North Sea

A King of the Kingdom of Murcia in the Western Region received a private, unidentified letter. It was simply a neat, folded white paper with no wax seal or anything of the sort. The King read it seriously, not caring who had sent it.

[Greetings, Your Majesty, King of Murcia. The Northwest City has many talented people. I hope you will protect them.

From, An Academy Student.]

The short and mysterious content of the letter made it seem impossible that it was sent by an ordinary academy student. King Charles looked out the window, still holding the letter, and pondered for a moment. He was thinking about who was most likely to send such a direct letter.

When his 5th Princess, Melissa, arrived, the King suddenly remembered someone: Mahendra. King Charles immediately laughed, causing his daughter to stand still in confused surprise.

"...so it was from him." King Charles quickly burned the letter to ash.

"Father, is there a problem?" Princess Melissa asked.

"No. I was just a little confused. I just received a letter from an acquaintance," King Charles replied. "Why have you come here?" he then asked.

"Father, I was just a little worried." The princess's face looked slightly pale.

"If it's about him, don't worry. He is doing well. He just sent me a letter."

"So, that letter was from him?" Princess Melissa was surprised but happy to finally have news of him. The paleness on her face now seemed to have disappeared.

"Yes, that's right. However, it's better if you don't know the contents of the letter. You just need to know that he is doing well," King Charles said.

"Allright, Father. Thank you."

Leaving with a happy expression, her cheerful steps hastened to the palace's back garden. It was the last place she had met the man she loved so much, reminiscing was enough for her. Just hearing news about him made her feel full of energy again.

A man's back in black clothes was visible near the glass garden. The surprised Princess Melissa thought that the man was visiting her again. She rushed to him, but when the man turned around, everything was different.

The all-black clothes were now white, and his slightly long orange hair was loose. He was a bit larger than Mahendra's posture, and his aura was clearly very different. He stared intensely at Princess Melissa, who slowly stepped back and intended to leave.

As he took a step to approach her, his gaze became even more piercing. He was the God of the Speck of Light, Zia. He came not only to meet the Royal Princess but for something else.

"Princess Melissa, it seems you thought I was someone else."

"I apologize, Lord God. I don't know what you mean."

"You saw the shadow of that person and thought I was him. Am I right?"

"This is just a misunderstanding!" She tried to deny all of God Zia's recent statements. 

However, her nervousness and fear caused her to accidentally fall. She had difficulty getting up after God Zia was standing right in front of her.

"Forgive my rudeness, but I must do this. Consider that you are helping me, helping this world," Zia said, then held the top of her head.

A mysterious power seemed to be snatching her life. Princess Melissa couldn't fight back at all and just stood there as her memories were looked through. Her consciousness was on the verge of disappearing but eventually held on after God Zia stopped after getting what he wanted.

"So you have a direct connection with him. You're even in love?! Heh, how ridiculous!"
Because of Princess Melissa's memory, God Zia now knew where Mahendra had gone.

***

Meanwhile, in the Northwest City, specifically at the border to the sea in the Northern Region, after sufficiently erasing the barrier from the gods and freeing this Northwest City, Mahendra and Ningsih immediately left. They just couldn't simply swim away into the sea.

"I'm getting bored of looking at the sea. If only there was a shortcut to the Northern Region," Mahendra complained.

Right after complaining about the useless thing, a sea whirlpool suddenly appeared right next to him. The whirlpool appeared unnaturally at the edge. Then Ningsih tried to touch the whirlpool.

"Hey, don't!" Mahendra shouted while pulling her left arm.

The sea whirlpool there grew stronger over time. Ningsih's hand could not be pulled back from it, and it caused them both to fall inside. However, this sea whirlpool was strange. It was not a real sea whirlpool but a space hole.

A dimensional space hole that moved them from one place to another.

The wind blew hard in the clear weather, slightly colder and getting colder over time. The space hole brought them falling from the sky, right above a cold sea full of rocks and icebergs.

The ruler of the Northern Region immediately realized that an outsider had come again. He quickly directed the Goddess Panacea to a warmer room, intending for the goddess not to realize the presence of the outsider.

"Follow me, Goddess of Healing. You have been standing there for two days straight. I am afraid that the Upper Realm will take action because of my disrespect."

"You wretched creature. If it weren't for your strong power, I would not be willing to associate with a half-demon, half-angel creature like you." In her heart, Panacea secretly cursed in great anger.

From the beginning, Panacea came only for a purpose, while the Nephilim—the ruler of the Northern Region—had no intention of cooperating. He brought her to another place just to avoid problems.

The Ice Cave, which was the Nephilim's residence, turned out to have a warm room. When Panacea entered, not only warmth but also an unexplainable positive energy enveloped her. It felt like it could strengthen her.

The room looked like an ordinary room often found in every citizen's house. Dark brown wooden walls with various furnishings also made of logs, as well as a large fireplace located in the corner. The burning fire seemed to make her reflection dance.

"How many years have you been hunting him and how many times have you killed him?" the Nephilim asked while telling her to sit down.

After sitting comfortably, her face looked fresh again. She looked at the Nephilim with a strange feeling, hesitant for a moment to answer.

"I don't remember. What is certain is that it has been 7 millennia since we found the Devourer Destiny."

"Oh, so you have killed him that many times?"

"I said I don't remember. And we even killed him before he awakened as the Devourer Destiny."

The Nephilim served a cup of warm tea into the empty cup that was already in front of her. The scent of jasmine tea spread to almost every corner of the room, making Panacea a little nauseous.

***

Back in the sea, filled with ice chunks on its surface, this is the North Sea. Mahendra and Ningsih fell into the ocean just like that. If not for the protection of Ningsih's magic, their bodies would have frozen in an instant. The cold was unbearable, so cold that it made them shiver and unable to move.

"Hey! Turn the rudder, there's someone over there!" someone shouted from a distance.

A large ship approached them, and it turned out to be The Sun—Liliana's pirate crew. How lucky they were to be found, seeing Mahendra and Ningsih emerge from the sea.

A moment after being brought onto the ship, what made him curious was the reason Liliana was here. However, the most surprising thing was not reuniting with The Sun, but rather the figure with a glowing, bright, and incredibly vast aura.

"This person's aura seems familiar," Mahendra thought.