《Godslayer's Legend》


 RealmsRanksLevelsEnergiesLaws(SPOILER ALERT!)

    <h4>Chapter -2: Realms\Ranks\Levels\Energies\Laws(SPOILER ALERT!)</h4>


    BE WARNED ? THESE COULD BE SPOILERS.


    These are the realms of power, ranks Energies and information about Laws that would be frequently used for the earlier parts of the story, Exnation of some abilities and Laws Would Also Be Here. It is quite long though.


    Firstly, the calendar should be addressed;


    A general calendar is one thatsts ten thousand years, after this, another general calendar begins. The 50th general calendar means that it is the 50th set of 10,000 years since this calendar system was adopted.


    As for the months and days of the week, those are normal.


    7 days a week and 12 months a year for mosts or universes, if a or universe has a different system, it would be stated.


    Also, our Main Character was Born on the 31st of December, Year 700 of the 50th General Calendar.


    Secondly, the realms of power/strength. These are the realms of power/existence or the level of existence that will be often referred to.


    Note that;


    (Each Realm/Level of existence has three stages;


    Inferior,


    Intermediate,


    Superior. )


    (Destructive power levels stated only refer to their full power and they would/might be worn out or exhausted after using attacks of such a scale, this also applies to higher realms.


    This also means that they can deal enough damage to harm beings or existences with the equivalent level of durability or defences.


    Beings with creation powers can also create as much as their destructive equivalents can.)


    (The ways/methods of increasing realm/level of existence also apply to the higher realms.


    One can increase in realm via absorbing energy cores of monsters or other existences of this level or higher. Can also increase through training and gaining battle experience. Other unique methods also exist.)


    From Lowest To Highest;


    <strong>Bronze Realm</strong> - Weakest Realm/Level of Existence: You would find most human civilians and civilians of other weaker races here. The default state of most races.


    <strong>Silver Realm</strong> - Next Level after the Bronze realm, Takes about five average Bronze Realms to Defeat 1 average Silver.


    <strong>Gold Realm</strong> - Where the strongest Experts of most NORMAL worlds are, Skilled Swordsmen or magicians, belong here too. The average Gold Realm is equivalent to 10 silvers.


    <strong>Master Realm -</strong> The level of Master Swordsmen or Great Mages, above the peak of human limits. Children of some races could be at this level from birth, depending on the parents or the race. It ismon among non-human races like devils, giants etc. Can take up to tens of Gold Realms to defeat a Master. Can wreck entire towns on their own.


    <strong>Grand Master Realm</strong> - At this stage, most have unlocked a unique ability or skill depending on the type of energy they use. Mages on this level are called Arch Mages. Easily able to single-handedly destroy single or multiple cities depending on the stage.


    <strong>Epic Realm</strong> - Here, one has a higher level of existence and energy level, possible skill or unique ability upgrades, notmon though. The destructive power of thebat-oriented existences in this realm scales from destroying mountains to small inds.


    <strong>Legendary Realm</strong> - At this stage, one begins to shed their mortality, preparing to ascend into a Higher/Superior Existence. Destructive power ranges between destroyingrge mountains, inds or small countries.


    <strong>Sovereign Realm</strong> - This is the peak of ''Mortality'', at this point, normal realm increment methods would not work, one needs to prove their qualification to break through their mortality before they can go to the next rank.


    This can be done by performing a great Feat or achieving a breakthrough in their skills or techniques. An example is a swordsman creating their own sword technique or their own Ultimate skill.


    Another example is an Alchemist creating a high levelled potion or a cksmith creating a Legendary sword they could not previously create. (Something Leagues above their current skillset) Here, one can easily bring down arge country single-handedly. Sinking small continents is within the realm of possibility.


    <strong>Transcendent Realm</strong> - At this point, one is effectively not considered a ''mortal'' anymore, one''s soul and body are upgraded to a higher level. This is the transition stage between lower and higher existences.


    Most gain an increased Lifespan, higher than what the other lesser realms can grant. (E.g., an elf that normally lives 500-1000 years, bes able to live up to 5000 years.) This would increase as one goes above to higher realms. Depending on the circumstances one may gain a near-infinite lifespan.


    Destructive power range: Large countries at the very least. Scales up to Continent level, and by the Superior Stage, the majority ofbat-oriented Transcendents can sink multiple continents.


    <strong>Demigod Realm</strong> - Also called Half-deity realm. (not to be confused with half-god race members) From this point, one is considered a higher existence.


    This is the stage that beginner higher existences are, in order to get to this stage one has to gain an authority in at least one basic rankw. This is usually gotten at around 50%prehension but depending on the circumstances, it may be earlier orter.


    Destructive power range: Even the weakest can sink a continent without much effort. Obliterating a moon is considered normal and turning a small into a dead rock is within the realm of possibility, though this is mostly for nonstandard existences.


    {All existences in this realm and above gain some sort of protectiveyer or barrier around their souls made up of an energy type closely rted to them.


    For example; a god would have their protectiveyer made of divinity, or a demon would have theirs made of demonic energy.


    The number ofyers increases as one advances in realm. i.e.; A Demigod realm would have oneyer, a low-tier deity would have twoyers, and so on and so forth.)


    <strong>Lower Tier (Rank) Deity Realm</strong> - This is the base level of ''gods'' and Pantheon Entities in the series. Any being in this realm isparable to a lower-rank god.


    One needs the equivalent authority (50% Low-rank Law Comprehension) to reach this stage. It is also possible to have multiple authorities.


    In some pantheons, beings on this level are usually in charge of a world or a number of worlds, depending on their stage.


    Destructive power range: Here, being able to destroys is the mainstay. Depending on their stage, beings of this realm can dish out ster or star system levels of destruction, though thetter may be umon.


    <strong>Medium Tier (Rank) Deity Realm</strong> - This is the level of mid-ranked gods and their equivalents in pantheons of other races.


    Same with the other stages, one needs the equivalent authority to be in this realm (50% Mid rank Law Comprehension). gods and entities on this level are usually in charge of a varying number of sr or star systems depending on their stage.


    This level has arge power gap between the previous and the next, as such, most beings end up spending dozens to hundreds of millennia in this realm.


    The destructive power of beings in this realm scales from ster level to multiple star systems. In this case, ''multiple'' star systems, mean from one or two to hundreds, thousands or even millions.


    <strong>High Tier (Rank) Deity Realm</strong> - This is the level of high-ranked gods and main entities of a pantheon. Same with the other stages, one needs the equivalent authority to be in this realm (50% High-rank Law Comprehension).


    Examples of beings on this level include the twelve Olympians, the Great gods of Romersk, or the Divines of oblivion.


    Destructive power range: At least, a gxy. The energy within the energy cores of existences on this level simply just cannot be below the level required to end an entire gxy of at least 100,000 light years.


    Depending on their stage, beings on this tier are capable of creating and/or destroying from one to a dozen gxies.


    <strong>Monarch Realm</strong> - This is the level of most leaders of pantheons. The masters of Universes are usually on this level, it is possible to have others on this level even if they are not masters of pantheons or universes. One does not necessarily have to be the master of a universe just because they are in this realm. One needs sufficientprehension of at least onew of Monarch Rank and the equivalent authority.


    The power possessed by beings on this level is capable of creating and/or destroying multiple gxies, (at least a few dozen) when the space between celestial bodies is taken into ount, as opposed to merely the matter epassed by them.


    Depending on the stage, they can do this to thousands of gxies, millions or even billions though this is mostly seen among superior stages.


    This stage also has arge power gap between the previous and the next.


    Surpassing this stage is impossible without at least attaining partial<strong> Cosmic Superiority.</strong>


    <strong>Primogenial Realm</strong> - As the name implies, this realm is the ''first'' realm after attaining some form of Cosmic Superiority. Meaning the existence has to be at least a Sub-Cosmic being in order to reach this realm.


    From here on, increasing one''s power with the usage of other energy types starts bing less effective.


    However, this does not mean that using these energies in battle is less effective. The decrease in effectiveness only affects the speed at which they can be used to increase/cultivate one''s realm of existence.


    <strong>Cosmic Energy</strong> best used or increasing the user''s realm of existence.


    The destructive power level of beings in this realm is currently unknown at this point in the series, however, at the very least, they are capable of ''deleting'' all celestial bodies within a 3-D space covering an area of at least 50 billion light years.


    <strong>Phantasmal? Realm</strong> - Not much is known about this realm, even it''s actual name. Only offhandedly mentioned at this point in the story.


    <strong>Sage Realm </strong>- Not much is known about this realm, even it''s actual name. Only offhandedly mentioned at this point in the story.


    <strong>Supreme Realm </strong>- Not much is known about this realm at this point in the story, just that they are capable of destroying universes with ease.


    <strong>Grand Supreme Realm</strong> - Not much is known about this realm at this point in the story.


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    <strong>Nonstandard</strong> <strong>Existences.</strong>


    These are beings/existences who possess power and abilities that are at least a level higher than what beings in their realm of existence normally possess.


    All Nonstandard Existences possess the capability to fight against beings at higher stages/realms.


    For example, an Intermediate Stage Epic Realm Existence who possesses enough power to fight against an Inferior Stage Legendary.


    Although they may possess this capability, this does not trante to them automatically gaining victory against their higher levelled foes, but such is usually the case.


    Even if the Nonstandard existence is among the minority who do not attain victory inbat, merely battling beings entire realms or stages higher than themselves is already considered a great feat in itself.


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    <strong>Cosmic Superiority.</strong>


    First of all, it should be exined what Cosmic Energy is.


    It is the most superior type of energy in the ''Cosmos'', basically all of existence.


    One could say that the strength and vitality required for sustained activities in the Cosmos, is Cosmic Energy.


    Cosmic energy is the life force that is existent any and everywhere. It is present in the cosmos, between the gxies, the molecules, within and outside of space and time.


    This energy was also the energy that powered every gxy and universe in existence, in fact, their cores could be simply called giant orbs of highly condensed cosmic energy.


    Like other energy types can be manipted, the same could be said about cosmic energy. However, most beings cannot even perceive the existence of cosmic energy, much less dare to dream about manipting it.


    The majority do not even know it exists in the first ce!


    In every corner of the Cosmos, there existed beings who were unaware of both its existence and what it did.


    But there also existed those who were aware.


    <strong>Sub-Cosmic Beings:</strong>


    The beings that couldpletely perceive, and manipte ambient cosmic energy in their surroundings, were those known as ''<strong>Sub-Cosmic</strong>'' beings.


    One could be Sub-Cosmic irrespective of their Existence Realm, however, bing Sub-cosmic was ''rare'', and honestly could be chalked up to ''luck'', ''chance'' or ''destiny''.


    Sub-Cosmics could physically ''see'' cosmic energy, and it appears to be a multicoloured form of energy omnipresent in the surroundings.


    Other characteristics of Sub-Cosmic beings besides their ability to perceive and manipte ambient cosmic energy included, but were not limited to:


    Increased physical, spiritual and astral body parameters. Their parameters were increased to the level that theypletely surpassed others in the same stage/realm of existence.


    They also receive the boon of elevated soul strength.


    Lastly, they gain <strong>nigh-immortal</strong> physical bodies.


    No matter how beaten battered and bruised they are, given time, their bodies would eventually heal by absorbing ambient cosmic energy.


    Even if their bodies werepletely destroyed, they could reconstruct their bodies using ambient cosmic energies, however, the speed at which this happened varied.


    If they were injured with high concentrations of energy or higher quality energy, their regeneration process would be slowed. If they were injured using cosmic energy, then it is possible for their regeneration to be negated.


    Nevertheless, this still meant that killing a Sub-cosmic being was truly difficult, but this did not mean invincibility.


    If the Sub-cosmic being was a mere transcendent and he/she offended a high-tier deity, the deity could snuff him/her out of existence before his/her body could even think about absorbing anything to heal!


    <strong>Cosmic Beings</strong>:


    As Sub-Cosmic beings could perceive and manipte ambient energies, Cosmic Beings were capable of doing the same.


    In addition, they could also generate Cosmic Energy from the energy cores in their bodies.


    The minimum threshold for bing a Cosmic being was the Low-tier Deity realm as any existence lower than this would simply not be able to withstand even the smallest possible amount of Cosmic Energy that a Cosmic Being''s body and Soul had.


    Even nonstandard existences, Irregrs and/or Singrities were no exceptions to this.


    Like their Sub-cosmic Counterparts, they also possess nigh-immortal physical bodies, along with increased parameters and ridiculously strong souls.


    The protective energy barriers around their souls be mixed with cosmic energy, making them stronger.


    Also, it is simply impossible for a true genuine Cosmic Being to be ''killed'' without the use of Cosmic Energy.


    Granting them ''True Death'' was also extremely difficult, as the nigh immortality of their physical bodies also applied to their souls, along with the restrictions.


    Cosmic Beings were also able to dominate the surrounding ambient cosmic energy and ce it under their control temporarily; an ability that gave them an edge over Sub Cosmic beings who could only use ambient cosmic energies.


    Would be updated If any new information about cosmic beings is revealed.


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    List of Energies that would be spoken about and referred to frequently in the series;


    Cosmic Energy,


    Magic,


    Aura,


    Prana,


    Ether,


    Aether,


    Divinity,


    Enigma,


    Celestial energy,


    Demonic power/energy,


    Holy power/energy,


    Nature energy,


    Life energy,


    Death energy.


    Would be updated as the series goes on.


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    Law Exnations,


    Law of Causality- Thew of cause and effect. It has many roles in the series;


    It is also thew that is responsible for making sure the system of every universe runs properly. It is aw that makes sure every being fulfils the role given to them by fate at a certain point in time.


    It also prevents beings from finding out information they do not have the right to know.


    Thisw has the duty of imposing restrictions/punishments on beings who break certain existential rules andws, as well as trying to bypass certain limitations. Do not that these existential rules andws change depending on the universe or one finds themselves on. Basically, what can be considered as not allowed on a Lower World, might not be restricted on a Higher or Prime World.


    Thew of causality is responsible for preventing higher existences from carelessly descending into lower worlds/dimensions/nes of existence. This is due to the fact that some higher existences are strong enough that the amount of energy they emit is more than that world/dimension can handle which could cause its destruction.


    For example, a monarch realm existence with energy levels that let them destroy hundreds of gxies, using their true bodies containing all that energy to descend on a small low-level.


    The would obviously be unable to take the pressure of such an enormous amount of energy and be destroyed. Thus thew of causality prevents such situations from happening.


    The Laws in the series have ranks like the realms, these are;


    Basic Rank,


    Lower Rank,


    Middle Rank,


    High Rank,


    Monarch Rank.


    Supreme.


    Grand Supreme.


    Any other ranks would be addedter.


    Everyw has these ranks, i.e., thew of fire has a Basic Rank, a Lower Rank, and a Middle Rank and so on.


    One can gain ess to aw toprehend it via various methods. The mostmon method is through the use ofw crystals.


    Law crystals are crystals mostly formed by condensedw essence that contain the knowledge/information about a universalw and how it worked.


    Comprehending the knowledge held within, grants one an authority over the power of thatw.


    The information held withinw crystals is not meant to be understood immediately.


    It is all over the ce and makes little sense, this is why one has to firstprehend aw before one can use it.


    If the information made sense from the start, then anyone who picked up aw crystal might just gain an authority with no stress.


    Comprehendingws is the method of gaining authorities, if one does not have an authority required for a certain realm, they cannot advance into that realm even though they may have strengthparable to those who do.


    Thews must beprehended in order; one cannot attempt toprehend a Lower Rankw without firstprehending a Basic Rank first.


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    Progenitors;


    A progenitor is the first of every race and is the lifeline of that race. Upon the death of the progenitor, it is impossible for new members of that race to be born. This would eventually lead to that race going extinct.


    That is how important progenitors are.


    Thew of Causality does not approve of impersonating a progenitor. If one were to im to be a progenitor when not actually being one, they would receive a warning of some sort, if they did it a second time, the warning would be more fierce, they''d instinctively know that if they were to im such again, it would spell their death.


    Naturally, the third time is the charm, at that point, it does not matter how strong you are, thew of Causality would act to end your life.


    The progenitors have three main abilities,


    Authority of the Progenitor- The abilities of this authority differs depending on the race. It has a passive that lets the progenitor possess most of the traits or affinities that members of their race could possibly have.


    Race Command - This lets them control members of their race within its range of effect.


    Race Creation - This allows them to create ancient and elder breeds of their race. There is a cooldown of 10,000 years for every ancient breed and 1000, for every elder breed.


    Ancient and elder breeds are all connected to the progenitor that created them, allowing the progenitor to exert a level of control over them without using racemand.


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    Higher and Lower Worlds;


    When referring to higher and lower worlds/gxies etc. in the series, take note of this;


    Higher worlds may also be called higher nes of existence, and in some cases, higher dimensions.


    They are the worlds/gxies that are closer to the core of the universe that they are in. This means that they are affected by the energy given off by the core of their universe, increasing the ambient energies in them and making them stronger.


    Beings from the lower existence nes would not be able to withstand the pressure from the number of ambient energies that are present in the higher nes/worlds.


    The reason why higher existences are restricted from descending into lower worlds or nes casually without taking proper steps or restricting their power; is because the pressure given off due to the high energy levels of these beings would be too much for lower levelled worlds to take, damaging them and eventually resulting in their destruction.


    The higher nes of existence are often called primary nes and the lower nes of existence are usually called secondary nes.


    World Ranks;


    Lower,


    Middle,


    High,


    Prime,


    Ancient/Apex.


    Would be updated as the series goes on.


    P.S: MC''s home world, Aeturn, is an Ancient/Apex World.


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    Pantheons


    A pantheon is the particr set of all gods of any individual polytheistic religion, mythology, or tradition.


    This also applies to other races besides the god race.


    A set of beings (mostly deities) that are responsible for ruling a certain universe are the members of that universe''s pantheon.


    An example is the nobility of the Devildom of hell. Each of the nobles is a member of the pantheon.


    Members of a pantheon are known as the entities of the pantheon.


    The chief members of the pantheon (e.g. twelve Olympians) are called the main entities of the pantheon.


    Each entity has a domain they rule over and they are stronger and receive various benefits in that domain or areas they dere as their domain.


    E.g., Hades'' domain is the Underworld.


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    Magic Tiering;


    Magic, ether and every other energy that can be used to cast spells all have tiers.


    So far, only Magic Tiers 1 to 8 have been used. If more are introduced then this auxiliary chapter would be updated.


    Each Spell cast using this tiering system would have a particr pattern.


    There would be a circle/ring which represents the flow of magic or the energy, a mark or crest in the centre representing the element of the magic and then there would be writing in some magic/ancient/runguage that describes the type of spell being invoked.


    This is something that almost every spell cast would have. If there is a difference in the magic system of that universe or, it would be stated.


    The more circles/rings a magic circle has, the higher the tier. So in a case where a phrase like:


    ''A three-ringed magic circle spread out...''


    -is written, then that means that the magic circle is a Tier 3 magic circle.


    Lastly, the realms in which it would be possible for one tofortably cast spells of the Tiers. While there may be exceptions to this, the norm is that one has to be in these realms or a range of realms to cast the corresponding Tier of spells.


    Tier 1 - Bronze Realms and above.


    Tier 2 - Gold - Master Realms and above.


    Tier 3 - Superior Stage Masters - Grandmaster Realms and above


    Tier 4 - Epic Realms and above


    Tier 5 - Legendary Realms and above


    Tier 6 - Transcendent - Demigod Realms and above


    Tier 7 - Peak Superior Stage Demigod - Mid-Tier Deity Realms and above


    Tier 8 - Superior stage Mid-Tier Deity - Monarch Realms.


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    True Name;


    The true name of any being is the closest thing to their soul, touching their true name means touching their soul.


    This was why most beings carefully protect their true names from being fully known. At most, their parents would know their true name, as they are usually the ones to give it. However, this was only while they were a lower existence.


    In other words, when a being reached the demigod realm, their true name changes and the new true name is known by that being alone and no one else.


    It is possible to control a being in many ways from their thoughts to their actions if one possesses the true name of their target. It is also possible to make the personmit suicide.


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    True Voice;


    When a being reaches the deity realm, their voices be imbued with power and authority ''passively''.


    Though one may hear it with their ears, it would also feel as if the deity realm existence is speaking directly to one''s soul.


    The true voice of a deity realm existence was enough to copse the minds of most mortal existences.


    Due to the difference of power between them, their souls may be damaged or destroyed the moment they hear the deity realm existence''s true words.


    This is why the majority of the time, Deity realm existences ''Switch Off'' their true voice unless when they are ''conversing'' with other deity realm existences.


    This is done by simply stopping the authority from being imbued in their words.


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    Boundary Feild


    A boundary field was a technique that involved knitting awork of energy and spreading it on a base area, such as a piece ofnd, a building etc. to create a mystic boundary line that separates the inside from the outside. More powerful boundary fields can also be spread acrossrger distances and even in space too.

 Character Designs

    <h4>Chapter -1: Character Designs</h4>


    Hey y''all, it''s your friendly neighbourhood author, _michael here. ????


    So, with the rapid advancement in AI art these days, it''s weirder I hadn''t done this earlier.


    But anyway, here are some Character Designs for the book''s characters, generated in a way that closely matches the images I have in mind for them.


    First off, our boy Arthur Vaughn. ??


    La Eryrth


    Nicole Harper


    Edward Castillo


    Esna Wood


    Cattleya Vaughn


    Creusery Vaughn


    That''s all for now; I''ll be updating this chapter when more designs are avable.


    Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to you continuing on our Godyer''s Legend.


    This has been _michael.


    Over and Out!???

 Chapter 1: Prologue (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 1: Prologue (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    The void of space was as dark and as silent as always, until there was a sudden bright sh of light, followed by a silent explosion that released shockwaves strong enough to send a fews out of orbit.


    From the center of this explosion, five figures fell out powerlessly, crashing down on a nearby half-destroyed.


    The force from their fall, increased the damage it suffered, breaking off more of the already broken.


    As for the states of the figures who fell, they were not any better than that of the they fell on. When the dust and smoke cleared up, the five beings that fell could be seen more clearly. They were all beaten, battered, and bruised with multiple injuries that would require years to recover from.


    If one was to look around them, it could be seen that the broken they were on was one of the few within sight as every other or star that might have existed in the area alongside its inhabitants, had already been long turned into space dust.


    The dying star that once lit up this star system brightly was the closest source of light in the area, looking further, there were a few more stars ands that were lucky to not be hit by the earlier explosion, and the shockwaves released.


    A few moments after the fall of these five beings, they seemed to have regained consciousness and struggled to get up to their feet, despite their horrible states. The lighter injuries on their bodies, had miraculously begun recovering at a visible rate, however, the more serious ones, showed no signs of doing the same.


    In fact, they seemed to be getting even worse as the amount of blood that seeped through them, was gradually increasing to the point that it became a wonder why they weren''t passing out due to anemia.


    The five finally managed to get up to their feet, fully revealing their faces as they cleaned off the dust, dirt, and dried blood from their faces.


    They then all made various gestures, summoning their unique weapons which they proceeded to grip tightly.


    |Godyer!!!|


    One of the five beings bellowed out with rage, his voice being loud enough to be heard across the broken, as storm clouds appeared and lightning dropped from the skies to the ground. The small glow on his weapon, intensified as if responding to its master''s rage.


    |No need to shout so loud, I can hear you just fine.|


    A voice replied to him as a sixth figure descended from the skies, amidst the rain of lightning, andnded on the ground, just like the other five had done earlier.


    The difference, however, was that this sixth being was descending of his own free will and wasn''t even the slightest bit injured, even after going through the rain of lightning.


    In fact, this sixth being was the culprit and the reason for the injures of the other five. He yawned as he looked down on them with a condescending gaze beforementing.


    |Still, this is quite the pitiful state for the great universal masters to be in, I wonder how your subordinates, followers, and believers would react if they were to witness this.|


    And just like so, his words revealed the shocking identities of these five injured beings.


    Universal Masters!


    The five injured beings were ones who ruled entire universes, the kings of their respective pantheons. They were gods worshipped by quintillions of beings, known for their great power influence that the very mention of their names would cause most enemies to flee with their tails tucked firmly between their legs.


    The first of these five beings, was the King of the Tuatha D¨¦ Danann, a group of gods that ruled the universe known as Erin. He was a man fair and tall, with a great head of curly yellow hair. He wore a red-gold battle armor reaching to his knees with a torn green mantle wrapped around him and a cracked brooch of white silver in the mantle over his chest.


    Held firmly in his right hand, was a white sword, shining with enough light to blind the eyes of any normal person who dared to look at it, his famed sword; imhb Sis.


    This man, was the Sun god and god of light, Lugh.


    Beside Lugh, was the Monarch of the Romersk Universe. He donned a segmented cuirass armor, consisting of metal strips fashioned into circr bands, fastened to internal leather straps. In his hand was a long spear, its length was twice the height of an average man, and it had a jagged tip that spat out lightning asionally.


    The god of the sky and thunder, Jupiter.


    Next was the Chief of the Divines who ruled the Universe, Oblivion. A man with slightly pointed ears and white skin, donning a bronze battle armor that covered most of his body. He gripped in his hands, a dark gold bow named Auri-El. It had a thin string that did not seem capable of being used to pull any arrows, however, the mysterious aura the bow gave off would make one think otherwise.


    The injuries on his body were slowly being erased, owing to his nature as a god of Time. His name, Alkosh.


    The fourth was the leader of the Aesir god tribe and the Master of Asgard. A tall old man with a flowing beard and only one eye, the other, covered by an eyepatch. Held in his hands with its tip pointing towards the sixth being who just descended, was a spear that looked like it was made of wood. A golden jewel resembling a closed eye rested just below the head of the spear, making one wonder what would happen if it were to ever open.


    A god of war and victory, Odin.


    Last was the King of the Olympians and the master of Olympus. With long withe hair that had blue highlights, and simrly colored eyes, he wore a sky blue colored armor with a semi-torn cape attached to it. His right hand gripped his legendary lightning bolt, Astrape.


    He was one of the most famous gods of all time, Zeus.


    As he stared at the pitiful states these five great beings were in, the one referred to as the ''Godyer'' spoke with an exasperated tone.


    |You brought this upon yourselves, didn''t you?


    I would not have had any problems with you if you all had simply let me live in peace. My father is one of you after all.


    However, you were the ones who aimed for my life first in the name of your so-called ''Justice''.


    Did you really expect to take me out so easily, furthermore, did you really expect that I would not retaliate?|


    Jupiter''s expression contorted upon hearing the ''Godyer''s'' words while gritting his teeth, he replied.


    | You are a being prophesied to bring destruction wherever you go, even if we did not attack you first others surely would have.|


    |The scenery around us is a good example, almost everything has already been turned to dust, and this entire gxy is now nothing more than an empty husk.| added Alkosh.


    | Don''t speak as if you all did not have a hand in bringing this poor unknown gxy to its untimely end.


    Besides, the only reason I started all this destruction you speak of is simply because you gods kepting after me, time and time again. In the process of trying to prevent your stupid prophecy, you only hastened its fulfillment, fools!|


    The Godyer shot back in rage, he then took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing.


    |I am getting bored of this, you should have bought enough time for your lighter injuries to recover by now, right?


    I am getting serious now.|


    Right after he spoke, the aura he emitted changed rapidly. He briefly closed his eyes and a multicolored light covered his body for a short moment. When it finally died down, his appearance had changed.


    He now donned a ck knights/military uniform with gold highlights. A ck cape rested on his shoulders, flowing in the space between the five pairs of wings that sprouted from his back.


    The gold highlights of his silver hair lit up with a dim glow, alongside the rune symbol on the side of his face.


    Stretching his hand forward, he called forth his own weapon.


    |Come forth, C??????????????e??????l????????????????e????????????????????????s???????????????t??????????i????????????????????a????????????????????l??????????????????? ???????????????????D??????a????????????????r???????????????????k???????n?????????????????e??????????????????????????????s?????s???????|


    As soon as he said that, there was sudden darkness. The lights of the few remaining stars suddenly went out like a candle that had been blown by the wind.


    The figures of the universal masters who were about to charge in towards him in an attempt to disrupt his summoning stopped in their tracks as they tried toprehend the true cause of the sudden darkness.


    This darkness spread out to the ends of the universe before beginning to recede and converging at a single point right in front of the godyer.


    It then turned into a translucent jet ck sword with gold lines running through it like veins and various runguages on it.


    The sword floated silently in the air, emitting an aura that made the universal masters looking at it question if such a weapon was even allowed to exist.


    Grabbing this sword, the ''Godyer'' then pointed it towards the universal masters who had slightly begun to regret their previous actions.


    |En garde.|


    Those were his only words as he blitzed towards the beings in front of him at the speed of light.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Many of you reading this are prow baby wondering ''how?''


    How this being known as the ''Godyer'' was able to reduce such powerful gods to their current physical states and make them feel the fear of death.


    For that, we would have to go down memoryne, back to a thousand years ago, to the time period a certain prophecy was given.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    {Hey guys!


    Your friendly neighborhood author, _michael here.


    Just wanna thank you for picking up my novel.


    I am new to writing an all so I hope you would cut me some ck if you do not find the story to be as top-notch as the others out there are.


    I also ask that you do not drop this after the first chapter and give it a try...


    Who knows?


    It might just be your next best novel....


    Thanks in advance for continuing on our Godyer''s Legend!}

 Chapter 2: A Thousand Years Ago... (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 2: A Thousand Years Ago... (NEW)</h4>


    The figures of two people could be seen running through a forest, the speed at which they moved was too fast to be seen with the naked eye.


    They jumped from tree to tree, asionallynding on the ground before jumping back up to the trees.


    The first of these two figures, was a girl of average height and a slim build. She had fair skin and long ck hair that spilled over her shoulders down to her waist.


    She had almond-shaped green eyes and spruce eyebrows that made her seem expressionless.


    **BOOM!


    Hearing that loud noise, she looked behind her and saw a few trees that she had passed, falling down to the ground like dominos.


    She followed the direction in which the trees were falling with her eyes, clicking her tongue audibly upon seeing the speed of the trees'' fall, was increasing.


    "Arthur, Basilisk on your 3 o''clock!"


    She spoke to the second person her right, who was moving through the trees with a speed no less than hers.


    The second person, the one she called Arthur, was a boy who had short hair that looked like a mix between silver and tinum blonde. His facial features were highly handsome and he had deep dark obsidian eyes.


    His pupils were not shaped circrly like normal, but instead, they were a vertical rectangr shape.(or Vertical Slit)


    "I know La, we have to lead it to an open space, fighting it here would be the height of stupidity."


    Arthur replied to the girl on his left, La, before speeding up his movements.


    La nodded and did the same, running through the trees faster as the duo moved to escape the Basilisk that was hot on their heels.


    **HISSSS!


    The moment he heard a hissing sound, Arthur put more strength into his legs and jumped off the tree he happened to be on, even breaking the sturdy branch in the process.


    The next moment a green blobnded on where he was, and within a few seconds, the entire tree had melted to the ground.


    "I really don''t want to get hit by that..."


    "Less talking, more moving, we''re almost at the clearing."


    La reprimanded him and urged him to move faster as the duo had almost reached an area where they could take on the basilisk without obstructions.


    Arthur nodded and kept on moving, dodging the asional acid greed blob that came after him.


    ''Gotta conserve energy.''


    It did not take long for the duo to emerge from the sea of trees, into the open space that was devoid of any trees.


    Landing on the ground the two prepared to battle the basilisk that was very close to reaching them.


    La flicked her fingers and a sword bay appeared in her arms, she loaded a few bullets in it before looking at the two pairs of holsters on her thighs.


    Confirming that her guns were there, she looked up to the forest in front of her, counting down the seconds till the basilisk appeared.


    Arthur held out his right hand, a secondter, there was a sh of light as a semi-transparent de appeared in his hand.


    Gripping it tightly he red at the forest, waiting for the basilisk toe out.


    A few secondster, a giant snake-like creature emerged from the forest, melting all the trees in its wake.


    At times, basilisks were lizard-like, and they were sometimes snake-like too.


    This one was more like a snake than a lizard, it possessed no legs, and its tongue darted in and out. It was sorge that a fully grown anaconda looked small inparison.


    It was both hideous and intimidating enough to make weak-minded people piss themselves.


    However, the duo was far from weak-minded. They both looked at other parts of the basilisk''s body, taking care not to look at its head.


    "La, what do we know about it?"


    "It''s a child so it won''t be that strong but it also won''t be weak either."


    "Its physical strength is high as it could easily tten hundreds of trees."


    "Basilisks all have high magic resistance, young or old. Our best bet is aura based attacks."


    "Its speed is also something of note."


    "It has quite the deadly poison too, and it''s attacking us because a certain silver-haired idiot saw fit to poke it in the eye while it was sleeping."


    "It was 50% idental you know? Still isn''t there something you''re forgetting about?"


    The two turned to face each other and said simultaneously.


    ""Do not meet its eyes.""


    The basilisk that was about to attack them realized something and stopped.


    The two humanoid children that dared provoke it, were purposely not meeting its eyes.


    It was quite intelligent so it realized that they must know about its petrification ability that required eye contact.


    It instantly became on guard against them and started sizing them up while circling them slowly.


    Arthur who had been watching the basilisk''s movement turned to La to speak.


    "Is this-?"


    However, he was interrupted before he could finish. The Basilisk tried to gobble him up in a single bite.


    Arthur hurriedly threw himself out of the way.


    **BAM!


    The Basilisk''s mouth left a crater in the ground as if a bomb had just gone off.


    *HISS HISSSS!!


    It aimed for Arthur again, its tongue darting in and out. The Basilisk moved with both speed and precision!


    However, Arthur didn''t just sit there. He pointed his de at its open mouth.


    "Lightning!"


    **CRACKLE!


    The electric st went down the Basilisk''s throat, which caused it to tingle. However, it onlysted a short time. Shortly after, it darted its tongue in and out like nothing had happened!


    "Are you an idiot or something?


    First, you look away from it when it was right behind you, then you attack it with magic, less than a minute after I just told you it has high magic resistance.


    Did you not hear my words?"


    La spoke as she jumped up lightly in the air so as to not be affected by the shockwaves of the Basilisk''s attacks.


    "Less talking, more helping."


    Arthur replied as he casually dodged the Basilisk''s tail that came flying at him with barely perceptible speed.


    Clicking her tongue, La released the safety on her gun and fired at the basilisk rapidly.


    ***PAPAPAPAPAPA!!!!

 Chapter 3: Basilisk’s End (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 3: Basilisk¡¯s End (NEW)</h4>


    ***PAPAPAPAPAPA!!!!


    The basilisk slithered around to dodge the rapid-fire, in the process, it ended up moving backwards, creating distance between it and the duo.


    Arthur took advantage of this and jumped backwards to La''s position, looking at the gun in her hands, he sighed and spoke.


    "I really still can''t understand how you turned an assault rifle with a 50 round capacity into a bay that has a one-meter-long sword attached to it."


    "We''d talk about how awesome my gun ister, for now, we have to kill that thing."


    La replied with a straight face, but if one were to look closely, she was barely able to stop the corners of her lips from curling up into a smile.


    Arthur, who was right next to her, noticed this and chuckled lightly. Naturally, this earned him a re from La.


    **HISSSS!


    The basilisk, enraged that it was being ignored, charged towards the duo with glowing eyes.


    "Haahp!"


    Arthur, who''d realized this was not the time to joke around, swung his sword at the approaching Basilisk. Of course, he turned his gaze away from it so that he didn''t get petrified by it.


    ''Aura w.''


    As soon as he let lose the silver three-pronged aura, Arthur swung his sword again horizontally, releasing a golden-colored aura this time.


    ''Sword of Victory!''


    He couldn''t afford to fight the Basilisk without being serious as it was close to him in strength.


    Immediately after releasing the attacks, he took a few steps backwards with his free left hand behind his back as he watched the silver and golden auras strike the Basilisk one after another.


    ***BAM! BAM!!


    Multiple scales broke off from its body. Although its scales were tough, they weren''t unbreakable.


    However, although it took damage, it was not enough to deter it. The Basilisk kept moving forward and attempted to devour him with its mouth.


    Arthur rolled on the floor, evading its attack, and then swung downwards. However, its scales suddenly straightened, and shot right at him!


    "Arthur!"


    At the same time La''s shout rang out, three triangr scales pierced his body.


    **STAB! STAB!! STAB!!!


    However, instead of the expected blood, huge shards of light fell from his body.


    Seeing this La realized what happened and what Arthur nned to do, she took aim with her gun and fired rapidly, keeping the Basilisk upied as it tried to dodge her aura-filled bullets.


    Up in the air, the real Arthur shrugged his shoulders to reveal a pair of jet ck wings.


    Using the wings to keep himself afloat, he filled his sword with aura and swung it downwards.


    "Sword of Victory!"


    *SWISH!


    *BOOM!


    A massive st of golden aura struck the Basilisk. His de had certainly left behind a wound.


    **HISS!


    The Basilisk''s eyes narrowed sharply, and it spat ck liquid at him.


    "I don''t think I should get hit by that even if I can survive it."


    With those words, he retracted his wings and let gravity bring him back to the ground.


    The moment hended, he immediately kicked off the ground and moved towards the basilisk that was still facing upwards.


    "Body strengthening, Body strengthening again, and Kick to the face!"


    As he spoke, he used magic to strengthen his body multiple times andnded a kick to the Basilisk''s face, sending it flying backwards.


    "La! Follow up please!"


    "You don''t need to tell me."


    La took aim with her gun and fired again, this time the bullets moved faster than before, unlike the other bullets however, these were spinning as they moved.


    As the basilisk was still stunned from the kick, it could not dodge and ended up getting hit.


    The spinning bullets kept spinning and drilled through the Basilisk''s scales, tearing into the flesh underneath.


    Arthur walked up to La who was ring at him.


    "Next time tell me before you do something like that, I almost had a heart attack thinking that was the real you."


    "Sorry about that, the basilisk is quite smart, it might understand our words so I didn''t want it to know I was about to trick it."


    After Arthur attacked the basilisk with the golden and silver auras, he put a hand behind his back and activated a mirage artifact he had with him.


    When the scales of the basilisk shout out towards Arthur, he had already jumped up into the air and used the mirage artifact to leave behind an afterimage of himself, as such the basilisk attacked the after image thinking it was the real him.


    Arthur looked towards the basilisk and spoke to La with a questioning tone.


    "That''s not all right?"


    "Of course not."


    *SNAP


    Snapping her fingers, the basilisk that had barely managed to stand back up, began screaming out in pain.


    The bullets embedded into its body began spinning once again and then,


    **BOOM! BOOM!! BOOM!!!


    They began exploding.


    "Spinning bulletsced with explosives to drill through the scales and pierce its flesh, then with a snap of my fingers, they explode inside the monster''s body.


    I just recently developed these."


    La exined with a smug look on her face, seeing this, Arthur couldn''t help but chuckle at her expression filled with pride.


    "It didn''t finish it off though..."


    "Of course it didn''t, the basilisk is two stages above me, the bullets are also just prototypes, never expected to end it with that."


    As she spoke, the injured basilisk, whose wounds were healing slowly hissed and spat out green and ck liquids towards them.


    "Dodge now, talkter."


    The two then dodged in opposite directions, causing the basilisk to choose between the two.


    It turned its head towards Arthur, who it perceived as a greater threat and its eyes shed.


    **HISSSSSSSSS!!!!!


    "Did this thing just try to petrify me?!"


    Arthur who was running while looking at the Basilisk''s lower body, couldn''t help but question it after hearing that unusually loud hiss.


    As the basilisk realized that it couldn''t petrify Arthur, it slithered towards him faster than before.


    "Sorry in advance."


    Arthur spoke to his de as he threw it in the air.


    **SWISH


    The semi-transparent de spun fiercely in the air like a fan''s des, slicing through the flesh at the back of the Basilisk''s neck.


    **BAM


    Blood burst out of its body where it was injured and La didn''t hesitate to fire towards its injuries.


    **HISSS!


    The enraged basilisk spewed a green blob towards La''s location and turned to Arthur before spewing both green and ck liquids.


    Arthur gracefully dodged the attacks and stretched out his right hand.


    "Return!"


    With thatmand, his de flew back into his hand.


    He kicked off the ground and leapt into the air, as he did so, he swung his sword.


    ''Aura sh.''


    A silver aura poured out of his sword and left along the wound on the Basilisk''s body.


    **HISSS


    It hissed and its scales straightened and shot towards him again, this time, there were dozens of them.


    Arthurnded on the ground and created a doubleyered aura barrier to block some of the scales while deflecting the rest with his sword.


    La also did her share by shooting down any he missed.


    The basilisk saw La who was helping Arthur deflect its scale attack and dashed towards her in rage.


    Naturally, she didn''t just stand there and let it reach her. Raising her gun in the air, she poured her aura into it.


    To be more specific, she poured her aura into the one-meter-long sword that was attached to the top of the gun.


    "Dark sh!"


    A savage dark energy poured out of the sword and headed towards the basilisk, striking its body head-on.


    **KYYAAAA!


    The basilisk cried out in pain and still tried to ram into her with its body, unfortunately, it was met with a face full of bullets.


    **PAPAPAPAPAPA!!!!!


    She emptied out the magazine before dodging to the side, snapping her fingers, the bullets embedded into its body, all exploded.


    **BOOOM!!


    ***KYYAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!


    It screamed out loudly in pain due to the multiple small explosions happening in and on its body simultaneously.


    Riddled with holes, the basilisk fell to the floor.


    "The...End."

 Chapter 4: The duo clash (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 4: The duo sh (NEW)</h4>


    "The...End."


    With those words, Arthur jumped up from behind it and sliced its head clean off.


    Landing on the ground, he ced his sword on his shoulder and spoke.


    "That was quite the workout."


    "Yeah, I wanna take a shower now."


    La replied as she walked towards the corpse and stood a few feet from Arthur.


    She was about to speak again when she suddenly felt cold sweat.


    Turning to her left, she saw Arthur grinning mischievously and couldn''t help but click her tongue in anger.


    "Tsk...Not now Ar-!"


    Unfortunately, she could notplete her words as Arthur suddenly shed towards her.


    She backstepped and raised her gun to fire, only to remember she emptied out the magazine against the basilisk earlier and still hadn''t reloaded.


    Unfortunately, she did not have the time to do so as Arthur''s sword was already thundering down towards her head.


    She used the sword attached to her gun to block his strike, before sending a kick to his side.


    He blocked the kick with his hands and moved to grab her legs, but the few moments it took him to do so were all she needed to pull out the pistol from the holsters on her thighs.


    **BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!


    She fired three shots at point-nk range, causing Arthur to have no time to dodge.


    He hurriedly conjured up a singleyered aura barrier to block the bullets and jumped backwards immediately.


    The barrier, shattered after a few seconds, nevertheless, he had already dodged to the side by then.


    However, La was not going to let him catch his breath. She fired more shots, emptying the magazine and discarding the gun before pulling out another from its holster.


    Arthur rolled on the ground to dodge but even so, he couldn''t dodge them all, a bullet grazed his shoulder and another hit his forearm.


    "Argh!"


    He threw his sword towards La and used his now free hand to pull out the bullet from his forearm, gritting his teeth to bear the pain.


    La, who suddenly had a sword thrown at her, had no choice but to dodge so as not to get hit.


    "Return!"


    The moment she heard that word, she ducked instantly as the sword that Arthur threw, returned to him.


    Naturally, her head was in its path as such she had to duck in order to not have a sword sticking out of it.


    "Are you trying to kill me?!"


    "Worry not, Lute is around, he''d heal you before you can die."


    "A sword to the head would kill me instantly you know?!"


    La retorted loudly as she kicked off the ground and dashed towards Arthur whose left hand was out ofmission at the moment.


    She detached the de from the rifle and discarded the rifle. Gripping the de tightly, she shed towards Arthur.


    Grabbing the returning de with his right hand, he shed with La as the two began exchanging sword strikes, with the asional gunshot to the head from La.


    "Now you''re trying to kill me!!"


    "You were the one who started this!!"


    The two screamed at each other as Arthur forcefully used his still-injured left arm to grab La''s gun and pull it from her grip.


    "Have it, the magazine was empty anyway."


    La spoke as she sent a kick towards Arthur, one he had to block with his injured arm after dropping the gun he grabbed.


    "Tsk... just what did you put in that bullet, it''s dying my healing."


    He remarked as he took a few steps back and looked at his arm which still had a bullet hole in it.


    [Sorry to interrupt, but I just wanted to inform your highness and Lady La that I am unable to heal you if you''re already dead.]


    Arthur who was about to dash towards La stopped in his tracks and asked back to the voice that suddenly spoke.


    "Don''t you have an authority over life?"


    "I do, however, it is not highly ranked enough to perform aplete resurrection."


    "I see."


    La was looking around for the source of the voice when she heard Arthur''s next very ominous words.


    "Then I''d just not aim for the head or the heart, she won''t die instantly then.


    Oh...my arm''s all healed up.


    Time for round two then."


    She turned to Arthur and saw him dashing towards her with a smile on his face.


    "Tsk..."


    She clicked her tongue and pulled out her third gun and fired towards him.


    Arthur''s left eye, shed blue for a moment as he moved his sword....to rebound her bullets!


    "How the fuck do you keep doing that?!"


    La screamed out loud as she dodged to the side hurriedly. She knew better than anyone, what the effect of the bullets she just fired was as such she did not dare risk getting hit.


    Arthur changed his direction and moved towards La who was still trying to regain her footing.


    She saw him closing in on her from her peripheral vision and she threw her sword towards him to slow him down.


    He was already very close as such, he was barely able to dodge the sword that was suddenly thrown at him.


    La raised her gun to fire but Arthur wasn''t going to let her, even in his unbnced state, He was able to create a small orb of pure non-attributed magic, one that knocked her gun out of her hand, into the air.


    She was stunned, but only for a moment, the next, she delivered a whip-like high kick to his right hand, causing his sword to fly out of his hand into the air.


    With both of them disarmed, they wasted no time in switching to bare-handedbat.


    ''Lightning punch.''


    Seven strikes with the speed of a lightning bolt moved towards La''s body.


    She instantaneously moved out of the range of his fists as even just one of those strikes would be dangerous in her current state.


    Arthur was quite surprised as he didn''t expect not even one of his punches to connect.


    Without a moment''s dy, La rushed forward again, this time she unleashed a series of punches.


    Although they weren''t at fast as Arthur''s lightning punches, they were still deadly nheless.


    **KAAABBBOOOMM!!!!


    Arthur responded to La''s punches with punches of his own. The collision of their fists raised a thunderous roar that shook the air.


    Shockwaves spread out every time their fists collided and the earth under their feet cracked and shattered.

 Chapter 5: Half-god Assassins (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 5: Half-god Assassins (NEW)</h4>


    **KAAABBBOOOMM!!!!


    Arthur responded to La''s punches with punches of his own. The collision of their fists raised a thunderous roar that shook the air.


    Shockwaves spread out every time their fists collided and the earth under their feet cracked and shattered.


    The two then noticed something and rose their hands into the air simultaneously.


    From the moment Arthur released his lightning punches till the moment they both simultaneously reached into the air, not a minute had passed.


    Their exchange of blows urred within the few moments when their weapons were up in the air.


    This showed just how fast they were.


    Arthur grabbed his semi-transparent de and La grabbed her gun, wasting no time, they both aimed their weapons at each other.


    Arthur''s sword on La''s neck.


    La''s gun on Arthur''s forehead.


    "I win."


    "No...I win."


    As La responded to Arthur''s words, her green eyes glowed as magic power zed within them.


    Seeing this, Arthur couldn''t help but audibly click his tongue.


    "Tsk...Paralyzing magic eyes.


    You know I can break out of those right?"


    "Sure you can but the time it would take you to break out is enough for me to pull my trigger at least once.


    Your body''s movements or my gun''s bullets, do you really want to see who''s faster?"


    The two stared at each other in silence for a few moments before Arthur finally broke the silence as he sighed and spoke.


    "Fine, you win."


    He dropped his sword on the ground after saying that.


    Seeing his admission of defeat, La smiled and release her grip on her gun, allowing it to fall to the ground.


    She heaved a sigh of relief as she dropped downwards and sat on the ground.


    Arthur also did the same, however, heid down and rested his head on herps.


    Seeing this, she just shook her head as she was too exhausted to even bother telling him to get off.


    "That was my third win."


    "I still have seven more wins though."


    Arthur replied to La''s words with a smug look on his face, earning himself a cold re from her.


    Feeling her re, he was about to reciprocate before noticing something, thus, he burst intoughter.


    "Huh? What''s wrong?"


    Seeing Arthur suddenly startughing, La couldn''t help but ask why.


    "Well, I wanted to see the look on your face but more than half my vision was covered by your, *cough* assets *cough*."


    Hearing his words, she was initially confused but upon seeing where his gaze was directed at, she realized what he meant.


    Her face turned red as she grabbed his neck and began choking him.


    "Maybe I should just end you now.


    It would save the gods a lot of time and energy."


    "Whose side are you on?!"


    "Definitely not on the side of the sexual harassing prophesied child of destruction."


    La replied to Arthur''s question while tightening her grip on his neck.


    Arthur pulled her hands off his neck and sighed before speaking.


    "No matter how you look at it La, those things are big, I was just stating the obvious fa-OW! OW!- I''m sorry!!"


    She grabbed his neck and began choking him more than before, even going as far as to use strengthening magic on her hands.


    "T-t-tap ou-ut!"


    Arthur barely managed to get his words through before La released her grip, however she kept her hands close to his neck just in case he threw out any sexually harassing remarks again.


    Arthur, who was free from La''s choke hold, rubbed his neck while speaking.


    "The auction is in a month, I just wanted to get in shape for the fights that would ensue after."


    "Isn''t that auction suspicious as f*ck, just don''t-."


    La didn''tplete her words as she noticed a change in Arthur''s expression.


    "What''s wrong?"


    He shook his head and stood up, stretching his arms before turning to her.


    "Pass me your gun, thest one that still had a full mag."


    La wordlessly passed him the gun with a questioning look on her face, he ignored it and checked the magazine of the pistol, confirming that it still had all its bullets, he tapped his foot on the ground.


    *HUMM


    With a low humming sound, a wave of silver energy spread out from underneath his feet.


    "Argh!"


    "Huh?"


    "grr!"


    La turned her head backwards as she heard grunts of pain and surprised voicesing from the forest behind them.


    **BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!


    Arthur fired towards the direction where the sounds came from.


    "Gahh!"


    "Ugh!"


    "Kuk!"


    "Arghh!"


    "Gehok!"


    This time, there were five grunts of paining from the forest. To be more specific, behind some broken trees that were at the edge of the forest.


    Arthur calmly walked over to the direction where the sounds came from with La trailing behind.


    He reached the fallen trees that were destroyed by the basilisk and kicked them away.


    The force of his kicks shattered the wood and caused splinters to fly everywhere, he ignored all this and kept on destroying the already broken trees, asionally lifting a few smaller ones, until he reached the source of the earlier grunts of pain.


    Five men were on the floor, two were dead, and the other three were injured.


    The two dead men had one bullet hole in the head and chest respectively.


    The other three were lucky to survive and had lesser vital areas injured, however, for some reason, they could not move.


    Seeing them, La realized what they were and understood the reason for Arthur''s sudden change of mood.


    ''Half-gods, huh? No wonder he''s pissed.''


    Arthur stared at them coldly before raising the pistol in his hands and firing at their heads.


    **BANG! BANG!


    With two shots, two of the three dropped dead. As for the third, he red at Arthur intensely.


    If looks could kill, then the re he was giving Arthur would have bored a hole through his head by now.


    "Fools like you piss me off the most."


    He dragged thest one by his leg and pulled him to the middle of the clearing.


    From his hand, the silver energy that gave La goosebumps poured out and wrapped around the man''s leg.


    "AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    He screamed out loud like his leg was on fire, even so, Arthur wordlessly dragged him to the middle of the clearing.


    "Come."


    Arthur stretched out his hand and spoke, his sword flew into his hands. Grabbing it, he poured that same ominous silver energy into it and stabbed the man''s stomach.


    "Gugh!"

 Chapter 6: The Story Begins (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 6: The Story Begins?(NEW)</h4>


    "Come."


    Arthur stretched out his hand and spoke, his sword flew into his hands. Grabbing it, he poured that same ominous silver energy into it and stabbed the man''s stomach.


    "Gugh!"


    The man coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    "I just want to live my life quietly."


    **Puk!


    "ARRRRGGGHHHH!!"


    Arthur spoke as he pulled out the sword and stabbed the man''s stomach again, causing him to scream once more.


    "I don''t want any business with the gods."


    **Puk!


    "AHHHHHHH!!"


    "Yet you bastards keeping to try and kill me!"


    *PUK!!!


    "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"


    The man''s loud scream resounded across the forest, causing monsters hiding within to shrink back as they felt fear towards whatever made him scream so loudly.


    **FLAP


    There was a loud pping sound and Arthur looked up to see a winged woman descending to the ground.


    She had five pairs of jet-ck wings and dull silver hair.


    She stared at the half-dead man in front of him and sighed before speaking.


    "Just put him out of his misery already."


    *BANG! BANG!


    Arthur wordlessly shot the man in the head twice, killing him instantly.


    Giving the gun back to La, he spoke to the silver-haired woman who just arrived.


    "If you were here mum, why didn''t you just kill them?"


    The silver-haired woman, Arthur''s mother, chuckled and replied.


    "It is part of your training."


    Arthur rolled his eyes at his mother''s words and looked at the corpse in front of him.


    He waved his hand and there was a bright sh of light, by the light finally died down, his sword had disappeared.


    He then allowed his body to fall back towards La who was standing behind him.


    "Huh? Ah!"


    La hurriedly caught him and was about to ask why he did that, but she was interrupted by a loud roar.


    **ROARRRRR!!!!


    The trio turned to where they heard the roare from and saw a basilisk, one that was farrger and obviously far stronger than the one Arthur and La fought.


    "Looks like it''s pissed we killed its kid."


    The giant basilisk wasrge enough to easily tower over the tall trees of the forest, it narrowed its eyes at Arthur and La and charged towards them with an angry look on its face.


    "You can read the facial expression of a basilisk?"


    "Nope, just saying."


    Arthur''s mother looked at the gigantic basilisk that was making its way across the sea of trees and rose a finger in the air.


    She flicked it and a bolt of deep red energy flew towards the Basilisk''s forehead.


    The speed was not even perceptible.


    Arthur and La couldn''t see it at all.


    The red bolt flew towards the Basilisk''s forehead and pierced it with ease, killing the creature instantly.


    A secondter, its entire body was engulfed in ck mes as it burned to ash instantly.


    The total time it took for all these to happen, was three seconds.


    To Arthur and La, it looked like Arthur''s mom just rose her hand and the basilisk disappeared in mes.


    "That thing was a transcendent."


    Arthur spoke up after a few seconds of silence.


    His mother dropped her hand and tilted her head to the side before asking.


    "So?"


    Arthur just sighed and decided to ignore the fact that his mother just ended a being that could tten an entire continent single-handedly with little effort.


    He motioned towards the corpse on the floor and asked a question.


    "Why do these half-god assassins keeping anyway?


    They''re so weak."


    She shrugged her shoulders and retracted her wings before replying.


    "I dunno, they''ve been trying for fourteen years with no sess, they should have given up by now.


    The gods are so damn persistent.


    Then again, if you didn''t go around beating half-step legendaries, I think they might have given up."


    Arthur chuckled before standing up properly, stretching his legs out, he asked his mother another question.


    "The prophecy, it came a few months before I was born right?


    After you and dad already did the ''deed''."


    His mother raised an eyebrow before flicking his forehead and replying.


    "Yes, what about it?"


    He held his forehead and gave his mother a look of indignation before speaking.


    "Heard there was quite themotion, what actually happened?


    I don''t exactly know the full story."


    Arthur''s mother walked up to the corpses behind the broken trees and picked them up before replying.


    "You were right about themotion.


    As for what happened, I don''t know it all but I can tell you most of it.


    Your dad told me what happened over on his end after all."


    A shadow suddenly covered the trio, but Arthur ignored it and spoke.


    "Tell me what happened."


    "Okay, but let''s go back first."


    Arthur''s mother replied as she gestured to the giant craft that was hovering in the sky.


    He nodded and spread out his wings and flew towards it.


    La sighed and did the same while Arthur''s mother just jumped up into the craft with ease.


    Landing on the open hangar door, she tossed the corpses she was carrying to the uniformed men who were standing with heads bowed.


    "Take them to forensics."


    ""Yes, your highness.""


    She then turned to Arthur who hadnded in the hangar and retracted his wings before speaking.


    "So the prophecy huh? It all started on that fateful day, fourteen years ago."


    She began telling him about the circumstances that surrounded his birth.


    The birth of the prophesied child of destruction


    The birth of the one who could potentially bring an end to the gods.

 Chapter 7: The day it all began (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 7: The day it all began (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Olympus.


    Over the years, this universe has been ruled by various beings, however, the most famous and most prominent rule could be said to be that of the current Olympian gods.


    Spearheaded by their current King, Zeus, the six eldest Olympians; Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus himself, rebelled against their father, the king of the Titans and his armies.


    Upon achieving victory, they took control of the entire universe and renamed it Olympus, from its previous name Orthys.


    Afterward, they spent the next few millennia solidifying their rule and making themselves known to the nearby universes, deterring all those who viewed Olympus as a target since it just went through the greatest civil war in all of its history.


    The ''Big Three'', the three most powerful gods of Olympus; Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus, shared thergest and most important aspects of Olympus amongst themselves to manage.


    With Hades taking the Underworld, Poseidon handling the seas, and Zeus taking control of the skies alongside the title of King.


    The remaining major aspects of Olympus were then split across the ''twelve Olympians'' over time. The main entities of the Olympus Pantheon, the ones who possessed the most authority and power among all the Olympian gods, while the rest were shared amongst the other numerous gods of the pantheon.


    Over tens of thousands of years, Olympus increased both its economic, political, and of course, Military strength, raising them from their past levels by leaps and bounds


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    It was just another normal sunny day in a certain city-state famous for its rxing hot springs across numerouss in one of central Olympus''rgest gxies.


    Suddenly, a streak of light shed across the clear blue sky, traveling at an unbelievably fast speed beforeing to a stop right above the courtyard of a certain building.


    The identity of this streak of light was revealed as it came to a stop, being a carriage pulled by multiple greater pegasi. The carriage door opened and a being proceeded to jump out of the carriage, down to the ground below, slowlynding before quickly walking into the building.


    His ming yellow hair could be seen floating behind him alongside the cape he wore due to the speed at which he moved down the hallway into an indoor open-air bath where another being wasnguidly resting at the edge.


    "Father, we need to call uncle, alongside the rest of the twelve. There is a serious matter at hand, one that requires the entire council''s attention."


    "Apollo, your presence here interrupts my rest. What could have possibly happened that would need the entire council''s attention?"


    The man resting at the edge of the bath, rose an eyebrow as he replied to the yellow-haired man, Apollo, the Olympian god of the sun, music, and poetry.


    As for the man Apollo referred to as ''father'', who else could it be but the Olympian sky and lightning god who also held the title of King, Zeus.


    "Well the ''thing'', or rather, ''things'', that require the entire council''s attention are two in number.


    Prophecies father, two very dangerous prophecies."


    Apollo answered Zeus'' question, the gravity of the matter being conveyed by the serious tone of his voice. Apollo was also a god of oracles, known to be able to receive oracles and prophecies of the future.


    If there is one thing to be known about his prophecies, it is the fact that they are always fulfilled.


    However, in the over one hundred thousand years Apollo had walked the earth, he had never received two prophecies at once, what''s more, they were prophecies he considered ''dangerous''.


    Zeus could instantly understand the reason for Apollo''s agitation, he stood up from the bath and snapped his fingers. Divinity swirled around him for a moment, the next, he was clothed in this favorite white suit with a blue tie.


    "Very well then, I understand the seriousness of the matter."


    Zeus replied to Apollo before looking at his shadow cast on the ground and continuing.


    "Shadow nymphs, send word to the rest of the council, everyone''s attention is needed. Inform them, that it is a matter of the highest threat level."


    The moment he was done speaking, his shadow wriggled for a bit before splitting into several parts and speeding out of the building.


    "Let''s go then, I''ll join you in your carriage, it has been a long while since Ist rode it." Zeus said to Apollo as he walked out of the building with Apollo trailing behind him.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    As the father and son duo journeyed to the top of the highest mountain in all of Central Olympus, the mountain the universe was named after, the shadow nymphs that served Zeus set out to the territories of the various gods to deliver his message.


    Soon, word spread across all of Olympus that the gods had received two very dangerous prophecies, mortals who heard the news feared theing of what even the gods they worshipped considered ''dangerous.''


    As for the other gods of Olympus, they had a variety of reactions upon hearing the news, some were surprised, some were enraged while some felt it was funny.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The Antis SuperCluster.


    Thergest gxy supercluster in western Olympus, known for the sea blue color of almost all the gxies within it.


    On a certain primary world, one that had nondmass and was 100% water, there existed an underwater kingdom that spread across more than half the ocean floor.


    In the center of this Kingdom''s capital city, stood an imposing castle with towers high enough to let anyone standing atop them view the entirerge capital city.


    Currently atop one of these towers, was a man with sea-blue hair and eyes with a simrly colored short beard, emanating stupendous amounts of divinity.


    He heaved a sigh and gazed in the direction of Central Olympus. Next, his sea blue eyes glowed as his entire body became one with the ocean water and flowed away the moment after.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The Underworld SuperCluster.


    It was thergest gxy supercluster in all of southern Olympus, a unique supercluster that was closely intertwined with the Tartarus Supercluster. From afar, one would think the two were just one supercluster of gxies.


    A dark haired, obsidian-eyed man stood atop one of the many towers in the Underworld''s capital, overlooking a small section of the fields of asphodel.


    He clicked his tongue in annoyance before turning around to face the two women behind him.


    One of them was a beautiful young maiden with fair skin. Her face could only be described as the epitome of young beauty. She was d in long, flowing clothing with a wreath of flowers around her head.


    The second was as a pleasant-looking mature woman, with a veil over her head though her face remained visible. She was d in simr robes as the other, just that hers were brown in color.


    "Persephone, Demeter. I would have Charon send you over."


    The dark-haired man addressed the two women respectively as he spoke.


    "What about you?"


    The beautiful young maiden, the Olympian goddess of spring, Persephone, asked the dark-haired man as she looked towards him.


    "It''s probably a trivial matter he''s blowing out of proportion, one of my proxy''s would do."


    "I advise you not to do that, you know full well how irritating your brother can get when you do not listen to him, even if you are under no obligation to.


    The second woman, the Olympian goddess of the harvest, Demeter, rang out as she replied to the dark-haired man. Hearing her reply, he nodded in affirmation beforementing.


    "That is true, I do not wish to have any annoying flies buzzing around in my territory. An Avatar would do the trick."


    As soon as he spoke, his body floated into the air and he stared at the direction of the enormous River Styx in the distance before turning into a streak of light and blitzing towards it faster than Demeter could say anything else.


    It was then that a servant dressed in a maid''s uniform appeared behind them and spoke with a bow.


    "Madams, your transport is ready."


    Persephone acknowledged the servant''s words with a nod before taking her mother''s hand and speaking.


    "Do not mind him, mother, let''s go."


    She briefly nced at the direction her husband flew in and thought that he should be able to handle himself if anything went wrong.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Over the years, there have been many instances in which the twelve Olympians have all met to discuss important matters, however, there have only been a few instances in which they were meeting because of a matter of the highest threat level.


    There were very few things that could warrant such a level of threat, for example; a situation where the entire pantheon could be destroyed was one of them.


    The hall of gods was noisy as both lesser and greater Olympian gods were all chatting with each other about what could be the source of the threat.


    Suddenly, twelve lights appeared in front of the twelve giant thrones at the center of the hall, causing everywhere to turn silent.


    The twelve Olympians appeared and took their seats as silence prevailed for a few seconds. It was then that some began to notice the presence of a thirteenth throne. While many believed it was for Hestia, seeing her beside the central bonfire made them arrive at the truth and realize whom it was for.


    At that moment, darkness welled up from within the shadow of the throne. The mass of darkness wriggled a bit before taking a humanoid form, which then turned into the figure of a man with dark hair and obsidian eyes, wearing a casual t-shirt and jeans.


    Staring straight at this man, Zeus narrowed his eyes and spoke, his toneced with annoyance.


    "An avatar? Really Hades?"


    "It is enough to fulfill its purpose so yes Zeus, an Avatar."


    The dark-haired man, the king of the underworld, Hades replied with a tone no less annoyed than Zeus''. Most of the gods watching held their breaths as the tension began to increase, Zeus was visible getting angrier as his eyes began to glow a sky blue light and small bits of lightning crackled around his hair.


    Seeing as this was obviously not the time for a petty quarrel, Poseidon, the king of the Antis cluster and god of the seas, decided to meditate.


    "Both of you can have your little sibling spatter, we have more pressing issues at hand. This is the first time we have received two prophecies at once after all."


    Hearing his words, most of the beings in the hall were surprised as it was truly a shocking event for two prophecies to be given at once. Taking into ount the talk of the ''highest threat level'', they all figured out that the contents of the prophecies could not be any good.


    Even Hades who was ready to duke it out with Zeus turned to Poseidon with a look of shock on his face, instantly deciding that the prophecy was of greater importance and putting Zeus'' matter behind him.


    "Tell that to him."


    Zeus replied to earlier words, ncing at Hades who was tantly ignoring him before continuing.


    "A few days ago, it came to my notice that two prophecies have been delivered at once, while unprecedented, that is not the main issue.


    The true problem is that the contents of both prophecies are unfavorable."

 Chapter 8: Two Prophecies (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 8: Two Prophecies (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Hearing Zeus say that the contents of both prophecies were unfavorable, confirmed the suspicions of most of the gods in the hall.


    After all, despite the reveal of two prophecies at once being unprecedented, it was not much of a reason for the ''Highest Threat Level'' to be dered.


    However, if both of the prophecies were unfavorable, then it would be a cause for rm.


    These prophecies that were given out were said to be the will of the cosmos or the universal sea. It was believed that the prophesies sent to the various pantheons were its way of warning the inhabitants of these universes of iing events of great importance or danger.


    Although not all prophecies were warnings of danger, over 90% of the confirmed ones were.


    Zeus spoke on the matter for a bit before turning to Apollo, giving him the go-ahead to speak of the prophesies'' contents.


    "I believe we are not the only ones who have received this, hearing the contents would let you know why I say so. Other pantheons have most likely received it already and have probably started attempting either of two things.


    Preventing it froming to fruition, or making sure ites to fruition."


    Hearing that some pantheons would attempt to make sure the supposedly ''dangerous'' propheciese to pass caused a stir among the gods in the hall. Apollo ignored this as his eyes glowed green and he began to speak in his true voice.


    |On the day of ck sun, as the sky darkens,


    All gods of all worlds shall tremble with fear,


    For the one who can bring an end to them,


    Shall be born.|


    The second he finished speaking, there was an uproar in the hall. This was within expectations, the gods were a race of beings that ruled most of the known universes. A prophecy that spoke of a single being capable of bringing an end to them was too absurd.


    Over the billions of years that the gods have ruled, various uprisings, rebellions, and coups have urred to thwart their rule. However, the percentage of these attempts that seeded was very low, majority of them failed with the culprits suffering fates worse than death.


    Some of these attempts were nned by beings of great power and influence with armies numbering in millions, yet no prophecies were given to forewarn about these events.


    This was the first time that a prophecy rted to this was being given and yet it spoke of a single being.


    A single being capable of bringing an end to the numerous gods that govern numerous universes.


    Such a thing was simply...absurd.


    Some gods erupted with anger upon hearing this, some shook in fear, someughed as if it were a joke while some found it amusing.


    |Silence|


    One word from Zeus and all the voices died down instantly. The gods only needed a single look at his face to realize he was enraged, this was only natural, he was the proud Zeus who rebelled against his father, Kronos'' rule, eventually defeating him and bing the new Master of the Olympus Universe.


    Such an individual was being told that he could potentially die to a being who was not even born yet, it would be weirder if he was not enraged. Even so, he calmed himself and told Apollo to speak of the second prophecy.


    "This one is quite strange, it is less of a prophecy of the future and more of a telling of a past event."


    His eyes glowed once more, as he began to speak in his true voice, all the gods listened carefully, believing there may be clues providing greater insight to the first prophecy.


    |An uneventful spring night it was,


    Where the paths of two beings crossed.


    One a god, the other, an enemy of the gods.


    Their union shall bring forth a child of destruction,


    One who may cause his father''s end.|


    While Apollo was speaking, the goddess of wisdom, Athena, caught a look of surprise, then realization before acknowledgment on the face of one of the gods seated around her.


    She understood the look of surprise, as even she was surprised upon hearing Apollo''s words, however as for the expressions of ''realization'' and ''acknowledgement'', she failed to understand.


    The person looked as if they understood the prophecy''s meaning down to the identities of the two being whose paths supposedly crossed. She was beginning to have various ideas as to why they showed that reaction but Zeus'' voice brought her out of her sea of thoughts with a question.


    "What are your thoughts on this, Athena?"


    She was startled a bit but quickly rposed herself before answering.


    "I believe the second has given us almost all the clues we need to figure out where this being shall be born, and to whom he/she shall be born."


    Athena ced her hand on her forehead and thought for a few moments before continuing.


    "This ''child of destruction'' is most likely the one spoken of in the first prophecy. The father is most likely the god and the mother is the one who is an enemy of the gods, although we have many enemies, the mother is likely from a race that most of the god pantheons unanimously consider to be enemies.


    This narrows the options even more. For such a being to possess the kind of power the prophecy says they would, the child''s parents should not be of low status, power, or influence within their respective races or pantheons.


    The conclusion is, from the side of the father, we are looking for at least, a high-rank god; inferior stage high tier deity realm and above and the equivalent of that on the mother''s side."


    All the gods who heard her words pondered on it as many nodded in understanding. While most were lost in their thoughts, a sickenly sweet voice rang out in the silent hall instantly garnering the attention of everyone in the hall.


