Chapter 582 - 578 – THE PRINCESS’S RESIDENCE AND THE HOLOGRAM CALL FROM THE EMPRESS

Several days had passed since the wild and thoroughly enjoyable shopping spree in Zenith District. After that exhausting yet laughter-filled day when they nearly bought out the entire elite shopping street, Zhaoyue stubbornly refused to let Sylvia return to the Penthouse Suite at the Grand Elysium Hotel. Although the hotel’s facilities were extraordinary complete with natural hot springs scented with magical lavender and beds layered in cloud silk the First Princess insisted that a true friend should not stay in a hotel when she possessed such a vast and empty private palace.

In the end, with a resigned little sigh softened by a faint smile, Sylvia accepted the offer. She moved her belongings from the hotel to the princess’s private residence, located at the peak of one of the giant floating landmasses in the Upper District. Zhaoyue’s residence was a breathtaking masterpiece of architecture, surrounded by hanging gardens filled with glowing spiritual flowers and crystal trees that released a calming spring-like fragrance. The pure white marble castle was anchored by magical chains to supporting earth pillars, offering a full 360-degree view that looked directly out over the clouds below.

During the days spent living in the princess’s residence, the relationship between Sylvia and Zhaoyue developed at a staggering pace. They grew extremely close, close enough to be called intimate, like two inseparable sisters. The walls of formality and rigid etiquette of the Tianhua Kingdom had completely vanished. Within the walls of that marble castle, Zhaoyue was no longer the graceful, politically calculating First Princess, but simply a cheerful young girl. On the other side, Sylvia also set aside her aura as a Rank 7 Demigod and the feared Queen of Death.

The two of them spent hours inside Zhaoyue’s main bedroom, which was as spacious as a banquet hall, trying on dozens of dresses made from Cloud Silk and Night Silk that they had bought at Aura Celestia Boutique. They brushed each other’s hair, applied makeup, and lay on the king-sized bed while gossiping about trivial matters, reading local fashion magazines, or simply enjoying spicy monster skewers and giant monster-meat hotpot Sylvia’s favorite foods.

This natural closeness sometimes made Sylvia fall into silent contemplation. One night, while Zhaoyue slept soundly beside her, hugging her arm, Sylvia stared at the marble ceiling with mixed feelings. In her heart, she instinctively murmured a sincere apology to Sofia.

Forgive me, Sofia, Sylvia whispered inwardly with a trace of guilt.

Sylvia realized how rarely she ever felt such fondness or compatibility with another girl. In the past, several girls had approached her Seere, Velthaya, or even Celes. The difference was that Celes now had her own partner, Aurellia, while Velthaya remained busy managing her Lycanthrope clan in Nocturne.

As for Seere, she seemed to be training hard to raise her power even higher. It was only natural that she felt driven; after all, Sylvia was the leader of the 72 Ars Goetia ever since she had conquered them all. Yet her feelings had long since changed and locked onto a single existence. Her heart, her soul, and all her loyalty belonged solely to Sofia, her former life-and-death enemy who had now evolved into an eight-winged Archangel, the empress who stood beside her in leading Nocturne.

But this time, for some reason, she felt an extraordinary compatibility with Zhaoyue. There was not the slightest romantic feeling on Sylvia’s part, only a pure friendship bond that was extremely rare. They shared the same frequency, from shopping hobbies and clothing tastes to the unfiltered honesty that made Zhaoyue feel valued as an ordinary human being. Sylvia truly enjoyed this time together, because it helped her further reconcile with her true feminine identity and soul. She only felt a slight guilt for having enjoyed herself so thoroughly while her beloved empress was busy handling the bureaucracy, administration, and economy of Nocturne on their distant home continent.

The next afternoon, the atmosphere in the lounge of Zhaoyue’s residence felt especially peaceful. The afternoon sun filtered in through the skyscraper crystal windows, casting a warm golden glow across the red velvet carpet. Sylvia sat comfortably leaning against a luxurious silk-covered sofa, wearing light yet elegant casual clothes. On the floor not far from her feet, Sol and Noir lay lazily.

Sol, the pure sacred-powered Golden Dragon now disguised as a golden-furred cat, was softly snoring. Meanwhile, Noir, the true Black Dragon of the death element disguised as a jet-black cat with purple eyes, stared blankly out the window, still slightly traumatized after being used as a pack mule to carry dozens of shopping bags filled with cosmetics and hair clips the other day.

Suddenly, a gentle yet powerful magical vibration broke the silence of the room. The silver Hologram Bracelet on Sylvia’s left wrist lit up brightly. The small indicator light on its surface blinked blue, signaling an incoming call.

