Kingdoms of Immortals

the recent information delivered to him before going silent.

”Do you think Nier got her orders from Lady Hestia directly? Otherwise, what can possibly explain this inexplicable behaviour? ” One of the twelve suggested.

”I don think so. House Hestia has been in decline over the past few millennia, and I have trustworthy information that Lady Hestia is finally calling back on a few favours passed down in the generations of her family. People who owed favours to the ancestors of House Hestia, if they
e still alive even today, aren your average Immortals… ”

”On the bright side, if they exhaust all of their familys connections, this means that once we make our move, we won need to worry about repercussions and complications. ”

”That also means they might be staging a comeback, you know? Although Lord Hestia and his son have been missing, if their daughter marries off to a sufficiently strong family, or gives birth to a sufficiently talented son… ”

”What? Are you saying some cliche bullcrap about how youll sacrifice yourself and accept Nier as your woman to draw House Hestia into our alliance? Self righteous piece of shit… Just admit youve been chasing her skirt since god knows when! ”

The meeting devolved into senseless quarrels within seconds, and a few of the clothed individuals started to grow headaches about it. However, the woman in question wasn bothered the least about her high profile actions as she accompanied the unconscious Leonardo through one wormhole after the other, crossing the starry skies into a desolate region of the world.

This was a grey region where everyones prowess was restricted to the weakest of mortals. The moment the party of three landed on this piece of mainland, Leonardo opened his eyes. Of course, since he was a mortal through and through, he couldn figure out the mystical properties of the world around him.

Still, this was his first opportunity to get a clear look at the tall young woman in front of him. However, for all its worth, his body was somehow, mind somewhere else, and heart even further away.

Leonardo didn care for how stellar her beauty was, and she could tell that much from looking into his eyes. Regardless, she closed her eyes and began to scour through her memories for a spoken language Leonardo could understand.

”English… Right? You understand what Im saying? ” The womans voice was stiff, and her syllables were all over the place. It was honestly cute, but understandable nonetheless. Some focus returned to Leonardos eyes as he nodded lightly in response.

”Good enough, ” The woman continued, ”My name is… Well, it doesn matter. Ill explain your situation as it is. You were fooled into believing that just about anyone can become an Immortal, just like millions of naive mortals in the lower dimensions of the realm. Well, nothing is absolute and exceptions exist, and this is why I bought you, made you my slave, and brought you here. ”

As Nier spoke, she turned her back to Leonardo and started walking ahead, expecting him to follow her obediently with the bait she laid before him.

Leonardo hesitated, a strange expression flickering within his lifeless eyes. Should he believe this woman as well? Didn he have enough of being led by the nose like a dog?

But so what? Should his pride stop him from taking yet another gamble? Is it worth it?

Leonardos legs trembled as though weighed down by obsidian shackles. Niers steps weren fast or slow, they were quite ordinary; too ordinary. However, the distance between them kept stretching and stretching.

Sweat poured down Leonardos face as his lips went pale. His silver locks coiled over his cranium, plastered on his skin with so much sweat to spare. If he was to take that step, he would acknowledge himself as a slave.