    "Then what races do you think they are from?"


    The one who spoke was the goddess of love and beauty, hailed as the most beautiful goddess in all of Olympus; Aphrodite.


    Every single being in the hall of gods, regardless of gender, turned their attention to her the moment she spoke. Even those who were lost in their thoughts pondering on Athena''s earlier words stopped to stare.


    Aphrodite, however, did not seem to care about all the attention on her as she was focused on Athena alone. On the other hand, Athena shot her a weird gaze before replying.


    "Titans, devils, giants, fallen angels, Gigantes, Formories.


    These are my suspects. Although we have many other enemies, these are the only ones I know of that would take the time to raise a child with such power, just to kill us."


    The races called by her, were all known enemies of the gods of various pantheons, ruling various universes.


    "I believe it''s the titans." A god said.


    "I think it''s the devils." another voice rang out.


    "Definitely not, which sane god would bed those cunning bastards?" one questioned.


    After that question, Athena inadvertently nced in the direction of her earlier target of observation and noticed his eyebrow twitch along with a trace of anger on his face.


    ''As I thought, he might know something.''


    "Maybe it''s the demons."


    "Could be the giants."


    "Nahh, they''re too big for that hahaha!"


    "Maybe it''s a race that''s hiding their power? Some races are fond of that these days."


    "Could be one of those that Lady Athena didn''t mention either."


    Multiple voices with different opinions rang out as the gods tried to figure out what race the mother of this prophesied child of destruction could be a member of.


    "How would we find the mother of this prophesied ''child of destruction''?


    One of the twelve Olympians spoke up, causing the chatter across the hall to cease immediately. This was Artemis, the goddess of the moon and hunt.


    "You do not seriously expect us to start scouting the territories of all our enemies for any being who is the equivalent of a high-ranked god and is also pregnant?


    That will waste so much time and resources."


    Artemis voiced out her opinion, seemingly put off by how stressful the search for the mother of the prophesied child sounded. Although she liked hunts, this was nothing but a wild goose chase to her.


    "We obviously won''t do that alone, would we?"


    The god of war, Ares spoke up in reply to Artemis. He pointed at Apollo before continuingnguidly.


    "The yellow head said something about others receiving the same prophesies, so let''s just ask for their co-operation."

 Chapter 9: Various powers make their moves (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 9: Various powers make their moves (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    "The yellow head said something about others receiving the same prophesies, so let''s just ask for their co-operation."


    "A surprisingly smart ideaing from you, Ares. Also, I have a name, it''s Apollo!"


    "Whatever you say yellow head."


    Ares replied to Apollo with a yawn, waving him off. Before Apollo could even think about retorting, Hera, the Queen of the gods, asked a question that had been on the minds of many.


    "We''ve talked about how to find the mother of this child, what about the father? What actions are to be taken regarding him?"


    Her question was met with nods of agreement, especially from the goddesses. Zeus coughed and replied as he felt Hera''s gaze boring into the side of his head.


    "The prophecy gave us no hints on his identity, as if it did not intend for us to find him, even the talk of him being a high-rank god is merely our assumption."


    "So you intend to do nothing?"


    Hera gave Zeus a skeptical look as she asked, Demeter and Persephone were also giving him simr looks, making him feel ufortable.


    "In the future when he''s found, maybe, but for now, there''s nothing we can do as we have no idea on his identity."


    Before Hera could speak up again, Zeus continued.


    "Ares'' suggestion would be taken up. Cooperation with other god pantheons is very necessary if we wish to find this being faster, we might even end up finding out who the father is in the process."


    Athena voiced out a question as soon as Zeus was done speaking.


    "The ''Day of ck Sun'' that was spoken about in the prophecy, I believe this is most likely talking about an eclipse. Isn''t that right Apollo?"


    "Yes, a few gxies with the same time flow have a partial eclipse scheduled in a few weeks however, I doubt that is what the prophecy is referring to.


    It doesn''t fit the description of ''ck Sun''."


    "The sun would still be ck, would it not?"


    "Yes, however only a part of it. Besides, I feel like this eclipse, if it is an eclipse, would not be natural."


    Upon hearing Apollo''s words, his twin sister, Artemis, gave him a look that one would give an idiot before scolding him.


    "Watch your words, Apollo, you are the god of Oracles, your words might juste true."


    Apollo tried to reply, however, Zeus cut him off instantly.


    "Save your sibling spat forter."


    Hearing this made Artemis roll her eyes as she felt the urge to ask Zeus about his earlier actions with Hades. Zeus however, ignored her and kept on speaking like he wasn''t the least bit guilty.


    "Hermes, contact as many of the nearby god pantheons as you can and find out what measures they wish to take in regards to the prophecy.


    If their goals align with ours, we would spare no help to help them."


    "No problem." Hermes, the messenger god, replied before disappearing from his seat.


    "This meeting is adjourned then."


    "Seeing as you''re done, there''s no reason for me to be here anymore."


    A soon as Zeus adjourned the meeting, Hades spoke through his avatar as it dissolved back into darkness.


    "Huh? Uncle, wait a-!"


    Athena attempted to speak to him, but he ignored her and retrieved his avatar. She clicked her tongue as she thought of how annoyed Hades would be if she were to go to the underworld herself to meet him.


    "Is there a problem, Athena?" Poseidon asked upon seeing her actions but she only shook her head in reply before teleporting out of the hall, most likely back to her home in Athens.


    The rest of the gods took that as a cue to return to their previous activities as they started leaving one by one through various means. Soon, only Apollo and Zeus were left behind.


    Zeus scanned the area and confirmed there was no one else besides Apollo within earshot before asking.


    "Is there anything else besides the prophesy I need to know?"


    "No, there I-"


    "Don''t lie to me boy, I can see your divinity has been halved, what''s more, you stink of causality."


    Apollo was cut off by Zeus who then revealed the reason he asked Apollo to stay back in the first ce. Hearing his words, Apollo let out a heartyugh before replying.


    "You are right. I have temporarily lost the ability to recover more than half my maximum divinity.


    My curiosity got the better of me and I ended up trying to take a peek into the prophesied ''child of destruction'' with my authority.


    Thew of causality did not take too kindly to that, not only did it prevent me from finding out anything note worthy about the child via thew of fate, I also suffered this repercussion of having my divinity halved.


    However..."


    "However?"


    "I did find a feature of the child''s mother, which is why I did not object to Athena''s assumption that the child''s father was a god.


    What I saw led me to believe she is either a demon, devil, or a fallen angel."


    Zeus ced a hand on his chin with a pensive look on his face as he pondered on Apollo''s words.


    "I doubt it''s the demons, those bastards hate half-bloods quite a lot.


    Exactly what did you see that made you suspect these three races?"


    Apollo frowned as he replied.


    "Jet ck wings, five pairs of them. The mother of this child of destruction has those, I''m 100% sure.


    When you narrow things down to that stage, there aren''t many candidates left."


    "Very well then, I''d tell this to Hermes. He would be able to use this in negotiations when asking for cooperation to find the prophesied child. The other masters would not let such a thing slide, they are probably already taking action as we speak.


    Zeus had a wry smile on his face as he thought about a few other god-kings who would have taken action already.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Just as Zeus had said, the masters and main entities of other god pantheons were currently giving out various orders in regards to the prophecy.


    At the Great Hall of Valha in Asgard, a one-eyed old man that looked no different from a random passerby on the street was currently giving out orders to a younger man wearing dull silver armor.


    "Hermod, cooperate with the messengers of the other pantheons in searching for the prophesied child''s birth parents. However, do not take hostile action."


    The old man tapped his other eye that was covered by an eyepatch before continuing.


    "Trying to kill the mother and child before the child''s birth would result in adverse effects, thew of causality seems to be protecting them after all."


    Receiving his orders, the messenger god of Asgard nodded in reply before promptly moving out of the hall, leaving the old man behind.


    As soon as Hermod was gone, the old man stood up from the ground and spoke.


    "The times are changing, I hope this prophesied child is not the one to bring about Ragnarok, I have my hands full dealing with those fiery bastards.


    The old man was none other than the Master of the Asgardian Pantheon and leader of the Aesir god tribe, Odin.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Meanwhile, in Musepelheim, the king of the ''fiery bastards'' Odin was speaking about, Fire Giant King Surtr, was currently contemting if the prophesied ''child of destruction'' was worth his attention.


    "Send personnel out to find out about this child''s mother. If those arrogant gods attempt to take any hostile action towards her, protect her.


    The child may be a potential ally for the future, we should get him on our good graces starting from now."


    After rying his orders to the fire giants kneeling before him, he rose from his throne and looked in the direction of the neighboring universe.


    "I need to meet with Harmarti, it seems the bnce might change soon."


    He let out augh as he erupted into a pir of mes, teleporting over to Jotunheim to speak with the Frost Giant''s warrior King.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Simr scenes could be seen ying out in other universes as their various masters ordered the search for the parents of this prophesied child. Some did so with Hostile intent, some with the intention to protect, while some remained neutral.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Aeturn.


    Dorcaster Star System.


    Burning Realms Gxy Cluster.


    A figure descended from the skies on a in the capital gxy cluster of a certain universe, into the courtyard of an archaic castle, imposing enough to strike fear into the hearts of the weak minded.


    Two men who were waiting in the courtyard lowered their heads in respect towards the descending figure. A soon as theynded, one of the two men spoke up.


    "Princess, his majesty requests your presence."


    Looking at the man who just spoke, the one referred to as ''princess'', shifted the silver strands of hair covering her face as she replied.


    "Mammon, raise your head. How long ago did he say this?"


    "A few hours ago, your highness."


    The princess ced a hand on her chin while wearing a pensive look on her face for a few moments, she then clicked her tongue before speaking.


    "Tsk...He''s most likely figured it out already. I really did not want him to know for now yet those fools made so much noise about my kid and now he has found out.


    Stupid prophesies."


    Upon hearing her words, Mammon''s eyebrow twitched slightly. Holding doubt in his heart, he asked the princess.


    "Your highness, you could not possibly be the one-"


    "Oh yes, I''m the one."


    The princess cut him off before he could even finish as if she already knew what his question would be.


    Ignoring the obvious looks of shock on the faces of the two men, the princess folded her five pairs of jet ck wings as she walked into the imposing castle while humming to herself.


    She was the daughter of the Master of the Hell universe and King of its Devildom, Devil Princess Cattleya Vaughn. She was known by the moniker of ''Arch Devil of Destruction'' and as she just confirmed to the two men she left in shock, she was the mother of the prophesied ''child of destruction''.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "Whoa mum, weren''t you a bit too casual about that?"


    Arthur asked as he took a bite from the fired turkey on his te, La nodded in affirmation as she poured a drink for herself.


    "What''s bad about that? They were gonna find out either way."


    "Yeah, but you could have told them in a way that would not leave them ck-jawed for minutes."


    Arthur replied to Cattleya who shrugged her shoulders.


    "Can''t change that now, so can I continue with my story now?"


    The duo nodded and Cattleya continued narrating the events that urred after she revealed the fact that she was the mother of the prophesied child of destruction to Mammon.

 Chapter 10: Of two paths, one is revealed. (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 10: Of two paths, one is revealed. (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Hell


    Like Olympus, this universe was one with a history dating back to eons ago. Unlike Olympus however, this universe had been ruled solely by the Devil race for millions of years even before it was discovered by the nearby universes.


    The universe had many famous gxy superclusters, like its ''Burning Realms'' and the ''Nine Thousand Circles''.


    The Hell universe adopted a Monarchy system for its pantheon, called the Devildom, which was ruled by the family of the Hell universe''s Master.


    The entities of the pantheons held titles of nobles with the main entities holding the titles of the highest-ranked nobles; Dukes and Grand Dukes.


    Currently, the King of the Devildom and Master of Hell universe was Cattleya''s father; Devil King Diablo Vaughn.


    His main residence was situated on Aeturn of the Dorcaster Star system, a three-stared star system located in the Burning Realms Gxy Supercluster.


    The Castle of the Hell Universe''s royal family was one that could be considered unnecessarilyrge. It had an archaic style with eight towers in the directions of each of the cardinal points.


    Each of these towers was upied by a member of the royal family. One for the king, two for the two possible queens, and the remaining five for the princes and princesses.


    The Devil King who built this castle was once asked what would happen in the event there were to be more than eight members of the royal family at a time but his reply was quite outrageous.


    "That means there''s someone who''s grown too old to live in his parents'' house so he''s gotta move out to make space for his younger ones!"


    At first, many believed it to be a joke, however after he had his sixth child, he chased the first out of the castle despite that child being the crown prince and first in line for the throne at the time.


    He also refused any suggestions to build arger and more amodating castle and forbade his descendants from building another main castle for the royal family, despite the fact that they could build thousands on Aeturn alone! Not to talk of others.


    Such was the unreasonable edict given by the royal family''s ancestor, nevertheless, even after millions of years, his descendants still abided by his words.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Cattleya giggled to herself as she remembered the story of her ridiculous ancestor while entering the castle.


    The moment she did, all the servants on duty stopped their actions and proceeded to line up before bowing.


    "Greetings, Your Highness!"


    They all said in unison. Seeing this, Cattleya pouted while replying.


    "Geez! Didn''t I tell you all to stop being so straightced?"


    "We do not dare be casual with the princess."


    A voice replied as a tall man with short grey hair stepped out from the midst of the servants. He had visible wrinkles on his hollow face, which made him seem gentle in appearance, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle''s. He wore a traditional butler uniform and looked graceful as he slowly stepped towards the still-pouting Cattleya.


    "Uncle Bel!"


    Cattleya''s pout turned into a wide smile upon seeing him. She jumped towards him intending to hug him, however, the man sidestepped to dodge her iing hug before catching her body midair with ease and cing her back on the ground.


    "You are not a child anymore princess, Also I do not think you should be jumping around considering your current condition.


    Lastly, my name is Belphegor, not ''Bel''."


    His words only elicited augh from Cattleya who opened up her arms and replied.


    "If you want me to call you that then Gimme a hug. Also, quit being a butler, I can''t fathom why a Deadly Sin Devil would decide to be the royal family''s butler, even if you are weirdly good at being one."


    "I have my reasons, princess."


    Cattleya sighed and put her arms down as she thought about the kinds of existences the holders of the seven deadly sins were. She then looked around to realize that the servants were still bowing towards her.


    Quickly dismissing them all, she turned back to Belphegor and asked what she originally intended to.


    "Where''s my dad?"


    "The West Tower''s fifth lounge."


    After Hearing his reply, she attempted to hug him unsessfully before making her way to the castle''s west tower that belonged to her brother, the current Crown Prince of the Devildom, Creusery Vaughn.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Upon arriving at the West tower, she went up to the fifth lounge and came across the scene of her father and brother engaging in a serious conversation; one which she saw best to interrupt.


    "Sup Bro! Sup Dad! Heard you called for me, I don''t recall doing anything wrong though."


    She ced a hand on her chin and wore a pensive look on her face as she spoke. While she intended to make jokes, her brother was of an opposing opinion. He went straight to the point and asked.


    "Don''t y dumb, Leya. You know exactly why father called you here. It''s about that child you''re carrying, that''s the one the gods have been buzzing about recently right?"


    Seeing as her brother was in no mood for jokes, she sighed and took a seat beside him before replying.


    "I wanted it to be a surprise you know? A S.U.R.P.R.I.S.E. The kind where the people who I want to tell do not know anything about it beforehand.


    That is why when you found out, I told you to keep it a secret. However, for some reason, you saw it best to tattle on about it."


    Just as the two were about to enter an argument, their father finally spoke.


    "Quiet both of you."


    Devil King Diablo, was a fairly tall handsome man with dull silver hair and dark eyes. He possessed an athletic and muscr build, the kind that would make him the target of affection for a great deal of women.


    He ran a hand through his hair as he turned to his daughter who still acted like a child most of the time when she clearly wasn''t and asked.


    "Since when have you been with child?"


    "Twas around spring I realized so ...three and a half, almost four months now."


    Seeing the questioning look on his face, she continued.


    "I hid it with magic, that''s why you never noticed. Added an extra spell to counter your frightening senses, spent about a week on creating that spell you know?


    Even still, I had to stay away from home for a while, as you would have eventually seen through it given time. Seriously, that life-sensing ability of yours is truly ridiculous."


    Hearing the words his daughter just spoke, Diablo could not help but sigh in exasperation.


    ''If the Leviathans hear she was able to create such a spell in just a week, they''d go crazy!''


    Diablo''s life-sensing ability which Cattleya spoke of, was a passive skill he had that let him sense the origin/soul of any being in his vicinity, making any known type of stealth or concealment magic and skills useless before him.


    As for the Leviathans, they were a tribe of devils hailed as the best when it came to utilizing all forms of magic. Their leader, Grand Duchess Inglis, also known as the Deadly Sin Devil of Envy and Cattleya''s mother, could be considered a prodigy among this tribe of prodigies.


    Yet even she was unable to create a type of concealment magic that could fool his senses, hearing that his daughter had used just a week to aplish what her mother failed to do in years made his head ache.


    "Who else knows about this? This is a matter that needs to be kept under wraps, you know? I can''t have any fools making attempts on your life."


    He asked her this while putting the matter of the concealment magic at the back of his mind. Devil king or not, he was still a father at the end and a doting one at that. He didn''t like a situation where his daughter''s life was being aimed at.


    Unfortunately, while the daughter in question understood her father''s worry, she simply chose not to care.


    "I just told Mammon and Araman outside, Belphegor seemed to have figured it out somehow and I couldn''t care less if the gods did, they can''t do a thing to me, for now at least."


    She casually delivered a reply that went against the very reason Diablo called for her in the first ce.


    "What the-! Cattleya! Why in Hell would you want them to find out?


    It''s not just a single pantheon after you, there are hundreds, thousands, and possibly even more. Even those long-eared bastards who like to live in trees and those short fools who keep iming neutrality."


    The way her father just casually dissed two of the greatest known universal powers made Cattleya unable to hold back herughter. However, the looks on her father''s and brother''s faces showed that they were in no mood for such.


    Clearing her throat, she decided to exin the reason for her confidence.


    "So um, about three weeks ago, my child''s father and I made a bet with arge idi-, I mean giant while ying at a casino in Verchester. The idiot lost and could not ept the result so he tried to ambush both of us after we left.


    However, before I could counterattack and end his pitiful existence, something shocking happened.


    Cattleya suddenly paused and looked at the two men''s expressions before continuing with a smile.


    "That''s all for today, I would see you all next time."


    She then tried to stand up from her seat but her brother quickly used his telekinesis and forced her back down before shouting.


    "Continue the damn story!"


    After taking a good two minutes tough at his reaction, she finally continued.


    "So, right before I could end him, the heavens decided to send some lightning down to do the job. However this is where things get tricky, idiot or not, he was a mid-tier deity, to be able to take him out in one hit, someone who is at least inferior stage high tier deity is required.


    I scanned the area to search for the culprit but I found nothing. That was weird as fuck so i decided to check out his corpse and guess what I found?"


    "What?!" Diablo could not help but ask impatiently. Cattleyaughed for a moment before suddenly turning serious.


    "Traces of causality.


    He was killed off by thew of causality. It made no sense, so my bestie and I spent the next few days trying to think of every possible scenario of why causality acted the moment he intended to take my life and we could note to a conclusion.


    When we took a break, I went off to a random secondary that was undergoing a world war, I then disguised myself as a military leader who just got assassinated. Lo and behold, the assassin came back to confirm if the person I just disguised myself as was dead, upon seeing me, he naturally tried to finish the job, only for the space right beside him to crack open.


    Chains of causality burst out and pulled him in. He was a mortal so there was no chance of survival. That was what made me realize thew of causality''s reason for action.


    I confirmed it by provoking a few other beings and thew of causality acted the moment they expressed their intention to kill me.


    Despite being an annoyingw that everyone hates, thew of causality has one function that many don''t really pay attention to.


    It makes sure every life fulfils the role they have been given by fate at a certain point in time. My current role at this point is most likely to give birth to this child that has the power to potentially end the gods, so thew is acting to make sure I fulfil that role.


    Since I can''t do so if I''m dead, it''s protecting me."


    As she finished speaking, she watched the looks on the two men''s faces go from confusion to shock and then to relief as they struggled to process what they just heard.


    "So you mean the gods cannot kill you because of thew of causality''s protection?"


    "Yep."


    Cattleya gave a short reply to Creusery''s question as she pulled out a drink from her subspace before continuing.


    "I reckon greater action would be taken against the gods, the child is directly rted to them after all."


    "This brings me to the second question that requires an answer. Who is the father? What pantheon is he from? What rank?"


    Diablo asked her as he tried to hold back his thoughts of killing the bastard who slept with his daughter. Creusery then suddenly had a look of remembrance on his face as he turned to her and asked.


    "Is it perhaps ''that guy''?! The one who''s always wearing a hood."


    "Yeah, not telling you who he really is though, at least for now."


    Although the duo was obviously not satisfied with her reply, they had to settle for that as they could see she had no intention of speaking of the man''s identity.


    "How did you meet him anyway? I only recall seeing him whenever I went to pick you up from Bracken."


    "How eh? Okay, I can tell you that."


    Cattleya replied to Creusery''s question as she recalled the series of events that led to her meeting the father of the child she was carrying.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "Oh, we''re finally getting to the part where you met dad."


    Arthur spoke as he ordered the chefs to bring in a second serving of food for both him and La.


    "Yeah, but that starts off like a thousand years ago."


    Cattleya replied as she watched La snatch the bottle of red wine from Arthur who was trying to pour some into his ss.


    "Tsk..."


    He only clicked his tongue as La put the wine in her inter-spatial ring and gestured towards Cattleya who carried on with her narration.

 Chapter 11: An Uneventful Spring Morning (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 11: An Uneventful Spring Morning (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    An uneventful spring morning it was, when Devil Princess, Cattleya Vaughn came to the sudden realization that she was bored, very bored.


    She discovered she hadpletely and absolutely nothing to do, at first she felt like she coulde up with something given time like always but after a few hours of sitting on her bed thinking, she realized once again that she could not think of any ideas or activities to cure her boredom.


    She then got off her bed and decided to take a stroll around the unnecessarilyrge royal castle, with hopes of finding something to catch her interest.


    Unfortunately, even after going around her eastern tower, to the south, and then the rest of the towers in the castle, she discovered nothing of interest.


    With great disappointment, she made her way back to her room only to encounter the Deadly sin Devil butler, Belphegor, waiting for her at the eastern tower''s main entrance.


    Proceeding to jump towards him with arms wide open for a hug like always, he sidestepped, caught her midair before cing her on the ground. This time, however, he acted a little differently. He had his eyes shut for some reason and she decided to find out.


    "Uncle Bel, why are your eyes closed?"


    Heaving an exasperated sigh, Belphegor replied with still closed eyes as he motioned for the maids standing by toe closer.


    "I received word of the princess walking around in an ...unbing appearance, also my name is Belphegor not Bel."


    Upon hearing his reply, she looked down on her body and realized she was still in her semi-transparent negligee with a loosely draped housecoat over it. Even if she did not possess any charm-rted abilities, Cattleya was a beautiful woman with a voluptuous figure, her appearance and natural charm were naturally top tier. It was only natural that the servants she encountered during her walk had a hard time knowing where to look, as what she wore was more than just a bit too revealing. Especially the male servants.


    Sheughed meaningfully and walked back to her room with the maids trailing behind her, they prepared a bath for her and assisted her with her dressing afterward. After getting dressed, she decided to have a meal despite not needing one.


    High-ranking Arch Devils were beings possessing self-sustenance, as such, they could survive for hundreds to thousands of years without food and have no issues whatsoever. During Cattleya''s unsurprisinglyvish meal, she thought about what to do to deal with her current boredom.


    ''Mom, you might have been wrong about this.''


    She sighed as she remembered the conversation she had with her mother more than eight thousand years ago when she first encountered a situation of absolute boredom.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "I have absolutely nothing to do, everything I try my hand at is boring, unbelievably boring."


    The teenage Cattleya whined like so as she waltzed into her mother''s office in the Leviathan Grand Duchy''s Main mansion. Her mother, the Grand Duchess, sighed as she put down the documents she was working on and began devising a way to appease her whining daughter.


    "Don''t worry dear it won''t always be like that."


    Although she said that, she could see from the skeptical look on her daughter''s face that she did not believe her at all. She gave a wry smile as she continued speaking.


    "Little Cattleya, the world is an unfair ce. The strong are the ones who prevail and the weak are trampled upon. For someone like you who is effectively the fifth-highest ranked person in the Devildom, you would have many enemies, both internal and external. You would have to be strong enough to resist any of the schemes these ''enemies'' may have against you.


    However, my dear child, strength is not something acquired immediately. A certain arrogant fool from Romersk once told me that ''Rome was not built in a single day''. Although I do not know where that is nor do I care, I understand what he meant. It is the same with strength, your father and I did not get to where we were in just a single day. It is a gradual process that takes time.


    This process will not be boring though, during your quest for strength, you would go through many things, encounter many people and learn new things that would definitely not bore you. Even if it may be shorter as you''re a genius but it will still take a while."


    However, the leviathan Grand Duchess could not be more wrong about the level of her daughter''s genius. Cattleya was not just any genius, she was the rare one in a million years kind of genius.


    In less than ten thousand years, she had be a high-ranking Archdevil in the high-tier deity realm with five pairs of wings and had more than 50% mastery over the Devilian Royal family''s bloodline ability. It should be noted that Diablo possessed just a bit above 80% mastery at the time.


    ording to many methods of ranking strength and influence, Cattleya was on the level of a high-ranked god. The strength that main entities of pantheons who have lived for hundreds of thousands of years would have, and she gained that all in less than ten thousand. If she was not a genius, then what was?


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Cattleyaughed to herself as she remembered her mother''s look of shock when she reached the high-tier deity realm. She dropped her cutlery and utilized a simple short distance space magic spell; blink, to move towards Belphegor''s location outside the room, in an attempt to surprise him.


    "Tch...Not even a slight reaction."


    It was after Belphegor heard her words that he realized she had intended to scare him, he sighed softly and replied.


    "I had already sensed your magic power so I could predict where you were to appear."


    "What''s with you pure blooded devils and weird sixth senses, I was sure I concealed my magic perfectly. Maybe I should work on a spell to fool you all and not just dad."


    Belphegor instantly realized her train of thoughts was heading towards a scenario where she used him as a test subject for a new spell and decided to cut it off before it reached there.


    "Princess, do you need me for anything?"


    "I was bored and don''t have anything to do, suggest a ce where I can cure my boredom, one that doesn''t require me to fight, that''s boring too."


    Luckily, his attempt worked as Cattleya ended up remembering the real reason she hade over to him in the first ce. Belphegor only shook his head slightly before pulling out a card from his subspace and giving it to her.


    "You can go over to this bar, it is in the neutral zone. There is a built-in casino so you would definitely find something to do over there. Do try their drinks first though, they are quite satisfactory."


    "Thanks, Uncle Bel."


    "You''re wee princess, please walk properly and my name is Belphegor not Bel."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The Neutral Zone.


    It was another name for a certain universe cluster. Just as gxies clustered together, the same applied to universes. Six universes clustered together all ruled by members of the dwarven race, came together to form an alliance, dering their cluster as a neutral zone and stating that there shall be no hostilities between any powers, major or minor, on their territory.


    At first, not many agreed to such a thing, however, the dwarves were a race known for their transcendent forging skills that allowed them to create a variety of top-tier weapons and artifacts. A lot of pantheons and their armies used weapons created by these dwarves so they used that to their advantage.


    They vowed to not create and sell any weapons to anyone who vited their territory;ws, causing most of those who opposed to grudgingly acknowledge their alliance territory as a neutral zone.


    This was also due to the fact that although some pantheons possessed cksmith gods or their equivalents, their skills don''t hold a candle to the best of the dwarven deities.


    Of course, threatening to cease all weapon transactions was obviously not enough to realize their goal of a neutral zone and the dwarves knew this. Therefore, they decided to improve their already great natural physical strength and mastery over thews of earth and fire, granting them the necessary strength to repel the attacks of potential conquerors andwbreakers.


    Cattleya moved over to the Drifter''s headquarters on the Aeturn as she recalled what she knew about the Neutral Zone. She decided to take their transport services instead of going alone.


    Casting teleportation magic to move over to another universe was not beyond Cattleya, but as she never really had much of a high affinity for space magic, she could not be said to be very proficient at it.


    Even so, crossing a distance of billions of light-years via spatial magic was going to leave her drained of almost all her energies and render her temporarily vulnerable, a situation she wanted to avoid.


    The Drifter race was one that possessed an iparable level of mastery over all forms of space attribute magic, skills, or techniques. Rumors going around suggested that every drifter was born with an innately highprehension of space attributews that allowed them to perform even the mostplex teleportation spells at very young ages.


    Further researchter revealed that the true reason for their frighteningly high mastery of space attribute magic, skills, and techniques was simply due to their racial trait.


    The same way humans instinctively learned how to use their limbs as they grew older was the same way the drifters instinctively learned how to manipte space.


    Taking advantage of this, the drifters began an inter-universal business of teleporting people and items to their destinations in exchange for money, precious stones, and other valuables.


    This quickly increased their influence across many universes and resulted in multiple masters forcing them to swear oaths that in the event of a war, they wouldn''t take any sides as the drifters taking sides would be strategically disastrous for their opponents.


    In return, the drifters asked for protection from attacks during such a situation as some might attack drifters to prevent the possibility of them siding their opponents.


    Naturally, forcing the quintillions of drifters that existed to swear such an oath was impossible so there were still those who worked behind the scenes in various wars and conflicts.


    The moment shended at their headquarters, the leader of all the hell Universe''s drifters, a ''high drifter'', Larry, came over to personally receive her and direct her to another high drifter who was less busy and arranged for her to be taken to the neutral zone.


    She gave him the coordinates for her destination after putting on a small disguise and the high drifter swiftly activated his spatial magic, allowing them to arrive in one of the six universes of the neutral zone, Bracken in a matter of minutes.


    Bracken was a universe ruled by a tribe of dwarves known as the Morass. Like other dwarves, their mastery over thews of fire and earth, even among the dwarves known for their wonderful liquor, they were the best of the best, at least in the neutral zone.


    The bar Belphegor referred her to was one of the fairly popr ones in the Morass tribe''s capital world, Verchester. It was a casino cum bar called Golden ss.


    As it was still daytime, the number of people in the bar was quite small despite itsrge size, with just a few customers on some tables and one at the counter out in the building''s balcony.


    The soundproofing was excellent, as such, the noise generated by the thousands of people from various races in the casino section of the bar could not be heard in the bar-only section.


    She took a seat next to the hooded customer on the balcony counter and ordered a drink before striking up a conversation in a manner most would consider rude.


    "Yo! Didn''t expect to meet someone who stinks of death here."


    "Never expected to meet a royal devil here either."


    The hooded man replied when he realized he was the one she was speaking to, causing her to give a light apuse at his urate deduction of her identity. It should be noted that Cattleya had used a disguise so her hair and eyes were currently brown.


    "Oh, since we''re guessing identities, Lemme try a bit.


    So you''re very obviously a god, the divinitying from your body stings a bit even if you try to hold it in. You should be one of your universe''s main entities, as for authorities; you should be a god of death so; soul, death, darkness andstly...you have the scent of a hell dog on you."


    The man chuckled lightly after hearing her words before taking a drink and replying.


    "You were correct for the most part but you got a few wrong."


    "Huh? Which ones?"


    "The aspect I''m in charge of, while I do hold some degree of control over death, it''s not exactly my domain per se. That belongs to my second inmand who is probably cursing at me for leaving my job for him and going off somewhere else. Maybe I should get him a souvenir."


    "What else?"


    "I''m also not one of my universe''s main entities even if I''m stronger than...almost all of them besides my younger brother. Not that I''d easily lose to him in a fight though."


    Hearing his words made Cattleya shake her head in disappointment as she eximed loudly.


    "So they made weaker gods the main entities and left the stronger one out? Fools!"


    "It was partly my fault, I''m not exactly the best at drawing lots. More so when it''s rigged for me to lose."


    "Who rigged it?"


    "My younger brother."


    He ordered another drink for both himself and Cattleya before continuing.


    "I still have a lot more things than he does, one of them is money. I am a god of wealth after all."


    "Whoa! So you''re like the richest in your pantheon?"


    "Yes."


    "Now I feel likeing over, I also wanna see that Hell dog too."


    Cattleya did not know what universe he was from as he had obscured everything about his appearance with magic and making a guess based on what she could notice was probably not going to give her the right answer. This made her excited at the prospect of going to an unknown universe, unfortunately, his next words poured cold water over her excitement.


    "As much as I''d like to wee you, I don''t really want my wife to suspect me of being a cheater, she gets quite suspicious in these kind of situations.


    She once turned a nymph I took a fancy to into a nt."


    "Must be tough being a married man huh? What are you doing here anyway?"


    She asked while ordering two more drinks as she internally agreed with Belphegor''s review on their drinks. Although it was quite weird this hooded god was willing to speak so much about himself despite the fact they just met, and the fact that she was a devil, a race at odds with gods, she simply assumed him to be an overly friendly person.


    "I was bored, I had a lot of things to do so I decided toe out for a drink."


    "You were bored cus you had a lot of things to do? How does that work?"


    "Being a god is work, a lot of work. Especially when your domain is one where without it, your universe''s system of operations would copse. Doing the same set of things over and over again for tens of thousands of years would eventually get boring."


    He shook his head as he spoke, a distraught look appearing on his face as he thought of how he was going to return to his mundane life very soon.


    "I can rte, I only got my status as main entity recently, yet I''m already bored. I tossed most of the responsibilities of lesser importance on my brother, he always grumbles about it but does it all the same."


    She downed the two drinks she just ordered and stood up before suggesting to check out the casino section. He finished his drinks and stood up to walk towards the casino beside her as they conversed.


    "Oh yeah, you haven''t exactly told me your name. I''m Cattleya by the way, though you may already know that."


    Cattleya spoke while thinking about whether he wanted to talk about his identity at all because his hood had some inhibition magic inscribed on it. Seeing through it was something she could do but did not as she felt it would be rude.


    "That''s true, well since you like guessing I''d give you a few hints. They might not exactly make sense but coupled with what I already told you earlier, someone like you should be able to figure it out."


    "They don''t make sense? How am I supposed to work with hints that don''t make any sense?"


    She questioned, clearly not understanding his aim but he only chuckled upon seeing her reaction before replying.


    "It will somehow.


    So I have two brothers, one likes high ces and though I hope he gets struck by lightning, unfortunately, he is immune to it.


    The second seems to like swimming a lot more than I thought, sometimes I wish he''d drown but a fish can''t exactly drown in water."


    Hearing his words then confirmed one of her earlier guesses.


    "Okay, so you''re a god of darkness and wealth, who got his position through drawing rigged lots.


    You have a second inmand that governs over death and your two brothers can control lightning and water respectively, after all that, it would be weirder if I could not figure out who you are.


    The story of your wife turning someone into a nt kinda sealed the deal, it is quite popr. The rumors really don''t do you justice."


    "They truly don''t, I don''t understand why people see me as some sort of evil god or personification of death. A few rumors I heard even said I torture souls for fun.


    Why in the Cosmos would I do something as tasteless and disturbing as that?!"


    Cattleyaughed at the grumbling god as she suggested.


    "If you don''t want to be seen that way, start by changing your appearance. You look too ''dark''."


    "Huh? I already did that though?"


    "I can see it wasn''t much, do it again. I can help you, after we are done gambling, that is."


    She then grabbed him by his hand and dragged him into the noisy casino.

 Chapter 12: An Uneventful Spring Night (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 12: An Uneventful Spring Night?(REWRITTEN)</h4>


    An uneventful spring night it was, when Cattleya and the hooded god celebrated the one-thousandth anniversary of their first meeting at the golden ss.


    After winning so much that some of the casino''s managers had to invite them over for a private game, Cattleya and the hooded god went back to their respective homes intending to meet once again.


    That was how the friendship between the two began, a few centuriester, they could be considered best of friends.


    Sometimes, the two won so much money at the Golden ss'' casino from some certain people who did not happen to like losing. They were attacked more times than they could remember but the duo were beings who could potentially be masters of entire pantheons, dispatching a few assassins was hardly a workout.


    One time they sparred with each other in Bracken and ended up dwarfing a few star systems, prompting the dwarven deities in charge of that gxy to descend to put an end to their fight.


    Normally, this was the point where they agreed to stop but the mischievous Cattleya suggested they beat up the dwarf, alongside the main entity of bracken who came as back up. This lead to them bing wanted fugitives in nearly half of bracken.


    Unfortunately, as they had disguises on, the dwarves could not figure out their identities.


    The two hit off easily and began spending more and more time with each other, going on adventures to random universes, sometimes leaving trails of destruction in their wake, only to return and act like heroes to those who were affected by their earlier actions.


    They ended up getting quite a few masters of small to mid-sized pantheons in their debts. When they weren''t deceiving poor masters who could not stand up to them, they spent their time in various bars drinking.


    Dwarven-made liquor was so potent that even high-level existences like superior gods and Arch devils like Cattleya could get drunk off it despite their high resistances.


    They both decided to acquire various houses and mansions around their favorite bars so in the event one of the two passed out from drinking, the other would carry them back home quickly.


    One of the reasons for this decision was the time when Cattleya blew up a in her drunken state, luckily, it was uninhabited.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "You really had me lost for words there, who knew you could be such a bad drunk?"


    "I''m not okay?!"


    Cattleya shot back with reddened cheeks and bloodshot eyes upon hearing her hooded best friend''s words. The man, however, only chuckled before taking the beer jug filled with alcohol mixture from her hands and cing it back on the table.


    "You''ve had way too much tonight. You even bought the new liquor on sale. We''re going home now."


    "It was on this day, a thousand years ago that we first met, cheers to our friendship anniversary!"


    "Yes, cheers. Now give me the bottle."


    **THUMP!!


    He grabbed the bottle from her and turned to put it away only to find hear a loud noise, upon turning back, he saw she had passed out on the table. Sighing in exasperation, he wondered if he would be able to make the trip back home since he was only a little bit less drunk than she was, he just had excellent self-control.


    There was a nearby penthouse owned by the duo where he nned to take her to. It was built with the intention of being able to rx anywhere in the entire ce.


    He entered the living room and activated the magic security locks on the door, before walking into the living room with the intention to ce the sleeping Cattleya on the sofa bed there.


    However, right in front of the sofa, as he was about toy her down on it, she did something he never expected.


    She suddenly got off his arms that were carrying her, before swinging hers around his neck and nting a kiss on his lips.


    "Huh? W-wait, Cattleya. Y-you''re a bit too d-drunk now."


    "It''s not the alcohol that''s making me do this you know? I just wanted to try it out at least once."


    Cattleya replied as she licked her lips seductively before attempting to kiss him once more, however, he covered her mouth with his hand and pushed her a bit backwards. Just before he could speak, he felt pain on his palm and reflexively removed it from over her mouth.


    "Ouc-mpf!"


    Cattleya took advantage of his surprise to jump kiss him this time, pressing her body all over his and using her weight to force him down on the sofa bed.


    She positioned herself on top of his waist and separated her lips from his, hot breaths flowed out between the small gap in their lips alongside a thin line of saliva.


    Noticing that he was barely holding himself back, Cattleya smiled meaningfully before taking off her shirt and revealing her voluptuous **cough** assets **cough** underneath.


    For her best friend underneath her, he was in quite a dilemma. It wasn''t the first time he had been in such a situation, however, he had always been able to handle it with ease.


    Unfortunately, this time, he seemed to have a harder time holding himself back, the fact that he was currently intoxicated didn''t make things any better. It was then that Cattleya took off her shirt and revealed her bare body underneath.


    The little voice of reasoning in his head telling him to stop her was instantly overpowered by the one telling him to indulge himself in the meal ced before him.


    He grabbed her waist and repositioned her properly before taking the initiative this time, as the both of them were already in the mood, they just let their bodies do the talking...


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Waking up the next morning, Cattleya was about to get off the bed before realizing two things;


    One, she was naked, her clothes were all over the floor. Two, there was someone else in the bed with her, someone she knew very well.


    Seeing the familiar ck hair and round eyes that fluttered open to reveal a pair of obsidian pupils, the memories of her actions the previous night came pouring back in at once.


    ''Cattleya! Why did you do that?!''


    Her face flushed red with embarrassment as she unknowingly twirled her hair around her finger while averting her gaze.


    "Looks like your sense of shame has returned, huh?"


    He threw in a snide remark as he stood up from the bed before walking up to the closet and pulling out a bathrobe, turning around, he tossed it towards Cattleya who caught it reflexively.


    "Um...I''m not normally like that...I mean, although I had those thoughts, I didn''t intend to act on them, no wait, I did intend to and I already did, but-!"


    "I know, you told me all about itst night."


    Cattleya''s face turned an even deeper shade of red as she covered herself with the nket on the bed. Her dark-haired best friend only chuckled before saying.


    "What''s done is done and can''t be undone, well it could but that''s a lot of work and I''m not up for that. Let''s just act like we always do with each other, though that may take a while."


    "Yeah I get but, let''s get dressed first shall we."


    Cattleya replied with a smaller voice than usual before the two proceeded to dress up properly.


    Exactly as he said, they were not able to meet each other for a while, not because of anything serious but simply because they were too embarrassed to look each other in the face.


    This situationsted for about a month, however, when they next met, the news Cattleya had for him was the farthest from any of his expectations at the time.


    "So, I''m pregnant."


    She said it so casually as one would order a drink at a bar, however, the contents were not so casual. Especially for her dark-haired best friend and father of her unborn child.


    He almost choked on his drink when he heard her say that, to which sheughed at him like she was expecting it.


    "You sure?"


    "Yep."


    Cattleya replied as she took a sip of the orange juice in her hand before narrating how she discovered she was pregnant.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    It was a normal afternoon, about 24 hours before she broke the news to him. Cattleya went over to meet her elder brother, Creusery, to ask about something while thetter was conducting experiments with an authority of his.


    The red-haired, half devil, half phoenix was seated on the floor in the center of a circle of light red translucent mes.


    "What are you doing?"


    "Hmm? Oh, it''s just you, Leya. I''m experimenting to see how long I can-!"


    He suddenly stopped talking and snapped his head in Cattleya''s direction. Ignoring her surprise at his action, he tapped the floor and a ring of translucent mes expanded with him at the center, passing through Cattleya''s body as it joined with the original me circle.


    "Leya."


    "Yes?"


    "Why...can I sense two life signs from you?"


    "Huh?!"


    This time, it was Cattleya''s turn to be surprised as she never saw thating, however, Creusery asked her the same question again before exining what he sensed.


    "I sensed two life signs from you, one that''srge and is stuffed with so much destructive energy that I''m hard-pressed to call it a life sign. The second is weak, weaker than that of a child even. It''s almost like that of an...an unborn child...


    Leya, you''re...pregnant."


    His words shocked Cattleya no less than hers did her dark-haired best friend. Creusery had a bit of Diablo''s life-sensing ability so Cattleya was more inclined to believe him. After making him promise to keep it a secret for as long as he could, she dashed out of the area instantly.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Hearing her words, the dark-haired man could not help but sigh in exasperation. He then remembered his wife who turned a woman that threw herself at him once into a flowerpot and shook in fear slightly.


    ''She''s going to be so pissed!''


    The duo then talked about the issue seriously and came to various agreements, one of which was that Cattleya was keeping the child. Her dark-haired best friend was also unlike some gods who had an elitist attitude and discriminated against other races despite having multiple affairs with the women of said races.


    In situations where they were to conceive a child, these gods either forced them to abort or denied knowing about it.


    Her dark-haired best friend decided to go back home ande clean to his wife about the matter while Cattleya spent most of her time avoiding Diablo''s gaze.


    All seemed fine until one of Diablo''s aides, a Marquis of the Devildom, Drirnos, received the two prophecies rting to the ''child o destruction'' who was said to be able to bring an end to the gods.


    After hearing the prophecies, she felt that it was simr to her situation, however, she ignored them believing there could not be such coincidences.


    Her father ordered for a neutral stance to be taken in regards to the matter, however, Cattleya''s dark-haired best friend had other thoughts.


    He had multiple people with fate, destiny, foresight, and oracle rted abilities look into it but the results were less than satisfactory.


    That was the case until the day where he had them attempt to search for information about the child in their presence and lo and behold, they saw all that they needed.


    The appearance of the unborn ''child of destruction'' alongside his mother could be seen, naturally, it was Cattleya.


    Upon telling her, Cattleya still refused to believe, but when thew of causality began taking action to protect her from multiple attempts on her life, she had no choice but to ept the reality.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    As she recounted the events that led to her meeting with the father of her child, down to discovering her unborn child was also the one in the prophecy, the anger on Diablo''s face kept on increasing, as he wanted nothing more but to beat up the god who was responsible.


    Unfortunately, although he could take guesses on his identity, there was no way to confirm it as Cattleya did not directly say who it was.


    After promising her brother and father to not do anything that will put herself in danger, she went on to break that promise immediately afterward as she ordered for rumors to be spread that she was the mother of ''the child of destruction''.


    "With how those gods are snooping around, someone would have figured it out sooner orter, either by sacrificing someone to take the hit from causality or some other means. I only hastened the process."


    That was what she told Diablo when he heard what she did and summoned her in rage. It was a logical argument and he barely had a reason to scold her after hearing it, only shaking his head in exasperation before making her take multiple high-ranking devils as guards, just in case.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "It''s quite funny how you can say all these without feeling embarrassed. I''m the one hearing it and I''m cringing over here."


    Arthur held his shoulders and shook his head as he spoke, La also nodded in affirmation with a slight blush on her face.


    "Still...to think you were the one who instigated it. I never took you for the aggressive ty-OW!!!."


    Cattleya flicked Arthur''s forehead while he was speaking, causing him to scream out in pain as he held his head with both hands.


    "I never expected myself to be that aggressive though, I guess the alcohol had to do with it."


    She ced her hand on her chin as she tried to remember her thought process on that fateful night. Meanwhile, Arthur was questioning his existence after discovering that he may have not been born if his mother was not intoxicated that night.


    "So, your highness. What happened after you spread the rumors?"


    La''s question brought her out of her thoughts as she continued with her narration, ignoring the look full of grievance Arthur was giving her.

 Chapter 13: An Uproar as the day draws nearer (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 13: An Uproar as the day draws nearer (NEW)</h4>


    The rumors of Cattleya being the mother of the prophesied ''child of destruction'' spread like wildfire. It caused an uproar among all those who heard, naturally some did not believe this but after being shown the appearance of a five-month pregnant Cattleya, their disbelief quickly turned into belief.


    Various pantheons had various reactions to this and of course, some decided to make an attempt on Cattleya''s life.


    The assassins definitely did not expect chains of causality to burst out of thin air and drag them into an unknown void.


    A public assassination attempt revealed thew of causality''s protection on her life causing the gods to feel aggrieved.


    This discovery then led many beings to ask the question of how her identity was discovered, however, it did not take them long to find out that she was the one who spread the information herself.


    This made many gods enraged as they felt she led them by the nose, sadly, they could do nothing but sit back and bite their thumbs as any hostile action would be met with the repercussions of causality.


    Some felt that although they could do nothing to her, her family members, loved ones, and close associates were not off-limits. Unfortunately, all attacks and attempts on their lives wereplete failures as the strengths of the beings Cattleya was surrounded by were nothing to scoff at.


    Her brother, Creusery, showed the world once again why he was known by the moniker of ''ck Phoenix'', with his excellent me control that turned all the assants to ashes in seconds.


    Creuserey and Cattleya were born from different mothers and for the devil race, although they valued bloodlines, they were not as elitist as other races that do so. As such, both of them were epted without issue even though they both were not pureblood devils.


    Cattleya''s mother was the Grand Duchess of the Leviathan Devils, the Devil of Envy, Inglis. She inherited her mother''s energy maniption talents along with her father''s talent for the sword. She was skilled enough to be considered one of the most proficient swordswomen in the Devildom, save the Devils of the Duchy of Asmodeus.


    Creusery''s mother was one of the strongest phoenixes hell has ever known. He inherited her powerful mes and mastery over all forms of fire. Mixed with his devil blood, his mes turned a deep ck color, unlike his mother''s bright red.


    His ck mes were due to his ''Annihtion'' ability that he possessed a member of the Devilian royal family, that allowed him to burn almost anything, ignoring their defenses, either magical, physical, or spiritual. Of course, he could also select what he wanted to be burnt and what he wanted to remain untouched.


    The attacks on Cattleya''s mother ended up with the assants being used as test subjects for various magical and alchemical experiments of hers. She even asked for more to be sent her way as she needed more test subjects.


    Although things would have been so easy in the event of a full-scale war, no one was foolish enough to start one against the devils of hell in this delicate time.


    The other universes controlled by the devils, and other enemies of the gods in the forms of giants, titans, fallen celestials, demons, and many more all anticipated the birth of a child that could end the arrogance of the god race.


    Another matter that was brought up was that of the identity of the child''s father but Cattleya only gave vague answers, leaving everyone in suspense.


    Of course, in secret, Cattleya and her dark-haired best friend met on more than just one asion.


    "So mind telling me why you decided to reveal that you were carrying the child spoken of in that damn prophecy?"


    He asked with a look of pure curiosity as he didn''t seem even the slightest bit angry about the issue.


    "If they were going to find out eventually, why not tell them earlier, it changes nothing."


    Cattleya shrugged her shoulders as she replied. Herpanion, however, interpreted her words a bit differently.


    "So you were bored and wanted to cause some chaos so you took advantage of the fact that they were all scrambling for information on the prophesied child''s parents and used it to cause greater chaos."


    "Exactly, you know my thought process so well."


    "Hard not to when I''ve known you for a millennium. I''ve also had to personally experience the results of some of your weird thought processes."


    As he said that, he recalled a few of the ridiculous situations she had put him through over the decades before sighing in exasperation. The duo then continued their meal as they moved on to other topics.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    While the culprit of the chaos was enjoying a meal with her best friend, others were counting down the days to when the child of prophecy would be born. One of them was Apollo, the Olympian god of the sun.


    "If she got pregnant in spring, I''d say we should be expecting the child''s birth in winter."


    He sighed lightly before continuing,


    "It''s currentlyte autumn, we''ve only got about three months left, these are gonna turn out to be a very long set of three months."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    As if to mock the words spoken by Apollo, the three months passed by a lot faster than he could have ever expected. Naturally, he was not alone in his thoughts.


    Not long ago they were counting down in months, now they were counting down in weeks. Based on their predictions, they expected the child to be born during thest week of the year or the first week of the next.


    At this point in time, the entirety of the Hell universe was on high alert. Even Cattleya knew better than to waltz around carelessly, even more so when she noticed the protection of causality getting weaker by the day.


    If she could feel the protection weakening, who''s to say that others could not, provided they were perceptive enough. If word of this got out, the gods would take this chance to end her once and for all, not caring for the consequences.


    As the predicted time drew nearer, many asked questions concerning the unborn child.


    "Would he have the same protection as his mother?"


    "Would he really be the only one of his kind?"


    "Would he actually possess the strength to kill the gods?"


    These and many more were asked, however, there was no one to give them the answers they desired. Eventually, they gave up on asking questions and quietly waited for the day of ck sun to arrive.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Many sr deities guessed the ''ck sun'' spoken about in the prophecy to be an eclipse.


    A Sr eclipse, one that urred when a portion of a was engulfed in a shadow cast by its moon, which fully or partially blocks sunlight.


    This urred when the sun, moon, and the itself are aligned. Since it was a situation that involved the celestial bodies such as the suns and moons, the various sun and moon gods, alongside allies of the god race who were in charge of the sr and lunar aspects of their various pantheons, these beings nned a meeting to discuss the issues they were concerned about.


    The ''Neutral Zone'' was the best ce for such a discussion to be held, the various gods representing their pantheons arrived one by one at therge banquet hall prepared by the six leaders of the Neutral Zone alliance.


    The hall had a set up of a standard banquet hall with copious amounts of food adorning the tables so well that their surfaces were barely visible. The attendees were entertained by various acrobats, dancers, and vocalists with music of all varietiespleting the ambiance of the event.


    As for security, it was on the highest level it had ever been since the formation of the alliance as if even one of the attendees was to be harmed in any way, it could spell disaster for the alliance.


    Sr gods such as Mawu of Dahomey, Inti of the Inca Empire, Belenos of the Gauls, Amaterasu-¨­mikami of the Shinto, Sol of Romersk, and even a Master like Amun-Ra of Egito (Portuguese for Egypt). Lunar gods like Artemis of Olympus, Diana of Romania, Mani of Asgard, Losna of the Etruscan, and many more were in attendance.


    Presiding over the meeting was Apollo, who received the backing of Amun-Ra, silencing all the other gods who felt he was not suitable to do that. They discussed how the ''ck sun'' spoken about in the prophecy was obviously an eclipse and an unnatural one at that.


    After all, the prophecy specified ''all gods of all worlds'' and as sr and lunar gods, they knew fully well how impossible it was for all worlds to have sr eclipses on the same day.


    They understood that the prophecy would have also not mentioned the ''ck sun'' in the first ce if they would not be able to notice it when it happened, this further reinforced their belief that the ''ck sun'' would be a simultaneous eclipse urring on all worlds.


    Another thing they concluded on, was the starting point of the eclipse. They agreed that it would most likely begin in two areas, each rted to the parents of the prophesied child.


    Hell, for the mother and the Universe the unknown father of the child was from.


    They had many things to discuss and spent nearly three days addressing all those issues. In the end, they all made a decision.


    Firstly, they were to be split into groups that were decided ording to how close the distance between the universes were.


    Specially constructed artifacts were given to the members of each group, enabling them tomunicate with them better despite the trillions of light-years of distance between them.


    Since they had agreed that the mass eclipses would begin in the areas rted to the parents of the prophesied child, they agreed to be secretly vignt so they could figure out what universe and pantheon the father of the child was from.


    There was the possibility of the father being one of the sun gods present in the meeting however, devising ways to deal with all possible scenarios was too time-consuming so they decided to ignore it.


    Lastly, they agreed to not interfere with the mass eclipses even if they might be able to for fear of unknown repercussions from thew of causality that had been confirmed on multiple asions, to be dedicated to protecting the child''s mother.


    Who knew if the eclipses were some sort of requirement for the child''s birth? Interfering would not be a wise idea.


    These gods all knew that the child being able to end them all was only a possibility, still, the matter of the child''s birth was 100% certain.


    After a closing feast, they dispersed to their respective pantheons to await the day of ''ck Sun''.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "How do you know what the gods discussed in their meeting?"


    "Obviously because your father had spies among them, what other reason could it possibly be?"


    Cattleya replied to Arthur''s question with a yawn as sheid down on the couch of the game room. On the couch opposite hers, Arthur and La were seated, listening intently to her telling of the events that happened before Arthur''s birth.


    "So next up is the ''Day of ck sun'', huh?"


    "Yep..."

 Chapter 14: The day of ‘Black Sun’ arrives, and the second path is revealed. (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 14: The day of ¡®ck Sun¡¯ arrives, and the second path is revealed. (NEW)</h4>


    Time moved quickly and soon, some weed thest day of the year and the eve of the New Year.


    Not all worlds moved ording to the same time flow, hence the reason it was only this way for some.


    The morning of New Year''s eve began as every other day did, with the sun peeking through the east, albeit at a slower speed than usual, but besides that, there was nothing unusual.


    People busily filled the streets of various towns and cities on multiple worlds as they moved about for various purposes ranging from, those hoping to make it to their respective workces on time, to the children who raced with each other to their ygrounds.


    Some prepared feasts to celebrate the end of the year, some went to temples to pray to the gods they believed in, and many others also offered their sacrifices to the various higher existences they worshipped.


    On the side of the gods and other higher existences, they either simply watched the mortal''s activities or descended to join them in enjoying the festivities.


    Naturally, there were those who did not share the festive mood as others did, somemented how the year went by without any positive changes while others cried due to the sadness they experienced during the year.


    A great majority of them hoped their troubles would end along with the year.


    It was on this fine morning that the Olympian Sun god, Apollo, decided to take a break from all his worries, duties, and obligations.


    He moved over to one of thes, inhabited by only nts and animals in his territory, a few light-years from central Olympus.


    It was a he named Ataraxia, meaning ''absence of mental disturbance''.


    That was precisely how it was as there was indeed nothing on Ataraxia that could cause any disturbance to his rest.


    He descended on one of the high mountaintops admiring the beautiful scenery of the vampire-white mountains, with a wave of white snow rumbling down the sides.


    The tops of the mountains were all sky-stabbing and their legs were very wide, each of them was shrouded in a grey mist and the air was chilling and numbing.


    He was descending the mountains along the turquoise-blue stream that wound its merry way into the forest below, babbling and burbling, it sprung over the limestone rocks in its way. Pebbles whisked about in under wash like pieces of glitter.


    "They say streams are the liquid soul of the forest and this one is glowing."


    He looked at the chords of soft light that speared down from above, bathing its surface in gold; it was glinting in sparkles like a thousand diamonds blessed with an inner fire. The hedgerows were pregnant with berries and he plucked some, beforeying on the ground to taste them.


    He felt energized by their pleasant waft and smiled before closing his eyes, about to have a nice nap. However, before he could, he sensed the presence of an intruder.


    "Who is it? I''m resting today, go back if it isn''t urgent."


    "Brother! This is definitely not the time for rest!"


    Although he tried to shoo the intruder away, they refused to leave, what''s more, the intruder was none other than his twin sister, the goddess of the hunt, chastity, and childbirth, Artemis.


    "And why on Ataraxia would this not be the perfect time for rest?"


    "Did you forget how to use your powers? If you did then I''d suggest looking at the sky, it''d be a lot faster than remembering or any exnation I could give."


    Artemis'' reply to his question made him finally open his eyes and look at the sky above him. At first, he wondered how it could exin her reason for disrupting his rest, however, those thoughtssted only for a single second.


    It was simply impossible not to see the reason for her agitation, even more so for him, a god who governed the aspect of the sun. He was bbergasted as he never expected such a thing to happen without him noticing.


    His surprise and her agitation were natural, After all;


    It was high noon, yet the moon could be seen in the sky.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Meanwhile, on Aeturn, the mother of the prophesied ''child of destruction'', Arch Devil Cattleya, was currently seated at a dinner table, participating in a heated game of old maid with a few other people.


    "I win, again!"


    She attempted to jump up from her seat only to be forced back down by her mother and brother who were beside her.


    Looking at her nine-month pregnant daughter who was acting like a child who had just received their first toy, Grand Duchess Inglis Leviathan heaved a sigh of exasperation.


    She was a beautiful, slim and tall woman with fair smooth skin and a duchess-shaped nose thatplimented her oval face. She had always put on a warm smile that could melt the heart of many.


    However, those who knew her personally knew fully well that her smile was just a cover-up for the research-crazed devil that she truly was. Her glossy ck hair was long enough to reach her knees, she was known for her changing hairstyles and today she had her hair kept in braids. She had a set of dark-coloured eyes that looked so deep they appeared as if they could peer into your soul. Funny enough, they actually could.


    Opposite her, was Creusery''s mother and the Devildom''s Queen. A woman with literally ming red hair, she also possessed a slightly darker skin tone and a stoic-looking face. She had red eyes, beautiful enough to burn someone''s heart. Her height and body structure were simr to that of Inglis.


    If the duo sported the same clothes and hairstyle, one might mistake them for sisters. This was the Phoenix, Aurora.


    At the head of the table, Cattleya''s father, Devil King Diablo dropped the cards in his hand as he decided to address the elephant in the room.


    "Did you really call us all over here just to y a card game?"


    "Obviously not."


    "Then why haven''t you stated your reason for calling us here?"


    "Obviously because you never asked."


    Cattleya''s reply made Diablo''s eyebrow twitch, nevertheless, he held back his annoyance and asked for the reason she called them all.


    "So, today is the day of ''ck Sun'' and-"


    "Hold up! Don''t casually say that like you''re ordering a drink at a bar!"


    Creusery cut her off as he facepalmed at her nonchnt attitude. Taking a deep breath, he questioned her on the reason for her assumption.


    "As of this morning, the protection from thew of causality has disappearedpletely."


    "Didn''t your brother just warn you not to say serious things so casually?"


    "How else was I supposed to say it?


    I told youst month that the protection had started weakening, and today it disappeared so I called you all to tell you that.


    I even suggested we y old maid to lighten up the mood because it was serious."


    Cattleya pouted as she replied to Aurora''s question. Seeing this, Inglis couldn''t help but retort.


    "Old maid isn''t exactly a game to lighten up one''s mood, you know."


    She then adopted a serious tone as she asked a different question.


    "Is that really the reason you called us here?"


    Cattleya only grinned when she heard her mother''s serious question.


    "As expected of you mother, you know me best.


    The child''s father is gonna being over today so I thought to inform you beforehand. It''s also why I had you create ''that''."


    "That bas-! I mean, that man ising here?!"


    "Yes dad, and he''s not a bastard."


    Cattleya yawned lightly as she replied to Diablo''s question. She then turned to Inglis with arms stretched out. Inglis saw her actions and sighed once again before taking a palm-sized spherical device with a circr indentation in the middle.


    "If you want him to be able to bypass the barriers we put up with this, then it''s gonna need his energy to work."


    "I know, I solved that months ago."


    Hearing the conversation between the two women made Creusery and Diablo figure that this has been something Cattleya had been nning for a while now.


    They watched her pull out a pitch-ck crystal from her subspace and their eyes winded in surprise.


    Not because of the fact that the crystal was one filled with condensed divinity, but because the stoic look on Aurora''s face was broken as she eximed with shock.


    "That?!"


    Her unusual reaction was enough for them to realize something; Aurora definitely knew the identity of whoever possessed the divinity in that crystal.


    "Hmm, you know who owns this?"


    |How could I not?!|


    Aurora replied loudly with her true voice, almost screaming. If not for the barrier that Inglis hurriedly put up, the nobles in the castle may have heard her scream, alongside everyone else on Aeturn.


    Creusery attempted to calm the agitated Aurora down, after a few minutes when she was calm once again, she turned to look at Cattleya before asking.


    "Really? An Olympian? And ''Him'' of all people?!"


    Her anger was starting to seep out of her once more but she held herself back. Cattleya on the other handughed as she heard Aurora''s words.


    "Wow, he did tell me he had some history with you but it seems it''s all doom and gloom, huh?"


    Diablo and Inglis ignored her statement and addressed the more important issue. Hell was not really on the best of terms with Olympus and hearing that the father of their daughter''s child was an Olympian put the two on edge.


    They feared that he may try to do something drastic...like killing the child immediately after birth. Some gods have done so before so it was within the realm of possibility.


    However, Cattleya thought otherwise. She revealed that the father was responsible for informing her about the assassins sent by Olympus and some of their allies in advance. This was before it got out that she was being protected by thew of causality.


    She seemed to have an unusually high amount of trust in him, which made Inglis have a sudden thought she attempted to confirm.


    "Catty, do you possibly have-"


    "Nope"


    Cattleya cut her off before she could finish asking. While Inglis was still stunned, she continued, saying.


    "It''s definitely not what you''re thinking."


    Seeing this, the two men in the room failed to understand what she was talking about. It was expected, after all, Cattleya did not even let Inglis finish her question.


    Meanwhile, Diablo was worried about an entirely different thing. Although it was quite rare, it was still possible for even the strongest of devils to lose their lives during childbirth or be severely weakened afterwards. He knew this better than anyone, after all his mother was one of those who were severely weakened afterwards and died some yearster.


    **KNOCK


    There was a light knock on the door, after which Belphegor stepped in. Something he normally would not do without first receiving permission, which showed that whatever urred was serious enough for him to drop his etiquette.


    "Your Majesty, All the three suns of Dorcaster, have beenpletely blotted out of the sky by the moons of each."


    His words made Cattleya jump up with a shout.


    "Yeah! Told you it was today!"


    However, right as shended back on the ground, there was a sudden sshing sound. It was not very loud, but all the beings in the room were ones with superhuman hearing, they all instantly noticed the source.


    Inglis'' face turned serious as she asked despite already knowing the answer.


    "That wasn''t you, right?"


    "So, I think my water just broke."


    Cattleya only chuckled awkwardly as she scratched the top of her head, causing Creusery to retort loudly.


    "Stop speaking about serious things so casually!"


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    On Olympus, Apollo was hurriedly making his way over to Zeus'' abode. He had contacted the other gods in his group using the specially prepared artifacts and asked them about the eclipse but they all imed to not know of it.


    Some even went on to ask other groups but they all stated that there was no such thing as an eclipse currently urring in all observable areas of their universes.


    The sr and lunar deities had utilized their authorities and checked multiple times before confirming this.


    Apollo also did the same, however, the results he got made his face pale rapidly.


    All of southern Olympus, was darkened.


    The stars that acted as suns for the various star and sr systems, were all being covered by the moons of thes within them. As fors without moons,rge asteroids just conveniently happened to drift in the path the light of the suns passed to reach thes.


    Every other section of Olympus he could observe was fine, except the south.


    He instantly disconnected themunication as he had arrived in Zeus'' abode and jumped down from his ming carriage into the courtyard below.


    Zeus and Athena who were currently engaging in a conversation turned to him in surprise but he ignored that and told them about the situation and his assumption.


    "Are you sure you aren''ting to conclusions too hastily?"


    "Do you really think I''d do that at this point in time?


    The area the eclipses are covering is increasing as we speak, no matter how I look at it this is clearly abnormal. That leaves us only one alternative exnation, today is the day of ''ck Sun''."


    His words seemed to evoke some sort of reaction as the ambient energies around him thrummed wildly, as if agreeing with his words. The increasing concentration of the essence of thew of causality cleared all of Zeus'' doubts.


    "I believe you all said that the eclipses would begin in areas rted to the parents of the prophesied child, right?


    If so, it seems Olympus truly has a hand in this matter."


    As Zeus spoke, the anger in his tone made Apollo take a step back in fear, he really hated it when his father was angry.


    His actions of telling the other sr gods in his group also seemed to add to Zeus'' anger as he felt that Apollo should not have let the other gods realize the eclipses had begun in Olympus.


    However, before he could continue to scold Apollo, Athena asked a very important question.


    "What part of Olympus did you say was darkened already?"


    Apollo tensed up visibly and hisplexion became even paler, he looked towards Zeus with a panic-stricken gaze as he spoke.


    "...Southern Olympus."


    |WHAT?!!|


    Zeus'' reaction was as he had expected. Pulling Apollo by the cor of his shirt, he asked once again to confirm.


    |ARE YOU SURE?!|


    "Y-yes."


    Apollo''s reply only served to fuel Zeus'' rage, his aura burst forth violently and Athena and Apollo were hit with the full brunt of it.


    He left Apollo and walked up to the fountain in the middle of the courtyard they were in and flicked his fingers, tossing a golden drachma inside it.


    |Authority of the Master.|


    |Goddess of the Rainbow, Iris. The Master of Olympusmands you, Connect me to the god of death, Thanatos.|


    The rays of the sun on the fountain water created a faint rainbow that shimmered lightly before the image of a bearded young man with ash skin appeared.


    |Thanatos, where is my brother?|


    Surprised at the sudden connection, the god of death, Thanatos, was silent for a moment before giving a reply.


    [My lord is not present now, as for his whereabouts, I have no idea.


    All I know is that he told me to tell you he was going west.]


    Zeus trembled with rage as he heard Thanatos''s words.


    ''Hell is west of Olympus! He''s not even trying to hide it anymore!''


    "It''s him isn''t it?"


    Athena''s words brought him out of his thoughts, Zeus'' continued silence further confirmed that he had arrived at the same conclusion that she did.


    It was also the reason for Apollo''s reluctance to state what part of Olympus was darkened. The one person that the gods could barely do anything to even if he was the father of the child that possessed the power to end them.


    His power, rank, and status were too high for that.


    He was also the person who had the look of ''realization'' on his face on the day they heard the prophecies.


    ''As I thought, he really did know something.''


    ''He'' was none other than the ruler of most of Southern Olympus, the elder sibling of both Zeus and Poseidon.


    Cattleya Vaughn''s dark-haired best friend and father of her unborn child, was none other than the King of Olympus'' Underworld Supercluster.


    Hades.

 Chapter 15: Reminiscing (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 15: Reminiscing (NEW)</h4>


    Arthur let out a yawn as he sat at the dinner table, he had been so engrossed in his mother''s narration that he lost track of time.


    Nevertheless, since they had also not returned to Aeturn, he had more than enough time to know about what else happened at the time of his birth.


    As he wolfed down his meal in silence, his thoughts wandered to his younger years and the things he experienced that led to him being who he was currently.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Arthur was, to sum it up in one word; genius.


    Nevertheless, he once disliked this fact.


    He never really wanted to be ''special'', he always wanted to be normal like everyone else.


    He always questioned it;


    What was so different about him that made him special?


    What was so great about him that made him a genius?


    He was told that he had a high realm of existence from birth; he was an intermediate stage master realm.


    It was a realm of existence many could not reach even after decades yet he was at that level at birth, as such people overpraised him even when he disliked it.


    Only when his parents praised him did he not feel the same feeling of repulsion that he felt from others. Despite all this talk of having a high realm of existence, he did not understand it fully and only believed it was something else people said to make him feel special.


    As such, he still believed he was a normal child.


    However, after discovering about the prophecy of his birth at the young age of three, the young Arthur realized that he was the furthest thing from the ''normal'' he wanted.


    He didn''t really understand what the ''prophecy'' really meant. All the three-year-old knew was that because of it, some people believed he was going to do some bad things to his dad and other people like his dad and they wanted to kill him before he could do so.


    Naturally, the three-year-old was scared shitless.


    Being told that people like his uncles wanted him dead scared him. He was so close to his mother''s elder brother, why couldn''t he be close to his dad''s brothers too?


    That was what he asked his dad, however thetter only told him that he would understand when he grew up.


    There was an incident where he had disyed his genius talent when he picked up a small training sword and easily imitated the sword technique that a certain knight had been practicing for years.


    Seeing a three-year-old easily achieve what it took him years to do made the knight fall into depression and he quit his job.


