Chaos filled the transformed clearing as Elinor kneeled beside her mother, clarity taking the place of shock; Butter had taken command of her soldiers, directing them to cover them, and Garu stayed close to her father in case there were any further attempts on his life.

  The thunder and rain increased with the coming storm while Elinor’s mind worked and the humans stayed low with those near cover attempting to hide behind the vehicles or goods. Audrey swiftly moved to block her mistress’ nakedness using the umbrella, calmly ordering Adoncia to bring a sheet to wrap around her for temporary cover.

  Quin hovered overhead, intimidating presence instantly causing these clanless attackers to regret their assault, yet Elinor knew this was far from their plan; something else was at work here, because these ragtag, outcast ri’bot could never have impressed Garu with their skill or single out key humans to be dealt with.

  Mika went on the offensive with some of the undead torlim Butter had raised earlier, Elinor entering the frenzy of information they sent and silencing the discussion in the Nexus as she scanned the developing scene.

  Kill them and bring me their corpses, Mika. Carlos, fetch me Roman; he will know how this even happened.

  Her Staff Sergeant was swift to reply. “Hmm. The blind man was actually coming to me just before this happened, Empress. We’re on our way.”

  Butter hissed while touching down on her shoulder, her other butterflies hovering nearby. “There’s something… off about the soil, Priss—an evil presence gathering all around us. I suspect the Scarlet Hand is making a move. Will you raise your mother? We could use the support since we don’t know what we’re dealing with if I’m being honest.”

  Elinor’s tight eyes shifted from her mother’s dead eyes, crimson pooling around her head as her father panicked, trying to make his way toward them from the frantic humans closing in tighter to have the protection of Quin.

  From a small gap in the crowd, she found Valdar shielding the stunned dryad girl, red blood dripping down the elder’s slick skin from his shoulder down his back; his broken staff lay nearby, the old ri’bot still holding the upper half that had taken the brunt of a projectile before it lodged in his flesh.

  A targeted hit job… she growled, spotting many of the man’s clan swarming to protect the High Plant Caller, yet he left the girl in the care of his high warrior while jumping straight for them with shocking speed and strength. Let him by.

  Quin turned her attention away from the incoming ri’bot to those warriors in the patches in their barrier that hadn’t been sealed. The quen’talrat’s presence made it easy for the other warriors to recover and go on the offensive with far greater numbers; it wouldn’t even be a contest since they’d only been used as a distraction.

  Waiting for Valdar, Elinor sighed as her father fell beside her, breathing heavily. “Tiffany! Elinor, w-what is happening—she…”

  “It’s okay, Dad,” she whispered, brushing back her mother’s hair with tight eyes. “It will be okay.”

  Shimmering green flames lit along her arm, drawing his frightened gaze. Butter was right, if the Scarlet Hand were preparing something big from this attack, they’d need to exercise what she’d just unlocked. In fact, the assault may have been a ploy to spark her anger and go after Krava, but the elder chief wasn’t stupid enough to pull something like this.

  This is the perfect time to test the new monarch titles I’ve gained, Elinor whispered to Butter, hand cupping her mother’s cheek as her emerald fire drew upon her spirit, giving her all the information she needed. If I raise her as a Royal, she’ll be over the Witchery Court, which makes sense, given her ecology background. I won’t lose her.

  Valdar shot out of the sky to land beside them, making those nearby back away in fright; his tone was cautious and without a hint of pain from his wound. “Empress, the Whispering Shade has awakened from deep within the planet. You mustn’t heed its lulling calls! Beware, it is attempting to speak to your Plant Caller now!”

  “Then I should be quick,” Elinor stated, willing her mother to be infused with the title that would lift her spirit into the highest station The System could currently grant by drawing on the strength of those that believed in her. “Make no mistake, Valdar, this was not your friend’s doing but—”

  “Priss, something’s wrong!”

  Elinor felt it, though, focus snapping to her mother as she pulled her spirit out of oblivion. Shadows erupted from the soil, mixing with her green flames, foreboding flooding her entire being. Something burrowed through her Nexus link as she connected her mother to it. A virus had used the powerful bind she’d performed on her mother to bypass all her Defenses.

  “Shit…”

  “Priss, we’re being isolated in the Nexus!”

  Her father’s fearful eyes snapped to her with Valdar as they saw the unusual change in how her undead were raised, but her attention was entirely on a host of System notifications and her new opponent.

