Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 87 Different Degrees of Conflic

Alina could not help but feel pity for General Chimera as she saw through his struggles.

Alina's All-Seeing Eyes were powerful enough to let Alina see that there are other consciousnesses residing inside General Chimera's mind.

"Having an extra mind pestering you all day is already bad enough… Having four of them just makes it worse" Alina thought to herself as she followed the gigantic general.

"Well, that's what he gets for fusing with many living beings…" Alina thought idly to herself, comparing her current disguise with General Chimera's body.

When she first met him earlier, Alina had the urge to shout out as she was taken aback by General Chimera's appearance.

Even right now, she still held the same wary feelings for him.

After all, a Monster that was made up of fusion of different Monsters looks just plain terrifying up close.

After having this thought in her mind, Alina shook her head, as she realized that the must not be concerned about General Chimera first.

There is still the matter of the Queen Mother herself wanting to meet her.

"Did She see through my disguise already?" Alina thought to herself as she started to get nervous. "It will not be good if that was the case…"

With all the Mindscour sessions that Alina did with the real Carlie, Alina was able to get all the information that Carlie had about the Queen Mother.

And after reading all this info about Queen Mother, Alina's only thought was:

"I must never offend Her."

And that thought is still residing inside Alina's mind right now, which just made her more nervous and tense.

"Calm down Alina, as long as you do not do anything wrong, you will not be punished at all…." Alina thought to herself idly as she continued on following General Chimera. "Just keep it down…"

"We have arrived already." Alina heard General Chimera's rumbling voice in front of her, prompting her to stop in her tracks.

She looked up, and she saw General Chimera's extremely misshapen heads looking down at her.

Maybe it is just Alina, but she could see a silhouette of a smile hanging in General Chimera's faces.

"Just go through this door, and you will see her." General Chimera said as he pointed at the tiny door in front of him. "Don't worry, the door won't bite."

"...."

Alina was not sure on what to say about that, as she felt that the door looks just as dangerous as the other Monsters nearby.

The door was made up of different kinds of metal, all carved to show different grotesque and disconcerting shapes. There are also some tentacles carved in the door, which just accentuates its grim appearance.

Even Alina, who was used to Alex's tentacle appearance, felt slightly sick as she looked at the shapes decorating the door.

Alina looked up at General Chimera, giving him a look as if she was saying 'Bruh, are you trippin?'.

"Just enter the door right now, ok?" General Chimera said with a smile that was also not a smile. "Queen Mother hates to see Monsters loitering in front of her door, so you better go in right now…"

Even Alina does not need to use her All-Seeing Eyes to see that General Chimera was threatening her right now.

"…Here I go then." Alina replied, adopting Carlie's monotonous voice as she approached the door.

At first she was not sure on what to do. Should she push or pull the door? Where is the handle anyway? Does she even need to use a handle?

This state of confusion had Alina stuck in place, as she tried to figure on what to do.

"Hong~"

Alina's confusion was solved when the door in front of her suddenly split in the middle, creating a small opening that was large enough for one person.

Alina took this as the cue to enter, placing her left foot inside the opening.

Upon realizing that there are no traps that sprung up yet, Alina took a deep breath as she entered the opening with her whole body.

"....."

The first thing that Alina noticed when she entered was the darkness.

There was no light inside the place that she entered, making the whole place impossible to visually observe.

The only source of light was through the hole that Alina went in earlier, and even that was not enough to show Alina something.

"….."

Seconds passed by as Alina waited for something special to happen.

Unfortunately for Alina, she did not have to wait for that long as she heard a sound behind her.

"Zip…"

Alina looked back, and she saw that the opening that she went in from earlier had been closed entirely.

"What's next, a jumpscare?" Alina thought scornfully as she looked around her. "I really hate gimmicks like that…"

While Alina was having these idle thoughts, she had thoroughly prepared her powers, with her body ready to let out her Dark Magic and her weakened Esper Ability.

"..."

5 minutes later.

"Woosh~"

Her preparations seemed to have borne fruit as she suddenly detected a presence approaching her from above.

"Who goes there?" Alina asked as she looked up, trying to see the intruder.

Her body began to pulse with power, as she readied herself.

But before she could even position herself well, she suddenly felt a cold feeling assaulting her body, making her feel extremely tired and drowsy.

"Sleep now, little one. You will need it for later." A soothing, melodic voice said to Alina as she felt herself succumbing to the darkness. "Sleep now…"

"Ugh!" There was a slight squelching sound, followed by some dripping sounds.

"Oh my, you really bit your tongue to keep yourself awake. Impressive…" The melodic voice said, as if it can see what Alina was doing. "Too bad it will not help you out at all…"

"…." Alina tried to make a move, but her legs failed her, forcing her to kneel down on the floor.

