Inside of a small room, Ira looked at the corpse-like Randolph. Zella and Juliana stood nearby, watching the entire thing from underneath their veils. Two Dark Elves stood guard at the door with stoic expressions, even though their eyes burned with hate at the sight of Randolph.

He whistled in pure amazement before speaking. “Look at you.”

Randolph’s eyes barely contained hints of life but he looked toward Ira. It seemed he didn’t even have the strength to speak as he lips remained pressed together.

“A puppet without strings.” Ira smiled before continuing. “Don’t you realize it now? Those Gods never cared about you. It must feel bad though, failing everyone who held high hopes for you. But you managed to survive and I have to admit I’m impressed.”

Ira lifted Randolph’s thin arm which was taut with worn and pale skin before letting it drop.

“Still, you’re quite an eyesore as it stands. I thought about holding a sort of trial and letting the people decide your fate, to make things a bit exciting but now there’s no point. I could poke you to death right now.”

Just as Ira was about to finish Randolph, Juliana stepped forward.

“Ira.”

As she called his name he slightly frowned and because of that Zella could guess his thoughts without even attempting to read him.

“She isn’t pleading for you to show mercy,” Zella interjected causing Ira’s expression to brighten.

“Oh? Then what do you want?” Ira raised an eyebrow.

“I will do it,” Juliana whispered.

“Will you?” Ira was a bit surprised at her declaration.

For one, receiving the black crystal eyes changed the personality of the recipient. One of those changes, from what Ira could observe, turned out to be the loss of sentiment. Zella stated many times that after seeing the true nature of things she could no longer stay the same and it likely was the same for Juliana. But apparently, some lingering feelings remained inside the latter, even if it was only by threads.

“Hand her a weapon.” Ira waved to one of the Dark Elves who instantly complied.

Juliana received a dagger and moved toward Randolph’s bedside. For a moment she wanted to ask for privacy but knew that Ira wouldn’t allow it. It wasn’t that he had some pressing need to observe Juliana kill someone she used to love, but rather, that was a kindness that he wouldn’t give to Randolph.

“They’ve lied to us, Randolph.” Juliana caressed his face softly. “Our lives meant nothing to them and you felt it, didn’t you? Even so, you killed Clark in order to save me...They never wanted to save me.”

Black tears dripped from underneath of Juliana’s veil falling onto Randolph’s face. From his own eye, a single tear fell.

“J…” He spoke in a voice lower than a whisper but he could only muster the strength for a single letter of her name.

“May you find what you seek in death, Randolph.” With that Juliana ended his life by slipping the dagger into his chest.

He stared at her veil and let out a final breath before all signs of life left him.

“You…” Ira started to say something but held back. Although he didn’t care for Randolph at all, he didn’t want to upset Juliana too much since she was now someone who served under him.

Ira approached and touched Randolph’s index finger, turning it into metal. He broke it off and tossed it to a Dark Elf who caught it carefully.

“Have someone make it into a ring or something. For his body…” Ira turned to Juliana to see what she wanted but she shook her head.

“What’s left now is just a corpse,” She said gently.

“Poetic,” Ira replied blandly before turning back to the Dark Elves. “Burn it into ash and put it in an urn. We’ll be returning him to his homeland.”

“As you wish, Keeper.” The two Dark Elves bowed.

Ira smiled while Zella’s and Juliana’s body slightly shifted after hearing Ira’s words, indicating they had seen visions of events to come.

“You seek to go to the Grenitian Kingdom?” Juliana asked.

“Yup.” Ira gestured for them to follow him while exiting the room.

“I’ll be honest with you, not that I need to. We’re short on people after that war and we already didn’t have many in the first place. Raveria’s ability helped with the food and I could use my ability to contribute but that makes people content and lazy. Since we’re the winners I may as well take my prize.” Ira made his way to the palace and soon a contingent of guards swarmed around him.

“Oh yeah, while the both of you are here, I’d like to try something.” Ira gave a friendly smile.

“...You wish to impart a piece of the darkness within us?” Zella asked.

“Correct. I wonder if you’ll be able to use it,” Ira mused.

