Eriakas glared at the officer. He cleared his throat and raised his voice to continue.

"I'm sorry to report back, my lord, Candlemore has lost—" The man's voice was completely muted for a moment.

He bravely went on with himself. "—lost. ”

"Lost!" repeated Eriakas in a voice that sounded like thunder.

The sound did make the officer feel like he had been struck by lightning.

He stammered for a moment, and then, apparently determined to finish quickly, said breathlessly, "Toude has been slain by a Kander named Kronin Eastmad, and his troops have begun to be filled with agitated and angry voices from the crowd.

Many soldiers cursed angrily and vowed to level Candlemore.

They're going to wipe out the damned race from Klaes completely—Eriakas waved his hand in exasperation, quieting the entire hall.

Then the silence was broken.

Ella was laughing.

It was unabashed, contemptuous, sarcastic laughter. It reverberated behind the iron mask.

Eriakas's face contorted with anger and stood up. He took a step forward.

As he did so, his dragons unsheathed their swords and slammed their spears into the ground.

Seeing this, Ella's forces tightened their formation, tightly surrounding their master's throne, which was to the right of Ereakas.

Robert subconsciously put his hand on the hilt of his sword, and he found that he had inadvertently moved a step towards Ella, although it represented a place where he was not allowed to step on it.

Ella didn't respond. She still sits, coldly looking at Eriakas with sarcastic eyes.

Although it is not visible from the outside, it can be clearly felt.

Suddenly, all the troops in the hall fell silent, as if they were choked by some force, and they couldn't breathe.

The person standing felt a burst of difficulty breathing, pain in his lungs, vision began to blur, and his heartbeat was still.

Then the air in the entire hall seemed to be completely drained, replaced by darkness.

Is it a physical darkness? Or is it just an illusion in their minds? Nobody knows.

He saw thousands of torches in the hall, shining incessantly, and he saw thousands of candles flickering in the night sky like stars.

But even the night sky was not as dark as what he saw now.

His head felt dizzy. He tried to breathe helplessly, but it felt like he was at the bottom of Ista again.

His knees began to shake, he was almost too weak to stand up, and he vaguely knew that many others had fallen in various parts of the hall.

He barely raised his head in pain, and could clearly see Ella's head limp, as if some force was pressing down on the throne.

Then the darkness lifted. Cold, sweet air rushed into his lungs.

His heart started beating again. Blood rushed to his brain, almost knocking him out.

For a moment he could do nothing but sit down the stairs and look at the stars that were popping up in front of him in a daze.

Then, his vision cleared, and he saw that the dragonmen were unaffected.

They stood upright, each staring at the same place.

Robert looked at the majestic platform that had been empty throughout the ceremony.

It should be said that it was empty so far. His blood froze in his veins, and his breathing almost stopped.

Taxis, after darkness has entered this great hall. She has various other names on Chryth. The elves called her the Dragon Queen, the barbarians of the plains called her Neirath the Void, the False Metal, as the dwarves of Kimbadin called her, Mai-Tai, the Multi-faced, and the sea-seekers of Atlantis;

When she returned to the air, the knights of Sorenia called her so.

She was defeated by Shuma a long time ago and sealed away.

Taxis, after darkness, has returned to this world.

But it's not complete yet. Even when Robert looked in awe at the niche above his head, even though the pain she brought penetrated his brain, making him unable to think in pain, and there was only pure fear and fear in his head.

He also discovers that the darkness does not appear in his true form after that. It was as if she could only appear in their minds, creating the illusion of a dark shadow in that place.

She was only able to, with her powers, to let others see that she was there.

Something was stopping her from entering the world. A door, Beclaire's words returned to Robert's mind.

Where is Belclaire and where are Calamon and the others?

Robert found himself almost forgetting that they existed. They were chased away by the images of Lorana and Ella, who were constantly pestering him.

His gaze began to spin. He felt that he had the key to solving all the problems in his hands, as long as he had the opportunity to calm down and think about it for a while.

But this is not possible. The shadow deepened until it formed an empty space in the granite hall.