Sylvia’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. How is this possible? she thought. The distance between the Sacred Capital of Tianhua and Nocturne was absurd. The Tianhua Kingdom itself spanned an enormous territory, where the distance from its border alone to the capital exceeded 50,000 kilometers. That was without even counting the distance from the Chimera Continent, across the deep-red ocean filled with toxic miasma and colossal mutant monsters. By normal technical logic, the range of an ordinary Lumina spatial matrix signal would never be able to pierce the intercontinental distance blocked by magnetic anomalies and the Death Storm Wall.

Yet Sylvia quickly realized who was behind this miracle. It had to be Stacia. That sister of hers, a ten-winged fallen angel and an expert in alchemy and spatial magic must have found a way to hack and amplify the network frequency. By combining the power of the Astral Star Furnace Reactor that Sylvia had claimed from the ruins of the Lumina civilization with her own spatial authority, Stacia had apparently succeeded in stabilizing a communication channel all the way to Sylvia’s current coordinates.

Without wasting a single second, Sylvia lightly tapped the surface of the bracelet. A mechanical-magical humming sound rang out, and in the next instant a beam of blue light projected upward, forming an extremely sharp and clear 3D image projection right in front of her.

The image that appeared was not Stacia’s mischievous face, but the figure that made Sylvia’s breath catch for a moment.

Inside the holographic projection stood Sofia. The Empress of Nocturne looked utterly captivating. Her long, wavy golden hair fell perfectly over her shoulders, reflecting sacred light, while her pair of clear blue eyes gazed straight at Sylvia with complete tenderness. On her back, the illusion of her eight archangel wings was faintly visible, radiating a calming divine aura. She wore her usual white administrative gown that she used while handling Nocturne’s bureaucracy, yet the faint exhaustion on her beautiful face vanished the moment she saw Sylvia.

Seeing Sofia standing before her even if only as a projection of light Sylvia felt her heart pound violently. The longing she had suppressed for weeks for the sake of her mission to conquer the ocean suddenly overflowed like a broken dam. A soft, pure smile full of love bloomed on Sylvia’s porcelain face, completely erasing all the cold and lethal impressions she usually showed her enemies.

"Sofia..." Sylvia called softly, her voice slightly hoarse with emotion.

On the other side, hologram Sofia smiled so sweetly that the changing room in Nocturne seemed filled with spring flowers. "Sylvia, my love... Thank goodness the communication finally connected. Stacia nearly blew up three mana crystal towers in the eastern sector just to focus the Astral Star Furnace Reactor’s beam to reach your bracelet," Sofia greeted with her melodious, affectionate voice.

Hearing Stacia’s name and her typical reckless behavior, Sylvia chuckled softly. "That’s so like her. I assume Alicia scolded her thoroughly afterward?" Sylvia referred to her older sister, the Spirit Emperor, who possessed a far calmer and more responsible nature.

"Of course," Sofia laughed brightly. "Alicia had to use her absolute spirit magic to calm the panicking Dwarf and Beastkin workers from the spatial tremors. But setting aside the chaos here... how are you over there, Sylvia? Your bracelet shows coordinates on a completely foreign landmass. It’s extremely far from the coast of our military base on the Chimera Continent."

Sylvia’s eyes softened as she began recounting her journey to the woman she loved most. With an enthusiasm she rarely showed anyone, Sylvia spoke of everything. She told of how her armada had successfully pierced the Death Storm Wall, then of Jormungandr the World Serpent battling Envy, the manifestation of the Great Sin of Envy, in the northern ocean trench. She even proudly recounted her decision to inject Zombie Poison into the body of that monster-god as a precautionary measure.

Sofia’s blue eyes widened in both amazement and worry upon hearing that Sylvia had dealt with entities on the level of gods and cosmic-class monsters. "You really can’t stay away from danger for even a second, can you? Even though Poseidon has already been driven away by Mother Persephone, the outer seas are still a terrifying zone," Sofia scolded gently, referring to Goddess Persephone, their adoptive mother who had evolved beyond the level of a Primordial Cosmic God.

"I’m fine, my love. The World Avatar won’t allow them to fight freely in this primary dimension," Sylvia replied soothingly, her tone coaxing. "Right now I’m already in the Sacred Capital of the Tianhua Kingdom. The country is enormous and its social inequality is quite nauseating, but their technology is unique enough. You should see their air transportation powered by raw Monster Cores. They call them Magic Jets."

Sylvia then described the details of her daily life in the capital. She spoke of Black Lotus City, of how she obtained an Unlimited Black-Gold VIP Access Card that granted her abundant wealth, and of her meeting with the First Princess Hua Zhaoyue. When recounting Zhaoyue and how they spent time shopping for beautiful dresses in Zenith District, Sylvia unconsciously spoke with a very cheerful tone, describing the details of the Cloud Silk and Night Silk fabrics that had captivated her eyes.

