Chapter 598 - Demon Worshippers
"Welcome back, Your Majesty. Are you heading back to the Royal Palace now? Allow us to escort you there, Your Majesty." A group of city guards greeted upon arriving from the Capital.
Elizabeth threw them a casual glance before speaking, "Well, if you can keep up."
"Darlene, come closer." Elizabeth urged.
"Yes, mother."
At the same time, the city guard answered, "With honor, Your—"
Swoosh~!
Elizabeth quickly took into the skies with Darlene in her arms before flying off in the direction of the Royal Palace, leaving the city guards behind in the dust.
The city guards gawked with embarrassment before offering their help to the elves visiting the Capital.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth continued to make a beeline for the Royal Palace when a sudden commotion broke out in Lost Isle Alley.
"We welcome your return, Your Highness!"
"We welcome your return, Your Highness!"
The palace guards greeted as Leon stepped out of the teleportation array with Duna before giving them a nod, "Un."
Swoosh~!
Shortly after, Elizabeth and Darlene descended before glancing at Leon with surprises as he returned the same expression back at them.
"How did you get back, son? Weren't in the Western Frontier? How did come out from the teleportation array connecting to the Dark Continent?" Elizabeth asked with her face full of questions.
"I can say the same for you, Mother. Weren't you headed for the Grassland Region?" Leon asked back.
"We stopped by to stock up on some supplies and check on your father while we were here," Elizabeth explained to her son.
"I see, what a coincidence." Leon nodded before explaining, "I used a portable teleportation array to hopped over here for a quick visit and to pick up Darlene."
As Leon said this, he turned to Darlene with an apologetic smile before the person shook her head, showing that she did not mind.
"Oh? It's good that we met here then. Mother was intending to bring Darlene to the World Tree to train."
"True, the rich Spirit Energy there is very suitable for cultivation, but I found an even more suitable place for Darlene to cultivate."
"Fair enough." Elizabeth nodded before her curiosity was drawn back to Leon's mode of travel, "How does this portable teleportation array work? Can Mother also use it to travel back to the Western Frontier?"
"Anyone can use it to travel as long as it's operating. However, I think it is best not to make this thing public. I plan to install one Royal Palace, as the Lost Isle Alley's teleportation array is too rigid for me to add spatial coordinates to it."
"Actually, it could not be more perfect for us to meet, Mother. I will pass one of my spare portable teleportation arrays for you to install in the Grassland Region. That way, we can freely travel between the Western Frontier, Capital, the World Tree's region."
Shortly after Leon mentioned this, Elizabeth's eyes lit up brightly before she said, "If this portable teleportation array of yours truly works as you said, that would be very incredible!"
Hours to days of travel could be cut down to an instance. It definitely sounded too good to be true.
Leon smiled lightly before saying, "Let us go meet Father first, Mother. Then I will show you how the portable teleportation array works as I install one in the palace."
"Alright." Elizabeth nodded before saying, "Mother was just planning to see your father as well. Let us go see how he had been doing."
Shortly after, they headed to the palace together before Leon suddenly pulled Darlene into his embrace, whispering softly into her ears, "Do you not miss me? Where did the daring and passionate Darlene go?"
"I'm trying to be a nice girl in front of your mother," Darlene immediately complained with a slight blush as she hammered his chest with her fist, reacting shyly.
Leon smiled lightly before lifting her chin for a kiss.
"Mmf—"
Darlene made a muffled sound as she resisted before quickly turning soft in Leon's arm.
"Look, my mother does not mind these things. There's no need to mind it so--"
Smack!
Suddenly, Elizabeth turned around and gave Leon a good wack on the head before snorting, "You stinky rascal! Don't take my silence for acceptance! I might be in a hurry to hold my grandson, but we are in public right now! Have some shame, will you?"
"Ugh... Yes, Mother." Leon lowered his head while scratching his cheeks with an embarrassed smile.
"And you, Darlene. You can't be too passive all the time. You need to be more proactive and decisive, bot giving in to Leon's whims all the time."
"Yes, Mother. I will try." Darlene answered with a determined look.
"Actually, Darlene is the more proactive than..."
Leon wanted to correct his mother's words when Darlene suddenly stepped on his foot with a big smile, filled with hidden menacing vibes.
"More proactive than...?"
"Nah, don't worry about it. It's nothing…" Leon stated, his lips twitched slightly in response.
...
Shortly after, the group arrived at Heinrich's study in the Inner Palace.
"Heinrich."
"Father."
Elizabeth and Leon called out to the king before Heinrich raised his head with a glimmer of surprise appearing on his tired face, "You're both back."
"Has something been troubling you, Heinrich? You look terrible," Elizabeth inquired with concern.
At the same time, Leon made his way over and began giving Heinrich a relaxing massage while channeling some energy to improve his mental state.
"What's the situation, Father?"
"Haiz, it's the people. There's an unknown group stirring chaos in the Capital by spreading lies and weird religious faith about demons in recent days." Heinrich sighed.
Leon knitted his brows before saying, "Considering how they are giving Father so much trouble, they shouldn't be easy to catch, right? What religious faith are they spreading about demons exactly?"
"Right. Their traces are easy to find because they reek with a terrible stench, but they are very swift and disappear like shadows. The shadow guards are helpless in keeping up."
"As for the religious faith mentioned, the people brainwashed by their false belief were spouting how demons will bring them salvation in the Cataclysm."
"In other words, these people are like demon worshippers or something?" Leon frowned.