章節 21: The Arrival
A brilliant dark silver light shone instantly and immediately shrouded the area around it with illumination. What followed it was a strange distorted sound. It was as if a gateway between two different dimensions were forcefully connected to each other. And the distorted sound was nothing but the tear of the connection slowly separating the two realities.
Anyhow, what came after the illumination of the dark silver light was the formation of two figures. It took a while for them to be wholly formed, and after a short period from their emergence, their entire figure finally got revealed. One of them resembled a cold and serious army general, while the other appeared to be a gorgeous and noble maid.
The one who resembled an army general had silver-white hair which reached her waist. Her irises were light magenta in color, and her pupils seemed slit. She appeared to be rather beautiful and young as her skin was pale, smooth, and soft. The young girl had a cold expression on her face, and she was the first Krieger ever created.
She was Alastair Hecate, the Krieger.
The other, who appeared to be a noble maid, had jet-black hair strapped in a ponytail. She wore a clear ivory monocle on her right eye. Speaking of her eyes, each of its irises was black silver in color. It relatively made her look exotic and glamorous. She was tall and had a voluptuous body, resembling an hourglass.
The maid was Soteria, the only servant of the Krieger and was also considered the guide.
As they revealed themselves, they quickly inspected their surroundings in instinct. They had no hesitation as they looked at every nook and cranny. After the short inspection, they had the conclusion that no one was around them, and they got teleported into a foreign land.
Being in a foreign land, or highly likely an alien reality, was a complication no one would want to deal with. This realization made Alastair sigh in disappointment as she didn't return to the mansion she had considered home. It was pretty disappointing, resulting in Alastair shaking her head for no reason.
"What Shai said was actually true. I was hoping for her to be joking."
Alastair silently uttered as Soteria, who stood right beside her, couldn't help but slightly chuckle. Alastair raised an eyebrow upon hearing the quiet chuckle and immediately turned her gaze towards Soteria. Looking at her maid, Alastair questioned with a calm voice.
"Is there anything wrong, Soteria?"
Alastair's question sounded as Soteria slowly shook her head while trying to stop herself from continuing further. Alastair turned her gaze towards the heavens and found it extremely beautiful, just like before. However, it wasn't currently midnight as it appeared to be dawn.
The clear blue oceanic heavens. Such a nostalgic scenery and a gorgeous one at that.
'The mansion was nothing but a fleeting dream. There is no need to continue thinking about it.' Alastair gave up thinking about the mansion as it would give her nothing but heartbreak. Anyway, as she calmed herself and pulled herself away from the estate.
Alastair thought about Soteria's words.
Her worldview was to be loyal to the empire. But why was she devoted to the grand empire, to begin with? Well, that was because she wanted to change it from within it. She wasn't the only one with this dream, and there were many others just the same as her. But as the only one who had managed to walk this far.
It was her dream to create the empire she wished to exist.
But her creating an empire? Such was a big thing to declare. It would be extremely hard and would be near improbable. But Alastair wasn't someone that would give up on a challenge. So with this in mind, she silently thought to herself. 'An empire... I wonder if I can create it?'
'Well, that thought should be for me in the future.'
Alastair shook her head as she continued looking around in the unknown location they had teleported in. There was only one way she could describe it, An alien-like vegetation that appeared to be glowing with various colors. With this scene in mind, she wondered if she got teleported into an alien world.
But there would be no reason for Shai to teleport the two of them into an unknown alien world, so she turned her gaze towards Soteria and waited for her maid to give her a simple explanation about her situation. Soteria, on the other hand, was silently thinking within herself.
After a long while of an internal investigation within her mind, Soteria had reached her conclusion about their current location.
"It appears that we are in that realm, Lady Alastair," Soteria said with an emotionless voice which Alastair then instantly replied with lingering curiosity within her tone. "What realm is it, Soteria? Is it a dangerous one? Does anyone even live here, or is it a vast wasteland of nature?"
Questions sounded one after another as Soteria immediately answered with the same tone as before. "I believe that we are in the realm known as Spectrum, also known as the Realm of the Spirits. A reality where all spirits formed through astral energy inhabit."
"Spectrum?" Alastair was a little bit surprised as she was rather shocked by the information she had recently received. It was to be expected, but being in the realm where spirits live was relatively surprising no matter how she received such a piece of information. Though she was wondering one thing.
"No, this isn't the place where souls get thrown." But, before Alastair could even ask it, Soteria had already answered the question which was trapped within her mind. It was to be expected for Alastair to confuse spirits with souls. In a simple explanation, which Soteria would later give, the difference was this.
"A soul is the ego of a being, which inhabits the Materium Realms or Reality. After the being that lives in reality dies, the soul would get deconstructed and become pure astral energy which would then fall into the Spirit Realm or Spectrum. That is the explanation of what the soul is."
"The spirit, on the other hand, is different. They are beings that inhabit the Spectrum. They are born within it and emerge through the pure astral energy, which was what the Realm of Spectrum was made of. So they would always resemble those living in the Materium Realms."
