Chapter 136: Chapter 136

“I…didn’t expect you to see you both here!” Rima said while moving her eyes from Eren to the black-haired girl who, for some reason, came with him, carried by him to be exact, and landed on the terrasse of her castle, meeting the shadows lord’s eyes, she figured he wasn’t very pleased with her words as they sounded unwelcoming towards his girl.

“I am glad that you are here though, for my empire can really use your wits, welcome to the frozen edge, Dahlia.” Rima’s kindness was met with the expressionless face of the girl who merely nodded, and she wondered if she was always this way or was it the traumatizing experience that she had that made her so, and that name, Dahlia, it wasn’t even hers, it was all too strange, and her being in the frozen empire with a frozen face was even stranger, nevertheless, the girl was there already, and it wasn’t her presence that mattered the most, it was that of the shadows’ lord.

“Did it start?” Eren asked directly, not bothering with the pleasantries, Rima was already on her armor which meant that she suspected things to escalate in the frozen nest.

“Not yet, but they are all gathered, your precious Andrea is here too, let us go!” Sara’s ears caught the conversation about the two and wondered who was this Andrea they were talking about, why did she refer to her as precious and why was her name spoken with a scoff.

Get a grip! Sara scolded herself as she walked with Eren and Rima, she didn’t know why he was occupying so much of her thoughts, and why it was in such a way where she didn’t want her cold revenge, but rather something else, something, warmer, it felt all foreign for some reason, deciding to push it to the back of her mind, she busied herself with studying the beautiful castle, it certainly resembled its queen, for it was rather simple yet beautiful, there were not many details but the ones that were there were enough, the walls were made of polished stone and ice, intertwining together to form beautiful mosaic, the floor was made of crystal and so where he big chandeliers, the air was the coldest and Sara had to use her core in order to keep herself warm, the same way she did when in her bath to keep the water hot.

As they advanced more and more into the strange castle, Sara’s ears caught the noises that started getting louder as they approached a giant gate in the end of the corridor they were passing, and Sara noticed another detail, the place was rather dark, not like night, but if felt as if the light was greyish instead of white, and it all reminded her of the dark forest.

“Do you think we can solve this matter without a fight?” Eren questioned but Rima sighed tiredly, before shaking her head to answer him, and even when she was showing off strength and composure, Sara couldn’t help but think that the matter was affecting the queen badly, and how couldn’t it?

“No, knowing my dear brother and cousins, I know they will try everything to take me down, and I would hate to count on hope or the non-existing family bounds!”

“I see, you should have killed them with the rest.” Eren answered while placing his large hand on Sara’s back, guiding her while keeping her close, Rima saw him whisper something in the black-haired girl’s ear which she answered with a dry a glare.

“Stay near me, and don’t do anything reckless, let me handle this!” hearing the words, Sara glared at Eren but didn’t reply, for her attention was quickly shifted to the place they entered and her jaw almost dropped as she understood why it was called a nest.

The ice nest was a large, very large, roofless hall, the middle part of it was a snow-covered arena with several podiums, while the perimeter was built on a higher ground to form big steps where thousands of ice demons were sitting.

Most of them were ice demons that is, Sara thought to herself as she looked into their cores, unlike the shadows demon who had a mass of black fog and the fire demons who had a little flame, the shadow demons had a mass of snow and ice as their cores, like a ball, the strongest were the ones with more ice, Sara noted, and the strongest, were the one standing in the opposite podium to the one they mounted.

It is about time! Sara thought to herself as she saw Rima lift her hand and then everyone went silent, ready to listen to their queen, and for a second, Sara felt as if she was looking at Henry as the ice queen spoke with royalty, pride, and sagacity to the attendants.

“The men you are seeing on the podium over there, the little one is Rima’s brother, Kar, he is only two years younger than her and the only sibling she spared, for she had thought that he was loyal and trust worthy, and he is the one leading this whole coup to take her down, while the ones with him, they are Rima’s cousins, when Rima took the frozen throne, they stayed neutral, but once she left to the center, they started feeding this coup, now they are the one’s supporting her brother’s claims.”

“Why?”

“Because they are traitorous assholes, that is why!” Eren gritted out the words, disgusted beyond limits by the sight of the bastards who acted like loyal dogs when Rima was the strongest and showed their true colors once she wasn’t.

