The Crown's Entrapment

“This is quite interesting,” Devas commented with curled lips as he stared at the female human who just entered their realm. “A new challenger approaches…”

Devas was the ruler of the plain lands and all the living things on the surface, distinct from the sky and sea within the Realm of Eferia, also known to the outside world as Element Forest. While he was known by many names, he was often referred to as a sphynx in terms of appearance, with the majestic beauty of his male human head and the body of a ferocious lion.

The Realm of Eferia was a forbidden realm to all outsiders. It was a place of pristine and abundant natural beauty guarded by the chosen mythical creatures bound to the realm for all eternity unless they were succeeded by a destined successor.

Obviously, the Realm was no ordinary realm. It held mysteries within it; secrets that no one from the outside world was supposed to be aware of. And of course, the guardians of the realm would always be there to protect the realm’s true purpose and secrets.

“An intruder!” Sahah, the basilisk, and ruler of the mountains and the underground that had control over the power of fire, annoyingly hissed.

“It’s been a long time since we had one,” Polo, the merman acting as the ruler of the seas, commented with a mischievous yet dangerous smirk on his face. “She’s not a simple intruder, but apparently a human who’s brave enough to enter and try to exit our paradise just so she could prove herself worthy to be Queen of Cordon. Interesting…”

“This is going to be so much fun then,” Devas excitedly announced. “Indeed, it’s been a while since something like this happened, and I hope that this one can at least keep us entertained.” He smirked “Really, this Cordonian tradition never fails to amuse me. Let’s see if they’ll finally have a human as their Queen after centuries of attempts in trying to have one.”

As usual, the four would automatically appear in their sacred meeting place, the Eferia’s Tribunal, whenever they would feel the presence of foreign energy entering their realm. They held a wide area of dwelling where they could see who and what had entered their realm with pinpoint accuracy. Encircled around a magical sphere, the quartet discussed among themselves as they assessed what to do with the foreign energy.

Among the four guardians of the realm, Helena, who was the ruler of the sky, remained quiet for some time. A beat passed before she spoke and pointed out, “She’s not purely a human.”

Helena let out a small breath. She could feel the divine energy flowing within this human’s blood. Said energy… it must’ve come from a fallen angel. And seeing his companions, she was sure that everyone in the room could feel it as well.

“Hah! That’s more fun then,” Devas snorted. “Angel blood… Just because she has it doesn’t mean that we have to go easy on her or exempt her from Eferia’s law and order. Their kind had already fallen from grace from Heavens, depriving them of the divine privilege of protection from the Almighty.”

He shrugged, “It’s not like they’re above us anyway, and that we’ll be punished if we did something against them. These humans are just fools for believing that hearsay about falling angels and their Nephilims.”

Despite their seclusion, the guardians were well-aware of the fallen and their ilk. Their kind was known to mingle and cohabitate with humans, often having offspring that would sometimes turn into an abomination to humanity without them even knowing.

“Let’s just end her now then,” Sahah lazily waved off, her body lazily coiled in place. “I don’t want to waste my energy on her anymore.”

“Try killing her first then,” Polo scoffed as he made to leave the tribunal. “Let her pass by your territories first… And if she’s not dead even after all that, then send her to me for last.”

“Hmm… If she survives your post, then send her to me next,” Devas told Sahah.

“Why do I feel like you and Polo are subtly telling me that I’m the weakest of us here?” the Basilisk annoyingly hissed. “It’s like you two are still anticipating her to be alive even after passing my territory.”

Devas laughed. “Our dearest Sahah… We do not consider you to be the weakest, but let’s admit the fact that among us four, you often tend to lose your temper and rationality the fastest, which often led to your stubborn failure,” he pointed out, making Sahah hiss and breathed fire towards him, who was quick in dodging the attack before instantly disappearing out of sight.

“Are you really planning to kill her?” Helena inquired Sahah.

“Sshhh… Aren’t you the weakest of all when it comes to humans?” Sahah hissed curiously. “Why? Are you planning on negotiating with me to spare this one again? Do you really want to lose your life for real this time? You do know that even if I spared her… You won’t be able to negotiate against Polo and Devas.”

The Basilisk shook her head in exasperation. “And about your question of killing her, I’d want to meet her first before deciding whether or not I should end her life.”

Seeing Sahah leave her on that note, Helena heaved out a long deep sigh as she stared at the human. Like everyone else who tried and was sent to their realms to face the trials to become Queen, Cordon had sent them various offerings and gifts to make sure that they’d uphold their end of the bargain. From then on, they would allow an eye to watch and monitor what was happening to the human who was facing the trials inside their realms.

For time immemorial, Polo, Sahah, and Devas would always allow these gifts, seeing as they loved getting offerings from the outside world. She wasn’t against it of course, but the thought of yet another human dying inside their realm never did sit quite right with her. Among the guardians of Eferia, she was branded as the most generous and kind-hearted of all, and she truly didn’t mind the distinction one bit.

Seeing the human making her way through their realm, Helena couldn’t help but recall the first human she had so desperately tried to save… A human who somehow managed to leave their realm with his last breath despite how she deliberately did everything in her power to save him. Luckily, he was destined to live and had been transformed into a Lycan just in time before he truly expired outside their realm. But what she did for him took a toll on her lifespan…

“I hope you successfully come out from this realm,” Helena murmured, followed by another sigh before she finally disappeared from the tribunal.