Death… And Me

Chapter 4076: The Imperial Squabble

Around an hour later, Havira came out of the Astral Wisps’ Residence. She was accompanied by Lufua, who wanted to see her out.

"I didn’t expect you to be friends with these guys," Lufua said, looking at Kentucky and Rean.

Havira smiled. "You could say we have some Karma connecting us."

Lufua approached, looking serious at them. "If something happens to Havira, I’ll come after you. You hear me?"

Rean and Kentucky had to hold their laughs. Could she do something against them? Of course, they didn’t show that on their faces. The Wisp was just worried about Havira, who had been her close friend for many years. "Don’t worry. We will do our best to help her."

"Good!" Lufua finally returned, heading into the residence. The Astral Wisps would be leaving soon, too. They only came here for the wife selection, and since Lufua wasn’t chosen, she had no reason to stay here much longer.

Havira sighed, looking at the Astral Wisp. Finally, she turned around. "Let’s go."

Rean and the others nodded, and they headed to the Great Void Shifter Formations. That’s another good thing about that new Zentian Backing. They are now in the Zentian Imperial Palace, and it obviously has the Great Void Shifters they would need.

Yet, when they got there, Rean’s group was called over. There was a woman with a few more experts waiting for them. "Took you long enough."

Havira was taken aback. She knew who the woman was. Hick seemed to know as well, although his expression didn’t change.

Rean and Kentucky, however... "Do we know you?"

The woman’s mouth twitched. "You came to Zentian, and you don’t even know who I am? Are you doing it on purpose?"

Then, her Celestial Energy spread, and so did the Celestial Energy of her two Celestial Realm subordinates behind. They pressed the twins’ group. She was obviously upset with the question.

Havira quickly told Rean through Divine Sense, who finally understood who he was dealing with. "Sorry, Lady Zafina. My friend here just told me who you are. It’s just that our focus was entirely on Zanbril, so Kentucky and I failed to research the other members of the Zentian Empire."

Zafina narrowed her eyes. When she used her Celestial Energy, Havira was immediately pushed against the ground. However, although she could see that Rean and Kentucky were struggling a little, they managed to resist that pressure. Not only then, but so did Hick, although Hick seemed to be having a much harder time doing so.

"Hmph!" She waved her hand, and both she and her subordinates stopped their Celestial Energy. "Seems like the reports about your abilities weren’t an overstatement. I heard you joined Zanbril’s Faction. With your level, you will definitely be among some of the top Celestials if you manage to break through. Why are you taking Zanbril?"

Rean and Kentucky smiled. "Because his personality fits ours. He is pretty crazy, an oddball. You could see it by just looking at how he selected his wife. If we join his side, it will probably be a lot more fun."

Zafina wasn’t expecting that kind of answer. "Freaks are always weird, I guess. Anyway, if it is fun that you are looking for, I can definitely provide just as much. I came here to make you an offer. Give up working for Zanbril and come to my faction instead. I’m second in line to the throne, so you will gain a lot more than you will with Zanbril."

Kentucky got confused. "Zanbril hasn’t joined any of the princes and princesses vying for the throne yet. Shouldn’t you try to convince him instead? His brother, a guy named Zuk, seems to already be talking to him. And others should soon pay a visit to him."

"I know," Zafine wasn’t surprised. "However, I have no interest in Zanbril. The celestials allocated to protect him are only temporary for the duration of this wife selection thing. If we remove you from the equation, he doesn’t have much to offer. Thus, I’d rather have your support directly than through him. I haven’t met him much, but you are right when you say he is strange, so it isn’t necessary a good thing that he joins my side, if he joins at all."

Kentucky had an interesting expression on his face. "Errr... you do know I risked a battle to death against a Celestial while I’m still a Divinity, right? I think that kind of thing is even crazier than Zanbril’s personality."

"But you have real strength," Zafina added. "Zanbril might, one day, be a Celestial. You, however, already have that power before even reaching that level. It is only natural that I would be interested in you first and foremost. So, will you come to my side or not?"

Rean and Kentucky didn’t answer. Not that they didn’t intend to, but because there wasn’t a need to do so.

"Big Sister, that is not a very nice thing to do," Zanbril’s voice suddenly echoed from behind. There, one could see Zanbril approaching with Zuk by his side. Finally, Zanbril joined Rean and Kentucky’s group. "Don’t we have a rule to not touch the imperial family members who haven’t joined any of the factions, including their supporters?"

Zuk smiled as well. "Big Sister, that is too much desperation, don’t you think? Well, Zanbril also refused to join my side, though, so I know why you tried to ignore the rules."

"Hmph!" Zafina didn’t seem to care much about that. "Those are just some mouth-to-mouth rules. They aren’t written down. I can do whatever I like." Her attention turned to Rean and Kentucky. "So, what are you going to do?"

Rean and Kentucky put an arm each around Zanbril’s shoulder. "Of course, we are sticking to our little brother Zanbril. Look at his face, so cute! How could we leave him alone with so many lions and lionesses running around? What if he starts crying? We can’t let that happen, right?"

Zafina and Zuk had interesting expressions on their faces, both looking at Zanbril.

Zanbril would definitely have sentenced the Rean and Kentucky to death if they weren’t who they were. "Ahem... You don’t need to exaggerate, my friends. However, I’m happy you are sticking with me. I won’t let you down."

"Good!" Rean and Kentucky were happy to hear so.

Zafina knew there was no point in insisting anymore, so she decided to leave. "Remember, those are all mouth-to-mouth rules. You should be careful out there if you don’t have a real backer like me. Zanbril, the same goes for you. Let’s go!"

Zuk only followed to make sure Zafina wasn’t able to recruit Rean and Kentucky. "Well, she isn’t completely wrong. Little Brother, think about what we talked about, will you? I’ll take my leave."

Finally, the two left, leaving Zanbril and the twins’ group behind. "Sigh..."

Rean couldn’t help but ask. "Didn’t you say that no one could touch us until you selected a prince or princess to join? Zafina’s warning seemed to say otherwise."

"That was supposed to be the case," Zanbril explained. "However, I guess Kentucky truly caught a lot of attention. Those vying for the throne are truly interested in his capability. And soon they will be interested in you when their own investigations show that your entire group is made of freaks like Kentucky himself. I didn’t expect this to escalate to this extent."

"I see..." Rean couldn’t do much about it. "So be it. We are taking our leave now since we have things to do. Let us know if you need something through the Werdlem Network."

"Are you sure you want to leave after what you heard?" Zanbril asked out of concern. "If you stay, they definitely won’t be able to make a move here in the Empire. Outside, however..."

"Don’t worry." Rean smiled. "We might not be a match for high-level Celestials, but we have our own way of protecting ourselves."

"If you say so..." Zanbril didn’t insist. Then, he turned his attention to Hick. "And this is?"

"Who? Me?" Hick didn’t answer very well. "I’m a nobody. Let’s just say I’m here to meet some friends and now I’m leaving."

Zanbril didn’t believe that for one second. He wouldn’t pry into the twins’ group issues either, though. "So be it... If anything happens, try to return to the Zentian Empire somehow. No one will be able to touch you here in the palace." Then, finally, he left as well.

Seeing that Zanbril was gone, their group proceeded to the Great Void Shifters. Zanbril’s and the Zentian Empire’s name already showed their value.

"Destination?" The Formations Master asked, and he didn’t ask for any payments at all.

"Universe C44."