Robert couldn't look away, staring at the void in a daze, feeling as if he was slowly being sucked in.

At that moment, he heard a voice in his head.

I have not gathered you to see your ridiculous battles with each other, much less to see your pathetic ambitions destroy the victory I am about to win.

Don't forget who the ruler of this place is, Eriakas.

Eriakas landed on one knee, and the rest of the hall did the same. Robert found himself on his knees as well.

He had no way to restrain himself. Although her whole body is full of evil and terrifying aura, she is a goddess after all, one of the creators of this world.

She ruled from the beginning of time...... Until the last moment.

The voice continued, burning his mind, and everyone present.

Ella, we're happy with your past performances. Now your gift makes us even happier.

Bring the elven woman so that we can see her and decide her fate.

Robert looked at Eriakas and noticed that although he had returned to his throne, he had glared at her viciously before leaving.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Ella bowed her head, "Follow me," she said as she walked past Robert and down the stairs.

Her dragon forces immediately made way for her to reach the center of the main hall.

Ella walked up the rib-like staircase, with Robert following her.

The ranks parted in front of them, and almost immediately after they walked past, they were in the court.

Ella walked to the center of the hall and climbed the stairs behind the massive platform that resembled a snake's head until she reached the middle of the marble platform.

Robert's movements were slower, because the narrow staircase was so difficult to walk, and because he found that the dark shadows seemed to be able to see through his soul.

After standing in the middle of the misshapen platform, Ella turned and gestured to the door that connected the platform.

"A figure appeared in the doorway—a dark figure wearing the armor of a knight of Sorenia.

Sir Souths entered the main hall and, following his movements, the soldiers on either side of the narrow bridge involuntarily retreated in either direction, as if a hand had reached out of the grave, pulling them apart.

In Sir South's withered hands held a body wrapped in a white cloth, seemingly bound in the same way that people wrapped corpses.

The whole hall was so dead and silent that they could hear even a needle falling on the ground, and in their hallucinations they could hear the knight's boots stepping on the floor.

Sir South, holding the body, walked slowly forward, across the bridge, to the head of the snake.

Ellabi gestured, and he placed the white cloth at the dragoon's feet.

Then he suddenly vanished, causing everyone to blink in horror, not knowing if what they had just seen was real or if it was a hallucination caused by excessive terror.

Robert could see the smile on the face of Ella's helmet, pleased with the effect her servant had made.

Ella drew her sword and cut through the white cloth that was tied around her body like a cocoon.

She tugged hard, loosening them, then stepped back to watch her captive's struggle.

Robert saw a clump of sparkling hair, and silver armor.

Lorana coughed incessantly, almost gasping from the restraints around her, and she struggled to break free of the haunting strips of white cloth.

The soldiers watched the prisoner's weak struggles and couldn't help but snicker, and there might be something more fun next. Robert involuntarily took a step forward, trying to help Lolana up.

Then he found Ella's brown eyes staring at him, watching him and reminding him - "If you die, she will die with you!"

He began to feel a chill in his body, and Robert was forced to stop and retreat to his original position.

Lolana finally staggered to her feet. She looked around in a daze, not quite understanding where she was, blinking incessantly under the bright light of the torches.

Her gaze finally fell on Ella, who was smiling at her.

As soon as she saw her enemy, the woman who had betrayed her, Lolana immediately stood up straight.

For a moment, her anger made her forget her fear. She glared at her with rage, her gaze swept across the hall, and fortunately, she didn't look back.

She didn't see the bearded half-elf standing behind her, dressed in dragon legion armor, looking at her fixedly.

Lolana was already desperate - after she was captured by the people behind the darkness, she was still counting on Robert and the others to come back to rescue her.

But time passed day by day, and there was no new news, only endless torture.

And such torture is far more terrible than physical injury. Because she is the leader of the Combine Army, and now she is in the hands of the enemy, and she wants to save it all, she wants to keep all the good things.

Lorana felt even more frightened at this moment, and she glanced around uneasily.