The Empire is going to recalibrate to the Ashfront. We will not let ourselves become a repeat of Northern Arika. There will be no great retreat for we have nowhere to retreat to. There is nothing after Esberia. Rancais will not be swallowed. Rilia will not be encircled by the north and south. This month, the night of Ashen Skies shall reach its twilight, and it shall only retreat from here.

Fortress Shielding has been proved to work on battleships, it is time to bring back Fortress Shielding for the reason that this magic was invented in the first place. Elassa, of Magic, shall personally be tasked with the outfitting of Esberian cities and landscapes with her magic. The One-Seventeenth Motorized Light Infantry has proven sustained deployment under the grey can be maintained. The atmosphere does not turn toxic, the ash does not devour us, there are no monsters in the dark.

The Second Expedition has proven the Empire can work in lightlessness. General Ekkerson’s Antworks can slow them down. The Star One can breach Ashen Skies. The time for measured retreat has come to a close. There will be no half-measures. For every inch that Tartarus crawls forward, we shall extract a price of blood unlike any seen before.

This war is not fought for the difference between victory or defeat. This war is fought for the culmination of extinction or the salvation of survival. For the Empire, for all of our precious Arda. Not until we scour their world, not until we excise their future from this universe and cast them permanently into the realm of history. Every last drop of our blood shall be spilled before they make us bow before lesser Gods.

Retreat is over.

Not One Step Back.

– General Military Order, Number 227. Written and signed by Goddess Kassandora, of War, Supreme-Commander of the Imperial Armed Forces.

Helenna stared at the various hair dyes in Boutique D’Paida. Naturally, the Goddess of Rancais had her own brands, naturally, this chain was one of the oldest businesses in the entire Empire. It dated back hundreds of years and every single one of its establishments was large enough for Divines. That was part of the charm after all. Helenna had ignored and pushed away the clerks and helpers working the store, the throng of men and women who followed had come in to flood the shop, as always, but none of them dared to stop close. Every now and then, some fool would get brave, they would catch her eye, they would smile, they would pretend to be needing help.

Helenna ignored all of them as her eyes settled on the darkest hair-dye in the entire shop. It was Rancais, and it was a boutique, so naturally it had a dozen different variations. It would annoy Kassandora, it would send Maisara into a rage, Helenna understood it though. There was a difference between high and low gloss, there was a difference between the blacks as well. A few of them were tinged with another colour, red and crimson were the most common. Helenna skipped over those. She just wanted something plain. Maybe it was to make herself a counter to Malam, most likely it was. She just told herself that it needed to be black because any sort of lighter shade would inevitably let any of her emotion bleed through.

With her hair a dull, unimpressed brown at simply going through motions she had repeated countless times in the past, Helenna picked out the darkest colour. It should put even the Imperial uniform she wore to shame. Most of the idiots who followed her had chosen black, although whether it was for favour or to show off Imperial loyalty, Helenna did not particularly waste effort on working out. She picked it off the top shelf, then took another few boxes and brought them to the counter.

“That won’t be needed Goddess.” One of the clerks said. A pretty girl, twenty-something, obviously experienced but nothing like Eloise who worked at the Hotel Imperial. This one had a small quiver to her, a hesitation at the expectation that she was dealing with nobility amongst divinity.

“Just scan girl.” Helenna said. This one was obviously not a spy, good reason too. Who would expect Divinity or important officials to actually pick out make-up or hair-dye for themselves? The Goddess of Love was unique in that department.

“Goddess Paida…” The girl trailed off. “She… We got news yesterday that we are not allowed to take money from you.”

“Then consider it a donation to Paida.” Helenna said. She had played these games more than enough to see how it would end-up. Eventually, the little gifts and the stepping aside would add up and Paida would add her own interest. No, things simply did not operate that way. “Either way, I am paying.” Caught between the cliffs and the sea, the girl didn’t seem to know what to do. Helenna sighed, it was a manipulative sigh, one that told of fatigue and experience and utterly judging. “I stand before you, where is Paida?”

Goddess Paida, of Rancais, the patron of this land, was obviously not around. The girl looked around for a moment, then down at the boxes, then back up at Helenna. “Of course Goddess.” Her voice was low and apologetic. “I meant no offense.” She finally scanned the boxes. Helenna pulled out her wallet, took out a black and silver card and pressed it against the till. It was simply a matter of money and Arascus provided her more than enough. Frankly, there wouldn’t be a price that was too high if it meant making sure that the National Divines would not think they had some sway over her.

