Listen to my flames, huh…

Hm.

She's right. My flames seem to be resonating with hers, and I can even feel a sense of faint kinship there. This is something I never felt with Elder Zal or any other Infernal for that matter.

So, she's really a Matriarch, huh. Someone like me.

"You said sons and daughters. Is that why I feel a sense of family with the being I summon when I say the V word?"

She looked at me weirdly for a moment, then laughed again.

"Hahaha! V word, huh? You must mean Vorrash, little brother. You aren't at the stage where you can control your intent properly, huh. I suppose it makes sense since Zal wouldn't be able to teach you a single thing about communicating with the Azh'Kharel.

"It is not her place to do so."

She paused for a second as if to let her words sink in before continuing.

"But on that subject, I won't teach you how to do it either. It is best you learn from experience. And yes, that is why you feel a sense of family with the 'being' as you labeled the Eternal Flame, hahaha.

"We are all born of the Eternal Flame, little brother. It is of us, and we are of it. You will learn a lot more once you reach Planet Infernal."

It's just one revelation after another here. Sons and daughters of the Flame, huh. Not sure how I feel about it…

And the V word… apparently I can get to a point where I control my intent well enough to not trigger the actual thing. I'll have to work on that.

Anyway, all of that is fine and all… but there are more important things at hand.

"I see… where am I, and what happened to the Planet? My people?"

"Ah yes. Your Planet. Come with me."

I didn't even get a chance to think about following her anywhere before I suddenly found myself in a whole different place.

From a small, unassuming office to a massive observation deck. Behind me was a whole host of consoles and equipment that I'm guessing is used to drive this ship I'm on—which is the answer to the first question I asked—and in front of me was a massive wraparound glass dome.

Outside of the dome is space, and in the distance was Earth.

Still sitting there, as a planet should.

That's the answer to the second part of the question then.

"As you can see, your Planet is safe, and the Core wasn't sacrificed. You did good, little brother."

I see…

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"What exactly happened? I don't remember much."

"We'll get to that. First thing's first. You've been asleep for a month. A lot has happened in the time you've been asleep, and there will be a few different things waiting for you when you get back.

"But before you get back, there are a few things you must know. There isn't a single Patriarch or Matriarch out there that will order you to do anything. We walk our own path and we live our own lives.

"The Children of the Azh'Kharel do as they please, whenever they please. That does not apply to the rest of our kind. Infernals will always bow to the words of the Eternal Flame, and your words will always be seen as such. Never forget that.

"Even Zal, who is your chosen Elder, falls within that. At the moment she is only acting in her role as an Elder to a young Patriarch. An honorable position, and I am proud of her. I advise you to take heed of her knowledge in your remaining time together.

"Next. There is another Immortal on the Planet. She is from that little water empire or something—I forgot the name. All I will say there is to remember what I said first. The Children of the Azh'Kharel do as they please, whenever they please."

"That's all I have for now. Zal will fill in the rest."

"You're leaving?"

"Of course I am. The war with the blood bitches is still raging on strong, you know. If you get strong enough in the next millennia or so, I'm sure you could join in—and if it's already over, you can start it back up again if you want. Hahahah!!"

I smiled back at her.

"I'll do my best."

"Good! Time for you to go back."

She smiled at me, and before I knew it, I was standing in my office once more.

'And get yourself a new spear. An Infernal Patriarch without a spear? You look pathetic! Hahahah!'

She laughed a final message in my ears, and I chuckled.

Is this what it's like to have a big sister, I wonder.

Anyway, she's not wrong. I feel somewhat naked without the spear I've been using for over a year now. I wonder if that Meitalc dude is still here and if he can make me another one. Or maybe I can ask the Dwarves. Or even the local blacksmith.

But I should probably verify the state of the City and all that before anything else, huh…

I moved to exit the office, and instead of teleporting again, Elder Zal appeared in my office.

For some reason, I appreciate not being abruptly teleported once again.

Elder Zal bows slightly.

"I greet the Eternal Flame."

"It's nice to see you too, Elder Zal."

"A lot has happened in your absence, Patriarch Raizen."

"Please fill me in. I've rested long enough."

I took a seat behind my desk, and Elder Zal proceeded to explain every single thing that has happened in the time I fell unconscious until now.

She wasn't joking when she said a lot happened.

First of all, quite a few people are dead.

Not just from my City, and the Infernals I was essentially loaned, but from all over the Planet. Black Cove City and the New Earth Union weren't the only Cities attacked.

I'll have to get the exact death toll from my own City from the folks here, but the news didn't end there.

There are more Envoys on the Planet. One of them is an Immortal, as the Matriarch previously mentioned. I don't know exactly which stage, but she's here. And she has been waiting patiently for a meeting.

There are a few more other smaller forces, but apparently, all they came to do was pick up their people and leave. Contracts were broken off with their respective Cities using some method with the System.

Apparently, life-threatening wars with the Vamps weren't on their list of things to do when they agreed to be a part of our Tutorial and then form City contracts with us.

I still refer to them as Envoys because they apparently wanted to pay their respects to me before they left and are still waiting for that.

Multiversal Politics.

I don't get it—just leave.

Anyway, I'm not really in a rush to meet them all, but from what Elder Zal said, only two factions have decided to stay behind.

The Dwarves, and the members of the Olirag Clan. But apparently, the latter was waiting on me to have a conversation to discuss.

They lost people in that war, and the folks back in Olirag Headquarters—or whatever they are called—don't want to seem like they are allied with the Infernals in the eyes of the Vamps, but at the same time, they don't want to rub the Infernals the wrong way either.

Now that I think about it… that's probably why the other factions want to pay respects before leaving.

Yep. Multiversal Politics.

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