71 Five Years

Five years later.

Trier, Northern Continent.

Diana, dressed in traditional blue robes, stood on the deck of a ship, quietly gazing at the twilight sun.

"Diana, here you are." Blaise walked out, holding a two glasses of wine. "I looked everywhere for you." He approached her and handed her the glass of wine.

Diana took it, leaned against the railing, and spoke softly. "I just needed some time alone..." She paused and continued after seeing his hesitant expression. "You're not disturbing anything, Blaise. I was already planning on going into the cabin..."

After seeing her situation, Blaise asked with concern, "Are you doing well? I recently heard that the entire parliament had become a shambles as a result of the kings' disagreements."

"Parliament..." Diana mumbled to herself while drinking the wine and turning to look at the setting sun for a moment.

Blaise also leaned against the railing, his gaze fixed on the setting sun on the horizon. He remained silent and waited for her to speak up after she had gathered herself, as he could tell she was in a very bad emotional state.

He also can guess why; it should be mostly because of the empire.

The empire began to deteriorate recently, just as the industrial revolution and mass migration were kicking into high gear, causing the entire empire to face a variety of crises.

Every day, something new was invented, while the old was scrapped. This was true not only for inventions, but also for customs and traditions, which were becoming obsolete due to incompatibility with the ever-changing times.

The people were unable to adapt to such rapid change, resulting in full-fledged crises in various sectors of the empire.

In light of this, the parliament convened, which is made up of the kings and their consuls, and Diana, who represents the will of the six gods, also has a seat there.

The parliament is composed entirely of Archangels, which is why the six gods chose Diana to be their representative.

However, in the parliament, the archangels, who should have deliberated the crisis and passed new laws to counter it, did nothing but argue and quarrel with each other all day long, while the kings did nothing to maintain order. Then one thing led to another, and all hell broke loose in the parliament.

Blaise only heard this much from the other angels, and the rest of what happened after that became hazy.

Some said Sauron and Amon were at each other thoarts, while others said Tudor almost took order into his own hands, seizing it from Trunsoest.

But one thing remained consistent throughout: Evernight Goddess, actually descended on the parliament, ending the entire conflict and chaos.

Blaise can be somewhat certain that the Evernight Goddess must have been really dissatisfied and disappointed with the way things were going.

"Do you know something, Blaise?" Diana finally asked, drawing his gaze to her. She went on without waiting for his response.

"The Empire..." She burst out laughing, pouring her heart out. "It's doomed, it's absolutely doomed!"

"And the Kings who lead the empire are a truly fascinating duo." Her tone became mocking. "All they do all day is bicker with each other over every single decision, even more than an old married couple!"

"It almost makes each session last for days! I almost stormed out of there several times, but I held myself together, remembering my duty and bearing through it all."

"They were completely incompatible with each other, when it was most necessary to rule the empire," She continued. "I tried numerous times to bring them to a common ground, but it was ultimately futile. It was similar to what would happen if chaos and order were combined; it was anarchy."

Blaise patiently listened, his brow furrowing with worry.

"The empire is doomed to fall in the future, Blaise..." She continued, indifferent to the implications of her words.

"We already knew this, Diana," Blaise said, not surprised by her shocking words. "You said the same thing when the gods decided to make it double consul." He sighed.

"I did, indeed..." Diana chuckled, self-deprecatingly, as she sipped her wine. "But, after all the blood and sweat that we put into building this entire empire, only to watch it crumble..."

"Diana..." Blaise interrupted her while staring into her eyes. "Even if it falls, our efforts were not in vain. Remember what Lord said: by building this empire, we laid the groundwork for many future generations. Even though it will not be the same, it will continue under a different name. And I'm sure there's a reason why the Lord has allowed this..."

Diana sighed, as she turns to face the sun. "I really needed to hear that..." She smiled and gathered herself, "Well, not everything is bad, my knowledge emperor potion is completely digested."

"That's something we can celebrate about." Blaise said with a smile, raising his glass and clinking it with Diana's, then they had chunked the majority of the wine in one go.

"Enough about me!" Diana said, waving her hands, "How's it going for you, Blaise?"

She hasn't had time for herself in the last five years, having spent most of it in parliament and at political banquets. It was excruciating at times, sitting in the same chair for days, if not weeks, listening to arguments and quarrels before anything productive came out of it.

All of this had completely crammed her schedule; she hadn't been to church in five years, and, more importantly, she hadn't even seen Lucas, other than sending letters between them.

"It's been the same thing, meeting new faces and learning about their stories. Time goes on like that..." While drinking his wine, Blaise said quietly.

"Don't drag it on like that; I'm sure there must be something interesting going on in church." Diana smiled and interjected.

"There is, in fact..." Blaise began to recount. "I am the leader of a new beyonder division that was formed in response to the various attacks on cities by the True Creator's remnant believers and the Demoness family of the Primordial Demoness."