    Upon discovering this, Arthur was sad as he felt it was his fault that the knight to end up the way he did and considered quitting his dreams of being a swordsman. The look of disappointment that shed across his mother''s face when he said that made him rescind that decision though.


    It was around that time that his mother''s elder brother, Creusery, suggested something to his parents.


    "We can''t protect Arthur forever, he''d need to protect himself in the future. So why don''t we let him begin to gain the necessary skills for that starting now?"


    It was a suggestion his parents agreed to. His father was always away for some reason he did not know at the time and his mother felt that his uncle would be able to handle it better as they were both guys.


    Although he had his reservations, he saw in one of the picture books his dad brought for him that parents only wanted what was best for their children.


    That led him to believe that if his parents agreed to his uncle''s suggestion, it was best for him so he agreed too.


    And like so, Arthur''s training under Creusery started.


    The older prince loved exploring differents and realms and he took the young Arthur everywhere he went.


    Letting him see many things, experience more things, and learn new things.


    He also trained Arthur on how to fight using various weapons, however, he majored in the sword.


    As for magic and other energy maniption lessons, his mother took the mantle and decided to impart her knowledge upon him.


    Even if he was born with a high realm of existence and was a talented genius, it did not mean he would just automatically be strong without doing anything.


    He had to put in effort so he could be stronger. His dad also came over asionally and helped in his training too. Hearing that his dad was one of the strongest people where he was from, made him look up to his father even more than he already did.


    Catching up to his dad''s level of power became his motivation so he went along with all the training that his mother and his uncle gave him.


    The young Arthur was discovered to have four energies in his body, nothing weird for a descendant of the Devilian royal family.


    Magic, aura, and two more that his parents refused to tell him about. They only told him to focus on his magic and aura.


    In order to use magic, one had to have the affinity for said element or attribute of magic. This also affected the attribute of thew they would be able toprehend in the future but that was something that a four-year-old could not understand.


    To check his affinity, his mother, Cattleya, first thought him how to manipte the magic in the first ce before bringing something she called an affinity stone and telling him to pour some magic inside it.


    He did so and the originally transparent stone began to shine with a multicolored light.


    In the end, he was told he had affinities for Earth, Lightning, Fire, and wind magic. His mother told him that he had other affinities but he could not use those before learning the basics.


    He also learned that he had a high affinity for the ''Destruction'' magic of any element or attribute. This meant that even if he could not cast the smallest and most useless spell of that element, if it was one that involved ''Destroying'' on arge scale, then he would be able to cast it with ease, provided he learned the spell properly.


    Cattleya taught him about the many tiers of magic and spellcasting alongside the tiers his high realm of existence from birth allowed him to use.


    She also thought him how to create a spell circle and how to increase the tier of the spell circle he was using.


    In a spell circle, the circle/ring represented the flow of magic, ether, or whatever energy is used to cast the spell.


    Then the mark in the middle represented the element or attribute being used and then the letters below the mark described the type of spell being invoked.


    The more rings a spell circle had, the higher the tier of the spell. Young Arthur easily absorbed this knowledge and showed great results, making his parents praise him, much to his satisfaction.


    To add to his knowledge and skills, the young Arthur took a liking to reading books of any kind he could find.


    The Devilian royal castle library had books from many time periods, from different categories, from different universes too.


    It was with the assistance of these books that he came to understand the concept of a, a star system, a gxy, and then a universe.


    It was only vague but he had an idea of howrge they were, after all, he had seen a myriad of stars ands when on expeditions with his uncle, Creusery.


    This was why at the age of six, his uncle Creusery''s actions scared him shitless and made him lock himself up in his room for days as he was nearly traumatized.


    For Creusery it was a small issue, but for Arthur, he had never even thought such a thing was possible.


    Creusery destroyed a, right in front of Arthur.


    One moment he was looking at the with his uncle from inside the spacecraft, the next, his uncle was outside the spacecraft with a giant ball of ck mes in his palm.


    He then looked Arthur in the eyes and tossed the ball of mes towards therge and caused it to explode within seconds of contact.


    He did so with rtive ease and this made the six-year-old Arthur realize one thing, Creusery had done this before, many times.


    It had been three years since Arthur began following Creusery around for training, he had been forced to fight and kill many monsters even though he was scared or found it repulsive, but he had never killed a sentient humanoid like himself.


    This was why seeing his Uncle wipe out an entire filled with sentient humanoids sent him into shock.


    However, his uncle''s words to him were not words of constion.


    "I really didn''t want to do this, but you have to know Arthur;


    All the people around you, your parents, grandparents, the dukes you see in the castle daily, the nobles who send their children to you as ymates, they can all do something like destroying a with rtive ease.


    And just like them, the people after your life now and those who would be in the future can do the same.


    Why am I telling you this?


    It''s simple, you''re a smart child, you mature faster than your peers and even though you''re more talented, you don''t put in any less hard work.


    That''s why you should understand, that is the kind of power you should strive to attain and surpass by leaps and bounds, that is what your mother and father want for you.


    When you get to that level, then those people after your life would not be able to do anything to you no matter how hard they try, and you would be able to keep yourself safe.


    And if you''re safe, then your parents would be happy and have peace of mind, don''t you think?"


    His words struck a chord within the young Arthur, although he didn''t know this, Creusery had only added the talk about his parents to clear his hesitation, after all, the young Arthur had begun to notice his parents'' actions to protect him.


    Or rather, they let him notice. It was all part of their n to show Arthur a glimpse of the kind of power they wished for him to attain. Creusery''s disy was the final part of the n.


    Although he did not immediately concur with Creusery, after a month of being a recluse, he concluded that his Uncle''s words were right.


    It was after this that Creusery instructed him to kill a sentient humanoid being, one of the weaker inferior stage master realm half-gods that were among the group of assassins that his parents had dealt with.


    It was his first time killing another sentient humanoid like himself, but for the sake of making his parents happy, for a peaceful future, and most of all, simply because he wanted to survive, he did not hesitate.


    From then on, his training with Creusery became more intense, Creusery also began showing the young Arthur more things during his expeditions.


    He introduced Arthur to many influential figures and powerful beings in the Hell universe and helped him gain powerful contacts that would be useful in the future.


    Simrly, he showed Arthur about the dark sides of people, the atrocities people couldmit just to get what they wanted, the lengths they would go to for power, and many more things that the six-year-old boy never thought people could possibly do.


    Creusery also began taking him along on some of his official duties as Crown prince of the Devildom. In the following years, seeing Creusery do something like destroying a or wiping out an entire civilization did not even faze him.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Arthur finished his meal as he thought about those events from the past, nevertheless, he still did not understand the gods'' reason for trying so hard to kill him.


    Even if he was a talented genius who grew stronger at a crazy rate, even if he was a special being, even if he was the ''child of destruction'' they said he was, he still felt there was something else that made the gods pay so much attention to him try so hard to kill him.


    They could not take action personally, as that would only spark a war between them and the devils so they sent assassins far weaker than themselves instead, that he could understand.


    However, even after so many failures, they still kept on sending them, which was the part that did not make sense.


    He brainstormed about the reason for why and concluded that it had to do with a certain use of the prophecy of his birth.


    " ''All gods of all worlds shall tremble with fear....''


    Did they really tremble with fear that day?"


    "Yes, they did."


    A voice replied to him and he turned around to see his father, Hades, walk into the dining room while taking off his jacket.


    " -We- all did boy, that''s part of the reason they are so adamant in wanting you dead. The amount of fear ''we'' all felt on the day of your birth was something that none of us ever want to experience again."


    He continued as he took a seat, before beginning to narrate what happened on that day, about how all gods trembled with fear.

 Chapter 16: All gods shall tremble with fear. (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 16: All gods shall tremble with fear. (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Observing a certain part of the chaotic void in-between universes, one would be able to see arge spacecraft, blitzing across the quintillions of light-years in between the Olympus and Hell universes.


    At the helm of this craft, was a man dressed casually in a ck long-sleeved turtleneck, simrly coloured trousers, and shoes, with a grey hood that had inhibition magic inscribed on it.


    This was none other than Hades, Olympian king of the underworld and the father of the prophesied ''child of destruction'', on his way to the home of the mother of his unborn child.


    He gazed at the multicoloured strings of energy around him and remembered his father, the Titan of time, Kronos.


    ''This energy was probably why his control over Time was so strong, and Tartarus was full of it too. If I didn''t be able to sense it then I would not have known that what I thought to be sealing him was only cing him in a convenient ce to recover.


    I also started seeing some growth in my strength after all these years, I wonder if the child would be able to use this in the future.


    Oh well, that is for the future.''


    Heughed lightly as the aura emanating from him increased in intensity. If any one of the Olympians was there to see this, their eyes may have fallen out in shock.


    ''Tsk... I still haven''t figured out how to control this well, how does he always do thisfortably?


    I have to avoid meeting him so he does not figure it out. At least until I can control this well.''


    He retracted his aura and shifted his thoughts to other matters.


    ''Persephone''s reaction when I told her about this was quite funny, for me at least. She was very much pissed off.


    It was expected, anyone would if their spouse came home and suddenly knelt before them asking for forgiveness for sleeping with someone else.''


    He chuckled to himself as he remembered his wife''s reaction to hearing that he had a child with another woman.


    ''But her reaction when I told her it was the prophesied child was the best.''


    He kept on chuckling to himself as he asionally used illusion magic to fool the eyes of any who he came across, he did not want his journey to be interrupted after all.


    All of a sudden, the ambient energies around him became chaotic. Just as he began wondering what the cause was, he suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of fear.


    One greater than the time when he was about to be devoured by his father, Kronos.


    The aura he barely managed to hide burst forth from his body and his helm of darkness appeared over his head.


    In his hands, were his twin swords with a bident floating behind him.


    His gaze swerved around as he expanded his sense, searching for the cause of the fear he just felt.


    He felt chills down his spine as his soul trembled, it was as if his very existence was being threatened.


    It was then, he remembered the words of a certain prophecy he heard months ago.


    '' ''All gods of all worlds shall tremble with fear...''


    So that was it. Never expected I''d be scared of my own child''s birth.


    Some might even flip out at this, they may also use this as justification to try to kill the child. Knowing that Diablo, there''s no way he''d let such a thing happen though.''


    Unsummoning his weapon and retracting his aura, he sighed, ignoring the gazes he felt around him due to his illusions being dispelled as he entered into the Hell universe.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    On an unknown, located in a universe that those in Olympus and the surrounding universes did not even know existed, a beingying down on a grassy field opened her eyes as she stared at the darkened sun in the sky.


    "Should be about now, I think.


    A being with the same affinity as I do, his is so strong I believe we might have the same type of special skill.


    My universal fortune is also responding quite positively."


    As she spoke to herself, she got off the ground while keeping her gaze locked on the golden cloud of pure energy hanging over her head.


    "I already have so many questions, too bad I have to wait a few more years before getting an answer."


    She heaved a sigh while wearing a downcast look, the next moment, her facial expression lit up as if she discovered a solution to her problem.


    "Let me discover what universe he''s in firstly, when he grows up, it''d be easier to find him. If thew of destiny is right, then he is the solution to this ''curse'' guing me."


    She then tied her light blue hair in a ponytail and spread out her six pairs of glistening pure white wings before disappearing after casting inter-universal teleportation magic with a level of speed and proficiency that would make drifters cry out in shock.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    In another universe, the leader of the Vanir tribe of gods, Njord, sighed as he remembered the inexplicable sense of fear he just felt.


    It made him remember the times he faced multiple giant kings at once. He then looked towards the old man sitting across from him and asked,


    "What do you think?"


    "We should wait and see before taking any action."


    "Do you really think so? More importantly, is that really what you want to do."


    "Obviously not. However, my years of experience have told me, if we take any hasty action, we would definitely regret it."


    "Make sure you tell that boy then, it seems his brother is the father, we can''t let him jeopardize us all."


    Even though Vanaheim and Olympus were allies, they still had spies in each other''s territory. Due to Apollo''s actions, word had already spread that Olympus was involved with the ''child of destruction''. He did contact the gods of other pantheons after all.


    After instructing the spies to dig into the topic, Njord did not take long to figure out that Hades was the child''s father, especially as Hades didn''t even try to hide himself anymore.


    "I will, I will."


    The old man nodded as he repeated those words multiple times. He then looked towards the direction of the universe he ruled, Asgard.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    In an entirely white realm that had nothing but a Kotatsu table with mats for sitting in it, a shattering sound rang out as a cup of tea fell to the ground.


    Clicking her tongue, the one who dropped this cup spoke in a voice filled with pure unrestrained rage.


    |The stupid sense of fear should havee after I was done drinking my tea!|


    As she spoke, multiple lower-ranked gods who seemed to be shivering slightly appeared and cleaned up the mess before cing two new sets of teacups, one for her and one for the man seated opposite her.


    |Give it to me, I''d do it myself, I don''t want any more tea getting wasted.|


    She grabbed the teapot from the one holding it and poured the tea for herself.


    "What''s got you so annoyed this time?"


    |Isn''t it that damn prophesied child, he was just born but I don''t like him already.


    He blocked out all my suns and most importantly, he made me waste perfectly good tea.|


    Seeing the woman in front of him being more concerned about the wasted tea than the birth of a being that could end their entire race, the man sighed to himself before speaking with a joking tone.


    "I would like to partake of the tea prepared by the fairdy."


    She rose an eyebrow at him as she asked in an annoyed tone.


    "When will you quit speaking like that Susanoo?"


    "Probably when you stop being weirdly fixated on tea, Amaterasu."


    The man replied and took a sip of the tea before continuing.


    "Delicious as always, still are you really doing nothing about this? No actions taken?"


    "What can I say or do? Lord Izanagi stated we were to make no moves. He was even more annoyed than that time he cut up Ho-Musubi."


    As he heard her reply, Susanoo sighed once again while thinking to himself.


    ''I really hope that''s the best decision.''


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    An Archdevil sat on a throne made of therge bones of unknown creatures, moving a pun across a chessboard as he spoke to the Greater Demon who sat on a simr throne across him.


    "Diablo''s daughter seems to have safely given birth. Shall we go and congratte him?"


    "Hmm...The child who''s the reason for the current unnecessary darkness? When the eclipse ends we shall make our way to his Burning Realms to show our goodwill."


    "The child may be a potential ally in our war with the celestials and the Angels too. We should begin getting him on our side from now."


    "You really are a meticulous fellow."


    The demon chuckled to himself as he replied to the Arch Devil''s words, before cing down the chess piece in his hands.


    "Checkmate."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    In the Egito Universe, a ship was moving across a river of stars with a single being standing at its helm. His usual robe that glowed as bright as the sun was darkened as he stared at the deep darkness of the chaotic void in front of him.


    **FLAP! FLAP!


    With the sound of pping wings, an armoured being descended upon the ship. He retracted his wings as the helmet of his armour faded away, reced by a crown with a cobra atop his head.


    "All-father."


    The being on the helm looked down at the appearance of the one who spoke towards him before replying.


    "Hold on Horus, I need to deal with this worm first."


    The armoured being, the god of war and the sky, Horus, was initially confused. However, this did notst long as he heard a deafening roar that shook the ship they were on.


    |***GRRRRROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!|


    Looking at the source of this roar, a gigantic serpent that blitzed towards the river of stars, he understood what the ''All father'' referred to as a worm.


    It was a huge serpent,rge enough to coil itself around a gxy multiple times over.


    It roared once again as it dashed towards the ship they were on.


    The roar was loud enough, to resound all across the universe of Egito!


    In many of thes below, quintillions of beings heard this roar as they all instantly ceased their various actions before kneeling and taking positions to pray.


    Others rushed into temples and bowed before the statues of the gods there, and some knelt in front of their home altars and prayed.


    Their prayers, could all be summed up in one line.


    "Oh great Ra, protect us from the serpent Apophis."


    As the quintillions of beings who heard this devastating roar began praying, the ''all Father'' who was standing at the helm of the ship sailing the river of stars, god of the Sun, Amun-Ra, stared at the giant serpent approaching.


    He put down the il in his arms as his body suddenly swelled with power.


    This was a racial trait of the god race, the ability to convert the prayers of their believers into power to temporarily strengthen themselves.


    With this power, he swung down the crook in his hand multiple times. Giant shes of golden divinity were released with each swing as the serpent moved to dodge these shes.


    Itsrge size, coupled with the speed of the shes, rendered it unable to do so.


    |***ROOOOOOOAAAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!|


    Its skin began to burn with golden mes as it was hit by the divinity-filled shes. Roaring in pain, it retreated towards the deep darkness that even Ra did not dare tread lightly in.


    After this, the excess power in Ra''s body faded away as he picked up the il he dropped. He then walked towards the slightly stunned Horus and asked.


    "How is your sight?"


    "I still see, as good as any mortal can though."


    Hearing his reply, Ra felt sad as he looked at the darkened eyes of Horus.


    Horus was a god whose right eye was the sun or morning star, representing power and quintessence, and whose left eye was the moon or evening star, representing healing.


    However, both his eyes were darkened at the moment and did not have their usual entrancing glow.


    "Worry not child, it is only temporary."


    "I know, even so, I still can''t help but feel peeved. This being was just born and he already caused so much, he even weakened you to this level as he blocked out the suns."


    "It is not the fault of the child.


    As you said, he was just born so he knows nothing. Let us not involve ourselves in his matters, as they would only bring misfortune upon us and the ones who we are meant to protect."


    Ra looked down on the nts below and the quintillions of beings who had gone back to their daily lives after thanking him for protecting them from the serpent, Apophis.


    He heaved a sigh as he remembered the fear he felt a few minutes ago, as if the Serpent Apophis drank up the Nile he sailed on with his boat.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Various powers across the cosmos sensed the birth of the prophesied child and had a multitude of different reactions.


    Some raged and some were calm. Some believed it was impossible for the prophesied child to fulfil his destiny while others simply just did not care.


    A few theorized about what abilities the child could have that would enable him to kill even gods while some believed he would possess nothing of the sort.


    A few shamans dered that the child was simply going to be the first of his kind, as many more like him would appear in the future, albeit weaker.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    In an unknown ce, a group of beings was currently engaged in a conversation about the prophesied child. One that would make many tilt their heads in question.


    [So that kid was just born, should we really leave him alone? Causality acted on his behalf, you know?]


    The one who was asked this opened his closed eyes and replied.


    {We are of a higher race than they are, nothing he does would affect us.}


    (Where was he born though? I want to take a peek.)


    Another voice asked amusedly as the one who spoke of them being a higher race replied.


    {In that devil''s home.}


    (That Devil? Oh!, you mean Lucifer? So they were rted huh?)


    {Yes, the child''s mother is Lucifer''s descendant.}


    [The father?]


    {He''s from that universe both of you did that experiment in.}


    [The one with the time candidate right? What happened to him anyway?]


    {He got defeated by his children so I took away his candidacy. If he could be defeated by his children with how weak they were at the time, then he won''t be able to survive the next phase.}


    [Too bad for him, still that child is the descendant of two candidates, he should not be weak then.]


    *We would never know what happens in the future, besides you that is.*


    {It''s not my jurisdiction so I can only see limited things.}


    As the two beings conversed the others present simply looked on, interjecting at some moments while remaining silent most of the time. One of them looked in a certain direction before speaking.


    /I wonder how she''d react./


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    In a realm that can only be described with one word; Golden, a ck-clothed woman, seated atop a throne, shivered slightly before opening her grey eyes.


    She ignored the gaze she felt on her body as she stood up from the throne.


    No sort of aura or power could be sensed from her, yet she still had an intimidating air around her that could make one''s hair stand on end just by being in her presence.


    She walked out of the throne room, into a golden hall filled with over a hundred kneeling figures as she spoke with a voice that sounded sweet and euphonious to all who heard.


    "It''s not a hoax this time.


    Find him, all of you."


    [Yes, My Lady!]


    The hundreds of kneeling figures responded in unison before simultaneously disappearing from their positions, warping to various locations to fulfil the order they were just given.


    Left alone in the hall, the beautiful grey-eyed woman spoke out to no one in particr.


    "If you want to end them, simply have to kill me.


    Let''s wait and see if you are up to the task."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    A golden-haired man, giving off a domineering aura, as if he was a king ruling over quintillions, tapped the armrest of the throne he sat on as he spoke in a solemn voice.


    "The fourth of the previous era has returned. The wheel of fate will soon begin to spin once more."


    Sitting on hisp and resting her head on his chest, was a woman dressed in a pure ck gown that contrasted her white hair and skin.


    "Soon, we would have to deal with ''that'' again, for now, let us enjoy the small time of peace we have. This calm, before the storm."


    The ambient energies thrummed wildly as the man nodded before turning his gaze in a different direction and speaking.


    "Yes...until then, we shall bask in this illusion of peace."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    At a certain point in the chaotic void, an unknown amount of light-years away from the area with the Hell and Olympus universes, a being who was floating around in the chaotic void of space, stopped their movements and looked in a certain direction.


    The being was dressed in all ck, with a hood above their head obscuring their face from sight.


    Two dots, glowing in an iridescent light could be seen from inside the hood as the being stared towards the direction of a certain universe.


    ||Only. One. Left.||


    The being spoke those three words, their gender being indiscernible from their voice, before turning around to the gigantic spatial rift that was in front of them.


    They entered into that rift, drifting away, into the cosmos far beyond while leaving behind two words.


    ||For. Bnce.||

 Chapter 17: Child of Destruction; Arthur Vaughn (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 17: Child of Destruction; Arthur Vaughn (NEW)</h4>


    While various beings were having various reactions to the prophesied child''s birth, said child was currentlyughing joyfully in his mother''s arms.


    Besides being a little bit bigger than average, he looked no different from a normal baby.


    "Of course, he''s a normal baby after all."


    "He looks cute."


    "So this is my grandson huh?"


    With the assistance of the Royal family''s private doctor and the two women who had gone through the pains of childbirth before, Cattleya was able to safely give birth to her son without anyplications.


    As for the gods all around the cosmos who were shaking in their booths, the boy''s father included, she could not care less about them.


    The little boy ignored all his family member''s reactions in favour of ying with his mother''s fingers.


    Like his mother, he had silver hair, just a bit brighter in colour. His eyes, however, were ck just like his father''s, and his pupils had an umon shape.


    Unlike the normal, moremon circr shape, his were like vertical slits.


    "He''s just ignoring everyone else and ying with Cattleya only."


    "He seems to like his mommy best."


    "That''s only natural, isn''t it?"


    Hearing the words of her family members surrounding her on the bed, Cattleya tilted her head to the side and asked. To this action, her mother simply put her head back in ce as she replied.


    "When you were just born, you were so full of energy. You yed with anyone who came to see you."


    "I don''t really think I was like that though?"


    "Of course, you would not."


    Inglis replied while rolling her eyes. She then turned to look at the Devil king who had curled himself up in the corner of the room mumbling strange things. She told Cattleya how he was getting depressed that his grandson was not paying attention to him but Cattleya only gave a cold reply.


    "I don''t see how that''s my problem."


    Cattleyaughed at the sight of Creusery attempting to console the depressed Diablo only to end up joining him in the depression as his newborn nephew was also ignoring him before turning to her son and smiling.


    "He''s too cute. I understand why he''s the child of destruction, he''d destroy us with cuteness."


    The baby seemed to understand his mother''s words and iled around happily. However, he was still a baby, one that was only a few hours old, he had very little energy and tired himself out in no time before falling asleep in his mother''s arms.


    Seeing her son sleeping soundly, Cattleya''sck of energy caught up with her as she dozed off while gently hugging the child in her arms.


    Inglis looked at her sleeping daughter with a smile before turning around and speaking to the rest of the people in the room.


    "We would be getting a lot of visitors, both wee and unwee ones. How are we dealing with them?"


    "The same way we did at Creusery and Cattleya''s births, only with twice the level of intensity."


    The once-depressed grandfather instantly recovered his dignity as the Devil King and put up an inhibition barrier around Cattleya before continuing.


    "We would have allies, neutral parties, and enemies in disguiseing over. Cattleya is not to go out for a while, even more so as she''s currently weaker than normal."


    When devils gave birth, the children absorbed a portion of their mother''s strength for themselves. This weakened the mother temporarily and if the situation was handled improperly, it could lead to the mother''s death.


    The silver lining was that it helped increase the child''s realm of existence to a higher level, though a year is needed to tell what level the child was brought up to.


    Sadly, even if the child were only brought up a few stages or just a single minor level, it would still result in the mother being weakened greatly.


    Currently, Cattleya was only a little bit above half her original strength. This was a crucial time when many might make attempts on both her and the child''s lives so going out like she usually did would be simply her courting death.


    "Speaking of which, did she give him a name?"


    "Nope, she probably nned to do so with his father."


    At the mention of the child''s father, Aurora who was present flinched slightly. Inglis saw this and wondered what urred between her and who she thought was the father of the child to warrant such a reaction.


    "Just wha-!"


    Right as she was about to y the insensitive role and ask Aurora without consideration for how she may have felt, she saw something that surprised both her, Aurora who she was about to speak to, and Creusery who was checking on his mother.


    Diablo narrowed his eyes as he gazed in a certain direction with all his six pairs of wings revealed!


    This was an action that Inglis had forgotten whenst she saw Diablo do this, even when battling multiple high-tier celestial deities, he did not do so.


    This meant whoever or whatever he sensed was not to be underestimated.


    All of them instantly became alert. Inglis summoned her magic staff as she felt something pass through one of the barriers she has set up around Dorcaster.


    The other Arch devils in the castle all had tense expressions on their faces, the aura Diablo was emitting just that overwhelming.


    The spherical device she had made on Cattleya''s request began shing wildly atop the table she kept it on. The divinity crystal in it began to glow a dark light.


    Seeing this, Inglis realized who Diablo had sensed, however, Diablo acted like he was a threat, and so she decided to treat him as such.


    There was silence in the room, no one made a sound as they all remained standing with their gazes on the spherical device that was currently shing light.


    Suddenly, it stopped.


    The next moment, they sensed someone warping into the room. Creusery created a spear of ck mes and thrust it forward while Inglis had conjured hundreds of darkness spears and was about to gesture for them to fire.


    |STOP!|


    Diablo''s sudden shoot made the both of them cease their movements, however, he was not speaking to them but to the person who warped in.


    "Tell that to them."


    The intruder, Hades, replied as he unsummoned his twin swords that were pointed in Inglis'' and Cattleya''s directions.


    He then took off his hood and revealed his face. Seeing him, Inglis and Creusery recognized him instantly, he was one of the elder Olympians after all.


    Strictly speaking, the devils of Hell had no disputes with the Olympians, however, they were considered enemies because of the fact that Olympus was allied with Celestials that the devils had animosity with.


    Nevertheless, that was not the reason for Diablo''s actions.


    It was widely known that Hades was superior even among the highest-ranked Olympian gods, even so, his strength was not supposed to be as high as what Diablo was sensing currently.


    Hades also rose his eyebrows in surprise when he looked at Diablo. He then rose a finger in Diablo''s direction and flicked it.


    Diablo responded by opening up his palm before closing it back.


    This set of actions puzzled the others in the room, none of them could see or sense the multicoloured ball of energy Hades flicked towards Diablo, one that Diablo rose his palm to catch.


    "It seems I failed to hide it once again. I also did not expect to see another ''sub''."


    "Are you truly that child''s father?"


    After Hades'' strange words, Diablo asked him the question that had been on his mind for a while.


    "Yep, in the flesh.


    I''m sure you have a lot to ask but first, Can I see my kid? That''s why I''m here, after all."


    After scanning him from head to toe, Diablo finally let him go beyond the barrier he ced around Cattleya, he also sent Creusery to pacify the unsettled devils outside the room.


    A smile bloomed on Hades'' face as he saw Cattleya for the first time in months, sleeping peacefully with their son in her arms. He lightly rearranged her hair that had spilt over her face before touching the baby in her arms.


    Even in his sleep, the baby seemed to recognize his father''s touch as he smiled while grabbing onto the hand touching his face. This caused Hades'' smile to be wider as he spoke the exact same words Cattleya said earlier.


    "He''s too cute. I understand why he''s the child of destruction, he''d destroy us with cuteness."


    He felt the weird stares the others were giving him and turned to them with a questioning gaze.


    "What? Never seen a dad who''s a fool for his kid before?"


    "No, it''s just that Leya said those same words not long ago."


    Creusery''s reply evoked augh from Hades as he turned to Diablo and asked.


    "We have a lot to discuss, so shall we go elsewhere?"


    Diablo nodded and walked out of the room with Hades trailing behind, however, right before he closed the door behind him, he turned towards Aurora.


    "Nice to see you again, Aurora."


    Leaving the unsettled phoenix, he closed the door behind him and walked with Diablo as the two began discussing important matters.


    As there were many Nobles present in the castle, they all saw Hades and instantly figured out who the father of their princess'' child was.


    Upon seeing him, they had a variety of reactions. Some were shocked, some smiled as if amused while others were angry but had to hold themselves back asshing out at Hades would not end well.


    Meanwhile, the duo ignored the stares of the Devildom nobles as they entered a private room to continue their discussion.


    They discussed the issue of Hades revealing he was the father of the prophesied child and how the gods would take the news, especially his brother, Zeus.


    "They can''t do anything to me so they''re just gonna have to suck on their thumbs."


    "They can''t do anything to you?"


    "Yes, what do you think they could do?"


    Thinking about it, Diablo realized there was very little that could be done to Hades. He was a powerful god with equally high status, he was also the king of the Underworld, one of Olympus''s major Superclusters.


    The system of Olympus also relied heavily on his existence, any sanctions they might try to give him would be equivalent to them shooting themselves in the leg.


    "They might try to scheme in the background though, especially Zeus."


    "So then, what are you gonna do about that?"


    "There''d be nothing much for me to do if the boy doesn''t leave Hell for now.


    If he everes to Olympus, it''d be when I''m sure no harm woulde to him. If he stays here, you all would be able to watch him closely and protect him if the need arises."


    "Do you perhaps n to abandon him here?"


    "Obviously not, I''d visit more often than not. However, you should know that I cannot leave the Underworld for extended periods of time due to the nature of my position there."


    Diablo nodded in affirmation before asking about Hades'' rtionship with Aurora. The answer he received was far from his expectations.


    A few dozen millennia ago, Aurora''s family was in Olympus and they prevented Hades from retrieving the soul of a phoenix deity for reasons Hades could not give two fucks about at the time.


    He was quite pissed so he killed her father and brother in front of her before retrieving the soul and leaving. This made Diablo angry but Hades'' words made him calm down.


    "I know you''re angry and all but you should remember that they were the ones in ''MY'' universe, harbouring a soul that escaped from ''MY'' underworld for foolish reasons.


    If you were in my position, would you let them go? They were obstructing my duties as a god."


    Although Diablo felt there was something else Hades wasn''t telling him, he decided to put it behind him as it had already been thousands of years since the incident urred.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "Arthur? That was the name you both decided on?"


    "Yep, his full name is obviously something else but we''re gonna go with Arthur Vaughn.


    Hades doesn''t exactly have ast name so he''d go with mine."


    To the question asked by her mother, Cattleya replied while rocking the baby in her arms to sleep.


    "Well sorry for not getting one from my dad, he was too busy eating his kids to care."


    Hades'' grumbled in response to Cattleya''s words, however, Cattleya ignored him and continued speaking.


    "I don''t really want him to see the scary faces of all those guys outside so he needs to be asleep."


    "Why not just use a spell?"


    Seeing her reason for rocking the child to sleep, Hades asked feeling this was going to take quite a while.


    "No! I want to do it normally, like humans do."


    "Might as well get a human nanny for him."


    "On a second thought I might just do th- Oh he''s asleep, let''s go, we''d talk about the nannyter."


    Seeing as the boy had fallen asleep in his mother''s arms, the trio finally walked into the banquet hall where the celebrations were ongoing.


    [Entering!!!!


    Grand Duchess Inglis, Her Royal Highness Cattleya and His Royal Highness Arthur alongside his Father, Olympian god of the Underworld, King Hades!!!]


    Hearing them being announced, all those present in the hall turned towards them. Seeing the various dignitaries and representatives of various pantheons present, Cattleya clicked her tongue.


    ''What the hell?! There are more of them than I thought! So many auras so widely released might cause him to wake up!''


    Before she voiced her concerns, Inglis coughed quite loudly attracting the attention of most of the eyes in the hall.


    "It''d be appreciated if you all toned it down a little bit."


    She then smiled at them, however, her smile did not reach her eyes. Upon realizing what she was talking about, most of the auras around died down.


    "Arthur here is quite sensitive, you see. His mother doesn''t really want anything to disturb his sleep."


    Diablo spoke before raising his ss and continuing.


    "I thank you all foring to celebrate with me on this new addition to our family.


    Here''s to the new prince of the Devilian Royal Family, Arthur Vaughn."


    The guests rose their sses in response and there was a light round of apuse. After this, the guests began presenting the gifts they had brought for the Royal family.


    Various powers sent representatives with a few Masters attending in person.


    The entire celebration party was broadcast to various locations across various gxies in the Hell universe via advanced magi-technology as many wanted to see the face of the prophesied child that had garnered so much attention in the past few months.

 Chapter 18: gods begin to move behind the scenes (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 18: gods begin to move behind the scenes (NEW)</h4>


    Three-year-old Arthur was busy moving around the royal family''s castle after avoiding the noble''s children that seemed to follow him everywhere he went.


    ''Those kids are so annoying. Alwaysing over even if I don''t want to.''


    The boy grumbled in his mind as he moved up the stairs of his uncle Creusery''s tower. There was a teleporter on each floor but the young Arthur did not feel like using it at the moment so he chose to take the stairs.


    Upon reaching the sixth floor, he encountered some maids who were cleaning some decorative vases in the hallway.


    "Greetings, Your royal highness."


    "Good afternoon, Your royal highness.."


    The maids greeted him one after the other after noticing him. As Arthur had been quite sensitive towards energy since he was barely a year old, he could more or less gauge how strong people were based on the amount of energy he could sense from them.


    Creusery did tell him that stronger people could mask their energies and he would not be able to sense a thing, but the maids in front of him were clearly not at that level.


    Their uniforms showed that they were the lowest-ranked maids and from what he could sense, none of them was above the silver realm.


    Arthur, who was an intermediate stage master realm, was capable of defeating them with rtive ease, if he could use that power.


    However, at three years old, Arthur had only learned the basics he needed as a royal family member and nothing more.


    His uncle told him that he would soon begin learning how to use a sword and he was excited, he couldn''t wait to begin training.


    Thinking about this, he smiled and waved to the maids while walking over to the next stairway.


    "Was that really him?"


    "Yes, he''s the new prince."


    "He''s so cute."


    "Still, to think there was a prophecy about such a cute child."


    "I know right?! They said he was gonna kill the gods."


    "It''d be good if he could kill those damn bastards but how long will it take, we''d be dead before he can get that strong."


    "But his father is a god too, will he kill his father?"


    Arthur had only turned around the corner when the maids started talking, nevertheless, he ignored their words and kept making his way towards the stairs.


    However, when he heard thatst statement, he stopped in his tracks.


    ''Kill? What does that mean?


    They were talking about me, right?


    They said there was a ''prophecy'' about me. What is ''prophecy'' ?


    They also said I was gonna ''kill'' ''gods''. What does ''kill'' mean and who are ''gods''?''


    Three-year-old Arthur could barely understand half of what he heard. All he could understand was that there was this thing called a ''prophecy'' about him and in that thing, they said he was gonna do something called ''kill'' to what he guessed were people called ''gods''.


    He ran up the stairs to his uncle Creusery''s office and decided to ask him about the things he just heard.


    Upon entering the office, the young prince was greeted by the nobles who were in Creusery''s office, discussing important matters.


    Creusery on the other hand, let out a small smile upon seeing his cute nephew and spread out his arms to hug him.


    "Uncle, are you busy?"


    Arthur tilted his head and asked Creusery as he asked his uncle with puppy dog eyes. The young prince seemed to ignore the existence of the nobles who were giving presentations to Creusery as he asked this.


    "Give me a minute, I''d be done."


    While Creusery meant exactly what he said to Arthur, to the noble speaking, he meant something along the lines of ''you have a minute to prove to me that your presentation is worth my time.''


    The noble broke out in cold sweat as he hurriedly highlighted the main points of his presentation while sneaking nces at Arthur who was looking at the wall clock and counting the seconds.


    "Alright done, I get the main gist of it. You will receive feedback within 12 hours.


    Dismissed."


    Creusery dismissed the nobles who ran out hurriedly before turning his attention to Arthur.


    "So Arthur is there a problem?"


    "Problem? Uncle Creusery, what does ''kill'' mean?"


    "Huh?"


    Creusery was stunned at the question he was asked by the innocent-looking three-year-old, before he could even formte an answer, his nephew fired two more.


    "What are ''gods''? And what is ''prophecy''?"


    Hearing the three questions, Creusery''s gaze turned cold immediately.


    ''There was a gag order issued that no one was to speak of the prophecy near him, who was the fool who disobeyed?!''


    He turned to Arthur who was holding his hand to his chin with a pensive look on his face.


    "Ah, Dishionary! That is the name of the book with many words. Dad said it''s called Dishionary!"


    The young prince shouted that as he ran towards Creusery''s bookshelf to look for a ''Dishionary''.


    Seeing this put a smile on Creusery''s face as he stood up and picked the little boy up before cing him on a chair.


    "I''d tell you the meaning so you don''t have to look for a ''Dictionary''."


    "No Dishionary?"


    Creusery nodded as he walked over to his small fridge and brought out a can of juice, poured it into a cup, and gave it to Arthur.


    "Don''t spill."


    He then sat beside the small prince and began speaking.


    "So ''Kill'' huh? It means to ''cause the death of something''."


    "Death?"


    "Yes, death is the end of someone''s life. If they die, you won''t see them anymore, forever."


    "Whoa...!"


    The young prince was fascinated by the new knowledge he gained, he then asked for the meanings of ''prophecy'' and ''gods''.


    Creusery did his best to exin in a way the three-year-old might understand.


    ''So ''prophecy'' is telling someone about something that hasn''t happened yet and ''gods'' are beings like dad!''


    The boy then spent the next five minutes trying to understand what he heard from the maids earlier. Upon arriving at a conclusion, his face paled rapidly.


    "So someone said that I was going to kill dad? If I kill him, I won''t see him anymore, right? I don''t want that!"


    He shouted with tears in his eyes. Creusery only wiped his tears before patting him on the back and saying.


    "Yes, so because of that, some people think you are going to do very bad things to your dad and people like your dad, so they want to kill you before you can."


    Creusery''s words made Arthur burst out into tears, he began wailing while grabbing Creusery''s legs and shouting.


    "I don''t wanna be kill! I won''t be able to see mom and dad anymore!"


    The boy cried for a while as Creusery patted his back while trying to calm him down, unfortunately, Cattleya walked in on that scene and almost punched Creusery to oblivion if not for Arthur''s timely interference, saying that Creusery was only answering his questions.


    "There, there boy. Mummy''s here."


    She lifted him up and she sessfully stopped him from crying before speaking.


    "Don''t worry about those people, mummy, and daddy will take care of it, okay?"


    "Hmmm...."


    The boy nodded before dozing off in his mother''s arms. Cattleya shot onest re at Creusery before taking Arthur to his room and cing him on his bed before warping back to scold Creusery.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    As soon as Cattleya warped out of the room, the sleeping Arthur''s eyes shot open. He looked around the room before looking at his hands.


    Coming down from his bed, he walked over to the mirror to see his appearance. His usual dark obsidian eyes were now glowing a faint blue light, noticing this, he heaved a sigh.


    "I''m only a three-year-old. Oh well."


    He then shaped his hand into a gun and pointed his index finger to his own temple before chanting in an emotionless voice, uncharacteristic of a three-year-old.


    [c0^?3 ? ¡Í [Time]¡ªRelease [r3qq@)E#omn: Memories]


    [Invoke: Passive Personality Alteration]


    His right hand shone with a blue light that shot into his head. His eyes went nk for a moment before regaining their vigor in the next.


    Turning around, he climbed back into his bed and closed his eyes. The next second, Cattleya warped back in with glowing red eyes as she scanned the entire room.


    She walked in front of the mirror and inspected it before speaking to herself as she warped out of the room once more.


    "Maybe I sensed it wrong."


    As she left, Arthur let out a yawn as he slept peacefully, as if nothing strange had just happened.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Meanwhile, Zeus was currently fuming after an argument he had with Hades when he tried to stop thetter from going over to Hell.


    Over the past three years, as news that Hades, an Olympian, was the father of the prophesied child of destruction, many eyes had turned towards Olympus.


    Some gods were enraged that someone of high status like Hades, fathered a child that could be a threat to them. Even those who were originally neutral joined in criticizing Olympus after feeling their worst nightmares on the day of ''ck Sun''.


    Most of them were reasonable like and said that it would be in their best interest to make Hades teach the child in a way that he would not hold any animosity against the gods.


    They believed this would deter the chances of the prophecy being fulfilled as many reasoned that Arthur bringing an end to the gods was only a possibility, not a future that was set in stone.


    Unfortunately,mon sense was notmon, even among gods.


    Some pantheons banded together in an attempt to pressure Olympus into sanctioning Hades in some way. An attempt that enraged Zeus as he felt that those gods were looking down on him and Olympus.


    This fickle alliance broke up very quickly when Poseidon made a show of preparing his armies for war.


    They were mainly greedy gods who were envious of Olympus'' power and wanted to make them reduce it in any way possible, unfortunately, Olympus was not a force to be trifled with.


    What made most pantheons fear Olympus, was the feat aplished by its eldest gods.


    Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, with the help of Hera, Demeter and Hestia were able to defeat their father Kronos who was the master of their universe.


    This was a feat never before heard of, as the differences in strength between both parties was just too much. However, they somehow aplished this feat, and although they were not able to kill him, they seeded in imprisoning him for eternity.


    They also led the younger Olympians to defeat the giants and Titans that were headed by Primordial goddess Gaia, and even seeded in defeating Gaia herself! There were some strange circumstances behind that but a defeat, was a defeat.


    Now, more than two hundred thousand years had passed and the Olympians were even more of a force to be reckoned with. Although the bad blood between the three eldest brothers was known far and wide, it was also known that they would put aside their differences if it came to defending Olympus.


    Regarding Arthur''s matter, some ancient powers and stronger pantheons agreed with the idea of making him inclined to the gods to prevent chances of him turning against them.


    Although left unsaid, they really just wanted to keep Arthur under close watch so they could end him the moment he went out of line.


    To all these, Hades released one statement in reply shocking most of them.


    "Go fuck off, deal with your own internal problems before telling me how to raise my kid."


    Naturally, many were enraged by this as Hades'' statement did not show any respect to them. Unfortunately, they could not do much.


    At this point, Cattleya, also spoke up to silence the voices of the gods who were of the mind that Arthur should be killed.


    "You want to kill my son? Let me see you try.


    It seems you need to be reminded why our devil race is not to be looked down upon."


    Her statement was supported by the allies of the devils of Hell, for various reasons they only knew.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Zeus thought about all these as he warped over to a random that was in a backwater gxy in northern Olympus.


    Hended on a seemingly empty desert and ced his hand on the ground, pulling out a tiny object from the sand.


    This tiny object was shaped like an archaic door.


    Activating the authority he possessed as the Master of Olympus, the tiny door began vibrating as a frightening amount of energy poured out, an amount capable of wounding the average god seriously.


    Zeus just watched this energy flow without doing a thing, he didn''t need to, after all, he wasn''t the average god.


    He waspletely unharmed by this energy flow and only watched as the tiny door erged itself to a size he could pass through after the energy stopped flowing before entering it without a word.


    As soon as he entered, it shrunk back to its tiny size and flew over to another random uninhabited before settling down in a desert and burying itself in the sand.


    Inside the door was a dark realm with very little light, in front of Zeus was a maze that he easily navigated himself through.


    After a few twists and turns, he ended up in a small clearing with a giant orb about 4 feet in diameter shing an iridescent light as it floated in the air. Walking up to the orb, he looked at a small part of it that was cracked and had no lighting from it.


    His eyes glowed dangerously as he spoke to no one in particr.


    "Just a few more years, not more than two decades, it should be enough by then."

 Chapter 19: god of the underworld’s surprise (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 19: god of the underworld¡¯s surprise (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    ''Thi-this is j-just horrible!''


    Seeing the situation in front of him, Gollmiran wanted to shed a river of tears, however, his tear nds seemed to have stopped working.


    In front of him, the disfigured bodies of eight beings could be seen floating around.


    Some of their bodies were in very horrible states as if they had been torn apart by a raging whirlwind, nearly half of them were missing a few limbs too.


    The only thing consistent about them was the gaping holes in their chests and the expressions of agony on their faces, or at least what was left of their faces.


    They looked like they had been tortured continuously for heaven knows how long, before finally being granted the sweet release of death.


    This was only natural, after all, their souls were ripped out of their bodies when they were still alive. The pain of having one''s soul ripped out of their body, regardless of their will, was simply unimaginable.


    As for the culprit responsible for this scene, he was seated in front of Gollmiran on a rock, space debris that came from somewhere Gollmiran would never know.


    With a jovialugh, the culprit cleaned off the blood on his swords.


    The amount of energy being emitted from his body was something that Gollmiran never expected to see, the information he received never mentioned that the being in front of him would be this strong.


    As hemented internally about his impending doom, his mind couldn''t help but wander to the circumstances that led to this.


    ''I simply wanted to prove I was the superior one, I didn''t expect this at all. If I had known, I would have never epted this damn mission!''


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Three Days Earlier


    Borgeth


    It was a universe that was situated west of Olympus.


    It was one of the few smaller universes in-between Olympus and Hell. When ranked, Borgeth was at least a medium-level universal power.


    However, the people of Borgeth were an extremely prideful lot and did not ept the fact that there existed other powers stronger than theirs.


    Their greatestpromise was saying all other pantheons were on the same level as them.


    This pride of theirs, was damaged when they shed with Olympus a few thousand years back, the real reason for the sh had been lost to time but the defeat they suffered was not.


    Since then, the people of Borgeth harbored great animosity towards Olympians.


    As one of the leading universal powers in their areas, they had most of the other universes around them subjugated under their control. This was what made them believe they were unmatched.


    Their pride of theirs was also what made them stretch their hands towards Olympus. In that short war, three main entities of their pantheon were eliminated, by Hades alone.


    The gods dared to invade Hades'' domain, the underworld.


    As such, their deaths were only natural, as even the twelve Olympians didn''t dare enter the underworld casually.


    Among the three main entities that Hades killed, was Borgeth''s god of death and Gollmiran''s predecessor.


    Gollmiran had hated Hades ever since he learned thetter was responsible for his predecessor''s demise. He had improved his strength in hopes of challenging Hades to a fight to avenge his predecessor by proving he was a stronger god of death.


    Completely ignoring the fact that Hades was not a god of death in the first ce.


    His hatred for Hades was no secret so when the master of Borgeth found out about Hades'' involvement with the prophesied child and the responses he gave to the threats of the other pantheons, he decided to teach the ''arrogant Hades'' a lesson.


    However, he was the master of Borgeth and they had many enemies, he was not foolish enough to leave his position easily so he had Gollmiran go on the mission of defeating and if possible, killing Hades.


    Having spies in other pantheons was an unwritten rule among masters, Borgeth was not an exception. He naturally had spies in both Hell and Olympus, so he was able to find out the times when Hades left Olympus and arrived in Hell.


    The main entities of Hell were all aware of this but they all chose to ignore it on Diablo''s orders.


    Gollmiran received the mission and set out with nine of his followers, all of which were at least in the superior stage mid-tier deity realm with the highest being an intermediate high tier deity realm existence.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Hades was returning from Arthur''s fifth birthday celebration when he suddenly sensed ten distinct auras heading in his general direction.


    ''Hmm...?''


    He wanted to cover both himself and his spacecraft with illusion magic but he decided against it, he also remembered Diablo''s answer to a question he had asked right before he left Hell.


    "How do I stabilize this unstable aura of mine?"


    "There are many ways but the best is to fight."


    "Fight? Seriously? That''s what I''ve been doing for months now."


    "It''s different for lesser stages, here you need a fight that would actually be worthwhile, and not a one-sided beat down.


    You can limit your strength to your opponent''s level and see if you would seed."


    He had been wondering where he could find perfect opponents but he never expected the opponents toe to find him.


    Although they tried to ambush him, seeing Hadese out of his spacecraft and stare in their direction made them change their mind.


    Hades flicked his finger and the spacecraft was sucked into his subspace, he then stared at his assants and spoke to them.


    "To what do I owe this visit, um...Where are you from?"


    "You Bastard! How dare you not recognize us Great gods of Borgeth?!"


    Gollmiran shouted out in rage as he realized Hades did not recognize him, nevertheless, Hades did not still know of him even after he said his pantheon''s name.


    "Borgeth? What''s that? A?"


    The question left the ''great gods'' of Borgeth enraged as one of them ended up attacking Hades.


    A giant ball of mes the size of a star, lit up the slightly dark space as it blitzed towards Hades, however, the god would have never expected Hades to deal with the attack the way he did.


    **SLAP!


    **BOOMMM!!!!!


    In an instant, Hades formed a giant palm with darkness divinity and pped the star-sized ball of mes, sending it flying a few thousand miles before it exploded.


    He then used darkness to create a dome that contained the explosion and prevented it from reaching him before turning to the gods with an annoyed look on his face.


    "Seeing as you are attacking, I take it you are all hostile, right? Good, more tools for me to use."


    That was the final point.


    Even though they were slightly stunned at how Hades easily thwarted the attack that would have dealt more damage than just a single exploding star, they did not forget their mission and instantly activated their various authorities, deciding not to hold back against Hades.


    "You once killed my master and now I shall avenge him and prove I''m a better god of death than you!"


    Gollmiran bellowed as he summoned a ck scythe and charged towards Hades, however, Hades only stared at him in pure confusion.


    "But I''m not a god of death in the first ce though?"


    Without regard for Hades'' reply, Gollmiran swung down his scythe, intending to cleave Hades in two. Hades only sighed as he summoned his twin swords and blocked the iing scythe with one of them.


    **CLANG!!


    As the duo shed weapons, the other gods decided tounch their attacks with various weapons and magic.


    Hades rose his second sword to block the de that came from behind, he then spun around and sent his own sh to the attacker. As for the spear that came from the side, he bent his body to dodge it and sent a kick to its wielder''s stomach, causing them to cough out blood due to the force of the kick.


    As the spear wielder was sent flying into a nearby asteroid, Hades then instantaneously moved out of the area of effect of the two magic attacks that came from both sides, however, they possessed homing abilities and changed directions to his new location.


    Landing on a nearby asteroid almost the size of an average, Hades filled his swords with aura to counter the two curved aura shes sent by Gollmiran.


    Another god utilized gravity magic and pulled all the nearby asteroids towards Hades, he then flicked his fingers, causing these rocks to be engulfed by mes.


    ''This is tricky...''


    Just before Hades could begin to deal with the attacks, something unexpected happened.


    [Authority of Space]


    [Authority of Magic]


    [Authority of Proliferation]


    Three gods activated their authorities simultaneously. The first made all the attacks disappear and reappear barely a meter from Hades'' body, the second added missiles of pure magic power to the flurry of attacks.


    The third amplified the attacks, increasing their destructive power by more than 50%.


    **SWISH


    ***BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!


    A colorful explosion could be seen as Hades was hit by these attacks without having a chance to defend. The st radius spread out for nearly an entire light year before the smoke from the explosion began to clear out.


    Hades'' tattered appearance could be seen, but the gods were not surprised about that. What surprised them, was the fact that Hades was not wearing any protective gear for some reason.


    Someone on his level should possess thousands of protective artifacts, armors, and so on, yet none could be seen on him.


    Gollmiran saw this as suspicious but he had no time to address those suspicions.


    Before Hades'' natural regeneration as a god could even kick in, ambient multicolored energy that Gollmiran and the others could not see or sense was absorbed into Hades'' body, healing all his injuries in seconds.


    The gods were about to attack when Hades spoke with his hand stretched out.


    |Wait! Gimme a second.|


    He flicked his fingers and a blue glowing orb appeared in his palm. The gods all instantly became wary but Hades surprised them by exining what the orb was.


    |Chill out, it''s not an offensive artifact. All it does is teleport anyone and anything in the area to a set destination, regardless of will.


    Twas one of the few ''gifts'' I received from my father.|


    The Borgethian gods became even warier as Hades could use such a thing to separate them and end their numerical advantage. The god with the authority of space roused his divinity to resist any sort of teleportation.


    |That''s a futile action. You cannot resist it with a mere divinity.


    That''s not the main point though. You see, many eyes are watching us and it''s quite irritating. I simply want us to go somewhere we could...exchange pointers in private.|


    Hades spoke with a smile as he prepared to use the artifact. Gollmiran sent a message to the space god and told him to cast teleportation resistance spells on them as he spoke to buy time.


    |It''s better this way, let them all see the fall of the bastard who killed my predecessor.|


    |Well, I don''t want them to see how I kill you all. I like keeping my strengths hidden so I won''t be epting any objections.|


    Hades shot back immediately as multicolored strands of energy flowed into the orb from the surroundings as it shed a bright blue light.


    The next second, the eleven gods had all vanished from the area, shocking the countless eyes who were watching the fight from the shadows.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    At another empty space in...space, the group of gods reappeared as the ten who were taken against their wills were shocked.


    The teleportation resistance spells cast on them were useless against the power of the artifact.


    |Tsk...I only have one charge left. Might as well use it to go home when I''m done here.|


    Hades'' voice brought them out of their stupor as one of them shouted in rage.


    |How do you have such an artifact?!|


    |Didn''t I tell you, it was a ''gift'' from my father. He always said ''Surprise!'' when he used it so I''d do the same.|


    As Hades spoke, his body shed with dark light and an illusory suit of armor covered him. Smiling ominously, he continued.


    |It''s the god of the underworld''s surprise, Bitches!|


    At his words, they could all feel it instantly. The aura around Hades had changed.


    It was time, for round two.

 Chapter 20: Clash of the gods (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 20: sh of the gods (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Hades teleported them to an area that was simr to a sr system, except that instead ofs, it had asteroids.


    The area was abundant with the essence of thew of gravity, this could be seen from how over 15-sized asteroids were orbiting around a giant star-sized asteroid.


    ''The absurdities one sees in the universal sea, huh?''


    Hades heaved a sigh as he moved to dodge the floating orbs of pure magic power that were asionally shooting out beams of pure light from them.


    **BOOOMMMM!!!


    The asteroid he was on was consigned to oblivion as his assants who had rposed themselves, attacked simultaneously.


    Hades knew he did not have the leeway to be worried about his artifact''s charges and ced it back in his subspace before blocking the scythe filled with death attributed divinity that came slicing down from above with one of his swords.


    **SWISH!!


    **CLANG!!


    As he was not going all out for various reasons, Hades knew he was going to have quite a hard time dealing with these gods.


    Sighing once more, he rose his empty hand that was previously holding the orb and fired basic dark magic; dark bullet spells, towards Gollmiran.


    Even if the magic was basic, the one casting it was definitely not. A single bullet that managed to hit Gollmiran, nearly severed his wrist from the rest of his arm.


    "Guh!"


    He grunted in pain as he retreated, giving way for the god of space to carry out his attacks. Snapping his fingers, the space god sent all of Hades'' dark bullets back to him, causing them to hit him right in the face with no time to dodge.


    Another god who excelled in closebat sneaked into Hades'' reach and sent a punch filled with magic power to his chest.


    **BAM!!


    **BOOM!!


    An omnidirectional shockwave was released as Hades was sent flying towards another at a speed that dwarfed that of sound.


    |Authority of mes: me Gospel|


    As those words were spoken, a tornado of mes, enhanced by divinity appeared and mmed into Hades.


    **BOOMM!!!


    The spinning tornado acted as if it was some kind of propeller and increased the speed of his fall, causing him to crash down on another asteroid, destroying more than half of it in the process.


    |Hahahahahahaha!!!!!|


    A boisterousugh resounded as Hades got up from the broken asteroid''s debris, almost unscathed. His injured were all superficial and they all healed while he wasughing.


    |Good! You should be able to do at least this much or it would not be useful fighting you!|


    His body size suddenly increased after he spoke, growing to over two meters tall. He then mimicked the magic god and summoned orbs of darkness that floated around him while firing beams of dark light at all the other gods except Gollmiran.


    |Young god of death, you wanted to prove yourself, right? Come at me then.|


    Gollmiran bellowed in rage as he turned into a streak of light, crossing the distance in less than half a second with his body also increasing in size to match Hades.


    He brandished his scythe and swing it towards Hades who was thinking about how weightless the giant scythe seemed.


    ''Well, he is a superior stage high-tier deity, the weight is probably nothing to him.''


    Pivoting on his foot, Hades rose his first sword in an attempt to parry the attack and have the orbs of darkness fire a few beans of light to his unguarded body, however, just as the scythe came into contact with the sword, it glowed slightly before phasing through the first sword with ease.


    Hades had already expected something like this to happen, after all, the weapon of a god would definitely not be ordinary.


    It was bound to have a few strange abilities and although encountering one with a refraction ability was rare, he had already prepared for it as his second sword moved towards the scythe.


    **CLANG!!!


    Shocked by the unexpectedly high recoil, Hades gritted his teeth and redirected the scythe as much as he could.


    **BOOM


    With enough force to shatter the remaining half of the asteroid they were on, the scythe crashed onto the ground. The impact made Hades lose his footing but a being on his level was well-versed in the art of flying, he justmanded the orbs of darkness to fire as his body naturally floated in space.


    ''Oh...fuck.''


    Hades cursed internally as he looked at Gollmiran''s body, only to see that the beams of dark light he fired barely did anything to his actual body despite prating his armour.


    Gollmiran grinned and reached out for Hades'' head. Obviously, Hades was not going to let him have his way easily so he instantly increased the distance between them, inadvertently giving Gollmiran''s followers, who could not attack earlier due to fear of friendly fire, a wonderful chance they could not miss.


    [Authority of Ice]


    The magic god called out as chains of ice manifested and bound Hades'' body in ce. The chains thentched onto a nearby asteroid as the god who was on that asteroid, ran up the chains with a sword in hand, intending on delivering a fatal blow to Hades.


    |Tsk...|


    The sword-wielding god clicked his tongue as he jumped off the chain, just in time to escape the burst of ck mes that hades released from his body.


    Surprisingly, the ice did not melt immediately as Hades had expected.


    |Surprised? Do you want to know why?|


    The magic god asked as he clenched his fist, causing the ice-freezing Hades'' body to increase. Another god then created a giant palm made of pure light magic and pped Hades'' body towards another asteroid.


    ***KABOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!


    **BOOOOMM!!


    Hades smashed through the first and shattered it to pieces before crashing on another and breaking a quarter of it off. More chains of ice and metal burst out of the ground and wrapped around him, keeping him on the ground long enough for another god to attack.


    Even if he regenerated the damage he took from the ice and smashing through the asteroids, it was fine for them because they could attack again, after all, they were ten and he was one.


    They had the advantage in numbers and were using it well seeing as two others were charging up powerful long-range attacks.


    A god with a cloning abilitynded on the asteroid Hades was chained to and dashed towards him alongside his clones, with weapons in hand before shing down on him at light speed.


    [Authority of mes]


    ck fire burst out of Hades'' body, melting the ice and metal instantly as he snapped his head in the direction of the real body out of the numerous clones.


    |Fool, Did you think I would be tricked by mere clones?|


    His calm voice rang out as he kicked off the ground and blitzed towards the true body. Understanding that the n they had was a bust, another god summoned a boy and nocked multiple arrows before firing them towards Hades.


    **SWOOOSH!!!!! SWOOSHHHH!!! SWOOOOOSSSHHH!!!!


    The arrows all flew towards Hades'' vitals but his body flickered away as he dodged them with ease. He then reappeared behind the clone god and shed towards his neck, only to have his sword blocked by a scythe that dropped down from above.


    [Authority of Shadows]


    Gollmiran activated an authority but Hades flicked his fingers and a dome of darkness suddenly surrounded the duo.


    Multiple magic and divinity-based attacks were instantlyunched towards the dome, breaking it almost immediately but Hades was nowhere to be found after it broke.


    Gollmiran narrowed his eyes as he turned towards the direction of the closebat god and shouted.


    |Your left!|


    Understanding what Gollmiran meant, he instantly turned and threw an ether-filled punch towards his left as the bow god nocked multiple arrows to fire in that direction too.


    Hades'' body flickered into view as he threw his sword towards the bow god and used his now empty hand to catch the fist aimed at his face.


    **BOOMMM!!


    A small shockwave was generated from the sh as they were both pushed back a few meters. Gollmiran appeared at Hades'' back and shed multiple times with his scythe which glowed in an ominous red aura.


    |That doesn''t look good.|


    Hades spoke as he released a burst of divinity to disperse the aura before turning around and using his sword to block each sh one by one.


    He rose up his second hand and motioned for his second sword to return, however, the space god who had been strangely silent, snapped his fingers and the sword was teleported elsewhere.


    [Authority of Space: Void Hole]


    [Authority of ughter: ughter''s sword]


    Two authorities were activated by both the space god and another of hispanions as a blood-red aura suddenly wrapped around the three gods surrounding Hades.


    Their attacks became twice as destructive as before and each one dealt a significant portion of soul damage.


    The closebat god punched forward, sending a fistful of red and gold divinity towards Hades, the bow god fired multiple arrows filled with both green ether and a tinge of red while Gollmiran''s scythe released shes that threatened to lop off Hades'' head.


    Since Hades was withholding most of his strength, it was taking his all just to deal with the three of them, as such, he could not dodge when a wormhole suddenly appeared behind him and sucked him, alongside the three attacks from the gods surrounding him.


    ***PLOP!!!


    Another wormhole appeared a short distance away and Hades'' body was spat out from within. His illusory armour was cracked all over and golden blood flowed from the various wounds on his body.


    The space god flicked his fingers once more as all ten gods appeared around Hades andunched attacks simultaneously.


    ''Just a little more, I''m getting the hang of it.''


    [Authority of Darkness]


    Hades finally used his main authority as darkness poured out of his body and formed a dome around him that protected him.


    Multicoloured strands of energy entered his body as his wounds began healing visibly. He ran a hand through his hair and wiped the blood off his face before pouring this multicoloured energy into his sword.


    ''Let''s go boys.''


    The dark dome shattered at the same time the asteroid could not bear the weight of the gods'' simultaneous attacks and five des appeared midair and floated around him.


    This was the result of his sword''s ability, it would have five des appear before contact ad attack the enemy five times with his base strength. For each sessful hit, a part of the enemy''s power would be converted into magic and used to heal his wounds.


    A small shield of darkness hovered around Hades as he sent out three sword shes from each de in his hands.


    Three unlucky gods were hit by these shes, alongside the five others that the swords'' ability provided. Gollmiran then appeared in front of Hades and used his scythes refraction to phase through Hades'' mobile shield of darkness.


    His attack almost hit but Hades turned around and blocked it with his sword, the resulting sh generatedrge shockwaves that pushed the other gods around them back by a few thousand meters.


    [Authority of Death: Withering]


    With Gollmiran activating his authority that allowed him to suck out the life force of his target, causing them to shrivel and die, Hades'' swords began to crack slightly.


    It did not affect Hades as a coat of ambient multicoloured energy that could not be perceived by Gollmiran surrounded his body and protected him from the effects.


    ''Tsk...Despite his attitude, he''s still a genuine god of death huh? My authority of death isn''t as strong as his so I''d counter with my main.''


    |Corrosion|


    With thatmand word, the already active authority of darkness siphoned Hades'' energy as it began corroding any and everything around him.


    From Gollmiran''s scythe to Gollmiran''s hands holding it and to the space around them.


    Gollmiran sensed the danger and backed away instantly, causing Hades to let out a smallugh as he conjured various barriers of darkness to block the array of mes, ice, and lightning that came from behind.


    ''Let''s start rounding up.''


    Hades thought that as he filled his sword with enough divinity to reduce the entire asteroid belt they were into nothing before releasing waves of corrosion.


    One unfortunate god was not fast enough to dodge and his entire lower half was caught by the corroding darkness.


    Hades was not one to let that opportunity go so he blitzed towards the god at a speed that made light seem slow.


    Before the space god could teleport him to safety, his head had already rolled off his neck.


    Hades'' sword met no resistance as if it were a knife being used to cut butter, except in this case, the butter was the neck of a god in the superior stage of the mid-tier deity realm.


    Before the life went out of the eyes of the god he just beheaded, Hades did something he normally would not.


    [Authority of Death: Soul Invitation]


    This was an ability used by gods of death to retrieve souls who were escaping judgement, trying to break out of the system of reincarnation or those who tried to return to life through improper means.


    However, in battle, it could also be used to retrieve the souls of incapacitated enemies.


    Gollmiran was very familiar with this and he felt nothing but pure rage after seeing it used on one of his followers. He knew the pain of having one''s soul ripped out of their body was enormous, even more so for a god with a great amount of life force.


    Even if he was beheaded, he would still have a chance of survival if the protective Layers on his soul were still present but Hades cut that lifeline by using soul preservation.


    After all, soul preservation took out the actual soul, after destroying theyers of divinity protecting it.


    |GAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!||


    The screams of the god rang out in the ears of the remaining nine, causing them to lose all restraint.


    |You damned!!!|


    ***HUMMMMMMM!!!!


    ***CRACKLE!!!!


    ***SWOOSHHHH!!!!


    Ster-scale magic and divinity-based attacks, empowered by authorities of many kinds, flew out at speeds iparable to before. Hades retrieved the soul and moved away quickly, even still, he was hit by multiple attacks.


    |All of you, Zonebination. Now!|


    Gollmiran ordered and they all obeyed, deploying a mobile version of their holy territory; their Zones.


    They were supposed to use this at the start but they felt Hades would not require them to go to such lengths. The death of one of them, however, changed their minds.


    In a god''s zone, all enemies entrapped within had their power reduced greatly as the owner of the Zone experienced the opposite. Combining Zones increased the weakening and strengthening effects depending on how many gods did this.


    ''Fuck!''


    Entrapping Hades in theirbined zones weakened him as he cursed inwardly while trying to dodge the attacksing towards him.


    |Spatial Lock|


    His movements suddenly halted and he didn''t need to be an Einstein to figure out the reason why. The space god had locked the space Hades was in, preventing him or anything in it from moving.


    This would normally not hold him in ce for long but the Zone''s weakening effect caused it to hold him in ce long enough for the giant meter-long arrows of divinity to crash into his body.


    ****BOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!


    Hades released a burst of divinity as he escaped from the locked space. He felt a great deal of heat behind him, only to turn around and see a giant ming meteor heading towards him at breakneck speed.


    Darkness poured out of his body to form multiple shields but the gods would not let that happen so easily.


    Two gods in their true forms shed and punched at him simultaneously, drawing golden blood from him as the force of theirbined attacks sent his body propelling towards the meteor.


    [Authority of Proliferation]


    ***KKKKKAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!


    The entire asteroid belt was destroyed due to the resulting, amplified explosion that lit up the slightly dark space, save the giant asteroid in the centre that acted like a star.


    Gollmiran flew into the explosion as he fired multiple magic missiles imbued with the authority of death''s withering.


    Hades was hit by these missiles as his body was sent flying into the giant star-sized asteroid.


    ''Got it.''


    Right before he crashed into it, his face revealed a wry smile as his body trembled slightly.


    **BOOOM!!!!


    The gods wanted to finish him off but Hades had already decided to stop ying around as he would be in mortal danger if he held back any longer.


    ****SWOOOOOOSSSHHHHHH!!!!!


    A burst of aura was released from Hades'' body as his divinity levels increased exponentially. Enormous amounts of energy swirled around him as his body rose from the ground.


    ***CCCRACKKKKKK!!!


    To the gods'' shock, theirbined zone was shattered as they felt bacsh and spat out blood while grunting in pain.


    Gollmiran was shocked as he felt his strength leave his body, he did not care about the loss of power but instead about the reason the zone was broken.


    One of the few reasons for such a thing happening, was if the god encountered a higher levelled existence than themselves.


    Gollmiran looked up to see a five-meter-tall man wrapped in an armour of pure darkness with a jet-ck great sword in his hands, atop his head rested the legendary artifact created by the three cyclops brothers; the ''Helm of Darkness: Kynee.''


    At this point, Gollmiran knew, he had encountered that situation.


    ||Domain Deration: Underworld||

 Chapter 21: Gollmiran’s Despair (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 21: Gollmiran¡¯s Despair (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    ||Domain Deration: Underworld.||


    Hades'' voice rang out and the surroundings transformed immediately.


    The grey sands of the asteroid''s surface turned ck and the figures of six illusory rivers could be seen around them. On the meadows beside the rivers, hazy figures could be seen wandering around them listlessly.


    The entire area had effectively be a pseudo underworld.


    Hades had used his authority as the king of the underworld, to dere this neutral area, as a temporary underworld.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Gollmiran was a high-ranked god in the superior stage of the high-tier deity realm. His zone was strong enough to withstand being offset by most gods he knew were on the same level as him.


    However, that did not mean it could not be broken. The current situation was evidence of that fact.


    He hadbined his zone with eight other gods. Although their realms of existence were lower than his, they were still able to enhance his zone and increase its power.


    Even so, it was still broken.


    Five of the gods hebined zones with were in their true god forms, yet, it was still broken.


    He was simply unable to ept the reality in front of him, the same was true for the others as the shock was beyond measure.


    They knew the reason this happened, yet they refused to admit it. After a while, one of them was able to ept the reality in front of him, albeit reluctantly.


    He spoke up, with a shaky voice.


    |Mo-mon---!|


    However, his words were neverpleted. Perhaps it would have been better for him to have remained unepting of the situation like others, if so, he may have lived a little longer.


    **PUKK!!


    |You talk too much.|


    Hades'' voice could be heard as he pulled his sword out of the magic god''s defenceless chest. The ster amount of divinity loaded in the sword was enough to pierce the god''s defences with ease.


    Just being in Hades'' domain, also did more in weakening him than when Hades was in theirbined zone.


