Blood Warlock: Succubus Partner in the Apocalypse

Back in Derene City, the first thing Bai Zemin did was, naturally, to put down Seraphina who seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked as he reached out his hand and helped her steady herself.

"I- I'm fine... Probably." Seraphina whispered, trying to steady herself on her feet. She looked at him with accusing eyes and said in a whining voice, "Don't you know the meaning of the word gentleness? Who in their right mind starts running at such speed through the forests while carrying another person? Hm?"

Bai Zemin coughed in a miserable attempt to cover up his awkwardness and embarrassment as he slowly said, "Ponytails, the situation warranted it, don't you think? Besides, look, didn't I bring you back safe and sound? You're in one piece even after being surrounded by five soul evolvers above level 150! A feat you can surely brag about for years to come!"

"Bah! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking!" Seraphina rolled her eyes and didn't fall for his words at all.

"By the way, Seraphina." The expression on Bai Zemin's face suddenly turned serious.

"W- What's wrong...?" She blinked uncomfortably at his intense gaze.

He stared at her and said in a deep yet gentle voice at the same time, "I don't know if the color you see my name with under the effect of your Fate Eyes skill is red or if it is blue, however, I want you to know that fate is not sealed in stone as long as we are still alive. Every action we take will lead to a different outcome, and as I just said, nothing is 100% certain."

However, Seraphina didn't agree with him too much apparently as after a brief silence she looked him in the eye and said in a serious voice, "The skill Fate Eyes inherited by my mom from her family and later inherited by me and my older sister does not fail, it is a Fourth Order passive skill. What the skill says is the irrefutable reality."

Bai Zemin scratched his head and a glint of frustration shone in his eyes as he looked at the young woman in front of him. To keep Seraphina's possible feelings for him from growing, Bai Zemin had to find a way to make her understand that nothing was certain. Of course, he might also be overthinking it and maybe Seraphina only saw him as a friend; at least that was what Bai Zemin hoped.

After a brief pause, he remembered what kind of existence was considered according to an extremely powerful and knowledgeable being such as Lilith.

"Seraphina, before you met me would you have thought that a First Order level 50 soul evolver would possess enough power to fight existences at the king of kingdom level?"

Indeed, upon hearing his words, Seraphina's previously firm expression showed hesitation for the first time. She looked at him hesitantly, and after a moment of silence shook her head, ".... I did not."

In the eyes of Seraphina and probably everyone who knew him, Bai Zemin was simply an anomaly of the world. A soul evolver like him who was capable of breaking the rules just for the mere fact of his existence should simply be a product of the imagination but never a reality.

" However, here I am. In front of you. A level 50 soul evolver capable of overwhelming Third Order existences above level 150. A First Order being capable of killing the legendary Shadow Killer." Bai Zemin said as he looked at her with a gentle smile.

"That's... true." She whispered, slowly lowering her gaze to look down at her toes with a confused expression.

Seeing her like this, a somewhat bittersweet smile grew on Bai Zemin's face as he realized that while his message had been received and understood though the price to pay had been to make the young woman in front of him doubt something that had practically been her faith until today.

In an attempt to make her feel a little better, he added, "What I mean by this is that nothing is absolute. Your Fate Eyes skill is very powerful without a doubt, however, it's probably not 100% accurate.... Especially when it comes to a weirdo like me, don't you think? So, let's better not rely too much on things like that and let's strive to forge the kind of relationship we really want to have and not rely on inaccurate information from a skill."

Seraphina raised her head and muttered with wide eyes, "Forge the kind of relationship we want to have...?"

"That's right. Forge the kind of relationship we want based on real feelings," Bai Zemin nodded. He chuckled and gave her a couple of pats on the head as he said cheerfully, "Ponytails, if my name is in the red for you then let's fight to turn it green or something. Even the worst enemy can turn into a good friend depending on how willing the two involved are to try!"

Bai Zemin's words indeed made the young princess of the Gales Kingdom begin to rethink several things. For example, were the feelings she thought she was beginning to develop real? Or were those growing feelings just a product of her trying to force things because of her skill Fate Eyes? If Bai Zemin's name was not pink and instead was really red, would she have saved him or would she have killed him by taking advantage of his moment of weakness when she found him in the Forest of the Ancients?

Bai Zemin was a person of many codes and honor, he was without a doubt a great friend and ally; Seraphina had come to understand that he repaid kindness and goodness with more kindness and goodness. However, if his name had been red instead of pink, she would never have come to understand it as her action at the time would probably have been very different than the one chosen.

She had a lot to think about, and clearing her mind was not something that could be done in just two or three days. Especially considering that the heart was involved, and like everything else involving feelings, such things needed time.

Without waiting for a response, he began to walk away. However, seeing him walk away, Seraphina quickly snapped out of her dreamy state and asked aloud, "Orc, where are you going?!"

"I need to organize the troops! Have you forgotten the situation we are in? Get ready yourself too, ponytails! We're moving towards Gales, in a big way!"

"Moving towards Gales and in a big way?" she muttered under her breath.

Unfortunately, when Seraphina finally understood Bai Zemin's crazy plan, he was nowhere in sight.

* * *

Due to the tremor that affected everyone in general, all the inhabitants of Eventide World regardless of the kingdom they lived in began to wonder in fear what was happening.

The fear of the citizens grew as tens of thousands of unintelligent creatures began to appear from the forests and deserts, attacking the cities and towns with ferocity that was rarely seen but that no one alive had ever witnessed on such a colossal scale as this occasion.

The kings of kingdoms other than the five kingdoms that were with Bai Zemin on that occasion also did not understand what was happening at the beginning, after all, what reason did they have to associate an earthquake with the evolution of the world? Although there were records left behind by past generations, those records had been almost completely buried after several thousand years.

On the first day alone, more than 2,000,000 human lives were lost as a consequence of the sudden and unexpected attack of mutated beasts and other races such as orcs and man-eating plants. Considering that a kingdom like the Gales Kingdom had approximately 12,000,000 or 13,000,000 inhabitants before the assault on the other kingdoms began, the death count spoke for itself as to how terrifying the beginning of what was in fact not even the true apocalypse had been.

For the first two days, only a few knew or had any idea what was going on, however, all the kingdom kings received information that a small number of kingdoms were making large scale movements.

"Hey, it looks like the King of the Asalium Kingdom is abandoning the border and retired his soldiers to fortify the main cities."

"They are probably scared. The troops of Gales could attack them at any time after all. The best option for them is defense, attacking makes no sense since the troops led by Lord Zemin will crush them."

"No, I think there's something weird going on."

"Mm?"

"Don't tell me you don't know?"

"What are you talking about? Stop playing mysterious and say it once and for all!"

"Not only is the Asalium Kingdom mobilizing its troops to defend but there are four other kingdoms as well, and among them even the Pralan Kingdom and the Theles Kingdom are reinforcing their defenses... According to rumors, Queen Eloise Her Majesty even turned on the Earth Goddess Shield which is only activated in times of imminent crisis!"

"What?! Don't tell me that even two of the three parent kingdoms fear Gales so they have decided to lock themselves in their shells..."

...

"Hehe... You know something? There's a rumor that King Curtis lost an arm in combat with someone or something..."

"Uh...? Curtis? Are we talking about THAT Curtis?"

"You idiot, is there a second king named Curtis in this world? Let me tell you something... apparently, the king of the Theles Kingdom arrived without his right arm to the royal castle two days ago scaring his advisors and trusted men. It is said that he even had to consume a pill made with over a dozen Rank 3 healing plants to slowly restore it but even now he is not in perfect condition as before."

"Is that news even reliable? It's not that I don't believe you bro, but King Curtis is the second most powerful mage in the world right behind that monster of the demon race... It's hard to believe that one of the world's most powerful soul evolvers would suffer such a casualty."

"Hehe... Who knows, so say the rumors circulating among the kingdoms now. But hey, we'll see as the days go by. Haha, the King of Theles will have to show up someday, right? Especially now that his kingdom is taking defensive positions as if they are about to face a great enemy!"

...

"Big news! Big news from the south!"

"What? What happened?"

"Yesterday, several people in the capital of Gales saw over 30 diurnal bats flying over the city and disappearing over the horizon! Apparently, the royal family of Gales sent messengers again to all the kingdoms of the world!"

"What? Wait wait, is there any word on the messages?"

"Don't ask the impossible... That news will probably come out in the next few days, especially considering how dominant Gales has acted in the last period of time."

* * * * * * *