“I thought the ice queen was popular among her people.” Sara asked with raised brows, no longer bothering with the ice queen’s heart whelming speech about loyalty and solidarity.

“She is, but in the demons’ world, it is all about the strength, demons cannot follow a weak leader, Rima is a great ruler, she has both the wits and the heart for it, but it was her strength that put her on the ice throne in the first place, since her return from the center, everyone noticed her weakness and unstable core, and thought that she was dying, some started to ship themselves with the next in line in hopes of gaining their favor, for the once loved and strong queen looked like a lost case to them, it is one of the things we hoped to change in our world, but as you can see, it is not going to be easy.”

“But she is not dying, she is just pregnant!”

“Correct, but Sara, Rima’s family is one of the purest in the demon world, they kept their blood pure throughout the years, her relationship with Henry was already a big hit to her popularity, even when many respected him for his contributions in the last war, and now to announce that she is carrying his child while there is a coup against her...” Eren didn’t finish his words but he didn’t have to, for Sara has understood what he wanted to say.

“They make it sound so easy!” even when her face was expressionless, Eren managed to hear the sorry in her voice, and even read it in her eyes,

“Because they want it to work, my fair lady, no matter what is thrown at them, they fight it, because they love each other and want it to work between them, sometimes, I envy them for that strength.” Eren whispered the last part to himself and even though she heard him, Sara chose to ignore his words, maybe because they steered something inside her, a question.

“You had your days of glory, Sister, and we are all thankful for them, but now, everyone can see that you are leading the frozen edge to it doom, by allying yourself with the humans and fighting their wars, you are no longer as strong as you used to be, I bet you can’t even fight our opponents if there were any!”

“And you can?” Eren who was tired of the brat prince’s nonsense stepped away from Sara after giving her a pointed look, reminding her of their promises, and walked forward to where Rima was debating with her brother in front of the ice demons, it was the way things were solved in the frozen edge, first a debate and then a fight to death, and the winner is a winner in front the whole empire.

“Tell me, Kar, are you strong enough to face your opponents, let us just say, me for example?” Eren was no longer holding back his dark and malicious aura, instead he was letting it terrorize everyone in the nest, even Sara herself felt it and was, impressed, for he felt like a God among insects, he was so strong and mighty, with his aura and presence dominating everyone as he stood next to the ice queen, showing his support and protection.

“So, our so called queen can’t even speak for herself and has to hide behind the shadows’ lord?” Kar, and after taking a calming breath, decided to ignore the shadows lord’s question and instead use his interruption as a way to attack his sister who looked the least bothered.

“As a prince, you should know that individual strength is nothing if one has nothing but enemies surrounding him, ones that are much stronger than him, Rima’s strength does not only come from within her, but from the alliances she made, and that is what makes her the strongest and the best one to rule over the frozen edge!”

“The alliance you are talking about are with the whole empire, not with a single person, even if it is the queen!” Kar couldn’t ignore the shadows’ lord for a second time, and instead chose to reason with him, the monster did not just look strong and terrifying, he was strong and terrifying, the rumors about him taking down the whole fire army were no rumors, and the prince knew it.

“That alliance was sealed with Rima and will remain as long as she does, our loyalty as the shadows’ empire as well as the fire empire which I have conquered is to her, if any harm falls upon her, then it is our sworn duty to destroy those who harmed her!”

“This is nonsensical!” the ones on the podium whispered, and Sara already noticed their cores in motion, preparing to attack.

“and if she is no longer the queen, then I don’t have any reason to keep the alliance nor the peace, for I will not risk keeping a possible enemy hidden, acting loyal, until it is the time for back stabbing!” Sara looked at Eren’s back with surprised, for he was a little extreme, threatening to take down the empire if Rima was taken down.

“I, Eren Salvatore, the lord of the shadows’ empire, in front of all of you, the ice demons, swear my infinite loyalty to your queen, Rima, and pledge to continue with our prosperous alliance, I also pledge to fight her enemies and defend her kingdom as if it was mine, and the first enemy I am willing to fight, is you, Kar, will you accept the challenge, or will you run away!” gasps and whispers rose from the audience, some were provoked and angry at the shadows’ lord for stuffing his nose in an internal business, while the others were curious to see Kar’s answer, everyone in the nest sensed the shadows lord’s terrifying aura and knew how strong he was, while Kar looked as if someone punched him in the stomach, as his eyes roamed the nest for a possible escape of that situation, but there were none, nevertheless, he still got off the podium with confident steps, he didn’t expect to be fighting the shadows’ lord but he didn’t believe those threats either, no one would go that far for anyone, he reassured himself.