    In such a situation, the magic god who could easily survive multiple sr systems exploding simultaneously was easily ended by a ster-level strike.


    |That was for the meteor.|


    Hades retrieved the god''s soul via soul invitation before turning to the rest and continuing.


    |y time is over.|


    His actions brought them out of their shock as they watched another one of their brethren fall right before their very eyes.


    Roaring in rage, the others roused their divinities and dashed towards the five-meter-tall Hades who was gazing at them as one would look at mosquitoes they were about to crash.


    He sliced off a piece of therge asteroid he was on and ced it in his subspace before stretching out his palm and casting.


    |Dark Magic: ck Nova|


    It was one of Hades'' most powerful attacks, a spell that most high-tier deities would use as a trump card.


    A sphere of pure darkness, about the size of a ping-pong ball, emerged from his palm. Slowly and softly, it drifted to the ground.


    The instant the sphere touched the ground¡ª


    It became a hypernova.


    A thunderous roarpletely overtook his sense of hearing. Even those who were tens of thousands of lightyears away were able to see the hypernova in all its glory.


    It was just that big.


    Some who noticed the hypernova''s light or sensed the enormous amount of energy it released, either decided to run away from it or move in its direction to check it out.


    As for Hades, his vision was covered in the blinding light of the explosion, he was unable to hear anything and because the spell had locked him in ce, he was not even able to move.


    His pseudo-underworld was also deactivated automatically, alongside all other authorities he had active. It was an effect of the ck Nova spell, the caster was not allowed to do anything else while it was active.


    His domain, however, did its job of amplifying the spell''s effect by almost 15% before being deactivated.


    One might think it was only 15%, however, it should be remembered that this was 15% of a hypernova.


    Everything in the spell''s area of effect, including the asteroid he was standing on, had already been repeatedly broken down on a molecr level.


    As for the gods of Borgeth, any and every defensive spell, skill, or technique they could have cast, any defensive artifacts or treasures they might have activated, were all rendered useless.


    Teleportation was pointless, after all, the explosion spread out at a speed many times faster than that of light.


    This was the power of a hypernova.


    If they had battled in a universe, any and every star system within the next few thousand lightyears from their location would have been reduced to space dust.


    The end result of the spell was nothing short of devastating. There was nothing left, asteroids, stars, name it. Nothing was left.


    As for the ones the attack was originally intended for, all Hades had to do was fly around and pick up the souls from the bodies floating around, or at least what was left of them.


    The darkness was not a problem as he could see very clearly even in the deepest darknesses due to his authority.


    |Soul Invitation|


    The souls of the gods that were still lingering around what was left of their physical bodies were sucked towards his hands.


    All the defensiveyers around their souls were destroyedpletely, the hypernova also dealt soul damage after all.


    Some had survived, albeit barely as they were weakened to the point where even a mortal legendary expert could end them but they survived all the same.


    This was within expectations, they were gods after all.


    Surviving a supernova or two was within the realm of possibility for them.


    Unfortunately, this was a hypernova, one cast by Hades, a god far stronger than all of thembined.


    Them being weakened greatly was expected, this also meant they were unable to resist their souls being torn out of their physical bodies as they screamed out in pain.


    Hades counted the souls as he preserved them and realized that one was missing, he looked around and saw thest one standing, the only high-tier deity in the group.


    |As expected of a universe''s main entity, you can survive my enhanced hypernova and still have the strength to resist your soul being pulled out from your body.|


    Gollmiran did not have the strength to reply to Hades. Even if he was in a better state than the others, he was still weakened greatly and barely had one defensiveyer left on his soul.


    It was as if Hades'' attack dealt more damage to him as he was the strongest among the gods of Borgeth present.


    Looking at the shredded bodies around him, he could only despair.


    Hades ignored him and brought out the piece of the asteroid he put away earlier on and sat on it. He then began cleaning of the magic god''s blood off his sword while thinking about how Diablo''s words were correct.


    ''it was really the best way to stabilize my unstable power.''


    Heugh jovially and Gollmiran flinched due to fear but Hades could not care less. As for Gollmiran, he was on the verge of tears. His subordinates who had followed him for thousands of years had been killed and he was bound to be next.


    ''Thi-this is j-just horrible!''


    He thought internally while staring at the broken bodies of his subordinates floating around before looking at theughing Hades.


    The amount of energy being emitted from his body was something that Gollmiran never expected to see, the information he received never mentioned that the being in front of him would be this strong.


    As hemented internally about his impending doom, his mind could not help but wander to the circumstances that led to this.


    ''I simply wanted to prove I was the superior one, I didn''t expect this at all. If I had known, I would have never epted this damn mission!''


    He remembered the words of Borgeth''s master. He was told that Hades could never beat him, he was so in over his head that he did not realize he was simply being used.


    After all, even if he had seeded in killing Hades by some force of nature, when Olympus came for revenge, he would have been sacrificed as a scapegoat in an attempt to appease them.


    However, he never considered that. He also forgot about the stories of Hades and his brothers.


    ''They defeated the master of Olympus when they had just be high-tier deities. It''s only natural that he''s gotten stronger since then.''


    Even though his injuries were healing at a visible speed, it was never going to be enough to defeat Hades. The gap in strength was just that much.


    From what he could sense, Hades could still dish out more than three more hypernovae of that scale and have more than enough energy left over.


    He now understood the true meaning of Hades'' words; ''ytime is over''.


    Hades had only been ying with them from the start, he hadn''t taken them seriously at all. This was evidenced by the fact that they could not survive one of his spells while he was being serious.


    Although he felt rage at being used by the Master of Borgeth, Gollmiran was too far away to get any revenge, besides, he doubted Hades was going to let him live after he discovered thetter''s true strength.


    |Have you recovered enough to fight? I''m done cleaning my sword.|


    |What''s the point? Just kill me already.|


    |You survived a serious attack of mine. You deserve respect for that, even if it''s only temporary as I would most likely forget about your existence soon.|


    |Hah! So I''m not even worth remembering, huh?|


    Hades shrugged his shoulders and replied.


    |Your words, not mine.


    So, are you going to have ast stand or die a dog''s death?|


    Gollmiran sighed and pulled out his spare weapon before replying.


    |It would be a dog''s death, either way, at least, I have the option of making it a little less disgraceful.|


    |Let''s begin then...|


    Hades trailed off a little as his body disappeared. He reappeared above Gollmiran with mes flickering off his body. He then twisted his body and shed with his greatsword.


    Focusing on Gollmiran''s muscle movements, he snapped his finger and pushed his momentum to the opposite direction, catching Gollmiran off guard.


    Shocked at the sudden change in attack direction, Gollmiran widened his eyes at the deep cut on his shoulder.


    |Ssssss!!|


    Taking a sharp breath of pain, he grabbed the sword while the mes tried to sear his arm, however, Hades only smiled at that action.


    Darkness enveloped the sword as it began corroding his hand, causing Gollmiran to growl out as he forcefully pulled the sword out of his body.


    |Tsk...Just let me hit you already!|


    Hades let go of the sword and flipped his body into the air while pushing his hands in front of him.


    |Firestorm|


    Four eight-ringed magic circles appeared underneath Gollmiran''s feet and a firestorm emerged from within, attacking Gollmiran''s body relentlessly and leaving faint burn marks everywhere.


    Hades'' body flickered behind Gollmiran before leaving a shallow sh wound on his back. He flexed his fingers and created a small dagger of darkness, shoving the dagger deep into the wound then twisting it.


    He then jumped back to avoid Gollmiran''s panicked swing.


    Making more daggers enhanced with divinity, he twisted his body and threw them towards Gollmiran who swatted them away like flies before sping his hands together.


    |Infermum Sanction!|


    Several columns of fire were created around them. These columns then spun towards Hades


    However, before Hades could do anything offensive, Gollmiran''s sword rapidly closed in on his head, forcing him to slide backwards as to avoid being decapitated.


    |I really would not like to get hit by an attack I just used on someone else, you know?|


    Quickly tracing his finger along the floor, he sent spikes of darkness piercing towards Gollmiran. Unfortunately, they were deflected with ease. Even so, they were just a distraction in the end.


    Exploding out from under the floor, a giant spear of darkness shot out towards Gollmiran.


    Widening his eyes, Gollmiran realized that he couldn''t block this and could only grit his teeth and try to reduce the damage he took.


    The spear pierced through his body and propped him up in the air before another appeared and pinned him against the ground while he coughed up a mouthful of blood.


    Seeing this, Hades saw this as a perfect opportunity. Gollmiran noticed Hades dashing towards him while dispatching the columns of fire that were trying to ensnare him. He tried to unhinge the spear from his chest but failed due to ack of strength.


    Gritting his teeth, Gollmiran formed a knife of mes and tried to cut the spear in half.


    Nevertheless, before he could seed, Hades activated his Zone and pulled him inside.


    Gollmiran widened his eyes and tried to move but it was toote. His already low strength dropped even further. At this point, he could not dodge the sword that came for his neck.


    The head of Gollmiran, Borgeth''s god of death, rolled.

 Chapter 22: Returning to the underworld (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 22: Returning to the underworld (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Staring at Gollmiran''s headless body in front of him, Hades sighed and shook his head. He then asked a question that would have made Gollmiran and hispanions spit blood in shock if they were alive to hear it.


    |In the end, who were they anyway?|


    He tried to remember their pantheon name but failed to. Judging it as insignificant, he retrieved Gollmiran''s soul before pulling out the teleportation orb.


    He channelled the ambient multicoloured energy into it as the orb shed a bright light. When it died down, Hades was nowhere to be found.


    Not long after, the groups of beings who were rushing towards this location arrived only to meet the shredded corpses that were beginning to freeze due to the coldness of space.


    Upon discovering Gollmiran''s head, they would go on to spread the news of the death of one of Borgeth''s main entities.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Unnamed


    Unnamed Gxy


    Underworld Gxy Supercluster


    Year 706 of the 50th General Calendar


    The first day of the new year was usually a day for celebration. However, for a group of beings seated at a table in a room on the top floor of one of the many towers of the underworld''s capital, this was no day for celebration.


    Of the four beings engaged in a heated discussion, one of them was a bearded young man with ash skin. Sprouting from his back were two feathered wings of a simr colour.


    Opposite him, was a woman with ck hair and eyes, wearing a red robe that was decorated with the symbol of a burning torch.


    The third was a beautiful young maiden with fair skin and a face that could only be described as the epitome of young beauty. She was d in long, flowing clothing and had a wreath of flowers around her head.


    Lastly, was a pleasant-looking mature woman with a veil over her head though her face remained visible. She was dressed in brown robes that had symbols of wheat drawn on them.


    Suddenly, there was a bright sh of light as another being teleported into the room. Shock filled the faces of the quartet, as they could not sense this until the veryst moment.


    Naturally, this caused them to be on guard, but after confirming the identity of the one who warped in, they calmed down though they remained surprised about not sensing his entrance.


    "Thanatos, Hecate, Persephone, and Demeter? Now that''s onebination you don''t always see."


    The neer, Hades, looked around at the quartet weirdly before calling out to them in order. His voice brought them out of their shock, however, before any could speak, he held up a hand to stop them.


    "Hold up. Firstly, Hecate.


    I used up all its charges, toss it into Tartarus and it''ll recharge automatically."


    Hades threw the teleportation orb in his hand towards her as he spoke. Catching the orb, Hecate looked at it with an appraising gaze only to cry out in surprise a secondter upon realizing what it was.


    "This is one of Kronos'' artifacts! Weren''t these supposed to be sealed?! And you''re telling me to just toss it into Tartarus?!"


    The identity of the orb surprised the other three in the room. In addition, it also allowed them to find out how they could not sense Hades'' teleportation earlier.


    Hades, however, took a seat and began cleaning Gollmiran''s blood on his greatsword. He then looked up at Hecate and asked.


    "Yeah. What about it?"


    " ''What about it?'' These things are banned, you know?!"


    "I know. So?"


    Demeter realized that they wouldn''t get anywhere with the way Hades was acting so she spoke to Hecate.


    "He''s not gonna give you the answer you want. Just keep the artifact properly."


    Hecate sighed and gave up on getting an answer from Hades. However, before she stood up to leave, he spoke up again.


    "Don''t keep it anywhere else. Toss it into Tartarus."


    As expected, she finally lost it.


    "IT''S AN ARTIFACT OF KRONOS, YOU KNOW?! THE TITAN KING!


    AND YOU WANT ME TO TOSS IT INTO A PLACE WHERE THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF IMPRISONED TITANS AND GIANTS?!


    WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT THAT?!!!"


    She screamed at him, however, he just gave her a look of confusion as he repeated his earlier words.


    "I used up all the charges. Tossing it in Tartarus would recharge it automatically, What other reason is there?"


    It was then that Thanatos, who had been silent, prevented Hecate from shouting once more and asked a question addressing her concern.


    "Don''t you think a wandering giant or Titan might find it and use it?"


    "Tartarus is an entire gxy cluster, you know? There is a very low probability of theming in contact with it.


    Even if they did, it has no charges so it''s useless to them."


    Thanatos ignored the fact that the artifact could be charged by just simply tossing it into Tartarus and asked another question.


    "What if there are charges?"


    "It''s bound to me, no one else can use it."


    His answer made Thanatos realize the reason Hades never considered the possibility of it being used by another being in the first ce. Before he could say anything else, Hades spoke up again.


    "Oh yeah. You said that I ended up using a lot of resources in my recent trips."


    As he spoke, Persephone''s face darkened instantly. This was expected, after all, the trips he spoke of were his visits to the son he had with another woman. No normal wife would be happy about that.


    As Thanatos nodded in affirmation, he remembered the reason he had called Persephone and Demeter was to get them to convince Hades to reduce the frequency of his trips to Hell.


    Although the underworld had more than enough resources to fuel Hades'' spacecraft for dozens of millennia, Thanatos didn''t have a habit of over-usage.


    Hades stretched out his hand and used the soul-preservation ability of the authority of death.


    The space in front of him cracked open slightly. Ten balls of light, with one visiblyrger than the other nine, popped out of the cracked space before it closed up.


    "This should work, right?"


    Hades motioned to the souls as they moved towards Thanatos. This time, it was Thanatos'' turn to be shocked, even more so than Hecate who had yet to leave the room.


    "Did you attack a pantheon or something?"


    "Why would I do something as stressful as that? I was on my own and I got attacked so I turned by assants to a potential energy source."


    Hearing Hades'' reply, Persephone became visibly worried.


    "Are you okay? You''re not hurt, are you?"


    Normally, she would not ask such a question, but the souls in front of her were all those of mid-tier and high-tier deity realm existences.


    No matter how strong he was, taking on multiple gods on that level was not something that should be done casually. Of course, she had absolute confidence in his victory, even so, she was worried he would be hurt in the process.


    "Nah, I''m fine. The only problem I have is trying to get thatst dude''s blood off my sword."


    Persephone scanned him multiple times and confirmed he had no injuries before asking.


    "You normally avoid such. However, this time, you not only responded to their attacks but also killed them and harvested their souls.


    What was your real reason?"


    "Nope. Needed to fight for something else. It''s not important to you so don''t worry about it."


    Before she could ask him anything else, he seeded in getting Gollmiran''s blood off his sword and spoke up once more.


    "I''m tired, mentally. As such, I''m gonna take a rest.


    Feel free to use those souls as you wish, Thanatos. Don''t forget to toss that in Tartarus, Hecate. I''m gonna use it again soon."


    He stood up and ced his sword in his subspace before proceeding to walk to the door. Stopping right in front of the door, he turned to Thanatos and said.


    "Thanatos, please make it more widely known that you''re Olympus'' god of death, not me. I don''t find it funny to have idiots attacking me to prove they''re better gods of death than I am.


    How can they prove who''s better if I''m not one in the first ce?"


    He shook his head and heaved a sigh of exasperation while walking out of the room, leaving the dumbfounded quartet behind.


    Picking up the three-headed dog that was on the ground beside the door, he patted its head while remembering that Cattleya once said she wanted to meet it.


    ''I''ll think about thatter, I need some rest.''


    On a side note, Borgeth was in chaos due to the death of one of its Main entities but that''s a story that''s not worth telling.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "Well, that''s enough for you guys'' stories, huh?"


    Arthur yawned lightly as he patted the sleeping La''s head. Hades who was seated opposite him nodded in affirmation as he gazed out the window.


    "A lot of things happened in such a short time."


    "I know right..."


    Hades turned his gaze to Cattleya who was sleeping soundly with her head on hisp as he spoke to Arthur.


    "We somehow got turned into pillows, huh?"


    Arthur chuckled as he looked at La who was sleeping on hisp and poked her cheek a bit before speaking.


    "Now, you all know about what happened before my birth, during the period I was born, how I found out about the prophecy, why I began training at such a young age, and the adventures I went on with Uncle Creusery that exposed me to the dark side of society at such a young age.


    It''s high time you readers got back into the main story, don''t you think?"


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    C-E-8


    Star system C-E


    Nemo Gxy


    Year 709 of the 50th General Calendar


    Eight-year-old Devildom Prince Arthur Vaughn was staring at the that was watching a world burn with a solemn gaze.


    Ever since the incident about two years ago, where Creusery consigned a to oblivion in front of him, he had been taken on various ''adventures'' with his uncle and had seen his fair share of celestial bodies meeting their untimely ends.


    This caused the eight-year-old to be almost numb to the scene in front of him as he only heaved a sigh while thinking of when Creusery would return from the next and take him back home.


    Beside him, was a man that Creusery had introduced him to, a being that held a special position in the Hell universe.


    He was a tall man over six feet with hair as dark as the night. As for his race and position, he was a high drifter, a breed of drifters much like the high elves and Arch Devils.


    Bearing the name Larry, this man was the one who presided over all drifters in the Hell universe. He was someone who Creusery believed would be helpful to Arthur in the future so he introduced the young eight-year-old to the man.


    Larry chuckled as he saw the expression on Arthur''s face and was about to speak up. However-


    ****BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

 Chapter 23: Interlude 1 – The players, the pieces, the ones who see beyond the surfaces (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 23: Interlude 1 ¨C The yers, the pieces, the ones who see beyond the surfaces (NEW)</h4>


    It was Red.


    Red as far as the eye could see.


    Except for the asional ck dots floating around midair, everything else was red.


    In this seemingly infinite red, footsteps could be heard. They were calm and rxed, like the steps of a king strolling in his castle.


    As for the one who made these footsteps, he could not be described with anything other than one word; ck.


    ck three-piece suit, ck tie, ck shoes, ck gloves, ck hat, and a ck walking stick. He looked like a rich noble from medieval times, dressed in the best quality clothes.


    His face was ever-changing, as if he could not settle on a particr appearance.


    One moment he looked like a young human man in his early twenties, the next he looked like a middle-aged demon who had lived millions of years. One thing was certain, and that was that all the faces he put on were undeniably the most handsome one could ever imagine.


    It was unknown when it happened but at one point, the red became white.


    White as far as the eye could see.


    The asionally ck dots floating around midair still remained, and of course, everything else was still white.


    Amid the seemingly infinite white, sat a woman. In front of her was a table with a chessboard atop it. Opposite her was another white chair, prepared for whoever she was to y with.


    Of course, both the chair she sat on and the table in front of her were white.


    As for her appearance, she was dressed in a white gown, white shawl, white diamonds on her neck, and white shoes on her feet.


    Her facial features were also breathtakingly beautiful, with white hair and skin. Her hair was longer than average, flowing down until her waist. Unlike the man in ck, her face was unchanging.


    Each action she took was angelic yet bewitching at the same time.


    The chessboard before her was set up, however, unlike the usual sixteen pieces a normal board had, this one had twelve.


    The pieces were of two colors, white and red.


    White for her and red for her opponent, the man in ck who took a seat on the empty chair in front of her.


    As if in response to him, the pure white chair was dyed jet ck in an instant. He then raised his hands and took out the third chess piece on the eighth row. (c8)


    The woman looked at the board and sighed before removing the third piece on the first row (c1).


    After this strange set of actions, the man turned his gaze to the woman as he spoke.


    "He has incarnated."


    "I know."


    "Did you have a hand in it?"


    "We both know I did not."


    "But you protected the one who did."


    "I was simply keeping the promise we made to him."


    The woman''sst reply caused looks of visible annoyance to sh across the man''s ever-changing face. He was about to say something but she cut him off.


    "You are the one who isn''t keeping our promise of non-aggression. You do not see me taking any actions against your people, I''m sure he would do the same, do not take any actions against his people."


    "I care not for that promise, why should we let him reincarnate himself into such a lowly existence?!"


    The man shot back in rage, however, the woman''s sudden anger seemed to supersede his. She frowned as the atmosphere around her changed, her angelic expression instantly became one of demonic fury.


    "Ah. Okay, so it''s not that I don''t care for it. It''s just that I do not understand why he would do such a thing."


    The man realized he had angered her with his words and calmed down before speaking. His statement seemed to cause some of her anger to subside as she smiled lightly before replying.


    "It''s not that you do not understand, you do, yet you refuse to ept it. Either way, it was his decision.


    Just as he did not object when we started the game, we should not object when he chooses to enter the board."


    Despite her words, the man still showed an unwilling expression, his ever-changing faces showed different expressions of anger, annoyance, and then, resignation.


    Heaving a sigh, he looked down on the board in front of them as he spoke.


    "It has been quite a while since that piece was eliminated, yet no recements have been made."


    "It was your fault, it would havested longer had you not intervened then."


    "Should we do it over?"


    "There''s no point. We would just have a predetermined result."


    The man in ckughed loudly before replying.


    "Predetermined, huh? He would eventually return to where he belongs, I would only be elerating the process."


    Looking at him, the woman realized his seriousness as he even stopped his face from changing and stuck with one appearance.


    "Let''s see how far you can go without breaking the promise. On a side note, I would take action if you seem like you would seed."


    She smiled charmingly as he spoke yet the man had no reaction to this smile that would have captured the hearts of many.


    "Tsk...Just say you don''t want me to seed."


    After speaking, he looked down on the first piece on the eighth row on the board (a8). The woman also looked down on the first piece in the first row (a1).


    The two then spoke one after the other.


    "I wonder what they are nning."


    "It must be fun, enough to keep me busy till you stop watching him."


    "That will never happen, as far as you intend to break the promise."


    "Haaaaa....."


    The man only heaved a sigh at her words and said nothing more, only shaking his head n disappointment as he looked down below, past the seemingly infinite white, down to the figure of a certain eight-year-old boy watching a go up in mes.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The Seer


    Undisputedly one of the most powerful entities in the Hell universe, save its main entities.


    He was also one of the few nobles of the Devildom who held the title of Marquis. Even among the Marquisates, The Seer was highly respected.


    The reason for this was simple;


    Like Apollo in Olympus, he was the one who governed over the aspect of prophecies in Hell. Prophecies, Oracles, revtions, and so forth. As far as it considers the Hell Universe, then The Seer knows about it.


    When the will of the universal sea sent out the prophecy about Arthur''s birth, he was the one who received it on behalf of the Hell Universe.


    Today, that same seer was in the presence of the four Grand Dukes, alongside the royal family of the Devildom.


    Diablo, King of the Devildom and Master of the Hell universe, propped his chin on his hand before speaking.


    "So? What did you see?"


    The Seer bowed to the other royal family members seated, Cattleya, Creusery, Aurora, and Inglis before replying.


    "Fourteen humanoid Shadows, their gender indiscernible, each and every one of them releasing a great aura that made me feel suffocated."


    Not many knew this but when The Seer received some visions, he had an out-of-body experience where he experienced the events of the vision as if he was truly there.


    That was obviously the case, seeing as he was slightly trembling even while speaking.


    "Each and every one of them possessed a marking. A blurred-out crest on the back of their palms, in the middle of this crest, was a number.


    A roman numeral from Romersk, they numbered ''I ¨C XII''. Two of them had the number ''X'' on the backs of their palms.


    The lower the number, the more power they possessed."


    He took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing.


    "The Fourteenth had a sword drawn on the back of their palms instead of a number.


    Another thing I noticed was that some had non-human features. Like the ''III'' that had two wolf ears on their head and ''II'' had horns on the sides of their head.


    The problem, however, was what they did."


    Cattleya narrowed her eyes at the seer as she asked.


    "What did they do?"


    "They kneeled."


    "What?"


    Cattleya was surprised at his answer, these mysterious figures kneeling did not sound like as much of a problem as the seer made it seem like.


    "The fourteen beings all kneeled facing a single direction with their heads bowed.


    Next, some sort of portal, space rift, ck hole, I don''t even know what to call it, but it opened up in front of them.


    A fifteenth being walked out, the same blurred-out crest on the back of his palms but with the number ''0''.


    The power he possessed was something I could not fathom, there was just so much energy rolling off his body that I was unable to sense his realm of existence.


    It was even worse than the other fourteen.


    This fifteenth being looked at the fourteen kneeling on the ground, and then, at me."


    All the beings listening showed expressions of shock on their faces, even the usually straight-faced Aurora. The seer continued speaking before they could voice out their confusion.


    "He stared at me with glowing red eyes, the left one then turned blue temporarily before he spoke, his words sent a chill down my spine."


    "What did he say?"


    Diablo asked with a solemn voice and the seer took multiple deep breaths to calm himself down before replying.


    "-Go back to your time, Seer.-"


    Everyone''s eyes widened in shock as they heard the seer''s words. Whoever this fifteenth being was, they knew who the seer was and even knew he was looking into the future.


    ''What sort of existence...?!''


    Diablo gazed at everyone present before speaking.


    "Not a word of this to anyone.


    The fact that he saw such a vision involuntarily means that this is rted to us. Until we understand it more, we would have to be careful with this information."


    Diablo then teleported out of the room the moment he was done speaking, he reappeared in a dark space with multiple screens showing different scenes from different parts of the hell universe.


    He then sat on the throne in front of them and thought to himself.


    ''No doubt about it, it''s one of them....''


    He thought about the kind of being the seer saw as he closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

 Chapter 24: Lewis and Vow (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 24: Lewis and Vow (NEW)</h4>


    Larry chuckled as he saw the expression on Arthur''s face and was about to speak up. However-


    ****BOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!


    He was interrupted by arge explosion, one that was not caused by the ck mes slowly burning the they were on.


    "Hmm...."


    Narrowing his eyes, he gazed in the direction of the explosion as he tried to figure out the cause.


    "What was that?"


    By the time Arthur asked the question, Larry had already figured out the cause of the explosion. He ced a hand on Arthur''s shoulder and warped the both of them over to the site.


    Waving his hands, the mes in the area died down and the sight of arge four hundred meters wide crater with a being in the center could be seen.


    Larry snapped his fingers and the being who was in the middle of this crater appeared in front of Arthur.


    "Huh? A devil?"


    He had two pairs of bloody and tattered devil wings sticking out of his back. Arthur then held up his head and studied the face of this brown-haired devil.


    While Arthur was holding his head, the unknown devil''s eyes opened to reveal a set of red pupils that glowed dangerously.


    Arthur trembled involuntarily due to fear but Larry grabbed the unknown devil''s head and spoke to him.


    "Know your ce, brat."


    Turning to Arthur, he asked if Arthur wanted to know who he was and the boy agreed. Larry nodded in affirmation as his eyes shed purple for a moment.


    [Authority of Knowledge: Information Database]


    The essence of thew of knowledge swirled around the two of them. Larry rose his other hand and protected Arthur from the pressure of thew''s energy while he scanned his information database for the devil''s name and face.


    "Found him."


    He let go of the devil''s head and he dropped to the ground before turning to Arthur and speaking.


    "Name is Lewis. He''s quite special.


    He was a knight of Marquis Subtem, however, some incident urred and he earned the Marquis'' ire. Now he''s being chased by the Marquis who wants his head.


    What''s more, he is a descendant of a powerful ancient giant."


    As soon as Larry finished speaking, he looked up at the sky and frowned.


    "And herees Marquis Subtem himself."


    The brown-haired devil, Lewis, struggled to get to his feet but failed. He was riddled with wounds and the bones in one of his legs were all shattered.


    "Bout 3 minutes till he''s here."


    Larry was a powerful drifter, most likely the most powerful drifter in all of Hell. His senses were on a different level and this allowed him to sense the Marquis who was crossing the void of space from an entire light-year away.


    "I have a suggestion."


    "What is it?"


    "Take him in, he''d be useful in the future."


    Arthur rose an eyebrow at Larry''s sudden suggestion, he did not understand how Lewis would be useful to him, even more, when he was on a Marquis'' hit list.


    "You should start building your own force yourself, your Uncle has told you this before, right? Despite how this guy looks, he''s actually a deity.


    If you make him your subordinate, it would do you well in the long run."


    Arthur went silent as he tried to weigh the pros and cons of taking Lewis in. He remembered Creusery''s words about him forming his own band of subordinates that took orders from him alone and made his decision.


    "Okay then."


    Larry smiled and flicked his fingers, a parchment and pen appeared in between Lewis and Arthur.


    "It''s a soul contract, something to keep him bound."


    Turning to Lewis who was ring at him with bloodshot eyes, he continued.


    "This prince over here is capable of saving your ass from the Marquis, all you have to do is sign that soul contract, with your blood of course."


    Arthur gazed at Larry while thinking thetter was even more devil-like than him who was the son of a devil before turning to Lewis on the ground and grabbing the contract in the air.


    He skimmed through it and signed it with his blood before cing the parchment on the floor in front of Lewis.


    "How much longer, Larry?"


    "Less than a minute."


    Hearing that the Marquis who was after his life for a reason he did not know was so close by, Lewis decided to sign the contract.


    Not because he knew who Arthur was, but because of the fact that Larry, someone he sensed to be far more powerful than the Marquis, was ring at him with glowing purple eyes.


    The moment he signed the contract, the parchment burst into mes as he felt something constrict his soul for a second.


    "Guh!"


    He grunted in pain as he rose his head to speak but he suddenly sensed the source of an enormous amount of energy entering the''s atmosphere.


    **BOOOOMMM!!!!


    A streak of light shot towards the ground. Upon collision with the ground, there was a loud explosion that shook the entire.


    Larry waved his hands and a tall elderly-looking man with dull grey hair appeared in front of him and Arthur.


    "Hmmm?!"


    The man was on guard and roused his energy the moment he appeared but upon seeing Arthur, he dropped his guard and bowed.


    "Greetings, Your Highness."


    "Marquis Subtem."


    Arthur addressed the familiar old devil in front of him by his title before gazing at Lewis on the floor and then back to the Marquis.


    "It hase to my notice that you are after the life of my property."


    "Huh?"


    The Marquis'' expression became one of surprise, as he never expected Arthur to say that at all. Looking at Lewis who was on the floor beside him and Larry who was grinning mischievously, the Marquis arrived at a conclusion in his mind.


    ''Did that drifter make the prince do something?''


    Arthur ignored the Marquis'' skeptical gaze and continued speaking.


    "Since you were ignorant of this fact, I would let it go this once. However, should you target my property once more, I would not stay put."


    "But, your high-."


    "Since when did Marquises have the right to object to the words of royalty? Even when I gave you the benefit of doubt, you still dare to refute my words?"


    The young prince narrowed his gaze as he stared at the elderly devil who was struggling to hold back his annoyance.


    "Lewis here; is my property. I cannot have you killing my property.


    Case closed."


    Marquis Subtem was about to suggest apromise when he suddenly felt a crushing pressure bear down on his body.


    "I dyed the destruction as I was still close by, only toe back and encounter this funny scene."


    The marquis felt a hand tap his shoulder and he didn''t need to turn around to know who it was, he offered his greetings immediately.


    "Greetings to the Crown Prince."


    Creusery disregarded the Marquis'' greetings and continued with his earlier words.


    "I believe my nephew said that devil was his property.


    Sure, the Marquis has a lot of authority but I don''t think that authority allows you to attack a royal''s property now, does it?"


    "No, Your Highness."


    "Good. You should go home and deal with your granddaughter instead of trying to kill the guy who didn''t even know she fell for him."


    Creusery tapped the Marquis'' shoulder once more and the light of teleportation covered him, warping him out of the area.


    Turning to Arthur and Lewis, he shrugged his shoulders and warped all three of them back to his spacecraft that was waiting a few hundred miles above the''s atmosphere.


    "You said he''s your property, from now on, he''s your responsibility."


    With those words, Creusery walked out, leaving Arthur and Lewis in silence. The young prince then turned to Lewis and began thinking about how he would make thetter useful to him.


    As he was lost in his thoughts, his mind couldn''t help wandering back to the events that urred a few months earlier.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    After Creusery began taking Arthur around the variouss, realms, and gxies he explored, Arthur learned about the dark side of reality.


    It was also then that the young Arthur realized that a great deal of the noble''s children who were ''friends'' with him were only in it for the benefits they would get.


    They were all sent by their parents to make friends with the new prince while they remained none the wiser about the things going on behind the scenes.


    A few of them were already enlightened by their parents on the real reason they wanted their children to befriend Arthur, but the majority of them remained ignorant.


    This discovery saddened Arthur, despite all Creusery had made him experience, even if he matured faster than his peers, he was still just a seven-year-old boy at the time.


    The reality that the majority of his friends were not true friends impacted him more than he had expected. However, when he settled down to think about it, he understood the reasons for the nobles'' actions.


    He was the son of the Devilian princess who held the title; Arch Devil of Destruction. In the event that they earned his mother''s ire, a friendship between him and their children may result in his mother sparing them from certain doom.


    There were many people who would stop at nothing to be on his good side.


    Not long after, he realized that his mother knew of this and was worried that he would be used for the benefit of the nobles, but she took no action.


    The devils adopted a ''Hands off'' policy when dealing with the younger generation, Excessive interference was not allowed.


    "We devils are essentially selfish creatures, we are apparently ruthless, with strong impulses topete against each other for resources, and to umte power and possessions.


    If we are kind to one another, it''s usually because we have ulterior motives, just like most of the nobles are with each other.


    If we are good, then it''s only because we managed to transcend our innate selfishness and brutality. There''s always a reason behind someone''s kindness.


    It''s up to Arthur to figure out this reason and decide if he should cut that person off or not. If he ends up being used by them, it would be his fault and will serve as a lesson for him in the future.


    He is quite mature for his age so he should be able to find out who is true or useful to him and who is not.


    You should, shouldn''t you?"


    He overheard his grandfather, Devil King Diablo, saying those words to his mother once.


    He also felt like thest question was meant for him and not his mother. After all, there was no way that his grandfather would have not realized he was hiding behind the door that day.


    The fact that his mother did not notice him, was probably due to him too.


    Pondering on his grandfather''s words, he realized the devil king was right.


    Although devils matured quickly, Arthur was an anomaly that matured way faster than his peers. He was also far more capable than them in other areas too.


    He made the decision to cut off those who were not useful to him, however, he warned himself not to get overconfident.


    Even if he could outsmart his peers, there was no way that the old noble devils who had lived at least more than a hundred of his lifetimes would not see through him easily.


    Nevertheless, it was both a reason for caution and a source of motivation for him. He vowed to himself, that he would not be used by anyone, that he would be strong enough that no one would see him as someone they could easily deceive.


    He would not be used by any of the Devilian nobles, no matter the rank. Whether it was one of the Four Grand Dukes or any of the Six Dukes.


    The frightening talent he had, he vowed to use it to make himself stronger, smarter, and wiser. After all, the ones with power stood atop everyone else.


    Weakness, could effectively be considered a sin.


    That day, Arthur had just turned eight years old when he made the vow to be stronger than everyone in every way.


    It became his creed, one he would stick to for the rest of his life.

 Chapter 25: The one who watches secretly (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 25: The one who watches secretly (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    It was a rainless summer afternoon and eight-year-old Arthur was practising his swordsmanship with Creusery as usual.


    This was a month after the incident where he entered into a soul contract with the ancient giant''s descendant, Lewis.


    Speaking of ancient giants, Arthur asked Creusery about them but thetter only told him that he would be granted ess to information on the ''elders'' and the ''ancients'' when he had reached the required age and realm of existence.


    With the help of Larry, Arthur had begun recruiting mercenaries to work under Lewis. This was his first attempt at building a force of his own.


    As for the funding, this was handled with the enormous allowance that he possessed as a member of the Devilian royal family.


    The kind of money that would be the yearly budgets of most intergctic empires.


    On to more important things, Arthur had noticed that over the years, his ability to manipte his magic power was reducing.


    His body''s energy flow was bing stagnant and it seemed to get worse as he got older. The more he got used to the power he possessed as an intermediate stage master, the more difficult it became to use his energies.


    He had gotten a glimpse of how to use his aura but he had not been able to awaken it due to his stagnating energy flow.


    After asking his mother about it, she told him it was probably because he had not yet had his ''magic blooming''.


    Magic Blooming, was an event where a ten-year-old devil awakened their full energies and gained their first pair of wings.


    Although they would be able to use their energies before ten, they would only be able to use barely a fifth of what they truly had.


    Nevertheless, even if he could not manipte his energies, he could use artifacts just fine.


    Most artifacts these days were made with the function that allowed the artifact to automatically absorb the energy of the wielder and could be activated without the wielder having to consciously pass energy into them.


    Arthur had more magic energy than his peers and an equallyrge amount of aura and divinity.


    That was the third of his four energies; divinity.


    A type of energy that devils were unable to use, however, it seemed that being the child of a god gave Arthur that privilege.


    Knowledge of his divinity was secret as only his father and grandfather could tell he possessed it.


    Creusery helped Arthur get familiar with various magic artifacts, swords, spears, etc. He thought the young prince how to use various artifacts, offensive or defensive.


    Cattleya also continued his energy training despite the fact that his energy flow was stagnating.


    The ten-thousand-year-old Arch Devil racked her brain for reasons as to why her son''s energy flow was stagnating as she stared at her brother and son who were about to spar.


    "Begin."


    As soon as Cattleya spoke, Arthur dashed forward instantly. Pivoting on his foot, he shed with his wooden sword towards Creusery who dodged with ease before retaliating.


    Arthur rose his hand to block the de, but the chill he felt down his spine made him do otherwise. He quickly pulled out the spare dagger strapped to his waist and used it to block Creusery''s attack as his uncle''s initial figure was gone from in front of Arthur.


    "Nice Instincts."


    Creusery praised as he pushed his arm up and forced Arthur''s arm into an ufortable position before poking his back with his wooden sword.


    "First Point. Idiot Brother."


    "Thank you for the praise."


    Arthur said while chuckling at his mother''s form of addressing her brother. He then pulled out a sword artifact and dashed towards Creusery who was staring at Cattleya with a look of confusion on his face.


    "Leya, why-"


    **CRACKLE!!!


    He was interrupted by the sound of lightning as he filled his wooden sword with magic to prevent it from breaking and turned to Arthur.


    Arthur used a footwork technique Creusery showed him a few weeks earlier, to close the distance and sh at Creusery.


    Creusery smiled softly with an impressed look in his eyes as Arthur''s execution of the footwork technique was satisfactory.


    He then responded by swinging his sword towards Arthur''s.


    Just as their swords collided, Arthur was surprised to see all his initial force and momentum dissipate into the surroundings as Creusery''s sword travelled up his de and towards his guard.


    He quickly broke contact and took some distance before pulling out two more handheld artifacts.


    ''If I can''t win with one, then I''d just use more.''


    "What''s wrong? I thought you were feeling confident earlier?"


    "Tsk...What fun do you find in trolling me every time?"


    Arthur shot back as he forced his energy into the two artifacts. Creusery onlyughed and kept on taunting Arthur in an attempt to make him lose his cool.


    "You''re practically begging for it, with your actions, That is."


    "You! Don''t regret it.


    Blink!"


    Arthur narrowed his eyes before activating the short-distance space artifact in his other hand. Closing the gap between them, he thrust his sword forward as several lightning bolts shot out from it.


    **SHRING!!!


    With a sound a wooden sword should definitely not make, Creusery cut down on the lightning bolts in an instant.


    "Rely too much on artefacts and your actual strength decreases."


    "As far as I''m concerned, the artifacts are my strength."


    Arthur grinned as he responded to Creusery. Chains then suddenly burst out from the ground as he activated the second artifact he pulled out.


    The chains drained the energy of whomever it locked on and prevented them from using it to enhance their bodies. It was only a single target artifact and didn''tst long but Arthur felt it was enough.


    "Hou~ It would take more than that to hinder me, you know?"


    Creusery grinned back as he inwardly praised Arthur for not losing his cool due to the derogatory remarks he was throwing out earlier.


    "An unstable mind is one of the reasons people lose a lot of battles."


    He took a deep breath as he spoke, and then stepped towards Arthur. The energy-draining chains were broken apart instantly.


    *PAK!!


    Before Arthur could react, he was disarmed in an instant, causing his sword artifact to beunched across the room.


    Reaching out for Arthur, Creusery lifted him up to his shoulder and spoke.


    "I suppose it''s my victory."


    Arthur had already grown quite tall for his age, reaching almost 4 feet 6 inches. Nevertheless, Creusery easily lifted him up and held him with a strong grip that prevented him from breaking free.


    Until Cattleya punched the back of his head, that is.


    "OW!! What was that for?!"


    "You''re teasing him too much."


    Cattleya replied to Creusery as she pulled Arthur off his shoulder and held the eight-year-old in her arms.


    "He''s eight years old, you know? When are you going to stop treating him as if he''s five years younger than that?


    I don''t think Lady Inglis did this to you when you were his age."


    Before Cattleya could reply, Arthur jumped down from her arms andnded on the floor. He told her he intended to go out and she advised him to take the guard team she assigned him.


    It was a team of twelve transcendents and a demigod as their leader.


    "Hmm...What''s wrong?"


    Cattleya noticed Arthur staring at the sky strangely and couldn''t help but ask. Arthur on the other hand, scratched his silver hair before replying.


    "So you know that stuff you taught me about, sensing gazes of people and stuff. I felt like someone was watching me."


    Creusery and Cattleya, however, onlyughed off his statement saying he was feeling oversensitive from his spar with Creusery.


    They then warned the eight-year-old boy not to stray too far from his guards and let him go out to the castle town.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    If Cattleya or Creusery had bothered to check, they would have realized that Arthur was not just being oversensitive.


    Far up above the''s atmosphere, in a small private spacecraft, a tall figure could be seen staring down on the Aeturn.


    It was a woman with light blue hair reaching down to her waist. She gazed at Arthur with her monolid blue eyes that fit perfectly on her beautiful face.


    "Oh wow. I just did it on a whim but I didn''t think he''d notice. Still, he is quite handsome for his age."


    "I know, right?"


    The woman spoke to herself as she deactivated her irvoyance and another voice replied to her as she shot the intruder an annoyed look.


    The intruder was also a woman like her, except with ck hair and eyes. She was quite tall and dressed in a way that showed off her long legs.


    "Don''t you Supremes have better things to do?"


    "Of course we do. I''m free because in special."


    "More like jobless..."


    "I''m not Jobless, okay?! I have a job, I''m even working right now."


    The blue-haired woman rolled her eyes as she replied sarcastically to the ck-haired woman''s words.


    "Yeah, I do. I definitely do."


    "Of course you do. After all, watching you, Alexia, is my job."


    "Yeah...I said I knew."


    The blue-haired woman, Alexia, replied as she walked over to the small drink bar nearby and poured two sses of wine before offering one to her uninvited guest as she sat down.


    "Ohh, so you finally acknowledge me as your drinkingpanion, huh?"


    The ck-haired woman then looked down on the below and asked a question that caused Alexia to nearly choke on her drink.


    "So, when are you going to stop stalking him and actually go talk to him?"


    "PFFFTTTTT!!!!


    I''m not stalking him, okay?!


    It''s just that they''re too overprotective. If I showed myself now, they''d be hostile. I also don''t want ''that guy'' to notice me. I feel like he''d recognize who I am."


    "A little toote for that, he already noticed you.


    It''d be weirder if he didn''t, this universe is his territory, after all. Moreover, you didn''t bother to hide your aura. He probably didn''t take any action because he knows you''re not hostile."


    The ck-haired woman took a sip of her drink before continuing.


    "He has been busy dealing with the assassins that get sent before his daughter could even notice. Chased a few down even when they went to other universes."


    "I see, so he knew, huh? And he seems to have inherited his father''s sharp senses."


    As Alexia replied, her drinkingpanion''s face darkened a bit but she did not notice. After emptying a few bottles, Alexia took a nap on the sofa while her drinkingpanion patted her hair as she slept.


    "Lucifer''s descendant, huh?


    To think you were the ''new one'' I sensed eight years ago. Let''s just hope you don''t end up like your ancestor."


    Her words were heard by no one, definitely not the one they were intended for.

 Chapter 26: Layla Eryrth (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 26: La Eryrth (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    The Devilian pantheon was made up of thousands of greater and Arch devils. However, the main entities who ruled the pantheon alongside the devil King were just twelve.


    The Four Grand Duke, the six Dukes alongside the Crown Prince, and the Princess of the Devildom.


    They were equivalent to the likes of Olympus'' ''Twelve Olympians'' or Oblivion''s ''Divines''.


    Each of them was from a family that had existed as far as the earliest known records of the Hell universe. Families that were believed to have supported the first devil king and they have had the positions of main entities passed down within their families for millions of years.


    Among the twelve, Seven of them possessed special unique Authorities, the authorities of the deadly sins. These seven authority holders were a step above the rest of the main entities of the Hell Universe.


    They identities of the main entities were as follows;


    Grand Duchess Inglis Leviathan, holder of Envy of the Seven Deadly sins,


    Grand Duke Conrad Eryrth, holder of Pride,


    Grand Duke Belphegor, holder of Sloth,


    Grand Duke Mammon, holder of Greed,


    Duchess Asmodeus, holder of Lust,


    Duke Araman, holder of Fury,


    Duke Tikan, holder of Gluttony,


    Duchess Jostron,


    Duke Hollis,


    Duchess Celosia,


    Crown Prince Creuserey Vaughn,


    Princess Cattleya Vaughn.


    All twelve of them were high-tier deity realm existences and possessed great influence in the Devildom of Hell.


    As for why they do not all possess the same noble rank, that is a story for another time.


    Not more than a week after Arthur''s birth on the 31st of December, Year 700 of the 50th General Calendar, the wife of Grand Duke Eryrth and sister of Duchess Celiosa, Iberis, also gave birth to her child.


    A girl she named La, who was also born with quite a high existence level.


    She was born in the inferior stage of the master realm and over the past eight years, she had shown great talent and ingenuity that surpassed most of her peers.


    As the daughter of one of the Devildom''s grand dukes, she was brought up strictly and was given all the necessary education to act in a way befitting of her great status.


    From etiquette training to swordsmanship, to magic lessons, horsemanship, archery, and many others. She had been taking all these as far as she could remember.


    As strength was also a necessary factor for a grand duke''s daughter, she had been trained in a lot of weapons and magic.


    However, despite countless attempts by her mother to make her favor the sword like her father, she never ended up doing so. Instead, she preferred using magic/magi tech guns.


    Magi tech guns were a result of alchemy and magi-technology, aimed at giving those who were unable to use their magic power properly, an alternative means of protection.


    Unfortunately, many of the Devildom''s nobles looked down on this, as the devil race was one that prided itself on its enormous energy reserves and energy maniption skills.


    As a weapon made for those not skilled enough, the magi tech guns were something the elite disliked.


    There were various types, some were simr to artifacts that absorbed the wielder''s magic power to create bullets. The strength of the gun depended on the quality of the magic power in the bullet loaded in the gun.


    As for La, she liked them all. The type did not matter, she simply liked them all.


    Despite her mother''s lectures to not associate herself with them, she still ''secretly'' went out to hidden shooting ranges and magi tech gun shops.


    She had a serious case of what one could call, ''gun fanaticism''. This was evidenced by the fact that she disliked other weapons and only trained on how to use them so her mother would not take serious action to separate her from her beloved guns.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    It was a fine afternoon and as usual, La was touring a weapon market in one of the capital cities of a county located on Aeturn.


    Upon arriving at her favorite shop, she excitedly ran inside, ignoring the cries of her guard troop that tried to prevent her from leaving their sights.


    Normally, she was always excited to see the new arrivals in the shop, however, today she was even more so. This was because of the sale of a limited edition set of pistols that were created by one of the Devildom''s leading alchemist and magi tech engineers.


    Werinbert Boffin was considered the best alchemist and magi tech engineer of his generation and was one of the big brains behind the magi tech gun project.


    He was also the second son of Margrave Boffin, one of the Devildom''s military leaders. His inclination to create magi tech weapons was most likely due to his father''s influence.


    This fine afternoon, was the release day of one of his new masterpieces, ones La wished to acquire immediately.


    It was a limited edition release and only one set was avable at the moment and La wanted to get that one.


    Entering the shop, La made her way to the second-floor gallery where the gun was disyed on.


    Many made way for the Grand duke''s daughter as her face was well known in these parts. Besides, no one wanted to offend her by arguing about guns with her.


    Although she was just eight years of age, it was already obvious that she was going to be a great beauty in the future, in fact, she already was.


    She was a girl of average height and slim build, with fair skin and long hair that spilled over her shoulders and down to her waist.


    Her almond-shaped green eyes and spruce eyebrows seemed expressionless like a doll but made one feel the strength of her volition.


    She smiled as she stretched her hands to pick up the pair of guns only to see another pair of hands already on them.


    Looking towards the owner of those hands, she was met with the figure of a hooded boy around the same height as her. His face was not visible as his hood had inhibition magic on it.


    "I was here for these first. Please take your hands off."


    Not wanting to make a scene, she politely asked him to let go of the guns. Her voice was mature for her age and one would not believe she was only eight from just her voice.


    Her polite attitude also led others to think the hooded boy would let her go with the guns but their expectations were shattered by his reply.


    "You entered the store first, however, you did not touch these first. I did, so I should be the one telling you to let go."


    The onlookers were stunned by his reply, some even began to feel pity for the boy who dared to offed the grand dukedom''s little princess.


    A few whispered to him in an attempt to persuade him to forgo the weapons and La''s guards were beginning to frown as they felt anger towards the one who dared to be arrogant in front of their youngdy.


    "So what if you''re a grand duke''s daughter? I got to them first so I get the right to pay first, you can only have them I''m unable to pay."


    One of the attendants in the shop heard his words and walked up to him before speaking.


    "I advise you not to argue about this matter. Looking at your appearance, there''s no way you would be able to afford these, just let it go."


    He even tried to push the boy''s hands off but to his surprise, the boy did not budge. La on the other hand ignored the attendant who was only seeking to curry favor with her and tried to end the issue in a civil manner.


    "Can we negotiate about this? I''m willing topensate you twice the price if you agree to let it go."


    However, while she was willing, her guards who held most of the money she came with were not.


    "Youngdy, you do not need to argue with this plebian. Let us handle this."


    One of them spoke up as La''s face twisted in annoyance at his words. She scanned the hooded boy and although he was not wearing any expensive or luxurious clothes, she felt calling him a ''plebian'' was a bit too much.


    "Galleu! There was no need to insult him. Apologize now!"


    The onlookers also felt that the guard went a bit too far but the scene of La reprimanding him increased her evaluation in their hearts.


    ''The youngdy is quite magnanimous!'' they thought.


    "But, youngdy-"


    "Apologize!"


    The guard, Galleu, attempted to refute but La silenced him andmanded him to apologize once more. He gritted his teeth and was about to speak but the hooded boy beat him to it.


    "So you think everyone is below you just because you managed tond the position of a grand duke''s daughter''s guard, huh?"


    His words felt mocking to Galleu. He was a genius who had be a transcendent in a short time and his skills were personally recognized by the grand duke.


    ''Being forced to apologize to a nobody was one thing, but being mocked is another, I can''t take this.''


    However, before he could act, the boy ignored him and continued with his earlier words.


    "Don''t you know the saying; ''There''s always a sky above the sky''. I suggest you keep it in mind."


    He then turned to the shop attendant and spoke impatiently.


    "Wrap this up for me, I need to leave here quickly."


    La felt something was wrong upon hearing his words, she was quite smart for her age so she could easily figure out what the boy was trying to say.


    He was hinting that his identity was not one to be trifled with. However, as far as La knew, there were very few people who would not fear the grand duke''s authority.


    ''Either he''s rted to another one of the grand dukes or he is...!''


    The moment she had that thought, she looked towards the boy again, this time trying to sense his realm of existence.


    However, she sensed nothing, so did her guards, as such, they felt he was a normal child.


    [Young Lady, that boy is not simple. Please let this matter go and leave there quickly.]


    She heard a voice in her head, a telepathic message sent by one of her hidden guards called ''Number three''. Number three was an existence in the deity realm and had been at La''s side since thetter was just a baby.


    La trusted the guard assigned by her father and turned to warn Galleu, who had been restrained by the other guards, to apologize again.


    "Hurry and pack the damn thing up!"


    The boy''s impatient voice rang out once more. La snapped her head in his direction while wondering why he was impatient, but themotion at the door grabbed her attention.


    At first, she feared she had attracted arger crowd, however, after seeing the reason for themotion, she finally understood why Number three wanted her to leave quickly.

 Chapter 27: Duel (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 27: Duel (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    "Grand Duke Belphegor."


    Someone muttered, confirming the identity of the man who had just walked in.


    He was a tall man with short gray hair, his face looked as if he was in his fifties, however, multiplying that by five thousand would not be up to quarter his true age.


    Visible on his hollow face, were wrinkles that made him seem gentle in appearance, but his eyes were as sharp as an eagle''s.


    He wore a traditional butler uniform like always and looked graceful as he slowly stepped into the room. Disregarding both La''s presence and that of those who bowed in respect, he walked up to the boy who seemed like he wanted to hide and spoke one word.


    "Exnation."


    His gaze was fierce and many looked away for fear of meting his eyes. The person he spoke to, however, onlyughed before replying.


    "Uncle Bel! Nice to see you, what brings you here?"


    His words left the onlookers gobsmacked. The boy who looked no less than an average kid one could randomly pass on the street was speaking so friendly with a Grand Duke.


    Meanwhile, La was even more shocked than they were.


    '' ''Uncle Bel''? I''ve heard that before. There''s only one person who dares call him that, but she''s a woman, that means this boy is-!''


    La didn''t take long to arrive at a conclusion. His earlier words now made sense to her, this also exined why Number Three wanted her to leave the area quickly.


    When the boy removed his hood while talking to Belphegor, thereby dispelling the inhibition magic on himself, her suspicions were confirmed.


    The boy had short hair that looked like a mix between silver and tinum blonde. His facial features were highly handsome and he had deep dark eyes.


    His vertical slit pupils fit perfectly on his face making him appear even more attractive. As he gave a light smile, multiple females of all ages, La included, were captivated by him.


    La blushed slightly as she realized she was enamored by his beauty, however, she immediately came back to her senses.


    ''I should have left when three said I should. Now I''m probably going to get caught up in his whims once again.''


    She sighed internally as she curtsied and greeted him, her words shocking most of the people present who hadn''t realized who the boy was.


    "Grand Duke Eryrth''s Daughter greets Your Highness, Arthur. Forgive me for my actions earlier."


    As she spoke, her guards, Galleu included were surprised. However, they did not hesitate to bow their heads. . Galleu was screaming internally to himself as he did not expect the one he called plebian to actually be the Devildom''s prince


    Following this, all the people in the store showed no hesitation in bowing, some even got on their knees.


    Arthur on the other hand, onlyughed as he saw this before turning to La.


    "Don''t be so stiff La, we aren''t that unfamiliar with each other. Raise your head already."


    Without even waiting for a reply, he turned to Belphegor and continued.


    "So Uncle Bel, I really wanted to add these to my collection, you see. However, the release time shed with my lesson time, I was quite torn between the two.


    In the end, I decided to follow my heart and here I am."


    He then turned back to the attendant with a re and shouted.


    "Pack-It-Up!"


    Hearing his voice, the attendant snapped out from his stupor and immediately packed the guns before presenting it to Arthur.


    Just as Arthur was about to collect them, a hand covered in gloves stretched out and snatched the package much to Arthur''s dismay.


    "First of all Prince Arthur, My name is Belphegor, not Bel. Secondly, I have been given authority by your mother to confiscate these.


    They shall be returned provided youplete the assessments you left undone."


    As Belphegor spoke, Arthur''s facial expressions changed from shock to sadness and then joy. He made a small guts pose as he began walking out of the store.


    "Why are we still here then? Let''s get going already, I have assessments to finish."


    He tossed a small sack of coins onto the disy case where the guns were as he was walking, only to notice that more than half the people in the building still had their heads bowed.


    "Huh? Y''all are still bowing? I thought I told you to raise your heads?


    Oh well, shop attendant and foolish guard over there. I don''t wish to hear of you being in the burning realms by tonight. It should remain that way, forever."


    Hearing his words, many were shocked at the indirect banishment. However, when they remembered that Galleu had called the prince a ''plebian'', they felt their prince was quite benevolent.


    Arthur on the other hand, ignored all the murmurs of the others and walked up to La.


    "So La, about these guns. I actually don''t have much use for them but I won''t give them to you for free.


    How about...you prove you are worthy of them?"


    He then pulled out his magi tech smartphone and gave it to her before continuing.


    "Contact info, not the official one you gave me thest time.


    I''d contact you about my conditions tonight."


    La sighed internally once again as she did as Arthur requested. After which, Arthur hummed to himself as he walked out of the shop.


    The moment he left, La spoke up, breaking the silence that had enveloped the entire shop.


    "We''re returning. Galleu, don''t forget the prince''s words."


    The other guards all looked at Galleu with pity, but they could not say or do anything, only shaking their heads in disappointment.


    Looking at Arthur who had a serious look on his face as he conversed with Belphegor on his way back to the private teleportation gate halls, La wondered what could make the carefree prince put on such a serious face.


    ''It''s probably an important matter I shouldn''t be concerned with. For now, I should concern myself with how I''d escape mom''s nagging.''


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Unfortunately, La''s assumption could not be further from the truth as Arthur was only giving his phone a weird stare as he spoke.


    "It still baffles me how such a small device is capable of so many things. This is one of that Boffin dude''s works, right?


    I heard he improved the originals the humans invented and added extra features with magi tech."


    "Yes Prince, the current smartphones are the upgraded versions of the originals created by the humans of ''Earth''."


    Arthur pondered on Belphegor''s reply as he stared at the phone in his hands. ncing at the ground, he asked.


    "Where is ''Earth'' anyway?


    It''s a strange, having the same name as the attribute, yet, the humans from there imed there was no sort of magic or supernatural energies there."


    "Unfortunately, its exact location remains unknown to date. Other ''Earths'' have been discovered over the years but they were all decoys."


    Arthur sighed as he ced his phone back in his pocket while thinking about what conditions to give La. He grinned evilly as he thought of many different options making Belphegor heave a sigh of exasperation.


    ''He has the same look on as the princess when she is about to mess with someone for no reasonable reason. They are so alike in the wrong ways.


    I should probably send my condolences to the youngdy for being caught up in his pranks.''


    Meanwhile, La who had just finished narrating the events of the day to her mother suddenly sneezed.


    ''Who''s talking about me?''


    She rubbed her nose as she thought about what conditions Arthur could possibly give her for the guns.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The next day, La made her way to the private training center not far from the weapon market she usually frequented.


    Upon arriving, she was led to a reserved personal training room by the attendants. Walking there with her father beside her, she remembered the phone call she received the night before.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    After having dinner with her parents, La was about to leave the dining hall when her phone rang out loud. She usually didn''t care to silence it as most of the people she interacted with frequently all knew she disliked being called atte hours.


    Upon hearing the phone ring, a frown formed on her Father''s face.


    Grand duke Conrad Eryrth was a straightced man who abided by the saying that there was a time for everything.


    To him, unless it was an emergency, the nighttime was not for phone calls.


    Although he was usually nice and doted on La a lot, when it was necessary, he was even stricter than her mother.


    La inwardly cursed at whoever owned the unknown number calling her and picked up her phone as she ignored her mother''s cold stare. She then answered the call and put it on the loudspeaker.


    "Good Evening. Who is this please?"


    [HUH?!


    Why so polite?


    Oh well, I couldn''t care less. Remember what I said this afternoon, I''ve decided. If you want those then all you have to do is beat me in a duel tomorrow, I''d send you the location now.


    Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.]


    Hearing the voice on the phone, the family of three didn''t need the speaker to introduce himself for them to know who he was.


    [Why aren''t you replying? You shy or something? Or...is your dad there?


    If he is, say hello to him for me and tell him I would like him toe over tomorrow too.


    See Ya!]


    And just like that, he cut the call without giving her a chance to reply. Her father only ced his hands on his forehead as he spoke.


    "The prince and his whims again."


    And that''s how she ended uping over to the Odger Training center with her dad in tow.


    The Odger training center was a ce managed by Count Odger of the Devildom. Many nobles of all ages came there for various activities ranging from light exercises to training spars.


    It was built with a variety of training rooms equipped with barriers for light spars and duels.


    La changed to a more suitable attire, which consisted of a full-body suit with arm and shin guards included.


    She was then led to another room that had six other people inside. Upon seeing them, she nearly cried out in shock. The Crown Prince, Princess, and two of the grands, Grand Duke Belphegor and Grand Duchess Inglis were there.


    The one who called her over was ying on his phone. Seeing her enter, he dropped the phone and moved towards her while waving.


    "La over here!


    Oh! Morning Grand Duke, didn''t expect you to actuallye though."


    Without waiting for her to reply, he pulled La to the center of the room while telling her not to bother with the greetings. He led her over to the weapons section and told her to choose the weapon she wished to use.


    They were given bracelets with green gems embedded in them. These were sacrificial artifacts that took fatal damage on their behalf, and the first one to have their sacrificial artifact broken loses the duel.


    "Better win Arthur, Or I''d increase your training."


    "I''ve barely had any breaks since I was three! What more training could you possible add?!"


    "Maybe I''d teach you ''Sword of Victory''."


    "You want to teach me an aura technique when I can''t use aura?!"


    Creusery and Arthur bantered causing Cattleya and Inglis to chuckle lightly as La tucked the guns she chose in their holsters.


    [Do your best.]


    La heard her father''s voice in her head as she stood in the middle of the training room and faced Arthur who decided to ignore Creusery''s absurd demands.


    She smiled softly, feeling more motivated. Deciding to try out her closebat skills first, she took a stance opposite Arthur as she waited for the signal.


    **BUZZ!!!


    The moment the buzzer sounded, Arthur kicked off the ground and rushed straight towards La.


    **BAM!!


    "That''s some punch!"


    When La''s open palm caught Arthur''s fist, a loud sound reverberated in the room as though the air vibrated and trembled with that alone.


    "Quite fast and heavy too!"


    La curled her other hand into a fist and sent it straight towards Arthur''s face causing another loud sound to reverberate across the room.


    "You too, your punch is heavy. Who''s the one who said that bullshit about girls having weaker physical strength? That''s a lie!"


    Arthur caught her fist this time and they remained in that position in lieu of a contest of strength


    ''We''re still testing the waters but that''s a grand duke''s daughter for you. No way she''d go down easily.


    This is a weed change of pace from the inferior stage masters from those backwaters uncle Creusery usually makes me fight.''


    The two eight year old''s strengths were even as they were locked at a standstill. La then chuckled as she decided to reveal one of her abilities.


    Locking gazes with Arthur, her green eyes glowed as magic power zed within them. This caused Arthur''s body to stiffen and he remained rooted in ce.


    "!!"


    Arthur''s body reflexively twitched and drew back but the moment he ckened his strength, La had already twisted her body and amassed potential force.


    "You''re wide open!"


    Before Arthur could regain his stance, a whip-like high kick had already right in front of his eyes.


    "Release!"


    Arthur shouted as the anklet on his feet that La didn''t notice unlocked itself and fell off. It was a strength sealing artifact that limited his physical capabilities.


    The young boy felt like a weight had been lifted off his body. By releasing the artifact, he could respond to things he could not before. He instantaneously moved outside the range of that kick.


    "What the-?!"


    La was astonished, as she was sure her kick would connect, Arthur took advantage of her surprise and rushed forward again, releasing a series of fist blows this time.


    "What was that weird anklet?!"


    **BAM!!!! BAMMMM!!!!!


    "What''s with those paralyzing magic eyes?!"


    **BAM!! BAM!!! BAAAAMMMM!!!!


    Arthur and La shouted as their fists collided with each other, raising a thunderous roar that shook the air. Inglis couldn''t help but make a surprisedment upon seeing this.


    "Are these kids really in the master realm?"


    "This is still nothing. After all, they''re still fighting hand to hand."


    Cattleya remarked in response as Arthur gradually overpowered his opponent. With La''s arm guard growingid, Arthur pushed it aside and delivered a blow to her vicle.


    "Guh!"


    Being shoved to her backside, La''s body was blown back, however, she soon regained her bnce and stood up excitedly as though she would hop up and down.


    "You''re quite good, your Highness."


    "So are you."


    After being put through a lot more fights than an eight-year-old should go through by Creusery, Arthur was beginning to enjoy fighting in general. His hidden inner battle junkie was beginning to show itself.


    Perhaps this was the eight-year-old boy''s way of adapting to his uncle''s Spartan training methods, or this was a result of the strange event that happened the day he discovered the prophecy of his birth.


    Arthur felt a numbness lingering in his fist, which was a testament that La''s defenses were anything but ordinary.


    "Then, it''s high time I do what I''m supposed to do. I don''t really fancy hand-to-handbat, you see?"


    La reached her hand towards Arthur. In her palm, the gun that was supposed to be in her hostler appeared.


    "A reequip artifact, huh?"


    La smiled smugly as she pointed the twelve-round pistol towards Arthur, who responded with a simr smile as he removed one of the rings on his fingers.


    "Haaaahhhh?????!"

 Chapter 28: Superior Stage Master Realm (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 28: Superior Stage Master Realm (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    "Superior stage...since when was this and why didn''t I know?"


    "I''m more surprised at the fact that we could not see through it..."


    Creusery chuckled and rose his hand. The ring Arthur threw to the ground flew towards him as he replied to Cattleya and Inglis respectively.


    "It was supposed to be a surprise so I didn''t tell you. As for how you didn''t see through it, it''s naturally because of my concealment ring."


    He held up the ring in his hands as he spoke. He then went on to exin how his attempt at making Arthur gain a near-death experience by pitting him against an inferior-stage grandmaster realm monster, resulted in the eight-year-old breaking through to the superior stage of the master realm.


    On a side note, the young prince still lost the Fight and Creusery had to step in to end the monster. After all, a newly advanced superior stage was no match for an inferior stage grandmaster who had been in that realm for years.


    Naturally, Cattleya was livid upon hearing this and would have ended up making Creusery gain his own near-death experience if not for Inglis who restrained her timely.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    While Cattleya was trying to murder her own brother for putting her son in a dangerous situation, the son in question wasughing at La''s surprise.


    "I was born in the intermediate stage, that was eight years ago. Don''t you think I should have improved by now, even you are now at the intermediate stage."


    He remarked on La''s increase in strength. Originally born in the inferior stage of the master realm, she had absorbed energy cores from master realm beasts over the years, improving her strength by a stage.


    She could have attempted to improve even further but she stopped due to her low absorption efficiency. She decided to wait for her magic blooming and continue afterwards. For now, she focused on honing her skills and techniques.


    Naturally, if she could do that, then so could Arthur.


    "I used to absorb cores from when I could finally manipte my energy to the level of my mum''s ridiculous standards, however, I have been losing my ability to manipte my energy recently.


    Hopefully, this would be resolved at the time of my magic blooming, advancing in realm without the help of the convenient energy cores is tiring."


    His words were said casually but the weight of them was far from casual. Conrad frowned as he heard this.


    ''At eight, he should be getting better at manipting his energy as his magic blooming is getting closer. Something is wrong somewhere...''


    He looked towards the royals seated at his lift but they showed no surprise, as they were already aware of this. Deciding to think about itter, he turned his focus to the duel.


    "Just because you''re a stage higher doesn''t mean you can''t lose."


    "That''s what I like to hear."


    **BANG!!


    The moment Arthur replied, a shining bullet that seemed to consist of condensed dark light was fired. It left a sparkly trail as it drew near Arthur.


    It was faster than the light arrows produced by most bow artifact users that Arthur had faced.


    "?!"


    Arthur took a huge leap to the side to avoid it. However, that was a wrong move as the second bullet fired by La was already well on its way as though she had been aiming for Arthur''snding spot from the start.


    "--?!"


    Arthur felt he had made a blunder, he did not have much experience fighting gun users as he usually just sted them with long-range magic from afar. This was why he was being over cautious, had he evaded it with minimal actions, such a blunder would not have taken ce.


    ''But, it''s not a mistake just yet.''


    **CRANKK!!


    Although Arthur refused to use magic in this fight, this did not mean that weapons were out of the question. ON his right wrist was a bracelet, an artifact that absorbed the wielder''s magic power and created a weapon out of it.


    Even if it looked simple, it was quite difficult to use, even more so with his declining energy maniption abilities. As such, he was stuck with the default setting, sword Creation.


    He had used this artifact for so long so he could now deploy it almost instantaneously and use it to repel La''s bullet on the spur of the moment.


    **KA-PYUNG!!


    The ice sword he created with the artifact created a clear resonating sound as it repelled the bullet that aimed for Arthur''s feet.


    "How''s this?!"


    La fired three more bullets as she spoke. Normally, some magi tech guns had the shoring of needing a few moments to reload the bullets into the cartridge, however, La''s guns had no such shorings.


    Arthur repelled all three bullets. By closely observing her gaze, the muzzle''s angle, and her finger movements, he could estimate the bullet''s trajectory.


    The young prince was beginning to appreciate the harsh training Creusery made him go through.


    The repelled bullets were sent flying in the direction of the spectators but a barrier that was erected between them prevented it from getting close.


    Arthur paid this no mind as he kicked off the ground and dashed towards La. Her fighting style relied on controlling the distance between her and her opponent by gunning them down and leaving little gabs to be taken advantage of.


    While she could fare well in closebat, she preferred to fight this way. Arthur also decided to y by her game and take victory too instead of using a long-range attack himself.


    **BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!


    Whilst evading the gunfire by a paper-thin margin, Arthur stepped forward and warded off bullets that would likely hit him with the sword. . Evasion, stepping in, and warding off, he made instantaneous decisions for each action as he drew nearer.


    "I''m not stopping either, you know!"