  [Undead Raised as the Monarch of Witchery]

  [Tiffany Valera: Monarch - Witchery Core - Uncommon-S - Witch - Occultist - Lv. 1]

  [Monarch Slots: 0]

  [Monarch of the Dark Arts Unlocked - Queen of Witchery]

  [Witchery Advanced Classes and Subclasses Available]

  [Student of Witchery Available]

  [Student of Witchery Advanced to Teacher of the Occult]

  [Teacher of the Occult Advanced to House of the Occult]

  [Familiar Bond Available]

  [Coven Circle Available]

  [Book of the Occult Available]

  [Grade Advancement - Monarch of Death II Unlocked]

  [New Monarch Slot Added; 1 Available]

  [Phylactery - Advanced to C-tier]

  [Raise Undead - Advanced to C-tier]

  [Minion Pool - Advanced to C-tier]

  [Death Pool - Advanced to C-tier]

  [Level Up - Level 7]

  [1 Stat Point Added: 1 Available]

  [1 Equipable Feat Choice Added: 1 Available]

  [Mika - Advanced to Level 6]

  [Mika - Advanced to Common F-tier]

  [Carlos Sánchez - Advanced to Level 3]

  [Carlos Sánchez - Advanced to Common B-tier]

  [Audrey Guerra - Advanced to Level 2]

  [Audrey Guerra - Advanced to Poor A-tier]

  [Adoncia Vences - Advanced to Level 2]

  [Adoncia Vences - Advanced to Poor A-tier]

  Just as the fire sank into her mother’s flesh, illuminating her veins green and then orange—the color of the Witchery Class—reforming her body with the tainted force slipping through their newly established connection, Elinor’s vision went black. Cut off from her own spiritual Nexus, her Feats gradually being yanked out of her control.

  Thrust into darkness, she realized her mistake—the signs were obvious, in hindsight—the cultist had managed to communicate with the entity inside the planet and set up a trap that would provide it the means to attack her on a spiritual level—it was trying to possess her.

  Resolve and anger rising within her, Elinor glared into the darkness. I will not have everything I’ve worked for taken from me! Butter, isolate whatever is attacking us while I buy us time.

  They were practically fused together by the spirit, which meant she wasn’t alone in this fight, and whoever this Whispering Shade was, it would not take over her soul or the Seed of power within her without a fight.

  “I’ll act as interference, but hurry, Priss,” Butter soberly returned, a flash of golden radiance blinding. “Hehe. I am going to enjoy laughing at this creature when it fails, and we meet face-to-face.”

  Elinor blinked as the brilliance left her sitting inside of her comfortable throne by the blue-flamed fire within her phylactery. Ironically, the reason many of her Feats were advancing so soon was because of the pressure this entity was putting on them.

  [Monarch of Death - Advanced to E-tier]

  With Butter acting as the shield to allow her this opportunity, Elinor quickly brought up her status menu, swapping to the Stats Page. If this thing was attempting to seize control, then the option of increasing what was giving them the current ability to resist was simple: she used her recently gained Stat Point into Control Resistance, hoping that the single point would be enough.

  Not a moment after she’d made the investment, Butter’s glorious form materialized in the seat adjacent to hers on her half of the large space they shared. There were rips in her dress and light burns were evident on her bright skin, yet the goddess wore a savage smile while tracing the damage.

  “Hah. Well, you certainly have become quicker at responding to things, Priss. Aren’t you going to thank me for taking the brunt of the spiritual heat?”

  “Why should I thank you for something that is only natural? Could you have made the Stat investment? No. It was only logical that you took the fire since you are supposed to be my shield as my High Monarch.”

  “Humph.” Butter gave her a slight pout. “Would a little gratitude from time to time kill you?”

  Elinor gave a gracious nod. “Hmm-hmm. You did good, Butter.”

  “Better than nothing, I suppose,” she sighed, sweeping back her liquid locks and glaring across her side of the room to see a shadowy mass form into the shape of a man, no doubt to better relate to them. “So, our uninvited guest, shall we continue this dance? I am not a fan of vulgar creatures that would so boldly break into a girl’s room uninvited.”

  They watched the soundless entity survey the line that separated their halves of the room, wispy hand sweeping along the invisible divide that locked him out of Elinor’s side. Silence took them for a time as Elinor smiled and parsed through what she was able to gather from his actions, her gloomy music automatically playing in the background, helping to keep her mind steady.

  Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

  Due to Butter and her spirits being intertwined, they shared many aspects of their Seeds, and her Resistances were included in that. Fortunately, they’d reached almost a stalemate with this insurgent, but she was under no illusion that they’d win this contest in the long run.

  Of course, she didn’t need to after raising her mother since her Class was perfectly suited to adapt to any situation, given time, and they’d bought themselves just that. Now, all there was to do was wait and investigate so they could respond when out of this game.

  Deep, umbra-like eyes swirled into being like a bottomless abyss as he slowly turned to them, frightening mouth splitting to show darkness beyond its black frame; the Whispering Shade held its hand behind its back before approaching Butter, making her twin’s jaw and eyes tighten as it took a wispy throne for itself.

  “Well, what a delicious puzzle you two are…” he spoke, voice ominous and masculine. “So innocent on the surface—weak—but with depth so vast it spans beyond eternities. Perhaps I was a bit too… hasty in my actions.”

  “Hmm?” Elinor appraised the entity with the soft piano playing in the background, wrist supporting her cheek as she creased an eye and she named him. “You’re going to have to do better than that, Shade. Look what you’ve done to Butter.”

  Her twin smirked, adjusting her damaged dress and running a finger down her burned neck. “Not only that, but you continue to seal us off from our soldiers because you can’t risk us communicating with Elinor’s mother.”

  Shade’s crescent, smiling mouth and large, vortex eyes seemed to take more pleasure at her comment than he should as if savoring a succulent secret. “Is she your mother still? I wonder. Not that I’m particularly versed on such a concept as parentage or these blinding emotions creatures such as yourself possess.”

  Elinor’s lips fell at the comment, yet instead of letting her mind fester on the uncomfortable bait, she returned her focus to her status window. She could still perform some tasks, and one of those was slotting Quin into her newly obtained second language slot; luckily, unlike transferring the slot, this was instant. She may not be able to communicate with the rest of her undead, but there was a chance they could still speak to each other to coordinate this creature’s expulsion from her Nexus with [Monarch of Death]’s tiers continually being boosted by this entity’s invasion.

  “True or not,” she whispered, scanning the changes, growth, and insight her mother’s resurrection had given her about the monarch titles. “I will deal with whatever your interference has caused when rid of you…”

  [Monarch of Death - Advanced to D-tier]

  “Also, I appreciate the support in expanding my Nexus,” she giggled, noticing all the new additions her mother brought came in the form of developing a rather fascinating addition to her empire: her mother could teach mortals the art of witchery and the Dark Arts under the right conditions, one of which was servitude toward her court.

  What an interesting direction we can go in building my new, budding empire, Elinor mused to herself, letting Butter further engage the creature.

  Does that mean if I raise more monarchs to fill another Core of the Royal Court, they’ll be able to provide certain Feats to my followers? It’s probably more linked to Butter’s Seed than my own, which means if we restore her, that portion should strengthen. If we are to stand on our own in this mystical and dangerous world, it will certainly help.

  She grimaced upon seeing her potential Feats fuzzed out with a few others; Shade was blocking anything he could to stop them. To her mild interest, though, her current citizen count kept rising, being 268, at the moment—it likely had to do with the attack and chaos—people looking to her to protect them, as she’d already shown herself capable of doing.

  [Phylactery - Advanced to B-tier]

  Elinor’s neon-green eyes darted to Butter and Shade as they took an unusual turn in the conversation; her twin had been scoring a number of wins recently.

  “Hmm. So,” her twin began after a few more jabs passed between them. “You are trapped inside of this planet, and, obviously, you are quite powerful to be able to exert this influence while chained… What’s the story behind that?”

  Shade mirrored the blonde’s posture, legs crossed and sitting back with an almost mocking grin before observing their very opposite style of rooms.

  “If there is one thing I connect with these frail creatures on, it is curiosity. Since you are new to this planet, how about we share stories? I am dying to know more about your customs, proclivities, and intricacies of what you call… humans, correct? These furnishings are… curious.”

  Elinor closed the status window; Butter had discovered a way forward that could benefit them greatly. Was he a creature of logic or emotion? Limited in both or far beyond her own grasp of the topics? Perhaps this was the time to test it. The pair glanced her way as she displayed a sinister smile and went on the offensive.

  “How can we be sure you’re even telling us the truth or know that we aren’t speaking pretty lies? Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying; I’d love nothing more than to hear tales about this world’s history. However, if there is to be any exchange, there needs to be some measure of trust brokered between us, no?”

