Corrupt Creations

"Wait! This time I helped you out of gratitude for your family letting me stay over and the deal I made with you. However, I don't plan to work for free forever… And... You never told me that I would end up attracting the attention of a Profound Mana expert." 

Elyra furrowed her eyebrows and asked: "What do you want in order to keep helping me out? I know that it was my fault for putting you in this mess, but if Elyon ever targets you, I will make sure to deal with him." 

"Good. Then I will go directly to the point. I want an audience with the Elf Queen." 

"What?! I don't want to be mean here, but that is impossible. The Elf Queen rarely has an audience with anyone, because of the nature of her poisonous aura. Mana Control practitioners like you, can't stand more than five minutes near her." 

"You don't need to worry if I will be able to withstand her aura, I just need to have a few words with her. That will be enough." 

"..." Elyra looked deeply in Seth's eyes. 

"I can't guarantee that I will be able to successfully arrange a meeting between the both of you, but I can promise that I will try. However, even if it goes wrong, I still want you working together with me." 

'What did this woman see on me?' Seth was baffled. 

"Alright, however if you fail to arrange an audience for me, I will demand something else." 

"Deal. I will contact Chief Commander Allannia tomorrow. Good night for you." 

Elyra vanished after bidding Seth farewell. 

Seth moved to his guest house and took the bottle of green liquid out. Now that he had free time, he started to study it. He remembered what Elyon did, merging he poison with the corrupted blood, and he tried doing the same. But for Seth it was easier, since he didn't need to use his blood, but command a bit of that tyrant energy inside of him. 

The problem is that Seth was always fearful of this energy and never dared to touch it. He felt like it tried to control him whenever he used it, but this time, Seth remembered Lexi's words. 

She was the spirit of purification that resided inside his soul space. If he had someone as strong as her to defend him against possible unexpected variables, why was the need to fear it so much? 

Even after telling himself, it was alright a million times over, he was only able to gather the courage to use a tiny portion of that scarlet energy. While coldly sweating, he finally emitted a wisp of corrupted energy and willed it to merge with the green liquid inside the bottle. 

The synthetic Evergreen poison didn't react the same way it did while Elyon used it earlier. Instead of turning into a stronger poisonous agent, the liquid turned red, thoroughly consumed by his corrupted energy. 

"..." 

Seth wasn't expecting that. The poison was too weak near the crimson energy. The only explanation then, was that the corrupted blood was a weakened state of his crimson energy. Just like the synthetic Evergreen Poison. 

"Sigh... I will get nowhere like this." Seth tossed those things aside and prepared to cultivate his soul again. He was in the middle of the process of converting his Soul Essence Lake into that mist. He felt like each drop he converted, was making his Soul Sense stronger. He knew that the limits he had now, would be nothing in the future, after he converted his entire soul essence. 

While Seth was training inside his house, the night passed by and it was already afternoon of the next day. 

Elyra walked past the guards at the entrance of the Royal Castle and none of them dared to stop her. They knew that Elyra standings in the Elven Territory were just a little bit lower than Chief Commander Allannia, the person responsible for commanding all special forces under the Elf Queen. 

Elyra entered inside the castle and went towards the main hall. This place wasn't only where the Elf Queen lived, all those related with the security of the royalty and the security of the World Tree Replica, stayed in the castle too. But the only person that had direct contact with the Elf Queen was Allannia. None of the others were allowed near the royal chambers or the forbidden area behind the castle. 

If Elyra wanted to have an audience with the Elf Queen, she would first, need to state the reason for Allannia. And that was what she wanted to do. 

"What are you doing here, Elyra?" A woman walked out of a corridor, going towards Elyra. 

"Commander Chief Allannia." Elyra slightly bowed in respect. Allannia was her superior and deserved respect. 

"Have you finished the task you were assigned?" 

"Yes. I did some investigation yesterday night and the results are kind of shocking. I discovered that Elyon Luberus and his son, Elydir Luberus, are in coalition with the humans that entered the city through clandestine ways. They were trading some merchandise, but I don't know what Elyon received from that trade." 

Allannia narrowed her eyes and asked: "Are you certain about the things you saw? You are telling me a really serious piece of information and if it isn't real, I will be forced to punish you accordingly." 

"I'm sure of it. I request Chief Commander Allannia, the permission to investigate Elyon Luberus and his son more deeply. After gathering enough proofs, we will be able to use the Security Unity to arrest them." 

"Elyra... You know that we are in the middle of the preparations for the upcoming Wild Games. I can't allow a person like you to work on that job right now. I will have to deny you from doing that. I will assign another member of the Secret Security Unity to investigate them. You are unfit for the job now, since I will need your strength later." 

"But Chief, I promise to bring results back within a week's time." 

"No. Don't make me say it twice." Allannia looked deeply towards Elyra. 

"I understand." 

"Is there anything else?" 

"There is. I want to have an audience with the Elf Queen." 

"An audience? What is the reason for that?" Allannia asked full of doubts. 

"It is something very important, that I can only tell her." 

"I'm sorry, but it is impossible." Allannia replied. 

"Why? Weren't we from the Secret Security Unit able to have an audience with her Highness once a year? I would like to claim my rights." 

"That would be it, if her Highness was here. However, she isn't." 

"What?! Her Highness left the castle?" 

"She is doing some private business that even I don't know about. However, I think she will be back for the Wild Games." 

"Sigh... No problem. I will go back and stay ready." 

Elyra departed from the Royal Palace with empty hands. She wasn't able to investigate Elyon any further, nor was she able to get an audience with the queen. She left silently, but there was something telling her to keep investigating. 

'I can't do anything in the open, there will be many eyes around the city that could notice my actions. I've got to wait for the Wild Games. At that time, things will be easier.' 

. 

. 

. 

Seth was still training inside his room, when he heard someone knocking on the door. His Soul Sense was getting stronger each time he transformed it into mist. He activated it and saw that it was Elyra outside of his house. 

Seth opened the door and greeted her. 

"Miss Elyra, is there anything I can help you with?" 

"You can drop the miss, since we are working together. I've come to notify you about the thing you asked me. The Elf Queen is not in the castle, so it will be impossible to have and audience with her for now." 

"I see." 

"That's all for now." Elyra turned around and was about to leave, but Seth felt that there was something off with her. 

"Has anything happened?" 

"..." Elyra turned back and stood silent for some time. She had the urge to tell him and ask for more of his help, but at the same time, her mind was telling her that he was a human and should not be fully trusted. 

"Just some minor problems, you don't need to bother with this for now. You can rest or train in peace until the event starts." Elyra left without telling him that her operation was cancelled and that she wanted to do it hidden from the upper echelons. 

"Sigh... She is still not able to put her distrust of me away." 

"That is actually for her own good! It's better for her to keep a certain distance from a certain pervert." Lexi's voice appeared inside his head. 

"Come on, are you going to keep saying that about me every time?" 

"Humph!" 

"Ah... I can only train more, since there is nothing else to do then."