Endless Journey: Infinite Realms

Chapter 553 The Sorceress and the Empress

Witt his advanced skills, Alex was able to leave his house before Alina could prevent his departure. Only her disgruntled mutters could be heard by Alex as he left, prompting him to have some chuckles on himself.

"Sigh, I really want to see how Alina will become a Stage 6 Vampire, but since she has to fight Delia, I think I have to forget about watching her..." Alex thought wryly, with his body suddenly shivering from all the memories of Delia and Alina’s clashes with each other.

"When those two women fight, they don’t show any care on the place that they were fighting in! They always destroy it, even if we’re there! With that kind of attitude, who the hell would want to watch them fight?" Alex added to himself as he swerved. "Tsk, should I warn Queen Mother and the others too? I don’t think they would want to watch one of Alina and Delia’s fights again..."

"Okay, I will warn them about Alina’s breakthrough. But before that, I have to check up on Marcus first." After saying this to himself, Alex let out a breath as he began slowing down. From his initial running start, Alex’s movements has now slowed down into that of a normal walking man.

"Okay, so according to Marcus, he’s staying inside the house where Sierra stays... And that house should be around here..." Alex then squinted his eyes as he began looking around the snowy landscape. "Is Sierra’s house supposed to be here? Didn’t she say that she moves her house everyday? Hmm... maybe it’s not- oh, there it is!"

Upon spotting the familiar-looking hut from a distance, Alex let out a small nod as he began approaching it.

"Slu slu slu..."

His footsteps as he walked forward did not leave any tracks on the snowy ground, making his movement look both ethereal and eerie.

Alex of course has noticed this anomaly, but he did not do anything about it.

With his current speed, it took Alex a few seconds to arrive in front of the hut, which stood at a height that was twice his.

Upon his arrival, what Alex first did was to observe the straw walls of the hut and the wooden pillars that supported the hut from beneath. After seeing that that these components were all stable, Alex gave out a sigh of relief.

Once he’d done with the inspection, Alex did not waste any more of his time. He quickly opened the door, with his body snaking its way in before Sierra could stop him from entering.

"Hey Sierra! Daddy’s here! I came here to give you some snacks! Are you fine with me staying here for a bit?"

****************

When Alex heard from Alina that she was fighting Delia again, he quickly made the decision to lay low inside Sierra’s hut first. Alex has decided to keep himself inside this hut, and he will only leave once Alina and Delia finishes fighting.

Since Alina was extremely doting on Sierra, Alex knew that Alina will not come barging inside Sierra’s hut just to drag him out. Hence, Sierra’s hut is currently the best hiding place for Alex...

That and the fact Marcus was inside this hut now, and Alex was sure that he will have a productive time staying here.

But reality proved him wrong quickly.

Instead of seeing a lone Sierra interacting with Marcus, what Alex witnessed upon entering the hut were 3 differently-aged people, all who were lounging inside the hut like they owned it.

One of these people was Sierra, whose teenaged body lay curled on a corner of the hut. She could be seen huddling her knees close to herself while laughing, a sight that made Alex freeze.

"Hahaha, Annie, stop tickling me! I yield already, I yield!" These were the words that could be heard from Sierra’s mouth, whose entire body was under the assault by a younger girl. "Hey Annie, please stop! I can’t take anything more!"

After Sierra had said these words, the younger girl who was tickling Sierra suddenly paused, as if she was trying to digest her message.

This pause however only lasted for a second, as the younger girl resumed her tickle assault on Sierra.

"Hey Annie! Please stop!"

"Eh, I can stop, but I won’t stop Sierra." The tickler, who was no other than the World Soul Annie, gave this merciless reply upon the now writhing Sierra. "Under the rules of our game, you have lost, so you should be receiving 10 tickles from me. This is only the 8th one, so prepare for 2 more!"

"Ahahaha! Noooo!!! Ahahaha! Mercy Annie, mercy!"

"Hehehe, ticklers must never be merciful. You know that, Sierra."

"Ahahahahahaha no!!!"

"What the effing hell? What are you doing here?" Upon seeing the plight that Sierra was in, Alex immediately turned his suspicious eyes on Annie. "Shouldn’t you be staying inside the Great TImeMaster’s base? The Great TImeMaster is your mother, so you should be there!"

"!!!"

"???"

With Alex’s sudden arrival, the game that Sierra and Annie were playing were brought into a sudden stop, with the two hastily standing up in front of the glowering Alex.

"Daddy? Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with mommy?" Sierra, who’s face has turned red from all the laughing that she had, obligatingly asked this question to Alex. "Mommy said that she’s about to have her breakthrough, which means that you should be there..."

"Um well about that Sierra, it’s l little complicated." Alex’s attempt to question the two was quickly stopped, as he was stumped by the innocent question given by Sierra. "There’s just a little problem with Alina’s breakthrough, so I have no choice but to stay here first... But don’t worry. Once your mommy is done having her breakthrough, I will meet her quickly."

"What? But daddy, you must be beside mommy now!" Sierra blurted out, with her curious face changing into that of a disappointed one. "Shouldn’t you be there as her support?"

"Hmph, so Big Brother Alex has abandoned his lover just to come here? What a shame..." Along with Sierra’s disappointed face, the nearby Annie gave this mocking sentence as she crossed her arms. It appeared as if she was really disappointed with Alex, that even her gentle manner from before were nowhere to be seen now.

"What? Hey Annie, I did not-"

"And here I thought Big Brother Alex is a decent guy. Turns out he’s just as slimy as a rogue." Annie added before the stupefied Alex could explain himself. "Sierra, are you sure that he’s the source of your birth? Maybe he’s not..."

