It was the forty-fifth day since the Second Epoch Cycle had begun.
Somehow, despite all of that, here I was sitting inside a spaceship with Veneri—well, Love Pentarch specifically—and Elyonari, on our way to break into one of the most politically dangerous regions in the entire Hidden Citadel just to rescue one pregnant Elf.
If anyone had told me this was how my life would look a year ago, I would have laughed at them.
The smaller spaceship hummed softly as it flew the artificial skies of Ledatic Siliportem and the vast meadows. We weren't piloting it ourselves. Hansel was handling that from her main ship, remotely controlling the vessel.
Her voice crackled through the communication panel near the front of the cabin.
"You're about to enter visual range of the capital clusters. I'll give you a quick overview again, just so no one does anything stupid when you land."
Love Veneri leaned back in his seat with arms folded behind his head, looking completely relaxed. Ely, on the other hand, sat upright beside me. Her fingers nervously gripped the edge of her seat as she stared at Handel's hologram.
"Ledatic Siliportem has three capitals. Militia, Economia, and Admina. The names are not decorative. Militia handles all armed forces and defense. Economia controls trade, resource flow and financial systems. Admina is the administrative and political center where the Reniatsus and high-ranking officials operate."
I tapped my finger against the armrest. "And we are not going to Militia because we would be vaporized the moment we crossed their perimeter, correct?"
"Correct. Their identification systems are tied directly into their combat grid. You are not registered. You would be flagged as intruders within seconds."
Love Veneri smirked faintly. "So we avoid the place filled with soldiers who shoot first and don't bother asking questions. Noted."
"We'll head to the Economia Capital first. It's less militarized and you can blend in long enough to familiarize yourselves with the environment."
Ely asked, "And Luciana's team?"
"They'll go to Admina. Luciana, Jack and Griselda will enter the administrative capital later in the evening. They'll pose as guests from another realm and start gathering intelligence from inside. They're better suited for covert operations than you three."
That was true. Luciana could make an entire persona out of thin air and use puppets as spies, Jack had that uncanny ability to disappear into crowds and escape just like the fairytale, and Griselda… well, Griselda scared people into cooperating even when she wasn't trying.
"Based on what you told us, Miss Elyonari, Edarea Avinaris is planning to use Celadille as ascension material for her Forgotten Rank Krepsuna pet, correct?"
"Yes, Hansel."
"And because Edarea is a Reniatsus of Ledatic Siliportem, she spends most of her time in the Admina Capital. That's where Celadille is most likely being held."
Love Veneri exhaled slowly. "Which means walking into Admina first would basically be announcing ourselves to her."
"Exactly, Darling, if we show up in her own domain before we know the terrain, she will notice. And if Edarea notices us before we're ready, she won't hesitate to kill us. Fighting her inside Admina would be suicide."
Hansel made a soft approving sound over the comms. "That's why we're taking this route. Economia is the safest entry point you have."
The ship began to descend slightly, angling toward a massive, glowing city cluster in the distance. The clouds parted and the skyline of the Economia Capital finally came into view. Love Veneri, who had been lounging like this was a sightseeing trip, suddenly sat upright.
"Wait."
His tone wasn't amused or relaxed anymore. I followed his gaze and for a moment, my brain refused to process what I was seeing.
The city below us was not made of floating crystal towers or spiraling constructs like most Spheraphasian settlements. Instead, an endless forest of steel and glass skyscrapers stretched toward the horizon. Multi-layered roads crisscrossed on the ground, filled with streams of moving vehicles.
It looked… wrong.
Not because it was ugly or primitive but because it was familiar in a way that made my stomach twist.
"That… that looks exactly like modern Earth cities."
Ely blinked, then leaned forward, pressing her hands against the ship's windows. "Modern… Earth?"
I glanced between the two of them, then back down at the city.
"You're telling me this is not normal where you're from?"
He shook his head slowly, still staring. "No. This isn't just similar. It's almost identical."
As we descended further, the details became clearer. Digital billboards projected animated advertisements across the sides of buildings. Pedestrian walkways were packed with people wearing fitted, synthetic-looking clothing. Even the color palette felt pulled straight out of a cyberpunk version of Earth.
Ely looked from the city to Veneri.
"But this is inside the Hidden Citadel. How could it resemble Earth so closely?"
"Reynolds said he made the blueprints for Ledatic Siliportem but I didn't expect it to be similar to Earth's cities. Seriously, it's been millennia and they didn't change anything? How?"
I crossed my arms, watching the endless urban sprawl roll beneath us.
"Considering how many Transmigrators have been sent here, I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to keep their city the same."
Hansel's voice made us turn back to her.
"You're approaching the Economia Capital's outer airspace. Prepare to land. And try not to look too shocked when you step outside. If you start gawking at buildings like country tourists, you'll attract attention."
Love Veneri let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
"Hard not to gawk when you're staring at what looks like Tokyo or New York floating in a fantasy world."
Ely glanced at him. "Tokyo?"
"I'll explain later."
The moment the ship's hatch slid open when we landed, the noise of the city rushed in like a wave. The landing platform itself was immaculate and marked with glowing guidance lines and bordered by sleek control towers staffed by personnel dressed in uniforms.
