After the short term awakening, Luke continued to teach Lucia while incorporating knowledge on the eye of the cosmos.
Using eyes of the cosmos in any circumstance, meant a lot of information was being processed in an instant, by the user's brain. The user had to quickly, but carefully, pick out the information they needed as it entered.
Those born with these eyes, could never turn them off after they had completely awakened them; this resulted in the creation of a zone which only they could see, but others could barely view or sense. The zone was the area within the user's line of sight so those outside this zone couldn't be viewed or sensed by the user of the eyes of the cosmos.
The eyes of the cosmos' user's normal vision wasn't that different from the vision of others. Although, they could still see mana and aura paths, as well as tell what a person was feeling from mere fluctuations and body movement, due to their zone. This made it possible for them to sense anything and predict different patterns from what they've sensed.
It was truly a major cheat....unless the user was someone who had just completely awakened. For them, their perception of the world was being flipped on its head and the lack of control over it, meant an overflow of unwanted information.
Luke's zone spread as far as half of Lupin, but he could limit the amount of information he received, to just the forest they were in. However, Lucia's zone covered the entirety of Lupin and even went beyond the boarders of Hyacinth and across the magia regiones that connected to the other three kingdoms.
"Aaahhhh" Lucia screamed, as blood flowed down her eyes, and out of her nose and ears.
Because Lucia was a heart, such information pouring into her brain at once, wasn't supposed to affect her.
Yukia, realizing she had already been caught up in Lucia's zone, immediately teleported out of Lupin, to stop Lucia from gathering any information on her body.
"Lucia" Luke shouted, as Lucia set off mana waves from her body 'This...this shouldn't be happening'
******
The Unnamed Empire
It was still quite early in the morning and although the sky looked brighter, the sun was still several hours away from rising.
Most people were still asleep around this time however, there were a few who were wide awake and working.
In a dark throne room, a young man sat in the dark while resting against one hand. His features couldn't be seen, but there was a huge amount of pressure that could be felt from him. If Luke were here, he'd be able to see the densely packed mana paths that could overload even the strongest of magical creatures.
At the moment, the young man had his eyes closed, as he was in a state of rest. However, he sensed Lucia's magic intruding on his territory and suddenly opened his eyes, which glowed a reddish-purple colour. A pulse of magic power was immediately released from his body, and the invisible mana paths had gained a visible dark purple glow as they immediately escaped from the throne room.
'What is wrong with this generation of hearts?' he wondered 'My peace has never been disturbed like this, in the past' he thought as he shut his eyes
When his magic immediately clashed with that of Lucia's, his eyes shot open again, but he no longer found himself in the dark throne room.
The place he suddenly found himself in, was bright, warm and comforting. And it was filled with blooming flowers. However, when he picked up one of the flowers, he heard a scream and the flower was immediately tainted with blood.
As soon as he lifted his head up, he saw the seal of the Crimson Garden which was brimming with Yukia's power
"This- Come to think of it, there's only one person Aunt Yukia had put this seal on" the man said, in a clear and seductive voice "I knew it would cause trouble..." he stretched his hand towards the seal and as soon as his hand touched it, it glowed "...since Aunt Yukia isn't of Asmodeous' bloodline. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you...Lucia" he said as the seal glowed brighter and brighter, swallowing him into its blinding light.
******
Neinhart
City Capital, Rosslyn
Royal Palace, Melvin's bedroom
The body of Diana opened its eyes with a visible frown plastered on its face as it sat up on the bed.
"What an irritating magic power" Diana said, as she got out of bed before starring out the window facing Lupin.
With her eyes, she viewed the vast ocean where Lupin was meant to be. She clenched her jaw as she let out a maniacal laughter while staring at the ocean.
"Lucia, Lucia, you're still alive, right? I would have finished you a while ago if not for Jane" she said, as the shadows below her feet began to fluctuate and monsters crawled out from it, "I won't let you live to take more away from me" she said as she turned to the army of monsters behind her, "Go, my babies. Bring me her core" she said, and the army of monsters let out snarles and growls as they immediately ran out of the bedroom and Diana smiled
"Well, let's get back to bed" she said "I won't bother myself with dead people"
******
Lupin
Royal Palace
Marcia was getting dressed in her bedroom by her chamber maids when she simultaneously felt Lucia's magic power going berserk as well as Diana's ominous magic power intruding on her magia regiones.
