CHAPTER 823: CHAPTER 823 - SPLITTING UP

The trio looked at each other, unsure how they felt about this, yet also knowing they didn’t really have a choice in the matter anyway.

"Of course," Zahra finally nodded after they looked at him again. Her two companions looked a little wry, but Zahra actually looked surprisingly content, seemingly having come to some kind of decision.

"Maghradi will always welcome its emperor," she stated with sincerity, even bowing her head a little. "And so will I."

Erik cocked a curious, pleased eyebrow from atop the throne. "That’s good to hear, Zahra. Thank you. No need to be so stiff, though. Respect is good, but I encourage you to speak your mind and not to act any differently from normal."

Lifting her head again, Zahra nodded seriously and took his words to heart. From Erik’s shoulder, Elora grinned with satisfaction. Emma barely reacted, but Astrid smirked knowingly. Nasir and Zohran glanced at Zahra with complicated emotions, but said nothing.

Everyone knew the reason for Zahra’s rapid acceptance of Erik’s rule, but no one acknowledged it. If she felt any resentment for her new rulers—either for confronting her with the reality of Kara or for essentially forcing her to choose between death or submission—she didn’t show it.

No, it looked like she’d taken Erik’s words to heart. Kara was no longer projecting herself with them, but Zahra’s continued focus on giving her sentience-challenge friend a sigil core was obvious... and Erik had given her a path to get one.

Sighing, Nasir took his eyes off Zahra, implicitly accepting the situation, and turned towards Erik. "Then... We can count on your help if another confessor shows up while we’re cleaning out our territory?" he asked, frowning sombrely. Naturally, this thought had occurred to both him and his companions.

Erik smirked a little. He could understand their desire for confirmation, yet he still would have preferred some more trust. Their initial meetings may have been rough, but he’d never been anything but true to his word, if nothing else.

"Of course you can," he answered with a small sigh. "You signed the contract for protection, and even if I were willing to ignore that and let you die, why would I? You’re far more valuable to me alive than dead."

Silence followed. To their credit, Nasir remained stern, Zohran just looked like he was itching for the next fight, and Zahra remained calm.

Erik didn’t let the silence continue for much longer, however. He tossed out two communication sigils, one towards Zohran, the other towards Nasir, since Zahra already had one. "Use this to contact me if you meet a situation you can’t deal with on your own, either during this operation or in the future."

With that, he pushed himself from the throne and strode down the steps towards the triangle-shaped table. "Now... let’s talk logistics, shall we?"

Unfortunately, Naeku was still in seclusion and couldn’t join them, and getting Ankhur to come here would take the last third-ranker out of Enkare Nkai—which wasn’t an option.

Still, though the two people with the most intimate knowledge of both the Enkarian warriors and troop movements in general couldn’t be there, Erik had the next best three things: himself, Elora, and Astrid.

Erik and Astrid were mostly jarheads who preferred fighting themselves, but they also had a healthy appreciation for commanding troops. Meanwhile, Elora was likely the third-most knowledgeable about the Enkarian resources by now.

As for Emma, she was happy just providing Erik with whatever he needed during the discussion.

***

A few hours later, Zohran and Nasir strode back out of the palace with purpose in their steps. They were not alone, however, as Astrid was with them as well. Unsurprisingly, the prospect of hunting the hunters was appealing to her, and so was the idea of possibly testing her might against a confessor—however inadvisable that was.

The former two knew what they had to do and quickly mingled in with their troops to divide them into units. Not long after, warriors started marching out of the city to begin their cleansing campaign against the hunters.

Astrid had been given command of her own group, of course. The warriors were obviously sceptical, yet that same third-rank power that prevented them from complaining also provided a level of safety that they desired. Thus, they followed her obediently, especially after their leaders’ endorsements.

Fortunately, Emma’s mass healing at the end of the battle meant exhaustion and injuries were at a low point, while fervour and fury at the hunters were at a high. Because of that, no one minded getting only a few hours of rest since the end of the battle for their lives. In fact, they were itching to get out there and scour the land of hunters.

Meanwhile, Zahra would stay behind to continue providing a central point of power to their people and troops, since Erik was still an unknown factor to most of them. Erik and Elora also needed an influential figure to start implementing the societal changes.

After the three of them were gone, it was only Erik and the women left. Many exciting scenarios immediately jumped into Erik’s perverted mind... but he quickly discarded them wryly. Although he wasn’t sure what the future held for him and Zahra, they certainly weren’t at that point yet.

Instead, his gaze turned to Emma. "Little Glimmer," he grinned knowingly. "I think we could both use some relaxation after all that, don’t you think? You also still have a reward coming your way for reaching third rank..."

A blush appeared on Emma’s porcelain cheeks, but she also grinned happily. Yet, before she spoke, her grin fell again. "And a punishment as well, Master," she stated sternly. "I won’t let you forget about that!"

Zahra immediately widened her eyes at their conversation. She’d encountered their explicitness before, but it remained a shock to her system. Especially the way Emma spoke about demanding a punishment made her head spin.

Yet, she was given no time to think about it. Rather, she was quickly accosted by Elora, who’d already forgotten her plans to give Zahra some space.

"Give me a tour of this place," she demanded. Having crossed her arms, her demand was stern, yet her eyes sparkled with excitement at what she might still discover in this place.

Looking at the fairy caused Zahra’s eyes to harden a little and her mouth to twitch. Yet, glancing at Erik was useless... because he was already gone. He and Emma had been replaced by a portal hovering over the throne, off to their own adventure.