Deamonne

CHAPTER 9

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Arkell Reids

The Imperial Palace

High Priest's Mages stood in a circular formation, surrounding the round mana ball that hung in the air without a visible stem. The ball was not too big, yet its shiny surface blinded me. It was said that our land's sole Deity showed what one wished to see in the mana ball. It could be the future or the past. It could monitor anything and could provide answers to our questions. However, only a priest of pure soul and body, who remained untouched by various worldly pleasures, violence and greed, could summon answers and connect with the Deity.

"What do you see, High Priest Karrez?" I asked after having stood in silence for long. I had come to the conclusion of looking into the future now that the course of things had changed. Now that the human was in our possession, we could see how that changed the future in the magic ball and could also decide what should be done with the human element.

The preparation itself took us long enough, what I could call four hours. It was already dark outside. At night, the clouds looked more terrifying. The commoners had been notified not to step out in the dark. 

"Your majesty...the human element..." Priest's eyes widened and his jaw remained dropped. His eyes dilated as I stared into them. It looked like he had been staring into the abyss. He then shut tightly. He doubled up in pain, but the Mages warned me not to lay a hand on him.

The temple walls echoed his screams while I stood there and watched, wondering what had he seen which made him cry in pain. Soon, he collapsed on the floor.

"High Priest!" I attempted to lift him from the ground, but he resisted. The Mages stopped the process and the magic ball shattered into a million pieces, as if it was made of water.

"Your Majesty...kill...her..." Blood oozed out of his mouth as he spoke.

"Her? Who? What did you see in the magic ball?"

"Massacre...bl-ood on every...inch of our...land...must kill...we must kill that human..."

"Take him back to the temple." I sighed. All of that hard work was futile. Priest Karrez had lost all his senses temporarily. But I focused on what he tried to tell me. Kill the Element?  

Few hours later-

It was almost midnight. I had no right to sleep peacefully. I sat working on finance. The treasury was running out of resources but I refused the thought of increasing revenue. Farmers were toiling on land to produce enough grains for the entire kingdom. I had cut down on resources in the Imperial Palace and distributed the share to the poor . Yet it wasn't enough.

That leaves me with one resort.

I had been gifted with the ability to produce mana stones that contained different forms of magic, one of which I had given to Zeth. Even though the Northern Empire was rich in Mages, they did not have anyone with such abilities. Regardless of having rich mana stone reserves, they wished to accumulate different varieties of stones, for which they could spend a massive amount.  Even though it could damage my powers and take a long time to replenish, I could produce mana stones to export to the Northern Empire. 

"But I must remain powerful enough to face the Devil." I took off my gloves, untied my neckerchief and tossed them on the floor. I was tired. More than that, I was frustrated with my helpless state. 

"If I could...just get my hands on her." I grit, feeling bitter even by the thought of that human woman who was the cause of the devil's sudden awakening. 

"That woman must be killed. Maybe, the Priest meant that by killing her, the devil would return to his eternal sleep? If that is true, all I need to do is..." Before I could think about getting her head, I was reminded of my father's jealousy for that huge beast. He wanted that beast. 

'If we had that dog on our side, it could trample all our enemies, including the Devil.' He had said.

"That woman...must become mine." 

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