With the hair-dye bought, Helenna strolled out. Suddenly, half the clients inside lost all reason for being in there. A few made comments to excuse themselves, a few had the honesty to simply admit they weren’t here for buying anything. They pretended to be going everywhere, and they all chose a similar route as they hounded Helenna back to the Hotel Imperial. The place had been booked up last night. It didn’t matter that they raised their prices temporarily. Helenna didn’t care, she just noticed that Eloise was missing, replaced by some new girl.

Malam would be asked about it later, but Helenna doubted it was her. They had left at the same time and even though Helenna had taken her sweet time browsing, costing herself at least an hour of downtime. That was more than enough time for an operative to get away. And it was more than enough time to get someone out. Helenna didn’t even bother acknowledging this girl, it was obvious from the start that she was tired and had just recently been dragged out of bed. Her hair, clean, was somewhat tussled. Her shirt wasn’t on evenly either, most likely she had just rolled out of bed on an emergency call.

Helenna just stepped into the elevator, held the gazes of her admirers, and disappeared as the doors shut. No one bothered the Goddess of Love, no one was brave or foolish enough to try and share the space with her. She returned back to the sleek, modern hotel room and…

“You’re back early.” Helenna said as she saw Malam begin a bottle of drink. Vodka this time, the good stuff that was hard to get in Rancais.

“I finished early-er.” Malam said and Helenna rolled her eyes. What a thoroughly Malam response. The woman downed a fifth of the bottle in a series of quick gulps and watched Helenna unpack the hair-dye, placing it on the table.

“So?” Helenna asked. “How was it?”

“Same-old, same-old.” Malam said. “Certainly far less entertaining than spending time with you.” She turned and watched Helenna’s hair turn bright red. Did Of Love hate that smile? Honestly, at this point, she wasn’t sure. “I have to leave in a short while again for another idiot, but there is a problem.” Malam said. “That’s why I came back to warn you.”

“Is there?”

“The tests have stopped working.” Malam took another swig of the bottle as she sat on that couch in her black coat. “So we have to develop new ones.”

“What do you mean they stopped working?” Helenna asked.

“I don’t know.” Malam replied with a heavy sigh. “They just stopped.” She looked into her vodka and set it down on the table. “What am I supposed to say?”

“How do you test better than inhuman cells?” Helenna asked. “What am I even? A doctor? How should I know?”

“How did you do it in the past?”

“Clerical healing.” Helenna replied. “But if they change cell structure, why shouldn’t they get around that?” Malam took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

“And here I thought you would have a better idea.”

“What’s yours?”

“Is it bad I just want to expand the SIS until we overwhelm them?” Malam asked and sighed. “And put beastmen on every street corner to sniff them out?”

Helenna saw the problem immediately. “Would they even smell different if they change cell structure?”

“I suppose not.” Malam replied. She turned to the hair dye. “So?” She asked. “When is the new style coming in?”

“Sooner rather than later.” Helenna said heavily, her hair turning into that embarrassed pink. “Come, I’ll hold you to it.” She said. Malam stood up slowly, her smile going wider. At this point, Helenna didn’t even care. She enjoyed that smile, she enjoyed how open it was, how Malam smiled like that in public or in private. It was a terrible smile, and it was one of her favourite sights on Arda. Even framed against the woman’s pale hair and dark eyes, it didn’t matter.

They moved to the bathroom. Helenna took off her black coat, her white undershirt and leaned over the bath as Malam stood over her. “Do you know how to do this?” Helenna looked at her own locks turn an embarrassed pink. She had gotten maids to do this in the past, it was always easier with someone who could see the roots on the back of her head.

“Who do you think I am?” Malam said. “Of all people, don’t embarrass me like that sweetheart.” Helenna’s hair turned dark red as Malam began, then to a relaxed shade of crimson. It took maybe twenty minutes, it felt like twenty days of torture. Malam would stroke ever so gently, and then suddenly she moved as if she was trying to scalp Helenna, and then return to that gentle stroke. It was a punishing rhythm. Helenna hated that she couldn’t cool her cheeks from blushing. “There.” Malam clapped her hands as she finished. “There there sweetie.” She repeated herself. “All done, aren’t you a star?” Helenna had to stay there for a few moments, taking deep breaths to calm down from that taunt.

Eventually, she did stand up to look at herself in the mirror. There she was, as perfect as she always looked, enough to put a succubus to shame. Yet now, her hair was pitch black, almost as lightless as Irinika’s dress. “Say something stupid to me.” Helenna said.

“You’re the most beautiful girl on Arda sweetie.” Malam cooed. Helenna actually lost her cool and blushed a deep red. Her hair remained black, under the dye, she was sure she was burning up with scarlet but in the mirror. Malam chuckled and walked out of the bathroom. “I have to get going, see you soon sweetie.”