    Right. What was most troubling with fighting La was that she herself was keen and agile with extraordinary physical prowess, unlike other ranged fighters who had more of agility than physical strength.


    ''Which is why it''s fun. It''s worth the challenge!''


    "I''ll show you I can reach you!"


    The gap between Arthur and La was gradually closing up as Arthur repelled her onught of bullets. However, she still had herposure. This means she had some sort of ace up her sleeve.


    The question was; when would she use it?


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    La on the other hand, was admiring Arthur in her heart. Having met the young prince multiple times, she knew how carefree he was and how he always seemed to take everything as a joke.


    Seeing his strength now, made here realize that there were indeed thing she took seriously. After all, it would be impossible for him to ward off her bullets like so if he was not training seriously.


    His perceivability was dead urate due to the sharp senses he inherited from his mother''s bloodline. His movement was exceptionally keen and agile while his gestures were fluid and graceful.


    La had begun to question if he was actually an eight-year-old like her.


    As he thought this, Arthur slipped past her right hand and arrived in front of her eyes. He came around La''s side to make sure the muzzle of her gun would have a hard time aiming at him.


    He only needed one more step and La would be within reach of his sword. That was when La suddenly grinned evilly.


    The contrast between her beautiful face and her evil grin made stunned Arthur for a second. It was either that or the fact that her green paralyzing magic eyes shed for a moment when she struck out her empty left hand.


    In her grasp, another gun made its appearance.


    ''Shit!''


    **BANG!!


    "Kugh!"


    In the nick of time, Arthur roused his magic power to resist the paralysis effect and managed to twist his body to avoid a direct hit, but the bullet grazed his shoulder.


    A part of his clothes was blown away and the shockwave of the bullet pushed him back.


    "An Opening!"


    "Not yet!"


    Even if he was shoved back, he gritted his teeth to bear the pain and attempted to reposition himself and regain his posture.


    He somehow managed to repel the bullets that mercilessly pursued him with his ice sword whilst he retreated, but by the time his stance was fixed, the distance between him and La was wider than before he went for the offense.


    "Now our roles have switched! Can you still get closer?"


    There was not enough room to slip amidst the barrage of bullets. La''s guns would not run out of ammunition quickly and, while she might not hit him, Arthur did not have the leeway to get close to her.


    Just evading and warding them off took his everything. If this continued on, would La eventually run out of energy? Or would Arthur to be the one to exhaust himself first...?


    With their roles switched, Arthur was the only one moving around while La''s feet were locked in ce.


    If so, Arthur deliberately put one foot back and readied himself in a side stance. He grasped the hilt of his ice sword with both hands then set it horizontal to his waist. It was all to maximize the velocity and the maneuverability of his sword.


    **BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!!


    La''s rapid triple shots came flying at close intervals to hit Arthur''s narrow stance. Arthur''s eyes then shed blue as they glittered like a bird of prey.


    Although it was for a short moment, he could feel everything in the area around him slow.


    "I see it!"


    His ice sword shed!


    **PLANK! PLANK!! PLANK!!!


    Three dry noises resounded, and the sight that came right after that shocked La out of her mind. Her light bullets were rebounded and went straight towards herself. Even the spectators were slightly surprised. Creuserey on the other handughed while saying,


    "He finally learnt it."


    As for La,


    "EEEeeeehh!?!"


    La was so astonished that she could not help but shout. Ever since she began training with her household''s knights, even if she had seen time and time again her bullets getting warded off by a sword, this was the first time she had her own bullets sent straight back to her.


    La''s feet were unmoving as she had be the one on the offense, so Arthur had aimed to hit her squarely by rebounding her projectiles.


    Truly a frightening skill to behold. This was no longer a matter of physical power, how could an eight year old like her possess such frightening skill. Was this what they called a ''genius''?


    La countered the iing bullets by shooting bullets into them. She managed to repel two of the three, but;


    ''Thest one will hit me!''


    She was left with no choice but to leap away. In that slight moment, her rapid shooting had to stop. She didn''t have any intention to take her eyes off Arthur, even so¡ª¡ª


    ''He''s gone!''


    The moment that thought came up, La''s field of vision caught beautiful, silvery threads fluttering nearby. It was the sight of Arthur''s hair. That meant one thing, he was already up close.


    ''He sneaked into my reach!''


    "!"


    **DOON!!


    Riding the momentum, Arthur activated body-strengthening magic as he mmed into La with his shoulder.


    "UWAaahh!?!"


    La''s light body was blown quite far away by the force of the impact. She flew towards the barrier in the spectators'' direction.


    However, defying Arthur''s expectation from the pinging sound of the collision, La was actually not repelled by the barrier andnded quite softly.


    The barrier was probably set up this way to prevent injuries.


    **CCRRACK!!


    The cracking sound signifying that her sacrificial artifact had been broken resounded across the training room. Hearing this, Arthurughed as he walked over to her to help her stand up.


    "You''re quite good."


    "Thank you for the praise, your highness."


    "Don''t be so stiff, just call me Arthur."


    "But your hi-"


    "Arthur."


    "Yo-"


    "Arthur."


    Seeing that Arthur was not going to let this matter pass, she finally agreed to call him by his name, to which he smiled in response. She was mesmerized by his bright smile and couldn''t help staring.


    ''He''s pretty, prettier than some girls. If he grew his hair out it''d be-!''


    Upon realizing her thoughts were going in a strange direction, she blushed and shook his hand off lightly, taking distance from him.


    Arthur just tilted his head in confusion before saying,


    "Uncle Bel, give her the guns."


    "My name is Belphegor, not Bel, Prince Arthur."


    Belphegor remarked as usual as he presented the magic guns, which hadn''t been unpacked to La.


    "Your-! Arthur? Why? I lost, didn''t I?"


    "I never really needed them in the first ce. I just wanted to add it to my collection, it''d be of better use in your hands."


    La smiled brightly and thanked Arthur before running to her dad while squealing happily. Seeing this, Grand Duke Conrad Eryrth patted her head before bowing lightly to Arthur.


    "Thank you, your highness."


    "It''s nothing much, just a whim of mine."


    Arthur replied before turning around to Creusery who was walking towards him and continued.


    "I won, no training for a month. Plus I learnt that technique, so no training for two months!"


    He made a guts pose and then turned back to La before speaking.


    "You''d apany me quite a lot in the next two months. Brace yourself, I enjoy wandering around a lot."


    After saying this, he ran to the changing room to change out of his torn shirt.


    The others who were left in the room all looked at La with sympathetic eyes. As for La, she was confused,


    "Huh? What''s wrong? Why''s everyone looking at me funny? Even you too dad?"


    Belphegor walked up to her and patted her shoulders as he spoke with a sad voice.


    "I''ll try to restrain him but, my condolences."


    "Huh? Can someone please exin what''s going on?!"

 Chapter 29: Magic Blooming (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 29: Magic Blooming (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Lonope


    Dorcaster Star System


    31st December


    Year 710 of the 50th General Calendar


    A silver-haired youngster had his eyes closed as he sat cross-legged on a rock in the middle of a small clearing surrounded by green trees on all sides.


    His brow was currently furrowed as he sat atop the rock with a frown on his face and kept his hands on hisps.


    Behind him, a brown four feet tall wolf stealthily crept towards him with its jaws wide open. The moment it got into range, the wolf did not hesitate in pouncing on him.


    It jumped off the ground with enough force to create a small crater in the ground and it fully believed that it would be able to snag the unsuspecting youngster for breakfast today.


    "GROAH?!"


    Unfortunately, it seemed the wolf''s ''breakfast'' was already aware of its existence. The young boy suddenly twisted his body and threw out a punch towards the wolf, hitting it square in the face and sending it flying.


    **BAMM!!!!


    The wolf crashed into some of the trees that surrounded the clearing, destroying a few in the process, however, the one who sent it flying remained seated atop the rock.


    "...I couldn''t use it. Even the most basic body strengthening. I couldn''t use it."


    His eyelids opened up slowly to reveal a pair of eyes with dark vertical slit pupils that fit perfectly on his face. His other facial features were highly handsome and his currentck of expression made him look cold and aloof.


    "Tsk...This is bad. I can''t use my energy at all."


    The youngster, Devilian Prince Arthur Vaughn, clicked his tongue as he spoke of the reason for his current sour mood.


    "GROWLLLLL!!!"


    He looked up to the wolf that growled loudly before dashing towards him and shing with its ws.


    "Predictable..."


    Arthur spoke as he flicked his wrist and created a sword of ice from using the weapon creation artifact on his wrist.


    **SHRINNGGG!!!


    The ice sword and the ws of the wolf shed creating a clear resonating sound. On the side of the wolf, it was surprised upon seeing the weapon that came out from nowhere.


    On Arthur''s side, he made the decision to vent his anger on the wolf that dared to attack him.


    He parried the wolf''s ws, causing it to lose its bnce before throwing out a punch to its side with his other hand. He then stood up and kicked off the ground afterward, dashing towards the wolf with his sword raised high.


    **SWISH!!!


    The sword was swung faster than the poor wolf could react and its head was separated from its neck. By the time the wolf''s body crashed on the ground, it was already dead.


    **BAMM


    Arthurnded and stabbed his sword in the ground to stop himself from crashing into the wolf''s corpse and the trees behind it.


    He then turned around and looked to see if he could sense any other monsters but there was nothing in the area. The wolf was the king of this territory so all other monsters steered clear of this area.


    It would take a while before they found out about its death and begin the fight to select the new ruler of the forest.


    Arthur flicked his fingers and dismissed the magic sword before thinking out loud with a pensive look on his face.


    "I have the energy so artifacts that automatically absorb energy can work. However, I can''t use it to cast magic, nor can I use my aura that I just gained not more than 6 months ago.


    And I was about to learn that ''Sword of Victory'' technique Uncle Creusery taught me."


    He was about to go back to the rock in the middle of the clearing when he suddenly felt a searing pain run through his entire body.


    "Guh!!"


    He dropped to his knees as he grunted in pain due to the fact that his energies were currently running wild in his body. His magic and aura were dormant, but his divinity and his fourth unknown energy seemed to be battling each other for dominance in his body, causing him great pain.


    Spider web-like cracks spread out across his arm as the pain he felt increased. Suddenly, his shoulder des began aching him and he felt like something was trying to pierce through his bone.


    Unfortunately, he would not be conscious to see what it was as he passed out a momentter.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    La Eryrth heaved a sigh in exasperation as she sat opposite her parents in the carriage that was moving towards the Devilian Royal family''s Castle on Aeturn.


    The nine-year-old counted down the days to her tenth birthday before her thoughts wandered to the events that happened in thest two years.


    Within the following days after her duel against Arthur, she came to understand the reason for the looks of pity she received that day.


    To sum it up nicely in one word, Arthur was the very definition of ''whimsical''.


    He acted as he pleased with little regard for the consequences and seemed to delight in messing with the Devildom''s nobles.


    Nevertheless, the young prince always took matters rting to increasing his strength very seriously and rarely skipped out on training with his mother and uncle.


    Besides that, he could be considered the being with the most carefree attitude she knew of, besides his mother, that is.


    One time when she was at a tea party hosted by a young nobledy like herself, he waltzed right in and grabbed her, telling her to follow him to where he was going.


    Upon asking where he wished for her to follow him to, he only smiled mischievously before replying.


    "I dunno yet, I''ll think about it on the way, I guarantee it''s definitely gonna be more interesting than gossiping over tea though."


    His reply was the epitome of tactlessness. He reduced the ''tea party'', an event for socialization betweendies of the high society, to nothing more than a gossip fest.


    If that was all he did, she would not have many problems, however, Arthur dabbled in a lot of things. On the outside, he gave everyone the feeling that he was an average high-profile prince with above-average talent.


    Just one with excessive kindness and a carefree attitude, not too smart for his age, but not too dumb.


    With the help of the best information dealers in the hell universe; the drifters, he was working towards reducing the number of rumours that said he was some sort of one-in-a-million-years genius that had previously spread.


    Although he was high profile, he liked to keep certain things like how talented or how strong he really was hidden.


    Besides La, her father, and his immediate family members, no one knew that he was already a superior stage master. Everyone else believed he was still in the intermediate stage.


    Thanks to his connections with the Hell Drifters'' leader, Larry, and the other important figures that Creusery had introduced him to over the years, he was able to gain ess to a variety of underground events.


    Most of the time, he attended auctions that touched the line of what could be considered legal by the Devildom''sws and bought a myriad of artifacts from there to fill up the artifact collection he began when he was seven.


    Some other times, he led a bunch of royal knights from the castle over to the locations of these events to crush them simply because he felt like it.


    To prevent this, the organizers usually changed locations but unfortunately for them, the drifter''s information gathering was second to none so the young prince always found them every time.


    He also used the excuse of gaining battle experience to take part in the ensuing chaos that resulted from his actions of crashing their underground events, giving the guard detail his mother ced on him a headache every time.


    His actions led some of the leaders of these underground societies to realize they had to curry his favour in order to continue doing business.


    As for the illegal ones who were being sponsored by some nobles of the Devildom, he ended up letting them be due to their statuses as nobles, but this gave him leverage over them that he could use at will.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    La''s thoughts shifted over to the agreement she made with Arthur a few months ago. The Devildom of Hell was not the only devil-ruled universe in the area so it had to maintain a good rtionship with the other surrounding universes ruled by devils.


    A few of them adopted a monarchy system like Hell did, with a king or emperor ruling as the master and the entities of these pantheons being nobles.


    This brought the possibility of political marriages between the children of the entities of these pantheons intending to strengthen the ties between pantheons.


    As the daughter of one of the main entities of the pantheon, La was a prime target for the young nobles of other pantheons. The same was the case with the newest addition to the Devildom''s royal family, Arthur.


    The two came to a mutual agreement to use themselves to ward off potential engagement requests, starting with Arthur using the drifters to spread rumours that they were engaged.


    Of course, this was false but only those who were close to them like their family members and La''s female best friend knew of this truth.


    La felt a bit scared of the possibility of being attacked by the jealous nobledies who were crushing on Arthur.


    ''The bloodshot re that the Jostron House''s youngdy was giving me at thest banquet still gives me chills just remembering it.''


    The reason she was the target of their jealousy was simple. To them, she was the one Arthur liked. To her, the thought of that was simply ridiculous.


    ''Although actually getting engaged to such a pretty boy would be the best, unfortunately, the boy in question doesn''t seem to hold the slightest bit of romantic affection towards me, not even a slight crush.''


    That was simply the situation, although Arthur held feelings for her, they were the kind one would have towards a younger sibling. Nothing more, nothing less.


    However, others seemed to see it that Arthur fancied her and his actions of dragging her around were him dering her as his future bride, the rumors of them being engaged only cemented this belief in their minds.


    ''I''m barely ten, yet I have more worries than a hundred-year-old.''


    Laughing depreciatingly to herself, she shifted her thoughts to the second ceremony that was supposed to take ce today.


    ''Arthur is supposed to have his magic blooming today, yet for some reason, the royal family only announced his birthday.''


    When devils were born, their magic and energy maniption abilities were barely 10-25% percent of what they were truly capable of.


    This went on for ten years before their magic bloomed. Although it was called ''Magic'' blooming, it was an asion where they fully awakened all dormant energies they possessed and not just magic.


    After all, magic was not the only energy devils used, some devil bloodlines give them the ability to use energies like Aether or ether and they fully awakened those energies alongside their magic.


    It was theorized that it happened that way simply because it took ten years for a young devil''s body to be strong enough to hold the enormous amount of energy they possessed, and develop the energy circuits required to manipte that energy.


    When a devil reached the age of ten, their magic bloomed and they be able to utilize their energy to the fullest.


    This was also when devils gained their first pair of wings.


    Their wings were useful for more than just flying, they had energy circuits embedded in them, allowing the wings to act as energy conductors, enabling smoother and faster maniption of energy.


    The stronger the devil, the more pairs of wings they had, and of course, the more the benefits of these wings. Some even had wings sturdy enough to block powerful attacks aimed at them.


    As Arthur was officially ten today, it was supposed to be his magic blooming and he was supposed to gain his first pair of wings too.


    It was also supposed to be announced to the attendees of the celebration, however, unlike Creuserey and Cattleya''s tenth birthdays, this was not announced for Arthur.


    ''I remember him saying something about losing his ability to manipte his energy, I thought he was joking as usual but it seems there was more to his statement.''


    After arriving at the castle, La separated from her parents and made her way to the waiting room where Arthur was to be. Upon arriving there, she met someone she had never seen before.


    He was a tall man, with a ck tuxedo and ck hair, his dark eyes seemed deeper than the night sky and they fit perfectly on his handsome angr face.


    Seeing the unknown man, La''s first thought was,


    ''...He''s not as pretty as Arthur?''


    She felt it was rude to think such about someone she just met but she couldn''t help it.


    ''I should greet him first.''


    Anyone who could be let into Arthur''s private area in his tower of the castle was definitely not ordinary so she felt a polite greeting was in order. As she thought that and was about to curtsy, the man spoke up with a voice that was deeper than she expected.


    "Green eyes and ck hair, you''re the one called La right?"


    Surprised that he seemed to know her, La forgot about her greeting and couldn''t help but ask.


    "You know me?"


    La was the daughter of a Grand Duke, her name and face were known in various parts of the Devildom. However, this man didn''t seem to know her because of that.


    "Dad! You there?"


    The door burst open before the dark-haired man could reply and a familiar figure waltzed into the room. The words he spoke enlightened La on the identity of this man.


    ''Come to think of it, I''d never met his dad before. Arthur doesn''t talk about him much either. I heard he''s a god from Olympus.''


    "Hey La, this''s my dad."


    "Call me Hades."


    Hades spoke as he ruffled the hair of Arthur who just offhandedly introduced him to La.


    "Mom''s gonna get mad if you do that."


    Arthurined as he freed himself from Hades'' hold before walking up to La and showering her withpliments.


    "Oh wow! You look pretty today, more so than usual."


    La wore a silver ball gown dress. The pearl powder, sprinkled over the hem of the dress, shimmered like a star whenever it caught the light. The dense droplet diamond, attached to the chest line, stood out.


    The designer said that it was a work of satisfaction that made one praise a lot until their mouth dried, and it was worthy enough. It also went well with her dark hair.


    Her hair was neatly curled up and secured with a pin adorned with pearls. She also sprinkled pearl powder on her hair.


    Although she was used to suchments from Arthur, she could not help but find herself blushing slightly at his words. Rposing herself, she replied.


    "You are equally as dashing today, your highness."


    That was naturally true; Arthur was dressed in a silver suit that matched him well as if they were one body. In his chest pocket was a handkerchief that had the crest of the royal family neatly embroidered on it.


    "Geez I told you to stop with the honorifics, it''s too stiff."


    "Yes, Arthur."


    Arthur then re-arranged his hair before grabbing her hand.


    "Dad, mom''s already in the banquet hall."


    After saying that he pulled her out of the room as the duo made their way to the banquet hall, just in time for their names to be announced by the chambein.


    [Entering! Prince Arthur Vaughn and hispanion, Lady La Eryrth!]


    Upon entering the hall, all eyes were on both of them. A few jealous gazes too but the duo simply ignored them and made their way to the centre of the hall where the other members of the royal family stood.


    Arthur then gave a short birthday speech before raising his ss in the air for a toast.


    "Well, this is to me, my family, you all who came to celebrate with me, and...Me again."


    There was a burst of smallughter as the sound of sses clinking resounded across the hall. La who was beside Arthur, heard him mutter quietly before she took her drink.


    "Too bad I won''t be getting it huh?"


    Before she could ask what ''it'' was, Arthur had already put down his ss and began to drag her to the centre of the dance floor.


    "You''re supposed to ask for my permission first you know?"


    "Don''t sweat the small stuff."


    She heaved a sigh as she began dancing with him,pletely forgetting about what she wanted to ask moments prior.

 Chapter 30: Rumors of a Defect (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 30: Rumors of a Defect (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Aeturn


    Dorcaster Star System


    7th January


    Year 711 of the 50th General Calendar


    La Eryrth''s eyelids fluttered open to reveal a set of green eyes that looked around her in confusion. The ten-year-old devil realized she was in her room in her family mansion on Aeturn.


    What she didn''t understand, however, was how she got there as thest thing she recalled was herself walking to her father''s study after her birthday banquet.


    She remembered that she had just bid the royal family farewell for the night when her magic power suddenly became slightly unstable.


    Deciding to ask her father about it, she turned around and was about to begin walking to his study where she believed he was.


    --That was thest thing she remembered before waking up on her bed. She noticed her mother, Iberis, sleeping on the sofa in her room, having fallen asleep while looking after her.


    She felt very ufortable lying down so she sat up, only to feel more weight on her shoulders than usual.


    Looking back, she saw a pair of jet-ck bat-like wings sticking out of her back. It was then she finally realized the reason she copsed in the first ce.


    She checked her energies and saw that not only was her maniption smoother than she remembered, the amount of energy she possessed was also triple its previous amount.


    Naturally, her action of using her energy was sensed by her mother who woke up and hurriedly rushed up to her before checking her body all over to make sure she was alright before hugging La and sighing in relief.


    Seeing the ck-haired, obsidian-eyed woman''s face full of relief instead of her usual stern expression brought a smile to La''s face.


    ''It''d be nice if she was always like this. Too bad she''d probably go back to being strict by tomorrow.''


    She circled her hands around her mother''s back and hugged her, creating a sweet atmosphere between the two.


    Sadly, this was interrupted by her Father who barged into the room and repeated the same set of actions her mother just did.


    La passing out right when her ''Magic Blooming'' was about to start was not something that should happen, as such, her parents were worried about her.


    It took a full five minutes for her to break out of her mother''s tight hug, after which she decided to take a bath and freshen herself up.


    After this, she went over to her father''s study and suggested that she takes her energy maniption training to the next level, so she would not lose control of her increased amount of energy at a crucial time.


    On her to-do list, were two other things. Learning how to fly using her newly acquired wings, and absorbing more energy cores to increase her strength.


    Absorbing the energy cores of monsters, magical beasts, or other sentient humanoids, was the most widely known way of improving one''s strength and increasing in realm/level of existence.


    When an energy core was absorbed, part of the energy contained within was used to strengthen the physical body of the one absorbing it.


    The remaining energy is then used to increase the energy level of that person, except in some cases where one might have a special physique or a racial trait that makes their energy absorption ur differently.


    In addition, when absorbing energy cores, one must be careful not to absorb too much energy or absorb energy from a core that was above their realm of existence by arge margin.


    If one was in the inferior stage of the master realm, it was advisable to absurd only cores of the inferior, intermediate, and superior stages of the master realm.


    Absorbing anything higher, came with a 50% chance of imploding due to the difference in energy levels. This chance increased as the stage increased so it was advisable to only absorb cores up to two stages above oneself.


    Anything else was simply courting death.


    If someone in the master realm absorbed a legendary realm existence''s energy core, it would result in that person''s body being unable to take it and there were various consequences.


    One could have a decrease in strength by a few stages or entire realms. Some might lose the ability to absorb energy for either a period of time or the rest of their lives.


    In the worst-case scenario, they would instantly die.


    After increasing in stages or realms, one''s energies are temporarily in a state of instability. Thus, it was advisable for one to take a break from absorbing energy cores for a while and stabilize their strength.


    Although there were many ways to achieve this, the best way was simply through fights or battles.


    These were also ways to increase one''s realm of existence.


    All beings possessed energy cores within their bodies, these energy cores could take upon many forms like the ''Dragon Heart'' of a dragon or the ''Divine Spark'' of a god.


    Upon defeating and killing an enemy in battle, a percentage of the defeated being''s energy core was passively absorbed by the one who defeated them.


    The percentage varied depending on various circumstances, including racial traits, use of artifacts or magic tools, and the location of the battle.


    As La recalled this information, she felt joy, thinking about how she was going to be stronger again.


    ''Perhaps I can deal with those foolish cousins of mine...''


    She shook her head to get those thoughts out of her mind as she suddenly had an idea.


    "Speaking of bing stronger, maybe I''d challenge Arthur this time. I should be able to win without running out of energy."


    As soon as she said that, the faces of her parents clouded instantly. When she asked what was wrong, her father deliberated on it for a few moments before answering.


    "La, have you looked at your phone since you woke up?"


    "Huh? Come to think of it I haven''t."


    Picking up her phone that she carried with her from her room, she switched it on to see various unread messages, more so than she expected. However, the real surprise was the date.


    "Haaaa! It''s been three days?! How the hell did I sleep so long?!"


    She began clearing up most of the unwanted messages before discovering two links that caught her eyes. They were both news headlines about Arthur so she opened them.


    [Prince Arthur''s Magic Blooming Failure.]


    [Young Prince''s Defect-Unable to use energies after tenth birthday.]


    Upon seeing these headlines, her first reaction was to question their authenticity. She asked her dad why the royals haven''t taken action against the one who spread the news, however, the reply she got wasn''t what she expected.


    "Firstly, it is true the prince is unable to use his energy, his energy flow has be stagnant. I personally confirmed this.


    Secondly, the one who spread the news was none other than the prince himself."


    Her father''s reply left her gobsmacked for a moment. The next, she excused herself and left the mansion, going straight to the royal castle using the Eryrth duchy''s teleportation gate that had direct ess to the castle.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Upon arriving at the castle, the knights standing guard at the teleportation gate let her in, as they were already familiar with her. They had also been given orders by Arthur to give her free reign in the castle as long as she did not go somewhere out of bounds.


    Confirming that Arthur was indeed in his southeastern tower, she went over there and asked the servants she found for his location.


    The servants informed her that he was in the training hall on the fifth floor. Upon arriving there, she opened the door and was about to speak, however, the sight she encountered left her dumbfounded.


    The hall wasrge, with spatial expansion magic cast on it to make it look five timesrger than it actually was.


    Normally, there was a collection of hundreds of top-tier artifacts on the walls alongside various weapons of exceptional quality.


    The floor was usually covered in a sturdy material that was also safe enough to prevent injuries from falls during spars.


    That was how the hall was supposed to look, however, what she saw now, was different.


    There was sand on the floor, an amount of sand that should only be found on beaches. There was also a installed in the middle. The actions of the people ying in the room were also far from expectations.


    To sum it up, they were ying beach volleyball.


    Arthur, Cattleya, and Hades vs Creusery, Diablo, and Inglis.


    Refereeing, was Aurora.


    It would have still been fine if it were normal volleyball, however, they were infusing magic power into the ball that was obviously an artifact.


    The effects of this were simple; the ball became stronger, faster, and more lethal. La was sure she would be dead if it identally hit her in the head.


    It was a sight she never expected to see in her lifetime, the sight of the Devil King Diablo, whose name struck fear into the hearts of many, ying volleyball with his family like any normal human on a day off from work would.


    Naturally, they all knew of her arrival beforehand so the servants were instructed to be hospitable to her.


    She just couldn''tprehend the sight in front of her so she sat down to cool her head with the cold drinks the servants brought as she watched all of them fly around with their wings.


    ''Wait. All of them?''


    She looked back up immediately and saw Arthur skillfully flying with a pair of jet-ck bat-like wings like hers.


    ''So the news was a lie?''


    By the time she was done questioning herself, they were already finished with their game.


    "La."


    Arthur''s shout brought her out of her sea of thoughts, however, the young prince pulled her from her seat and into the sand before she could react.


    She only heaved a sigh in exasperation as she grabbed his shoulders and asked.


    "Exnation."


    "Context?"


    La held up her phone and showed him the news headlines about his failed magic blooming with an expressionless face.


    This caused Arthur to realize she was serious as he dropped the ball in his hands and decided to give her the exnation she sought.


    "So where do we start? How about I just recount everything that happened from after the party that night?"

 Chapter 31: Origin of the Rumors (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 31: Origin of the Rumors (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Now then readers, let''s find out what happened on the night of Arthur''s birthday, after the banquet ended.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    With the celebration party over, the royal family hosted a small after-party for the higher nobles to attend, even so, it onlysted for about an hour.


    After this, Arthur walked up to Hades who was trying to prevent Cattleya from finishing another bottle of alcohol, and abruptly said as he dropped his ss.


    "So I feel like my ''Magic Blooming'' is not gonna happen."


    Hearing his words, all the royals in the room, including Grand Dukes Eryrth and Belphegor turned to him with surprised looks on their faces.


    "Um...I don''t follow. How did you arrive at that conclusion?"


    Seeing as everyone else was silent from the shock, Inglis decided to address the elephant in the room.


    "The magic blooming or sprouting of wings, which happens first?"


    To Arthur''s question, they all replied almost immediately.


    "Good. Now has anyone noticed any changes in my energy levels today?"


    Arthur took off the concealment ring he was wearing as he asked that question, allowing them to all sense his energy level and realize there was no change. It also was not unstable like it was meant to be before the magic blooming.


    "No, your energy level has been the same since I dropped you off on Lonope."


    Cattleya who had used detoxification magic to deal with her drunken state, answered Arthur''s question.


    "And that''s your answer to why I know I won''t have my magic blooming."


    At this point, Diablo sighed as he took a seat before asking.


    "I don''t exactly get why you think so. Besides, don''t you know that one''s magic blooming can be dyed by a few days or weeks?"


    The others all nodded in agreement to Diablo''s words. Although such a phenomenon was rare, it was not unheard of. However, Arthur just shook his head as he walked to the centre of the room while speaking.


    "Earlier today, while I was on Lonope, I realized that I hadpletely lost my ability to manipte my energy at all.


    Also, my energies did be unstable like they were meant to, and then I passed out. When I woke up, it was back to normal, my energy flow had stoppedpletely, and I had ''these''."


    As he said ''These'', he shrugged his shoulder and revealed a pair of jet-ck wings. The wingspan was about three meters and there was some sort of rune drawn on the inner parts.


    The colour transitioned from ck to silver around the edges. As for the shape, they looked like a mixture of high-speed and soaring wings.


    Upon seeing the wings, they were all shocked. Diablo even dropped the ss he was holding.


    This was expected, after all, no matter how long one''s magic blooming was dyed, they never gained their wings before it happened.


    The fact that Arthur had wings now meant that his magic blooming was supposed to have already happened, however, there was no change in his energy amount.


    Instead, he had lost his ability to use his energy.


    Originally, he could use tier one and two magic with ease. Then when his energy maniption abilities began reducing, the tier of magic he could use began reducing until now, he could not use any energy at all.


    Luckily, he could still use artifacts that absorbed the energy of the wielder automatically.


    This was an unprecedented situation, and as such, they were at a loss for what to do. Diablo immediately rposed himself and spoke to Belphegor.


    "Tomorrow, search through the restricted library for simr situations like this. We need to know if this is temporary or it''d be permanent."


    Belphegor nodded in affirmation immediately and Diablo turned to Arthur and asked.


    "Arthur do you feel-"


    "Sad? Unhappy? Far from it, I feel weirdly normal. Finding out I might not be able to use my energy forever sure does piss me off though."


    Arthur cut Diablo off before he could finish his question. Cattleya on the other hand just silently hugged him. Arthur flinched and pushed her away.


    "Why are you all acting all sentimental? It''s me who''s not gonna be able to use my energy but I ain''t feeling that bad, also stop trying to hug me, mom. It''s awkward."


    Hadesughed and patted Arthur''s head as he spoke.


    "Keep trying to get stronger normally, the problem might be resolved once you get to a higher realm."


    He then walked over to Diablo and whispered to him. The two then began discussing what they believed was a potential reason for his magic blooming''s failure.


    "It''s probably because ofpatibility issues with his divinity."


    That was the conclusion the two came to. Nevertheless, they were not sure if that was the case or not. They also felt that it might have had something to do with the fourth unknown energy type that Arthur had.


    "Finally, news of this matter is not to spread outside this room. Am I clear?"


    Everyone gave his or her consent as Diablo decided to end it there. Arthur, however, only shook his head and walked out of the room, saying he was going to test his wings out.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Contrary to Diablo''s words, Arthur went over to one of the drifter''s information guilds after contacting Larry.


    When it came to spreading rumours about any and everything, the drifters were the fastest. Even if he wanted the news to spread to other universes, it was not impossible for the drifters to aplish this in a day.


    ording to Larry, most of the heads of the drifters in each universe around the Hell universe had a direct line connecting to each other.


    In other words, all Larry had to do was contact another universe''s drifter head and inform him about whatever the rumour wished to spread and let him do the rest.


    Larry gave Arthur his word that the news would reach as far as Olympus faster than Hades could return there.


    True to his word, the rumour of the prophesied child being unable to use his energies after a failed magic blooming spread to various pantheons within the next few days.


    At this point, La had already fallen unconscious so she never heard about it.


    When Diablo heard about it, he was enraged. This was expected as he had just said for the matter to be kept under wraps, yet not more than a weekter, a fellow Arch Devil Master had contacted him to find out if it was true.


    Finding out that Arthur was the source did not take him long. When he asked the boy why he let the news slip, he gave a reply that used the exact same logic Cattleya did when she spread the news that she was the prophesied child''s mother.


    Hearing that, Diablo flipped over the table he was seated on in anger. He decided to properly dish out suitable punishment to Arthur, (As the narrator, I can''t help but agree with him on this.) however, the young prince was prepared for this possibility.


    "The other pantheons have had their eyes on me due to the magic blooming, even to the point of sending assassins, something they had originally given up on.


    They know you all are being vignt so they sent someone weak enough for you not to pay too much attention to but strong enough to kill the average intermediate stage master, luckily I''m not an intermediate stage anymore.


    I know full well that my high profile attitude would keep drawing their attention, but I kinda want them to focus their attention on other ces and not things like my level of strength and the likes."


    Arthur turned the table back over and took a seat before continuing.


    "Truth be told, all that is simply me just bullshitting.


    I feel useless being protected by you guys every time so I just wanted to reduce the burden on you all a bit.


    I know I''m too weak to protect myself from the real threats to my life right now, even so, I just didn''t want to sit back and do nothing.


    If there are rumours that I can''t use my energy, and I show that I actually can''t. It would reduce the attention I''m getting and the level of assassins being sent and you all would be able to use your time to deal with other things."


    Diablo found some sense in Arthur''s words. Due to his early exposure, Arthur matured a lot faster than his peers did so he understood how the young prince would feel being protected every time.


    Arthur also made a valid point in his statement. Diablo was the king of the Devildom and the master of the Pantheon. As for his mother and uncle, they were still the main entities of the pantheon.


    They all had other things to attend to other than catching assassins sent by gods and their allies of other pantheons.


    If these gods and their allies believed that Arthur was unable to utilize something as crucial as his energy, then they were bound to pay less attention to him, at least for now.


    This would also reduce the extra work that Diablo and the others were putting in to protect Arthur.


    "Hmm..."


    "Though I would probably end up drawing their attention myself. I know how whimsical I can be. I may end up taking an action in the future that would result in them paying attention to me once more."


    Diablo couldn''t help but sigh in exasperation as he agreed with Arthur''s words. The young boy was turning out exactly like his mother, Cattleya.


    ''No, he''s even worse.''


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    "Though there were other things involved like me actually using the assassins they sent to learn how to torture people but that''s not important."


    After hearing Arthur''s exnation, La held her head as she sorted through her thoughts.


    ''Although it''s true that some of the gods would stop harassing him after this, some might not believe it, but it''s not a lie and he actually can''t use his energy, but they might think it''s a lie and- Damn it!


    I''m done, why am I bothering myself anyway!? It''s his problem, not mine!''


    She looked up to see Arthur holding a volleyball and staring at her, he then asked with a small smile.


    "You wanna y?"


    "I need to hit something to relieve my stress so yes, I wanna y."


    As such, she gave up on thinking about anything and just decided to vent her frustrations on the poor volleyball.


    On a side note, the ball ended up bursting afterward. As Arthur held the deted ball, he had one thought in his head.


    ''Frustrated women are scary.''

 Chapter 32: An Ancient Power Looks On (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 32: An Ancient Power Looks On (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Uluter


    Gunnthro Gxy


    Musepelheim Universe


    There were mes.


    mes were everywhere, it was just a but it burned brighter than most stars.


    The mes were a natural part of the environment, like the way sand on a beach was natural. It did not matter where, no matter how high or low, everything was in mes.


    The rivers andkes were not of water but magma, even the wide oceans were filled with magma. Hundreds of volcanoes continuously erupt every minute, increasing the amount of magma that filled the seas and oceans.


    As for the continents and inds on this, they were not much different. There were eruptions of mes from geysers on the ground almost everywhere.


    The most frightening thing about this, however, was its sheer size.


    With a radius of over ten million kilometres, most stars could barelypare in size. That was just how big it was.


    On a small rock on one of the millions of inds that existed on this, there was an eruption of mes with greater intensity than all those in sight.


    From within these mes, a being emerged. He was a ten-meter tall man, whose body visibly seemed to be made of rocks and fire, yet also seemed organic at the same time.


    On top of his head was a horned crown, and strapped to his back was a giant greatsword, one that was almost as tall as he was.


    Thends of this have adapted to the heat of the continuous mes over the years, yet the mes emitted from this man''s body were able to melt the rocks that have stood strong even after countless volcanic eruptions.


    With each step he took, the ground trembled under his feet and the monsters that inhabited thend cowered in fear at his presence.


    Paying this no mind, he casually walked over to the centre of this ind, where a giant headrger than he was rested.


    The head was that of a serpent, one that was even more ridiculously sized than the it was on. The length of its entire body was long enough to coil around this.


    On its ash grey scales, were various scars made by a variety of weapons.


    The ming giant man looked towards the head of the serpent and spoke with a loud voice.


    "How long are you going to sleep? It''s been thousands of years, you know?


    I know you can hear me so stop pretending!"


    At his words, the ash-grey serpent opened its green eyes and rose its head from the ground before replying.


    "Surtr, do you not know the saying that it''s not wise to disturb a slumbering serpent."


    The ming man, Master of Musepelheim and King of the Fire Giants, Surtr, onlyughed before responding.


    "I know not of such saying. If you really wanted to slumber without any disturbance, go somewhere else.


    Maybe Harmarti might let you stay in Jotunheim?"


    "We both know that''s not gonna happen. That guy has hated me ever since I destroyed a part of his home gxy by ident.


    By the way, what brings you here?"


    "Ah, almost forgot. I came to have you look at something for me, it might interest you too."


    Hearing Surtr''s words, the serpent''s eyes widened in surprise for a moment. The next, it beganughing boisterously.


    "Despite having devoured five gxies and slurping three rivers of stars dry in thest war, there has been nothing of interest to me in thousands of years.


    Which is why I came here, shrunk myself and slumbered, so I may at least find sce in my dreams."


    |And yet you tell me that there exists something worthy of my interest, worthy of me, the Gxy Devouring Serpent, Jormungand|


    **THRUMMM!!!


    The ambientw energies thrummed wildly as his little speech in his true voice revealed the identity of this serpentrge enough to coil around this ridiculouslyrge world in its shrunken state.


    It was none other than the middle child of Loki and the Giantess Angrboea, the Space Serpent cast out into the oceans of Midgard, Jormungand.


    Surtr nodded in affirmation to Jormungand''s words before proceeding to inform him of the prophecy of a child with the power to end the gods.


    Surtr and Harmarti were deliberating on whether to recruit this child in the future, however, he recently heard a rumour saying that this child was unable to use even the mostmon of all energies, magic.


    "I simply came to you to see if it is true. You can also check if you are fated with this child too, it''s a win-win, at least from my point of view."


    "Haha, very well then. To think such things had been happening while I slumbered."


    Jormungand let out augh once more as his eyes glowed an iridescent light. He then spoke with a solemn voice.


    [Authority of Destiny]


    ''I wonder why he decided to suddenly dabble in thew of destiny. At least, he did not neglect his original strengths. He ims to be slumbering but I can see his me, space, curse, and poison control are all higher than thest time I was here.''


    Surtr thought as he stared a Jormungand, who was currently seeing a myriad of things.


    Using the power of his authority over thew of destiny, he could peer into the destiny of a being provided he had sufficient information about them.


    There were other uses for thew of destiny''s power but those are tales to be told at another time.


    Jormungand tried to peer into any major events in Arthur''s destiny, but to his shock, he could only see small events of up to four years in the future.


    Everything else was nk.


    Normally, beings with sufficient strength or causality index could prevent their destiny from being seen, the stronger ones could even attack the ones trying to peer into them.


    However, Arthur was just a ten-year-old, he should not have the necessary strength or causality index to do so, and yet Jormungand could not see much.


    That was when something even more unexpected happened, he felt a gaze. Not the gaze of Surtr beside him, but the gaze of someone else. A person who had interfered with his Authority and the reason he believed he could not see much about Arthur.


    The owner of that gaze then sent a message to him.


    |Do not overstep your bounds, Serpent.|


    And with that, the connection was cut off.


    Jormungand let out a heartyugh as he remembered the first time he experienced something like this. He had once tried to peer into the Asgardian god of Thunder, Thor''s destiny.


    However, Thor was in his father''s presence so his father detected Jormungand''s actions and interfered with them, not before sending him a warning.


    Turning to Surtr who was staring at him with confusion, he spoke.


    "First, the rumours are true. He truly cannot use his energy, the reason, however, is unknown.


    Second, tread carefully around that child. Besides the Devilian pantheon, he seems to have another protector on my level of power."


    Surtr was shocked, he knew that there were beings who wished to protect Arthur from the shadows. Nevertheless, he did not expect these beings to take action personally.


    At most, he expected them to send a few subordinates of vassals. However, someone on Jormungand''s level of power could not be subservient to someone else, at least, as far as he knew.


    "What are you going to do, Jormungand?"


    "Nothing much, I shall return to slumber. Even if I went over to where the child is, there would not be a point.


    He is much too young and too weak to interest me for now. As for his protector, fighting them would be nothing but a waste of time and strength.


    If I fought everyone who was on my level, then I would not have survived this long. Besides, whoever they were, they were not hostile."


    "In other words, you''re going back to sleep?"


    "Yes, wake me up when the child has be an adult. I''d see him then."


    Surtr just sighed and nodded in affirmation before turning around and walking away. Just before he teleported out, he grinned mischievously and turned to look at Jormungand before saying.


    "I have other things to do than to wake up a big snake like you. I''d tell your big brother to wake you up."


    Hearing Surtr''s words, Jormungand visibly trembled before ring in Surtr''s direction. Unfortunately, the fire giant was already long gone.


    ''Well, it''s his loss. Fenrir isn''t exactly one who would listen to such nonsense.''


    Jormungand ignored Surtr''s words before resting his head back on the ground and returning to his slumber.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Much like Surtr and Jormungand, many other powers tried to find out if the rumour of Arthur''s inability to use his energies was true. They tried various means and many of them seeded in confirming the rumour''s authenticity.


    The Devilian royal family also took this chance to root out a lot of the spies of other pantheons who hade out of hiding in order to confirm the rumours.


    Thebinations of Cattleya''s army of destruction and Duke Hollis'' summons, made short work of more than 90% of the spies in the Devildom''s territory.


    Naturally, there were those who did not believe the rumours, however, they did not take action to confirm.


    The devils, on the other hand, did indeed see a period of peace as the gods and their allies had reduced their probing actions due to the rumours.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    As for Arthur, he was still carrying out his weapon and martial arts training with Creusery as always. La sometimes joined in, alongside her female best friend, Nicole.


    The trio of youngsters followed Creusery on an expedition to a deste realm where they discovered a lost ruin filled with many artifacts and magic grimoires.


    They were busy celebrating their sessful finding, unaware of the fact that a certain space serpent just tried to peek into Arthur''s destiny.


    Afterwards, Arthur did his best to reduce the attention he drew towards himself so as to not draw the attention of the gods and their allies, at least for the time being.


    This was the state of things for the next eight months until the Hell Universe''s burning realms weed thest quarter of the year.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    One random October morning, Arthur was rxing on a bench in a public park in the castle town in Aeturn.


    Although the young boy liked dragging La around almost everywhere, he still knew to be reasonable and give her time to herself, as evidenced by the fact that he didn''t go over to her family''s mansion to look for her.


    Much to Arthur''s dislike, his mother just informed him that he would be attending the Royal Academy on Kreiz, a next to Aeturn in the Dorcaster star system.


    The Royal Academy was one of the most prestigious known schools in the Devildom. The entirety of Kreiz was the property of the academy and almost everything the students could possibly need for their six years there was provided.


    The school was founded with the intention to teach the young nobles and lesser royals to rely on themselves and not the status and power held by their families.


    Of course, it was an unspoken rule that the status of every student still mattered. As such, there were still those that bullied the students of lesser status and others who only sought to curry favour from those of higher status.


    As Arthur was thinking about how to convince his mother that there was nothing the academy could teach him that he could not learn from her and Creusery, he noticed the presence of someone in front of him.


    He looked up and met eyes with a young woman that had light blue hair reaching down to her waist. She gazed at Arthur with her monolid blue eyes that fit perfectly on her beautiful face as she fidgeted a bit.


    "Um...I''m not exactly familiar with the castle town, and you seemed less busy so I was wondering if you could show me around a bit.


    Not for free of course, um...let''s say id treat you to a meal afterwards."


    Arthur hid his skepticism towards her as he stared at her with a poker face for a few moments before finally nodding in agreement.


    "Really?! Thanks, you seemed like you weren''t gonna agree for a moment there."


    She seemed visibly happy due to his agreement but Arthur poured cold water on her excitement with his next words.


    "I thought you came to me on purpose, I could have sworn I''d felt your gaze before, just can''t remember when."


    Arthur had already gotten up from his seat and had his back facing her when he said that. That was why he didn''t notice that she flinched slightly at his words, however, she rposed herself and replied with a casual tone.


    "This is our first meeting though? What''s your name by the way?"


    "Arthur, you?"


    "Alexia, nice to meet you, Arthur."


    That was Arthur''s first meeting with Alexia, the one who protected him from Jormungand''s Authority.

 Chapter 33: Alexia Vladi (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 33: Alexia di (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Alexia di, was a woman blessed from birth.


    Looks, power, status, talent, she had it all. She was a child born with a tinum spoon.


    Throughout her younger years, she rarely encountered major setbacks or problems. Such things were always taken care of before they could pose a threat to her.


    However, she did not grow up like a spoiled brat. She learned at an early age that life was not always smooth sailing so she set out to experience the harshness of life before she could get used to theckadaisical lifestyle she was living unknowingly before learning this.


    She utilized the power of her family to gain the best resources for her growth, and willingly put herself in precarious situations to draw out more of her hidden potential and make herself stronger.


    Studying to acquire more knowledge and be wiser was also part of her agenda too.


    Without anyone''s help, she amassed her own powerful forces and influence, making her name known across many universes.


    Most of the wealth and influence she possessed was gained all by herself, enough tofortably pay her family back what she received as a child tenfold.


    Currently, she was facing the greatest setback in her life.


    People would do anything to gain power and maintain that power alongside the influence that came with it.


    Alexia happened to be one of the victims of someone''s attempts to remain in power. She had searched for many ways to solve this issue and free herself from the clutches of the one who had ensnared her ever since she was but a baby to no avail.


    When she finally found half the solution to the problem, she lost the one person who could be considered the other half.


    Many yearster, she discovered that this problem could be solved with the help of a certain child of prophecy who was born in a ce far from where she called home.


    Ignoring the warnings of her trusted subordinates, she personally set out to find this child and ended up discovering him, however, it was simply impossible for him to help her.


    He was far too young and too weak to do so. This led her to make the decision to help him and kick start his speedy growth so that in the future, he would help her in return.


    She had watched him secretly and discovered something about him that he probably didn''t know about himself.


    After she was sure she had gathered the required tools, she decided to show herself to him and give him the tools she prepared to help him increase his power fast enough so he could help her before it was toote.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    ''That was the n, so why am I currently touring Aeturn''s castle town with him in tow?''


    Alexia face palmed as she thought about how her original n went out the window the moment she met him.


    ''Two years should be a long time for a child like him, right? I didn''t expect him to realize I was the one who was watching him at that time.


    But still, looking at him closely, besides the weird energy that''s fighting his divinity for dominance in his body, he has all the necessary requirements to solve my current predicament.


    I''m guessing he has been exposed to thew of destruction''s power via his mother so his ''Annihtion'' is beginning to awaken. If his energy flow resumes, I''m sure he would be able to tap into its power.


    He also has the time affinity too, perhaps because his grandfather was a candidate.''


    Unbeknownst to the young prince, Alexia had scanned his body multiple times, figured out his affinities, noticed his dormant bloodline ability, and even the reason he was unable to use his energy.


    All these were discovered in only a few minutes of meeting and being dragged around by him.


    ''I think I finally understand how that girl he always drags around feels. Still, it has been a while since Ist yed around like this, might as well enjoy it.''


    She then decided to let Arthur take her to the major pleasure spots in Aeturn''s castle town that had popped up since thest time she was here.


    They spent a few hours doing this before finally going over to a creamery/restaurant and ordering almost everything on the menu.


    Many other customers were present in the restaurant section so the duo took a table on the terrace. Although Arthur could have gotten a private room, he didn''t do so for various reasons.


    "So Alexia, mind telling me why you came to meet me in the first ce?"


    "Huh?"


    Alexia let out a surprised voice, dropping her vani-filled spoon in the process. She looked up at Arthur only to see he was covering his mouth in an attempt to hold back hisughter.


    "I...hahaha...was only..hahahah!!"


    In the end, the boy couldn''t hold it any longer and burst outughing while pointing at her face. Alexia stared at him weirdly for a moment before hurriedly creating a mirror with ss magic and realizing the reason why.


    "You little...!"


    She used a serviette provided and cleaned off the ice cream that sshed on her face when she dropped her spoon in surprise.


    "You can''t me me, it looked like you had ''that'' on your face."


    "What is wrong with the ten-year-olds of this generation?"


    "This thing called the inte happened. It got enhanced by magic and is like a dozen times faster than its original speed when it was created by humans."


    Alexia sighed as she stared at theughing prince in front of her who suddenly stoppedughing and stared with a serene gaze.


    "You reacted suspiciously to my earlier question, you also knew my age without me telling you.


    I kinda felt it was weird when you approached me out of all the other people in the park, but it''s even more so now."


    The waiter brought the juice they had ordered earlier and Alexia took a sip out of it before replying to him.


    "I know I''m not really the best actor but to think a ten-year-old could see through me. I''m ashamed."


    She ced a new order for a different drink for both herself and Arthur. After the waiter left, she looked at Arthur with a serious face as she spoke.


    "Allow me to introduce myself again. My name is Alexia di. I''m royalty just like you Arthur, just from another universe you don''t know about."


    "So Alexia, why exactly did youe to meet me in the first ce?"


    Alexia flicked her finger and a ck bag appeared on the table. She then tapped the top of the bag as she replied.


    "I was quite close to someone who used to live here in Aeturn."


    While Arthur was confused as to how that answered his question, he didn''t ask that and instead asked something else.


    "Who?"


    "The previous king."


    The moment she said that, there was obvious hostility directed towards her from various sections of the restaurant. Ignoring all of these, she whispered to a slightly frowning Arthur.


    "He once told me over drinks that he left something for his descendants in a certain realm called Varona.


    However, he mentioned that I advise whichever of his descendants I was telling about this, to go to the academy and go to Varona during the time when the academy sends the students on expeditions to various realms."


    Hearing her words, Arthur realized the misunderstanding he had and let out a smallugh. He then waved his hands in the air and all the hostile gazes on Alexia disappeared.


    "How long ago were you here? I advise you to brush up on your history so you don''t cause such misunderstandings again."


    He ignored Alexia''s dumbfounded look and continued speaking.


    "So where are you from, Miss Alexia?"


    "Huh? Why so polite all of a sudden, you tryna hit on me?"


    "Although I have no idea how you came to that conclusion, I don''t exactly have the hobby of hitting on women older than my mother."


    Alexia almost-, no she definitely choked on her drink when Arthur said that, quickly putting down the ss she shouted towards Arthur.


    "Are you saying I''m an old hag?!"


    "Your words, not mine. Besides if you knew the previous king, you''re definitely older than my mom.


    She wasn''t born when that guy was still ruling after all."


    It was then Alexia realized she''d dug a hole for herself, coughing awkwardly, she decided to tantly change the topic.


    She pushed the bag on the table towards Arthur who opened it and was shocked at its contents.


    Inside it was a light blue crystal. There were other things but this caught his attention the most.


    Anyone with basic knowledge about universalws would have realized it was aw crystal. A crystal that held the knowledge of aw.


    Utilizing this crystal imparted thisw knowledge to the one utilizing the crystal and allowed them toprehend thew held within.


    Comprehending saidw gave one an authority over thatw. Depending on affinity, one could gain a unique authority rted to thatw.


    This was something that beings from the transcendent realm and above needed to advance in realm of existence. Simr to the realms of existence,ws also had ranks.


    They were the basic, low, mid, high, and monarch ranks.


    Starting from the transcendent realm, one needed to possess an authority to advance to the next realm. By having a certain level ofprehension (Mostly 50%) in aw of a certain rank granted one the equivalent rank of authority.


    Demigod realm existences had basic rank authorities, low-tier deity realm existences had low-rankws, and so on and so forth.


    Also, it was impossible to skip ranks inprehendingws. One could notprehend a low-rankw withoutpletelyprehending the basic rank first.


    There was also no limit on the number ofws that could beprehended as there were almost an uncountable number ofws.


    Whether one made significant process in thatw, depended on their affinity with it.


    Like thews they held, the crystals also had ranks. The one in the bag was only a basic rank crystal with the knowledge of the basic rankw of time, however, it was very valuable. Especially to transcendents.


    "Law crystals are valuable stuff you know?"


    "It''s just a basic rank, it''s of low importance to me. Take it as a gift from me to you."


    "A gift? I can''t use this, you know? Even if I could use my energy, I would not be able to use it until I''m a transcendent."


    Hearing Arthur''s words, Alexia sighed in exasperation before speaking.


    "As I thought, you didn''t know. Most likely the result of your failed magic blooming."


    ''Thankfully, Kelly told me about this.''


    Ignoring Arthur''s pained look, she asked a question.


    "Arthur, what race are you?"


    "Huh? I''m obviously a half-devil, half-god."


    His reply, however, was not the one she wished to hear. She looked at him with a pitiful gaze as she dropped her spoon and rested both hands on the table before speaking.


    "Arthur, you aren''t a Halfling. You are of a totally different race from both your parents."


    "How is that even possible?"


    "I honestly have no idea. It''s a question you should ask the Akashic record or something. Anyways, it doesn''t change the fact that you''re from a different race."


    Arthur looked at her with a skeptical gaze. He took a sip from his juice before asking.


    "So, what race am I?"


    "I would tell you if I could. However, I don''t. You''re the one who''s supposed to know what race you are instinctively, that is how it is for all progenitors."


    "You''re saying that I''m a ''progenitor''?


    "Yes. You are the first of your race, a progenitor."


    Arthur sighed and shook his head. What he was being told was simply too absurd.


    He had read up on the ridiculous ''broken'' existences known as progenitors in the royal library''s restricted section.


    It was why he could not understand how he was one of them. If not for thepletely serious look on Alexia''s face, he might have thought she was pranking him."


    "I know you''re serious but I don''t buy it."


    "Of course, you don''t."


    Alexia responded, understanding how absurd what she was saying must have sounded to the ten-year-old.


    "The reason I know you are one and the reason I gave you thew crystal, is simply because I have met other progenitors before.


    You all emit the same aura, and have an absurd influence on thew of causality."


    As Alexia spoke, her blue eyes glowed slightly as she gazed directly into Arthur''s ck eyes. Arthur''s response, however, made Alexia chuckle a bit.


    "So you say I can influence causality?


    That son of a bitchw?"


    "Yeah, the son of a bitchw."

 Chapter 34: Progenitor (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 34: Progenitor (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    "So you say I can influence causality?


    That son of a bitchw?"


    "Yeah, the son of a bitchw."


    Alexia chuckled a bit as she replied to Arthur''s words. She then took a sip from her drink before asking.


    "You know how thew of causality works?"


    "Not really. My mum just gave me a quick rundown on some of the things it does. It apparently helped in protecting her when she was pregnant for me."


    "Hmm...That was because of you. I said that progenitors influence causality a lot. You have high causality indexes even before birth.


    It protected her because if she died, you would not be born. There''s also the prophecy that came before your birth, anyone with a brain can figure out that your race has to do with the reason the prophecy called you the child of destruction."


    Arthur thought pondered on her words and saw some sense in them. This made him slightly believe her im of him being a progenitor; after all, he did read that progenitors had high causality indexes.


    As for the term ''causality index'', it was simply how much a being could influence thew of causality with their words, actions, or just by existing.


    "My earlier statement is more believable, right?


    I have one more way for you to tell that you are a progenitor. All you have to do is say ''I''m a Progenitor'' three times."


    "Why?"


    "Because if you, a progenitor, dere that you are one, thew of causality would confirm it for you."


    Alexia shrugged her shoulders as she replied before going back to her ice cream and calling the waiter to refrigerate some of the tubs that were melting.


    "Hmm...I''m a progenitor.


    I''m a progenitor..."


    Arthur stopped after the second time, causing Alexia to look up at him and ask.


    "Why''d you stop?"


    She scrutinized Arthur all over and found that he was not shaking or showing any signs of fear before continuing.


    "One more and you''d get your confirmation."


    "...I''m a Progenitor."


    **THRUMMM!!!!!!


    The moment he said that phrase the third time, the ambient energies thrummed wildly as Alexia released a burst of magic to distract everyone, mostly the demigods and transcendents in the restaurant, from the swirling essence of causality that gathered around Arthur for a short moment.


    Arthur on the other hand, was staring at her in shock. For a split second, he felt his blood run cold as if his life was at risk, the next, he felt his body being warmly embraced by some sort of familiar yet unfamiliar energy.


    "What the fuck was that?"


    "Thew of causality, it just checked to see if the one dering themselves as a progenitor was really one."


    Alexia replied after apologizing to the restaurant manager who sensed themotion caused by the sudden burst of energy she released and came down to check on it.


    Continuing, she said.


    "Thew of causality does not take too kindly to those who impersonate progenitors. If you actually weren''t one, you''d be dead by now."


    Her words shocked Arthur to his core as he thought about the chill he felt right before thew''s energy embraced him. Alexia ignored this, alongside the budding anger in him, and continued.


    "You may already know this but, a progenitor is the first of his or her race. They are also the lifeline of that race, as, upon the death of the progenitor, it is impossible for new members of that race to be born.


    That''s how important progenitors are.


    As I said before, thew of causality does not take kindly to impostors. If one were to im to be a progenitor when not actually being one, they would receive a warning of some sort.


    If they did it a second time, the warning would be fiercer. They''d instinctively know that if they were to im such again, it would spell their death.


    Naturally, the third time''s the charm. At that point, it doesn''t matter how strong you are, thew of causality would act to end your life."


    She casually revealed important information to Arthur, information about progenitors that dwarfed his previous knowledge of them. His anger was totally forgotten as he stared at her gobsmacked.


    "Progenitors have various bonuses, one of which is that they have all the possible racial traits their race could have.


    Another is that they do not need to be transcendents toprehend aw, that''s why I gave you that crystal."


    At this point, Arthur had to stop her from speaking so he could digest the incredible information he had just received.


    It all sounded absurd but he had no choice but to believe it, thew of casualty acting was proof enough for him.


    "Is there any other mind-blowing information you have to give?"


    "Nope, anything else is restricted area. You should find out on your own."


    Upon hearing this, he sighed in relief as he was not ready to hear acquire any more mind-blowing knowledge.


    "Is thismon knowledge?"


    "Where I''m from, it is. I suppose the masters and other bigshots over here know, but they''re keeping a tight lid on that information."


    "I see, do you think they know I''m a progenitor?"


    "I doubt that. Unless you tell them yourself, they can''t know. However, one can figure it out from the prophecies that came before your birth. It''s obviously a race rted to gods."


    Alexia replied before ordering various wines and mixing them together while Arthur downed a cold drink in an attempt to cool his head.


    "So, because I''m a progenitor, I can gain an authority even though I''m not a transcendent?"


    "Nope, you''d be stuck right before the point where you get an authority. You''d only get the authority when you be a transcendent, not immediately though.


    The only authority progenitors can have before reaching the transcendent realm is the ''Authority of a Progenitor''."


    "What abilities does it give?"


    "Find out yourself, it differs depending on the race."


    After arranging all this information in his head, he finally decided to ask the main question that had been on his mind since.


    "Why are you telling me all this?"


    "Quite straightforward huh? Oh well, it''s good for me. The reason is simple; I want you to help me in the future when you''re stronger so I''m helping you now."


    "Help you with what?"


    "I have a problem that needs solving, the kind your ancestor wanted to help me solve but died before he could."


    Arthur looked at her with a skeptical gaze, she noticed this and addressed his suspicion before he could even tell her what it is.


    "It wasn''t my problem that killed him. Something else did. He did leave some things behind for you, like whatever is in Varona and the other crystals in that bag."


    She pointed at the ck bag Arthur pulled out the crystal from. He looked into it and saw a few memory crystals and a bunch of other stuff inside.


    Holding up the memory crystal, he asked her what was inside, however, she imed not to know it as only those who met certain requirements could view the information within.


    "As for thatw crystal, I advise you to begin using it the moment your energy flow resumes. Just pour energy into it and you''d gain the knowledge within, I configured it that way."


    Her words stunned him once more. There were many ways forw crystals to be created, one was when the energy of thatw naturally condensed and crystallized.


    Another was when a person who hadprehended thew in question, used their energy to create a crystal. This way, they could add conditions for the crystal to be used like making it so that only a certain number of people could use it or only a certain bloodline could use it.


    Adding these special conditions required one to have an unbelievably highprehension of thew in question. If she was able to configure that crystal, then herprehension of thew of time must be at a high rank.


    "Ah,e closer, I wanna check something."


    She stretched out her hand as she said that, beckoning him over. Arthur, however, was slightly reluctant to move his head closer to her. Seeing this, sheughed and spoke.


    "If I wanted to do anything to you, this ce would be a battlefield already. Your guards that have covered half the restaurant won''t let me."


    As she said this, she gestured to the various men and women in the restaurant who had been staring at them for quite a while.


    They were a dozen in number and each of them was a transcendent with a demigod as the leader of the team.


    They were also the source of the hostility directed at her earlier. Arthur waved them off and they nodded respectfully before acting like normal customers again.


    Arthur then leaned over, allowing Alexia to touch his head. Her eyes then began glowing as she activated an authority.


    [Authority of Time : Memories of the Future]


    A series of images shed through Arthur''s mind. He saw himself fighting against three people using some sort of golden energy. The area around them looked like the ruins of a destroyed city.


    The scene then shifted to him looking at two of these people, one was with a spear and the other was barehanded with golden lightning crackling around his fingers.


    Then his vision blurred out as if he was dizzy and then he cked out.


    Opening his eyes, he saw Alexia nod to herself before taking her hands off his head.


    "Did you see anything?"


    "Yes, very disturbing images."


    "Hmm. That means your affinity is already high enough for you to unconsciously read the parts I discarded."


    "Huh?"


    Taking a sip of her drink, she exined what happened.


    "I read parts of your future, however, I couldn''t see much because of your stupidly high causality index. Well, it''s not much to me but it''s a lot to any normal user of time.


    Let''s equate it to me skimming through a book for a particr page, naturally, I would skip the pages I don''t want.


    You were able to unconsciously take slight peeks at those pages I skipped."


    Arthur understood what she said after she gave him that exnation. She then decided to give him a bit of good news.


    "Something would happen to you in about two years, it would fix an issue you havepletely. Can''t tell you what it is though, if I told you, it won''t happen."


    Before he could ask anything, she continued.


    "Try not to catch the attention of too many powerhouses, I won''t be able to shield you from them for quite a while."


    "I caught the attention of too many powerhouses?"


    "Yep. That stunt you pulled, disclosing the fact you cannot use energy made many of the ancient ones to take note of you. I just stopped an existence on my level from peeking at your destiny minutes before I spoke to you at the park.


    I won''t be able to do so for a while, a long while, maybe a few years or decades."


    "Huh? Why?"


    As he asked her this, she seemed troubled about how to answer. After fidgeting for a while, she sighed in resignation and spoke.


    "So I kinda beat up someone important and left them permanently disabled back at home, so I''m currently wanted.


    I also can''t let myself get caught so I can''t stay in one ce for too long otherwise I''d risk being found.


    I''ve been here for way too long so my pursuers are starting to notice."


    Arthur nodded, understanding most of her plight but he still had one question,


    "Why can''t you just beat up your pursuers too?"


    "I can''t, they''re people I''m close to. They''re being forced toe after me, and unfortunately, the one sending them knows that.


    Also due to certain reasons, I''m not allowed to fight the person sending them. That''s why I need your help, that''s also why I told you to go to Varona.


    The damn bastard is stronger than me and even if we weren''t prohibited from fighting each other. Lastly, I can''t increase my strength because that would end up causing another problem entirely."


    "Your life seems quite, miserable?"


    "Unfortunately, you should be happy your dad isn''t tryna use you as a breeding horse to get him a kid so he can possess a new body before dying of old age."


    The more she spoke, the more depressed she became. Hearing a part of the predicament Alexia was facing, Arthur patted her on the back while saying words of encouragement to her.


    After parting and promising to meet again sometime in the future, Arthur returned to the castle with the ck bag containing the crystals in tow.

 Chapter 35: The Discovery (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 35: The Discovery (NEW)</h4>


    "... and that''s the end of the report."


    Demigod Lute, the leader of Arthur''s guard detail, finished reporting on Arthur and Alexia''s meeting to Diablo and Cattleya.


    "Why the hell is an old hag hanging around my son? Imma go have a word with her."


    Cattleya stood up with a frown as she spoke and was about to leave but Diablo''s words stopped her in her tracks.


    "Don''t go pick a fight with her, she is most likely more powerful than you are."


    Cattleya turned to her father and asked him with a skeptical tone.


    "Do you perhaps know who she is?"


    "Yes, she''s been in Hell for a while now, I let her be because she wasn''t hostile, didn''t expect her to approach Arthur when I was not looking."


    After replying to Cattleya, he turned to Lute and continued speaking.


    "You are misunderstanding something. When she said she was familiar with the previous king she did not mean the traitor, she meant my father."


    Diablo''s words shocked both Cattleya and Lute. This was expected as anyone who knew Diablo was aware he disliked talking about his father.


    Among the previous kings of the Hell universe, Diablo''s father, Lucifer was undeniably the most powerful. However, due to strange circumstances that Diablo refused to disclose information on, he met an untimely death.


    At the time, Diablo was not strong enough to lead the Hell universe and was hunted down by the previous holder of greed, a half-step Monarch realm Archdevil. The throne of King and master of Hell was stolen from him.


    He went into hiding for almost a thousand years, increasing his strength to the inferior stage of the monarch realm before returning far more powerful than he was before.


    After killing the previous holder of greed and executing his entire family, he retook the throne of King and appointed a new family to the position of the holder of greed.


    His return to power was smooth as not many acknowledged the previous holder of greed as king before, it''s just that they were fearful of the power possessed by the one with the Authority of the Master.


    Nevertheless, even after nearly a dozen millennia had passed, many still referred to him as the ''previous king'', which was the reason for the misunderstanding.


    "That man never associated himself with anyone weak, besides, there were records of a light blue-haired woman with power over time in his journals, her name matched the one you gave. If she really is the same person, then she is not a force to be trifled with."


    "Power of time huh? Tsk...It''s quite annoying."


    Cattleya clicked her tongue in annoyance before telling Lute to recall the pursuers he sent after Alexia. She and Lute teleported out of the room, leaving Diablo behind.


    The Silver-haired devil king then brought out a book from his subspace and flipped through it. Stopping on a certain page, he muttered three words to himself.


    "Candidate for Time."


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    As soon as Alexia discovered her tail was gone, she looked towards the imposing castle in the distance, thinking about the boy whom she just met not long ago.


    "Good luck Arthur."


    She then revealed her six pairs of glistening white wings before teleporting out of the Hell Universe, into unknown territory.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Getting back home, Arthur kept the timew crystal aside and looked at the memory crystal in the bag. It was a dark red crystal that gave off an eerie feeling.


    Unfortunately, using the crystal at the moment was impossible for the ten-year-old as he could not manipte his magic power to activate it.


    He went on with his normal weapon and martial arts training with Creusery without cking off.


    This normal lifestyle continued until his eleventh birthday, when he informed his family of his willingness to attend the academy.


    Naturally, they questioned the reason for his change of heart and Arthur didn''t bother lying and told them that he wanted to go to the Varona realm.


    When asked why, he only replied that someone he met suggested it and said nothing more about the subject.


    Cattleya and Diablo who knew of his meeting with Alexia suspected she might be this ''someone he met'' but they didn''t pursue the matter any further.


    During one of his explorations with Creusery, the eleven-year-old discovered a few potential subordinates and enlisted Creusery''s help in recruiting him to the force he was building with Lewis.


    Neither Arthur nor Creusery told the others about Lewis so they were not aware of him being bound by a soul contract to Arthur, and neither were they aware of the force the boy was building.


    Arthur also wanted to keep it that way so he made no effort to inform them about it.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Lonope


    Dorcaster Star System


    1st May


    Year 712 of the 50th General Calendar


    **SWISH!! SLASH!!


    Arthur swung his sword twice, cutting off the arms of the lizard man that charged at him with a spear. He back-stepped as it charged at him, its feet trampling on the tall grasses, despite just having its arms cut off.


    "GROAARRRR!!!"


    The monster roared in pain as its eyes became bloodshot. It spun around in an attempt to use its tail to sweep Arthur off his feet, However;


    **FLAP!!


    Two jet-ck bat-like wings spread out from the eleven-year-old''s back and he pped them with force, lifting his body off the ground and into the air.


    Arthur had been training on how to fly with his wings and he was happy to see that his training was a resounding sess.


    His flight skills were now a far cry from what they were during the first few months that he had his wings. He could also utilize his wings during fights and was even learning to fight while airborne.


    Flicking his fingers, he pulled out an orb of concentrated magic power from the interspatial ring on his finger and tossed it into the mouth of the roaring Lizardman.


    "Boom!"