One of the perks of divinity was the ability to give blessings to others. Ira didn’t have a divinity but he consumed Rythar’s and it instead altered his control over the Void. Since both Zella and Juliana had received eyes that were affected by the Void’s influence it stood to reason they would be the best candidates for the blessing.

The two girls in question silently nodded. Neither of them could see the outcome of Ira’s experiment with their eyes but they remained calm in spite of that.

Eventually, Ira arrived at a conference room and entered without waiting and sitting inside were a few of the Valkyries, Avery, and Sylun, as well as her advisors, were gathered at a table.

“Keeper.” The Dark Elves stood to bow deeply.

The Valkyries, with the exception of Lauren, Casey, and Avery, performed their own polite bow.

“I need a few hundred soldiers,” Ira stated his demands as he approached the table.

“For?” Avery inquired.

“We’re short on people, right? Isn't that one of the topics being discussed? I’m going to get some extra hands from the Grenitian Kingdom.”

“I’ll come with you.” Avery was about to stand up when Ira waved his hands.

“No, you should stay here and rest. It’s not like we’re in any danger.” With that Ira directed his gaze to Sylun.

“I’ll have someone send word at once, Keeper.” Sylun gestured to an advisor who bowed once more before leaving the room.

“I’ll be waiting at the temple, you can send them there. I’ll let you all get back to it.” Ira then vanished with Zella and Juliana in tow.

They reappeared at the temple which was currently empty. After killing Rythar the priestesses and scribes decided that the temple no longer reflected Ira’s glory in the right way and needed to be renovated. As the entire city was in the process of fixing its infrastructure, the temple couldn’t be fixed immediately, hence its emptiness.

“Here should be fine.” Ira turned to face Zella and Juliana. The markings on his arm began to fade right up until his elbow and black mist poured out of his body endlessly. He manipulated the dark mist until it coalesced into two fragments which began to float into the air.

All the while, Juliana, and Zella stayed silent, waiting for the end result.

Ira sent the two fragments of mist into their bodies which immediately caused them to take several steps backward.

“Ah!” Zella softly exclaimed as she dropped onto her knees and clutched at her chest.

Juliana was no different and fell right beside her and the two began writhing on the floor in response to the pain they felt.

Ira took a seat and waved his hands, producing a pastry. “It’s been way too long.”

While waiting for both of them he indulged in the sweets until they finally stopped a few minutes later.

“You aren’t dead are you?” Ira asked before finishing off his last mooncake.

“No.” Zella climbed up first and Juliana was next.

“Good. Now, I can’t really tell what’s different so you’ll have to show me.” Ira dusted his hands off and stood up. The markings on his left hand returned and the thick layer of black mist covering the floor was retracted back into his body.

Zella took an uncertain step forward and a shadowy doorway formed in front of her while another formed on the other side of the room. She stepped through it and exited from the other door.

“Oh?” Ira instantly recognized the ability.

It an exact copy of the Lares ability to open doorways with their psychic power. It was extremely convenient for others since he would no longer have to be present to send people away with his spatial manipulation.

“Anything else?” Ira asked.

“Yes...It is now more important for us to cover our eyes.” Juliana spoke up. “I fear that anyone who looks at them now would experience detrimental effects rather than just plain discomfort.”

“Hmm.” Ira nodded in understanding.

Rather than a blessing, it just seemed as if he unlocked more abilities within the crystal eyes by increasing the strength of the Void’s influence on them.

‘I guess only the Wolf would be able to do it.’ Ira thought to himself. He played with the idea of trying to pass a blessing onto his children but quickly discarded it. The only way he was able to integrate himself with the Void was to enter it and that was something he wouldn’t think of putting them through.

Soon after Ira finished with his tests, the soldiers he asked for arrived and they were ready to march onto the Grenitian Kingdom.

“Ladies, if you would.” Ira gestured with a grin.

Although inexperienced, Zella and Juliana opened two black doorways and moved to the side.

“Let’s go,” Ira ordered the soldiers and even though they were clearly apprehensive, they stomached their fear and marched forward.