Ch14: A Strange Visitor, P5

Chapter 14: A Strange Visitor, P5

~14.5~

*****

"Whoa!" Aisha looked around and was unsure of what to think.

Kye stepped forward, eyeing the rainbow haired goddess sitting upon the throne. "Why does what she's saying make sense?"

"Do you remember what I said when I offered this mission to you?"

"Clearly. I asked you what I will start with. Your answer was 'everything'. I know most of my memories as Elysia are sealed. But it feels like there's something else missing."

"The answers you seek are not mine to give. You must look within."

Kye raised an eyebrow. "Can we skip the bullshit?"

Eve sighed. "Very well. When you woke up, you had no doubt that you are not a god. Yet, right now, you have doubts. You question whether the Church of Elysium holds you in high regard justly. This is far from your first time disliking having mortals worship you. I suggest speaking to Maya about this in detail. She'll be able to tell you how you reacted as Elysia." Eve waved her hand, and a screen appeared showing what Alethea and the others were doing atop the school building. "I ask you this. What is your relationship to me?"

"You are Elysia's biological mother."

"And if I am a god, would that not make you one as well?"

Kye grimaced. "That would be the logical answer."

"But you do not want to accept that logic, despite it making the most sense. Your past feats as Elysia do nothing to mask it."

"If I am a god, why did I even start transmigrating?"

"That is an answer you must find in your own memories."

Kye looked down, her eyes closed. "I understand."

Eve looked at Aisha and smiled. "Please be a good friend to my dear Elysia."

Aisha curtsied. "Yes, Goddess Eve."

"Oh, please, don't put that in front of my name. In private, just Eve or - if you're insistent - Lady Eve."

Kye giggled and grabbed Aisha's hand. "She likes you."

Eve sighed and waved her hand, as if shooing Kye. "Shush you." She smiled and snapped her fingers. The world around them instantly changed back into the bedroom they were in before.

Aisha had stars in her eyes. "Wow, I can't believe I got to meet Goddess Eve!"

"You'd better call her what she asked in private. Heh, she's always listening."

A knock suddenly came at the door and a man shouted from the other side, "Lady Aisha, Lady Kye, your presence is required in the throne room. An envoy from the Church of Elysium has arrived and demands an audience!"

Kye and Aisha exchanged glances. Kye nodded and Aisha shouted at the door, "We'll be there shortly." Kye quickly got dressed and followed Aisha to the throne room. Akasha and Akuma were already there with a group of knights dressed in blue and gold uniforms and one knight dressed in white and gold.

Akasha stood and introduced them. "This is Saint Theo Collbrande and his knights. They are from the Church of Elysium."

Collbrande stepped forward, looking at Kye. "Are you the one who intervened last night in the altercation between Lady Aisha Akaishi and Sir Logan Caladbolg?"

"I assume Sir Caladbolg is the one known as The Black Sword?"

"Yes."

"Why are you here? Don't you think it's odd to come here to his target's home?" Kye turned to Akasha. "And you allowed them in?"

"It is not wise to refuse an envoy," Akasha said, her eyes focused on Collbrande. "Even if it is from the group who tried to kill my daughter last night."

"I'm not up to speed on the geopolitical landscape, but let me see if I have at least this much right. The Church is one of the bigger forces in this world, on par with the Slayer Academy. The two institutions protect the common folk from the various monsters that roam the planet. To them, vampires are one of those monsters. The clans are tolerated to the extent that the Church will not initiate an attack on a clan directly, as they believe they would lose many lives in the process, but they do hunt individuals who leave the safety of the clan to find food. Last night, The Black Sword was hunting Aisha, and I stopped him. Now, the Church is here to see me and the Akaishi Clan cannot refuse due to the lingering threat of the Church bearing its full might down upon it. Do I have anything wrong so far?"

Shocked, Akasha shook her hand, and Collbrande stared in silence.

"Very well. So, Saint Collbrande, what do you want to do with me?"

Regaining his composure, Collbrande cleared his throat and replied, "We will take you before the Archbishop for judgment."

Kye smiled. "Ah, yes. That saves me a fair bit of time and effort. Please lead the way."

"Knights, seize her."

