Angel Monarch

Queen Elizabeth felt the irony of her situation. This meeting between every independent city inside Europe turned out to be extremely boring.

They held it in her city, though, since everyone felt comfortable entering London's borders.

When Otto contacted her about the meeting, she wasn't surprised at all. Just like all the other leaders sitting at the table, the Queen also had her spies infiltrate the Anglic Order.

She knew about the attempted kidnapping and bomb threat before anyone else.

What surprised her was the declaration of war by both the Angelic Order and their allied continents, and Asia!

Elizabeth still remembered vividly about the War of Three Alliances. Despite fighting only in the final battle, she still felt the blood dripping from her hands... The thousands she had killed without moving a finger... Their screams continued to haunt her.

Before the war, she never had to kill other humans, but humanity always loved destroying themselves. Be it power, money, or something more profound like control, a single reason that's all it takes to march towards death!

But humanity isn't just a creature of destruction. They are also amazing in adapting to the situation.

It took barely twenty-five years for everyone to adapt and overcome the Apocalypse brought obstacles!

When fighting for survival came to an end, humans continued waging their wars, for reasons unknown to the Queen.

In all her life as a leader, she only wanted peace for her citizens, yet the ones believing in faith, in the Angelic Order, eagerly awaited the next war.

Elizabeth simply didn't understand. She never felt compulsion as most humans. She never wanted to kill others. And she never had reasons to fight... Until now!

"So what do all of you think? Is this plan sufficient for everyone, or do you have objections, perhaps better suggestions?"

The person speaking was none other than Napoleon. The brilliant strategist and horrible human being escaped Malta and took control of New Paris once more.

Most of his soldiers already deserted or died. Recruiting also proved impossible, since not a single citizen wanted to fight for a tyrant!

Elizabeth still couldn't believe this horrid leader now sat at the same table… At her table!

But he wasn't the only surprising guest. From across Napoleon sat another familiar face.

His name was Alton, one of the three Stellar who survived the war on the Federal Alliance's side.

Beast Lord and Swordmaster—the two other leaders—didn't attend this meeting. Same with Napoleon's two underling Stellars.

It was a strange sight. Two alliances who fought in the past war, now sat at the table of the third alliance… How ironic…

Other than them, two more leaders attended this meeting. Antal, the Stellar leader of Buda-Pest and Otto, the Stellar leader of Castleburg, with his sidepiece, Bea.

Elizabeth's eyes kept glancing at the young woman's beautiful face. Her skin had a greenish glow, which was mesmerizing to look at.

Her shiny brown hair seemed longer and more disheveled since the last time they met two years ago.

The woman's green eyes now held gold in its inside, but that wasn't why she brought interest to the Queen's eyes.

The woman seemed tired. Dark circles grew around her eyes. She kept fidgeting with her shaky hands, and she only stared at the floor.

Even worse, sometimes when Otto articulated with his hands, Bea clearly twitched and leaned away, as if afraid of being hit.

These were all assumptions she made purely based on body language, but compared to the proud, free woman she saw two years ago, Elizabeth felt pity for this miserable person.

The conversation went on between the four, while the Queen's boredom grew.

She watched these people argue and laugh together like they didn't send their citizens and soldiers into death's embrace.

Just witnessing this exchange felt disgusting, but she needed to hold on!

"What do you think, your Majesty? You've been awfully quiet during this discussion, even though we're in your city! Should we consider Asia's offer?"

Otto's words brought Elizabeth back to reality. She only half-heartedly payed attention, but she still understood the gist of Asia's offer.

They wanted the independent city-states in Europe to join on their side, attacking the Angelic Order. In turn, they could distribute the captured cities between each other.

Initially, Asia's superior Stellar count made the offer attractive. However, only a fool would accept such a proposition.

"I thought you people were smarter than openly walking into slavery. You really think that fighting the Angelic Order would lead to you gaining more power?"

A small, cunning smile grew on Elizabeth's bored face.

"Back in the Old World, there was a famous saying… Divide and conquer! It means destroying many smaller forces is much easier than fighting against an orderly, united nation! Why do you think Asia hates the Angelic Order so much?"

Her question meant to be rhetoric, yet Alton wasn't smart enough to realize that.

"Because that stupid 'Princess' tried kidnapping one of the Masters' grandson! Didn't you hear the news?"

