"Haa, I need to stop getting my hopes up. Such a disappointment." Muttered Elif with a frown while looking out the carriage window into the peaceful forest below.
"Your Highness, it's merely been four hours since we left the Empire; please have some patience." Advised Illumia calmly while sitting across from Elif.
"Four hours of utter disappointment. All we've been doing is flying over patches of forests; I've barely even seen a single cultivator, let alone anything interesting." Said Elif dejectedly before shifting his focus to the interior of the carriage.
"Since you wish for something interesting to happen, your Highness, why not make a detour and stop by an independent city on the way there? It may not be what you wish for, but it might be able to appease your boredom, at least until we arrive at the Fairy Clan's territory." Stated Marley, who was sitting in between Idonea and Illumia.
"I suppose it won't be a terrible idea; it should at least bring more entertainment than the plains, mountains, and forests down below." Replied Elif with minimal expectations.
'Zulo, Zala; change of plans, head towards the nearest independent city.' Ordered Elif via divine sense.
With Zulo and Zala both neighing in response, the carriage's direction slightly shifts to the left; now, instead of heading north, we are traveling northwest.
Even though we changed directions, nothing caught my interest, at least for the first twenty minutes; after about twenty-two minutes, I began sensing an increase of cultivators presiding in the forest below, and as we continued heading in said direction, the number of cultivators would continue to increase until I was sensing several cultivators at once through my divine sense.
Roughly a minute or two later, the carriage began slowing down and descending as a lively city entered my divine sense.
'It's approximately a third the size of Yggdrasil; from my understanding, that is slightly bigger than average for an independent city, and not to mention it is much more chaotic from the lack of proper guards.' Thought Elif as he examined the city with his divine sense while avoiding areas that powerful cultivators presided over; not like Elif was scared of provoking them, he just didn't find it worth his time to interact with them.
Once the carriage landed, we ignored the line of people waiting to be given access to the city and walked right to the front gates, which seemed to be managed by a couple of incompetent guards that were extorting the commoners.
"Hehe, c'mon brother, I'm sure an extra fifteen low Earth rank spirit stones will be enough to be allowed access, right?" Said a beast man with scales covering his body while happily talking to the guards, though the pained expression on his face would suggest otherwise.
"Hmm, I don't know, fifteen might not be enough. How about adding an-" Said the short and stout guard with a greedy smile until he noticed a carriage skipping the line. While he was about to dutifully do his job and tell the carriage to get in line, he instead saw this as a chance to possibly get more spirit stones, though because of his short stature, he wasn't able to make out the horns atop the horses properly; otherwise, he would already be bowing.
"You! Stop right there! Skipping the line is not allowed here! Don't you know you could be heavily punished for your actions If I report you!?" Exclaimed the short and stout guard with a serious expression as he stood in front of the carriage, stopping it from entering the city.
"Hmm, don't you know who I am?" Remarked Elif with slight surprise, as it wasn't like he was hiding his identity; in fact, the two unicorns pulling the carriage and several royal guards following it should've been more than enough for anyone to realize who was inside the carriage, and if that wasn't enough, on the front of the carriage was the symbol of the Immortal Elven Empire.
"Your identity won't work on me; I'm a guard of the City Lord! Now, you'll be sentenced to one year of imprisonment for attempting to skip the line. Of course, if that is too much for you, there are otherwise we can settle this that might make me forget about you trying to skip the line." Declared the guard, his serious expression changing into a greedy smile.
"Whatever, you fool, I will not waste any more of my time on you. Mandy, deal with this." Said Elif as he dismissed the guard, much to his anger; however, before he could do anything, he was suddenly lifted half a foot into the air, now at eye level with an irritated Mandy.
"Yes, your Highness." Said Mandy as she grabbed a shiny medallion on her hip before holding it right in front of the guard's eyes, causing his greedy and angry expression to instantly change to a shocked one that slowly morphed into a fearful and frightened one as he was finally tall enough to view the two unicorns and symbol atop the carriage.
"You're Highness; everything is taken care of." Said Mandy as she dropped the non-responsive guard before returning to beside the carriage and slightly bowing.
With Mandy taking care of that foolish dwarf, the carriage continued into the city uninterrupted, much to my satisfaction, before casually walking throughout the city without much of a destination.
Almost nothing caught my attention in the city; every now and then, I'd come across a couple of cultivators fighting; however, whenever my carriage neared them, they would instantly stop, which was quite annoying as some of them were utilizing some decent techniques.