Kye's smile twisted into a frown. She released enough light mana to intimidate the knights. "You will not be seizing me. I will follow you on my accord. Let me make this clear, Saint Collbrande. I am not your prisoner. I will see the Archbishop as a guest."

"Anyone who claims the name of Goddess Elysia is nothing more than a heretic that deserves to be in chains!" said one knight. Collbrande held up his hand to halt the man before he could say anything else.

"I don't think you understand the situation, Miss..."

"Ah, I haven't gotten the chance to introduce myself." She curtsied. "I am Kye Akari of Nippon Sekai, daughter of-"

"Your name will suffice. Your details mean nothing to me, girl," Collbrande said. "Men."

The knights approached Kye again, but this time she released a massive amount of mana, enough to put everyone in the room on their knees, aside the royal vampires and the saint. "As I said, Saint Collbrande, I will accompany you as a guest, not a prisoner. I am a royal of the Atlantis Empire." She dispersed her mana, allowing everyone to return to their feet, most of them struggling to do so. "Lady Akasha, may I invite a guest?"

"Sure, but is now really the time to discuss that?"

Kye nodded and turned back to the knights. "Your disrespect is painfully clear. Please relay a message. The archbishop may visit me here at the Akaishi compound."

The saint drew his sword and released his own mana, matching what Kye released only moments ago. "You will come whether or not you want to. Prepare your-" He stopped short as soon as Kye disappeared. Before he could blink, she held her sword to his throat.

"You would do well not to resort to violence. I have no desire to harm the people of my world, but I will not stand for your behavior. Leave peacefully and relay my invitation or-"

Saint Collbrande tried to knock Kye's blade away, but not only did her blade not move an inch, his sword snapped in half. "Wh-what?"

Annoyed, Kye released her white aether, enough to overwhelm even the saint. Not a jaw in the room was left undropped. "Relay my message." Kye held up her hand and wrapped her white aether around the knights, each trying to fight it off to no avail. "<<Infinite Teleportation>>." In a flash, the knights were gone, sent to the cathedral.

After a moment of silence, Kye dispersed her aether and apologized to Akasha. "I am sorry for the state of this realm. It is clear I need to correct the world order here. I will absolutely not stand for an institution to carry their selves this way in my name. One of two things will happen. Either the archbishop will respond to my invitation or the church will send a force to attack this compound."

"I'm still shocked at how much power you just displayed. Incredible doesn't even begin to describe how significant that was."

Kye gave her an apologetic smile. "Yeah, sorry, I wanted to get it through to them that violence is not the answer. I sent them to the cathedral. If they're smart, they'll resort to diplomacy now. With any luck, vampires will be whitelisted."

 Akasha smiled. "I appreciate your efforts, Lady Kye, but this has been the way of things for thousands of years."

"Have a little faith. I'll fix it." Kye glanced at her NeuraPhone briefly and had an idea. "I'm going back to my room. I have students to teach back home, and I want to see if I can do it remotely."

"I-I see. I wish you luck, Lady Kye." Kye nodded and left the room. Once she was gone, all three royal vampires sighed in relief. "Goddess, that was..."

"Holy shit! Her power was unreal!" Aisha said.

"When Lady Allison said she's a wolf in sheep's clothing, I thought it was just a joke. She could possibly contend with even the Sword Saint with her power."

Akuma chuckled. "The near future will be very interesting."

*****

Meanwhile, at the academy, Alethea stood in front of the class.

"So, uh..." She sighed and forced herself to continue. "Kye is unavailable, so I will be your substitute. Today we will-" A notification sounded off on her NeuraPhone. "Oh, she's calling me." "Hey, how are you?"

"Hey, love. I want to try remote teaching. Can you turn on hologram mode? I think I can pull this off with that!"

*****

"This woman is clearly not someone to be taken lightly," said the archbishop in his meeting with Saint Collbrande and a young woman dressed in a generic academy uniform, not much different from the version of the Arslade Royal Academy uniform that the Nippon Sekai students wear.

"She was completely out of my league," Collbrande said. "She could have killed me before I'd have the chance to draw my sword." He looked at the woman. "It was not unlike seeing you take a fight seriously, Sword Saint."

"Is that right?" The woman beamed. "Did she mention anything about transmigration or reincarnation?"

*****

Revision: 2024-5-6