Chapter 159

[Third Person's PoV] 

Cid walked into a high-end inn with Celeste in hand, heading towards his room. Inside, they found Aurora asleep beneath the sheets, her naked form barely covered as she lay sprawled out in a messy position.

Cid and Celeste looked at Aurora, then at each other, laughing quietly.

Cid held out Celeste, who spread her arms and legs. Upon releasing her, she landed right on Aurora's stomach.

"Oooff!" Aurora sat up and grunted from the impact.

She looked towards the cause and found Celeste smiling mischievously at her. Aurora plopped back down with a sigh. "What an unusual wake-up call," she groaned, caressing Celeste's face.

From his shadow, Cid pulled out a tray. "I brought you breakfast in bed."

Aurora smiled lovingly at him as he placed the tray on her lap. She kissed Cid and whispered, "How did I ever get so lucky?"

...

559 and the others were jumping from tree to tree, keeping their distance from their targets ahead. They followed carriages traveling under the night sky, all heading in the same direction in an organized line.

It wasn't long before Rose, Sherry, and Alexia saw their destination. The carriages soon surrounded the entrance to an abandoned ruin.

Once there, the occupants began exiting the carriages one by one. Some had hoods covering their faces, while others wore uniforms.

Sherry's eyes narrowed upon seeing one man's face. "That man, he's a First Child. I've seen his file before. I didn't think the people we were following had that much authority in the cult."

They then focused on an altar in the middle of the ruins. 559 nodded her head. "That man is called the Raging Gale Kwadoi."

The ones wearing hoods began to lower them. 559 pointed towards the woman next to Kwadoi, who had short blond hair and red lipstick. "And that woman is—"

"My mother!?" Rose interjected, her eyes widening in surprise. The last person she expected to see was her mother.

"What? The Queen of Oriana?" Alexia asked, equally surprised. 'Just how many kingdoms are associated with the cult? Is… is my father also a part of them as well?'

"But how can that be…" Rose muttered worriedly. "Why is she here!? I was told she was escorted out of Perv's reach!"

Sherry and Alexia quickly covered her mouth while 559 glared at Rose. "Quiet. We still have a mission to complete."

They watched as Rose's mother approached the altar. As soon as she touched it, it began to shine, creating a ball of light. From that ball of light, a ring appeared.

"Prepare to engage. We will be getting that ring," 559 commanded.

"What? But my mother's down there," Rose said, looking at 559 apprehensively.

"I could care less. That ring must be the key. We must retrieve it at all costs and not let them have it," 559 said, using Soru to suddenly appear in front of them.

Immediately, 559 decapitated one of them and cleaved the body of another, spraying blood everywhere.

"STOP HER!" they shouted.

559 turned towards Rose's mother with her bloody sword, but before she had a chance to attack, Rose appeared in a semi-blurred state, tackling her mother away.

'I still haven't perfected the technique, but luckily I was able to use it to save my mother,' Rose thought to herself as she rolled away with her mother in her arms.

"Are you alright, Mother!?" Rose asked, looking at her mother with concern.

"Rose!? What are you doing here!?" her mother asked in shock.

"You're in the way!" 559 yelled, glaring menacingly at Rose.

"Of course, I'm going to get in the way! You're going after my mother! Why are you doing this? Can you please explain the details of the mission!? Maybe then—"

Rose's retaliation was cut short by cult members surrounding her and her mother, pointing swords at them.

"Don't you move an inch. Move, and these two are history," Kwadoi said, looking at 559.

"Although we were taken by surprise, I'm shocked you managed to kill 15 First Children. As expected of one of the Seven Deadly Sins."

559 looked a bit depressed hearing that. "Unfortunately for the both of us, you are wrong, but hopefully there will come a time."

"What!? You're just a nameless foot soldier… I can't decide whether to be worried or impressed," Kwadoi said.

He aimed his sword closer to Rose and her mother. "But it doesn't matter. We have the hostages."

Sherry and Alexia stood behind 559. Alexia held her sword at eye level, ready to attack, while Sherry had her guns ready to fire. "We're surrounded. We should regroup and think of a plan—"

"You can do whatever you want with the hostages," 559 said nonchalantly and without much care.

Everyone was surprised by her words, even her teammates. They all felt her mana rise as her expression grew angrier.

"She got in the way of the mission. Such an act is a betrayal to our great lord and master!! I will kill every single one of you for getting in the way of Shadow Garden!" 559 yelled, readying her sword.

Feeling the strength of her mana and the pressure she was emitting, Kwadoi turned towards the others and quickly yelled, "Hurry! Take the new medicine!"

They all reached into their pockets, pulling out bottles with purple pills.

Sherry and 559 grew curious. 'They're not the normal red ones,' they quickly noticed.

Upon consumption, a wave of mana expelled from their bodies, mana like they hadn't felt before. They started to grow in size while their skin turned a shade of green, with markings slowly developing on their bodies.

Sherry's eyes widened. 'They're like the monsters Eta and I were researching from the corpses Cid brought us!'

"ROOOOAR!" they all roared, feeling the rush of power as they grinned, showing their growing teeth.

They then rushed towards 559 and the others, a heavy bloodlust in the air.

…

Meanwhile,

Alpha was seen overlooking some papers in hand. "It looks like everything is in order. Everyone got their money, and we don't have to file for bankruptcy… everything went exactly as planned, it seems," she informed Gamma, who nodded in agreement.

Alpha opened her mouth to say something else but quickly covered it.

"What is it?" Gamma asked, confused.

Alpha stood up and rushed towards a door on the side of their office leading to a bathroom.

"Bleurghhhhhhhh!!"

Gamma grew concerned and rushed after Alpha, finding her on the floor facing the toilet.

Gamma pulled back Alpha's hair and rubbed her back. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Alpha turned her head to look at Gamma with tears in her eyes as she held her stomach. "I'm pregnant…"

Shocked, Gamma released Alpha's hair and put both her hands over her mouth in disbelief.

*************************

A/N: I was meant to upload the pictures Yesterday, so here there now...

[Image] 

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