anwhile, far away on the Human Continent, inside the Royal Palace of Bastaria’s capital, there stood a separate building that looked like a palace by itself.
The building was tall, elegant, and massive, but unlike the main palace, its outer structure had dark tallic lines and runic patterns spread across the walls. From far away it looked like part of the Royal Palace, but anyone with real status inside Bastaria knew that this place did not belong to the King.
This building belonged to one person only.
Velmira Ashenworth.
The only EX-Rank in the entire Human Continent, and a special EX-Rank at that.
The palace she occupied was not given to her by Azarion or any past King. It had been built by herself. As for how she built sothing this large inside the Royal Palace area and made everyone accept it, that was another matter entirely and not sothing ordinary people could even ask about.
At this mont, inside the massive palace, only five chambers existed.
Yes, only five chambers.
For a palace this large, that number was almost ridiculous, but Velmira did not care about filling space with useless rooms. Four of those chambers were empty most of the ti, and only the chamber at the far right was used by her regularly.
Inside that far-right chamber, the interior was majestic in a quiet way.
The space was so large that if any noble in the continent saw only the area of the room and wanted to buy it, they would have to give away most of their assets, wealth, and land just to match its value. The ceiling was high, the floor was made of dark polished stone, and silver runes moved faintly near the walls. The room did not have too many decorations, but every piece present had value.
At the far end of the room, against the wall, there was a massive bed.
On that bed sat Velmira.
Her long ash-gray hair fell over her shoulders, and her silver-lined black commander attire covered her body with a balance between elegance and combat use. It was the sa kind of attire she had worn when she appeared inside the Eternal-Class Ruin.
Her hand rested on the sa locket she had used during the battle against the black monster inside that ruin.
Velmira’s gaze slowly lowered toward the locket.
She opened her palm and lifted it slightly.
The locket glowed with a faint light.
It did not speak in words, but the glow moved in a rhythm that felt like a response.
Velmira nodded and spoke.
Her usual cold voice did not co out this ti. Her voice was softer, as if she was speaking to soone close.
"Yes, Sekrus, I understand your worry. But you don’t have to worry about . I know Azarion is planning sothing, and I know he wants to drag into it."
She paused for a mont.
"And... I also know what he is planning."
The locket humd again.
Velmira’s lips thinned into a line.
"Mm, he will learn his lesson when he faces the truth... yes, I know. I am also talking about HIM."
The locket humd again, as if it recognized the word and understood that Velmira knew what it was trying to tell her.
Velmira nodded slowly.
At that mont, her black commander attire shifted slightly near her waist, and Marvilas showed itself.
The white sword erged from nothing.
It appeared the sa way it had appeared inside the Eternal-Class Ruin, clean and smooth, as if space itself had allowed it to exist beside her.
Then both Sekrus and Marvilas humd together.
Velmira only nodded, as if she understood their aning clearly.
"Yes, you are right... that black monster warned about HIM. But I don’t know if this HIM and the one I know as HIM are the sa."
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"And he also ntioned sothing about the wielder of Primordial Co— or sothing close to that."
The locket and sword both released faint hums again.
Velmira listened without moving too much.
This kind of exchange continued for so ti.
From the outside, it looked like Velmira was sitting alone and speaking to a locket and a sword. But to her, Sekrus and Marvilas were not ordinary relics. They could not speak like humans, but they had their own way of responding, warning, agreeing, and refusing.
And Velmira understood them.
While she was still speaking with them, the shadow beneath the bed shook slightly.
A figure erged from that shadow.
The figure was a woman, but most of her features were covered by the sa general style of attire Velmira wore. A hood covered her head, and the cloth around her face hid most of her expression.
The mont she erged, she bowed.
"Master, Veyron and the King are planning sothing... and it is too dangerous. So dangerous that the whole world might wage war against the Human Continent if this goes wrong. Shouldn’t you stop him?"
Velmira had already sensed her arrival.
But she did not turn.
Her attention remained on Marvilas and Sekrus, as if she was still listening to what they were saying.
The hooded woman kept her head lowered, but a thought still passed through her mind.
’She is doing that again? Could it really be that she can speak with that sword?’
Then Velmira spoke suddenly, catching the hooded woman off guard.
"Mary, I told you before, right? I can’t take action against him."
Mary lifted her head slightly.
"B-But Master, the King is taking the wrong action this ti—"
Before Mary could finish, Velmira cut her off.
Her tone had no pressure and no coldness, but it was firm enough to stop Mary from continuing.
"Mary, do not worry about this matter. There are countless people who will take action against him."
Mary froze.
Velmira continued without turning.
"But even though they can’t do anything to him directly, he will still learn. There are so powers in this world that even I can’t properly understand, and according to my calculations, he will face one of them."
Mary’s eyes widened.
For a mont, she stared at Velmira without knowing what to say.
Then she slowly lowered her head again.
"...Yes, Master."
Velmira still did not turn toward her.
Mary understood that the conversation was over.
The shadow beneath her feet moved again, and her body slowly sank back into it until she disappeared from the chamber.
After Mary left, Velmira turned her gaze back to Marvilas and Sekrus.
Both relics humd at the sa ti.
Velmira understood their aning.
They were telling her that she should not have spoken that much to Mary.
Velmira shook her head slowly.
"It’s better that she knows this much now. If she remains completely ignorant, she might try to act on her own and lose her life before understanding what she is standing against."
At that, both relics went silent for a mont.
Velmira’s fingers brushed lightly across the locket.
Then, as if nothing serious had happened, she started speaking with them again.
This ti, the topic shifted to smaller things.
What she should eat.
What she should avoid.
Whether she had rested enough.
Whether she should continue ignoring Azarion’s repeated ssages.
The conversation would have sounded strange to anyone else, but Velmira spoke naturally, as if this was sothing she had done for a long ti.
After many exchanges, she suddenly spoke again.
"About that Dragon Emperor..."
The locket and sword both beca still.
Velmira’s crimson eyes lowered slightly.
"I think he knows sothing about HIM."
For a mont, there was no response.
Then both relics humd at the sa ti.
This ti, their aning was clear.
They agreed.
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