Hearing Sylvia’s chatter about shopping and dresses, Sofia showed not the slightest trace of jealousy. On the contrary, the smile on the empress’s face grew wider, her eyes sparkling as she watched the pure happiness on her beloved’s face. Sofia was one of the few people who knew exactly how heavy the identity crisis Sylvia had once endured in the past. Seeing Sylvia now fully at peace with her feminine soul, enjoying beautiful things without any hesitation, filled Sofia’s chest with extraordinary relief.

"It seems you’ve found a playmate who suits you very well," Sofia teased with a playful smile. "And what about your two loyal guards? I don’t see Zark and the Death Legion with you, so I assume only Sol and Noir came to the capital?"

Hearing their names mentioned, Sol in his golden cat form and Noir in his black cat form both raised their heads at the same time. If they could cry, they would have shed tears of blood.

Sylvia turned toward the two great dragons and laughed with satisfaction. "Oh, they’ve been very ’useful,’ Sofia. Did you know? It turns out a pure Golden Dragon and a Rank 7 Black Dragon are extremely talented at carrying dozens of shopping bags on their backs without dropping a single item. I even bought them sacred lambswool blankets as consolation prizes."

Sofia covered her mouth with the back of her hand, her laughter exploding as she saw the depressed expressions on the two cat forms in the corner of the holographic projection. "Poor things... Celes and Aurellia will definitely laugh themselves sick when those two return to Nocturne," Sofia said, mentioning two of her elite female commanders in Nocturne.

Their laughter flowed freely, filling the room bathed in afternoon light with warmth. After the laughter subsided, Sofia gazed at Sylvia with a much deeper and more intense look. Longing radiated clearly from her blue eyes.

"I miss you, Sylvia," Sofia whispered softly, her voice thick with affection that could be felt across space and dimension. "Stacia is maximizing her research with the remaining spatial matrices from the Lumina base. If she succeeds in creating a more stable intercontinental instant transfer portal, I... I really want to come after you there, or at least hold you directly."

Sylvia’s heart stirred at the words. The small guilt that had earlier visited her heart for having fun with Zhaoyue was completely replaced by overflowing love for her empress. She brought her hand closer to the light projection, as if wanting to touch Sofia’s cheek, even though her fingers only passed through the blue light particles of the hologram.

"I miss you so much too, my love," Sylvia replied, her voice softening into an extremely intimate whisper. Her usually dull black eyes that could sever the threads of fate of gods now only radiated the warmth of a lover. "Push Stacia to work faster. Give her unlimited research funds. The moment that portal network stabilizes, I’ll come pick you up in Nocturne myself, and I’ll bring you here. You have to try soaking in the capital’s natural hot springs and tasting their spicy monster skewers."

Their conversation continued for several more hours, forgetting the tens of thousands of kilometers that separated them. The two exchanged news, ranging from the development of scanning drones and undead military units immune to deep-sea pressure in Nocturne, to the political situation of the noble factions in the Tianhua Kingdom that had begun quietly watching Sylvia.

Until finally, the indicator light on the Hologram Bracelet began blinking red, signaling that the mana dust crystal serving as its power source was becoming unstable under the strain of this extreme intercontinental connection.

"It seems my time is almost up, my love," Sofia said with a slightly disappointed tone, watching her projected hand begin to flicker. "Take good care of yourself over there, Sylvia. Don’t blow up other people’s cities too often, and remember to rest once in a while."

"I’ll remember that, my Empress," Sylvia answered with a teasing smile. "And you too don’t work too hard. Let Zark and the Undead Generals handle the rough matters."

The two exchanged smiles full of love before the holographic projection finally faded into blue light particles and extinguished completely, leaving Sylvia sitting on the sofa with a surging happiness filling her chest.

Sylvia leaned her head against the sofa backrest, gazing at the spatial ring on her finger and the bracelet on her wrist with an unfading smile. Her meeting with Zhaoyue had indeed given her new colors and the friendship she needed as a young girl, but the call from Sofia just now had reaffirmed one absolute truth in her life. No matter which corner of the world she was in, and no matter how overwhelming her power as a Rank 7 Demigod became, her true home would always be in the arms of that eight-winged angel.

"Master," Noir complained through telepathy, shattering the romantic silence, "is that ridiculous call finally over? When are we getting monster meat again? Being a cosmetic pack mule really drains my sacred energy."

Sylvia glanced at the two dragon cats with a look that was half amused and half sharp. "If you two keep complaining, I’ll ask Zhaoyue to put frilly pink dresses on you tomorrow."

Hearing that threat, Sol and Noir immediately curled up in silence, pretending to be dead and squeezing their eyes tightly shut, no longer daring to protest.