"Haa, I expected as much, so I'm not that disappointed; however, why is it so hard to find anything interesting? So far, the OverRealm isn't anything as you've told me; not a single degree of danger." Remarked Elif after having observed the city for roughly an hour.
"Once again, your Highness, please have some patience. Something interesting is bound to happen eventually." Advised Illumia while mentally sighing.
I was going to give a snide remark, though before I did, I happened to hear something interesting; in fact, it was pretty surprising.
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"Hey, did you hear the rumors? Apparently, an Angel has been spotted near the Immortal Heavenly Empire!" Said a commoner with a cup of beer as he and someone else stood beside each other in a nearby alleyway.
"An Angel!? Are you sure? I've heard Angels never live long once their identity is exposed." Replied the other commoner with a surprised and slightly skeptical expression.
"I didn't believe so either when I first heard the rumor, but I also heard that the most talented Prince from the Immortal Heavenly Empire is hunting down said Angel." Explained the commoner as he took a sip from the bottle.
"Huh, now that you mention it, I also remember overhearing about a Prince from the Heavenly Empire roaming around the OverRealm; if that's the case, it must be true then. Someone with that kind of status wouldn't just mindlessly chase after rumors after all." Said the other commoner while nodding in agreement.
"That's not all. Supposedly, the Crown Prince of the Immortal Elven Empire is also roaming around the OverRealm." Said the slightly drunk commoner, once again surprising the other person.
"The Crown Prince of the Elven Empire and the Prince of the Heavenly Empire; huh, it seems like it's only a matter of time until the younger generation finally battles it out. I've heard stories about how brutal the battles of the last generation were; so many talented cultivators were killed that it's said you could create a mountain from their corpses and still have more left over." Stated the other commoner, yet instead of what was expected, his eyes shown in excitement and anticipation.
"I know; I've heard that this generation is supposedly even more talented than the last generation; I'm excited that I'll be alive to witness the battle. Maybe even someone from this generation will one day rise to become a True Immortal?" Mentioned the drunk commoner with an equally excited expression.
"Huh, True Immortal? Impossible; the concept of a True Immortal is just a lie. With how old and powerful those Immortal, Divine, and Ancient hegemonies are, you'd expect at least one of them would've produced a True Immortal by now if it was possible, and yet not a single one has been able to do so." Said the other commoner, completely dismissing the idea of a True Immortal.
"Whatever you say, man, let's agree to disagree." Said the drunk commoner with a shake of his head before the two commoners went back to conversing about other things, though a particular group of people had been secretly listening to them.
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'Angel? Talented Prince of the Heavenly Empire? Hehe, it seems Illumia was indeed correct; something interesting was bound to happen.' Thought Elif with a slightly excited and curious smile.
"Illumia, If I remember correctly, the Heavenly Empire isn't too far away from the Phoenix Clan, correct?" Asked Elif, everyone present inside the carriage already knowing what Elif was planning.
"Yes, your Highness. The Heavenly Empire is indeed near the Phoenix Clan, though it is somewhat out of the way." Replied Illumia.
"Hmm, well then. It seems like we'll be slightly extending the excursion, possibly even meeting a legendary Angel while we're at it. Zulo, Zala, let's go; I've already gained everything I can from this place." Said Elif with a smile as he comfortably laid down across the seat.
With my order, Zulo and Zala neighed in response as the carriage lifted into the sky before quickly flying off in the distance, causing everyone down below in the city to release a sigh of relief as the presence of someone like Elif was nerve-wracking for commoners.
"Your Highness, if you don't mind me asking, who is the Prince those two commoners were talking about?" Asked the ever-so-quiet Idonea, figuring as his follower, she should know all of Elif's possible enemies or opponents he'll face in the future.
"Prince Ivan, the eighth prince of the Heavenly Empire, yet he is the most talented among all of his siblings. He is also supposedly powerful enough to fight toe-to-toe against his oldest sibling, who is also the current Crown Prince. Though, I've also heard he is quite lustful and spends most of his free time in brothels; you might be able to charm him with your beauty Idonea." Explained Elif seriously before his tone became playful toward the end as he eyed Idonea's toned yet feminine body through her armor.
"Please do not jest, your Highness." Replied Idonea blandly, though if you looked closely, you'd notice a light blush across her cheeks.
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Created a discord server, so if anyone wishes to join, [https://discord.gg/TGc9yymDJP]
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 210: Illumia's Defeat!) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 91: Fast As F**k Boi) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 156: Black Beard)|| Marvel's Black Steel (Chapter 58: Dropping Nigga's) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]