"Oi, Annie. You may be young, but you should still watch your words." Before Annie could continue her slander, Alex forced himself to talk over her, with his words sounding much louder than earlier. "If you’re not careful with what you will say next, then I might-"

"You might what, Mr. Alex? Care to tell me what you might do to my daughter?" The third and final person inside the hut chose to spoke at this point, with her words enough to make Alex feel shocked again. "Oh, and can you please explain why you’re talking to Annie when I, her mother, is here? Don’t tell me that you have not seen me when you arrived?"

"O-of course I have seen you, Great TimeMaster. With that bright green robes of yours, it’s impossible for me to not notice you." Alex stiffly replied, with his eyes slightly avoiding the Great TimeMaster, who at this point, was sitting on the nearest chair with a small smile on her face.

"You noticed me? If that’s true, then why did you not greet me first?" The Great TimeMaster retained the smile on her face as she continued to converse with Alex, as if she was mildly enjoying her talk with him. However, Alex knew that smile was just bulls**t, as the current Great TImeMaster looked anything but pleasant.

The Great TimeMaster was like a coiled-up viper now, one that is ready to bite anyone as long as an opening was given. Such kind of look was enough to give Alex the creeps, as he knew that if he makes the wrong move here, he might get ’punished’ severely.

"Great TImeMaster, you’re the first one that I saw when I arrived, but I was more worried about Sierra’s situation. Hence, my decision to talk to her and Annie first." Alex quickly replied as he sat on the nearby chair. "You can’t blame me for paying attention for Sierra first, right? She’s important to me after all..."

"Oh I see. So you’re worried about your daughter then. That’s good. That means that you’re not relegated to a deadbeat dad role." The Great TimeMaster replied, with her smile slowly dipping down by little. "But even if you care about your daughter, that does not mean that you can just shout like that on Annie. You do understand that, right?"

"Yes, of course I get that, Great TImeMaster. It was just an accident, ok?

"Hmph, you’re lucky that I am in a good mood today Mr. Alex. If it were the other days, then you could have been sailing on the space as a bag of bones..." The Great TImeMaster hauntingly said, with her smile suddenly replaced by a frown. "Or I could have just turned you into my own personal alarm clock..."

Such change on her face made Alex tense a little, as he realized that he had actually pissed the usually calm Great TimeMaster

"But don’t worry Mr. Alex. Since I am in a good mood today, I will forgive your slip-up" This sentence by the Great TimeMaster has managed to relax Alex, who for a second, thought that he might have to run away again. "But remember. If you try this thing on Annie one more time, you will come to regret raising your voice over her. Do you clearly, perfectly, and implicitly understand that?"

"Yes, I understand. Great TimeMaster."

"Good. Now that we have dealt with that, let’s talk about the real reason why I am here." The Great TimeMaster clapped her hands like an excited kid at this point, with her frowning expression replaced by an excited one.

This change made her scary demeanor from earlier disappear, which just made Alex feel more unsettled by the woman herself.

"Sierra and Annie, you can continue to play there. Let I and Mr. Alex talk about important stuff here." The Great TImeMaster suddenly said, with her excited smile beaming brightly upon the two girls. "What we will be talking about is important, so don’t bother us, ok?"

"Ok Mommy!"

"Ok, Aunt TimeMaster!"

In face of the mature and collected Great TimeMaster, Annie and Sierra seemed to have no interest in resisting her. They quickly resumed on their game, which filled the air once more with Sierra’s giggles.

"..."

"..."

"Of course you’re here to talk about something important, Great TimeMaster. So what is this about? Is this about the Old Man?" With the Great TimeMaster forcefully steering the conversation at this point, Alex was left with no choice but to ride along with her. After all, changing the topic might just make the woman madder....

Besides, Alex was also interested on the reason for the Great TImeMaster’s visit. This is the first time that she has visited Alex since two months ago, so for her to be here must mean that something important is about to happen.

"Nuh uh uh. It’s not about the Old Man. I did not even see him within the past 2 months, so don’t think about him." The Great TimeMaster quickly answered while shaking her head. "The reason why I am here was because there are 2 Returning Travelers who had awakened from their secluded training..."

"...Ok? That’s news indeed. But if that’s just the news, then you don’t really need to personally come here. Won’t a simple mental message be enough?" Alex replied uncertainly as he gave the Great TImeMaster a confused stare. "Why tell that to me personally, when you can just quick-send the news to me?"

"Hmph, of course I know that. If it was only their awakening, then it will be simple." The Great TimeMaster snorted while crossing her arms. "However, at the moment that those two awoke, they quickly sent a message to me. Do you want know what they said?"

"...I don’t really want to hear it, but since you’re already here, then just go on."

"Mr. Alex... Those two Returners told me that they want to see you personally today." The Great TImeMaster blurted out, with her wide smile now beaming down on Alex. "They don’t care how I do it, but I must make it so that they will see you quickly!"

"!!!"

The GreatTimeMaster’s excited look seemed to inflate at this point, as if what she just said was enough to excite her.

Such excitement made Alex feel tense, as he knew that the Great TimeMaster shouldn’t be acting like this.

She is Alex’s ally, so shouldn’t be worried about Alex possibly being plunged into danger?

Before Alex could muse on this, the Great TImeMaster continued her revelations, with her next words managing to supersede what she had just said.

"Oh Alex. I almost forgot to tell this to you, but the Returning Travelers who wanted to meet you today are the Arcane Sorceress and the Immortal Empress. Hehe, if I were you, I would do my best to avoid meeting them. But you’re not me, so you can’t do that!"

"!!!"