"Skip all of the unnecessary jewels" Marcia said, in a commanding tone
"But....your Majesty, you're meeting with the nobles today" one of the chamber maids said, while holding a ruby necklace
"They can await my presence a little while longer. I have somewhere else to be right now" Marcia said, as she stepped down from the dressing room platform "In the meantime, I need you all to gather my shining stars. Do tell them to gather an army with them and to do so, as soon as possible. There are multiple pests in my magic region"
"We understand, your Majesty" The chamber maids said as they took a bow before leaving the room
'In the meantime, I should probably check on how Lulu and Luce are doing. They've caused quite the ruckus since I left' Marcia thought and with the snap of her fingers, a cat with black fur and red eyes appeared out of nothing "Inform me if anyone approaches this room" she pet the cat's head before teleporting out of the room.
Meanwhile
Lucia's screams were dying down, and the waves being released from her body were becoming less frequent and almost nonexistent.
Her body lost all it's strength and she collapsed to the ground, barely able to stay awake. Fortunately for her, her body slowly started to heal and all the blood she lost was being recovered, however, she was delirious and unaware of her surroundings. To the point she couldn't feel Luke shaking her nor could she hear him worriedly calling out her name as she shut her eyes.
At this moment, when everything was already under control, Marcia reappeared next to Luke.
"Is she okay?" Marcia asked
"I think so" Luke said "She's healing by herself...so I'm sure she'll be fine"
"Ugh. To think I have to deal with this and Diana" Marcia grumbled, as she pinched between her brows "You really brought trouble to my doorstep, but Luce is cute so I'll forgive you"
"Why is Diana here?" Luke asked, as he picked Lucia up in his arms
"I'm very sure every heart and spirit within Hyacinth felt Lucia's power" Marcia said with her arms crossed "You really brought trouble to my doorstep. What are you going to do about this?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't help you deal with Diana" Luke said "However, I am going to be hiding with Lucia in the palace. I need to begin the preparations for the ceremony....I don't want to see her in pain anymore"
"Then we return back together" Marcia held his arm as she teleported all of them back to her bedroom in the palace.
The black cat sat on the bed with it's tail swaying from side to side as it jumped on Luke's shoulder.
"Tch" Luke let out
"I know, you know your way around the castle, but that will keep you from being found by people I don't want finding you" Marcia said as she pushed a strand of hair away from her face "Don't worry, I'll assign chamber maids who know how to keep their mouths shut, to Lucia's room" she added as the cat let out a meow and Luke, was teleported away with Lucia.
As soon as they left, the door to Marcia's room opened and the shining stars, dressed head to toe in armor, walked in before bowing to Marcia.
"Sorry for the sudden intrusion your Majesty, but your chamber maids said that you summoned us" Jay said
"I did" Marcia said "At ease. Did they deliver my message?"
"We've gathered our best soldiers and are ready to set out anytime, Your Majesty" Adam said
"Then get going. It's the borders of Neinhart" Marcia said, as walked towards her bedroom door while her shining stars followed her "It'd take weeks for you all to go by yourselves. I'm going too, so I'll take you there"
The shining stars looked at each other as Marcia suddenly teleported all of them outside, just in front of the army.
"Your Majesty, sorry if this may sound rude, but you have a meeting with the nobles. We can't make the Queen head into battle herself" Bailey said, as the dress Marcia was wearing, immediately changed into the armor she used when training Lucia.
"Like you said, I'm the queen...and I can do whatever I want" Marcia said as she pat Bailey on the shoulder "To top it all off, before I am queen, I am the heart of this kingdom. So, when another heart challenges me to battle, I reply in kind. Understood?"
"Yes, your Majesty" the shining stars replied in unison
"To protect our motherland and the people living within our walls. We head to battle" Marcia shouted which erupted cheers from the soldiers "We must return victorious. So have no fear when faced with dangers....I will protect you" she said as she snapped her fingers and a large magic circle appeared under their feets before they were teleported away.
******
Outside the Magic Region
Marcia and her army reappeared outside of the magic region, right in front of the large gates of Lupin. They stood there, before the walls protecting their country.
The reason for this was actually quite simple; the magic regiones were all built to work in two ways called the entry and exit ways. When entering another country, people are face with the magic region of that country and the same thing happens when exiting. When exiting from a country, the place you are using as an exit route also produces it's own magic region.
In such a case, if Marcia and her army were to teleport themselves into the magic region, they'd be faced with Neinhart's magic region which they have no advantage over. To top it all off, they wouldn't be able to clash with Diana's forces. Although the entrance and exit paths are the same, within those paths are two separate and completely different dimensions. And these dimensions were connected to their respective hearts.
'Those damn ancestors really wanted chaos instead of peace' Marcia thought as she noticed some of Diana's monsters pouring out of magic region "Ready for battle?" She yelled as her army took their positions while she formed her own monsters out from nothing
As soon as Diana's forces touched the ground, Marcia gave the order for attack and an all out war began.