“I accept, but only if it is a win it all or lose it all, if I win, then I shall not only be named the lord of the frozen edge, but that of the fire empire and the shadows’ empire as well, the lord of all demons, do you accept, Eren Salvatore?” Sara couldn’t help but frown worriedly while hearing those words, something was definitely off, that Kar was no match to Eren and it was obvious for everyone, yet the way he talked was way too confident, and the ones standing on the podium, readying themselves to attack from the side lines.

“Stay with Rima, and stay safe.” Eren whispered to Sara before looking back at Rima with serious eyes, “Keep her safe!”

“You can’t be serious; he is obviously planning something!”

“Are you worried for me, my fair lady?” hearing his question, Sara scoffed before looking away from him while he chucked before jumping off the podium to walk into the arena.

“Don’t worry about him, he is going to be okay!” Rima walked to stand by Sara’s side who had her eyes glued on Eren’s back as he stood in the middle of the arena, unfazed with his opponent’s glares.

“I know he is strong, but that brother of yours is planning something!” Sara wanted to brush the ice queen off, for she was in no mood to have a little chit chat with her sister-in-law, however, she needed to voice out her concerns to someone, for maybe they will be heard.

“He is, I can sense it too, but as I said, Eren is stronger than you think, not just physically, but mentally as well, whatever my pathetic brother and cousins might throw at him, he will handle it, you have nothing to worry about!”

“I am not worrying, but you should!” Sara said in her coldest voice, tired of the ice queen’s pathetic attempts to console her as if the one battling in the arena was someone that mattered to her, “Won’t this effect you? That a lord from another empire is fighting your war?!”

“It will.” Rima answered with a small smile, one which was almost sad, “And even my pride is affected to be honest, but my pride is the least of my worries, as you said, it would affect my legitimacy and popularity, but it is alright, if I am going to lose my crown to anyone, I would very much like for Eren to be the one who takes it, I know he is fair and rightful, strong and surprisingly kind, he is the only person I trust to preserve the peace we have made with the humans and to take right decisions with them!”

“What about you?” what would happen to her, she was a queen, not a random person, Sara tried to understand but failed.

“I thought that you, among all people, would understand the extents of the sacrifices one would make to protect his family.” Rima said while her placing her hand on her belly and rub it subtly, the smile on her face turning to one of the most beautiful smiles that Sara ever saw on her face “Status and royalty don’t matter when placed next to family, don’t you agree?” all Sara had to reply to that was a nod, for she indeed understood it better ta anyone, to give up the status and identity to protect family, and just…be with them.

Looking back at Eren, she noticed that he was no longer alone in the arena with that Kar brat, instead, he was surrounded by five other men, whom Sara recognized as the cousins, all holding large arms that reminded her with the sword Renaldy used back in the fire cave, the shadows’ lord however seemed the least fazed by their actions, standing tall and proud in the middle of all of them.

“Is that acceptable?”

“It was Eren who brought up the matter of the strong alliances in the first place!” Rima answered while pursing her lips, obviously unpleased with the way her brother was acting, but things in the demons’ world were solved that way, just like Eren said, it wasn’t just about individual strength, but about the strong alliances plus the wits and slyness one owned, the battles to the top of the pyramid in the demons’ world were ones without boundaries, for the demon nations needed ruthless lords that stopped at nothing.

“If that is the case, then I should join him!” Sara declared with determination, her hand going to the handle of her short sword under her long vest.

“He is more than capable of taking care of himself, Dahlia, going there would expose you, and he will be more focused on protecting you than to fight his battle.”

“I am more than capable of taking care of myself too!” Sara replied defensively, hating the fact that she was looked down upon and taken lightly as if she was a damsel in distress.

“I don’t mean it in that way, but even if you are stronger than him, he would still want to protect you.” Hearing that, Sara remembered the battle with the fire demons, and how he wrapped her and her sister in his shadows while leaving himself bare to the attacks, biting her lip, she released the sword handle and went back to watch as two of the demons charged at the shadows’ lord from behind only to be thrown several meters away.

