Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1472: Two Lives

Diana remembered her childhood with the Ice Spirits. She would walk between the frozen trees and watch the rest of the spirits flying through the canopies. Her eyes would hold awe and envy.

A mixed-blood Ice Spirit didn’t have the translucent wings that allowed them to fly. Even now, she would use her flames, not her wings, to fly.

Her mother was heartbroken by her gazes, and would often distract her with stories as they walked back to their house at the top of the mountain. It worked like a charm.

Diana heard stories about demons and kings, the worst and best of men, and the everlasting nature of true love. She heard more stories than she could count, but they were never about her mother, the most important person in her life.

One day, her mother was gone for a while. Diana embarked into the woods to find her. She found her mother sitting next to a lake, with a man—a human of dark hair and green eyes.

Diana didn’t know the man at the time, but in retrospect, it had to be the traveler between worlds, Seref Silvera. He had convinced her mother into marrying her father against her better judgment.

When she learned about how her mother agreed to this, Diana felt betrayed. But at the moment, she knew that her mother wanted for her daughter something that she didn’t have: true love. Her agreement to Seref’s plan was only for that reason.

At that time, Seref stared at her intently. Then, he excused himself and left. Her mother was still absentminded even after the man left. She only reacted when Diana called out for her a second time.

"Mother? What’s wrong?" Diana asked as she saw the tears in her mother’s eyes. Ice Spirits were known to never shed tears because of their stable emotions. Just like their powers, their hearts were frozen as well.

Her mother turned toward her, stared at her for a long time, before she wiped her face and forced a smile. "It’s time for you to see your father."

Diana was still confused. Her father had always been a mystery for her, but at the moment, she was more worried about her mother. On the way home, her mother didn’t tell her about gods and demons, but about the day she knew she was pregnant with her.

The story left Diana filled with fuzzy feelings. She felt her mother’s love stronger than ever. In one detail of her story, her mother revealed how she knew that she was pregnant with her: a red string in her icy shards.

As the memories settled on the surface, Diana felt a sudden panic as she rushed out of the cave. Athos called behind her, but Diana had to see it for herself. She rushed to the nearest river and fell to her knees.

The river, as all things were in this realm, was still and unmoving. Diana stared at her reflection in the water and focused on the ice shards on her ears. A red string was indeed floating inside them.

"I’m..." Diana was at a loss. "How did this happen?"

It was now that Diana needed Arthur the most. He would reassure her that this was a good thing, and that he was happy, which would make her happy. He might even hug her tight and twirl her around, before she laughed and told him to stop.

But there was none of this.

She was alone.

In a forsaken realm.

Diana was shaken enough to not feel the rustling bushes behind her. She reacted, but it was too late. Behind her stood a figure, tall and imposing, as he looked down on her with a grin.

"Well, hello there," the figure said. "How about we go for a stroll?"

Spiritual energy, mixed with mana, flared from Diana. She summoned her ice and her fire at the same time. Before the figure could even move, he was already pierced with a thousand ice swords burning with flames.

"That’s not very ladylike," the figure said with a grin as he collapsed. In the next moment, he appeared again from a different direction. This time, he raised his hand, and Diana felt her ice shatter and flames disappear.

Her powers were gone.

This was the same power that made Halstren lose his life.

"What do you want, Invidia?" Diana asked with rage as she rose. She summoned a sword from her storage ring, ready to fight him to the death.

"I’ve had my eyes on you for a while now," Invidia said with a grin. His hollow eyes reflected the small frame of the ice woman before him. "But I guessed that you would rather die than be taken hostage."

"You guessed well," Diana said with an icy expression. "But I’ll make sure to take you down with me, even if just a limb."

"I wouldn’t doubt that," Invidia said. "You’re a ferocious woman, no doubt. But at the moment... you’re more than that, aren’t you?"

Diana was confused for a second before realization dawned on her.

"You were watching me."

"Please," Invidia said with a wave of his hand. "You think some trees would prevent me from finding your camp? I was just using you as bait to draw the creator here. You see, we have an unfinished fight."

"I’d still rather die."

"Think again, Princess," he said. "You have more than your life to give away now. Imagine how Arthur would feel if you killed yourself and his child? He’ll never recover."

Diana shook at the image of Arthur’s devastated expression. Her hand trembled, and then dropped the sword. She bit her lip as she realized that Athos was right.

She is his greatest weakness.

Arthur watched the army of undead gather in the fields between the gates and the palace. He had fought against this army before, but never thought he would fight alongside it.

Nyxiel flew over the army and landed next to Arthur. The Flesh Demon had grown considerably taller and more muscular, assuming a form he called ’battle physique.’ It didn’t disturb Arthur that he could change forms.

"Lord Netherborne!" the demon bowed as soon as he landed. "I’m happy to share the news with you first before anyone else. I have succeeded in turning all corpses from the kingdom of gods into undead."

"Good job, Nyxiel," Arthur said. "What about the goddess?"

"That is a different matter. It seems that there is some kind of mechanism that prevents me from using the vessel, despite the immense power it holds."

"A mechanism?"

"Some kind of anti-necromancy magic," Nyxiel said. "But I did make an interesting observation in the lab."

"Do tell."

"These gods... have no internal organs. Their bodies are simply lumps of flesh and bones that make up the form we see. Even if you stabbed their hearts, it wouldn’t disrupt their circulatory system."

"Because they don’t have any," Arthur said. "That’s interesting indeed. Oh, and thank you for coming to fight with us. I know this isn’t your battle."

"There’s no need to thank me, my lord," Nyxiel said. "But I do hope to meet the Queen once the battle is over."

"She would be thrilled to see you," Arthur said with a grin.

The two of them were still standing when they felt a sudden explosion of spiritual energy coming from the palace’s grounds. They glanced at each other and rushed in its direction.

Arthur was faster and landed on the ground to see Gala standing there with a grin on her face. She was looking at the giant portal that opened within the palace grounds.

"You did it," Arthur said. "That was faster than I thought."

"The Sovereign gave me something called executive authority that lets me create portals without the realm resisting it," she said with a grin. "It’s ready. We can go directly toward the stolen realm."

Arthur felt his heart beating faster. It had been almost two weeks since he last saw Diana, and he couldn’t wait to see her again.

Once the portal was created, it was a matter of time before the entire army gathered. Ozyrae wore her battle armor, which looked like an obsidian shell covering her from neck to toe.

Vorathis and Nyxiel were also there.

Behind them stood the army of undead.

Half of them would be coming with Arthur, and the other half would stay to protect the realm in case Devaheim attacked again. If that happened, Ozyrae and the rest would be summoned back.

"Let’s go kill the sin," Ozyrae said as she stepped through the portal. Arthur grinned and nodded toward Gala. Their march began, and the giant portal swallowed them whole.

On the other side, Arthur found himself standing in a deep valley. An infinite expanse of barren land was on their right, and a dark forest was on their left. A giant mountain was in front of them.

Arthur could tell that mana was restricted inside this realm, but not forbidden. It just felt as if something was stealing his mana while he stood there. It was truly the stolen realm.