  Butter hummed her agreeance. “It will be very challenging to prove to each other our sincerity, heh, under the circumstances, yet even more bothersome to play these games of truth or lie. This space has the ability to conjure a great many things, so why not invent a little item that will solve this issue…”

  Elinor was impressed by her suggestion and acted it out, motioning toward a red and green holographic display above her fireplace, showing a photo identifier of who spoke falsehoods and making Shade tilt his head to the side in fascination.

  “Such… diverse and sporadic imagination is uncommon among the many worlds and dimensions I have traversed. Ah! It appears it works,” he snickered, seeing the flashing red sign that said false. “I suppose I should clarify in saying among your… current development as a species. Wonderful!”

  She held her fist against her mouth, focus flicking to the monitor as it flipped to green again. “Then we can begin… We will go in turns. Why are you curious about us?”

  It was an important question to determine if further understanding his victims granted him more leverage in controlling them.

  “Ooh. A complicated and simple one. I love the forethought you’re putting into this discuss—ahh… a pity,” he frowned.

  Elinor caught a similar expression in the blonde beside her as a skeletal, orange-flamed hand rose out of the ground like a ghost to trap them in a cage, yellow moss growing out of it to leak pink liquid down the bony fingers.

  “Your mother’s work, no doubt,” Butter mused, seeing the dissatisfied look on Shade’s shadowy face. “It seems we have more time together than you thought; she’s stopped your advance.”

  Smirk returning, the figure took a more casual posture again. “For now… Unless she can find a better solution, this ward will only grow weaker as I probe its flaws.”

  Elinor’s lips became a line as the board stayed green, yet a new thought brought a smile back. “Perhaps that’s true for this particular ward she’s created… but how much time do you have until your strength runs out and you’re forced to slink back into the earth?”

  She let the silence hang for a time as he pondered her question, not so amused now with the turn of events and processing how to proceed. He was intelligent—quite intelligent—but she suspected this planet was his prison, and that said a lot about Shade, yet also meant he had set limitations. The Scarlet Hand had probably helped in providing this opening.

  “You are very clever,” he whispered, staying true to the name Valdar gave him. “Perhaps we could develop a partnership of sorts if you do manage to escape my grasp. You remind me quite a bit of Ke’Thra’Ma.”

  Despite her ears being pricked by the name-drop of The White God the ri’bot were so terrified of, she knew what he was doing.

  “You’re stalling now.”

  Butter snickered. “I thought you were curious, Shade. What are you afraid of?”

  “Fear? No,” he laughed, eyes narrowing. “Caution and maneuvering things in a proper direction is not fear but logical and calculated. “If you can somehow survive for the next eight hours, then you will have won this first battle. I do look forward to this discussion! I may have to visit the world you came from in time, and your input will be most appreciated.”

  Elinor mirrored the savage gleam the man presented. From his perspective, they were less than insects, or so he wanted them to believe. In truth, he knew far more about Butter and her than they, themselves, and that was why he’d made such a concentrated effort to seize them now.

  Shade even let it be known that if he failed, he was still open to future arrangements, which meant she had something he needed that was invaluable. Naturally, what did he want? To be free from his prison—it was all too obvious.

  Butter slid her finger down her repairing skin and dress. It seemed their new Royal Court member had given them more wiggle room than they’d thought since she was able to purify and consume some Death Orbs to restore herself; the blonde was likely doing far worse than she let on after taking the brunt of this creature’s assault.

  “I’m glad we can finally be honest with each other,” the aquamarine-eyed girl said, folding her fingers in her lap. “Where to begin… I believe it is my turn?”

  He chuckled. “How unbalanced, but I will humor you… Ask away.”

  Elinor paid close attention to every action the entity made in their stalemate conversation; one interesting point of discussion came from his desire to understand every deity or godly figure that spotted various cultures in Earth’s history. Clearly, he believed they were real and a potential threat if he invaded.

  Butter was no help on such a topic, and it wasn’t like Elinor was an expert in mythology, but she told him the main ones she’d come to know like the big names among Norse, Greek, Egyptian, and a few Asian names that came to mind.

  She explained there were likely hundreds of various other cultural gods, which impressed the creature, asking how they all managed to remain in the same cramped world. Unfortunately for him, it was unlike Elinor had an answer since she’d only recently started to even consider the idea that they were real.

  Likewise, when flipping the conversation around, she learned Shade had been responsible for the destruction of the deities on this planet, laughing at her inquiry regarding the Supreme Chiefs of the ri’bot.