For the first time during the meeting, Bea's gaze moved away from the floor. Finally, Elizabeth saw glimpses of the proud woman in her greenish-gold eyes.

Just by hearing her daughter being referred to as stupid, bought fury to her presence.

The shaking in her hands suddenly stopped, becoming deathly still. The few plants around the room rapidly grew just from her passive anger.

The Queen noted another change in the woman… Her Rank!

Two years ago, she was just a mere Ascended, but not anymore!

Elizabeth stayed silent after Alton's words, curiously awaiting what Bea would do. However, something she already expected happened.

Just as Bea nearly leapt over the table to attack the Stellar, a firm hand landed on her shoulder… Otto's hand…

He whispered a few words to Bea, which turned her anger into worry and fear. Her eyes soon returned to the floor, and her hand fidgeting continued.

The Queen's gaze lingered on the broken woman for a few moments, then she sighed sadly. Her eyes then went back to Alton.

"You are a dumbass if you take their casus belli as truth… The reason they want the Angelic Order destroyed is because they stand for order! They don't want excess power, or control! They want to unite the world!"

Both Alton and Napoleon scoffed at her obvious bias, but neither had anything to rebut her argument.

Otto still kept on smiling gently, but the more Elizabeth gazed into his dark gray eyes, the less genuine and more cunning the smile seemed.

"Well, I guess you made your point quite clear. I'm not saying I agree with it, but I do see some merit in your ideas. I also think we should stay out of the conflict for now… Let's see Asia's forces, then make an educated decision!"

Suddenly, Antal, Buda-Pest's Prime Minister stood up with anger evident in his expression.

"I told you during the discussion! No matter what, I won't go to war against the Angelic Order! Most of my citizens already follow their faith! If I ordered my army against their Goddess's daughter, they would immediately impeach and replace me!"

Otto exhaled deeply, a clear sign of him trying to maintain control. He then glanced up at his old friend with a not so friendly smile.

"My citizens also follow that strange religion, but unlike you, I don't rely on them to fight my battles! If you're so worried about impeachment, then rule as a tyrant, a king, emperor, dictator, whatever you want to call yourself!"

A sudden chill filled the room as Antal narrowed his light purple eyes. An insane laughter escaped his pursed lips, and with a sudden move he slammed onto the table, splintering it.

"You little piece of shit! You might not care about your people, but I fucking do! They have the right to decide if I'm fit to lead, or not! Taking these rights away isn't an option, and frankly, you disgust me just by suggesting it!"

Otto continued to smile, while slowly he stood up. Next to him, Bea's trembling increased while her eyes focused on the ground, like an animal gripped by fear.

"Get off your high horse, Antal! Your aura passively influences people and their emotions! You think Buda-Pest's elections are fair, when you are the person running for office? How could a regular human ever win against someone like you!"

Antal's expression became even angrier as he stepped up to Otto.

"Are you suggesting I cheat during elections? That I fake my votes? That I influence my voters? Fuck you!"

Elizabeth watched with curiosity the two men's threats. She wanted to intervene, since if those two began fighting here, it would've cost many of her citizens' lives. However, she didn't need to.

When they were close to exchanging fists, a portal opened nearby, and the surprise guests finally arrived to the party!

Princess Victoria and Prince Henry walked through in their regality. Close to them, Joan, Lucy, Leslie and Cassandra followed.

Each of the six while couldn't outright defeat Stellars, they could most definitely hold their ground against them.

The Princess's eyes went to the two men standing nearby, recognizing them both.

She couldn't see Bea, since Otto stood in the way, but her mother saw the Princess. Her bright golden-green eyes glistened with tears at the appearance of her daughter, and she seemed on the verge of jumping out of her seat.

That's when Otto's hand landed on her shoulder once more, freezing her blood and excitement. Her planned actions ceased abruptly, and she looked back down at the ground with teary eyes.

Elizabeth frowned at the strange display of emotions on Bea's face. Her previous sadness now held a glimmer of hope, and a small smile even crept onto her depressed face.

A deathly silence fell upon the room as the regal couple, and their entourage appeared.

Suddenly, a small, cunning smile grew onto Vicky's lips, and she glanced up at the rafters above, right into the dark eyes of a lone raven staring down.

Behind her, Damien moved quickly. Before the bird could've flown away, he shot out a small streaking of crimson flame, burning the creature to ashes.