Love Veneri stepped out first. Ely followed and I came out last with my feet touching the ground more out of necessity than preference. We had barely taken three steps onto the platform before a group of officers approached us.
They wore dark, tailored uniforms with insignias glowing faintly on their collars. Each of them held a thin tablet that displayed shifting lines of text and identification profiles. Their eyes swept over us and then one of them cleared his throat.
"Identification, please," he said, trying very hard to sound authoritative and not at all distracted by the fact that he was speaking to three Divine Beings who looked like they had stepped out of a dream.
I smiled politely and stepped slightly ahead of the others. "Of course."
As they extended their tablets toward us, I didn't even bother pretending to reach for anything. I simply looked at the screens.
Their system architecture was laughably weak.
The moment my gaze settled on the flowing lines of data, I slipped my consciousness into the network connecting the tablets to the capital's central registry. It felt like dipping my hand in water. Their firewalls were decorative at best.
Two seconds was all it took for me to generate three full identity profiles with biometric records, administrative seals and travel authorization logs. I attached them to our faces, wrote them into the active session on the officers' tablets, and nudged their system to accept the changes as if they had always been there.
Then, out loud, I said calmly, "Phaenora Richinaria, Elyonari Mintheris and Veneri Richinaria. We are envoys from the Admina Capital."
The officers blinked, glanced down at their tablets, and their expressions changed instantly. Where there had been suspicion and curiosity, there was now immediate respect.
"O-Our apologies," the lead officer stammered, straightening and bowing slightly. "We were informed that new envoys would be arriving today, but we did not expect… guests of your stature."
Behind me, I could feel Ely staring at my back in shock.
"We will escort you to your assigned residence. Your accommodations have already been prepared."
I inclined my head graciously, as though everything was unfolding exactly as planned, which technically, it was now. As we began to follow the officers across the landing platform, Veneri's voice slipped into my mind through our telepathic link.
[What exactly did you just do, Phae?]
Ely's mental voice joined his almost immediately.
[Yeah what did you mean by 'envoys'?]
I suppressed a small laugh and answered them both mentally.
[All I did was access their system. It's incredibly weak. It took me two seconds to generate identities for us.]
[That fast?]
[There were supposed to be three envoys arriving from Admina today. I simply replaced their data with ours.]
Ely went quiet for a moment, then asked hesitantly, [What about the real envoys?]
I shrugged lightly as we walked.
[I already sent the information to Hansel. She'll intercept them before they get anywhere near the capital. Their ship will never reach this airspace. If they arrive and try to authenticate themselves, our identities would be exposed. It's cleaner this way.]
There was a brief silence in our shared link before Ely scoffed.
[You're… terrifying.]
Veneri, on the other hand, chuckled. [This is actually kind of fun.]
I rolled my eyes. It's really amazing how easy this is. I expected Ledatic Siliportem to have stronger security but turns out it's not that advanced yet. Technology from Anqerise would actually be more troublesome compared to this.
We were led off the landing platform into a wide transit corridor that opened onto one of the city's main boulevards. The moment we stepped fully into public view, both Ely and I noticed it at the same time.
Everyone was staring at us.
Pedestrians slowed mid-step. Conversations died mid-sentence. People standing near storefronts turned their heads as one. They were all mortal humans and to them, we must have looked like something that had stepped out of a myth.
Women in particular weren't even trying to hide their reactions. Some openly gawked, others whispered behind their hands and more than a few glared at me and Ely with slight hostility as their eyes kept drifting back to Veneri.
[They're staring,] Ely muttered in our link, sounding uncomfortable.
[Of course they are. Mortals rarely see Divine Beings walking down their streets like this. Not that they know what we are.]
But that didn't stop the irritation in my chest as I watched yet another group of women turn to watch Veneri pass with their eyes glued to him.
We were eventually guided to a sleek, black vehicle waiting at the curb. One of the officers opened the door with a respectful bow.
"Your transport to your residence, Envoys."
We climbed in with Ely sliding in beside me while Veneri took the opposite seat. The interior was spacious and luxurious. hat was when I noticed something else.
The driver was a woman and so were the two bodyguards seated in the front compartment. All three of them kept glancing at Veneri through the rearview mirror.
Their eyes lingered on his face, then his shoulders, then flicked away guiltily when they noticed Ely and me watching. A few seconds later, they would look again, unable to help themselves.
I could snap their necks in less than a second. That thought came so naturally that it startled even me.
Beside me, Ely shifted slightly and I could feel the exact same murderous impulse radiating from her through our shared link through the Sapphire Bond. She was staring at the back of the driver's head with a polite smile that did not reach her eyes.
Veneri, completely aware of what was happening, leaned back in his seat and smiled faintly. He looked entirely too amused.
[You're enjoying this.]
[I'm observing human behavior, my dear Phae. It's natural.]
One of the bodyguards glanced at him again. Her cheeks were faintly flushed.
[I swear, Veneri, if this mission were not important, I would already have turned this vehicle into a grave.]
Ely let out a quiet, strained laugh in our mental link.
[I thought I was the only one thinking that.]
Veneri's smile widened just slightly.
[Now you know how I feel every time men stare at the two of you.]
Author's Note: By the way, I made a new book cover. That's Phaenora after the timeskip. Anyway, tell me what you think!