"Hmph...so she's the Queen? But do you know what this Queen of yours was just doing?"
Mirium seemed stunned for a moment upon hearing this, but unexpectedly, although she initially looked very surprised, she didn't have much further reaction afterwards and didn't question Adrian's statement further. She only pointed at the now completely exposed passage entrance and instructed Arick, "Quick, go see if those who just entered have escaped far. These guards were too careless! We didn't even realize there was another exit here!"
"As it happens, I noticed earlier that the angel who injured me seems to also be inside. This time, you won't stop me from taking revenge, right?"
Arick had no objections, uttering those words before charging alone into the narrow tunnel, making me anxious as I wanted to stop her but was powerless.
Cyra and Cysper still hadn't swapped bodies yet. If Arick caught up to them, they would have no time to prepare and might get wiped out.
But anxious as I was, I had no other recourse on my side. Even though Adrian had identified me as the "Queen", the watchful gazes didn't decrease - it was clear most didn't let down their guard.
"You're now the King of Parristol. We can't really meddle too much, but let's hope your harem doesn't encompass all of Edenmere!"
As the most inscrutable figure in the monster camp, Fernando calmly commented, then exchanged a nod through the air with Mirium, as if signaling something. Afterwards, he descended and blended into the watching crowd.
Seeing Fernando leave, Adrian didn't respond, only slowly walking towards me and extending a hand with a smile, "Feliciana, let's go back to our royal palace."
"This..."
To be honest, I really disliked being called a "Queen". First, it felt extremely awkward, especially under the scrutinizing gaze of the masses, with almost everyone staring at me like a curiosity.
But after so much effort, I had finally met Adrian. Although he was now King, he didn't show any aloofness towards me, so I couldn't help feeling somewhat delighted inside.
Moreover, the current situation didn't allow me to try any other choices, so in the end I could only follow Mirium and slowly descend to the ground.
"Let me first take you to tour the Chromos Tower. You've definitely never been here before, right?"
As soon as I landed, Adrian rushed over and grabbed my hand. Ignoring what others thought, he excitedly turned and ran outside the crowd, immediately drawing a large entourage to follow noisily behind. Of course, most were the King's guards as expected, but seeing Mirium also blend in, unwilling to fall even half a step behind, left me rather speechless.
Well, the direct distance from the shelter to the Chromos Tower was actually quite close. After climbing up from the underground passage, I discovered this exit opened right beside the tower - no wonder Adrian had the free time to come console the masses during such a multi-front war crisis.
Next was the tour of this central tower of the city...
As the central landmark of Parristol, the Chromos Tower was already the tallest building in the city. Now that its true underground appearance was fully revealed, it looked extraordinarily magnificent up close.
Not minding the raging bombardment in the sky, Adrian took me from the thickest base upwards, introducing and showing me the interior spaces of the entire tower one by one, only stopping when we reached the throne room at the top. Of course, Mirium followed not far behind the whole way, while Adrian pretended not to notice her at all.
Actually, there wasn't anything particularly noteworthy during the tour, since the only section truly in use was that small top portion - most of the lower tower body, having been underground for so long, was almost completely empty inside. Only the throne room was especially worth mentioning.
Though located on the top floor, the throne room was quite spacious, with a large open area dozens of meters wide! This floor had no windows except for railings along the edge, making it a 360-degree observation deck where you could take in the full view of the sky city.
Of course, there was also the King's throne located in the center of the throne room.
Supposedly over thousands of years of history, this floor's layout underwent major remodeling multiple times, even adding enclosed windows to the railings at one point. But the only true millennium-old artifact, that King's throne, was preserved intact.
No one was really clear what material it was made from. The throne didn't look particularly fancy, even somewhat shabby. But the demonstration Adrian gave next really opened my eyes.
"This crown of mine and that throne should be a set. It can enable most of the throne's functions. Of course, to fully control the whole city, I still need to come use it in person..."