"We're dealing with it, but it's nothing major; it's just a fight between demigods at most."

"What is the division's name?" Diana inquired, her lips pursed.

"Lightbringers." Blaise replied, but he suddenly smiled as he reflected on something. "You know, someone suggested the name lightblazers, and he even made white blazers for all of us."

"Is it, Luke?" Diana asked, then she saw him nod. She guffawed. "When it comes to naming, he really does have a terrible sense." Her eyes become slightly reminiscent.

Blaise said, after seeing her in this state. "You know, Lucas, is always on and on about you…." In a roundabout way, he dragged.

"I know, Blaise," Diana nodded. "He sends me so many letters that it almost fills my room at times."

She exhaled a sigh. "However, time is not on our side; he is pope of the church, and I am consul of the empire." She then laughed. "Now that I think about it, our affair could almost become a best-selling book if someone publishes it."

Blaise did not join in her laughter and said. "He'll be here shortly, Diana."

Diana fell silent for a brief moment. Then she inquired. "Did the Lord explain why he summoned all of us to this boat?"

Blaise could tell she didn't want to take about this anymore. He also didn't push her, knowing that their relationship is too complicated; he can only hope that they can work out their differences on their own.

"We're off to the astral world." He replied.

"Astral world?" Diana was taken aback.

"Yes, the lord said, he wants to show us something." Blaise said, looking up to the sky. "There is also someone joining us."

"Where is he?" Diana inquired after hearing this.

"The engine room." Blaise gestured to the deck. "He's fiddling with the steam engine over there." After noticing her intension, he continued. "He also told no one to bother him."

Diana sighed and slumped, as she really wanted to go there and see what kind of adjustments her lord was making in the engine.

They stopped talking and just stood next to each other, leaning on the wooden railing, drinking wine and gazing out at the twilight sun silently.

Soon, the silence between was broken by the sound of footsteps, as a man dressed in papal robes appeared, with a big smile on his face.

"I am finally here!" Lucas exclaimed loudly with a sigh, drawing their attention to him.

Diana smiled brightly and ran to him, then literally pounced on him, catching other off-guard.

Boom!

They both landed heavily on the boat's wooden deck, causing it to shake slightly.

"What the hell? Dia.." Lucas yelled, but Diana pressed her lips against his, sealing the deal for a long kiss in the fading light of the sun.

They didn't even bother talking anymore, instead deepening their kisses.

Meanwhile, Blaise walked into the common cabin right away, with a sigh.

The cabin was dimly lit, with a wooden table and chair, and a cabinet filled with wine and other drinks close to the wall. A world map and various paintings too were hung on the wall.

He opened the cabinet and took a wine bottle, wanting to pour himself one more glass. Then, he took a seat at the table.

"It's rare, isn't it?" A soft voice entered the room, immediately waking him up from his trance.

Blaise rose to his feet, almost assuming a combat stance. But he wasn't too concerned because his lord was also on the boat.

He finally looked up to see a beautiful woman standing in front of him, dressed in a long white gown with brown accents, holding a long wooden staff with pink roses blooming at the top.

Earth Mother!

He bowed when he saw her, as is appropriate for a god.

And she wasn't a projection either; the goddess had actually come here.

Finally, he knew who would be joining them.

"Get up." Earth Mother said, after seeing him.

Then, Blaise stood straight, looking at the goddess before him.

"It is, indeed, rare, milady." Blaise replied to her question, knowing that Earth Mother was referring to Diana and Lucas's relationship.

After hearing that, Earth mother smiled. However, she did not enquire further, instead asking, "Where is he?"

"In the engine room." Blaise responded, then saw Earth Mother nod and walk away.

He sighed and went to the table, where he took the wine bottle. He wanted to pour one more glass again.

'This would no longer suffice...' He sulked and took the entire bottle in his hand, beginning to make his way to the opposite desk on the other side.

__________

Lilith stood in front of a heavy wooden door in a long corridor lined with round glass windows that revealed the underwater river teeming with marine life.

Knock!

After a few seconds of standing in silence, she knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Aucuses' voice could be heard from within the door as she pushed it open, only to be greeted by a blinding light.

"What are you creating?" She asked, surprised, as she looked at the steam engine, which had changed beyond recognition.

Aucuses stood in front of a massive engine that appeared to have been completely rebuilt, as all of the tubes and wires were connected to a single large cylinder with a actual sun inside.

The sun emitted infinite light and energy, which passed through the tubes and wires, lighting them up as well as connecting them to the entire engine. There were also numerous holographic projections throughout the engine room.

Aucuses turned to face her, his face illuminated by light. Then, he spoke, his lips turning upwards.

"A ship capable of traversing the sea of stars."