Commercial trade has resumed in Lahmia, but uneasiness still hangs over everyone's hearts.
First, there were monsters that looked like lizards patrolling the city day and night together with the city defense troops, and then there was sudden news that the queen was dead. The two kinds of news were superimposed, making it difficult for the sailors to face the girl in the city.
They tell dirty jokes.
Today, this solemn atmosphere has reached its peak - Lebaras's mission has arrived.
What makes the people of Lahmia deeply uneasy is that most of the people in the mission are wearing all-yellow clothes, while a small number of people are wearing all-blue clothes. The former represents eternity, while the latter represents rebirth.<
/p>
This guy looks like he's here for a funeral.
The news that the Queen is dead that spread some time ago is very likely to be true.
Within a day, more envoys arrived, from Ka-Sabai, Quata, and even Astri from the distant frontier. They were all wearing the same mourning clothes as the Lebalas, and the Lahmians were deeply worried.
The stone is a little heavier.
Sure enough, just as the sun had just left the horizon and the white moonlight slightly illuminated the city, all the Lahmians received certain news from the acolytes in the city - tomorrow is the funeral of Queen Lahmia. Under the night, Neferata was busy receiving the condolence envoys.
The ebony coffin was filled with lotus flowers, and the queen's body was wrapped in a pure white shroud, with only the last face exposed and unwrapped to receive everyone's condolences.
Everyone was surprised to find that there was even a trace of rosiness on the queen's face, as if she was still alive, and they immediately made a request for priests from various countries to inspect the body.
Neferata waved her hand and allowed their priests to inspect the queen's body. She did not want the kings to misunderstand at this juncture that she was burying a living person.
This woman died in the massacre of the royal palace by that damn rat, and her children also disappeared after that incident. As a result, they currently have to look for the next king from the sidelines of the Lahmian royal family. p>
In other words, it has been nearly a month since this body died.
The reason why it doesn't stink and get maggots and still maintains the same appearance as before is of course due to the use of some vampire methods.
Especially Wu Suoran's method of controlling the body, so this corpse still looks "lifelike" even without the traditional ritual natron treatment.
Neferata looked down at the queen's beautiful face and sighed in her heart.
After all, this stupid woman is her descendant and lover after all. Although there is no sadness in her cold heart, there is still a trace of unhappiness.
When the dirty lair of those monsters is found, this debt, and many other debts, will be recovered from the white mouse, Neferata thought to herself.
At this time, the whispers in the ranks of the nobles became louder and louder, even disturbing the normal process of condolences. She quickly locked the source of these words through people's eyes, her own dress.
Since it was a funeral, almost everyone was wearing solemn mourning clothes without decoration, but Neferata was different.
This is a golden mourning dress that conforms to Asaf's teachings, but her robe is covered with dazzling golden threads to form runes, which takes away the sense of solemnity that should belong to the mourning dress, making it look more like a queen's clothing.
.
A gorgeous crown of pearls and sapphires is placed on Neferata's head, and the intricate gemstones embellished on the golden robe make her seem to possess the holiness of a god.
All the kings had sullen eyes:
"Look at the woman in front of me. The clothes she's wearing don't look like she's attending a funeral, but like she's attending some important ceremony."
And further observation allowed them to see clearly that this mysterious saint of Lahmia, whom they had never understood before - this woman no longer wore the golden mask on her face.
The real face that replaced her was so young that time seemed to have left no trace on her face.
After all the condolences were over and the reception delegation arrived at the palace, the discussion about Neferata's face still continued.
Some people's voices even sounded as if they were deliberately meant to be heard by Neferata.
Sitting on the throne that was originally the queen, Neferata showed a bright smile and exposed her wild white fangs to the people in the audience. Her skin turned pale even though she applied yellow powder. This immediately caused fear among the kings.
She is the minion of the unspeakable usurper?!
The kings looked at her in fear. Only then did they remember that Lamia not only controlled the countries economically, hundreds of years ago, the queen of Lybaras died in this city before this so-called saint.
Under the sword.
Is this funeral intended to wipe out all the kings of Nehekhara?
"Don't panic, everyone. The reason why I asked you to come here this time is to announce this matter."
Neferata smiled and held up a golden cup in front of the envoys from various countries. Even though they were not close, everyone could smell the strong smell of blood.
"The Queen of Lybaras, my favorite cousin, once challenged me on the palace hall of this city for the secret of my eternal life."
The vampire took a sip of the red liquid donated by devout believers, lowered his head and scanned the expressions on the faces of the kings. Even the Astri envoy, who had already known the inside story, showed a surprised expression.
"She believes that it is not a blessing from God, but the evil magic of Nagash."
After a pause, she said again.
"She's right."
As soon as the words fell, the guards from various countries immediately showed vigilant looks, and they gathered together to try to protect their king in the middle, trying to form a phalanx with their bodies without armor or weapons.
"Quiet!"
The sharp stabbing sound spread throughout the hall, and all the kings and envoys covered their heads.
The actual queen of Lahmia said slowly at this time.
"Although this magic comes from Nagash, the source has been dealt with by me. Even if you search the entire Lahmia, you will not find it."
The books had all been snatched away by white mice, so of course it was impossible to find them. As for Arkhan, she had secretly buried him in the slums hundreds of years ago. It was not a new place, so the hope of finding him was extremely slim. p>
Neferata thought, and then she pretended to be compassionate.
"I asked you to come to Lahmia not for anything else, but to defeat Nagash, who is preparing to destroy Nehekhara and destroy our homeland's army."
"Lahmia has found out that the usurper has established a large number of new slaves on the other side of the sea. We must stop him before he attacks Nehekhara itself."