  Most had been destroyed long, long ago, and they’d been more like demigods than actual deities. In fact, the ri’bot had advanced to near the same degree two-thousand years prior, calling themselves the Searing Concord and using the Crystal gateways the entity himself used to create an Empire across dimensions.

  It was the Searing Concord that had mutated and created the quen’talrat into a sort of shock troop—slaves to act as the initial fighting force. What’s more, every one of the originals had been nearly as powerful as Ke’Thra’Ma himself before their Empire and means of connecting their worlds were utterly wiped out by stepping beyond their means.

  Ke’Thra’Ma was also a student of Shade in his trek to the north, having learned much at the hands of the chained entity. Even more interestingly, she got him to admit that he had played a role in clipping the warlord’s wings by whispering in the ears of many other nations and people to set things in motion.

  Everything was a piece on the board for him to manipulate, telling Elinor that he was already making plans across the planet to push things in a direction to force her into his palm. Even if she did make it out of this, their paths would undoubtedly cross again.

  Shade off-handedly confirmed in the tales that there were many ways to reach other planes of existence or worlds hidden throughout this planet that was rich with tens of thousands of years of creatures and cultures coming and going from the Crystals.

  This planet had seen quite a few apocalyptic events that had reshaped its surface, and secrets were everywhere if you had the eyes to see them. Every comment led back to the same conclusion: without him, she would be drowning in enemies, but she knew better than to give in to the threat. It would be better to rise to the occasion and overcome his expectations.

  Elinor took from his stories potential soldiers and artifacts she could acquire to further her goals. In return, she was amused to tell him about humanity’s rise from their ape-like ancestors to modern advancement. Yet, she didn’t miss the little inquiries about her change and development.

  Questions about their Seeds and how they were raised—Butter didn’t have a clue since amnesia had stolen her life—he did blunder, revealing something she shouldn’t have been that shocked to learn: they were sisters.

  One positive light from this eight-hour incursion came from the consistent Tier upgrades she received from Shade’s constant attack throughout their exchange; her [Phylactery] had capped out hours before, and finally, her next Feat finished its evolution. They were getting stronger every minute of this spiritual siege, and their time together was coming to an end.

  [Phylactery - Advanced to S-tier]

  [Monarch of Death - Advanced to S-tier]

  “How can you be sure?” Elinor muttered, tight gaze shifting to her indignant twin.

  “Do you really just see me as some… some tumor in your soul, Priss?!”

  Elinor made a weak shrug. “I mean… aren’t you?”

  “Unbelievable!”

  Shade showed them a sly smirk. “Oh, I am certain you two are bound in spirit, body, and Intelligence… Fashioned from the same cloth, one could say, and fated to meet as enemies throughout eternity. Yet, this time, things… seem to be different.”

  Knowing it would piss her twin off, Elinor shot a side-long look her way. “Yes. I won, apparently.”

  “You don’t know that, Priss, and I think we have enough on our plate with the enemy in front of us,” she huffily retorted, fidgeting with her dress.

  Shade leaned forward, entertained gaze drifting between them. “Shall I tell you a little about ‘Butter’ that she does not know herself for… perhaps a little action from you should you survive this encounter? I’ll offer a little bonus right now… She looks precisely how she did when you killed her in your previous lives, Elinor, which is why there are… some differences.”

  “She—you killed me?!” Butter hissed, scratching her temple and glaring at the green board. “I knew I hated you for a reason.”

  Elinor saw the flaming bony fingers protecting them fizzling out, liquid gradually thinning, and moss turning black. “We don’t know the reason why I killed you, Sister, so let’s reserve judgment. It appears we’re nearing the end of our chat.”

  “Frightened?” Shade asked, legs crossing again and settling back. “You will not reincarnate again if I take you for my own.”

  A confident smile moved Elinor’s lips. “On the contrary. I look forward to you being expelled from our home. Don’t underestimate my mother, Shade.”

  Abyssal mouth somehow darkening further as the entity’s face twisted with glee, he repeated his earlier musings, knowing it got under her skin.

  “Former mother… after I used her spirit as a stepping stone to reach you, twisting and corrupting it. Perhaps that will actually be my undoing. Hehehe. As I understand it, isn’t that what you humans call irony? We both won’t get the outcome we wanted.”

  Elinor’s fingers tightened in her lap, glowing jade eyes fixated on the detestable creature; the board above the fire remained green.