    **BOOOOMMM!!!!


    After his words, came the actual ''Boom''. The lizard man''s head exploded and blood sttered everywhere as its enormous body dropped to the ground. Arthur was spared from this as he was in the air, but he didn''t even have time to think about it as the lizard man was not his only opponent.


    "CAWWW!!!!"


    A bald eagle let out a loud cry as it blitzed towards Arthur with outstretched ws, however, Arthur dodged the eagle''s charge with exceptional flight skill.


    He then swung his sword in the direction of the eagle as fast as he could, nevertheless, the eagle showed the reason it was the king of the skies in this area and dodged his swing before responding with magic.


    "Tsk..."


    Arthur clicked his tongue as he retracted his wings and let gravity bring him back to the ground. Doing this allowed him to dodge the wind des the eagle sent out faster than he could if he tried to maneuver in the air with his wings.


    "Can''t really fight an eagle who''s been flying its whole life in the air after having wings for barely a year and a half."


    Today made it exactly one year and four months since Arthur gained his wings, nevertheless, he could not dare topete with the superior stage master realm bald eagle who had been flying since it was just a chick.


    The monster let out another caw as it charged towards him once again, however, Arthur was prepared for its charge.


    He pulled out a mirage artifact and was about to use it to create a mirror image of himself to fool the eagle when something unexpected happened.


    **HISSSSS!!!


    The sudden hissing sound he heard from behind shocked Arthur, as he didn''t sense anything behind him until he heard the sound.


    He had let his guard down thinking that no other monster dared to interrupt when two of the forest''s strongest monsters were battling an opponent.


    Turning around abruptly, he was met with the sight of arge green feathered serpent. Its green skin allowed it to blend into the tall grasses with ease and it had a stealth skill that prevented Arthur from sensing it.


    *DOKUN


    Arthur made a split-second decision, he spread out his wings behind his back and resolved himself for the damage he was going to take as he intended to use his wings to block the eagle''s charge.


    *DOKUN!


    Nevertheless, in the corner of his mind, he couldn''t help but think that if he had his energy, then he would use a burst of pure magic power or aura to push the two monsters backwards and give himself space to leave their range.


    *DOKUN!!


    He swung his artifact-generated ice sword at the feathered serpent''s head, intending to cut it off when his wings suddenly felt hot.


    *DOKUN!!!


    He heard his heart beat loudly as his stagnant energy flow abruptly resumed. His energy circuits came alive as the energy flowed through his body before executing themand he had unconsciously given.


    **BOOOOM!!!!


    Arge amount of magic power burst out of his body, mming into the flying eagle and the feathered serpent and sending them flying.


    Arthur stood in the middle of the two fallen monsters with a dumbfounded expression on his face, however, hearing the eagle groan as it tried to stand up, he came back to his senses and moved to end it before it could.


    He rose his right hand and imagined his magic reserves as a flowing river of magic, he then used a bucket to fetch a bit of that flowing magic power.


    Opening his eyes, he channelled that magic power he fetched through his outstretched hand, and a giant spear of mes manifested itself before his eyes.


    "...It worked."


    Arthur grinned as heunched the spear of mes into the eagle''s head, ending its life instantly. He then faced the other direction and poured his aura into the sword in his hand, extending its reach by a few meters and swinging the extended de at the dizzy serpent''s defenceless neck.


    **SWISH!


    The serpent''s head dropped to the floor as it met its end. Arthur let out a small chuckle before pointing his sword in a random direction and calling out in a loud voice.


    "Sword of Victory!!"


    Channelling more aura into his de, he swung it and a silver pir of light surged from his sword. A torrent of energy was released into the surroundings, destroying everything in its path


    **BOOOMMMMMM!!!!


    Arthur channelled wind magic and waved his hand, clearing the dust cloud with a gust of wind. The result of his aura-based technique was then revealed as a part of the earth in front of Arthur was gouged outpletely.


    "Approximately, 50-60 meters. That''s a lot weaker than uncle Creusery''s demonstration but good enough for my first time using it."


    Arthur spoke with a sigh as he began racking his brain for the reason as to why his energy flow resumed suddenly.


    Retracting his wings, he turned and was about to pick up the mirage artifact he dropped, only to realize that his energy flow began slowing again.


    Within a minute, it had stagnated once more, leaving Arthur gobsmacked.


    "Why did it stop?"


    Arthur paced around as he tried to figure out the reason for his energy flow stagnating again. He heard the sounds of monsters fighting in the distance and flew up into the air, intending on checking if they were close.


    *DOKUN!!


    His heart began beating loudly as his wings grew hotter. His energy flow resumed and magic power poured into his body to passively strengthen it. Arthur stared at his wings and back at his hands before dropping to the ground.


    **BAMMM!!


    He punched the ground as hard as he could, shattering the earth and creating a small crater due to the strength behind his punch.


    Retracting his wings his energy flow began stagnating once more and Arthur heaved a sigh of exasperation.


    "At this point, I don''t need to be a genius to figure out why."

 Chapter 36: The Crystals and the Academy Exams (NEW)

    <h4>Chapter 36: The Crystals and the Academy Exams (NEW)</h4>


    Three dayster, Arthur found himself back in that same grasnd where he fought the eagle, lizard man, and the feathered serpent.


    In his hands was the bag that Alexia gave him. He dropped the bag to the ground and sat in front of it before spreading out his wings.


    Ignoring his slowly resuming energy flow, he brought out the dark red memory crystal and poured magic power into it.


    The crystal shed a red light as Arthur felt something pass through him, before he could even question it, the information stored in the crystal started pouring into his head.


    "Argh!!!"


    Memories of some other person began shing through his mind. He realized the requirement that needed to be met to use the crystal and view the memories within.


    One needed to be a member of the Devilian royal family and possess an ''Annihtion'', either dormant or active before they could use it.


    Arthur couldn''t dwell on that as the main information in the crystal entered his head.


    It was the knowledge of some sort of spell called the ''Third Magic'' and the requirements to cast the spell. It was a spell that the creator considered a forbidden spell but the effects were exactly what Arthur needed right now.


    ''She did say she wanted to help me so I''d help her in the future, I guess giving me information on such a spell would be considered help.


    This would increase the speed of my realm of existence advancement by leaps and bounds. However, the criteria are weird.


    ''The Crystal realm''s ''rain of crystals'' will help find the first key.


    The second key is to not be a deity.


    Thest key is to be a sub-cosmic.''


    Arthur guessed the second one meant he should not be in the deity realm but the first and third left him confused.


    He decided to investigate this ''Crystal Realm'' and its ''Rain of crystals'' at ater time before pulling out the timew crystal.


    Guessing the activation method was the same as the memory crystal, Arthur poured his magic power into the crystal, however, the crystal sucked half his magic power in an instant before glowing a bright blue light.


    [Time]


    Arthur had that word sh through his mind before loads of iprehensible knowledge poured into his head.


    "Guh!!"


    He dropped the crystal and grabbed his head in pain but the transfer of knowledge was alreadypleted. His magic power roused itself as if in response to the sudden influx of knowledge.


    Gold and silver aura red wildly around him as his divinity which he didn''t even know he had, poured out of his body.


    In response to his divinity, his fourth unknown energy red up in an attempt to suppress his divinity. Spider web-like cracks spread from his arm but Arthur did not notice it, neither did he have the peace of mind to.


    Pain shot through his head as he felt like he had mmed it onto the ground multiple times for no reason.


    "AAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!"


    Arthur screamed out in pain as he fell to the ground and curled up in a fetal position. Since Lonope was a belonging to the royal family, no intruders could get in, as such, Arthur felt he didn''t need guards whening here and dismissed them.


    Due to this, there was no one to help him as he screamed in pain for almost five minutes with tears leaking from his eyes.


    Even after the pain finally subsided, Arthur still remained curled up in a fetal position on the ground. His brain was trying to process the information that it just received.


    Unbeknownst to Arthur, ambient blue-coloured energy began swirling around him inrge amounts. By the time he was able to notice it, he was surrounded by blue energy.


    "Huh?"


    The swirling energy calmed down alongside the other ambient energies that acted in response. The boy then staggered to his feet and let out a curse.


    "Fuck! That Hurts you damned old hag!!"


    After the iprehensible knowledge poured into his mind, he heard a recorded message in Alexia''s voice.


    [I''m sure you used this before using the third crystal. It hurt right? Next time, you''d use the instruction crystal first.]


    "You didn''t tell me that was the instruction crystal!!!"


    Arthur shouted as he pulled out the third ck crystal and poured his little remaining magic power into it. It was then he noticed the spiderweb-like cracks over his arm but he paid it no mind as more information regarding universalws, and how toprehend and manipte them poured into his mind.


    He dropped the crystal and sorted through the information in his mind, including how to use the timew crystal properly and how toprehend thew held within.


    Sighing in exasperation, he ced a monster-repent barrier generator beside him before falling to the ground and taking a nap.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    About 6 hourster, Arthur woke up feeling refreshed as he stood up and stretched out his body.


    "I was far too exhausted, I really needed that sleep."


    After Arthur understood how toprehend the iprehensible knowledge that was the basicw of time, he judged that his exhausted state was not optimal for such an activity and decided to nap to rest both his body and mind.


    "Good, now before I startprehending thew, let me test out the new magic I learned."


    After seeing his energy flow temporarily resume, Arthur went to the royal family''s library and took out a magic grimoire he saw a while ago.


    The spell in it was a tier tworge-scale destruction spell but Arthur felt he should have enough magic power to cast the spell.


    Indeed he did, more than enough in fact. However, in attempting to cast the spell, Arthur discovered something he didn''t have.


    And that was a body strong enough to withstand his enormous amount of energy.


    "Argh!!!"


    Arthur screamed in pain for the nth time today as tears threatened to spill out from his eyes. He finally discovered the reason for the spiderweb-like cracks that were appearing on his body.


    It was simply because his body was breaking down due to the pressure of his enormous amount of energy.


    He hurriedly cancelled the spell, grateful that he hadn''t gone too far with his casting as he dropped the grimoire.


    The eleven-year-old deliberated on the matter for about half an hour beforeing to the decision to stop using his wings.


    If he didn''t use his wings, then the energy wouldn''t flow, and he would not feel pain.


    However, after seeing thew crystal on the ground, he decided to amend that rule he made for himself and only use his energy when he was attempting toprehend thew or training on how to use thew''s power.


    He decided to do so only when he was on Lonope and not tell his parents about it. He didn''t want them to know about him being able to use aw''s power, at least until he understood more about himself.


    Creusery came over to pick him up and he asked the older devil about the Crystal realm and the rain of crystals. Ever willing to answer his young nephew''s questions, Creusery told Arthur almost all the information he knew about it.


    He kept the most important part of it secret, but little did Creusery know that Arthur discovered that same information he tried to keep secret when he went through the dark red memory crystal''s information, examining every little detail.


    He then contacted Lewis and ordered him to set forth to the crystal realm and search for a that experienced the ''crystal rain'' phenomenon.


    Along with the force, consisting of hundreds of mercenaries that the giant''s descendant had recruited over the years, Lewis set out for the crystal realm to fulfil the orders he was given.


    Of course, Arthur also did not tell anyone about this, thinking he had kept it secret.


    The young boy was unaware of the silver-haired devil king who was watching him through a screen while seated atop his throne in the ''Nine Thousand Circles.''


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Kreiz


    Dorcaster Star System


    Year 713 of the 50th General Calendar


    The seasons rolled around again and Arthur turned twelve. He and La rejected all ns for separate birthday celebrations and decided to have a joint party, simply because it was more convenient.


    After this, the duo then began preparing for the royal Academy exams that were taking ce soon. Attending the Royal Academy waspulsory for all children aged twelve and above.


    This did not mean that entering was free, one had to prove their qualifications to attend by getting a score of at least 50% in the entrance exams.


    Upon failing, they were to try again the next year until they passed. This was the same with the other Academies in various parts of the Devildom.


    This rule was implemented so that the children of the devils and other races who lived in the Devildom do not grow up to be uneducated. Unfortunately, it was not possible for it to be implemented everywhere in the Devildom, after all, it was an entire universe.


    The exam consisted of two parts, a written section and a practical one. The practical section was further subdivided into two sections, a magic ability test, and abat test.


    Thebat test was simply just the examinees facing off against thebat instructors prepared for them.


    In the magic ability test, the examinees were given a dummy made of magic-resistant material and asked to cast an attack spell on it. These were for those who wished to be in thebat departments.


    For those who wished to enter the nonbatant departments, they were given practical tests depending on their department of choice. For example, those who wished to be alchemists were given ingredients and asked to concoct a particr potion.


    The total score on the exams was over 200, 100 for the written test and 100 for the practical test. The scores of the top 1000 students were publicly published for all to see.


    The academy was to be attended for six years, after which, the students were free to either end their education there or go to any higher education institution of their choice.


    This was the educational system of the Devildom. Primary education was taken at home until age twelve when they were sent to an academy for secondary education. Then tertiary education waspletely up to their choice.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    The days went by quickly and the time for the exams came around. They were to be conducted over the course of two weeks, from the first day of February to the 14th day of February, Year 713 of the 50th General Calendar.


    The results would be released a weekter and the students were required to report to school on the First day of March.


    Since the school had an entire to itself, there was more than enough space to conduct the exams for the tens of thousands of aspiring students.


    On the way to the examination centre with La, Arthur expressed his desire to have her be the freshman representative and begged her to take that position away.


    He also repeatedly thanked his inability to use his energies properly for making him unable to receive a perfect score, making La heave a sigh of exasperation.


    Over the years, the young La had grown up a bit, looking more beautiful than most nobledies in her generation. She had also grown in other aspects too, like her strength, as she had be a superior stage master realm.


    Alongside these, her poprity among the nobles also grew as the moment Arthur was one with the examination, he walked out of the hall only to find her being surrounded by a few dozen nobledies.


    As the daughter of a grand duke, her being popr was a given. However, La was also what one would call the perfect nobledy, ignoring the way she acted when with Arthur.


    She was looked up to as a role model by a lot of young nobles. However, not all of the Devildom''s nobles resided in Aeturn, as such, most of thesedies had only heard of her by word of mouth or seen photos and videos of her online through their phones.


    A chance to meet her in person was rare. Although there would be many more chances toe across her, given they were to be attending the same school, thesedies still rushed to her as fans would to an Idol.


    Arthur decided to let her be and stayed by himself, only for some lesser royals toe and find trouble with him.


    Although the Devildom epassed the entire Universe, each still had its respective countries, kingdoms, and empires. These were mostly taken as vassals to the Devildom and were considered lesser kingdoms or empires by the Devildom''s nobles.


    Both officially and unofficially, the nobles of the Devildom ranked higher than these lesser kings and emperors.


    Most of the Devildom''s nobles were Arch devils and even the weakest of them could decimate most of these kings and emperors alongside their countries. However, the royals and nobles from these countries sometimes grew arrogant enough to challenge the nobles of the Devildom.


    Arthur hade across a scene where one of these demanded La be respectful to him, simply because he was a prince in his intergctic empire and La was the daughter of the Devildom''s grand duke.


    The rank of prince was higher than that of a grand duke so he kept on trying to assert some sort of dominance over her.


    La simply beat him up and paid his father a visit, threatening to end his empire with the power of the Eryrth Grand Dukedom. His parents, who were obviously wiser than he was, understood their son had offended someone he should have never dared to and apologized before disowning him.


    Arthur who followed La on this trip,ughed every time he remembered the scene of the intergctic emperor grovelling before the ten-year-old La.


    As for the few lesser princes that came over to make trouble with Arthur, he simply beat them up publicly without caring for the gazes of the on-looking nobles and lesser royals.


    Magic was also neutralized in the centre and so the group only had their physical strengths to fall back on for defence. Unfortunately, Arthur possessed physical strengthparable to a grandmaster''s.


    "That''s enough Arthur, they''ve lost consciousness already. You should have simply ignored them, you know?"


    La''s voice rang out in the quiet area that was filled with the sound of punches and kicks. She stared at the beaten boys on the floor before looking at the culprit who was cleaning his hands with a pocket tissue.


    "They reminded me of that idiot from the intergctic empire two years ago, and I was in a bad mood so I decided to beat them up to make myself feel better."


    "Don''t use random people as punching bags, a prince of the Devildom should not reduce himself to such a level."


    "So I shouldn''t beat them up because I''m a prince? Sometimes being the prince of the Devildom can be quite annoying."


    Arthur''s words shocked most of the onlookers who did not know who he was. Upon this realization, some looked at him with fervent gazes that made him feel a chill down his spine.


    The Arch devils of Hell were worshipped in the way the gods of other universes were worshipped and the fact that one of the most powerful of these Arch Devils had a son was known far and wide.


    Upon seeing the child of the being they worshipped in the flesh, some of them naturally had quite...extreme reactions.


    Some of those who crowded La earlier were part of this group too. Seeing the gazes some of them were giving Arthur, she sighed in exasperation for the nth time today.


    Arthur figured out the reason for La''s sigh and clicked his tongue. He had encountered some of these ardent worshippers before and he did not have any good memories of them.


    Luckily, an announcement that the practical exams were about to begin caused the crowd to disperse, taking those who looked like they wanted to pounce on Arthur and La away with it. The both of them heaved sighs of relief at this.


    "Somehow, I feel like school isn''t gonna be as fun as I thought."


    "I feel you, Arthur, I totally do."

 Chapter 37: Combat Test (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 37: Combat Test (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    "Scratch that, school is fun!"


    Arthur shouted excitedly while waving the sword in his hand around.


    Looking at the scene of the intermediate-stage grandmaster instructor lying on the floor like a worn-out rag, La regretted not telling Arthur to hold himself back.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    After the announcement of the practical exams, the examinees dispersed to the various practical exam centres. They were assigned these halls randomly and were all sent messages that contained the hall numbers.


    Coincidentally or not, Arthur and La were assigned the same hall so they made their way over there together.


    The professors and instructors of the academy, alongside some nobles, royals, and other dignitaries were present to watch the practical exams.


    Because of this, some examines strived to create a good impression in the minds of these dignitaries. Even more so when there were more of them present than normal due to this year''s exam being the most anticipated in years.


    It was the first time that a member of the Devildom''s royal family was participating, after all. Because of this, all royal family members were present. Some of the nobles and lesser royals also took this as a chance to curry favor with them.


    When the magical tests began, the students were called in groups and were asked to disy their best magic spells and they were graded ordingly.


    The test was shy with many students disying magic attacks focusing more on appearance than power, naturally, they were graded lowly.


    Many even lengthened their chants as if the exam was not grading their magical but chanting ability. Some overexerted themselves to cast spells they normally would not be able to, a few of them even copsed from the magic exhaustion.


    When it came to La''s turn, she gracefully walked over to the testing grounds, caring not for the thousands of eyes upon her, and proceeded to cast her spell. Although La liked using magi-tech guns to fight, she did not neglect her actual magic training.


    She decided to perform splendidly. Although some thought that she was one of those who were attempting to leave an impression on the dignitaries watching, her motivations were quite different from what they thought.


    ''I don''t want Arthur to be the freshman representative. If he bes the representative, it''d be a disaster.


    For that to happen, I have to use his inability to use magic to my advantage. This would be the best way for me to close the gap from the written exams, thosest questions were quite difficult and I''m sure I didn''t get them right. But Arthur, that genius definitely did.''


    She stared at the training dummy and analyzed it. It was a dummy without arms and legs, capable of withstanding the magic of all the previous exam candidates.


    It was also changed to a new one each time to prevent unfairness.


    ''With the budget the academy gets, it''s not impossible for them to be made of materials that average twelve-year-olds cannot destroy but they most likely would not. In that case...it''s safe to use ''that'' spell.''


    She rose her hand and channeled her magic power to produce a blue me not muchrger than an average fireball.


    The surroundings began getting noisy after seeing her chantless casting but she paid it no mind andpressed the me before shaping it long and narrow, thenunching it like a bullet.


    It drew a blue-white line in the air as it flew over and swallowed the target up.


    **BOOOOMMM!!


    The target exploded with a loud sound, but the momentum of the me bullet did not wane out. It pierced through bothyers of the dummy and went towards the wall behind it before mming on the magical barrier that was cast on the wall.


    La turned around and was confused at the dumbfounded reactions of the spectators.


    ''Huh? Why''s everyone looking at me funny? Is it that weird to be able to destroy a weak practice dummy?''


    La''s thoughts could not be more wrong. The young devil had concluded that the dummy provided was not going to be strong enough to withstand her spell, this was why she felt it was normal for it to be destroyed.


    However, this year the academy had received twice the usual budget as such the equipment provided was also twice its original strength, which included the dummy.


    It had variousyers and although the outeryers were pierced by other examinees, the inneryers were still intact as they were made of materials that even an inferior-stage grandmaster would have a hard time with.


    The fact that she, a superior-stage master realm, destroyed thispletely meant her strength was totally out of the norm.


    As she went back to her seat she asked Arthur if he knew the reason for everyone''s weird gazes. After hearing the reason, she was nonplussed. However, the message she received from her father saying ''good work'', made her smile and she did not care about it anymore.


    To prevent an unnecessary hassle, Arthur had already requested that his name should not be called during the magic test.


    After all, to everyone else, he was unable to use his magic power. Only Arthur knew that he could still use his energy provided certain conditions were met.


    The exams went on without a hitch before concluding for the day. On the next day, after all the examinees had a proper rest, thebat test took ce.


    The examinees were to fight against an intermediate-stage grandmaster realm instructor, of which there were hundreds prepared.


    Most of the participants were not even in the master realm, and even those in the master realm were at most intermediate stages. Very few were like La and Arthur who were in superior stages and among those participating this year, there was no grandmaster.


    Due to this, the examinees were not expected to win, just to hold out for a certain amount of time.


    Thebat tests were also as shy as the magic tests, with many examinees using magic and auras of various colours and attributes. Those with innate abilities and skills also disyed their skills.


    When it came to Arthur''s turn, many focused on him due to his status and the many rumours about him that had been going around.


    He simply ignored all these gazes as he walked to the testing grounds and picked a random sword before facing off against the simrly armed grandmaster.


    ''This is boring, I should end this quick.''


    The area battle area was surrounded by multiple transparent magic walls that doubled as barriers, they were strong enough to resist most attacks, this was to prevent them from disturbing other ongoing matches.


    Arthur on the other hand just sized up the instructor and couldn''t help butpare him to the monsters and people Creusery made him fight during their usual expeditions together.


    ''He''s weak for a grandmaster. Or is it that I''m too strong for a master?


    No, don''t be arrogant, Arthur.''


    Meanwhile, the instructor who was randomly assigned to Arthur, thought that he would be like the other low-rank nobles and lesser royals who just used energy cores to increase their realm while having no real skills.


    He was also of the faction that believed Arthur''s inability to use his energies to be a lie. Holding his twin swords, he nodded to the moderator tomence the match as he decided to beat Arthur the way he did the others.


    "Begin."


    The moment the moderator spoke, the instructor bent his body and kicked off the ground. . From his perspective, he had slowed down quite a bit to slip into Arthur''s attacking range.


    He would surprise Arthur by shing just the tip of his nose, then using the chance to pin him down.


    That was what the instructor nned, however...


    The right hand that was meant to deliver the sh was caught instead.


    And since Arthur was capable of such a feat, it could only mean he had seen through all of the instructor''s movement.


    "!?"


    "..."


    Arthur wordlessly took ahold of the instructor''s arm, putting it over his shoulder without a moment''s dy. Then, using his own body as leverage, he flung him over!


    With great momentum, the instructor''s body was thrown towards a wall. As it was, he would have collided with the wall, but of course, he wouldn''t be an instructor if he couldn''t recover from this much.


    He adjusted her body mid-air, and as soon as his feet touched the wall, heunched himself towards Arthur.


    "Hmm...This much is expected from an instructor of the Royal Academy."


    Arthur turned his body and evaded the instructor''s attack with a breadth of a hair. The instructornded on the ground while raising a cloud of dust. Before long, he turned over and plunged back in.


    His speed as she charged, his flexibility to instantly kill his momentum, his agility to change his trajectory.


    All of those qualities were ones expected of the royal academy''s instructors. And the cherry on top was that he hadn''t shown his full potential.


    This made Arthur grin a bit as he began to think he might enjoy thebat test more so than he expected. Seeing the look on his face, the instructor was confused


    "Why are you having so much fun...?!"


    "I don''t know when it started but I like it! Fighting against someone!"


    His twin swords waved as though they danced, drawing near Arthur, prompting the young prince to finally unsheathe his own sword to receive those blows and ward them off.


    "That''s one hell of an annoying quirk!"


    Every time the swords locked with one another, a rigid metal nk echoed in the silent hall as the thousands of spectators were all watching quietly.


    Amidst the intense sword fight, the instructor shuddered. He realized Arthur''s foothold mostly hadn''t moved from its spot. Arthur had been repelling his swordy without moving.


    He had two swords while Arthur only had one. Just by the number, he should have the upper hand.


    Even though he was only on the lowest level of instructors in the academy, the fact that he made his way to that position alone was proof that he was definitely skilled.


    And yet, Arthur warded his attacks with plenty of room to spare. What exceptional sword handling, observation, and flow reading.


    ''Even so, I can''t lose to some brat!''


    So what if his skill was outstanding, skills didn''t directly rte to one''s own physical capabilities? A grandmaster and a master had a great gap in their physical ability. Plus he could use his magic and aura while Arthur could not.


    In fact, he had already been using his magic to enhance his strength for a while now. Yet he was being withheld by a twelve-year-old who, not only didn''t use an artifact but was also unable to use any energies.


    There had to be something up Arthur''s sleeve. However, he didn''t know what that something was.


    "Please, put in some serious effort!"


    "I''m damn serious!"


    At least, on the swordy front. However, soon after, a chance to win was given to him.


    **CLAAANKK!!!


    Arthur''s sword de was broken in half. This was due to the difference in the quality of their weapons. The ability to pick a good weapon was also graded so there were bad weapons purposely mixed in.


    Arthur just randomly picked a sword without checking, unfortunately, it was of horrible quality.


    "!"


    "HAAAaaa!"


    The slight chance of victory blinded him of his initial aim as he went for the attack. It was right after Arthur''s sword shattered. Even Arthur, couldn''t evade in time, as such one of the instructor''s swords managed to embed itself into his arm, albeit shallowly.


    Arthur had tried to jump backwards, but the instructor was closing into him. Apparently, this strike of his was backed with a force more immense than thest one. He could even sense a bit of Aura on the de.


    Just by giving a slight opening due to an unexpected situation, he could deliver an injury at that very moment. He showed that he deserved his position of being a royal academy instructor.


    The wound on Arthur''s arm was only bleeding slightly, a minorceration at most. It would pose him no problem to leave it alone.


    His sword broke but the fight was still on. Things were getting interesting.


    "Ah... Y-, you okay?"


    The instructor finally remembered that Arthur was a prince, not just any prince but the prince of the Devildom of Hell. He was scared he might get executed for harming Arthur.


    His body had only moved reflexively as he saw that small window of golden opportunity. He was d he didn''t let himself loose with that attack.


    Still, receiving his attack in that circumstance and yet only suffering a slight injury, made him realize that this prince was truly a force to be reckoned with.


    That opening he gave away would''ve imed his life on a battlefield. His worry, however, pissed Arthur off.


    "Are you perhaps looking down on me?"


    "N-, it''s not like that, but¡ª"


    "Then you better take me seriously, okay?"

 Chapter 38: Test completed (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 38: Testpleted (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Thebat test was supposed to have ended, however, the moderator didn''t dare end the match. This was due to the voice he heard in his ear a few minutes ago.


    When Arthur got injured, he was about to end the match, however, he heard a voice sounding in his ear,


    "Don''t. Let him continue till he doesn''t want to anymore."


    That was when he realized someone was standing beside him, he looked back to see a woman with silver hair and dark eyes. He had lived in Aeturn most of his life so there was no way he did not recognize who she was.


    ''Arch Devil of Destruction Cattleya!''


    He then remembered the one who was currently battling an instructor was none other than her son, Prince Arthur. He wondered why she wanted him to extend the fight at first, however, he simply gave up on thinking about it and agreed.


    He just stared at the battle urring in front of him that had gotten the attention of the thousands of spectators in the hall, even those who were watching from outside on their phones or televisions. The other matches had long ended and both the examinees and instructors had eyes on his match.


    In the VIP seats, the directors of the royal academy looked at the royal family members who seemed to haveplete faith in Arthur being able to defeat someone an entire realm above him without using any energies.


    Creuserey and Cattleya were even making bets on how long it would take the instructor to lose.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Since Arthur''s sword had broken, he was ready to use his hands toplete the fight, but the instructor passed him one of his des.


    "Is this allowed?"


    "Who knows?"


    The both of them chuckled to each other, and the next moment the instructor disappeared. The moment Arthur thought that, he swung his sword to the side.


    ''He should be there!''


    He heard the sound of a sword shing against another sword. The instructor had stopped his sword. Maybe, if Arthur''s swordsmanship was not as good as it was, he would have been ended after the first surprise attack. The instructor wasn''t only fast.


    Every being had its own rhythm. Their breathing rhythm, heartbeat(s) rhythm... etc.


    By being inplete sync with their own rhythm, people were able to easily use high-grade techniques that were disconnected from their recognition.


    "Can you see me?"


    "Well, I wonder."


    Despite their physical strengths being on the same level, their years of training and technique mastery were different.


    It''s also impossible to see through each other''s thoughts. However, Arthur knew what kind of attack the instructor will do in certain situations. He had predicted his style in the earlier exchange. Therefore, he was able to attack him with his sword.


    "You have quite the good sword arm."


    "Unfortunately, hand-to-handbat is more of my style, you know? It''d have been perfect if I could use aura to strengthen my body."


    They were conversing amidst the flurry of attacks like normal, then suddenly the air around Arthur changed, and the instructor who was about to attack backed away instantly. His sword wasn''t even pointed at Arthur.


    Laughing lightly Arthur held up his free hand and asked.


    "Noting? Low-rank Instructor?"


    "I am Griphi. Even if I''m only low ranked, I am still an instructor of the royal academy, do not underestimate me."


    "Worry not. I''m taking you seriously, definitely not underestimating you."


    Although Arthur said that, it was true that Arthur had not been taking this seriously from the start. The young prince honestly felt there was nothing the academy could teach him.


    Forbat lessons, he had two of the strongest entities in the entire universe training him. What could the instructors of the academy possibly teach him?


    He only had two reasons for attending the academy. One was because of Alexia''s advice to go to Varona during his realm expedition. The other was because he''d stand out if he didn''t.


    Rumors would spread about him, causing unwanted eyes to fall upon him again. They''d begin theorizing why he didn''t attend the academy all devils attend, in the end, some might resort to dirty tactics to confirm their theories.


    He did not want that so he agreed to go to the academy. Even if he wasn''t serious and only got bad grades, it would still be fine. Looking up at Griphi in front of him, he couldn''t help but unconsciously underestimate the man a bit.


    ''It doesn''t matter how good he waspared to other grandmasters on his home, he was just a fish in arge pond who didn''t know how vast the oceans were. In other words, he''s just a third-rate.


    Still, even a third-rate grandmaster can easily defeat the average master. Although I''m far from the ''average'' master, I should still be careful.''


    Arthur narrowed his eyes as Griphi dashed towards him with the speed of a bullet. However, Arthur''s figure disappeared, causing his sword to strike the air.


    "What?!"


    Immediately afterwards, Arthur was standing behind him. His back waspromised in a mere moment and he stood rooted to the spot as if he could not move.


    As if forgetting about the flow of time, Griphi held his sword still and even stopped breathing, concentrating everyst drop of his concentration towards his back.


    "You said not to underestimate you but perhaps, you''re the one underestimating me?"


    Griphi''s face distorted with burning humiliation. Immediately, he turned around with a sharp mowing attack. But there was no longer anyone there.


    "How cou-...?!"


    It was then he realized Arthur was now standing a few feet away from the reach of his sword while panting slightly like he was exhausted.


    "This thing is tiring. No wonder he said you need energy to do it properly."


    Griphi recognized the technique Arthur just used. It was abination of stealthy steps and breathing techniques from martial arts.


    It was impossible for one to recognize in detail everything they saw or heard. Even if they had parallel minds, some information was unconsciously ignored by their brain(s).


    What Arthur just used, was a technique that hid oneself in their opponent''s unconscious mind. It could only be used in one on one fights so it was perfect for the current situation.


    Griphi was clearly seeing and sensing Arthur''s movements, but his conscious mind categorized it as unnecessary information. This continued until thest moment when Arthur had alreadypleted his movement.


    It was a technique that Creuserey drilled into Arthur''s body every day, for over six months. At this point, Arthur could use it almost perfectly.


    To some of those watching, it would seem like the instructor was striking air on purpose, but the truth was that he unconsciously ignored Arthur''s movements. Only the sufficiently skilled were able to see through what he just did.


    Griphi recovered himself and attacked with an even faster speed than before. The white de cleaved the air, flying straight towards Arthur''s neck.


    However, Arthur easily received the attack. Griphi tried to lock their swords together into a pushing contest, but Arthur instead let all the strength out of his sword and used Griphi''s momentum to fling him away.


    Thest possible moment before smashing into the wall, Griphi performed a flip and recovered his stance.


    But the disturbance in his heart was now clear on his face.


    Neither of them moved.


    For Arthur, he was simply choosing not to move, taking the time to recover his stamina. For Griphi, he could not move because he was under the illusion that every single one of his moves had been sealed.


    "Haaaaa!!"


    Along with his roar, Griphi swung his sword. Multiple thrusts with the speed of a raging whirlwind and continuous shes with the fierceness of a raging fire.


    Unfortunately, not a single attacknded.


    "AAAAaaaaaaaAAAAHHHHHHH!!"


    His battle cry echoed around the quiet arena emptily. It was almost like a practice session between an adult and a child.


    La watched this fight with enormous shock. She knew Arthur was strong and skilled, she had battled him personally many times after all. But even so, she did not expect that he would be able to deal with Griphi so handily.


    **KAN! KAN! KAN!


    The sword sounds ringing out were so light as to be out of ce there. It was unmistakably the sound of a practice session.


    As the two white swords drew arcs in the air, all the spectators realized that what they were seeing, was not what one would expect from a fight between a grandmaster and a master unable to use energy.


    At one point, Griphi''s body had crashed on the ground so many times that he was barely able to stand anymore. The ground had been cut up by the force of his sword swings yet not a single attacknded.


    Arthur calmly dodged his swings and threw a kick to his stomach, sending him flying. Before he could hit the wall, Arthur had already arrived to send another kick to him up in the air.


    Jumping up higher and faster than expected, Arthur punched him back to the ground with enough force to create a small crater as he crashed into the ground.


    Griphi''s body bounced back up in the air, and Arthur who had alreadynded on the ground, dashed to him with speed one would not expect from a twelve-year-old, sending another kick towards Griphi''s torso.


    Surprisingly, he was able to block it.


    But that was only the first. Arthur sent more punches and kicks towards him at frightening speeds. His sword was long discarded on the floor so he could not counter-attack properly, he wasn''t very skilled in hand-to-handbat.


    ''This is why he''s third-rate, he lost his sword and he can''t fight back properly.


    Why does the academy use these clowns for the tests?''


    Arthur clicked his tongue and decided to end this.


    He put one foot back and readied himself in a side stance. He grasped the hilt of his white sword with both hands then set it horizontal to his waist. It was all to maximize the velocity and the manoeuvrability of his sword.


    La recognized that stance, it was the one he used during their first duel after all. For some reason, he never used it again after that day.


    It wasn''t that he couldn''t use it but that he didn''t. That day he felt he used something else other than the technique, but he hadn''t been able to tell what that thing was.


    However, After meeting Alexia and getting the timew crystal, he finally understood what he used.


    Closing his eyes and concentrating, he decided to test out the results of his training in the past year. The instructions Alexia left in the crystal were easy for the twelve-year-old to understand so he had made considerable progress.


    Griphi had picked up his sword and was readying an aura attack. The two of them faced each other, one with eyes wide open and the other with eyes shut tightly.


    The next moment, they both moved.


    The world around him felt slow, the movement of Griphi''s sword, the cheers, and jeers around him. Everything was slow.


    ''This is it!''


    **CRACK!!


    ''Ha!, I finally got it right! I thought school was going to be boring but if the exams are like this then...''


    "Scratch that! School is fun!"


    Griphi''s sword was broken before he was even able to release his attack and the aura that filled the sword, exploded in his face.


    With that and Arthur''s diagonal sh that cut from his shoulder to his waist, it was impossible for him to fight anymore.


    Even if he was a devil and could regenerate, it would take time, the match was effectively over.


    There were cheers from the audience, none of the examinees had defeated the instructors so for those who came just to see the fights, Arthur''s match was enough to make them happy.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The matches soon continued after that, however, the atmosphere in the VIP seats was tense. Even the directors who were supposed to be annoyed that an instructor had lost were scared.


    That was expected, because Cattleya and Creuserey had released their auras without warning.


    Fortunately, Diablo reacted quickly and contained it otherwise all the beings in the arena would have passed out due to fear.


    Inglis and Aurora were surprised since they never expected Creuserey to go along with Cattleya''s whims and do such a thing, however, the words they heard made them shut their mouths.


    "He''s reached the peak of the superior stage, that''s my son for you."


    "Well, he''s my student too. However, that''s not the main issue."


    "Yes, I noticed it too. He did that again."


    "Are you sure he can''t use magic? No matter how I look at it, he definitely did right there."


    "I''m guessing it was unconscious. Although he can''t use his magic at will, he''s unconsciously manipting the ambient mana."


    Creuserey rxed in his seat and sighed before looking towards Cattleya as he spoke.


    "He''s hiding something from us."


    "He definitely is. That move, it''s not the first time he''s done it, so it was definitely on purpose."


    "Even though you said he''s unconsciously using magic, it didn''t feel that way to me."


    "How did it feel to you then dear brother?"


    "It felt more like...the power of aw."

 Chapter 39: Results out, School? Begins (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 39: Results out, School? Begins (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    "How did it feel to you then dear brother?"


    "It felt more like...the power of aw."


    Creusery''s words stunned both Inglis and Aurora who were about to admonish the brother-sister duo. That was expected, they just said Arthur was using the power of aw.


    Although normal people couldn''tprehend aw without being transcendents, this did not mean they could not tap into its power. However, only those at the peak of the Epic realm and Sovereigns were able to do so.


    Yet Arthur, who had just reached the peak of the Master realm, was able to do so. And unconsciously at that.


    The reason for this was simple. Albeit meager, Arthur already held some degree ofprehension in the basic rankw of time.


    This had improved his ability to use thew''s power. His already high affinity yed a part in this too. If his energy flow was not stagnated, he would have been able to use thew''s power more proficiently.


    He could have also broken through to the grandmaster realm just now.


    As he heard the words uttered by Cattleya and Creuserey, Diablo remembered that over a year ago, Arthur had met a certain light blue-haired woman. One he presumed was a being called a ''Candidate for Time''.


    ''Alexia di, just what did you do to Arthur.''


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Unknown


    Nameless Star System


    Cao 9 Gxy


    Coincidentally, the certain blue-haired woman Diablo was thinking about, suddenly sneezed loudly. Looking around her, one could see over a hundred beings armed to the teeth.


    She was frowning as she stared at these beings who were all showing obvious hostility towards her, however, the reason for her displeased expression was something else.


    "That bastard should know I have a bottom line. This, is crossing it."


    The beings around her were not attacking her of their own free will. They were all mindless puppets whose minds had been broken and their bodies were being controlled via ck magic.


    "Don''t worry, I''d free you from your misery soon."


    |Chrono Controller|


    The watch disappeared from her palm and reappeared behind her, its size farrger than before. The hands of the clock then vibrated beforeing off the giant watch.


    The detached hands glowed with blue light while floating around her, when the light died down, they had transformed into weapons while still retaining some of their original shapes.


    The hour hand had be a short sword, the minute hand, a long sword, and the second hand, a spear.


    She grabbed the long and short swords in her hands and dashed towards the assants around her. Although they were all wearing armor, her swords easily cut through them like butter.


    While blitzing past them, she gently sliced their napes and wrists with the two swords. Without stopping for a moment, at a speed faster than neither they nor the ones controlling them couldprehend, she ran through the first group of assants.


    After she passed through them, their bodies started bursting out blood like a water fountain. She had aimed for the opponents'' soft arteries, easily piercing through their neck guards.


    A blood flower bloomed showily each time, and it had the effect of amplifying the enemy''s unrest.


    She held the heads of one of them and gazed into their eyes, however, she was not looking at that person, but at the one who was controlling them from another location.


    **WHOOOSHHHH!!!!


    The sudden sound turned her attention to the mes and arrows that were raining down on her position.


    As one would expect, it was impossible for her to dodge these mes and arrows that were so widespread. However, she never needed to dodge in the first ce.


    |Stop.|


    She spoke one word, and the essence of thew of time moved to fulfill thatmand.


    The rain of mes and arrows stopped immediately, remaining in their positions without moving.


    "This is actually more tiring than I thought."


    |Second Hand|


    She dropped the short sword just in time for the floating spear to fly into her hands. She then took a throwing stance and threw the spear like a javelin towards the assants.


    |Ster Count Zero|


    The moment the spear left her hand, purple-colored space attributedw energy wrapped around her body and carried her, alongside the giant clock behind her, out of the''s atmosphere.


    ***KKKAAAAAAABBBBBBOOMMMMMMM!!!!


    The next second, there was a bright explosion with the force of a star behind it, alongside a deafening roar.


    It engulfed the entire in seconds, then spread to the nearby, consigning it to oblivion too. It then went on, bing a chain reaction until all thes in the star system had met their end.


    The star that acted as the principal focal point for all thes in the star system was also destroyed, leaving behind a small pinkie-sized hole that was slowly pulling in the debris from the destroyeds.


    "Why didn''t I do this earlier? Oh well, at least I got to test out that fencing technique."


    "You don''t normally cause such destruction, what''s the asion? Do you perhaps want to change sides?"


    Alexia heard a voice and turned around to see a ck-haired woman floating behind her, clicking her tongue she replied.


    "As if! I only joined this so I could be stronger without actually increasing my realm of existence."


    Stretching out her hand in the direction of where the she was just on was, her two weapons flew into her hands, unscathed.


    She then put them back in their ce on the giant clock before miniaturizing it once more and hanging it on her neck,


    "Oh!! Alexia, what about that kid you were stalking? Lucifer''s descendant."


    "I wasn''t stalking him, okay!!


    And I left his universe a year ago, or was it two? The time flow difference messes with my mind sometimes.


    Anyway, I left because if I were to stay there any longer, that bastard might have found him."


    "That ''bastard'' you speak of is your father though?"


    "Doesn''t change the fact that he''s a bastard.


    It''s a good thing the ''second phase'' won''t begin for the next few thousand years. By then, he should be strong enough to help me out of this ridiculous situation I''m in."


    "Ridiculous situation, huh? That''s true; your father ganging up with your stalker to chase you across universes is quite the ridiculous situation."


    "Tell me about it."


    Alexia heaved a sigh of exasperation as she waved her hand in the direction of the small hole that was beginning to pull in the debris of a second.


    |Rewind|


    After doing so, she turned to the ck-haired woman who was staring at her with a raised eyebrow and spoke.


    "Let''s go you jobless Supreme."


    "I''m not jobless! And was that okay?"


    "Yeah, it''s just a star."


    Ambient multicoloured energy wrapped around her body right after she replied. The next moment, she disappeared from that location, leaving the ck-haired woman behind.


    Left behind, the ck-haired woman let out a smallugh as she stared at the space where the star system once was before disappearing from there too.


    In the dark and cold space, the debris of the destroyeds was suddenly ejected from the small hole that was pulling them in at a speed that would make light seem slow.


    Within the next second, the entire star reappeared as its destruction was undone.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    Back on Kreiz, the academy exams continued for the next two weeks as nned. La also had her match against an intermediate-stage grandmaster but unlike Arthur, she did not embarrass him, even though she could.


    A week after the conclusion of the exams, the results were published and as expected, La was the top-scoring student.


    She had a score of 185 marks out of 200.


    As the difficulty of the exams was raised this year, her score was above what the teachers who set the questions expected.


    Her written test score was 85/100, her magic test was 50/50 and herbat test was 50/50.


    Much to the surprise of what most expected, following in second ce was Arthur, with a score of 174. He held the highest written test score with 99/100.


    His magic test was naturally 0/50, however, he scored 75/50 for his feat of defeating thebat instructor.


    Many questions were raised on this but the academy published its rulebook where it was stated that in the event an examinee defeated an instructor, they were to gain an extra 25 marks.


    Coming in third was a member of the Hollis Dukedom, one of the great-grandsons of the current Duke, Jenson.


    He scored 170 marks in total, two marks above the fourth position, La''s female best friend and daughter of a count, Nicole.


    Fifth ce was a lesser prince from an intergctic empire west of the burning realms supercluster, and the rest of the students had scores below that.


    Eventually, the chapter of the examinations came to an end, and the students were expected to report to school within a week.


    ¡ó ¡ó ¡ó


    One of the ''big ten'', the ten highest-ranked directors of the academy, was the one who presided over the entrance ceremony.


    There was also a small speech from the freshman representative, La, after which, the students were shown their dormitories and given a small orientation about the facilities provided for them by the academy.


    The dorms were split between male and female students, however, there were no strict rules prohibiting students from going over to each other''s dorms.


    Many just didn''t for fear of the rumours that would arise if they were to be seen.


    Each student was assigned a single room to them in the dormitories for their year of study. There were some private estates close by for students who did not wish to stay in the dorms.


    The dormitories for each ss, were within therge state-sized area that was allocated to each year. Arthur''s dorm was the one that was the closest to his ss block, however, the distance was one that would take him an hour to walk over.


    Arthur''s room was arguably the most luxurious in the entire dorm. That was natural, it was a room specially reserved for royal family members.


    Such a room existed in each of the dormitories for each year.


    Arthur arranged some of his things and left the rest to the servants who came over to help him settle in, before going over to La''s assigned room in the female dorm.


    He squeezed his way through the crowd of fans that somehow found out the location of her room. Upon entering, he heaved a sigh that showed his mental exhaustion from squeezing through the dozens of girls in the hallway.


    "How on Kreiz did they find out your room number?"


    "Someone who was there when I received my card key saw it and spread the news. I''m going to have it changed, I can''t deal with this."


    "Oh. You can use the room for the royal family members upstairs, it''s free now."


    "Arthur, it''s a room meant for the ''Royal family members'', you know?"


    "Yeah. And I, a royal family member, am telling you that you can use it. Just don''t tell anyone who might spread that information."


    "Appreciate the offer, I''d start moving now."


    "You might wanna wait till that crowd outside dies down. Or just call the dorm mother over."


    And that she did. The dorm mothers/supervisors for the royal academy''s dormitories, were all at least in the deity realm.


    Driving away a bunch of twelve-year-olds in the inferior stage master realm and below was a literal walk in the park.


    Although she was slightly surprised to see Arthur in La''s room, she paid it no mind and listened to La''s request before approving it and processing the room change immediately.


    Like so, La''s room was moved and she had significantly fewer visitorsing over. She only informed her closest friends of the situation, and naturally, she ended up getting teased about being engaged to Arthur.


    Without any other unnecessaryplications, their school life began the next day.

 Chapter 40: Interlude 2-The pieces on the board (REWRITTEN)

    <h4>Chapter 40: Interlude 2-The pieces on the board (REWRITTEN)</h4>


    Verchester


    Bracken Universe


    Year 713 of the 50th General Calendar


    The golden ss casino cum bar was bustling with activity as always. Thousands of people from different races were seated in various sections, either drinking or gambling.


    Some came with friends to celebrate their sesses, some came alone to celebrate their failures. All in all, it was another normal day for the golden ss.


    The balcony counter of the bar section was one of the most popr ces to sit, there had even been situations where people fought each other just to get a seat there.


    Today, it was also the first ce to be upied. The best drinks were also served to the customers seated there, on the house.


    Two of Today''s customers were seated side by side, a man and a woman.


    The man was dressed as casually as anyone you could find randomly on the street, with a normal t-shirt and jeans, yet he gave off a domineering aura, as if he was a King ruling over billions.


    He had golden eyes and hair with a little beard on his chin. His obviously expensive chain watch jiggled every time he raised his hand to take a drink.


    The woman beside him was dressed in a pure ck gown, contrasting with her white hair and skin. The gown was decorated with various jewels and precious stones of unknown worth. Her eyes were an upturned shape and they glowed with a small silver light.


    As for the facial appearances of the two, they were nothing short of praiseworthy. Men and women alike stopped to stare at them, even the bartender who had seen hundreds of beauties of various races was slightly stunned.


    The two sat there conversing over drinks, what they were speaking of was unknown to others as even the person next to them could not hear a thing.


    "They''re staring."


    "Of course, they will, have you looked at yourself in the mirrortely?"


    The woman showed a small smile while chuckling at the man''s reply, a smile that instantly captivated the hearts of those watching.


    Seeing the others in the bar fall for her charm so easily made the man heave a sigh in exasperation as he thought internally.


    ''Happens every time, it is not even surprising anymore.''


    "You''re probably thinking something along the lines of ''it''s not surprising anymore'', right?"


    As she urately guessed his thoughts, heughed a bit before showing a devilishly charming smile that made many men pinch their girlfriends just to get them to stop staring.


    She shook her head at his childish attitude before speaking out.


    "The recent happenings, do you know of them?"


    "Exactly what do you want to know? Depending on that, I''ll know if I can tell you or not."


    Hearing his reply, she paused to think for a moment before asking three questions.


    "Do you know what he actually is?"


    "Why did he appear now?"


    "Who was the one who interfered with the verses?"


    As she asked her questions, heughed as if he expected that before replying.


    "You ask quite a lot, did you perhaps forget we''re enemies? Do you really think anything I tell you would be the truth?"


    "This is a neutral zone though? Besides, there''s no point in lying to me."


    "We both know such nonsense doesn''t apply to us. And what makes you think there''s no point in that?"


    "It''s still a neutral zone though."


    Seeing as she was going to keep insisting on neutrality and not give him a proper reply, he sighed before deciding to answer her questions,


    "First of all, he''s exactly what you think he is, or at least what you''ve been told he is.


    As for why he is appearing now, it''s random, nothing special to it. He just happened to appear now.


    Lastly, as for who interfered, I might have an idea but I''m not sure if I''m right."


    "Just say who it is and where they are."


    She spoke impatiently, eliciting anotherugh from him.


    "Fine, I''ll talk.


    First of all, I can''t talk about the other person''s identity even if I wanted to. Secondly, as for finding them, I can''t do that too, that person is quite good at blending in.


    They could be in this bar with us and we wouldn''t even realize."


    "How''s that possible?"


    To the question she asked in surprise, he replied after a small pause.


    "It''s the nature of their existence.


    I''m sure after detecting the interference you tried to stop it, but seeing that you couldn''t you decided to search for its source. That''s what you did right?"


    "Yep"


    "And what were your search criteria? Someone with a high enough existence level and energy level to do such a thing right?"


    "Yes, you also searched for them too?"


    "Obviously, the result was unexpected, we found nothing. It was only,ter on, I realized why."


    "And why is that?"


    Taking a deep breath, he replied to her,


    "As I said earlier, that''s the nature of that person''s existence. Their maximum energy level is not stable, it depends on the current amount of energy they possess.


    After such an action, they were bound to have used up a lot, if not all their energy.


    What we should have searched for was someone with an existence levelparable to ours, but with an abysmally low energy level, possibly as low as a master realm, or even lower."


    Hearing such ridiculous search conditions, the woman facepalmed and then sighed.


    "We''re dealing with such a ridiculous person here. If we search now would we have any results?"


    "Nope, they''ve already hidden themselves, you''d find nothing. If it''s any constion, you should know the only type of existences that can''t be found by that guy''s search right?"


    She had a look of realization at his words, she then nodded in agreement. But before she could speak, he continued.


    "Let''s forget about this, for now, this is a bar, for drinking, let''s just enjoy ourselves shall we?"


    "Fine, I''ll talk about it to the otherster."


    "I think it''s best they don''t know though. But I won''t say anymore, we should enjoy ourselves, just like that duo over there."


    Feeling something off at his words, she turned to look at the duo he was referring to and almost dropped the drink in her hand due to shock. Heughed seeing her reaction and said,


    "In a way, they''re just like us."


    Looking at the devil and god who were ying around like children, she smiled and nodded in affirmation.


    "Indeed, they''re just like us."

 Chapter 41: School life

    <h4>Chapter 41: School life</h4>


    {Hey guys, Author here.


    So I just wanted to give you a little heads up as the next two or three chapters would be more of info dumps.


    Just some basic stuff you need to know about the school and the world background.


    You may skip them but I advise not to as there would be a few references to the things said in these chapterster on in the story.


    Best to read them so you don''t get confused, I think?


    Kindly bear with me for a bit, just wanted to get this info out there.


    Who knows? Maybe I might give y''all a fight scene right after?


    Thanks in advance, for continuing on our Godyer''s Legend.}


    Arthur''s first few weeks of school were quite uneventful to say the least. He spent most of his time beating up the fools who came to challenge him for a fight.


    Duels between students were forbidden, that is if one did not follow the system set in ce.


    Each student was given a smart watch, one that contained most of their student information, it also disyed their rank.


    This rank was given ording to the theirbat test results, with the highest Arthur, being rank one, La was rank 2 and so on.


    This was a system put in ce to prevent unnecessary fights between students. As there were not less than ten thousand students in each year, fights were bound ot break out between them on a daily basis.


    The rank system was created to prevent that from happening, one could challenge another student to a duel, a maximum of 5 times a month.


    If the challenger is lower ranked than the challenged, and the challenger wins the fight, they would take the rank of the challenger.


    However if one challenged a student in a higher or lower ss than them, it did not increase nor decrease their rank whether they won or lost.


    This meant that the ranks only applied to students within the same ss or school year, so a first year student could not hope for a rank increase by challenging a second year.


    As each student could only challenge other students 5 times a month, in turn they could only be challenged 5 times a month.


    Also it was not allowed to challenge students that were ranked one thousand ranks above oneself, in other words a student ranked 2000 could not challenge a student ranked 900, and the limit they could challenge was 1000.


    This was so that upper ranked students would not be challenged by foolish lower ranked students who were hoping for a stroke of luck to make them win.


    Within the first week of school, Arthur was challenged 5 times already, and 5 times he beat the living daylights out of his challengers.


    He did not make an attempt to challenge anyone at first but some jealous students began spreading rumors about him being scared of losing his rank.


    He picked 5 out of them and beat them up publicly to serve as an example to the others and to shut up them up.


    La also had her fair share of challenges and she naturally won all of them, effortlessly at that. The higher ranked students in the top hundred were all members of the Devildom''s nobility and they knew La''s strength well, so they did not even bother to challenge her.


    As for Arthur, he beat up the instructor during thebat exams, none of them wanted to fight such a person and be humiliated for no reason.


    The students were ced into sses ording to the scores they had on the exams, a lot of them were already friends with each other, and they even made more friends from the new faces they met.


    There were a total of 100 students per ss, each ssroom was designed like a conference hall, with seats in a staircase arrangement. The desks and chairs were naturally the best of the best and the lesson notes were disyed on thetest magi-tech projectors.


    Arthur also made a lot of friends among the other students ced in his ss, some Devildom''s nobles, some lesser royals and even the few exceptionalmoners that were ced in his ss.


    Although some said that a prince should not mingle withmoners, since when had Arthur ever listened to such nonsense?


    He befriended who ever he felt like and as for those he approached, they realized he wasn''t nearly as scary as the rumors they heard made him out to be.


    He was easygoing, a bit too carefree and he was frighteningly smart. A few teachers tried to pick on him but ended up regretting it.


    They believed that a prince that could not use his energies must be ipetent and that he was only able to defeat the instructor because he was tired from battling other students.


    Arthur used his genius intelligence to show them that he was not the ipetent they thought he would be.


    Once he even pointed out for them to check the scoreboards for the student who got the highest score in the entire freshman year.


    He ended up bing enemies with most of the teachers but he could not care less, he was going to school not to learn but to get the eyes of the ancient powers whose attention he attracted off him.


    Kreiz was under the protection of the Devildom''s royal family so there were practically no eyes belonging to other universal powers on it.


    Diablo made sure to erase each and every one of them personally after all. Even more so when Arthur was attending the school at the moment.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    It was another day in ss and Arthur was almost sleeping as usual. After being bugged by La repeatedly to at least pretend to listen he finally sat up and decided to listen to the general knowledge ss teacher''s words.


    "The average universe possesses over 50 billion gxies, this is the least amount that universes have been found to possess.


    The Hell Universe is one of the Larger universes of the universal sea, possessing over 100 billion gxies in total, the true number of gxies is not known however. Only the Master, King Diablo is privy to that information.


    As the master of the universe, King Diablo has the authority to alter the shapes and designs of existing stars,s and even theyouts of gxies and gctic fments.


    These are just the known benefits of the authority of the master."


    The teacher was a transcendent realm devil, one at the intermediate stage, he was known among the teachers of the freshman year as the ''Knowledge Guru''.


    He was confident in his general knowledge and even studied thews of knowledge and wisdom. He was also an Arch mage, one significantly stronger than his peers.


    For someone like him, who reached the transcendent realm after just 500 years, he was very proud of his achievements, which was why he was currently fuming internally at Arthur who made no effort to conceal how disinterested in the ss he was.


    "Too bad they don''t let us have phones during the sses, I''d bepleting my m*nster H*nter now, was so close to the final quest."


    "Arthur, stop it."


    He looked at Arthur who was loudly proiming his desire to y games and La who was trying to stop him.


    ''If you wanted to do this, then don''t sit in the front row!''


    He calmed himself down and continued speaking.


    "Within this universe, as there are over 100 billion gxies, each containing hundreds of billions ofs and stars, this makes it impossible for the reach of the devildom to spread across every corner.


    This means that there are some gxies and gxy clusters, even gctic fments that have existed for hundreds of thousands of years without knowing the existence of the master of the universe or the devildom itself.


    There are also some worlds that the denizens don''t even know of the existence of other races besides theirs, some don''t even know of magic and the other energies, some are still in their primitive stages too.


    This is the same even in other universes."


    He switched the slide that was being disyed to one titled ''Methods of strength measurement.'' And continued speaking.


    "So there are various methods of measuring strength, the mostmonly known is the existence realm measurement method. This method is also the most urate as it clearly tells the various levels of existence.


    From the Master realm to the monarch realm, though there are rumors of a higher realm existing, those are merely rumors, there couldn''t possibly be any things stronger than the masters of the universes."


    "How can you be so narrow minded and call yourself a teacher?"


    Arthur rudely interrupted the teacher, many gasped in shock upon hearing this. Arthur however, did not let up, he continued speaking.


    "You study thews of knowledge and wisdom, you should know more than anyone else that it is impossible to know everything, there''s clearly a realm that exists above the monarch realm."


    "And since you im to know of this realm would you please enlighten the ss?"


    The teacher retorted immediately Arthur finished speaking, he was getting visibly angry at Arthur''s words but struggled to keep his calm.


    "How am I supposed to know that? You''re the one with thew of knowledge not me, you should know this. I am sure that it exists though, got confirmation from grandpa after all, he said his dad was there."


    Everyone couldn''t help but believe Arthur''s words, after all his ''grandpa'' was none other than the king of the devildom and Master of the Hell Universe, Diablo.


    Diablo''s father was the one who was known was the strongest devil to ever exist, the most powerful king of the devildom since its inception.


    He was said to be even stronger than the Masters of the ancient universes that have existed for millions of years, he was the one who deserved the title of ''King of Hell'' the most, Lucifer.


    It was totally understandable if Diablo said Lucifer was in this realm said to be above the monarch realm and they were all inclined to believe it.


    This enraged the teacher further but he held it in with superhuman willpower and attempted to continue the ss.


    "Okay, thank you for the information prince Arthur."

 Chapter 42: Messing with teachers just because he can

    <h4>Chapter 42: Messing with teachers just because he can</h4>


    "Okay, thank you for the information prince Arthur."


    "No biggie."


    Arthur said as he went back to daydreaming about his M*nster H*nter and the strategies he could use to continue his gamey.


    The teacher gritted his teeth at this but he continued speaking to the rest of the ss.


    "There is another method of measuring strength called the cultivation realm method, this method is simr to the existence realm measuring method, the number of realms is the same too.


    What we call energies are called Qi by them and the realms there range from the qi gathering to the Celestial realm. This should not be confused with the celestial race, however.


    When measuring strength with this method, the transcendent realm existences are called Ascension realm experts. The demigod realm existences are called Half- Immortals and the deity realm existences are called Immortals.


    The masters of universes that use this method are called Celestials. Now then who can mention another method of strength measuring?"


    "Leveling system! The kind you have in RPGS! Not the weapons though, the games."


    A student shouted out in response to his question which evoked a smallugh from the members of the ss. Arthur had a confused look on his face as he was wondering how they found that funny but he decided to keep to himself.


    "Correct." The teacher smiled and nodded in affirmation before continuing.


    "The denizens of the universes with levelling systems are known to possess these systems from birth and have their strength measured by level simr to how one would see in games.


    The level limits differ for each universe with some having a limit of a hundred and some a hundred thousand.


    Some gxies within the Hell universe are also known to possess this system, this is mostly within the higher dimensions and primary nes however and also ces where the essence of thew of knowledge is more profound."


    Right before he was about to continue, he was interrupted by Arthur once again.


    "Nope! I''m done! Can''t do this anymore, for the past one week you''ve just been spouting basic information that anyone capable of passing the academy''s exam should already know.


    I mean, who here doesn''t know of the levelling systems? Who here doesn''t know of the cultivation worlds? What about the number ofs and gxies? It''s basic information we all know.


    And also, the things you''ve been saying have been sounding familiar and I finally remembered why." He turned to La who was sighing in exasperation and asked.


    "Hey La, remember that time we snuck out of ss to go read some books in the castle library, then that unnecessarilyrge book that fell on the librarian''s head, ''The hell universe in its entirety''. Don''t you think what he''s been saying is simr to that?"


    La stared at Arthur with a weird face for a few moments before shaking her head and replying.


    "First of all, I did not sneak out of ss, you dragged me out regardless of my will."


    "What''s the difference?"


    "There is a difference Arthur, a very big one, secondly were you not the one to cause the book to fall on the Librarians head? Lastly, even if what he''s saying is simr to the book, there''s this thing called ''Tact''. You are not supposed to point that out, especially in front of 99 other students."


    "Once again, what''s the difference? Whether I point it out in front of 9 or 99 students, it doesn''t change the fact that it''s the truth though. See how he''s been silent, it''s because he knows I''m right."


    **DING DONG


    "Ah! The bell, finally this boring ss is over."


    "Hey!"


    Arthur then stood up, ignoring the teachers shout and jumped out through the window, simply because it was closer.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    On the way to the next ss, abat ss, Arthur thought about the events set out for the students. During their fourth year, they were to go on for a realm expedition.


    This was when he nned to go to Varona to retrieve Lucifer''s legacy that was left there. He remembered the blue haired woman who told him of this and wondered how she was doing.


    ''I hope she doesn''t get caught by those guys she said was chasing her.''


    He also wondered how old she truly was, seeing as she knew Lucifer, someone who existed over twelve thousand years ago.


    ''She''s older than mum and uncle Creusery, she''s definitely an old hag after all.''


    Of course for Alexia''s race, she was considered someone who just became an adult but Arthur did not need to know that. He would only say her race consisted of old hags if he did.


    He made his way to thebat ss, one where he also liked to anno-, banter with the teacher in charge. He was also a transcendent realm devil, one who had gained his second pair of wings, he was also close to bing a demigod realm existence.


    Although he wanted nothing but to beat Arthur up whenever thetter messed up his sses, he was scared of the repercussions. Namely; Cattleya killing him.


    The one with the title of ''Strongest Leviathan'' was not one to be trifled with, he was a smart person and he knew how much Cattleya cared for Arthur, if he harmed Arthur in any way, his existence was forfeit.


    Arthur also knew this and poked fun at him precisely because of it, this was also because he could defend himself if he was attacked.


    He had a ring on his finger, one that protected him from three attacks of transcendent-level strength while also alerting her of his location.


    This was just basic protection for a royal family member.


    The sixth-year students in the school were having a tournament where they allpeted for the rank of strongest in the ss for thest time before their graduation, he looked at them as they were training while walking down the hallway in thebat ss building.


    The tournament started with a free for all, where the final 128 are selected, this was when the individual matches began, and they continued down to thest two finalists.


    Like the exam, this was also going to be broadcasted across various channels, local and international. Many dignitaries were in attendance, and once again, like the exam students ended up showing off to get the attention of these dignitaries.


    The students of the academy were expected to achieve at least the Inferior-stage of the Epic realm by graduation. Considering that most of them were gold realms when they are admitted into the academy, it was a reasonable demand.


    Inferior stage Epic in six years was obviously faster than ''normal'' but some still said that it was still slow for the students, considering the resources they were given.


    Only those who were born with fairly high existence realms like Arthur and La who were born in the master realm, or even those other geniuses who were born in the grandmaster realm could reach the Legendary realm at their graduation. Cattleya was one of these.


    There were even some who started off on the Gold realm but ended up also achieving the Legendary realm at their graduation. Of course, such cases were very rare.


    The Legendary realm was the mainstay for most normal Devils in the higher worlds or higher nes primary nes, you could see civilian devils in this realm in ces like this.


    The capital of the Devildom, Aeturn, a ce where you could randomly bump shoulders with a Superior Stage Legendary realm devil on the street, was an example of this.


    Although it was considered a great realm in the middle and lower worlds or secondary nes, it was something that can be seen casually in higher ones.


    This is also where it bes difficult to increase in realm as the energy required for a breakthrough to the next realm increases exponentially.


    Even so, some geniuses still break through this realm easily and advance to higher ones. Right now, the strongest student in the academy was a Superior Stage Legendary Realm devil.


    He was a direct descendant of one of the Dukes in the Devildom, one born in the inferior stage of the master realm.


    He was helping his fellow sixth-year students to train in preparation for the uing tournaments, Arthur was just staring at them until La came over and hit his head with the grip of her bay.


    "Ouch! What on Kreiz was that for?"


    "For disturbing the ss and making an enemy of another teacher."


    "It''s not like there''s anything for me to learn from him though?"


    "Yeah sure, but others do."


    "Do you?"


    "Yes, I do thank you very much."


    She snorted and began dragging him towards the hall in which their next ss would take ce. Others who saw this sceneughed as it was something that they had encountered more than once in the first few weeks of school.


    Some of La''s close friends also came to chat her up upon seeing her, most of them had teasing grins on their faces.


    "Hey, Lady La, dragging Prince Arthur to ss again huh?"


    "It seems you''ve already begun practising for the future; if you know what I mean."


    Their words caused La''s face to turn red instantly, she was about to start denying their ims but Arthur spoke up first.


    "Rather than a fianc¨¦e, she acts more like a mum to me, I mean look at this."


    By ''this'' he meant her holding his hand and dragging him to ss, his words evoked a smallugh from the girls, As for La.


    "Idiot!"


    She hit him with her gun once again, let go of his hand and stormed off, upon reaching the end of the hallway she turned around and said.


    "You bettere to ss okay?!"


    Hearing this, Arthurughed and said.


    "See, like a mum telling her kid to go to school."

 Chapter 43: Layla’s duel

    <h4>Chapter 43: La¡¯s duel</h4>


    "Okay, that''s it for today''s drills, now to begin individual spars."


    The voice of the teacher rang out as most of the students dropped on the floor in exhaustion. They had just finished a few training drills that consisted of running over twentyps around their ss hall among other things


    Although they were devils and members of other races that had more strength than regr people or humans, the hall was created with that in mind.


    "The distance is way too much, why do we even do these training drills in the first ce."


    Edward, thest son of a gctic ruler and one of Arthur''s new friends asked. He was a boy with long brown hair and blue eyes. He was also one of the boys in the top five of the secret polls held by the girls to determine the most handsome first-year boys.


    He had a toned body, evidence that he was one who kept fit always, and although he seemed to beining, besides Arthur and La, he was the one who took the fourth shortest time toplete the drill.


    He was also the rank 5 in the freshman year and had kept his position ever since the beginning despite the challenges he had received.


    "How the hell am I supposed to know? Honestly, it feels pointless to me, it''s supposed to be stamina training but it does not really do anything for me. I mean Ipleted it in ten minutes and got bored watching you all."


    Edwardughed at Arthur''s reply and to a seat beside him, he looked over to where most of the girls were and smiled, causing a few screams to rise from there.


    Arthur on the other hand looked at him like one would a fool.


    "You''re gonna get stabbed one day you know?"


    "I already did, by my brother''s ex-girlfriend. Was not a pleasant experience."


    "What the? Why''d she do that? Did you steal her from your brother or something?"


    Edward looked offended at Arthur''s question and did not want to reply, however, a few other boys who were within earshot also came over to hear his reply, seeing them silently urging him with their eyes, and he decided to answer.


    "Okay so she was dating my brother, and then she fell for me, I don''t know why or how, I mean, I only talked to her a few times.


    My brother found out and broke up with her, also, it turned out she was dating him for his position not because she liked him or anything.


    He didn''t know this and only broke up with her cus he found out she fell for me, she on the other hand, said it was my fault she could not marry into power and attacked me.


    The whole situation was just absurd, I didn''t understand what she was going on about till she pulled a dagger and stabbed me with it."


    "Oh shit! That had gotta hurt right?"


    "Of course it did, it was an artifact you know, one that caused a bleeding effect, took a while for the wound to heal."


    "What happened to her?" Arthur asked, trying to hold in hisughter. Edward noticed this and red at him before replying.


    "She attacked the son of a gctic ruler, of course,\ she was executed."


    And then Arthur burst out Laughing, Edward was initially confused why until he felt a presence behind him, he turned around to see thebat lesson instructor smiling at him.


    "Nice story young prince Edward, it would have been better if you were in Literature ss, however you are inbat ss and I recall saying it was time for individual spars."


    Edward gave a forced smile and silently scooted over, attempting to escape but he was restrained by the teacher''s magic, along with the other boys who were listening.


