Emersyn was rummaging through the treasures and money they got in the troves when she stumbled upon a black ball. It didn't shine or glowed under the light, but she felt a strong attraction to it.
"Hey, Ignis, where did your mother acquire this?"
"Hm? Well… I don't know. She never really shared anything with me."
"Can I take it?"
"Why are you asking me that? It's yours now."
Emersyn nodded then, suddenly, the black ball shook and it instantly consumed her. She almost heard the cries of the babies and the collective screams of the people. She didn't know what happened, but it all disappeared when her whole body was swallowed by complete darkness. She fell, and kept on falling. After a few minutes, and hours, she still didn't see the bottom.
Meanwhile, the babies transformed into baby dragons as they cried in fear. Ignis also tried to calm himself down and stop his siblings from crying so loudly. Also, he just noticed that the lights were off. Even the whole city is consumed by the darkness. He could hear the screams of terror of the people. He shook his head then turned towards his siblings to soothe them. Then, he could hear a loud banging on the door. He didn't know where Emersyn disappeared to, but he had to escape from this predicament. If these people found out that Emersyn took in monsters, they would definitely banish her to the surface or worse, kill her. So, he took the baby dragons in his hold and stormed out of the place.
"What?!" Someone screamed.
Ignis knew that he was screwed now. However, he still continued to run to reach the exit of Tamel. Fortunately, there weren't any guards as he dashed out. He finally reached the surface and there were a few people running after him. He accelerated immediately to avoid suspicion and released his wings to fly in the air. However… as if they were waiting for him, a bunch of aerial monsters appeared and chased after him. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. He released the mana covering him and immediately transformed into a humongous dragon. He flapped his wings harder to, once again, escape from these monsters.
***
Emersyn swam to the edge of the endless pit and extended her arms to touch the dark wall. For some reason, it felt like a soft current when it was raging so violently. When she retracted her hand, there was a residue and it seeped into her body. It felt invigorating…. So, she focused her energy in front of her and a huge black hole appeared before her. The dark wall shook violently then immediately entered the black hole. It was a very long process, but she managed to stabilize the black hole for a very long time. She didn't know how long it was, but she finally floated then gently stepped on a hard floor. There was a loud explosion and a light erupted. She covered his eyes then when she was able to see again, there was a key and a crown floating before her.
Her fingers touched the cold key then a black chain appeared and made the key as a pendant before it latched on Emersyn's neck. Then, the crown. She didn't touch it, but it seeped into her forehead and a black gem appeared on it. She touched the gem and somehow, it felt right.
Then, the darkness disappeared.
She looked around and saw her room.
"... Emersyn?"
Emersyn turned to look at the person who called her.
Yao Yun stood aghast when he saw a gem on her forehead and a floating black crown on her head. In that instant, he knew. He knew that Emersyn was now the crowned Empress of Darkness that he kept on hearing in the Central Marsh. He was flabbergasted. There was only one descendant he knew and ever existed; and it was Chang Xiuying. Was it, perhaps, Emersyn was an illegitimate child? Or maybe… just maybe… that she was Chang Xiuying? He didn't know. When he was about to call her once again, he saw from his periphery that there were soldiers coming through their way.
Emersyn smiled weakly when she heard them call her a traitor. So, she had to do one thing.
"Capture Yao Yun too! He is an accomplice who brought in monsters and Emersyn into our city!"
She knew.
So, she waited.
When the soldiers arrived with the Elders, she cleanly stabbed Yao Yun with a black spike. It was thin and sharp.
She laughed.
"You fools…," she said with a cynical smile. "Come any closer and this man will die. Oh! Maybe I should kill you all too? You all are worthless trash that got deceived by me. What's the difference between killing you now and killing you later?"
"Bastard…," one of the elders exclaimed.
"Let me go. I won't kill you all then. And, I am taking this man as a hostage," Emersyn cackled as she pulled Yao Yun closer who was groaning in unbearable pain.
When they saw how Emersyn treated Yao Yun, they made way and let her escape. When she arrived at the exit with official people following her, she suddenly threw Yao Yun to them with a laugh then ran up.
"Bitch…," Althas cussed.
Even Nico was shocked by her betrayal. The wife he was dreaming of was evil. Moreover… She was also the latent descendant of a criminal that killed millions of people and was banished into the other world that they called.
"This… can't be…."
Meanwhile, Yao Yun was having a hard time breathing as he coughed out blood. The Central Marsh men immediately crouched next to him and applied immediate first aid. They were stumbling on what to do, but one of the Elders gave sympathetic gazes at them and said, "Put him in his room and a healer will come."
"Yao Yun! Hang in there!"
***
Emersyn was on top of the tallest building as her gaze settled on the people that came to catch her. She was looking at the horizon in an emotionless state. She just disregarded what she was feeling right now as pitch black wings came out from her back. It somehow had feathers on them now. So, she spread it widely then took off.
The key on her neck shook then led her towards a direction. She didn't know where, but it seemed like it was pointing at the place where she could use it. So, she followed.
However, the closer she got as the key shook more vigorously, powerful monsters that could threaten her life kept on appearing. Some were as huge as a building and some were just her size. She brandished multiple weapons from her inventory while using the maximum capacity of her Life Energy. Of course, she also took their corpses. Then, when she struck down the last monster, she stepped on the cold ice and the mist cleared. Her wings folded and she looked at the key before her that stopped vibrating and pointed down. She looked down and saw that the ice was clear and she could see a black roof. She didn't know how far it was from where she was.
Still, her fingers touched the ice as it began to crack to smaller pieces. Then, it collapsed as she flapped her wings hard then stepped down on the pitch black roof. She stretched out her hands and willed the shattered ice to float and swept it to expose the infrastructure.
She could see how majestic this castle was even from where she was. Her wings disappeared and feathers came out as she looked down. There was an open window and she entered through it. It was clean and cold inside, and it seemed that everything was preserved from time immemorial. However, it was too black. Everything was black. She couldn't comprehend why the mysterious key led her here. She walked through hallways and corridors as she opened every door she could see. There were bedrooms and spacious rooms for guests and a library. The books suddenly disappeared with a motion of her hand as it got stored in her inventory. People in the Central Marsh might be able to understand this and use it to their own discretion. If she could still do anything for them, that was. She almost killed Yao Yun and the Central Marsh men might hold a grudge against her action. She smiled mockingly at herself.
When she arrived before a huge door, she easily opened it and there was a throne room so huge. The carpet was frozen stiff and the throne filled with an ominous feeling seemed to welcome her warmly. She didn't know why, but she was drawn to it. Unconsciously, she took a step then approached the huge throne. Her fingers caressed it gently as if it was precious to her.
Well, it was certainly precious if only she could detach this from the floor---. She left these precious metals alone and left to explore the enormous castle.