Chapter 226 - Split

"Also, since the new Alinea has Aurel's seal, Aurel can find her easily…"

Huh?

Both Fredek and Ivan looked dumbfounded this time. Alistair smirked as if he could read their minds. Well, they were probably wondering why he didn't tell them to do just that in the first place. Instead, the Ritz King ordered them to comb the whole of Ged for Alinea's lookalikes.

As expected, Fredek recovered from his surprise fast. He cleared his throat and asked the anticipated question.

"Your Highness, if there was a method to find the princess, then why didn't we do that first?"

Alistair sighed. "Because Ali just died and Aurel just ascended to the celestial plane."

Oh…

When the body which bore the mark of the elemental was destroyed, the creature would return to its original dimension. If the soul was not gone, then it would take a while before the mark would reappear and would only be strong enough to connect with the new body on the twelfth day. Only when the mark became more prominent on the new body would the elemental find his master – given that the master had memories of his familiar.

But the latter part only applied when someone was reincarnated. Alinea who only joined the other piece of her soul didn't need to remember Aurel for the lightning elemental's seal to reappear on her new body. However, it would still take time…

Today marked the eleventh day and twenty hours since Alinea passed. In short, they couldn't really rely on Aurel in four more hours. It was why Alistair ordered the search first. It was to do something while they waited. In case they found Alinea during the recent quest, they'd have finished the job earlier than twelve days and didn't have to rely on the elemental.

"Four hours, huh?"

All three of them looked thoughtful.

"Why did we need to keep the girls again?"

It was Ivan who asked and Alistair raised a brow at him.

"Diplomacy. Even if I am Perun, I am also Alistair of Ritz," he said.

They had troubled the other kingdoms in their search for Ali. It would be better if they did something to show that they followed a proper process of elimination even if they already knew the results. None of them was Alinea, therefore Aurel was sure not to follow any of the women.

However, just as it was the duties of the kings to follow the King of Heaven, it was also the king's duty to satisfy his subjects and had to equally return the trouble. Alistair would summon Aurel in front of a crowd that was sure to be attended by ambassadors from different kingdoms.

A show – it was what they were going to do. But it was a necessary evil.

"Fredek, I'll leave the preparations to you," Alistair said, and the wind caster immediately excused himself to do his bidding.

Alone with the king, Ivan transferred to the chair in front of Alistair's table to prop his chin. "How are you?"

The question made the king smile. "Better than before – as to be expected. But still anxious," he answered, and Ivan nodded.

Regardless that they were given a second chance, the situation was still grim as they hadn't found Ali yet. Worse was that she was already with Kresnik. In the event that her dark nature would take over before they reunite with her, or if the spawn appeared in front of the Flame God, they were afraid Kresnik who still had no idea that why had found a way to break the curse would try to stop her himself.

It was a dangerous time. Still, there was hope.

"Aurel can really find Ali?"

Alistair was thoughtful for a while before nodding again. "I don't have an elemental, but Aurel's been a great friend. Even if it was a little bit uncomfortable for him to make a pact with an incomplete soul, he still did it since Ali's my child. He would find her."

Ivan nodded again, and then he seemed to remember something.

"How about your brother? If Aurel can find Ali, won't the harpy sisters be able to find Stribog as well?"

Hearing this, Alistair laughed. "The idiot suddenly deviated his course away from me during the cycle of birth. We were supposed to be born together as twins again, but he suddenly struggled. Because of that, he got split as well – strangely, if I may add."

Stribog who was originally with Perun suddenly decided he wanted to be born somewhere else. As a result, his soul and divine powers got separated. His powers stayed with Perun, while his soul was transported somewhere until now they had no idea where.

Losing his powers meant his memories were sealed. Stribog needed to remember so the harpies could find him. However, in the years he had been with Ritz, the wind elementals who loved Stribog so dearly remained with him.

However, recently, Alistair could feel a certain restlessness among the harpies – a certain excitement that was not there before.  

"Maybe, we'll find him soon too," Alistair commented.

The King of Heaven could remember that as soon as they found out how to break the curse, Stribog had been adamant to warn Kresnik, his best friend about it so the Flame Emperor wouldn't be so rash. At that time, Kresnik was still Vladimir of Kres.

But Alencica went into the cycle earlier than they were expecting. She was prosecuted as an abomination and had been killed like a Demon Lord uncannily by Vladimir's hands during the Immortal War when he was younger.

Because of this, his stupid brother suddenly said there was something strange in the course of fate on their way to be reincarnated and struggled to break free as he claimed that he saw where Kresnik would be and wanted to be with him.

But Kresnik was still in Ged that time as Vladimir, and so Alistair had no idea what he was prattling about and was helpless when Stribog, in his struggle, caused a huge accident – an explosion of power that forced his soul towards the other dimension.

Because of this, he left his memories and powers behind with his twin, as well as caused the formation of the huge portal in the Devil's Cavern.

"There's agitation among the harpies lately. I think, even if it's not much, they could finally sense the idiot…"