"…" Alina tried crawling away from her current spot, but that did not work either as she felt her whole body not responding to her.

Alina cursed out, as she realized that she was extremely sleepy right now.

"Sleep, little one." The melodic voice said once more, ignoring Alina's current appearance. "You will need it for later…"

"...…"

That was the last thing that Alina heard as her consciousness went dark.

**************************

[[[6 Hours later.]]]

[[[Divine Knight Glaivewood's Mansion]]]

"Hm, that Teresa actually have some good clothes…" Alex thought to himself as he stood in front of the mirror, currently checking out his clothes.

Because Alex was disguising as Teresa, he had no choice but to wear something that is feminine at best.

So with the choices that he had in Teresa's closet, Alex chose the ones that will fit Teresa's figure.

Alex chose a thin yellow blouse that emphasized Teresa's already bountiful bust, and tight, white jeans that wrapped around her legs perfectly.

One last look at the mirror, and Alex could see that his disguise is rocking the 'perfect girl' image.

"Ugh, I will tell Alina all about this." Asteria commented as she gave Alex a wilting look. "Let's see how she reacts when she finds out that you spent some time doing sexy dress-up with your disguised body. She will surely see you as a creep that you are."

"Shut it, dumb fairy." Alex snarled as he opened the door of Teresa's room. "You know that I must not wear boyish clothes, since that could alarm her father."

"Hmph, give me another honey later!"

"…Fine." Alex replied sullenly as he slowly walked down the stairs.

"There you are, Teresa!" Alex heard a joyous sound calling out for him from below the stairs, prompting him to look down.

There he saw the Sylvester Glaivewood, giving Alex a beaming smile.

The Divine Knight was not wearing his armor, as what replaced it were some normal clothes.

Alex had to blink his eyes, as he felt a little confused from the Divine Knight's lack of armor.

"Is there something wrong, Teresa?" Sylvester Glaivewood seemed to have noticed Alex's confused look, prompting him to feel concerned. "Does something hurt in you right now?"

"Oh, its nothing, father." Alex replied, using Teresa's melodious voice normally. "I just... feel happy that I am home now."

"…I feel the same thing too." Sylvester Glaivewood said as he walked towards the dining room. "Come now Teresa, let's eat breakfast for now."

"Yes Father." Alex replied obediently as he reached the bottom of the stairs quickly.

Because of Alina's influence, Alex had learned to love the art of food and eating already.

As such, having the opportunity to eat in this mansion was something that Alex will not pass on.

"Damn…" That was what Alex thought as he saw the food prepared in the dining room. "We are really going to eat this?"

Even if Alex was not that rich in his original life, he was still sure that he can identify when the dishes prepared are for the rich or not.

And right now, Alex was sure that the food laden in front of him were all extravagant and delicious!

He could see an assortment of seafood decorating the table, as well some meat and beef dishes. The salad and vegetable mixes were also abundant.

They all looked like they were cooked perfectly, and the smell that they emanate just proves that point.

Alex tried to not show that he was salivating, as he felt the desire to eat already.

"There… is a lot of food here." Alex said as he sat down on the nearest seat. "What are these for?"

"It's the food to celebrate your safe return in the Glaivewood House." The Divine Knight said as he sat the end of the table, signifying his status as the Head of the House.

"But… there's a lot of food here." Alex commented as he tried to not show his excitement. "I doubt that we can finish this all up…"

"Of course I thought of that." The Divine Knight said as she let out a smug smile. "You and I are not the only ones that will eat here. There are others that I invited, and they are about to come here right now."

"And who might they be?" Alex asked with slight trepidation in his voice.

"Oh, its your female cousin and your fiancée, along with his entourage." The Divine Knight replied cheerfully. "Both of them were worried about you, so they wanted to immediately see you once they heard the news that you were safe. So, I invited them to our breakfast right now."

"…I see." Alex tried not to grimace, as he realized that he was actually blasted to the awkward territory.

With Alina's Mindscour, Alex was able to know all the people that Teresa had connection with, which includes Teresa's female cousin and Teresa's fiancée.

From what Alex saw in the Mindscour, the original Teresa's relationship with these two people were somewhat… unique.

"Ugh, I had plans to avoid the two of them, and yet they are coming here already? Ugh, I must not be seen by them!" Alex tried to stand up, as he decided to make an excuse to leave. "Father, I-"

"Hallo!" Alex slumped his shoulders, as he realized that escape is futile for him now.

They have already arrived, and there is nothing that Alex can do to avoid them.

"Ugh, what a drag…"