Henry's expedition didn't stop there; after getting more information from the newly arrived foreigners about the rest of the refugees, Henry sent more of his army to the North, intending to catch the Vikings by surprise before the information that they could get in and get out of their lands in an instant.
As more and more refugees were slowly settled into the Central Lands, with the large empty land south of Lioncrest being given to these foreigners in exchange for becoming Vassals, Henry received more reports from the scouts he sent to assess the Dark Sea—a name he came up with just now.
Suffice to say, the scouts concluded that more than half of the continents were submerged in this darkness, with only three continents left that were still untouched, including theirs.
Henry tried to ask the gods for help through Ariel but her response irked him. According to her, Atlantis had been left with no King for the past few weeks after her father's departure after getting a call from the home of the gods, Olympus.
Since then, it was her eldest sister, along with a few of King Triton's advisors who had been temporarily managing the matters of their Ocean Kingdom.
Rumble!
Henry stared out at the window and frowned. That's the fifth time the skies have roared with thunder this day and over the past few days. It's starting to unnervingly affect him.
He couldn't help but have a hunch that the constant thunder and whatever is happening on the gods' side are connected somehow.
The door to his study room was pushed open while he was in the middle of deep thought. Only two people are allowed to enter his study without knocking; his mother, Lily, and his three women.
He raised his head and greeted the newcomer, "Elsa, is there anything you need?"
Elsa simply plopped down on the couch and went straight to the point, "The Southern and Northern Isles are acting up. I have a reason to believe that they're preparing to attack us."
"I'm glad you finally noticed."
"You knew?"
"My dear, I have spent hundreds of thousands of gold on my intelligence network because I believe that knowledge is strength. My spies already informed me a week ago."
Elsa pouted, "Then why didn't you tell me sooner? I could've prepped myself early. Instead, I had my commanders and knights scrambling for preparation."
"Don't worry. It's not like I'm going to let them do any harm. But since you already knew, how about I let you handle this one? Your Kingdom has known peace for too long; don't you think it's only proper to keep your blades sharp?"
Elsa smiled knowingly, "Didn't know you're capable of reading minds, Henry. That's exactly the reason why I'm here."
"Just tell me if you need anything. With your powers, dealing with the two Isles should be easy enough. Not to mention, they're Port Kingdoms; water surrounds their Kingdoms, which should give you enough advantage, any more than you already have."
With a happy strut, she gave him a peck on the lips before leaving, "I'll see you tonight, love."
———
A few hours seemed to have passed and Henry was finally finished with his paperwork. With a groan, he stretched his neck and limbs before shifting his head to look outside the window.
What he saw next however, instantly made his blood run cold. Darkness was covering his Empire. He could see his people trying to run away, screaming for the last time before the dark sea caught up to them.
What made him even more scared was the sight of his mother and Lily, the former carrying the latter in her arms as they tried to run away from the dark sea.
He saw his mother raise her head to look at him; panic and fear filled her eyes, "Henry! Henry help us!"
Henry couldn't move. He wanted to but something was locking him.
"No! Mother! Lily!" He yelled, eyes bulging as he tried to force his body to move.
The next thing he knew, a female voice softly whispered into his ear, "Death is coming. The Darkness is inevitable. Run and hide, Hero. Run and hide."
It didn't take long before the Dark Sea consumed both his remaining family, and then the castle along with him.
"Hiss!"
Henry opened his eyes suddenly, his sight taking in his undisturbed surroundings. No darkness, no one other than him.
"A nightmare…" He touched his forehead, feeling his sweat on his palm. He groaned and got up, looking out through the window. There was no Dark Sea, nor anyone running for their lives.
The capital city looked just as lively as it was this morning.
"A fucking nightmare out of nowhere. Again." He whispered under his breath, taking a deep breath before leaving his study room. It's almost nighttime; he might as well resume his sleep in the room, not to mention Elsa is supposed to visit him tonight for some action.
———
The Coven found a loophole in the Wishing Lamp. Circe tried it by handing the Wishing Lamp to one of her most trusted witches, Morgan Le Fay, the half-sister of Merlin, a world-famous sorcerer.
The moment Morgan Le Fay got a hold of the Wishing Lamp, she instantly got the three wishes that the Genie painstakingly tried to hide by not telling it to them.
Too bad the Genie is now their slave, forced to follow wherever the lamp goes.
Morgan Le Fay, specializing in curses, one of the darkest forms of magic, used her first wish to amplify her Nightmare Spell—a form of cursed spell that when cast on someone, will instill their deepest and darkest nightmare that even the target itself is not aware of.
Since the Genie's powers are limited and couldn't directly harm those with special souls, such as the Gods, Demigods, spirits, and many other powerhouse beings, they couldn't exactly wish for Henry's death.
That's why they had to resort to tricks. They found a loophole in the Genie's limited powers. As long as Henry isn't exactly harmed directly or indirectly, the wish would work just fine.
Hence, Morgan Le Fay's wish to amplify the strength and distance of her dark magic—then using it against Henry, directly bypassing the condition.
"Still, it's such a waste of a wish, isn't it? Why not just use it against his loved ones? Such as his mother and little sister." One of the witches spoke in a curious tone, taking a closer look at the witch's face; one would recognize her as Samantha, the missing and traitorous princess of the Lioncrest Empire.
It's been months since she joined and the promised magic training that she wanted was granted to her. Even though she was enraged and sad that her mother wouldn't be here to see her right now, she had long abandoned those petty thoughts.
All that matters now is she's strong, and not to mention, she's sitting upon the shoulders of Earth's future sole rulers.
Morgan gave Samantha a simple glance. She and Samantha shared something in common that made Morgan accept her as her fellow Coven witch. The both of them betrayed their family for power, Morgan for Merlin and Samantha for Henry.
Morgan sees herself in Samantha, and would always lend her a helping hand whenever possible.
"Remember this well, my dear Sam. One of the easiest ways to make a hero fall, is to let them see their inability to protect their loved ones, to make their nightmares come true before their very eyes. If you can't defeat them physically, you must do it spiritually and mentally.
"The nightmare spell I cast is enough to shake your brother's spirit. And I will continue to do so until he breaks. Besides, all of his loved ones share the same special soul as him; it's like they're wrapped along with his." Morgan finished her words, gave her student a wink before leaving the room with the Wishing Lamp; she still has two wishes left and she intends to use them to empower herself.
"We have all the time in the world right now. With the Dark Sea wreaking havoc, the Gods busy with their own mess, and Henry stuck in the middle. The world would inevitably fall within our grasp, isn't that right, my dear?"
Circe leaned down on the projection in front of her, showing a haggard Master Elias, still walking in the same dark endless room without an ounce of wink.
Both the Master and Student were slowly being broken down spiritually and mentally, just like the Coven's plans.
———
For the next few days, not even once did Henry get an ounce of sleep. The nightmares are constant and every time he gets one, they become much worse than the previous.
Initially, he ignored them. Nightmares are nothing to someone like him who possesses the Authority of Truth blessing that makes mental spells less effective, but as they get much worse and become more frequent, to the point that even daydreams turn into nightmares, he knew there was something at play and he had to do something.
So for this entire day, he dedicated himself to magic training, more specifically, a mental defense spell.
He had never developed a passive magic spell. Sure, it's possible with runes and magical artifacts but runes aren't exactly as effective as a magic spell itself; magical artifacts are limited by their medium—aka the quality of the material that holds them.
And Henry doesn't want to take any chances that a magical artifact, no matter how precious the material's quality is, would be able to protect his mind.
That's why he's doing it the hard way.
"Not again…" Henry clutched his golden hair, biting his lip until it bled. His dark sunken eyes were threatening to close, which he was trying his best to avoid.
The nightmare was getting stronger and every time his eyes got a single wink, even without any intention to sleep, the nightmares would come. This made it harder for him to focus on developing the spell.
"I need to keep myself awake." He murmured. His eyes were turning red now from the lack of blinking.
On his lap were his magical notes. Some were simple and elegant in writing while most were scribbled, as if he fell asleep in the middle of writing, which is true.
"I'm closer now. I just need to connect the Magic Hymns for Spirit and Mental, intertwine them like strings..." His words were slowly turning into a whisper.
Outside his room, several minutes had passed. Servants came and went, whispering about the strange state of their Emperor for the past few days, while others wanted to knock on his door and ask if he was okay.
However, just as their worry was about to force them to snitch on their former Queen and tell everything to her, the door was suddenly blasted open, prompting screams and squeals from the servants and knights alike.
Emerging from the broken doorway was Henry. His eyes were wide open and filled with clarity like never before.
Even though his eyes were still red, sunken, and had large eye bags, he was finally blinking without stopping.
"I'm heading to my room. Nobody disturb me."
After giving his order to the servants, he rushed towards his room, fully intending to finally get his well-deserved sleep.