"For this plan, the great Khemri King, Alkadiza, and I worked together to formulate a plan to integrate the forces of Nehekhara to launch the Northern Expedition."
Although the vampire made a speech, no one from the kings' side responded. Neferata nodded her forehead and lamented that it was more suitable for her to retreat behind the scenes and control the charm and conspiracy in the dark.
She can achieve this achievement among the nobles of Lahmia, "Behind every successful man there is a successful woman, and behind every successful woman, there is me."
But applying the same logic to diplomacy is not her area of expertise.
She was more familiar with controlling interests, so the queen's clear voice reached the ears of the kings.
"As for compensation, on the basis of Laemia's current assistance, half a ton of gold per country per year will be added."
Neferata could hear that except for Astri, the heartbeats of all the kings became heavier. It was obvious that they were tempted, so she immediately added a condition.
"Alkadiza will become the king of Khemri, a great emperor like Settra, and the light of Nehekhara. And I will become his queen."
The Khemri envoy immediately spoke angrily.
"Khemri will not let..."
Before they could finish their words, they saw the huge darkness in the shadow revealing its corner.
A huge humanoid monster, and soon the humanoid monster turned into the Lahmian noble they had seen before, Usoran.
"Khemuli, you'd better pay attention to your words. Do you need your ministers to decide how to choose the queen?"
"Besides, our new queen has the plan and ability to re-establish the past functions of the Daughter of the Sun, so why can't she become the queen of Khemri? Are you trying to say that the Daughter of the Sun is not worthy of your post?"
Before the representatives of Khemri could respond, King Kuata and the priests of Maharak immediately became excited. They had already figured out the reason why Maharak had been rebuilt for hundreds of years without any results.
Failure to establish contact with the gods again means that the sacred contract on the body of the daughter of the sun has been destroyed.
If a new Daughter of the Sun can be created, Maharak will no longer be the lost city that no one cares about in the past hundreds of years.
According to the ancient records of the priests, more than three hundred years ago, the envoys from both sides were almost treated as beggars and stopped by the Lahmian guards.
They never want to feel that humiliation again.
"Kwata and Maharak support you in becoming the queen of Khemri."
King Kuata spoke this sentence before the priest in an almost flattering tone.
Neferata's cat-like pupils stood up and looked at the remaining kings.
"So, what's your decision?"
"After the reconstruction of Daughter of the Sun is successful, all countries can immediately return to their former glory."
"Your princes and princesses have all received training in spellcasting at the Lahmian Magic Academy. In an era without gods, your descendants will continue to master extraordinary powers."
"Kings'..."
Before Neferata could finish speaking, she was interrupted. It was an Astri.
"Astri agrees."
The envoys of the kings immediately cast incredulous looks at the Astri people.
How could Astri, the most remote, savage, and warlike, be the first to agree?! They never considered the possibility that the bloody jackal country in the south would be the first to surrender to the enemy.
The king of Astri didn't pay attention to these surprised looks, and then said to the kings.
"We have formed an alliance with the lizard people and must fight against the blasphemous usurper across the sea."
The joining of the two city-states, especially Astri, means the union of the two most powerful economies and the most powerful armed forces, leaving no room for resistance from other countries.
Immediately afterwards, Lebaras also agreed.
Neferata nodded. She was originally worried that the other party would start a war between the two countries after seeing her fighting with the devil.
But since the people of Lybalas are so sensible, she will not deal with the country where her little eagle has lived for decades.
The situation was settled, and the remaining kings and queens declined for more than ten minutes, almost as a show, and then agreed half-heartedly.
Watching the priests with ink drawing sacred runes with their fingers, the kings glanced at the date next to them.
This year marks the 105th year of Faceless Hasa, and it is also the 1,266th year in the history of Nehekhara.
Maybe starting from this year, Nehekhara will become different again.
After a simple meal, everyone returned to the place of rest.
Listen to the priests begin to recite the first verse, while at the same time, more acolytes begin to carve the sacred runes of the gods on the shroud.
They are not very skilled in their business. After all, Lamia has not had a formal funeral for a long time - if it is something Neferata values, it will soon be transformed into a vampire, and if she does not value it, it will soon turn into a vampire.
There is no need to waste that money and effort.
Because of this, the period of time before the coffin board was closed was extremely long. On the way, Alkadiza tried to speak to the kings.
"I will then teleport to Khemri for a brief coronation, and then launch the Northern Expedition to defeat the evil usurper Nagash who is entrenched on the other side of the sea."
"I believe that as long as the kings of all countries work together, all soldiers will be able to return home before the Year of Justice Fax arrives."
The kings remained silent, including Alkadiza's father.
They just waited in silence for the queen's body, whose head had been completely wrapped in the shroud, to be covered with the coffin board, and then they each returned to the palace city where they were entertained.
The time soon reached noon the next day.
Despite the scorching sun, the emotions of sadness and uneasiness seemed to form an invisible shroud shrouding the city of Lahmia.
The people in the city knelt on both sides of the road, watching the funeral procession with fear and anxiety.
Although after the gods lost contact with the kings, the current funeral ceremony no longer requires the proportion of nobles, slaves, and commoners to follow the king to the other side of eternal life, but the basic hierarchy of honor and inferiority is still practiced.
As the earth trembled, all the civilians kneeling on both sides could see that eight Ushabits, all five meters tall, lined up in a row, lifting the ebony coffin and slowly moving towards the Blood God outside the city.
Walk to the temple.
The queen's body will receive final treatment there, and then cross the river bank farther away and be sent to the pyramid where the Lahmian kings sleep.
At the end of the funeral procession, the Khemri King felt Neferata's soft body leaning on his back, and a soft murmur came to his ears.
"The old sun has set, and the new sun is about to rise."