once the ceremony is done, you’ll have a body that can walk freely through this plane.”

“But...” Worry was evident on the woman’s face.

“Your enemies? No need to be scared of them anymore, I’ve found a powerful brat who’s agreed to protect you.”

“Is it Richard? Doesn’t he already have a lot of troubles?”

“He has a number of troubles, one more won’t bother him much. In any case, he owes me a favour; consider this him returning it. No big deal.”

The lady sighed deeply, opening up her hands to form an image between her palms. The image showed Martin, laughing excitedly, “Finally! The bastard owes me a favour! Heh, he still doesn’t understand how important this is. Who should I deal with... the Pope, Hendrick, Messiah...”

Embarrassment flashed across the divine child’s face, but he quickly return to normal, “Did I say that? My memory isn’t clear anymore. But it’s alright, Richard isn’t hard to get favours from. Don’t worry, just get used to your new body and go find him with this book.”

“I might not have been here for long, but I’ve seen Richard as well. How can his favours be so easy to attain? You’re trading for them with your life!”

“I won’t die that easily,” Martin shrugged off.

“But... must you go to that place?”

“Hmm... I can consider not going.”

The woman’s face cheered up, and she slowly disappeared. Once she was gone, Martin muttered to himself, “I wasn’t serious, don’t take it as the truth.”

His expression turned cold, gaze crossing multiple obstructions to land on something in the distance.

......

Half a day after Richard’s discussion with Martin, a woman in silver armour stepped through the portal from the Sacred Tree Empire. Taking out a letter from Martin, she was quickly brought before Richard.

Richard’s eyes shone brightly as he examined her from head to toe, giving her no way to hide herself. The woman’s body quivered softly, but she didn’t attempt to block his gaze.

He quickly deactivated the Field of Truth, “So you’re the one Martin asked me to take care of.”

She nodded, placing a thin book on his desk, “He asked me to pass this to you.”

Chronicles of the Darkness.

Richard remained unmoving as he read that title, but his hearts almost jumped through his throat. His breathing came to a halt as the abyssal heart pulsed, turning the entire table into grey dust. Thankfully, the ordinary-looking book was protected by the power of laws, not being harmed in the slightest. Having jumped forward to grab it, he gently stroked the spine before sighing and stowing it away.

“You aren’t going to look at it?” the lady was curious.

“Not now. I’m afraid my priorities are different at the moment, and I can’t risk giving everything up to leave. More importantly, there’s no point in going yet.”

“You two... really are the same,” her eyes shone gently.

“What? Who?”

“Forgive me, I was rambling. It’s nothing.”

“Alright. Ilene, right? What kind of help do you need?”

“Err.. I’m not certain,” the woman seemed confused.

“Lacklustre equipment, no runes, your net worth isn’t even 10,000 gold. I just so happen to have a near-legendary armour set suited to your kind, it should work better for you than most legendary armour. As for runes, I don’t have any exceptional ones right now. Once my brains record your battle style better, I’ll make some time to craft a few.”

“Doesn’t that require points? Martin told me I need to buy things with points here.”

Richard snorted, “If that bastard wanted you to earn points to come ahead, he wouldn’t have sent you over looking like a beggar.”

This prompted a blush. Before she came over, Martin had indeed mentioned that Richard would understand and equip her well. In his words, “Who better to rip off than someone with more money than place to put it?”

......

Since the visitor had arrived, Richard didn’t delay any longer and brought her to Faelor. The Genesis wasn’t calm right now, and even though the demon army hadn’t massed completely just yet they had sent numerous squads of scouts. The castle wouldn’t be completed for a dozen more days.

When Richard and Ilene arrived at the ancient battlefield, more than a hundred powerhouses had already gathered. Five of them were even legends, but they all seemed to be looking forward to the upcoming conflict. He felt odd being there with Fiora in his hands, but for some reason the kid seemed to handle it just fine. In fact, she hadn’t even seemed uncomfortable after the first teleportation of her life.

When they approached within range of the portal, the girl suddenly grew excited and stared at it while bobbing up and down. Richard’s heart fluttered and he flew even closer, getting her even more fidgety and eager.

A squad of demons chose that exact moment to step out of the portal, howling the moment they saw Richard. Several cries of alarm rang out from the castle in the back— many of them were greater demons and Richard had a child in hand— but he calmly shifted Fiora to his other hand and drew Moonlight from his back. The blue sword only flashed for a moment before being returned to its sheath, all the attackers having been cut into hundreds in the same time.

The flesh of these demons flew in all directions, with several fresh hearts floating in mid-air. Looking at the beaming child in his arms, Richard suppressed a shiver and pulled the hearts towards himself. She quickly grabbed the one that he presented to her, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth that started gnawing on it loudly. The entire heart was devoured in only minutes.

Once she was done eating, the baby girl’s eyelids started to droop. She quickly fell into a deep slumber in Richard’s arms, her small face still stained with dark red blood.

By this point, five legends had gathered around Richard and were entranced by the infant.

“Such pure abyssal blood,” an older warrior proclaimed.

“Yes,” a mage agreed, “She isn’t at the level of a lesser lord yet, but she’s definitely stronger than the ordinary greater demon. This child will naturally become a legend when she’s an adult... Really...”

He wanted to express words of congratulations, but just the thought left him too bitter to continue. This mage had already lived for over 200 years, having taken a century to get to the legendary realm and one more to get to level 22. Richard’s prowess was one thing, but the sight of a baby who was guaranteed to become a legend left him at a loss for words.

Hearing this, the other legends were left with complicated expressions as well. Perhaps little Fiora would only become a legend in her life, but this was enough to be terrifying.

Another mage coughed, “Congratulations, Your Excellency. Miss Fiora proves that the Archeron bloodline can stand by side with the lightning destroyers, golden moonrivers, and the like.”

Richard smiled in return, teasing the sleepy girl as he replied, “Too much talent isn’t good either. I’m afraid she won’t be hardworking in the future.”

“With a father like you, I’m sure she won’t disappoint.”

Many powerhouses hid their sorrow, showering Fiora with compliments instead. Many of them tried once more to arrange a marriage in the future, but he dismissed such attempts quickly. After some pleasantries, he brought the girl around as he inspected the defences at the castle before leaving.

The second thinker was rushing over right now, about to take over point calculation for this battlefield. A dozen cloned brais were accompanying him, supporting his job. Richard left Ilene at the castle, giving the special unit an extra job. He was to monitor her movements at all times, with a mobile unit prepared to lend support in an instant.”