    As for Arthur, he used one of his defensive artifacts to escape, it was one that guarded against restraining-type magic.


    The teacher looked at him and sighed, Arthur justughed and said.


    "Don''t me me teach, I had it, so I used it, I could still escape without it though."


    "Oh really, well why don''t we have a fair fight and see if you can escape from me."


    "How old are you? How old am I? You should be a few hundred, right? A man who''s hundreds of years older than me wants to have a fair fight with a youngster like me? If you aren''t embarrassed then I should be embarrassed for you."


    The teacher''s face flushed red, he was very embarrassed at Arthur''s words. Arthur was still gloating until La came over and knocked him on the head again.


    "Ouch! How the hell do you keep getting behind me without me knowing?"


    "It''s called a stealth artifact Arthur, you''re not the only one who uses artifacts."


    She then walked over to the teacher and spoke.


    "Leave these idiots alone, teacher, they''re not worth your time. Also, can I request a spar, I actually want to test something new out and need someone to point out the ws in it, you''re the most suitable for that?"


    The teacher considered La''s request and nodded, he released the restraining magic on the captured students and walked away.


    "That''s our ss rep,ing to the rescue every time."


    "I don''t recall bing ss representative to deal with you guys'' bullshit, at least wait till the ss is over okay?"


    After saying that she walked over to the centre of the hall with the teacher, ignoring Edward and his crew who ran over to get revenge on Arthur.


    Other students came over to see the spar, not many had seen La get serious, even during the exams, she only showed the bare minimum and was able to overwhelm the instructor and make them consider admitting defeat.


    During the challenges for her position, she defeated all her opponents with a single magic attack, without using any of her prized guns. The sight of the second-ranked student battling against an instructor was a rare sight to see.


    This was because it was expected for La to go all out or at least disy more of her ability in this spar, so many wanted to see it. Also, looking at the sword bay in her arms, it seemed she was going to be using one of her prized guns.


    It was no small secret that La was borderline obsessed with the weapons called guns, somedies who were jealous of her called it barbaric and tried to put her down for it but they were the ones put in their ce instead.


    ording to Arthur; "It was noting a quick beat down couldn''t solve, doesn''t have to be a physical or magical beat down, you could use something else, preferably something the opponent is confident in.".


    "Are you ready?"


    "Yep"


    La replied to the instructor''s words and readied her gun. Arthur who had somehow escaped the wrath of the boys, ran over and arbitrarily dered himself the referee.


    "Begin!!"


    First, she fired a few shots from her bay, these were magically enhanced bullets that changed attributes depending on the user''s magic, La imbued them with fire magic.


    At the same time, she charged at him with the bay in hand.


    ''It would be foolish to try to engage in a long-distance battle with a transcendent realm mage.


    If I have any chance of beating him, it''s by shortening the distance between us and forcing a closebat battle.


    The only question is whether I can avoid his magic until then.''


    Those were La''s thoughts as she charged towards the instructor before her bullets even reached him.


    The bullets crashed into his outstretched hand. She had assumed he would cancel it out with magic or avoid it, so her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him casually block them.


    ''Tch...He''s giving me a head start as a handicap.''


    Without even blocking or dodging her attacks. They shed into his palm¡ªa direct hit.


    But a momentter, he shakes out his hand as if nothing was ever there.


    There''s not a scratch on him.


    That was expected, he was a transcendent in both body and soul, La was just a master realm, her normal attacks could not harm him.


    ''It was only a feint, but still, I''m annoyed that he was able to take a direct hit from my gun with almost no damage at all. Not even a scratch.''


    She clicked her tongue as the distance between them became zero. Even if her magic bullets won''t work, if her sword attached to the bay could reach, she could have a chance!


    "Hiyah!"


    She swung down her sword with a shout, slicing through nothing but air.


    He was gone.


    He literally transported away in an instant.


    Space Magic is supposed to take a long time to use, but you''d never know from how quickly he moved.


    That was the power of a transcendent very close to achieving a basic rank authority in thew of space.


    ''If he can get away from me with teleportation, then distance won''t make a bit of difference.''


    He could easily teleport far enough away that she couldn''t reach him, then shoot magic at her from a long distance.


    ''And even if I manage to cover that distance, he can just teleport away again. I never had a chance to begin with. That''s expected, he''s a transcendent after all, and my aim was not to win but to test this new weapon out.''


    She then sensed a presence behind her.


    ''He couldn''t possibly be behind me, right?''

 Chapter 44: Illusions

    <h4>Chapter 44: Illusions</h4>


    ''And even if I manage to cover that distance, he can just teleport away again. I never had a chance to begin with. That''s expected, he''s a transcendent after all, and my aim was not to win but to test this new weapon out.''


    She then sensed a presence behind her.


    ''He couldn''t possibly be behind me, right?''


    She was right, he reappeared far closer to her than she expected, perhaps because this is supposed to be training.


    Right behind her.


    Only about five feet away¡ªfairly close.


    But those five feet are much too far when fighting against someone like him. He slowly raised his staff.


    ''Here ites!''


    She jumped to the side as fast as she could.


    Immediately after, mes roared through the area where she was standing seconds before.


    Any ordinary person would''ve likely been burned away to the bone.


    Most frightening of all, that was just a beginner spell, Fireball.


    Sometimes, the power of a spell doesn''t differ much depending on who uses it. High energy level might make it a bit more powerful, but it wouldn''t be a big enough difference to be visible at a nce.


    Even if the caster''s magic power was more than ten times higher than average, that wouldn''t make the spell ten times more powerful. It''s traditionally more of an indicator of whether they can use more advanced spells.


    If someone''s magic power is around a certain amount, then they''ll likely be able to use a corresponding level of magic.


    In some cases, if a person''s magic power amount is too low, a spell might backfire even if the user knows the spell in and out.


    That''s how magic casting was supposed to be.


    ''Unfortunately, he has rendered that knowledgepletely useless.''


    He also studied thew of wisdom in tandem with hisw of space. In games the wisdom stat is usually one that affected the strength of the characters magic.


    This also applied in reality, to thew of wisdom. Most mages proficient in thisw are known to possess uncharacteristically strong magic, even when they used lower spells.


    In their hands, even beginner spells are far stronger than a massive magic spell unleashed by an entire group of lesser mages!


    ''My barrier won''t be able to block thatpletely.'' La thought as she looked at the scorched earth where the spell hit.


    And yet...


    "Ah!"


    As she dodged the Fireball, his staff swiveled to point toward her.


    Yes, Fireball is a beginner spell.


    Even with its power increased, it''s still quick to use and requires little energy.


    In other words, he can use it at a breakneck rate!


    She instantly broke into a run.


    A wave of heat hit her face, evaporating her sweat. Was she sweating from the heat or from pure fear? Even she could not say for sure.


    All she knew was that if she stopped moving, her entire body would be engulfed in mes. Of course he won''t kill her as it was just a training spar, but the damages won''t be too light either.


    So she kept pumping her legs as fast as she could to dodge his spells. But running around like this wasn''t enough.


    ''Just as I thought earlier, if I have any chance of winning, it''s by forcing a closebat battle. I have to get closer to him somehow, or I won''t even have that slim chance.''


    She fired a few magic bullets at the next set of fireballs that came her way, dodged the ones too fast for her, and fired a few more bullets.


    The nodules of magic crash into each other, exploding with a roar.


    Canceling each other out¡ªor not quite.


    ''My bullets were pushed back a little, so the explosion would fly in my direction.''


    As she thought that, she decided to backtrack a bit, her excellent physical ability helped her to perform such maneuvers with ease.


    However this increased the distance between them to about ten feet. She decided to begin closing the distance now, activating her defensive artifacts, she reloaded and fired a few magic bullets at him.


    They shed with his fireballs and created a small explosion again.


    *BOOM!


    The students watching and other onlookers passing by were stunned by this, they did not expect La to be strong enough to cancel the spells of an instructor, even if they were only beginner spells.


    Even if the gun in her hands was strong, it all came down to the person using it in the end.


    ''Thatst bullet was a special one, it three times as strong as the regrs. Yet he''s overtaken it, with a beginner''s spell.


    What an amazingly powerful person.


    But I managed to get one feet closer to him by using the bullet to deflect his magic.


    One down, nine to go!''


    She jumped into the air to avoid the st that resulted from the bullet and the spell colliding with each other. She also used her reequip artifact to change all the bullets in the bay to the special ones with 3 times more power.


    Another Fireballes flying towards her in midair.


    ''Now!''


    She created a foothold with ice magic below her feet and used it to jump off and dodge the fireball. His Fireballs move quickly and create arger explosion when they hit their target.


    ''-If- they hit their target.''


    He''s been nketing the surrounding area in mes by aiming his attacks at her on the ground, but he can''t do that if she''s in the air.


    And no matter how fast they might be, they''re not impossible to dodge if she knows they''reing.


    But she was still inexperienced with this method of maneuvering, and the same move won''t work on him twice, so this was a one-time-only strategy.


    "Can''t use that again huh?"


    ''Still, that''s two more feet now.''


    Between the one she gained first and the two from Ice foothold maneuvering, that leaves seven more feet!


    As soon as shended on the ground, another Fireball came flying towards her. She deflects his Fireball with her magic bullets again, resulting in another shock wave. But she reduces it with her barrier artifact and takes another step forward.


    ''Six feet left!''


    She jumped to the side to dodge the next Fireball, then fired two more bullets at it to create arger explosion, temporarily obscuring his vision.


    At the same time, she used her ace-in-the-hole spell. What she wanted to test in the first ce.


    "Hrmmm?!"


    He eximed for the first time since the fight started. To him, it should look like there are suddenly three of her.


    It''s an illusion created with dark Magic. Something she managed to do recently, also her illusions were not just illusions, they had physical mass too.


    She ran forward along with the two fakes from three different directions. Due to one of the agreements they made before the match, he was not allowed to cast more than one spell at a time and he was to stick with beginner spells.


    "Aren''t you tricky?"


    A Fireball shoots out and hits one of the three.


    But the other two keep running toward him without slowing down.


    ''Five more feet.''


    Another Fireball strikes the second one.


    ''Four more feet.''


    "You''re the real one, eh? You got lucky."


    He acted like he was not sure but La knew, he was already aware of which one was the real one from the start, he was just ying along.


    A third Fireball hits thest one standing.


    "What?!"


    An exmation of genuine confusiones from one of the students watching, they could not tell them apart so they did not know which one was real or not.


    ''Three more feet.''


    He then froze up in surprise for only a second.


    But that second buys her yet another feet.


    ''Two feet left!''


    "But how?!"


    "Shut up if you can''t see through it already."


    Arthur shouted at the student who kept eximing, he then looked back at the fight, at the figure of the instructor, or more urately above the figure of the instructor.


    A silent cutting sound could be heard.


    The instructor smiled and raised his staff in the air, blocking the sword that came from above, he then created a barrier to block the bullets fired at point nk range that came after the sword.


    Seeing this many students were shocked, none of the three illusions were the real one in the first ce.


    The real La jumped up in the air and used her Ice magic to create footholds in the air again she then closed the distance and jumped down for an aerial attack.


    However, like she thought, he already knew she was there from the start, he only fired at her illusions to test the strength and integrity of the illusions.


    "Tch. And I even said I couldn''t use it anymore to make you unconsciously not consider it."


    Landed back on the ground and cleaned the sweat off her face as she spoke.


    "You''re doing psychological warfare now?"


    The teacher retorted back instantly, surprised at the words she poke. The problem was that it worked, he was originally surprised when he sensed her in the air, and he had actually unconsciously believed she would not use that method of maneuvering again.


    There was a pping sound and he turned around to see both the students in the hall and the others outside who were watching the fight pping in apuse. Besides the few teachers who stopped by, most of the students, even some of the second and third year students could not see through the illusions.


    When the pping died down, Arthur finally decided to speak up.

 Chapter 45: The Summoner

    <h4>Chapter 45: The Summoner</h4>


    "La, you should not have done that, you should have used two illusions on the ground and one in the air.


    Then use your defensive artifact to take the brunt of the hit, that way he was less likely to believe that the real one was in the air.


    Also, this was my dad''s suggestion but you should develop a method to switch with your illusions with your real body, do it at thest moment too."


    Arthur walked up to La as he spoke, he then grabbed her bay and tweaked it a little, giving it back to her, and he continued speaking.


    "Also, did you forget this thing had rapid fire? He was rapidly firing the fireballs so why didn''t you rapidly fire your bullets too?"


    "Bullets aren''t infinite Arthur."


    "Yeah but you got thousands of them in your space ring, the reequip artifact on your hands is also there to help you reload almost instantly too."


    La pondered on Arthur''s words for a moment then nodded, he smiled at her and suggested they redo the spar but-


    "Nahh, I''m tired, another day."


    -La denied it and decided to have the spar another day, he shrugged his shoulders at her words. She then asked him something she noticed earlier.


    "Arthur, you''re talking like you knew I was in the air from the start..."


    "Of course I did, you just learnt that magic recently right, I wonder how the others couldn''t see through it when you''re still not proficient at it."


    His words evoked a few displeased voices to rise from the students but he turned and said to them.


    "What? It''s not like any of you were able to see through it."


    "Yeah but that doesn''t mean you should disparage us with your words."


    A voice spoke up; it was a blonde-haired blue-eyed young devil. Jenson Hollis, a descendant of the Hollis family of summoners and the one who came in third in the entrance exams.


    Arthur just looked at him for a moment before saying.


    "Shut up, third rank."


    "You!-."


    He was about to shout at Arthur but then the teacher interrupted him and suggested something none of them expected.


    "Why don''t you two settle your grievances with a spar?"


    "Um, I don''t exactly have any grievances with the third-rank kid."


    Arthur denied the spar suggestion instantly; he saw no reason to waste his strength on something as wasteful as that.


    "You seem to forget prince but I have full authority in this ss, if I say it''s a spar, then it''s a spar."


    Arthur red at the teacher but he still insisted on the spar.


    "Is there a reason you are against it?"


    "Yeah. It''s this thing called ''a waste of time''. Why on Kreiz should I fight someone who couldn''t beat his examiner during the entrance exams?


    If anything La is more worth fighting, she could beat her examiner, she just didn''t. Even if she''s tired she''d still put up more of a fight than that third rank."


    "You bastard!"


    The moment Jenson shouted that in rage, Arthur disappeared from his spot and appeared in front of him. None of the students, not even La could catch his movements.


    The next moment a shattering sound rang out, and they all turned to see a shattered barrier with Arthur''s fist sticking out of it right in front of Jenson''s face.


    That was when they realized, that Arthur almost punched the living daylights out of Jenson if not for the defensive artifact he had on him that created a protective barrier around him.


    Even still, the barrier was shattered in one hit. Arthur was about to punch him again before he suddenly found himself in the middle of the training hall, almost ten meters away from Jenson.


    He looked at the culprit, the teacher who teleported them instantly.


    "You now have a reason to fight him now don''t you?"


    "Teacher, please don''t."


    La spoke up instantly, there was fear evident in her voice, this shocked the teacher as La was not one to disy her negative emotions so openly.


    La was scared because of what happened thest time someone called Arthur a ''bastard'', the sight of Arthur pummeling someone to death with his bare fists was not something she wanted to see again.


    The teacher realized that Arthur''s reaction now was also not normal and he may possibly injure Jenson more than normal if he were to fight him now.


    He mmed his staff on the floor, activating an artifact-cancelling magic, this was to prevent Arthur from using his strength-enhancing artifacts and his favourite ice sword artifact.


    Arthur, realizing the teacher had used an artifact cancellerughed and said;


    "You did that to stop me from using my sword? I''m actually weaker with it, bare-handedbat is more my style."


    "Bullshit. Are you seriously saying that now?"


    "What La? It''s the truth."


    "Yeah right, says the guy who reflected my bullets back to me."


    Arthurughed again at La''s words, but La was only getting more scared, she did not know if he was still angry, Arthur was the kind to smile when he was pissed after all.


    Still, she had to get his mind off the fact that Jenson just slurred him, otherwise he might really kill him. This would cause problems between the Duke of Hollis and the Royal family.


    "That was a fluke you know?"


    "Yeah right...A fluke every time we duelled for over 3 years."


    She replied jokingly, then walked up to him and whispered in his ear.


    "I know you''re pissed but you have to calm down, don''t go overboard, at least not in school."


    Arthur''s smile disappeared, and he stared at her coldly. La suppressed her fear and continued speaking; she had to make sure Arthur didn''t go too far in the duel.


    "If you don''t go overboard I''d grant you a favour, for free, as far as it is in my ability to do so."


    "A favour you say?"


    "Yes..."


    "Fine, I''d settle for a few punches to the face."


    She heaved a sigh of relief and walked back to the teacher, not before ring at Jenson. She told the teacher to begin the spar-no, the duel.


    "Begin!"


    Arthur stood in his spot while Jenson moved back instantly. Seeing this, Arthur justughed and said.


    "Prepare all you want, summon all the pets you want, I''d still beat you up after."


    "You!"


    He almost called Arthur a ''b*stard'' again but managed to hold his tongue, he then clicked his tongue and pped his hands together; it was a gesture he used for his summoning.


    The more proficient summoners in the House of Hollis could summon their pets or contracted beasts without having to make a move but he was obviously still inexperienced.


    Being able to summon with just a gesture was already good enough. Jenson also did not want to use his contracted beasts immediately so he started with magic constructs.


    Due to his affinity for lightning, he could produce and manipte lightning beasts, opening his hands a small sphere of light floated from between his palms and immediately dropped to the ground.


    Then, the moment it hit the ground, it turned into a lightning wolf-like beast, then began multiplying, from ten to twenty to thirty.


    And those lightning beasts instantaneously encircled Arthur. It was rather blinding to stare at the sight of the lightning beasts.


    **GRRRRrr!! GRAAAAH!!! GROOOO!!


    In addition to lightning, he had affinities for fire and earth so he also added fire-based magic beasts to the mix.


    ''Their individual strengths aren''t much, most are gold realms, with a few inferior masters in the mix.''


    However in this case, it wasn''t the individual quality of the lightning and fire beasts that mattered, but the quantity.


    ''First of all, I have to break through the encirclement.''


    Arthur thought to himself as he smiled, his inner battle junkie manifesting itself, since La even went as far as to promise him a free favour if he did not disable Jenson like he originally nned, he deiced to at least try to enjoy the fight.


    "Haah!"


    Arthur plunged himself into the nearest one and tried to hit it with his fist. He envisioned that the lightning beast wouldn''t have enough time to respond to his approach.


    And that was what happened, however, the next thing that happened was out of his expectations.


    "GYAAA!?"


    Along with what sounded like a shriek, the monster''s body released a dazzling light, seeing that light and sensing the magic power within it, Arthur thought to himself.


    ''Ah, it was a trap.''


    Then there was an explosion. The weak strengths of the beasts were actually a trap by Jenson to lure Arthur in so he could be damaged by the explosions that urred when he defeated them.


    "I see, so the stronger you hit them, the bigger their explosion!"


    Jenson showed a look of surprise as Arthur instantly deduced his ability, unknown to him Arthur had already read up on most of the known abilities that the Hollis family had.


    ''The royal family has documentation on all the known abilities of the ducal families after all.''


    However, what shocked Jenson, alongside the rest of the spectators was that Arthur''s body wasn''t harmed by that explosion in the slightest.


    Even the teacher was slightly surprised at this. La on the other hand justughed and said;


    "When I said Arthur deflected my bullets, I didn''t mean with his sword alone you know? He used his hands too."


    "His what now..?!"


    "Haha~ Let''s just say his physical body is a little too strong, probably topliment hisck of energy."


    Arthurughed and made a beeline towards the nearest beast and lunged in. His speed was godlypared to just now. Riding the momentum, he bent his leg and delivered a full roundhouse kick.


    "GYOOooooo!!"


    The beast shrieked, indicating that it received quite a lot of damage.


    "Wh ¡ª That idiot!!"


    An explosion came afterwards, overpowering the unknown student''s shout.


    Arthur waspletely caught in the explosion, however, he didn''t even suffer a scratch from it. Not a twitch. Not even a wince.


    Besides his clothes being burnt slightly, he was fine. Then again, their training uniforms were made out of magic-resistant fabric.


    He waspletely safe and sound.


    "Eeh...!? Wh-, what hap¡ª¡ª!?"


    "Just what sort Of...!?"


    The students and teacher watching werepletely confused, having heard La''s words earlier, they expected him to be strong but this was exceeding their expectations.


    A lot of them still believed Arthur used strength-enhancing artifacts to beat the instructor during the exam, they all unconsciously considered Arthur as weaker than normal due to him being unable to use his energy.


    Arthur just smiled and began punching the me and lightning beasts with his hands, sometimes enduring the small explosions that came after, other times he moved out of the area faster than the beast could explode.


    Long story short, Arthur was just being as absurd as usual.


    "Next!"


    Arthur, who didn''t care for the spectators'' thoughts, mowed down the me and lightning beasts one after another with his bare hands.


    The small explosions engulfed his body over and over again while scattering thunderous roars and cratering the ground. All the while, he remained fully intact, with nothing but a few scratches in sight on his body, the state of his clothes however was not anything to write home about.


    As he was about to end one of the lightning beasts, his keen eyes observed something.


    ''It opened its mouth at thest moment?''


    Within a few seconds, he arrived at a frightening conclusion and turned around quickly, like he expected, the other beasts had their mouths open.


    Feeling the crazy amount of magic energy building up within them, Arthur couldn''t help but voice his thoughts out loud.


    "Fucking Hell!"

 Chapter 46: Drake Ogre

    <h4>Chapter 46: Drake Ogre</h4>


    Feeling the crazy amount of magic energy building up within them, Arthur couldn''t help but voice his thoughts out loud.


    "Fucking Hell!"


    And like so, they began shooting out me and lightning projectiles from their mouths. However, even though Arthur cursed out loud, he was still able to avoid the iing projectiles.


    ***BOOM BOOM!


    Arthur dodged them and the projectiles exploded on contact with the ground. Seeing that, the thoughts of using his shin guards to kick them away escaped his mind instantly.


    ''I like my legs and I don''t feel like losing them anytime soon.''


    The projectiles continued for a while before eventually stopping. Arthur who dodged them all wlessly, thought Jenson was out of mana, but after sensing arge amount of mana from underground, he struggled to hold back his urge to curse.


    The ground cracked open to reveal an enormous 5-meter-tall golem made of rocks, in its chest was a red spot, most likely its core. The steam being emitted from the mouth of the golem showed it had some sort of me ability as well.


    ''He''s not gonna make it shoot mes from its mouth right?''


    Unfortunately, Things never always went the way one wanted them to.


    ***RROOOAR!!!


    The golem opened its mouth and roared beforeunching a giant ball of mes from within. The teacher frowned and put up a barrier to prevent the spectators from being harmed. Arthur on the other hand, ran for his life.


    ''That thing can roast an intermediate stage master with ease, I''m not in for that!.''


    With those thoughts, he ran forward, towards the ball of mes. Right before the spectators thought he would confront it head-on, heughed before sliding under the ball of mes and through the legs of the golem. The ball of mes that missed its target, crashed into the ground and exploded.


    ***BOOM!


    "Thought he was gonna punch it...."


    "Thought I was gonna do what!!??"


    Arthur retorted loudly to Edward''s mutter he happened to hear.


    ''It was a big slow ball of mes, it was destructive, but only if it hit.''


    Jenson, who was on the shoulder of the golem, clicked his tongue beforemanding it to attack Arthur physically. With another loud roar that attracted even more attention, it moved to punch Arthur.


    "Next time, give the projectiles a homing feature, or could it be you can''t do that? What could I have expected from a mere third rank?"


    Arthur who noticed the iing punch, stood up with his back turned towards the golem and decided it was the best time to taunt Jenson.


    "Arthur, there''re two fistsing right at you."


    "There''s what now?"


    Turning around to see not one but the two fists of the golem heading straight for him, Arthur sighed and jumped backwards to dodge. Even after escaping their range of effect, he kept on moving backwards till he was at the edge of the ring.


    He then got into a running stance and took off secondster, crossing the distance between the edge of the ring to the golem that was trying to regain its footing in less than ten seconds.


    Using the hands of the golem that were still stuck into the ground as a ramp, he ran up and punched the exposed chest of the golem, destroying its core and crumbling it to the ground.


    Jenson gave up on the golem instantly and jumped down, pping his hands to summon more lightning beasts. Arthur, after escaping from the pile of rocks that were once the golem, rushed to mow down the summoned lightning beasts with ease.


    In a few minutes, the lightning beasts that could hardly handle his brutal onught diminished fast. At this point, the number of beasts was already less than half of what it used to be.


    Arthur''s movement was fast, too fast for even La, the second strongest in their ss, to follow without straining her eyes. Noticing something, she shouted out to Arthur,


    "If you don''t finish this quick your clothes would end up being rags you know?"


    "Ah!"


    Finally realizing that his clothes were beginning to get burnt, he decided to end the fight as quickly as possible.


    Jenson, once again tried to p his hands against each other to summon more me and lightning beasts.


    ***CLANK!


    However, no beasts were summoned this time because of Arthur.


    "Wh...!?"


    "Did you ask for permission to do that?"


    He said as he interrupted Jenson with a kick just before his summoning could be triggered. The metallic noise just now was produced from the impact of Arthur''s shin guard and the gauntlets on Jenson''s hands.


    Arthur had figured out that as long as his hands didn''t hit each other, the summoning wouldn''t be triggered and so he had stopped Jenson right before he could act upon it.


    "What the actual fu... really?"


    Jenson had not expected that move from Arthur at all.


    "Damn!" Jenson eximed as he took a big leap backwards.


    Whilst he pulled himself together, he once again tried to p his hands together, only to be stopped again.


    "I don''t recall giving you permission to summon anything."


    Arthur said before he grabbed Jenson''s wrists and sealed his movements.


    "Kuh...!"


    "Hap!"


    He followed it up with a knee kick to his stomach, one packing enough power to bring Jenson''s whole body afloat.


    "Guh!?"


    Just from that one blow, Jenson nearly lost his consciousness and he would have if he was left alone.


    Arthur grabbed Jenson and threw him to the ground before he could fly out of his reach, he then followed up with a kick when Jenson''s body bounced back up.


    "Ah! Shit, I gave him distance."


    Even though Arthur was fast, for Jenson whose hands were already close to each other despite being sent flying by Arthur''s kick, it was not hard for him to grit his teeth and bear the pain to p his hands again.


    He summoned a new set of me and lightning beasts and made them all explode instantly.


    **BBOoOM!


    Alongside the explosion, a bright mix of yellow and red light filled the spectators'' vision, the teacher was about to call the fight off when he sensed something, he looked up and saw Arthur Flying in the Air with his wings.


    "Haven''t used these in a while now huh?" Arthur said as he flew above the explosion''s area of effect, he turned to La and asked. "Hey, why didn''t you use your wings in the spar just now?"


    Although he casually disregarded his opponent and spoke to a spectator, no one could say anything in response. La just sighed and answered him.


    "My illusions can''t mask sounds well, if I used them he''d be able to tell from the pping sounds of my wings."


    "Good poi-!"


    He was speaking when he sensed a burst of magic and ducked instantly, Jenson had fired a spear of lightning at him.


    Heunched a few more at the descending Arthur, forcing him to block them with his hands.


    "Ouch! That stings!"


    Arthur eximed as hended back on the ground, he then pped his wings to clear out the dust and smoke from the explosion.


    He instantly retracted his wings the moment he did that, as if he was trying to hide them, a few people noticed this but didn''t pay it any mind.


    ''Tsk....he made me use the wings, it''s been increasingtely and it''s even faster whenever I use my wings. I have to end this quickly before anyone notices.''


    The moment he thought that he decided to put it into action, Jenson had also recovered a bit and had begun summoning one of his contracted beasts.


    "Come forth!"


    With his words a magic circle spread out on the ground, from the centre, a giant over four-meter tall monster that looked like a minotaur and was as tall as an ogre appeared, parts of its body were was covered in scales.


    This was one particrly huge one beast. The body of the ogre was covered in blue scales in some parts while the lower half wasrger than even the biggest minotaurs. The goat''s head had four horns protruding from it and his eyes were blood red.


    It was holding giant sickles in his hands too. Its appearance stunned the spectators as they did not expect Jenson to be able to summon such a beast already.


    "Drake Ogre..."


    It was a drake ogre, one at the peak of the intermediate stage of the grandmaster realm. This was almost 3 stages higher than his current stage.


    Him being able to summon this meant that he was definitely a talented summoner, however, Arthur was someone who defeated an Intermediate stage grandmaster with ease, and this was nothing for him.


    It roared multiple times and rushed towards Arthur. It was an unbelievable speed for someone over four meters tall. He was like a runaway train.


    Arthur red as he stared at what was before him. He read the drake ogre''s trajectory. He determined whether it was a front, side or diagonal direction.


    Arthur kicked against the ground. He estimated the drake ogre''s trajectory and rolled on the ground. He jumped up and struck the lower half of drake ogre urately on the side.


    **KWAANG!


    His fist connected and the drake ogre''s body flew up approximately one meter in a diagonal direction. However, shortly afterwards, the drake ogre swung at Arthur''s head.


    Arthur managed to avoid the attack intuitively. It was almost impossible to damage the lower half which was covered with thick scales. Moreover, the drake ogre''s reflexes were surprising.


    He rose about one meter in a diagonal line because he jumped at the moment of the attack. Although the angle meant the attack wasn''t fully received, the performance was clear.


    It was true for the shocked drake ogre. Arthur''s blow had far exceeded its expectation. It raised its scythe again like it was hiding the pain. Rather than stopping its attacks, Arthur ran to it in order to limit his trajectory.


    ''Don''t drag this out for a long time.''


    Arthur kept telling this to himself, he was unable to perform properly due to more than half his attention being diverted elsewhere.


    Moreover, he was now in an evasive fight, so his concentration was being exhausted quickly. A long fight was disadvantageous for him right now.


    He needed to finish it with one shot. He would finish the fight by aiming a blow at the upper body, there were fewer scales there.


    He focused his strength on his arm, more strength than he needed threatened to spill out but he held it back with force of will.


    The drake ogre sensed the danger and sped up its attacks while Arthur continued to flee from the attacks. The drake ogre got angry then and covered its scythe with a purple light.


    It was a grandmaster-level beast, no matter how strong Arthur''s body was, it wasn''t to the stage where he could brush off the attacks from grandmaster realm beasts yet.


    The beasts were usually stronger than sentient humanoid races too, so the strength of an average grandmaster realm beast was more than that of an average grandmaster realm humanoid.


    One hit would be disadvantageous to him.


    La on the other hand, narrowed her eyes at Arthur, the way he was acting seemed weird to her, it had been weird for a while now, others would not notice it but La had known Arthur personally for years, it was impossible for her to not notice it.


    At that moment, the scythe struck like a thunderbolt. Arthur barely evaded it and the drake ogre opened its mouth. It wasn''t a mere roar, but a distinctive drake ogre battle cry that caused mental copse.


    The drake ogre aimed a wild blow at him but this was a chance for Arthur. He had high resistance to spiritual attacks due to the training he received from Cattleya.


    He would take this chance.


    Arthur responded immediately. He didn''t hesitate to run toward the blow.


    The moment it reached, Arthur used his fist and met the attack, a sound of metal hitting metal rang out, it wasn''t a sound one would hear from a fist colliding with a scythe.


    "Tsk..."


    Arthur clicked his tongue and grabbed the de, he used his high physical strength to pull it downwards, alongside the drake ogre holding it.


    He then jumped up lightly, using the drake ogre''s nted body as a foothold. He stepped on its hands and head.


    The drake ogre raised its head quickly and saw Arthur who then pulled back his right fist.


    It was already toote by then.


    His speed was too fast, too fast for even Arthur to control it. The strength put behind the fist was also more than Arthur''s normal strength.


    **BOOM


    There was a loud explosion-like sound as his fist hit the drake ogre''s head. The intensity didn''t just prate the giant drake ogre''s head, but its whole body as well.


    The drake ogre''s head exploded. Its legs couldn''t endure the power and broke.


    It was dead.

 Chapter 47: Arthur’s secret

    <h4>Chapter 47: Arthur¡¯s secret</h4>


    The drake ogre was dead.


    Arthur killed an intermediate stage grandmaster level beast without any artifacts, just pure physical strength.


    Everyone was shocked, they were too stunned to even p, even the summoner Jenson was the same. Until he received a bacsh for the death of his contracted beast, that is.


    He coughed up a bit of blood and dropped to his knees. Arthur just stared at him and spoke.


    "Admit defeat, or I''d beat you up till you do."


    His voice was cold and emotionless, surprising everyone there, they had always seen Arthurughing or smiling, even when he spoke in a cold tone, and it was mostly him just ying around in the end.


    However this time, they could all tell, he meant what he said, he was ready to beat Jenson up if he did not admit defeat.


    The teacher, who obviously did not want that, dered the match as over.


    "Stop! Prince Arthur wins!"


    "Teacher, can I take a leave? I think I sprained my arm."


    "Huh? You can just wait for it to he-"


    "Teacher. Can. I. Take. A . Leave. Please?"


    Arthur interrupted the teacher with the same cold and emotionless voice, he gave the teacher a look that said he wasn''t asking to take a leave.


    He was merely informing him of what he was going to do next.


    "I''d take him over, his healing is a little slow, besides I wanted to get something in the infirmary too."


    La spoke up, she had noticed something wrong with Arthur, so she went ahead to grab him by his other arm and take him out of the ss, without even waiting for the teacher to give a reply.


    The others just watched in shock, when they walked out of the ss, they turned their eyes back to the centre of the hall and then it dawned on them once again.


    Arthur had just killed an intermediate-stage grandmaster beast with his bare hands.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Meanwhile, Arthur and La were obviously not going to the infirmary, but instead to Arthur''s room. They used a teleportation gate that was usually reserved for emergencies.


    Arthur just showed his badge with the crest of the royal family and they let him through. When they got to his room, the moment La closed the door and was about to ask what was wrong, Arthur screamed.


    "H-huh?! W-what happened?"


    She ran towards him in a panic however when she got close she realized something, or rather she sensed it.


    Arthur had always had energy in his body, he had magic, aura, divinity-something devils were normally ipatible with and a fourth energy that even Diablo and Hades were not sure of yet.


    However, his energy never flowed.


    Every being had something like an energy circuit, pathways in their bodies where energy flowed naturally, just like blood flowed in veins.


    Arthur''s energy flow however had been slow since birth, slow enough that it couldn''t be considered as even moving in the first ce.


    After his ten-year birthday, when he gained his wings, it stoppedpletely. It had not flowed at all since that day.


    However, whenever Arthur used his wings recently, he noticed the flow temporarily resume, it was still slow as always at first.


    But the more he used his wings, he realized something, it was getting faster and faster. The wings of devils could act as energy conductors, he believed this was why his still energy was being stimted.


    He came to a decision;


    To stop using his wings.


    Everyone already knew he could not use his energy, so it was better to keep it that way, at least until he gained Lucifer''s legacy from Varona.


    When he strengthened himself with it, he would let his energy flow continue and he believed he would eventually gain the ability to use his energies like normal.


    Since then, it had been almost two months, he had not used his wings not even once, however, today he used them.


    It was not a conscious action, he had trained with Creusery and thetter sometimes used explosive attacks, he always jumped up and used his wings to fly out of the explosion''s range.


    So when faced with a simr situation he reflexively used his wings and flew up, it was at that moment he realized he had continued his stagnant energy flow.


    That was why he clicked his tongue when that happened, the sound from his fists when he hit the scythe was a result of the energy strengthening on his arm.


    Just by possessing huge amounts of energy, one''s body would be strengthened naturally. Arthur''s energy was as much as what was needed to harden one''s fist like iron.


    Luckily, not many cared for the sound at the time as they were still mesmerized by the fact that he was taking on an intermediate-stage grandmaster beast with his fists alone.


    However he could not control it at all, the flow was also as slow as always. These are some of the reasons Arthur decided not to use his wings and risk releasing an uncontroble amount of energy that would have an adverse effect.


    Right now he was currently writhing in pain due to the sudden spikes in energy flow speed. It was irregr, and was causing him pain.


    Then suddenly. It stopped.


    It was a defensive action taken by his body, as the amount of energy that threatened to spill out was more than what Arthur''s body could handle.


    The moment it was released, his body would burst, so it forcefully stopped his energy flow.


    "Haaa~"


    "A-Arthur, you?"


    "La. Not a word about this."


    "Not a word?! You are clearly in pain, when did this start, and that amount of energy...even most Epi-"


    "La.!"


    Arthur''s shout brought La out of her reverie, he noticed she was genuinely worried for him, and that was all the more reason he had to prevent her from telling anyone, especially his mother.


    "You owe me a favour, right? Then not a word of this to anyone, I''d tell them myself when the timees."


    He then stood up and tapped her on the shoulder, smiling as he spoke.


    "So, I wanna take a bath, and I''m gonna have to take off my clothes, are you just gonna stand there and watch or...?"


    As he trailed off, La finally realized what he was hinting at and her face flushed immediately, she turned and ran out of his room, not before leaving a few words.


    "Pervert! Exhibitionist!"


    Arthur justughed heartily at her innocent reaction and pulled off his shirt, looking at the crack on his arm, he realized he really cut it close this time.


    ''The damned artifact canceller disabled the energy-sealing artifact I was wearing. Tsk.''


    The reason Arthur''s magic blooming did not ur, was more simple than anyone thought. His energies were too strong for his body to hold, so it chose to seal them till his body could take it.


    Even if the energy strengthened his body, the strengthening did not catch up to the rate of its destruction.


    ''Especially that fourth unknown one, it''s simr to that thing dad has around him, yet it feels like a negative version of it.''


    He shook his head and decided to think about itter when he was done taking a bath, after all;


    "I''m smelly as f*ck."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Arthur''s duel with Jenson, gathered a lot of eyes. The training building was used by the other first-year sses so when they were passing by, it caught their attention.


    The ones who remained there after La''s spar with the teacher also added to the crowd, seeing the prince reputed to have no energy, taking on an intermediate stage grandmaster realm beast, that was probably strengthened using the various techniques the Hollis summoners used to strengthen their contracted beasts.


    And he killed it, he dodged all its attacks, caught its de with his fist and killed it.


    As for the sound of metal nging, they all presumed he was wearing some sort of metal gauntlet like Jenson was.


    The ones who were closer were not even sure of what he was wearing on his hands, their attention had been focused on the fight as a whole, not just his hands.


    It was just a sound in the end so not many paid close attention to it.


    A few students who were not having sses and were on their phones took a few videos and posted them on the school''s online forum, they spread around the school in the blink of an eye.


    Those who were nning to challenge Arthur next month in an attempt to take his Rank from him, began having second thoughts.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    As for the person involved, he went on about his days like always, he yed around with his friends, annoyed teachers as always and barely listened in ss.


    Yet somehow, he kept on topping the entire first year. The academy had two general exams each year and Arthur topped both with a margin of almost 10 points each time.


    He did not have any ns to get good grades after the entrance exams but he did so to spite the teachers who wanted to see him fail.


    Naturally, La came in second as always, in third was a girl from a count house whose territory was not far from the Eryrth Dukedom.


    She and La had been friends before La even knew Arthur, they also studied together too. And Arthur took it upon himself to be the distraction theycked.


    It always ended up with La pulling out a gun and chasing him away though.


    And that''s how Arthur passed his first school year without a hitch, well, there were a few but they weren''t anything serious.

 Chapter 48: Nicole’s Situation

    <h4>Chapter 48: Nicole¡¯s Situation</h4>


    One fine morning, a few weeks after their second year began, Arthur waszing around in his room, watching videos online on his phone.


    He heard a knock on his door and sighed before standing up to get it.


    ''Who the hell is it this morning?''


    He didn''t even bother buttoning his shirt and just opened the door with his unkempt appearance. Opening the door he was met with the figures of two girls.


    One was that of someone who could be considered his best friend, La Eryrth, daughter of the Holder of Pride, Grand Duke Eryrth of the Devildom.


    The other was the next closest person to La, Nicole Harper, the daughter of Count Harper, whose territory shared borders with that of the Grand Duchy.


    She was a very cute young girl of average height with straight mid-back-length ck hair that she sometimes wears in a rough high ponytail. Her bangs are cut straight across her forehead and cover her eyebrows


    She also had ratherrge indigo-purple eyes that tend to look like they were sparkling sometimes. Nicole was a verydylike, polite and cheerful girl who is sensible, emotive, friendly, and innocent,ing across as "childlike" in many aspects.


    Unlike other nobles, she seems to have a hard time hiding her emotions from showing on her face, an example should be now as she is currently blushing from seeing Arthur''s exposed upper body.


    "Your exhibitionist tendencies at their best again huh?"


    La''s voice tinged with annoyance rang out, she then pushed Arthur aside and entered the room, dragging the still-blushing Nicole with her.


    Arthur turned around and looked at the two with a stunned expression on his face, seeing this La tilted her head and asked.


    "What?"


    "I thought you were supposed to wait for permission before entering someone else''s room, or has that been changed these days?"


    "What? You always enter my room whenever you feel like it."


    It was then that Nicole''s quiet voice could be heard, she had her hands on her cheeks, blushing even more seriously while saying.


    "...Lord Arthur, entering Lady La''s room....whenever he feels like it."


    Arthur and La instantly realized that Nicole was having a big, very big misunderstanding, La hurriedly spoke up to clear it up.


    "No! No! No! You''ve got it all wrong, it''s definitely not what you''re thinking okay?"


    She tilted her head and asked La with a genuinely curious voice.


    "So he doesn''t enter your room whenever he pleases?"


    "Well, he does but nothing happens, he mostlyes over toze around when he''s bored."


    "Oh...I see."


    La heaved a sigh of relief seeing that the misunderstanding had been cleared up easily, Nicole was a little bit too innocent and tended to believe things at face value.


    Looking at this scene, Arthur closed the door and asked,


    "Seriously, La, where the hell did you find this cute creature, she''s too innocent for her own good."


    "Honestly, I don''t even know how she ended up like this, the Count was worried for her too."


    "Dad was worried for me?"


    Nicole spoke up, hearing her father being called, La looked at her and sighed before speaking.


    "Yes, he was scared you might get swindled by someone dangerous out there in future, you should really get to know the ways of the world okay?


    I''m not saying to lose your innocence, just to be more doubting of people, don''t believe things at face value either."


    "But if I doubt people when they tell me things, isn''t that considered rude?"


    "Nope, not even the slightest bit, it''s our nature to have doubts, and it''s good to say them out loud without having to hold them in."


    She then looked down and twirled her hair around her finger, she seemed to be pondering on something, and after a few moments she finally came to a decision and spoke up in a quiet voice.


    "Then are you and Lord Arthur really not engaged?"


    "No! I mean Yes! We''re not, definitely not, me? And that guy? Never."


    "Hey, ''that guy'' is standing right here okay?"


    "Shut up for a second Arthur."


    As La and Arthur were about to start bickering, they were interrupted by the sound ofughter. They both turned to Nicole and saw herughing lightly.


    "You seem closer than people who are engaged though."


    "That''s only because this guy drags me around to ward off other girls okay?"


    "I also help you ward off other annoying dudes, it''s a win-win situation."


    La just red at Arthur, who shrugged and buttoned up his shirt before sitting down and asking.


    "So you guys didn''te here for fun, right? You even brought Nicole who you said I''d end up corrupting if she came too close to me."


    "Corrupting me?"


    As Nicole was about to have another strange misunderstanding, La quickly diverted the topic to the reason they originally came over to Arthur.


    "Nicole, don''t forget why we came here okay?"


    "Ah!"


    At La''s words, Nicole''s mood visibly worsened and her face became gloomy.


    "Huh? What on Kreiz did youe for?"


    La sighed at Nicole and decided to exin the story to Arthur Herself.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    To sum it up nicely, Count Harper received an engagement request from a Marquis house, the Marquis of Pearce. The third son of the Marquis wished to marry Nicole, which would mean he would inherit the count''s title when he did.


    The count was having a hard time rejecting this for various reasons. He was a rtively new noble who just gained his title from his achievements in a battle against the celestials a few decades prior, so the House of Pearce, a marquis house that has had the title for generations, even before Diablo became king was a house he did not wish to offend.


    The current Marquis Pearce was one of the major powers in the Devildom, ranking just below the Dukes and Margraves.


    He had gained the title after his father retired nearly a hundred years ago and he had four sons since then. His wife, the Marchioness was the second Daughter of another marquis'' house and the marriage ties between them gave him more political power.


    That was exactly what the countcked, he possessed enough military power and was even one of the few nobles allowed to have their private full-scale armies in the Devildom, but he was still a rtively new noble so his political standing was not high enough yet.


    He also just had a single child, Nicole. And he doted on her to an astonishing degree, he did not want her to be in a marriage against her own will.


    So when the Marquis'' Engagement request came, he was quite troubled and had been putting off rejecting it. The Marquis naturally noticed this, and began putting pressure on his few business ventures in other to force him to ept.


    Normally, Nicole would have considered agreeing for the sake of her father, however, there were reasons she could not.


    One; she had feelings for someone else. As for the name of that person, La refused to disclose the information. She did re at Arthur strangely but that was all she did.


    Two; the third son of the marquis, Zach Pearce, was, to put it bluntly; a scumbag.


    It was an open secret in high society that Zach, despite being just a fourth-year student in the Academy, has had quite a number of scandals with other various other nobledies.


    Most had been covered up by the Marquis but it did not change the fact that they actually happened, the problem was that said scumbag had now set his sights on Nicole.


    He apparently noticed her during a ball she attended on behalf of her family during the vacation after their first year.


    During high society balls, the most beautifuldy in the ball is usually granted the title of ''Belle'', and that day, it was Nicole who went home with that title.


    Zach was also there and after that, he began chasing her around, iming to have fallen for her at first sight. He did this for a few weeks and then finally decided to tell his father who sent the engagement notice.


    "So to sum it up... there''s a guy who''s stalking Nicole."


    "Yep. He was making advances towards Nicole ever since the engagement request was sent, and even though Nicole refused him many times, he still came back, to the point of using his family''s influence as a threat."


    "He''s the worst, that guy. When things don''t go the way he wanted, he uses his family''s influence, so any time now..."


    Nicole murmured to herself while shivering slightly. La patted her back and continued.


    "Since Nicole didn''t do as he wanted, it seems he got really mad... So he might do something reckless sooner orter."


    "I see..."


    Arthur nodded with a look of understanding, he then picked up his phone from his table and spoke.


    "Gimme a sec, I wanna make a quick phone call."


    He walked over to the window while speed-dialling someone. La and Nicole were about to ask him who he wanted to call, when they heard his next words, that is.


    "Hey, Uncle Bel!"

 Chapter 49: Schemes and Conspiracies

    <h4>Chapter 49: Schemes and Conspiracies</h4>


    "Hey, Uncle Bel!"


    [Good morning Prince, also my name is Belphegor not ''Bel''.]


    "Don''t sweat the small stuff, it''s not important."


    [It is very important Prince, also why did you call this early in the morning?]


    "Oh yeah! I wanted to ask you about something urgent."


    [Urgent?]


    "Yeah, do you happen to have any dirt on Marquis Pearce, substantial stuff that can cause him to lose his title of Marquis?"


    Hearing the question Arthur asked, La and Nicole had their eyes widen in surprise. La ran up to him and snatched the phone from his hands.


    "Huh? Why?"


    "Don''t ''why?'' me! What the hell are you asking the Grand Duke?"


    "A question?"


    La wanted nothing more than to punch Arthur in the face, but she had to, first of all, make sure Belphegor did not take Arthur''s words seriously.


    "Good morning Grand Duke."


    [Hmm...Lady La, Morning to you.]


    "Please do not take Prince Arthur''s words seriously, it''s just one of his whims."


    "It''s clearly not a whim, I''m tryna help you out here, isn''t that why you came here in the first ce?"


    "We need help with Zach not the Marquis house as a whole!"


    [Are you perhaps talking about the recent situation with the Count of Harper and the Marquis of Pearce? It had caught the King''s attention as he had an interest in one of the businesses that the Count was involved in.]


    "Huh? Grandpa knows already? Such small stuff shouldn''t bother him right?"


    Arthur and La were surprised that Diablo knew of this, although Count Harper was a war hero, he was just one of many, and also one of the thousands of Counts the Devildom had.


    The issue with Marquis Pearce might be serious for him but in the eyes of Diablo who oversaw an entire universe, it was ultimately a trivial issue not worth his attention.


    [The Count was partaking in one of Lady Inglis'' experiments, he was in charge of supplying the necessary materials required, and that is why the King took notice of it.]


    Grand Duchess Inglis, the leader of the Leviathan Devil tribe and one of Diablo''s wives, was currently not in the Hell universe at the moment, she was away on official business in another one of the nearby universes ruled by the Devil race.


    That was why she was not aware of the situation, if not, the Marquis of Pearce would have known the wrath of the Leviathan Leader.


    Diablo just ordered the Marquis to stop pressuring the Count''s business, the particr one that was responsible for transporting Inglis'' required materials.


    Other than that, he took no action, it was a trivial matter between noble houses, one not worth his attention and it would have remained that way, at least until he discovered that there was someone behind the Marquis who was making Zach take the actions he did.


    "Someone the Marquis would take orders from?"


    "That''s why I came to meet you, I had it investigated and the result was shocking. They covered their tracks well but I was able to find one thing, there''s most likely at least a Ducal house working with the Marquis, they are probably targeting the Count for other reasons."


    "And getting Zach engaged to her is just a means to an end huh?"


    [It seems Lady La is already clear about the situation.]


    Belphegor''s voice rang out again, breaking the sudden silence that was enveloping the duo. Arthur clicked his tongue and asked.


    "You know who it is yet?"


    [Not yet, we are getting close, however.]


    "Tsk...Fine. I''d look into it too, make sure to get that dirt still, it coulde in handy."


    [Very well.]


    Arthur cut the call after Belphegor''s reply, he realized the reason La came to meet him. If she, the Daughter of a Grand Duke interfered with the actions of a Ducal house, it could spark conflict between the two houses.


    However, Arthur was a prince, he was higher in rank than both of them, he was perfect to mediate in the matter and the Duke won''t dare go against him.


    This was not only due to his rank as Prince but due to the ''Strongest Leviathan'' and ''Arch Devil of Destruction'', his mother, Cattleya.


    She had wiped out a noble house before for a petty reason, even if they were a duke and she may not do the same to them, they could not risk angering her either.


    Arthur sent a text to one of his contacts, the High drifter who was in charge of all the drifters in the hell universe, after promising to attend an underground auction in his ce, the High drifter agreed to mobilize his information gathering personnel to look into it.


    Although there were drifters looking into the matter for Diablo, none of them were High drifters. The high drifters only moved at themand of their leader and Arthur just struck a deal with that leader.


    They were faster and more efficient than the normal drifters when it came to information gathering, Arthur would most likely find out the culprit in a few days'' time, not more than a week.


    Diablo was also investigating this for the sake of merely satisfying his curiosity so he didn''t mobilize too many personnel to look into it.


    Seeing the text that he just sent, La gave Arthur a shocked look and asked.


    "Why go so far to help?"


    "You put up with all my bullshit for years, so I might as well help you out. Plus you''re keeping my secret for me."


    He then walked up to Nicole and patted her head then continued.


    "Also she''s cute enough to make me want to protect her."


    He shed a teasing smile at La, seeing that she realized,


    ''He knows!''


    Arthur was no fool, he had long realized that the one Nicole had feelings for, was none other than himself.


    Although he had no intention of epting her feelings, it did not mean he would let her get engaged to a scumbag who was also the puppet of someone else.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The High drifter looked at his phone while smiling, putting it down he waved his hands in the air. The presence that could be sensed in the room was reduced by more than half.


    Some of the other high drifters around him had already moved to find out the one manipting things behind the scenes.


    "Good...I got him to attend the auction, if he meets the Lord there and shows a reaction it''d confirm my suspicions."


    "Is the Lord reallying here?"


    Another high drifter asked skeptically, he was unsure if the one called ''Lord'' was really going toe to the Hell Universe.


    "Yep, in secret though. Although that Diablo may still notice, those pure-blooded devils are quite sensitive. He said he wanted to confirm if ''that'' was really in this universe."


    "I see..."


    Laughing lightly, he stood up from his chair and turned to the other high drifters before speaking,


    "A year would pass in the blink of an eye, we''d better start preparing for his arrival from now."


    The others nodded and disappeared from their seats, they had gone to begin preparing for the arrival of the one the drifters called ''Lord''.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Meanwhile on a random broken in a deste realm, one devoid of any natural life, a young devil appeared on a small rock. He sat down on it and waited for someone else.


    He had blonde hair and an angry look on his face. He was none other than Marquis Pearce''s third son. Zach Pearce.


    Momentster another figure appeared, the one who appeared had a mask on his face, and he also wore a hood to conceal his hair.


    He was dressed in all ck, he even wore ck gloves, leaving no avenues for even his skin colour to be seen. He looked at Zach and asked with a slightly coarse voice, most likely the result of a voice changer.


    [Have you gotten it yet?]


    "The foolish girl didn''t ept and her father also seems to be buying time for something. I haven''t had a chance to get close yet."


    [What''s stopping a Marquis''s son like you from having your way with a mere Count''s daughter?]


    "That mere Count happens to be running errands for a Grand Duchess, you know?


    The king noticed it and gave my father a warning, we gottay low for now or he might figure out what we''re nning."


    [Tsk...]


    The masked, ck-clothed figure clicked his tongue in anger, he was silent for a moment before speaking up again.


    [Hurry up and get it already, you wanted power and the girl and I wanted what her family had. We made a deal, now keep your end of the deal, or neither you nor the marquis would get what you both want.]


    "I know okay? I''m trying, but she seems close with Grand Duke Eryrth''s daughter, worst of all Prince Arthur seems to have found out about it."


    [The useless prince should know his ce...he can''t even use the mostmon magic and he''s sticking his nose where he doesn''t belong. Ignore him and go ahead with your n, he won''t be able to do anything.]


    "But his mother?"


    [She''s not in Hell, she''s away with the grand duchess. She''d never know what''s happening.]


    "Tsk... fine."


    Zach clicked his tongue and agreed, he then brought out a teleportation artifact and left the area. The masked figure also did the same.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    After the two left, a high drifter appeared and looked at where the two just were before speaking.


    "That aura, he may try to conceal it but it''s clear as day to me, it seems the one you''re looking for is closer to you than you imagine Prince Arthur."


    He then followed the traces of the teleportation magic activated by the artifacts they both used, upon singling out the traces of the ck-clothed figure, he grinned mischievously.


    The next moment, he was gone.

 Chapter 50: Count Harper Arrives

    <h4>Chapter 50: Count Harper Arrives</h4>


    One of the Royal Academy''s rules is that visits by parents during the school session are strictly prohibited, regardless of whether the visit was requested by the student or the parent.


    It was one of the rules that must be adhered to, regardless of the individual''s rank.


    However, for someone like Arthur-


    "Rules? What are those? Are they edible?"


    -there''s no way he''d adhere to such a rule.


    "Arthur, it''s not allowed for students to request their parents to visit, much less another person''s parents."


    "Then how else are we gonna find out what the Count has that whoever is behind the Marquis wants?"


    "You could always send a message you know, these devices called ''phones'' can do that."


    "Nahh... I prefer to talk in person."


    This was the conversation happening between Arthur and La as the both of them were making their way to the nearest teleportation gate.


    As for why they were doing that, Arthur had told Nicole to contact the count and get him toe over to the Academy, which he did as quickly as possible. In just a week, he had arrived from his territory to the capital star system where the Academy was.


    However, as one of the Academy''s rules is that visits by parents were not allowed, the director on duty was intending on punishing Nicole appropriately, she told them this so Arthur and La were making their way to the office of the director in question.


    "And off we go."


    The teleportation gates ced around the Academy''s grounds were all connected to each other, however, it did not mean anyone could go anywhere.


    In order to go to a certain ce, one needed a permit that allowed them to use the gate to teleport to that area.


    The student IDs and their Rank monitoring watch all came with inbuilt permits for every area a student was allowed to go to.


    Arthur however, possessed a permit that allowed him ess to anywhere in the academy via the teleportation gates, courtesy of his mother.


    Apparently, she had such a permit made after she threatened half the directors of the academy, the other half agreed to the creation of such a permit after seeing the fear in the faces of their rather unfortunate colleagues.


    She had it made simply because she found it absurd for her son to be restricted from going to wherever he wants.


    "So much for the rule that said all students are of equal status."


    La sighed while looking at the card Arthur held in his hands that gave him free ess to anywhere on Kreiz where a teleportation gate was ced.


    "Once again La, what on Kreiz is a rule?"


    "The thing you''re currently breaking."


    La answered Arthur as they stepped into the gate, after almost a minute of feeling weightless and seeing nothing but bright lights everywhere, they stepped out of the gate into the director''s office building.


    The guards watching the gate looked over to see who came through, upon seeing it was the whimsical prince and his fianc¨¦e to be, they decided to ignore it and go back to doing other things.


    If La knew the thoughts of the guards looking at her, she would have most likely spent an hour trying to clear their misunderstanding, fortunately, or unfortunately, she did not know this.


    Going up the Elevator, straight to the top floor, Arthur and La walked in to see a surprised director and Nicole. Sitting beside her was a ck-haired man with a troubled expression on his face.


    "Count Harper?"


    "Yes, that''s him, Arthur."


    "Good."


    After receiving a confirmation from La, Arthur ignored the dumbfounded trio and walked over to the director''s desk, pulling out his chair, hefortably sat down like he was the owner of the ce.


    "Prince Arthur, what is the meaning of this rudeness?"


    Naturally, the director would not let such actions go even if he was the prince, however, Arthur just started saying strange words.


    "May 16, Year 712, at the 5th year science building."


    The others were confused about why he suddenly called a date that had passed, however, the director''s face visibly paled.


    ''Impossible, how could he know about that!''


    Arthur grinned evilly and continued speaking without a care in the world, much to the director''s chagrin.


    "On that day, a certain intermediate stage low-tier deity realm devil was spotted on the 12th floor of the 5th year science building, he wore a green-"


    "Take your time Prince."


    Arthur''s... story was interrupted by the director who immediately vacated his office as fast as he could. Looking at the door after it was closed, Count Harper couldn''t help but feel slightly scared of Arthur.


    ''That director, he was in the intermediate stage of the low-tier deity realm, just what sort of dirt does the prince have on him?''


    And the question he had in his mind, was voiced out by La,


    "What sort of dirt do you have on him?"


    "Nothing serious, just a record of his illicit affairs with a certain 6th-year female student."


    "That''s not ''Nothing erious''!"


    As La shouted out, Nicole and her father nodded in agreement, Arthur however, decided to drop another bombshell.


    "Oh please, the other director who was having a threes-"


    "Stop!"


    La stopped Arthur the moment she realized what he was about to say, turning around to see Nicole titling her head with a curious look on her face, she sighed in relief.


    ''Thankfully she wasn''t corrupted.''


    She then red at Arthur who was holding his stomach whileughing with his legs stretched out on the desk, scattering the files arranged on it.


    "Although you threatened him and got him to let us use his office, doesn''t mean you can scatter his stuff."


    La picked up the scattered documents as she said that and ced them on the smaller table at the side of the room.


    "Okay, let''s get down to business."


    Arthur abruptly stoppedughing and put his legs down, looking at the count, he asked.


    "Can you do a quick scan of the room and fish out the bugs here? You''ve got to have at least one type of scanning magic right?"


    "Bugs?"


    "Listening devices or artifacts."


    The count nodded in understanding and spread out his magic aura, he was a being in the inferior stage of the mid-tier deity realm, possessing Authorities over Swords, Fire, Storms and ughter.


    Even so, he was still capable of using his energy sense to search for things like listening devices within a certain range.


    He opened his eyes in shock as the results of his search were not what he expected at all. He only searched because the prince told him to, but he did not really expect to find many.


    "There are over twenty in this room I can sense."


    "Twenty?!"


    La''s surprised voice rang out, she was stunned, and she did not understand why there would be over twenty listening devices in the director''s office. Arthur''s next words, however, only served to increase her surprise.


    "Not as much as thest guy huh? This one is quite low ranked among the directors."


    "Thest guy? Who else''s office have you hijacked from them?"


    "I didn''t ''hijack'' their offices, they let me in ''willingly''."


    Arthur replied to La''s question with a smile, the count, on the other hand, was destroying all the listening devices he noticed. He brought thest one to Arthur as the Latter had gestured for him to bring it to him.


    "Why are these here though?"


    Nicole asked with a quiet voice, she, like La, did not understand why there would be such a huge amount of Listening devices in the director''s office and who put them there.


    "The directors are not exactly the best of friends you know, there are over hundreds of them, and there''s no way there won''t be factional disputes and power struggles, this guy seems to be a target for members of opposing factions, so they had those so they can listen in in case of any dirt they can fish out."


    "Then didn''t your words just now expose him?"


    "Yeah, he seemed to have cleared most of them but there were some he could not sense. As for the ones who heard that, it would be quite fun to see them battle against each other."


    He spoke into the microphone of the listening device before crushing it in his palm, throwing the pieces on the floor he spoke to the Count once again.


    "Now, let''s actually get down to business."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    A blue-haired man, sitting in front of a desk, clicked his tongue at the report he just read, he squeezed the papers in his hands and they caught fire, burning to ash in seconds.


    "Damned little girl, you think you can escape my control forever huh?"


    "Calm down Roseborn, as you said she''s just a little girl who''s lived barely over fifty millennia, she won''t be able to evade you for long."


    Another man, one with red hair and eyes walked into the room while uttering those words. He poured two drinks from the mini-bar close to the door and gave one to the blue-haired man he called Roseborn.


    Sitting down, he took a drink before asking,


    "Still, the one she injured, has he recovered?"


    "No, he has to be reced. She damaged his soul and put some kind of hex on his wounds that rewind them every time we try to heal them."


    "Seems her control of time is getting better by the day, to put such a hex that remains active when she is hundreds of trillions of light-years away."


    Finishing his drink and dropping the ss on the desk carelessly, Roseborn replied with anger,


    "She joined the candidate selection just so she could rebel against me, then she injured one of the main entities of my capital universe."


    The red-haired man, stood up to pour himself another drink and asked after a few moments of silence.


    "Her Rule Breaker, it was called ''Chrono Controller'' was it?"


    "Yes. Still, even that won''t save her from being captured soon enough, your son is taking action personally right?"


    Bringing out a chessboard from the small cupboard beside the mini-bar, he set it down on the desk and arranged the pieces on it before replying.


    "Though he is prohibited from directly harming her, his subordinates are not. Soon enough, your daughter, Alexia would be caught. Just rx my old friend."


    Roseborn nodded at the red-haired man''s response. He moved a chess piece on the board and smiled to himself.


    "Sooner orter, you''d fall into my clutches, my foolish daughter, Alexia."


    As heughed out loud, his aura red as if in response to his mood.


    The man was a Superior Stage Monarch and the master of the di Universal Super Cluster.


    Alexia''s father;


    Roseborn di XIV.

 Chapter 51: Ultimate*

    <h4>Chapter 51: Ultimate*</h4>


    ?


    Hey guys


    Author here


    So, this is not a chapter.


    WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    Don''t close it yet!!!!!


    I''m sure you all received notifications of new chapters being uploaded.


    That''s where this noticees in.


    I was re-reading my novel and I found out that the earlier chapters are not really appealing to readers.


    So I decided to change it up a bit.


    The first five chapters have been changed to what I believe to be better and more appealing to readers.


    However, that''s just what I believe.


    I want to know what you all think about the new first chapters.


    So go check them out and read them, then tell me what you think in thements or reviews.


    Thanks for your understanding and I look forward to you continuing on our Godyer''s Legend.


    This has been _michael.


    Over and Out!

 Chapter 52: Slayer Race

    <h4>Chapter 52: yer Race</h4>


    "Achoo!"


    Alexia sneezed loudly before holding her body while shivering. The look on her face turned grave as she spoke.


    "That bastard ising, I have no proof but I''m sure he is."


    "It seems you''ve developed a method to sense when your stalker is on his way huh?"


    Her usual ck-hairedpanion appeared beside her and spoke while trying to hold back theughter that threatened to escape her lips for fear of Alexia''s wrath.


    "Shut up you jobless supreme."


    "Hey! I''m not jobless, and more importantly, I have a name you know?"


    "I know you do jobless supreme, all our parents gave us one."


    "Your dad wants you to be a breeding horse though?"


    **BOOM!!


    Her words were replied to with a punch to the face, one that sent her flying through a nearby mountain range, courtesy of an enraged Alexia.


    "How many times have I told you to not mention that bastard around me?"


    "I''m sorry okay, geez, you really don''t pull your punches."


    The ck-haired woman said as she reappeared beside Alexia, without so much as a scratch on her despite the fact that she just smashed through an entire mountain range a few moments prior.


    Her clothes weren''t even damaged in any way, and as for the mountain range that she smashed through, it had already returned to normal, as if nothing ever happened to it.


    "Lady Alexia, we''ve brought the child."


    A third voice interrupted the two as Alexia nodded and went down the stairs that led to a bunker in front of her, the ck-haired woman following suit.


    Arriving at the bottom, they were met with the scene of a family of three shivering in a corner of a white room.


    Seeing this, she frowned and asked the man standing beside the door to the room.


    "What did you do to make them so scared?"


    "They dared to refuse Lady Alexia''s invitation, I merely ''insisted'' they did nothing more, nothing less."


    Alexia gave him a look that said ''You used force right?'', while he responded with a smile indicating he had no idea what she was talking about.


    Looking at this exchange, the ck-haired womanughed and patted Alexia''s shoulder while saying.


    "Chill out Alexia, you know your subordinates are unnecessarily loyal to you right, there''s no way they''d be calm if someone refused a ''polite'' invitation you sent to them."


    Alexia sighed and entered the room, the trio at the corner flinched even more at her appearance, the father stood in front of his wife and son as if to protect them.


    "Not like a bronze realm human could do anything in the way of protecting, especially from you."


    Ignoring the words of her ck-hairedpanion, Alexia sat on the chair prepared for her and looked at the trio for a few moments before speaking.


    "Honestly, I would have liked to assure you that I mean no harm, however, I don''t have the time for that.


    Someone really creepy is on his way here and I really don''t want him to find me.


    If he does that, you three may not live to see tomorrow, what I mean is he''d kill any and everything in the area.


    So why don''t we just get down to business, I just need this jobless woman behind me to check your son with her authority and you''re all set to go."


    The father and Mother shook in fear at her words, they looked around for a means of escape and found none.


    It was then that their ten-year-old son tugged their sleeves and spoke to them.


    "She''s not like that scary man."


    However the two parents still did not want to let go of their son, Alexia clicked her tongue and her blue eyes shed for a moment, the next, the parents were standing in ce, unmoving.


    "I really don''t have the time for all this, hey little boy, get over here if you want to get your parents back to normal."


    The boy who was scared upon seeing his parents freeze, slowly walked over to Alexia, his earlier thought of her not being scary was gone, she was much worse than the man who brought them here.


    The ck-haired woman sighed at Alexia''s impatience, thinking that it couldn''t be helped she ced her right hand on the boy''s head and spoke.


    [Authority of Knowledge]


    The ambient energies thrummed and began spiralling around her and the boy, after a few moments, the flow of the energies returned to normal.


    She took her hand of him and looked at Alexia, shaking her head she said.


    "I''m ashamed to admit, but it seems he''s not from any known race in the database I have, his parents are clearly humans, but he is definitely not."


    Alexia nodded to herself, she then waved her hands and the boy''s parents began moving again.


    Seeing their son suddenly in front of them, they hurriedly ran and picked him up, pulling him back to the corner of the room.


    Alexia just stood up and walked out of the room, she stopped at the door and told the man waiting there to return the family to where they came from.


    As she climbed up the stairs, the ck-haired woman floated behind her and asked.


    "Where did you find that kid?"


    "A small world I was on, it was quite primitive. Apparently, that family was expelled from their vige because their son was believed to be a heretic."


    "Heretic?"


    "Yeah, the priest tried to bless him but couldn''t. His body resisted the blessing."


    The ck-haired woman shook her head at the absurd things she was hearing.


    Just because his body refused to ept divine power, he was considered a heretic.


    "Primitive worlds really irritate me with their stupid beliefs, he could just be resistant to divinity, what god''s divinity was it?"


    "Not a god, just a demigod who was worshipped by that world.


    However, the strange thing is that the demigod''s divinity seemed to fade away whenever he was in the Area."


    "What?"


    "Exactly what I said, the demigod''s divinity dissipated wherever the boy went, his divine messages could not reach the priest either.


    I broke into his divine realm and questioned the demigod, he said that the entire vige was cked out from his vision, and despite that world being in his territory, he could not observe anything that happened in that vige after that boy was born ten years ago.


    Whenever the boy left the vige, the area he went to became unobservable too."


    "That''s weird, does he have some sort of divinity nullification field around him, quite the ability to have huh?"


    Alexia stopped walking and turned to stare at the ck-haired woman, the two remained like that for a few moments before Alexia finally spoke.


    "Why are you avoiding the obvious reality here?"


    "Tch... fine. Lucifer''s descendant, that boy is from whatever race he''s the progenitor of right?"


    "Yup, and you know what kind of race it is."


    The ck-haired woman rolled her eyes at Alexia who continued walking and answered,


    "A ''yer'' race, they are the only kind of races who pop up randomly like this."


    "Yeah, the progenitor of a yer race is born from a member of the race they are to y and a member of another race that''s multi-universally acknowledged as an enemy of the race they are to y."


    "He''s the son of a god and a devil, there''s already a devil yer race so the one he was born to y is obviously the god race."


    "Bingo!"


    Alexia jumped up lightly as she spoke, looking at the beautiful scenery in front of her, she sighed in exasperation.


    The area was covered in light fog, the wind was whipping through the trees, making them creak and groan like an old rocking chair.


    The leaves of the trees have been long frozen due to the cold temperature, the snow sparkled with ice crystals, hardened so that the newly fallen snow bounces on the up every time a breeze stirs the air.


    The suns seemed to radiate a heat that tempted one to step outside, only to be sapped of that warmth the moment they did.