“He truly loves you, you know!” what was giving this one the impression that she could talk about such matters? Sara thought while giving Rima a bored look, the ice queen was getting too comfortable with her, playing the match maker between her and Eren.

“So?” Sara asked as if she already knew, however, inside, she didn’t, and a part of her was still suffering from an earlier lie, when he acted as if he loved her, but then broke her heart.

“It is something big for him, you know, I mean, he was a deranged demon, one would think that he has no heart to love in the first place, and still, he loves you so much, he is a complete different person around you.” Sara chose to leave all the unnecessary things the ice queen was talking about aside as they made her uncomfortable and focus on a single detail, deranged demon? She didn’t know what was that but something told her that it wasn’t something she could ask the ice queen about as it sounded so…personal.

“Of course, he does, he loves me so much to the point where he kidnapped and torture me!” Sara spat out, her voice filled with mockery and bitterness, as it was the thing she was trying to focus on and remember instead of the funny things she was feeling.

“You do know it was the only way, right? He tried everything before that, he looked for other solutions but didn’t find any, I know it is not an excuse, but tell me, if you knew all along, if you knew the cost to save everyone, including Nara, wouldn’t you have paid it?” Sara didn’t answer to that, and Rima took it as a good sign and continued with her words “You know, if it was any other demon, he would have sucked every last drop of your blood, we suffered for millennials because of your mother, another demon would have killed you instead of stopping after taking only few drops, but he did, even when your blood could have made him the strongest demon alive, even when it was impossible to resist, he stopped, he made himself stop, and you still doubt his feeling for you?”

“Why are you telling me this?” Sara asked abruptly, anger bubbling under her skin and she was no longer trying to hide it.

“Because, he is in pain, he has been since he harmed you, and then when he thought he lost you, it almost destroyed him, Eren is like a little-big brother to me, and I hate to see him in pain, he suffered a lot, I believe he deserve his chance of happiness!”

“And you believe that his happiness is by my side?” Rima heard the bitter mockery clear and loud in the girl’s voice, and she didn’t need to question why, the girl was obviously damaged, broken and sad, looking at her, one wouldn’t have any doubts that she wasn’t one to provide happiness.

“I don’t know, but I believe you two need each other to overcome your pain.”

“I am fine with my pain!” Sara said with finality, ending the conversation while looking back at the arena where only Eren and Kar were left standing, both her troubled mind and sore heart mocking the words that just left her mouth.

“You are the only one left, Kar!” Eren spoke calmly, addressing the ice demon who looked back at him as if he was out of solutions, Sara noticed through out the fight that he had tried to play several tricks, especially with those strange spears and swords, his core’s energy was already consumed yet Eren looked as if nothing affected him.

“Submit!”

“Before he does!” a strong yet young voice roared from the audience, too strong and powerful to the point where Eren himself took a step back when hearing the mightiness those three words carried, looking around him, he tried to locate the source of the voice, which wasn’t hard as someone descended to the arena with steady and slow steps.

Rima stared with confused eyes at the small figure that stood with supreme pride in front of the shadow’s lord, his eyes challenging and his expressions relaxed, but what made her more confused was the way the shadows’ lord reacted, as if facing death itself while in reality, it was just a little boy.

“Eren!” Rima heard the faint whisper of the girl in front of her and for a second, couldn’t believe her ears, for the first time, there was fear in her voice, terror, before a loud scream erupted from her lips as she jumped from the podium and ran towards the shadows’ lord whose name she cried as if it was her last word.

“Eren!” Sara reached where Eren was, and instead of letting her stand in front of him, he pulled her behind him to hide her from the smirking boy.

“He…he is one of them! I can feel it!”

“I will keep you safe, stay with me!” Eren held on tight to Sara’s hand, who wasn’t just worried for herself, but for him as well, the thing they were facing was far too strong, and even if they combined their strengths against him, it was not enough.

“My name is Kalan, and I want to see if you are truly a worthy ally, Lord Eren!”

NOTE: SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE

KAR IS ANOTHER TURKISH NAME, THIS TIME, IT MEANS SNOW.

AS FOR KALAN, YOU DO REMEMBER THAT NAME, RIGHT?