Adrian said, then simply sat down. I saw the backrest lean back under his control, and a dense ring of holographic 3D screens immediately appeared in the air in front of the throne, displaying text, visuals, street scenes from various city areas, and real-time battle footage of airships from different countries in the sky. It felt extremely similar to the Galadra's Eye main control, though on closer inspection there were still subtle differences like the layout, colors, etc...
"Of course, not just anyone can control this throne - you need the pureblooded lineage of the Loren royal family! But very unfortunately, since Parristol's history is so ancient, the royal bloodline became increasingly diluted over thousands of years of inheritance. By my father's generation, they could hardly operate this throne anymore, let alone activate the Divine Punishment! So he was betrayed by his own brother and forced to flee to the remote border forests between the Empire and Astralrealm Kingdom..."
Saying this, a hint of sadness appeared on Adrian's face, likely recalling his late father, as he sat up straight again. The hovering 3D images around him vanished as he rose, restoring everything to its original state.
"But I don't think my father ever imagined that I would be an exception! Although not born in this royal palace, I can somehow perfectly control this thousand-year-old throne passed down from the Loren clan, even restoring the legendary Loren clan's mythical land - Lantine Oasis!"
"If it wasn't for us following Lady Michelle's orders to come assist you in restoring Parristol's kingdom, you might never have known this city was hidden right under your feet!" The nearby Mirium sneered upon hearing this, folding her arms mockingly.
"So what? Did your monster clan have good intentions from the very start? You were all just taking what you needed!"
Adrian finally couldn't hold back, hitting back at her mercilessly.
Based on their back-and-forth, it seems declaring war on Astralrealm Kingdom was monster side's idea in the first place, as one of the conditions for helping restore Parristol - of course, there were definitely also longstanding grievances Parristol held against the kingdom. As for the monster's aid, it was providing military forces to help, as well as finding Adrian to inform him of Lantine Oasis's existence and the correct activation method. In the end, Parristol's territory was transferred to this legendary sky city."
At first glance, it did seem like a good deal! Parristol's original territory wasn't that large to begin with. If they truly succeeded in restoring the kingdom, plus the airborne mobility, it was high-class and upscale! It made me want to live here too...
"Regardless of how you put it, attacking Astralrealm Kingdom was part of our prior agreement!"
Mirium waved dismissively, apparently not wanting to dwell on other topics, bringing it back to questioning Adrian about the city itself, "But the core area of your city suddenly exploded for unknown reasons, not only causing both the shields and power to fail, but also provoking a surprise Kingdom attack that threw our plans into chaos. Isn't it time to truly end this battle now?"
The "battle" she referred to was clearly the ongoing fight between the various national forces in the sky. With Crestvale Republic's entry, the tide was gradually shifting towards Astralrealm's military. From Mirium's tone, she wanted Adrian to use the Divine Punishment to reverse their fortunes.
"No way, our Ilandra Dominion Empire allies are too close to the enemy now. If I recklessly use the Divine Punishment, it'll definitely cause widespread friendly fire!"
But Adrian flatly refused her request, naturally explaining, "Don't forget it's you that brought the Empire as allies. If I actually attacked them, it would surely spread across the entire continent very quickly. By then, Parristol wouldn't be able to keep going either. Not to mention the Empire will eventually find out you strongly instigated it!"
"Damn it! The Empire's airships talked a good game, but even after retreating for so long they still can't shake off the Republic's harassment. You're not worried about this dragging on?"
It was rare to see a dragon tribe member so flustered and exasperated. Mirium cursed resentfully, but her words had no effect on Adrian. After all, only Adrian could control the city and Divine Punishment - even killing him would be meaningless.
"I'm not in a hurry at all!"
Putting his hands behind his head, Adrian actually stretched lazily before heading towards the stairs.
"Isn't it enough that you and Fernando are holding the line? As a worst case, even if you two fail, Lady Michelle will come in person, won't she? Once she arrives, she'll definitely solve every problem. I believe the 'Galadra's Eye' will work wonderfully!"