“See you later and fuck off.” Helenna said. She would never live that embarrassment down. She walked to fix herself a drink, a glass full of wine. The bottle sized for divines, she pulled the cork out with her fingers, the swigged straight from the bottle. What a harlot! What an idiot! And worst of all, she didn’t say anything at all! Where were the usual taunts? Where were the teases? That did not count! Helenna had not just embarrassed herself like that just to see receive only one comment, and after she had asked!

She would have stormed off to sit on the couch or fall into bed immediately were it not for the fact that now the locks had to dry. If she smeared them on a pillow or the couch, then faint traces of colour would get through. The fact the fabric would be destroyed didn’t matter. Helenna took another drink of the wine, straight from the bottle and stared at the empty glass. What was the point even? Wine in glasses was to savour, wine in bottles was to get drunk on. Even better was vodka, where did… Helenna’s eyes went to the table. Malam had taken her drink, of fucking course the damn drunk did. Of course. No. She could not leave a bottle of vodka go, could she? No no no, even though she had raided all of Helenna’s cabinets, she would not give up her own.

Suddenly, the door slammed open. “You were right!” Malam practically screamed it into the room. “Oh? Hello? Hello-Helenna?” Malam shouted and then turned the corner. She saw Helenna standing in the kitchen annex and shook her head. “That girl is gone, you were right, I scared her off.” Helenna just stared at this idiot as Malam strolled through the clean room and deposited a pile of books on the table. “Aren’t you going to sit?”

“I have to dry my hair.” Helenna replied sourly.

Malam just stared flatly. “It’s not dry yet?”

“Why the fuck would it be dry?”

“What do I know about hair?” Malam said, waving her snow-white strands with a hand as she brought out two glasses from under the table. “Do you think I’d ever destroy such beautiful purity?” Helenna slowly set her wine down as she stared at the Goddess of Hatred. Something did not add up. Malam smirked at Helenna and just kept on talking. She popped open the bottle. “I did not take you for such a liar Helenna.” And she poured two glasses of the fine wine. “Lookie here, I even bought you a bottle of wine to apologize, aren’t I the best?”

Helenna just furrowed her brows. “What?” No… It had to be some joke.

“What what?”

“What are you talking about?” Helenna asked, she had to confirm. This wasn’t… Surely not… How had she not noticed? But then it had been Malam? Who had the gall to impersonate an unchanging Divine? Helenna’s eyes went wide as she worked it out immediately: An unchanging Divine, there was no game to it. The Malam Tartarus had faced a thousand years ago was the same Malam they were facing now. There was nothing to it, it had been a play a thousand years in the making. Why wouldn’t it be utterly perfect?

“You got so embarrassed about the comments that you dyed your hair without me?” Malam leaned back as she talked, sipping the wine. “That’s terribly cute.” The blood drained from Helenna’s cheeks. If her hair was not coated black, it would have gone into a terrified bone-white. And immediately, Malam noticed the shift. “What happened?” It was that cold tone again, the same one she had used on Eloise.

“I…” Helenna felt the words catch in her throat. Her eyes went to the knives on the kitchen counter. But then was she the real one? “Where were you?”

“I went to the Police Chief and the Mayor.” Malam said slowly. “Why?”

“And before that?” What would only Malam know? The real Malam? “What did we do on the way here?”

“We ticked off your Internal Affairs research grants on the way here.” Malam said. “And we were told by Arascus to find-“

“NO!” Helenna shouted and launched forwards, slamming into the island that separated the kitchen from the living room. The secret regarding the Divine of Empire could not be said in this room. Malam just stared, then looked around the room.

“Why not?”

“You just dyed my hair….” Helenna began.

Malam stared at her dryly. “I just dyed your hair?” She said. “Sweetheart, do you think I’ve ever dyed hair in my life?” Her tone was utterly flat. She turned to the wine. “I thought you’d show me how.” She actually sounded hurt.

“Really?”

“How many Divines dye their hair?” Malam asked. “Bar you of course?” She chuckled. “I could shave you still if you want.”

“I’m not going bald…” Helenna trailed off when she saw the stupid fucking smile. Something terrible was coming.

“I wasn’t talking about your head.” Helenna burst out in laughter and had to hold onto the table to keep herself standing. She did not even blush, it was pure relief. That sort of character could not be practiced, no matter how far one trained, it was one thing to have the gall to impersonate a Divine. It was another to say something like that. Helenna doubted anyone but the real Malam could pull that off.

No point in hiding anything. “Malam, I fucked up.”

Malam chuckled, her voice rife with sarcasm. “My my, of all the things I wouldn’t expect from you, that’s a first.”

“You were here.”

“Well I wasn’t.”

“Well you were.” Helenna said. “And we talked.”

“About nothing good I assume?”

“I told you about the cell-tests and how we discover succubi.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep