After the white-haired, blue-eyed boy left the place, the royal family prepared to leave the mansion. It was more than clear that the place was no longer safe; they could not stay even a minute longer. Angrod said:
"The safest place right now is the divine beast's lair. We'll stay there until this is all over."
Maedhros agreed. Without a doubt, the divine beast's shelter was the safest place. The divine beast was extremely territorial and did not like others entering its territory. Fortunately, the royal family had permission to enter; doing so without permission was suicidal. Maedhros, addressing the still-shocked crowd, said:
"The top priority will be to protect Lia. Without a doubt, she is the target of this invasion; therefore, we will concentrate our forces on the divine beast's shelter. We will not let anything or anyone touch Lia."
The king's conviction could be felt in his words. He was willing to do anything to protect his daughter. Without further discussion, Maedhros activated his teleportation ring; everyone's bodies turned transparent until they disappeared.
When they opened their eyes, the scenery had changed. They were no longer surrounded by walls; they now saw huge trees and lush nature. The ground was covered with green grass and flowers. The divine beast's lair was an abnormally large forest; the plants were larger than usual. The little girl, carried by her mother, broke the silence:
"How big is this place"
She was surprised. The forest seemed to be home to giants. Eryn said to her:
"Yes, my child, it is a very big and beautiful place."
Idril added:
"This is definitely not just any forest; there is too much mana in the atmosphere. We must be very careful, or we could get poisoned."
Idril knew that the high concentration of mana was due to the creature that lived there; it was adjusting the atmosphere to its liking. Maedhros and Angrod searched for something, tense and fearful. Angrod spoke into the void:
"Please excuse us for coming without warning. We know it's disrespectful, but if we hadn't, we might have put the royal family's safety at risk. The reason we're here is that we're in a bad situation; we've been constantly invaded, and our mansion is currently under attack. Our royal guards are taking care of the situation, but we believe the invaders' target is my granddaughter. Thus, we decided to come here for temporary shelter."
Angrod spoke politely, bowing his head slightly. The entity that inhabited the place was extremely arrogant; if it was angered, it would not help them. That creature valued strength above all else; it was upset that the elves' talent had been declining. The trees began to shake; the flowers trembled. A solemn, authoritative voice was heard:
"No wonder you were forced to leave your chambers; after all, you are extremely weak. I am ashamed of you, although I cannot say the same for that girl; she, without a doubt, has talent."
The voice belonged to the divine beast. Angrod, Maedhros, Idril, and Eryn recognized it. Referring to Lia as talented, they realized that the divine beast had accepted her. Angrod asked:
"Can we borrow the strength of the divine beast to get out of this situation?"
"You mean you want my protection."
The divine beast corrected.
"Don't expect me to help you if there is no contract or bond. If you really want my help, bring me a vessel or a container capable of containing all my power; that way I could leave this place without problems."
Angrod replied:
"We are very sorry, but we have not yet been able to find anyone capable of doing such a thing."
"There's no doubt that the power of the elves isn't what it once was. How disappointing! Thousands of years ago, there were several people who could contain my power, but now there seems to be no such people. How disappointing! I shouldn't have made that contract with that elf; if I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have bothered to do so."
"Please reconsider."
"There's nothing to reconsider. I've already warned you not to come before me unless you bring someone worthy."
"But you just said that my granddaughter is very talented," Angrod said, his head bowed.
"That child, without a doubt, is very talented. Compared to you, she's in a league of her own. She'll definitely become powerful; she has very well-formed channels, almost as if they were created by someone. And not to mention that magical eye of hers; she seems to be using the energy of nature as a base. It almost reminds me of that elf I made a pact with a while back, but it's not suitable to be my vessel either."
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I'm trying to say is that she can be my vessel, at least in normal situations, but there are forces that are preventing a pact or bond with her from being made. It seems that doing so will break a certain balance in the world. I'm not sure, but what I am sure of is that this child is going to die soon."
The divine beast's words made everyone frown. Angrod, Maedhros, Eryn, and Idril were all shocked. The king intervened, his voice radiating annoyance:
"What exactly do you mean by that? We need you to explain further."
Maedhros spoke without measuring his tone; he was extremely annoyed. The divine beast, noticing his rage, replied without being bothered:
"What I'm trying to tell you is that the world itself wants that child dead. You could say that it's her destiny to die. In fact, she should be dead already, but I see that an unknown force is disrupting the will of the world. I wonder what kind of being has the power to go against the world. I highly doubt it's an apostle; those guys are very upright. A dragon, perhaps, could disrupt the will of the world for a short period of time, but not forever. I suppose it must be the work of a god. The fact that she's still alive means that a god is protecting her, or perhaps it's a fallen god. I can't say what kind of existence is protecting her, but what I'm sure of is that it's a troublesome being, with the ability to destroy the world."
Everyone listened to the explanation. The only existence that came to mind was the white-haired, blue-eyed boy. Eryn broke the silence:
"I told you; he, without a doubt, is my girl's guardian."
Eryn knew the boy was there to protect her daughter. The divine beast asked:
"Do you know who is the entity that is protecting that girl's life?"
Eryn replied in a proud tone:
"Yes, we know the being that has been protecting my daughter; in fact, that same being is currently dealing with the invaders."
Silence reigned. The divine beast, after thinking, said:
"Interesting, very interesting. So there are guys that go against the laws of the world. How nostalgic! I haven't heard of such beings in a while. The appearance of just one can mean one thing: things are going to go haywire in the world; chaos on these lands; death is coming; that thing will come to all people. I have no doubt that if a being that defies the laws of the world has appeared, more and more will continue to appear. Things are going to get fun from here on out. I guess it's just a matter of time before someone capable of containing all my power appears. I guess it's time for me to start making my move too; I can't let that guy move the fates at will; I'm going to move so erratically that he won't know which fate is the right one."
An exponential increase in mana was felt. Flowers began to grow, forming a path deep into the forest. The voice of the divine beast was heard:
"Since you have a high-powered being protecting you, I don't see why I shouldn't intervene. I won't stand aside when I know that the world is going to enter a stage of unprecedented war and destruction; therefore, I will provide you with my protection as long as you stay in this forest. Follow the path I have created for you; come and see my main body; I am in a very good mood; even if a dragon were to come to bother me, I would beat the shit out of it."
The royal family entered the forest, wondering who that white-haired, blue-eyed boy really was.