"So the difference between the two is a tiny bit. The spirits aren't souls, so you wouldn't meet your acquaintance here. But you can meet someone that resembles your acquaintance. Though they won't remember you, and they might have a different personality than what you had remembered."
"The realm of the spirits is more or less like the afterlife, huh?" Alastair uttered with a voice of awe. Meeting her former acquaintances would have been interesting though they might be different from what she had remembered. There was no use in trying to find them, so she would simply let the journey speak for itself.
"Well then, that was an excellent explanation you got there. As expected of my guide." A smile formed on Alastair's face as she turned her head in a random direction. As the two of them were lost, the first thing they needed to do was find civilization.
"We are lost, my Soteria. Where shall we go to meet these spirits? I'm curious to see what they resemble despite looking like humans." Alastair uttered while Soteria replied with an emotionless tone. "The Krieger is a subspecies of the spirits, Lady Alastair. So you are one of them."
"Me? One of them? Do I look transparent to you?" Alastair questioned as she raised an eyebrow while Soteria shook her head and answered with the same tone. "You are the same as always, Lady Alastair. But spirits aren't transparent no matter the reality they enter. They simply become entangled rather than be transparent."
Thinking about it for a short while, Alastair did remember Shai's words about Krieger being a subspecies of the spirits. Now that she had thought about it. Since Krieger was a subspecies of the spirits, wouldn't that mean there would be more kinds of spirits in the Realm of Spectrum?
'I'd rather not deal with any of them.' Alastair thought to herself as she walked in the direction she picked. While walking in that direction, Soteria tilted her head in confusion and spoke with a bewildered tone. "Lady Alastair, the way back to civilization is that way?"
Soteria pointed in the direction, which was the opposite of what Alastair picked. But, like the lady she was, Alastair smiled and said with a confident tone. "I was just testing you if you could pinpoint our location. I know where the direction back to civilization is."
Alastair was pretty fast at placing excuses for her tumbles. Soteria nodded in understanding with a surprise expression plastered on her face. 'Was Lady Alastair making excuses?' Soteria questioned before shaking her head and continuing her thought. 'I highly doubt that.'
'Maybe, Lady Alastair was really testing me.'
After such a thought passed through her mind, she then looked at her master, who was walking in the direction she pointed at. She then nodded to herself as she followed her master on their way back to civilization. It would take a while, but Soteria wondered how the spirits would react to her master's presence.
As they walked through the alien and exotic forest of the Realm of Spectrum, Alastair had questions that escaped her mouth. They quickly got answered by Soteria without any problem, which made Alastair think of Soteria as a walking knowledge bank.
Such questions were...
"Soteria, will we go back to that mansion of mine?"
"Yes, Lady Alastair. Shai told us that in the interval of seven days, at the first dawn, we can return to that mansion."
"Soteria, how much do you know about Spectrum."
"I have all information relating to the general knowledge of the inhabitants. Therefore, we should be able to traverse this reality without that much of a problem."
"Soteria... does money exist in this place?"
"Yes, Lady Alastair. Money exists no matter what reality we enter."
"Soteria, can you use your chains to tie me up?"
"Yes, I can do that without much of a problem. Is there any reason why?"
"N-no, It's nothing..."
With time passing by, Alastair's questions became weirder and weirder. Such a long interaction continued until they had passed through the hill and had reached the first settlement that was pretty noticeable in the distance. Looking at it clearly, Alastair and Soteria underestimated its size.
It wasn't much of a village or a simple settlement. It was practically a city in itself. With giant and tall walls, thousands of guards, and many other things that resembled a town. Alastair gazed upon its entrance gate, which was also massive. Her expression didn't change much as she simply uttered with a calm voice.
"This city resembles the one I destroyed as the empire's general not too long ago. I remembered it crumbling in flames. Fortunately for its inhabitants, I ordered my army to warn them to get out." It was a strange nostalgic memory of a former city that Alastair had decimated.
"And, that's how the spirits look like. There are a lot of varieties." Alastair said while looking at the line in the entrance gate, which stretches a long way. It seems like the Realm of Spectrum was busier than she had anticipated. But it was still good as she might be able to do her dream.
'Wow, I never expected it to be this big.' It was Soteria's first time seeing a city as she was recently created. Even the tiny decimated village was big for her, but this city was a thousand times bigger. She wondered about the things she could find in this place. Maybe there could be treasures.
Alastair looked at Soteria, who stood right beside her. She then walked forward and uttered with a confident tone. "I doubted if I should continue with this plan of mine, but should we conquer this city, Soteria? After all, to create my dream empire. One must conquer."
A smile formed on Alastair's gorgeous face like the sun on the horizon brilliantly illuminated her body. She was like a goddess of war and along with that rare smile plastered on her face. It made everything better for Soteria. Hearing the words of her master, Soteria smirked and replied with not so emotionless tone.
"Your wish is my command."
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