Chapter 70: Ara

"Let us all applaud the young man for the spectacular show just now. " Vince said, clapping as he walked over to his wife as the music died down.

"It was a lot of fun, thank you for dancing with me. " Shade said, giving a polite bow to his dance partner and returning to Alice and Yumi who were still slightly in shock by the spectacle they just witnessed.

"Dancing is really easy, why can't you do it? " Shade whispered to Yumi who replied by punching him in the arm as hard as she could.

"Be nice Shade, you have to teach her to dance as good as you do now. " Alice replied, trying not to laugh.

"Like hell I will let him dance with me. " Yumi said, annoyed.

"You are right, she would have to be able to dance for me to dance with her. " Shade replied with a grin.

"Okay okay, be good you two. Yumi we should head back, I have to go see my mom while I have the chance. " Alice replied hoping she would be able to see Nyx just as much when she goes back to Lord Kira.

"Alright, you can head back without me. I still have to meet with people and uphold my appearance as my father's successor. " Yumi replied before giving Alice a hug and walking over to speak with some of her father's friends.

"Come on Shade, let's leave Yumi for her business. Alice said, taking his hand and leaving the ball to go back to the Astala Estate.

Walking out of the Ball Alice and Shade were both transported to Nyx's domain.

"Alice where is this??? " Shade said nervously, looking around getting ready to attack if he needed to.

"Relax, Nyx must have brought us here. Just follow me and do not touch anything. " Alice replied, leading the way to Nyx's home.

| Emergency Quest - Leave the Realm of the Gods |

| Reward - N/A |

"Mom?! " Alice yelled out running towards Nyx's home worried seeing the system quest pop up randomly.

"Alice, I don't think we should go… I have a really bad feeling about this. " Shade said, taking a step back and pulling Alice's hand to stop her.

"THEN GO BACK HOME! " Alice yelled, taking Shade back to the Estate as quickly as she could before returning to Nyx's domain.

Running up to Nyx's house she ignored the repeated notifications telling her to leave the Realm. Bursting through the front doors of the house Alice fell to her knees under the bone shattering pressure she felt from inside.

'Mom, where are you?!? ' Alice used telepathy to try to reach Nyx.

'ALICE LEAVE NOW!!!! ' Nyx yelled out, sounding scared.

'Not until yo~ ' Alice tried saying before getting hit with more pressure causing her to lay flat on the ground barely able to move anymore.

Hearing slow steps coming her way from around the corner Alice tried her hardest to get back up only to feel her leg break from trying to move.

"GAhH " Alice yelled out in pain.

"What do we have here? " A Short woman with bright red hair said as she walked over to Alice who was getting close to losing consciousness.

"Oh right, lower lifeforms cannot do much in the presence of a High God haha, silly me. " The woman said, pulling in her pressure and letting Alice breath normally again.

"Oooo A Demigod. How interesting I must have been asleep for quite a while if I missed such a rare occasion. My name is Ara. Do tell me your name, child. " Ara said, tilting her head to the side waiting on Alice to respond.

"Where is my mom? " Alice asked in pain from her leg which felt like it was shattered to dust.

"Did you not hear my question? Seems I need to educate you. " Ara said, picking Alice off the ground by her throat almost crushing it.

"Last chance, what is your name? I really do not like asking things twice. I suggest you answer this time. " Ara said with a serious face.

"aLgiSe " Alice tried saying through her grip.

Moving her hand to the side Ara sent Alice crashing into a marble pillar breaking it in half.

"M..y na-me i.. Al-ce " Alice tried saying, wishing she had listened to the system's quest to leave the realm.

"Was that really so hard? " Ara said, withdrawing all of her pressure and walking over to Alice who was trying to muster up the strength to escape through her shadow.

Sinking into her shadow as fast as she could Alice tried to leave only to be pulled back out by Ara who seemed even more furious that Alice had tried to leave before she was done with her.

"I did not give you permission to leave. Sit. " Ara said, annoyed shoving Alice back onto the ground letting her know leaving was futile.

"Please Ara, I beg you to let my daughter go! She has nothing to do with this! " Nyx said, panicked as she limped out of a shadow nearby.

Tilting her head back to see Nyx, Ara smirked.

"This little one did mention she was your child didn't she, what a great opportunity. " Ara said now looking at Alice like she was going to devour her.

Seeing the look in Ara's eyes she felt fear that penetrated her to the core causing Alice to start quivering.

"Please, I will do anything just let her go! " Nyx said, trying to rush over to Ara.

"Take another step and your little girl will no longer have a head. " Ara said in a low tone just loud enough for Nyx to hear her.

Stopping in her tracks Nyx fell to her knees. "Please.. "

"Don't you think you have had your fun yet Ara? The grudge you have against Nyx has lasted since the great war of power. " A tall slender man covered in flames said, walking through the doors.

"Shut up Jorel. This is none of your business. " Ara replied, tossing Alice to the side and stepping up to Jorel who smiled.

"Consider this the favor I owe you Nyx. Come with me and leave Nyx and Alice alone. We have much to talk about now that you have woken up. " Jorel said, putting his hand on Ara's shoulder and vanishing.

"Alice!!! " Nyx yelled out limping over to Alice as fast as she could.

"What just happened? Who was that?? " Alice questioned, still holding back the tears from all the pain she was in.

"Her name is Ara. She is a higher God who has a grudge against me for taking the man she loved from her… That isn't important right now. We need to get you to Jun so he can help you heal. " Nyx said using what strength she could to take them to Jun's place where her and Alice fell to the ground.

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Walking in circles in the lobby of the Estate, Shade was trying not to panic and cause a scene for Yumi as he could feel Alice was seriously injured.

"Fuck the ball. " Shade said before rushing out of the estate to go and find Yumi.

Stopping at the gates Shade started to walk back.

'Yumi will just worry there is nothing she or I can do to help Alice right now anyway… ' Shade thought to himself struggling with what to do.

'Yumi, I have to leave for a little while with Alice. I will be back soon I promise. ' Shade said, using telepathy to let her know he was leaving.

Going back to his true form Shade began running at full speed towards the Demon Kingdom to let them know Alice may not be back in the time given to her.

Jumping from shadow to shadow he made good time making it to the Demons borders.

Seeing Demons ahead of him getting ready to attack him Shade jumped up returning to his human form. "Wait! I need to see the Demon Lord Kira right now!!! It concerns his daughter!! " Shade said as the Demons took him to the ground and bound his hands.

"What do you think we should do? What if he really does have information about her? " One of the demons said while picking him up and wrapping a cloth around Shades waist.

"If we take him to the castle we will be able to see our families a little early so why not just bring him? " The other demon replied.

"That's right I am her familiar if you take me to see the Demon King you will get to see your families sooner! " Shade said, trying to get them to hurry up and take him to the castle.

"Whatever, if he ends up lying Lord Kira will probably just eat the beast. "

"Hahaha! Yeah you're right. Alright buddy let's go. "

Hearing their words Shade started sweating still not knowing if the Demon King was as scary of a person as he was thinking he was.