    Alexia and her ck-hairedpanion walked among the trees without a care for the freezing weather.


    Stopping for a moment, Alexia spread out her aura and confirmed that her subordinates and the family they brought had left the bunker.


    She then looked at one of the suns in the sky and spoke, there was sadness evident in her voice.


    "It''s a pity this beautiful scenery will soon be destroyed huh?"


    The ck-haired woman also stared at that sun in sadness and nodded in agreement with Alexia''s words.


    The sun they were looking at seemed to visibly glow brighter for a bit, and then suddenly--


    ****KAAABOOOoooOOOOOOMMMM!!!


    --it Exploded.


    The world seemed to slow as Alexia sighed and raised her right hand, creating a barrier to shield herself from the gamma and gravitational shockwaves that spread out at a speed faster than light itself.


    However, everything else around her that was left unprotected, was ravaged by the heat and the shockwaves given off by the explosion.


    "No fair, you didn''t shield me."


    "You don''t need it, an exploding sun is merely an itch for you."


    "Same with yo-. Wait, what you just said makes me sound like some sort of monster."


    Alexia stared at her like she was looking at something strange before asking,


    "What else were you in the first ce?"


    Before the ck-haired woman could respond, they heard a booming voice that resounded across the they were on.


    |Alexia! I finally found you!|

 Chapter 53: Meanwhile….

    <h4>Chapter 53: Meanwhile....</h4>


    |Alexia! I finally found you!|


    Alexia, ignoring the owner of that voice, turned to her ck-hairedpanion who was barely holding in herughter and spoke.


    "And herees the stalker, he seemed to havee alone too.


    Oh well, it''s good for me, if he came alone then I have nothing to fear.


    Still, did he forget he''s not allowed to attack me till the second phase begins? "


    "Who knows, most of the guys in that camp are all stupid.


    On more important things, surprisingly, the distance between that sun and this was more than we thought, the explosion didn''t destroy the entire, just about 30%, alongside half its poption."


    She replied while looking around at the scorched earth around them.


    |You dare ignore me!|


    The figure who spoke finally revealed themselves, descending from the sky majestically, ignoring the sparks of causality around him andnding on the ground not far from the duo.


    He had red hair and the expression on his face could not be described as anything but pure rage. However, Alexia just shook her head and held up a middle finger at him.


    "Fuck you."


    The next moment, her body began fading as she began teleporting from that location. Naturally, the red-haired man would not let her get away so easily.


    He stretched sped his hands together and spoke;


    [Dimensional Lock]


    However, Alexia''s ck-hairedpanion clicked her tongue and released a burst of energy That broke his dimensional lock with ease.


    She then red at him and spoke, the anger evident in her voice.


    |You arrogant brat, did you really think I would let you?|


    She looked up at the sky and continued.


    |Redan! Better watch your Candidate, I might kill him the next time he pulls something like this.|


    She then teleported out alongside Alexia leaving the red-haired man who was gritting his teeth in indignation. He looked up at the sky and shouted.


    |Redan! How can you let that bitch get away from me?|


    A man in ck clothes appeared out of thin air and looked at the spot where the two women stood moments ago, he shook his head and spoke to the redhead who was throwing a tantrum.


    "Obviously because you''re not allowed to do anything to her, are you stupid or something?


    If she didn''t stop you, I would have done it myself.


    You seem to forget that you cannot harm her until the second phase of the selection begins."


    |When is the damn second phase starting then?!|


    "First of all, stop speaking in your true voice, it''s hurting my ears, secondly don''t ask me when the next phase begins, I don''t know either."


    The red-haired man bellowed in rage before stomping his foot on the ground, shattering the scorched earth under his foot.


    Spider web-like cracks spread out from under his foot, spreading at a frightening speed around the entire, in a few moments, just like the shattered earth under his foot, the entire shattered and exploded, killing all intelligent life on it.


    The culprit of this destruction clicked his tongue and teleported away from the spot he was in, leaving the ck-clothed man behind.


    Sighing, he spoke with a trace of annoyance evident in his voice,


    "I didn''t be a supreme to babysit foolish kids like him, when I get back I''m gonna apply for a transfer."


    He then teleported away, leaving behind the iplete sr system that had lost a star and a within the span of a few minutes.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    While a was being destroyed with its innocent inhabitants dying for a reason they would never have imagined, Arthur was speaking with Count Harper concerning Nicole''s matter.


    "Um, Prince, My daughter didn''t do anything to anger you right?"


    "D-dad!"


    "Have a little more faith in your daughter Count Harper."


    Arthurughed and replied to the worried count who was being punched in the stomach by his daughter, however, for the count, her punches couldn''t even tickle him.


    La made some tea, which she found in the director''s cupboard. She poured herself a cup and poured two more for Nicole and her father.


    "Huh? Where''s mine?"


    "You don''t drink tea, do you, Arthur?"


    "Yeah, but you should at least pour me some, it''smon courtesy."


    La rolled her eyes at Arthur''s shameless reply and poured one more cup of tea for him, she then sat down on the sofa the director sat on earlier.


    "So we know of the exact situation you''re going through now Count Harper."


    Arthur''s next words evoked a surprised expression from the Count, he turned to Nicole and was about to scold her but La stopped him.


    "I know you don''t want her troubling other people but it was kinda hard for us not to notice something was wrong, you do realize she is not the best at hiding how she feels.


    Besides, seeing that pest hang around her irritated me, I would have taken action even if she did not tell me, luckily she did and we realized the situation is more serious than we expected."


    "More serious than expected? How?"


    The count asked with a skeptical look, to which Arthur replied while sipping his tea.


    "Zach Pearce obviously doesn''t like your daughter the way he ims he does, and getting engaged to your daughter is just a means to an end.


    The real target is most likely you, Count Harper. Either you or something else in your possession."


    "But I don''t have anything the Marquis wants?"


    "Yeah, but you might have something the Duke behind him wants."


    Count Harper''s face became ashen as he heard Arthur''s words, he could not understand why a duke would take interest in him.


    ''What could I have that a duke possibly couldn''t?''


    Looking at his phone and smiling, Arthur spoke up again with words that made the count grow paler.


    "Correction. You might have something the Grand Duke behind him wants, or at least the member of the Grand Duke''s house who''s manipting the Marquis."


    "Huh? Grand Duke? How are you so sure?"


    La asked Arthur impatiently,st time she had some people look into it, it was a Duke who was discovered to be behind the Marquis, and suddenly Arthur says it was a Grand Duke. Her surprise was only natural.


    "The drifters have found the one involved."


    "Who is it?"


    The Count also asked impatiently, he waited to find out who was behind the Marquis and was causing him problems.


    "There are only 4 ''Grands'' in the Devildom; My grandmother, Grand Duchess Inglis, but she''s not in Hell at the moment.


    The other Leviathans are also magic fanatics who''re more likely to blow up the Count''s territory rather than scheme against him.


    The next is Grand Duke Belphegor, however, though you may not notice, Uncle Bel is actually veryzy, he''s the holder of sloth after all. He would not go through the stress of scheming just to get what he wants. That also applies to everyone in his household.


    The third is La''s father, Grand Duke Conrad Eryrth. He''spletely out of the question. Underhanded schemes like this are below him."


    "Yeah, knowing my dad, he''d probably deal with whoever wants to scheme before they can even begin."


    La nodded in affirmation of Arthur''s words as she spoke. Nicole''s quiet voice then rang out, breaking the silence.


    "The only other Grand left is Grand Duke Mammon, the one in charge of most of the military."


    "Yep, he''s also the one with thergest household among the ''Grands'', he has almost a hundred kids with various women, and his children have also grown old enough to have their own great-grandchildren."


    "So you''re saying one of these many children is manipting the Marquis behind the scenes?"


    "Yep."


    Nicole and her Father stared at La and Arthur who casually unveiled the household of the true culprit behind their recent misfortunes.


    "The problem is finding out who among the hundreds of descendants is scheming against the Marquis, even if we checked the academy alone, there are more than fifty of them currently admitted."


    "Yeah, even the drifters are having a hard time narrowing it down, however, they did leave an extra message."


    "What did it say?"


    Arthur looked at his phone and pondered on the meaning of the message before replying to La,


    "That ''The one you are looking for is closer to you three than you think'', is what it says."


    La and Nicole both showed slightly troubled expressions, they were close to somedies from the house of Mammon.


    Five of the members of their ss also belonged to the house of Mammon, one was even assigned a seat not too far from Arthur in the ssroom.


    "I don''t think they meant physical distance though, it''s something else, I''d figure it outter, for now, we have to think of what our dear Count over here has that may catch the attention of a member of the house of the Holder of Greed."


    As he spoke he was thinking about something else,


    ''Good thing the drifters found it fast, I really didn''t want to pull ''those guys'' out of the crystal realm.''


    He then turned to Count Harper, who showed a troubled expression due to Arthur''s earlier words, he truly did not know what could possibly catch their attention.


    "I have a few expensive family heirlooms but they''re nothing valuable to anyone not from my family."


    "Are any of them artifacts?"


    "Some are but they don''t have any eye-catching abilities."


    La thought for a moment and asked,


    "Is there any heirloom one needs to be the next head if the house in order to get ess to it?"


    "Yeah, 3 of them."


    Nicole then asked another question;


    "Did you perhaps use any of these heirlooms during the war two decades ago?"


    "I...Did. One of them, but it was over twenty years ago, why would they act n-"


    Arthur interrupted him after pondering on the two questions asked by La and Nicole.


    "Did you gain any artifacts during the war, one you had to report to your superior in the military that you acquired and you were allowed to take them with you as spoils of war?"


    "Yes, there were dozens of them."


    "That''s it then."


    """Huh???"""


    Looking at the dumbfounded trio, Arthur sighed before deciding to exin his spection to them.

 Chapter 54: The reason behind the schemes

    <h4>Chapter 54: The reason behind the schemes</h4>


    "Did you gain any artifacts during the war, one you had to report to your superior in the military that you acquired and you were allowed to take them with you as spoils of war?"


    "Yes, there were dozens of them."


    "That''s it then."


    """Huh???"""


    Looking at the dumbfounded trio, Arthur sighed before deciding to exin his spection to them.


    "So my guess goes like this;


    What they''re after is one of the artifacts he took as spoils of war that was recorded and documented.


    However, it is kept in a ce that only the head of the house has ess to, like a vault or something.


    So they got an easy to manipte pawn like Zach Pearce and tried to get him engaged to Nicole, so he can have ess to this vault and retrieve the artifact they wanted.


    They most likely found out it was in the Count''s possession through the records left."


    His theory was the most usible and most likely to be true. The Count also found himself agreeing with it too.


    Long before he gained his noble title, his family was considered quite well off and they had lots of valuable artifacts and treasures, although most were sold off after his family''s business crashed and he joined the military.


    However the safe they were kept in was not sold off, after receiving his title, he still used that safe, one that only his family''s current head could have ess to.


    Most of his family''s heirlooms he managed to recover and his spoils of war were kept there. If they really wanted an artifact that was there, that Arthur''s theory was correct.


    "Why couldn''t they just ask though?"


    "I guess they found out about the Artifact illegally or they want to use it for something you clearly would not agree with. Either that or what they want to do is a crime."


    "A member of a Grand Duke''s householdmitting a crime is no small matter."


    Arthur nodded in affirmation at La''s words, he then pondered on something for a few minutes and then decided to speak.


    "Also, Grandpa probably knows everything about this, I bet he instructed Uncle Bel to tell us what he did."


    "Huh? His majesty knows?"


    "Yes, Grandpa can be like that sometimes, he probably wants us to solve the issue ourselves, even if it was just to satisfy his curiosity, there''s no way he would not have found out about this by now. He''s probably just bidding time."


    The other three looked shocked at Arthur''s analysis of the king, thinking about it they also discovered that this was not as trivial as they originally thought.


    A Grand Duke''s household member was intending to eithermit a crime or do something most would not consider morally right.


    There was also the problem of exactly what artifact the person in question needed, they had to figure that out too.


    "I''m going to go piss off Zach Pearce."


    "I''m sorry, how exactly did you arrive at that conclusion? and sit down."


    La hurriedly pushed back Arthur who had suddenly decided on pissing off one of their targets, it was also strange how he somehow managed to arrive at that conclusion.


    "I wanna feel him out a bit, just for a few months, nothing serious."


    "Knowing you, it''s definitely gonna end up serious."


    Arthur just chuckled at La''s words and rxed in his seat, taking a sip of tea, he spoke on something not even remotely rted to the matter at hand.


    "So the mini-sports festival is in 3 months huh?"


    "Why are you suddenly ignoring the current situation, not like you were gonna participate in the festival though."


    "Of course I won''t, it''s too much of a hassle, I''d just do the work of the Mc."


    The count stared at Arthur strangely, he could not understand why on Kreiz the prince would suddenly decide to be the Master of Ceremony.


    Unfortunately, understanding Arthur is something that not even La who''s been his best friend since he was eight has been able to do.


    He was the definition of unpredictable after all, his actions were based solely on his mood at the time. He could n an event for months and then bail out on the long-awaited day simply because he got bored.


    Such was the kind of thing Arthur was capable of, so there was a 50% chance he might end up participating because he suddenly felt like it.


    "Still, is an event for the top 100 only going to attract visitors?"


    Nicole asked in her usual quiet voice, La nodded and replied while preventing Arthur who was about to say something vulgar from speaking.


    "Yep, the turnout is surprisingly high, the events change yearly too, plus it''s an unofficial visitation day."


    "I wonder what kind of event can be added to make La squeal?"


    Arthur, who somehow found his way around her choke hold when she was not looking, asked something very disturbing, especially for La.


    "Why would you want that!?"


    "I feel like it, I should probably get onto the event nningmittee, I''d contact the student council."


    The mini-sports tournament organized for the second-year students was something that the body that governs most of student only affairs in the school nned.


    The Student Council.


    They consisted of the ss representatives of every ss in every year, the president is selected by an election that is usually held every two years.


    The current student council president was a 5th-year Lesser Beastkin Prince named Ran Brock, he brought up the idea of an event much like the other school festivals.


    However, this one was supposed to be done when one was in their second year, this would prepare most of the students for their realm expeditions in their fourth years; which was the excuse he used to get the program approved.


    The directors saw through this but chose to let it go and approved the mini-sports festival for the top 1000 second years.


    Of those 1000, the top 100, received more chances to participate in more events.


    A lot of people were challenging each other now because of the festival, in hopes of securing a spot in the top 100, however, if the top 100 could lose their positions so easily, then they would not be among the top 100 of the entire second year. So far, none of them had been defeated by a lower-ranked student.


    Arthur has also had his fair share of challenges, naturally, he emerged victorious every time.


    As for La, although she felt the challenges were a hassle, she had no choice but to ept them as there was a limit on the number of times a student could decline challenges.


    Just like Arthur, her opponents returned with nothing but regrets, there was even one she knocked out immediately after the duel began.


    "It''s funny how they expect to somehow defeat a top 100 within this short time, we aren''t the top of our ss for no reason."


    "Even so, a few from our ss have dropped in the rankings, and some from the B and C sses have defeated students in our A ss."


    La''s reply to Arthur''s words surprised him as he never expected anyone from their ss to lose.


    "When was this?"


    "At the end of the first year, the top 100 haven''t changed since then."


    "Oh..."


    It seemed that the current top 100 who have maintained their positions despite the challenges going on currently were not only from Arthur''s ss A.


    Students from ss B and below had seeded in defeating a few ss A students in their first year, and have upied the ranks ever since.


    This was not abnormal as one can never know when a pig would suddenly be a lion overnight.


    "How don''t you know this?"


    Count Harper asked, clearly confused why Arthur did not know about the rankings in his school year.


    "Because I don''t give a fuck?


    I beat up anyone who challenges me. Stuff like rankings don''t really interest me, I only entered the academy so I can enter Varona."


    "Varona?"


    "One of the realms we''d be exploring in our 4th year, there''s something I wanna get there."


    Although La knew the reason for Arthur attending the academy, she still sighed in exasperation hearing him say it out loud.


    "Alright, back to the main topic."


    She decided to return their attention to the actual matter at hand; dealing with Zach Pearce and whoever was behind him.


    "What rank is he and what ss?"


    "Zach? Dunno. Check your watch."


    "Toozy."


    La stared at Arthur the way one would look at a fool.


    ''Sometimes, I wanna just punch him in the face.''


    She hid those dangerous thoughts deep in her heart because she knew fully well that Arthur was doing this just to get a reaction out of her, this was evidenced by the mischievous grin he had on his face.


    "So, what''s his rank?"


    "He''s in ss C and is the rank 680 in his year."


    Nicole spoke with a quiet voice, as usual, hearing her words Arthur burst outughing.


    "To think he was in the top 300 in his first year, it''s even more surprising that he''s still in the top 1000."


    He kept onughing while ignoring the confused stares of the other three.

 Chapter 55: Year 4 Class C

    <h4>Chapter 55: Year 4 ss C</h4>


    The sses were arranged ording to their scores and remained that way until graduation regardless of rank changes.


    The top 100 students in ss A, the next 100 in ss B, the next 100 in ss C and so on and so forth.


    Naturally, there aren''t enough letters to go around. The current second year alone has more than ten thousand students.


    If one went with this method, after 2600 students, the letters would have been exhausted.


    As such, after ss Z, the next 100 students are sent to ss A1, with the next to ss B1. Upon reaching Z again, the next bes ss A2 and B2.


    This continued until the number of students were all allocated to ssrooms.


    That was how the sses were allocated at the Academy.


    As for Arthur''sughter, it was simply because he realized how Zach got his rank of top 300 in his first year.


    He bribed the instructor.


    Arthur had a habit of digging up people''s secrets and keeping them in case he needed to ''persuade'' them in the future, an example of this was the director whose office he was upying.


    The director''s tryst with the former 5th-year student was just one of the secrets about the director that Arthur was aware of.


    If he needed to threat-, ''persuade, the director in the future, he could simply use another one.


    One might wonder why the director had so many secrets, however, it is absolutely normal for anyone to have one or two things they wished to hide.


    And Arthur, took it upon himself to find these things out.


    Concerning Zach''s case, he bribed the instructor who was in charge of his written test to give him good grades, and also bribed hisbat test instructor to give him a slightly higher rating when the scores were beingpiled.


    He could easily get away with that as there were nearly hundreds of battles taking ce at the same time during thebat tests.


    Not all of them were as eye-catching as Arthur''s so not many people would pay much attention to his.


    As for how Arthur found this out, that was simply him being a busybody.


    He just looked at a list of high-ranked nobles and randomly picked Zach out, he then gave the name to the drifters and told them to search for anything they could on him.


    As this was years ago and the information found was not to his interest, he had forgottenpletely and only remembered it now.


    "Okay, so I''m gonna go piss off Zach Pearce."


    He suddenly stoppedughing and said that before standing up and walking out of the room.


    Naturally, he was pulled back and forced to sit down once again by La who repeated her earlier question.


    "How did you arrive at that conclusion?!"


    Arthur however, stared at her dumbfoundedly and asked back.


    "How did you NOT arrive at that conclusion?"


    They then began to argue about whether Arthur should piss Zach off or not.


    Seeing this, Count Harper asked Nicole as quietly as possible.


    "Is this how they always are?"


    "Yep."


    After a few minutes, the two finally finished their argument. The end result had La gritting her teeth in indignation while murmuring something about rock paper scissors being the most unfair game in existence.


    "Ah! I''m gonna need something from you Count, stamped with your official seal."


    "For what?"


    "Worry not, it''s nothing illegal, I just want to have a legitimate reason to stick around him for a while."


    Although Arthur said that with a wide smile, the count was even more worried.


    ''His mouth may be smiling but his eyes are definitely not!''


    Seeing as La was still out ofmission for various reasons and Nicole naturally did not see through Arthur''s true intentions, the count sighed and decided to do as Arthur said.


    ''He''s helping me out, this much is nothing.''


    He repeated that multiple times in his mind, as if to hypnotize himself into thinking that was true.


    As for Arthur, his reason for helping the count out was quite...diverse.


    As expected, 60% was simply for the fun of it, 15% because he felt Diablo was testing him somehow, 10% for La and Nicole''s sake, 5% because he wanted to beat up a senior year student, 5% because he wanted to embarrass a Marquis and 5% because he wanted to mess with a Grand Duke.


    If the ones concerned knew of Arthur''s thoughts, they might have spat out blood due to shock.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Friday afternoon, around the time when most were about to begin thest ss for the day, Arthur, with a bag on his back, was strolling around in one of the 4th year buildings like he owned the ce.


    ''Technically my family does own this ce.''


    While thinking such things, he up to thest floor, not forgetting to troll the asional teacher he met.


    As for why he didn''t take the elevator provided; he simply felt like it.


    The Buildings were arranged ording to year and ss.


    As the entire of Kreiz was the academy''s territory, the size of the area upied by each year was more than that of a small country.


    Of course, this distance could be easily traversed with the aid of the teleportation devices set up in various areas.


    The A sses all had their ssrooms,bs and other facilities in the same area. This applied to the B sses and so on and so forth.


    Arthur utilized his personal permit card to ess the director''s personal teleportation gate and moved over to the 4th year territory.


    As for why he was in the director''s office in the first ce, that was simply because he went over to ''persuade'' him to not document Nicole''s Father''s arrival.


    In other words, the Count was officially never on the Academy''s premises.


    He chuckled to himself as he remembered the look on the director''s face as he waved the memory card containing various images of him engaging in promising'' actions, the kind that would cost him his job.


    Arthur pulled out his phone and scrolled through his list of ''stories'', deciding to search for some rting to the teacher currently in Year 4''s ss C.


    Finding the man''s name, he tapped on his file and read up on the contents, hoping to use one of them as a means to ''persuade'' the teacher into leaving the ssroom.


    ''This school really needs to undergo a serious staff overhaul, so many criminals hiding here, I''m sure grandpa already noticed but he just doesn''t care, he''s got more important things to do after all.


    Besides, the situation in Chrysa is getting worse, the greater demons over there are losing to the angels, mom also went over to help them out.''


    Chrysa was a neighbouring universe, not far from Hell. It was currently undergoing a civil war as the members of the Angel race who had been suppressed for tens of thousands of years revolted against their demon oppressors.


    They had been biding their strength for a long while so when they finally revolted, they were far more powerful than the demons expected.


    Rumours going around say that they even had a monarch realm existence among them.


    Cattleya had recently gone over there to aid the demons in suppressing the revolt, or at least that was what she told Arthur.


    ''It''s fishy, mom usually wouldn''t tell me such a thing, and she''s even more unpredictable than I am.''


    While many would argue with that, looking at it from some angles, he was right, Cattleya was more unpredictable and carefree than he was.


    There was a time she was happily chatting with him during a rare asion when they had dinner with his dad.


    One moment she was smiling, the next, she was wiping out the nearby.


    Even his dad who had somehow gotten used to her unpredictable nature couldn''t help but stare in shock.


    Till today, he still does not know the reason she did that.


    ''Knowing mum, it''s probably because some lesser royal or noble from there pissed her off.''


    His assumption was not far from the mark, there was indeed an asion where a lesser royal pissed her off, however, since his country of origin spanned an entire continent, she wiped out the entire,pletely ignoring the fact that the people on the other continents were as innocent as a newborn.


    ''When I get that strong would I wipe outs for no reason?''


    While thinking such dangerous thoughts, he finally arrived at the ssroom, or more appropriately, ss hall of Year 4''s ss C.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    He pushed open the door and waltzed in like he owned the ce, ignoring the obvious looks of confusion on the students'' and teacher''s faces, he spoke up loudly.


    "Wonderful afternoon isn''t it, I think it is, the kind that''s best for self-study don''t you think?"


    He turned to the teacher and asked.


    "Since it''s thest ss of the week, why not just make it self-study? Or more appropriately, free period."


    The teacher finally recovered from his shock, then asked Arthur in a calm voice.


    "Prince Arthur, would you kindly return to your ss block?"


    "Huh? Why?"


    Arthur asked back, his tone and facial expression making it seem like there was no reason for him to be sent back to his ss.


    The teacher, however, expected that Arthur hade to make trouble.


    After all, Arthur and his antics had be a regr topic of discussion among the teachers, at least some of them.


    "It is still time for sses, if you have any business with me or my students, wait until after the sses."


    "Ohe on! It''s boring to have sses now."


    "Prince Arthur, I hope you would postpone whatever matters you have until we are done, you do realize you are interrupting our ss?"


    The ss representative stood up and spoke to Arthur, at his words, many others also expressed their agreement.


    Arthur justughed and walked up to a nearby empty seat, he sat downfortably and pulled two artifacts from his bag and activated them.


    One was a barrier artifact that sealed everyone within a certain area for a period of time; a spatial istion artifact.


    The other was an artifact that jammed allmunication signals to and fro within a certain range.


    He ignored their shocked looks at his actions and spoke.


    "I have a story for you, one that would make you forget about your sses."

 Chapter 56: Zach Pearce’s hellish days begin

    <h4>Chapter 56: Zach Pearce¡¯s hellish days begin?</h4>


    "I have a story for you, one that would make you forget about your sses."


    Without giving anyone a chance to retort at the ridiculousness of the situation, Arthur began speaking.


    "March 29th, Year 709 of the 50th General Calendar.


    On this faithful day, I was in attendance to a certain auction held on the now dwarfed iddis, in the inter-ster space of the southern Burning Realms.


    Imagine my shock when I found out that this auction, was illegal, many of the things being sold there were goods that had been forbidden or banned across the Devildom.


    As I encountered this situation, it was naturally my obligation as a royal, to put an end to such a thing.


    Commanding a few of my guards, weid waste to the auction, however I was but 9 years old then, I also am not exactly the best atmanding others, naturally I missed some of these criminals."


    He put on a tearful expression as he spoke, making the ones listening wonder why the person was talking about catching criminals with a smile on his face few seconds ago was suddenly about to cry.


    As for the teacher, his body had stiffened in shock ever since Arthur called out the date.


    Arthur paid all this no mind and continued.


    "This saddened me greatly, I was depressed for days. How could I have let such criminals go scot free? I was ashamed, despite my mother''s attempts to console me, I still remained sad.


    It was then, one certain day I had an epiphany, I decided I would mobilize all the forces I could in order to find these criminals, .


    They may have gone far but I''m a prince, the son of the Devildom''s princess, I had an enormous amount of resources at my disposal so I put out bounties for them, even got some drifters to help.


    They weren''t much left so I was able to find all of them, alongside evidence of their crimes.


    Each and every one of them, they were hiding in various ces, ces one would least expect.


    However, my guard troop was able to fish out most of these criminals, they were so efficient at it too.


    Ended up giving them bonuses on their pay, they really did a good job.


    As for the ones they did not capture, that was simply because there wasn''t enough evidence to give them capital punishment, but that does not mean that there isn''t any evidence avable."


    He picked a bottle of juice out of his bag and drank it, looking over to the ss representative who wanted to interrupt him but was being held down by his two seat mates he spoke.


    "You seem to have questions?"


    "Of course. What was the point of telling us all that?"


    Some of the students nodded at his words, they didn''t understand the reason he went to such lengths just to say that.


    Arthur justughed and looked over at the teacher before asking.


    "Once again can you make this a free period?"


    The man finally recovered from his stupor at Arthur''s words, he clicked his tongue lightly and spoke up.


    "Chapter 4 exercises 3-9 would be your assignment, due next Friday. The rest of the period is self-study."


    He then walked to the door that led out of the ss, not before secretly ring at Arthur.


    His actions shocked all the students, even the ss representative, he didn''t expect the teacher to suddenly agree to Arthur''s suggestion.


    Arthur on the other hand, just disabled the artifacts and let the teacher leave. Turning to the dumbfounded students, he shouted.


    "Senior Pearce!"


    He then ran up to Zach''s seat and sat down on the empty seat beside him.


    "Nice to meet you, Senior Pearce."


    He greeted as politely as possible, and the one on the receiving end of the greeting waspletely nonplussed, nevertheless he didn''t forget to reply properly, junior or not, Arthur was still a prince.


    "Nice to meet you, your highness."


    Arthur smiled and turned around to greet some of the members of this ss he was familiar with.


    At this point in time, the students had recovered from their shock and epted the fact that their teacher just bailed on them, giving them a free period.


    Many brought out their phones to y games while some began chatting with themselves.


    "Yo! Tom, long time no see."


    "Long time no see prince Arthur."


    Tom replied and bumped fists with Arthur. He was a member of Belphegor''s household. One of his many great-grandchildren, he had been friends with Arthur for years and was also frequently dragged along with thetter''s antics.


    Nevertheless, Tom still saw Arthur as a yful younger brother and always indulged him whenever he could.


    "What brings you over today? You chased our teacher out of our ss with a weird story and you''re suddenly acting all familiar with Zach over here, I don''t recall the both of you knowing each other."


    "Yeah, what''s the asion?"


    Hearing Tom''s words, a few others chimed in, hoping to know Arthur''s aim ining to their ss.


    "Well you see, Senior Pearce over her happens to have caught my attentiontely."


    Arthur turned around to Zach and smiled widely, ignoring the Latter''s obvious confusion, he continued.


    "A few days ago, it came to my notice that Senior Pearce proposed to a friend of mine. You should know her right, she''s the new third-ranked in my year, Nicole."


    "Ah! Count Harper''s daughter?


    We heard about it too, the girl looks so fragile and innocent yet she''s surprisingly brutal in battle, watched one of her duels yesterday, she used water magic to create a bubble filled with high-pressure water and wrapped it round her opponent''s upper body, poor dude."


    "Shit, that sounds like it''d hurt."


    "Course it does, the dude ended up in the infirmary afterwards, and the worst part was she stared at him twitching on the floor with a curious look on her face as if she didn''t understand why he was in pain."


    "She''s one of those types huh? The ones who don''t know how strong they are."


    A few other boys gathered around Tom and Arthur and began chatting about Nicole.


    Arthur justughed at this and went on with what he was saying.


    "Yep. She''s the one I''m talking about."


    Putting a hand on the shoulder of Zach who was trying to escape sneakily, he continued.


    "This guy over here proposed to her a few months ago, she was quite troubled over it and ended up telling La who told me in turn."


    "La? You mean Grand Duke Eryrth''s daughter?"


    "Yep, she''s kinda best friends with Nicole, so she told me about it. Count Harper was quite worried as his daughter got the attention of someone with a reputation like Senior Pearce''s.


    So I came up with the idea of screening the one who proposed to her, and got official permission too."


    He brought out a few files filled with multiple copies of a document stamped with the Count''s magic seal, giving him all rights to screen the one who was proposing to his daughter.


    Tom picked up one of the copies and read through it, he then let out a shocked voice.


    "What on Kreiz? This is simply a statement that gives you a legal reason to bug someone unnecessarily for months."


    Hearing his words, Zach picked up one of the copies and read it through, his facial expression darkening afterwards.


    "What''s the meaning of this?"


    "Exactly what it looks like Zach, I can call you that right?


    The count was quite worried his innocent daughter might get abducted by a wolf cub so he asked me for help, and I epted.


    In other words, for the next few months, I''d be buz-, I mean, hanging around you a lot."


    He pulled out two canned drinks from his bag, gave one to Zach then said.


    "Here''s to us getting along for the next few months, if it wouldst that long."


    He smiled widely at Zach, whose facial expression kept on getting worse.


    Some of the guys around themughed at his situation, some even tapped him on his shoulder and offered their condolences.


    None of them was foolish, they all realized that the one who made the Count sign that document was none other than Arthur himself.


    He was known as the whimsical prince who liked to mess around with people so they were sure that Zach was his rather unfortunate target this time.


    Zach alternated his gaze from the drink in front of him to the paper in his hands and finally to Arthur, he had one thought in his mind.


    ''Fuck!''


    The Marquis was currentlyying low due to the warning he received from Diablo, as such it was up to Zach to coax Nicole into epting the proposal.


    Although he knew Arthur had taken interest in it, he didn''t expect Arthur to openly meddle in the matter.


    Although he was one of those who looked down on Arthur for being unable to use his energies, it didn''t change the fact that Arthur was a prince.


    Openly offending him would lead to serious repercussions, and his ns with his mysterious cooperator coulde to light, that was the result he did not desire.


    ''I''m having a hard time controlling myself recently, and now he justes around and decided to make things worse!''


    He was fuming internally but still managed to give a crooked smile towards Arthur.


    "Good to h-have you on board, your highness."


    Of course, Arthur realized he was raging internally but still smiled widely as if he was oblivious to this.


    And so began Zach''s hellish days of being continuously trolled by Arthur

 Chapter 57: Monsterization

    <h4>Chapter 57: Monsterization</h4>


    Arthur''s original reason for deciding to mess with Zach was mostly for the fun of it, however, after meeting Zach in person, he noticed something else.


    ''His energy is corrupted.''


    Even Devils who were known for delving into evil magic and curses had a bottom line regarding what they messed with.


    Monsterization magic is one of them.


    This was a type of magic that transformed the target into a monster.


    The definition of the word ''monster'' may differ depending on the universe in question.


    While races like orcs and goblins may be considered monsters in Hell and its neighbouring universes, the number of universes that exist in the universal sea is almost innumerable.


    There were definitely universes out there with goblins as their masters, some with orcs, some with Ogres and other races considered monsters by the denizens of the Hell universe.


    Monsterization magic being used on animals and other races already considered ''monsters'' was fine, however, when used on sentient humanoid races, that''s where there''s a problem.


    The magic gave the target a great power increase, sometimes it even increased their level of existence by one or two realms, however, it came at the cost of the target''s sanity, life force and sometimes, their soul itself.


    The hideous forms they gained as a result of using such magic were not much of a matter of concern.


    After all, some retain their normal form with no difference, however, one look into their eyes would be enough to know that they were lost causes.


    While there are those who possess skills to cast such magic in an instant, the magic was usually one that took a while to prepare.


    If a person was in the process of monsterizing, their energy bes corrupted gradually and it was almost impossible to tell the difference.


    Even more so when they conceal their energies with artifacts or other magic tools.


    Even some deity realm experts would be unable to tell the difference.


    Arthur, however, was able to tell, this did not mean his senses were better than those of the deity realm, he was fooled by the energy-cloaking effect of the tool that Zach used to conceal this.


    However, in the bag of tricks that contained various tools and artifacts given to him by Cattleya, there was a device that made one able to see through the effects of cloaking tools and artifacts.


    ''Mum''s bag of tricks definitelyes in handy huh?''


    It was a bracelet, one Arthur usually wore not because of its actual use but simply because he liked the design.


    However, meeting Zach, he finally remembered the real reason he was given the bracelet in the first ce.


    ''Thank goodness it''s a passive effect, otherwise, I would have not noticed it.''


    The multiple cloaking devices Zach used were rendered useless in the face of the tool created by the one with the title of ''strongest leviathan''.


    One might forget based on the way she usually acted but Cattleya was the daughter of the leviathan devil Inglis, she inherited her mother''s magic fanaticism, however, hers was directed towards creating magic tools.


    Although they are called magic fanatics, the leviathans did not only dabble in magic but in other types of energy, currently, Inglis was even researching a way to make devils able to use divinity.


    Research that would make gods spit out blood in shock if they heard of it.


    Cattleya created an ether-powered device that absorbed surrounding magic energy, converted it to ether and enabled its wearer to see through most energy cloaks.


    Her motivation for creating such was to see through Hades'' true strength that had somehow be imperceptible to her.


    The one she gave Arthur was a failed product, however, it could still work fine on anyone below the mid-tier deity realm.


    Naturally, Zach''s energy-cloaking tools could not block this.


    As the one who was being monsterized couldn''t hold back their increasing bloodlust, Arthur theorized Zach was reaching his limit and kept an eye on him, waiting for when he would croak.


    He looked at the list of Artifacts he received from count Harper and figured out what among them would clearly be of use to Zach.


    "A ''Circlet of wisdom'', it''s an artifact that grants immunity to any mental attacks or conditions.


    With such a thing on, even with a curse of madness, the wearer would not lose their sanity."


    [So that''s what he''s after? I understand it''s quite rare but couldn''t he get his hands on another one?]


    The Count asked back through the group video call that consisted of Arthur, alongside the Count and a High Drifter.


    [He probably didn''t want to do so, a lot of eyes are on him as he''s the son of Marquis, and the person behind him probably has his movements monitored too, as such, questions would be raised if they were to purchase such an artifact, and purchasing in secret would only increase suspicions, nothing is truly a secret these days.]


    "With drifters like you snooping around, what could possibly be kept secret?"


    Arthur retorted towards the drifter who only chuckled lightly in response before continuing.


    [The dude''s definitely gonna lose it soon, he knows he''s being watched from various angles so he can''t vent out his stress without being seen, courtesy of my special team.


    All that''s left of for you to catch him when he does.]


    Arthur nodded in affirmation at his words, the count followed suit.


    [Still is that okay? Multiple drifters on the devil''s academy territory?]


    "Obviously not, however, no action would be taken, I told grandpa about my suspicions so he sent out an order to all the directors to not take action against the drifters.


    Zach also can''t report them in the first ce as he risks getting found out."


    Arthur''s reply made the count sigh in relief, the Drifter chuckled lightly once again before speaking.


    [I''d send you the rest of the info soon, alongside the reason the Marquis''s son would be involved in such magic, let''s just say that the Marquis''s servants aren''t very tight-lipped.]


    He cut the call afterwards, Arthur just sighed and spoke to the Count.


    "The bastard probably tortured the answers out of them, then erased their memories and returned them without anyone knowing.


    I''d contact you when I''ve dealt with Zach."


    [''Dealt with?'' What are you gonna do?]


    Arthur gave a wry smile towards the count''s question before answering.


    "Kill him."


    He then cut the call afterwards. Staring at the nk screen, he spoke to no one in particr.


    "Enjoy yourst days well, Zach Pearce."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Zach Pearce was enraged. First, he was being bugged by Arthur who always popped up whenever he was alone and dragged him to ces he did not want to go.


    ''I''m an inferior stage grandmaster, why the hell am I unable to sense him whenever he gets close?!''


    As Arthur spected, he was having a hard time controlling himself.


    Some of the forests in the school had weaker monsters in them as such he usually went over at night to vent on the monsters.


    However, since Arthur started bugging him, he could not.


    ''I''m being watched.''


    That was the second issue he was having. He noticed he was being watched from the shadows not long after Arthur began his antics.


    The problem was he could not report that he was being watched for fear of his monsterization being found out.


    If he reported it to the school authorities, their first question would be simple.


    "What are you doing that would make you a target to be monitored?"


    They would then take action to find out the reason he was being watched in the first ce, this would lead to them discovering his corrupted energy, and his eventual monsterization.


    That was what he wanted to avoid.


    His monsterization was progressing faster than expected, this was because he was holding back his increasing bloodlust far more than he was supposed to.


    He knew fully well that the reason he had so many eyes on him was because of Arthur.


    He began to feel anxious, he felt all the people he met were secretly Arthur''s spies who were watching him.


    He withdrew himself to his room and hid there for days, he even missed a lot of sses.


    Despite the multiple warnings from the teachers he received, he still shut himself in.


    Once he felt he was no longer being watched, he ran off to the nearest forest to find any monster to attack and vent out his stress on.


    However, just when he was about to end the unfortunate wolves he found, he felt eyes upon him.


    The person didn''t even bother to hide their gaze, and Zach knew fully well that whoever it was, he could not defeat that person.


    Even with this happening , Arthur did not relent in trolling him daily, popping up wherever he went, even going as far as to show up in his room multiple times.


    ''It''s all his fault!''


    Eventually, he began ming Arthur, all his problems were Arthur''s fault.


    His anxiety.


    His inferiorityplex.


    His crumbling sanity.


    Even his father scolding for him being the weakest and most useless of his children.


    And finally, he snapped.

 Chapter 58: Snapped!

    <h4>Chapter 58: Snapped!</h4>


    It was a fine Saturday evening, the teachers were off duty, and the school buildings were quiet.


    The setting suns could be visible when one looked to the west.


    The star system that the Kreiz was located in, was one with three stars acting as its suns.


    All three of them were arranged in a triangr formation, yet even with these three suns, the heat on Kreiz and its neighbourings was not as much as one would expect.


    In the area that spanned tens of thousands of kilometres, dedicated to the second-year students of the Academy, there were various recreational centres for the students.


    As the saying goes; ''All work and no y makes jack a dull boy.'' The academy created these centres so the students could rx on their days off.


    As this Saturday was one of such days, Arthur had dragged La, Nicole, Edward and a few of his ssmates over to one of these ces.


    He had personally gone over to their rooms to drag them out to go. It was inconvenient at first as some simply just wanted toze around all day but they eventually ended up enjoying it.


    They watched a movie, went to a park, and were currently on their way back to their dormitories after having a meal.


    "Told y''all it was gonna be fun, my ideas are always fun."


    "It''s not much fun when you drag people over regardless of their will you know?"


    Edward sighed after retorting to Arthur''s words, he was slightly tired after the whole day''s adventures, however, he had to admit that he had some fun.


    "You ended up hitting off on Nicole, maybe your single life mighte to an end soon."


    One of his friends hung his arm over Edward''s shoulder and whispered into his ear.


    Although Edward and Nicole had met each other before, they didn''t really talk much until today.


    Surprisingly, they had a lot inmon and he ended up getting along with the usually quiet girl.


    Some of the other girls were shocked because they had never seen Nicole so lively before.


    Edward just shook his head in sadness and replied.


    "Sadly, as much as it annoys me, she already has eyes for someone else."


    "Huh? For real? Who?"


    Another boy came over and joined in on the conversation, hearing Edward''s words, he couldn''t help but ask out loud.


    Edward knocked him on the head before replying silently.


    "A certain willful silver-haired kid."


    "Ow!-wait up! Are you kidding me? Him? Really?"


    "Yeah, how sure are you?"


    The two listeners were shocked at his reply, they did not expect it at all.


    "I happened to overhear it."


    Edward replied before walking up to Arthur and La who were in the front of the group, however before he could call out, he felt a chill down his spine.


    ''Wha-! Such malicious intent''


    Looking around the wide courtyard of one of the dormitory buildings they were in, he realized the source of that intent.


    Their group was quiterge, there were over 30 students walking together, they all felt it too, it was too much for them not to instantly figure out the source.


    "That took longer than I thought, oh well this is ording to n."


    Arthur''s calm voice brought them out of their stupor, he calmly walked over to the one who was releasing this dangerous aura.


    "Yo! Senior Pearce, long time no see?"


    Zach was standing at the edge of the courtyard, his unrestrained aura pouring out continuously.


    His eyes were zed over and there was visible rage on his face.


    His blonde hair was stained with blood, probably that of the student who copsed on the ground beside him.


    He stretched out his hand and chanted one word.


    "Explosion"


    Arthur''s mischievous grin was wiped off instantly.


    An enormous fireball wasunched towards them.


    "Shit! Defensive magic everyone!"


    They all didn''t need to be told that, they all activated their various defensive magic and skills, and the power they felt from that fireball was nothing to scoff at.


    Then the magded.


    **KABOooOOoM


    There was a loud sound alongside a blinding light, it was loud enough to attract the attention of others who were passing by, and even those in their rooms heard it and came over to their windows to look for the source.


    "Tsk... I wanted to see how much he had increased, but this is a little too much isn''t it."


    Arthur spoke as he looked at the Burns on his hands.


    "What the?! Why didn''t you use your defensive artifacts?!"


    La screamed out seeing Arthur''s injuries, however, he just scoffed, pointed to Zach and replied.


    "They''re just light burns, they''d heal soon enough. On a more serious note, have you noticed?"


    It was then La looked at Zach and realized what Arthur was talking about.


    "Is that monsterization?"


    She had never seen a monsterized devil before, she only guessed that because Arthur had told her that Zach was possibly one.


    Arthur nodded in affirmation while clicking his tongue.


    ''His strength increased from the inferior stage.''


    When he was talking to La about what to do with Zach, Zach''s appearance became strange.


    "YOU BASTARD... BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BASTARD BAAAAASTAAAAAAAARDDDddd ! ! ! !"


    He let out a scream as if he had gone insane, and he began to d himself with an extraordinary amount of magic power.


    "Hey, La."


    "What is it?"


    "Umm, do you think he can be brought under control?"


    "...I don''t think so."


    "...Isn''t this bad?"


    "...It''s bad."


    With that, Arthur took out a Sword from the extra-dimensional storage space artifact on his other wrist, rushed out towards Zach, and said,


    "La! Take everyone away from here! This is going to get really bad!!"


    "Tch! I understand!"


    With the Sword in hand, heunched himself towards Zach. However, he was blown away midway because of the release of an enormous magic power.


    "Arthur! !"


    He heard La shouting, but he didn''t have the time to pay attention.


    While in mid-air, he regained control of his stance andnded on the ground. Then, he turned his focus towards Zach...


    "...Are you serious..."


    Zach stood there while releasing ominous magic power, and his eyes had turned into a deep shade of red in colour.


    "Superior stage...grandmaster!"


    The monsterization increased Zach''s strength to the peak of the grandmaster realm.


    ''If he''s given any more time he would be an Epic, I have to end him quickly.''


    However, nothing goes the way one may want it to.


    Zach ced his hand on the ground and muttered incoherently, Nicole''s face paled upon seeing this.


    Besides Arthur, she was the most sensitive to energies, even more so than La. She instantly realized what he was doing.


    "He''s summoning something!"


    At her words, some of the studentsunched magic attacks towards Zach, however, they never reached him.


    Multiple tripleyered barriers appeared around him and protected him from their attacks.


    This was normal, Arthur and La who could defeat grandmasters were abnormal, and it was normally difficult for the attacks of people in the inferior or intermediate stage of the master realm to harm those in the peak stage of the grandmaster realm.


    His summons waspleted sessfully, multiple magic circles appeared around them, and from these circles, actual monsters began crawling out.


    They numbered in the hundreds, their strength ranged from the inferior stage of the master realm to the intermediate stage of the grand master realm.


    This was one of the reasons that sentient humanoid races being moisturized was dangerous, they gained the ability to summon and control monsters weaker than them.


    With the energy reserves of a superior stage grandmaster, summoning hundreds of these monsters was not enough to put a dent in his energy level.


    "I''d deal with him, you guys handle the other monsters."


    By this time, they had all realized that Zach was clearly not in his right state of mind, even though they did not instantly assume he was monsterized, it would not take them long to arrive at that conclusion.


    Edward and the others nodded at Arthur''s words and took out the self-defence weapons they carried with them.


    As they were going out for fun, most did not carry their main weapons with them. A few students passing by also joined in to deal with the monsters.


    Some of those who were in their rooms also jumped out through the windows to join in eliminating the monsters.


    The guards who were usually ced at the dormitory entrances also joined in.


    **ROARRR!


    Zach let out a roar and dashed towards Arthur.


    "Hold on for a bit would you."


    Arthur clenched his fist and pulled back his arm, he then threw out a punch immediately after.


    The air pressure generated by the punch was enough to force Zach to be pushed backwards by a few meters.


    "What the?!"


    Some of the spectators were stunned, with no magic or energy, just pure physical strength and he pushed back a superior stage grandmaster.


    It was an absurd situation, Arthur ignored their surprise and spoke towards Zach,


    "I hope you''d entertain me"

 Chapter 59: Arthur vs Zach I

    <h4>Chapter 59: Arthur vs Zach I</h4>


    Monsterization magic was once frequently used by multiple powerhouses of the hell universe for thousands of years.


    That was until Diablo came into power and banned it, there was a serious crackdown as most of the users of this magic were caught.


    Even some members of the leviathan grand duchy were apprehended too, of course, this was before Inglis and Diablo got married.


    It caused a lot of problems between the royal family and the leviathan devils then.


    Diablo''s real reasons for banning this magic still remain unknown to date, however seeing Zach in front of him, Arthur felt he could partially understand why.


    ''His strength increased so much, if this was done to a being in the deity realm, I''m honestly scared of the consequences.''


    In front of his eyes was Zach, who hadpletely turned into a monster. He seemed to be among the type that retained his humanoid form.


    He was d in an ominous magical power, a peculiar characteristic of monsterization victims. What had been the white portion of his eyes had turned deep red, and he stood still in ce while gazing at empty space.


    This scene was viewed by everyone who was in close proximity, and those who had never seen a monsterized devil before werepletely bbergasted. Well, of course, it was the first time they''d sighted a monsterized devil since it was an extremely rare case.


    ''Er, this is not the time to leisurely think about such things!''


    "Clear out everyone!! That guy turned into a goddamn monsterized devil! You''ll only be coteral damage if you continue to stay here!! Try to force the other monsters to steer clear to give the prince to deal with him."


    Edwards''s words were able to return some of the dumbfounded students to their senses.


    "U-uaaaaahhh!! Monsterized devil! Did he just say a monsterized devil!?"


    "We have to run away! We have to run away! We have to run away! We have to run away!"


    "He-he, someone please help meeee!!"


    "KYAAAaaaaa!!"


    While trying to escape, everyone was screaming in confusion. It was mostly the first years, most of which were gold and silver realms that were trying to run away, they could not even face any of the monsters summoned by Zach.


    The guards moved to assist them to evacuate quickly, some nearby third years also came over to help.


    Some tried to assist Arthur in facing Zach, however, they were blocked by Arthur himself


    "That guy will probably not stop here, and as a monster who has lost most of his sanity, he might attack the other students, you guys should stop that from happening by clearing out the monsters he summoned and the weaker students"


    "Then we will stay as well!!"


    "As people who have never killed someone in an entire realm higher than you are before, what kind of idiotic things are you saying!!?"


    The third years who arrived were merely inferior stage grandmasters, facing a superior stage was difficult for them. They were not sure of their survival.


    However, they were even warier of Arthur who could send a superior stage flying with just the air pressure from his punch.


    "Arthur... are we... a hindrance?"


    "...Yeah, you guys are a hindrance."


    "...Is that so..."


    La bit her tightened lips, and turned around. Even though Arthur could not use his energies, even though they were both in the superior stage of the master realm, the gap in strength between the both of them was far too evident.


    "Everyone, let''s clear out the other monsters!"


    She spread her wings and flew up while releasing magic power, she then rose her hand andunched multiple fireballs toward the monsters who were still increasing in number.


    "No way! How can we leave his highness alone!!"


    "I hate to break it to you seniors but Even if we stay here, we''ll only be a burden!"


    "But!"


    "Just go deal with the other monsters already!!"


    "Ye-yes!!"


    La''s sudden shout shocked them to the core, they reflexively replied to her words and moved to attack the intermediate-stage grandmaster wolves that were staring at a group of first years like they were dinner.


    After turning into a monsterpletely, Zach, who had been standing still and staring at empty space, finally looked Arthur''s way...


    "GOWAAAaaaaah !!!!!"


    Once he discharged his magic, he headed towards Arthur.


    While Zach was on his way to where he was, Arthur pulled out a sword and a magic gun from his subspace ring and bombarded him with Fire Bullets.


    When the Fire Bullets hit Zach, without confirming the oue he circled around Zach''s back, drew the Sword, and shed horizontally.


    ** SLASH!


    ''There was some resistance! Where was it? Where did I cut him?''


    When he moved away slightly, He saw that Zach had taken damage from the Fire Bullets all over his body, and his left arm appeared to have been severed from above his elbow.


    "GYAAAaaaGYAA ARTHUR! YOU BASTARD! YOU BASSSSTAAARRRDdddddd!!!"


    At this time Arthur felt a sense of difort.


    ''Arthur? He called out my name? Is there a part of his consciousness left in him?''


    "I''LL KILL YOU! I''LL DEFINITELY KILL YOU! ARTHURRR!!"


    At the same time he was yelling, he produced a cluster of Fireballs.


    "Tsk!"


    In order to obstruct the Fireballs, Arthur created a magic barrier with his defensive artifact.


    "UWaaahh, HOT!"


    ''Dammit! Even if the barrier can protect against magic, it doesn''t prevent the heat. My face is burning!''


    "This¡ª!"


    Because it was excessively hot, he created a de made out of water with his favourite sword creation artifact.


    **SLASH, SLASH, SLASH!!


    The water de started shing towards Zach.


    "Why you... How dare You! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!"


    Arthur rushed towards Zach with both the Sword and the Water de at hand. Then, he sliced at Zach''s remaining right arm.


    "This is..."


    ''Is this the end of it?''


    That''s what he thought after looking at Zach''s bloody appearance.


    However this was a superior stage grandmaster, and a monsterized one at that, there was no way things were going to end so easily.


    Although devils could regenerate, re-growing lost limbs still took time, especially if the limb in question waspletely cut off from the body.


    However, to a monsterized devil, suchmon sense clearly did not apply.


    This was evidenced by the fact that the two arms Arthur cut off were regenerating right before his very eyes.


    He watched the bone regrow, and the flesh and finally it was covered by skin, several runes appeared on the newly regrown skin.


    Seeing this Arthur confirmed the theory he had in mind.


    ''As I thought, this guy was an experiment, they were trying to create a monsterized devil that retained his sanity, which exins why they needed the circlet of wisdom.''


    He felt he was close enough to the truth but he was notpletely sure yet.


    ''Also, this guy has been draining my physical strength for a while now.''


    He realized that whenever he got too close to Zach, he felt his physical strength leaving him, resulting in weaker attacks.


    Arthur clicked his tongue and moved to the still regenerating Zach, without caring for the strength decrease, he kicked Zach with an amount of force enough to pop a grown man''s skull.


    Zach flew back due to the force of the kick, Arthur didn''t let up and continued kicking him away, pushing him further away from the courtyard and the dormitory premises, into the small estate with low-rise buildings in the area.


    However Arthur noticed something strange, the more he kicked Zach, the greater resistance he felt and the lesser distance he moved.


    Eventually, Zach caught Arthur''s leg mid-air and flung him away, since he anticipated it, Arthur was able to regain his bnce andnded on the ground perfectly.


    ''I expected a retaliation so I was prepared.''


    Zach in front of him, began transforming into something else, strange marks began appearing all over his skin and some sort of thin sheet covered his face.


    As he was staring at the transforming Zach afternding on the ground, he felt a presence behind him, turning around he saw a familiar face.


    "Hello Lute, nice to see you. Are the others here too?"


    "Of course your highness, we are your personal guards, we''d never leave your side."


    It was a man dressed in all ck from head to toe, he looked like a ninja. As he spoke, more figures dressed in ck emerged from the shadows.


    Looking at the guards who seemed to always follow him, Arthur chuckled and waved at them.


    "Should we handle this for you, your highness?"


    All of Arthur''s guards were transcendents, with Lute being a demigod realm human, it would be very easy for them to wipe out Zach and his entourage of monsters.


    Just one of them was enough to do the job.


    Arthur frowned and shook his head.


    "If I can''t deal with a mere grandmaster, how will I be able to deal with the deities who are after my life in the future?"


    "However, we would take action if you are in mortal danger."


    Lute agreed with Arthur''s wishes before disappearing back into the shadows, all the other guards did the same too.


    Arthur then stared at Zach who had finished transforming with a wry smile.


    He had gained an even more bizarre aura, as though the brilliance of a magic Rune was glowing from all over his body.


    Magic runes as the name implied, were runes drawn with an ancient runguage in order to invoke magical effects of varying degrees of strength and intent.


    However, it had drawbacks, one of which was the ss of runes one could possess. It was impossible to possess two different sses of runes.


    This meant it was impossible to possess both offensive and defensive runes on one''s body. You could have hundreds of offensive runes but the moment you tried to inscribe a defensive rune, the energy in the runes might sh and you may suffer mana reflux.


    However, Zach''s current appearance with Runes all over his body was defying that rule.


    Some sort of silver mask had also covered his face, making it impossible to find out his current profile.


    ''Did this guy turn into a rune eater? Was he fed those runes during the experiments?''


    A Rune water was a monster that fed on the magical energy that dwelled in magic runes, eventually devouring the rune itself.


    They were one of the few creatures that could hold various sses of runes on their bodies without repercussions.


    For the current Zach, along with several Rune instances on his body, Arthur also could feel several different mana wavelengths from him.


    From how he looked, the current Zach appeared to have several people''s portions of Runes and Mana ovepping in himself.


    And the total of all of those¡ªmade Arthur''s mouth loosen up.


    ''Seems like I''ve finally run into a tough opponent after a while.''

 Chapter 60: Arthur vs Zach II

    <h4>Chapter 60: Arthur vs Zach II?</h4>


    ''Seems like I''ve finally run into quite a tough opponent after a while.''


    Arthur decided to end things quickly so he could go help out La and the rest.


    He summoned a sword using his weapon-creation artifact and took a stance.


    ''Sword of-!''


    He was about to use an aura technique that Creusery taught him, but he suddenly felt multiple gases on him.


    ''Why the fuck are you all watching, go kill the other monsters.''


    He had pushed Zach towards the empty private estate so he could use his aura to finish him off without anyone looking, however, some students who didn''t want to participate in the battle against the summoned monsters, came over to watch Arthur.


    He turned around and red at them before audibly clicking his tongue.


    ''A few full-powered ''swords of victory'' and he would have been down for the count, but those fools came over and now I can''t use it again.


    I''m really beginning to regret spreading the rumours that I can''t use my energy.''


    Sword of Victory was an aura technique, if he used it while being watched, it was the same as openly admitting he could now use his energy.


    He also didn''t have any aura-augmenting artifacts on hand too.


    ''It''s not time for that yet, until I get back from Varona, that''s when I''d reveal it.''


    After thinking that, he looked towards Zach who had locked onto him.


    Arthur was someone who possessed bountiful mana, even though he was usually unable to use it, it did not mean it was not present.


    So even though he did not possess a rune, he was still a prime target for a rune eater, something the current Zach had clearly transformed into.


    "OOOOOHHHH!?!?!?"


    Zach howled wildly, like a lion who just had its dinner served to it on a silver tter.


    "GIVE MEEEE!!!"


    Just that in this case, the silver tter was Arthur, and the dinner was his mana.


    He readied himself to leap towards Arthur.


    "Give you what? I don''t have any runes on me, or do you perhaps want my magic, try to take it if you can."


    With a grin hanging from one ear to another, Arthur beckoned Zach.


    "GAAAHH!!"


    He came charging at Arthur from a low posture, shrieking like a mindless beast.


    ''He''s fast!''


    Perhaps, his movements wouldn''t lose to those of the actual rune eaters.


    However, it wasn''t so fast that Arthur couldn''t react.


    The punches, kicks, and body blows that he fiercely carried out, all was seen through and evaded with a paper-thin margin by Arthur.


    "OOOOHHH!?!?!?!"


    Zach''s attacks were getting bigger as he grew impatient that none of his assaults hit the mark.


    "What''s wrong? Please show me the full power of a monsterized devil, I really want to see it, you know?"


    While avoiding the scooping uppercut, Arthur delivered a palm strike to his opponent.


    With the momentum, the monsterized Zach flew through the fences of a nearby house and only stopped once he hit a wall.


    "GAAH!?..."


    There should have been a considerably serious body trauma and yet, Zach stood back to his feet as if nothing happened.


    ''He has quite the endurance. Not so surprising though, a grandmaster is capable of surviving attacks that can wipe multiple cities off the map''.


    Some of the Runes on his body increased their brilliance intensity.


    Zach spread his arms wide and howled again, before releasing various projectile attacks.


    ''Ether?! That''s ether right!?''


    Recognizing the energy Zach used in the projectiles, Arthur ran around while dodging the ether-based arrows that threatened to pin him to the walls behind him.


    ''One, two, three, four. That''s four private houses he''s wrecked.''


    "You know you''re gonna have to pay for destroying school property."


    Zach ignored Arthur''s unnecessary statement and dashed towards him sword in hand, seeing this Arthur decided to respond In kind.


    There was a sh and Zach''s de drove itself towards him. Arthur twisted his body to avoid it and returned fire with his own sword.


    Surprisingly, Zach warded it off with a parry.


    ''Was this guy actually skilled?''


    Zach was among the top 1000 of the fourth-year ss, a ss that had almost 24000 students.


    To be able to retain that spot, he definitely had to have some kind of skill.


    Arthur''s de that was parried, missed him and cleaved the earth to Zach''s side.


    Dirt and small rocks were scattered all over as the attack had left a veritable hole in the ground below.


    He tried to quickly follow up the attack with another, but was denied the chance as Zach''s magically constructed de, slithered towards the back of his neck and threatened to tear it off.


    Arthur jumped back to avoid losing his head, the moment hended on the ground, he immediately took off and struck Zach again.


    Although Zach was able to defend against the attack wlessly, the same could not be said about the follow-up.


    Zach grit his teeth and endured the pain that threatened to reap his consciousness, seeing a de darting towards his heart, he forced himself to focus and twisted his upper body just enough to evade it.


    The back of his palm shed with the brilliance of a rune, as he suddenly elerated and used his momentum from the twisting motion to deliver a reckless spin kick.


    "Fuck off!!"


    Arthur was caught off guard due to the sudden eleration and the attacknded.


    Zach''s foot flew straight into his shoulder and sent him flying into the building behind him.


    ***BBOOM


    With a small explosion, the building crumbled upon Arthur.


    "Tsk...Speed runes, this guy is annoying and those fools are still watching so I can''t go all out."


    Arthur stood up and dusted himself, he threw the shield he had managed to conjure with his weapon creation on the floor and looked around for Zach''s location.


    ''''Weapon creation'' Huh? Is a shield really a weapon?''


    The shield was created by the artifact as Arthur took advantage of the dust generated by the crumbling building to use his magic and create something other than the default sword the artifact could create.


    ''The training to use my magic without opening my wings is going well.''


    Sensing a huge amount of energying towards him, he looked up and saw a giant water dragon rushing towards him with jaws open.


    ''An ether spell?! Why doesn''t this guy use magic?!''


    Although he froze up momentarily, Arthur still managed to react to the dragon and leap out of its way.


    The dragon''s watery jaws ended up crashing into the broken building behind him and reducing it to dust.


    It then went on to do the same to a few more buildings.


    "What the fuck?! That''s water, right? How does a water spell do that?!"


    Zach attacked Arthur who was staring at the result of the spell, right before the attack hit, Arthur suddenly revealed a mischievous grin and ducked, causing Zach''s sword to miss.


    With a low kick to the back of the knee, he sent Zach off his feet, immediately standing up, he used his momentum to punch Zach into the air.


    He pulled a second magic gun and emptied the magazine as he fired towards Zach who was sent flying by his punch.


    Not bothering to reload or use his energy to fire, he discarded the gun and summoned a new sword, this time, one of mes.


    Zachnded on the ground and dashed towards Arthur, the bullet holes on his body already healing.


    Arthur kicked off the ground with all the force he could muster, creating a small crater below his feet, he dashed towards Zach and swung his sword.


    Zach''s new ether-based sword was ready just in time to obstruct the blow, or would have, if Arthur was aiming for him.


    "Huh?"


    Arthur''s target, however, was not him, but the ground in front of him. Fire began to swell from the ground below, dying the surroundings in a deep shade of red.


    Zach sensed the impending danger and his body burst with a wave of ice-infused magic power, quenching the mes and preventing Arthur from aplishing what he wanted to.


    ''Tch...It froze my sword too.''


    Arthur discarded the frozen sword while watching Zach closely. With a clink, and dry sound of something freezing over, sharp des of ice formed in both of Zach''s hands.


    ''An ice-based rune huh...? ''


    "I call copyright!"


    Ignoring Arthur''s words, He once again kicked the ground, rushing towards Arthur.


    ''Ah, shit, he got faster?!''


    "I see...!"


    Arthur evaded the iing two ice des with movements that made it seem like he was dancing.


    During that time¡ªAnother Rune glowed from Zach''s body, it was on his right arm, and the next moment, his figure then vanished.


    "...!?"


    **WOOSH WOOSH WOOSH!


    And, even when Arthur couldn''t see him, the attacks he delivered kepting.


    Arthur managed to dodge the first few, but eventually, small cuts began to umte on his body.


    The difficulty of handling Zach''s attacks had clearly skyrocketedpared to before.


    "...You''re not bad!"


    If all he did was evade, he would eventually be cornered.


    Arthur turned around in a circle while dragging his leg on the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust and dirt around him.


    ''And.....there!''


    He spotted the one ce where the dust and dirt did not fall back to the ground and kicked off towards that direction immediately.


    He stretched out his hands in a grappling motion and seeded in grabbing both of Zach''s wrists to a stop.


    "Impos... sible¡ª"

 Chapter 61: Arthur vs Zach III

    <h4>Chapter 61: Arthur vs Zach III ??</h4>


    "Impos... sible¡ª"


    The invisible Zach was confused about how Arthur found him, he was supposed to be invisible after all.


    "We''re not done yet...Since you still retain some of your sanity you should understand me properly right?


    Please show all the Runes you haven''t activated yet.


    I really wanna see how much they experimented on you.


    Also, we''re having such an entertaining after all, are we not? Please, humour me."


    "Gr... rrr...!"


    Arthur meant to ask him in a friendly manner.


    But, his opponent seemed to be enraged by him instead.


    There was also a tinge of fear even though Arthur was clearly an entire realm of strength lower than him.


    "GAAAAaaaahh...!"


    The invisible Zach shrieked.


    ming bullets, ice pebbles, lightning spears, small tornadoes, stone spears and even miniature water dragons appeared all at once, surrounding Arthur.


    "!?"


    ''Nope! I definitely have to evade that!''


    Unfortunately-


    There was a sensation of a firm grip on his shoulders as if something was sticking onto him.


    "Huh..?"


    It was Zach, Arthur had grabbed his wrists to stop his ice des, but Zach took advantage of that and stuck even closer to him to stop his movements altogether.


    And then, several projectiles of multiple attributes surrounded both of them.


    The amount was as if there were many mages using magic and ether-based spells all at once.


    If the monsterized Zach were to unleash that, then he would surely fall victim to it as well and be damaged by his own attacks.


    "In the end, just a brat who can''t use his magic... eat this!"


    The mes, ice, lightning, wind and stones that were suspendedunched in unison. As for the water dragons, they spiralled down towards Arthur faster than the other projectiles.


    Arthur tried to avoid them, but the monsterized Zach who had the strength of a superior stage grandmaster gripped him tight.


    His movements were sealed. Even when he tried to shake him off, Zach wouldn''t budge, thetter had used Earth magic to seal his feet to the ground so Arthur couldn''t move him with the ridiculous strength he possessed.


    That was¡ªonly if he let things be.


    "...Zachary Pearce, why in tarnation are you holding me so closely, were both dudes you know? If anyone were to see this then they might have some weird thoughts."


    Arthur spoke with a not-so-serious tone as he activated one of the artifacts equipped on his ankles. It was an anklet that had a simple feature.


    It multiplied the strength of the wearer by almost threefold.


    When used by Arthur who had enough physical strength to punch a hole in the head of an intermediate-stage grandmaster beast, the effects were disastrous.


    "HAAaatt!!!"


    After Arthur shook off Zach with brute force, then immediately crouched, grabbing a fistful of sand before leaping overhead.


    There were no projectiles deployed above them.


    While bouncing up the wall of the nearby building and climbing to the roof, Arthur observed the scene below unfolding.


    The monsterized Zach who had been shaken off by Arthur was being charged by countless projectiles of his own creation.


    me bullets, ice pebbles, lightning spears, mini tornadoes, stone spears and miniature water dragons. All of them shot at him at once.


    ''He''s not gonna just stand there and let them hit him right?''


    But, just before theynded, Zach''s chest shed with the brilliance of another rune and the attacks disappeared as though they were sucked into something.


    As a result, he appeared to suffer no damage at all.


    "Huhuhuhu..."


    He turned towards Arthur and the two runes on each of his cheeks shed.


    He opened his mouth and fired a beam of light, one that was filled with the energy from all the attacks he just absorbed.


    ''Just how many runes does this guy have?''


    Those were Arthur''s thoughts and he dodged the beam of light that pierced through the building he was on, alongside the rest of the estate behind it.


    **BBBBOOoOOM!!!


    ''Why the fuck are they still watching, dealing with this guy without energy-infused attacks is getting hard.''


    Arthur decided to give up on waiting for the spectators to leave as they were even multiplying.


    ''Well, they''re quite far so at least they won''t get caught in the crossfire.''


    Arthur jumped onto the roof of one of the few remaining buildings to look at the scene of destruction Zach caused.


    He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Zach, who also jumped to the roof, chasing after Arthur.


    The two ice swords appeared again in his hand.


    ''He would most likely turn transparent and sh at me again.''


    "Also stop copying me, I call copyright."


    This time around, the fire, ice, and stone projectiles would surely be added into the mix.


    ''Evading everything with a bare hand would be tricky, would it not?


    ''If that''s the case, then I''ll go sword mode too... ''


    **CHINK!


    Along with a clear, solid sound reverberating in the air, an ice sword appeared in Arthur''s empty hand.


    "The ice feels cooler than usual."


    Now, he could parry the iing attacks on top of evading them.


    "Now, Round 2, or is it 3 already?"


    Zach''s figure vanished as if he was in a hurry.


    ''I really want a rune of invisibility now.''


    While he was having such thoughts, Arthur heard footsteps approaching.


    Zach''s Invisible ice swords were slicing the air as they attacked.


    Arthur turned to the direction he heard the footsteps approaching from and threw the sand he had grabbed from the ground towards it.


    Zach, who expected such a trick again, twisted his body to avoid it, however, Arthur had also not expected it to work a second time.


    Arthur shed horizontally, making Zach who was in an ufortable position, have no option of dodging, unless he wished to fall off the roof.


    He blocked Arthur''s des and the two began to exchange a flurry of attacks.


    ''I''ve gotten a feel for it, now even if he goes invisible, I can still find him.


    **PRANG PRANG PRANG PRANG¡ª!


    The sound of ice swords locking ice swords was unlike steel shing one another but clear like a musical instrument.


    ''What instrument was it called again?''


    While Arthur was wondering about somethingpletely unrted to the situation at hand, Zach was preparing another attack for him.


    "... Eat this!"


    ming bullets, ice pebbles, stone spears, and even pure energy balls. Magic, ether and the rare prana too, all those projectiles appeared all around the perimeter of Arthur, even up above him, all at once.


    It was the same attack as before, but now blocking his escape route through the skypletely.


    "I knew you''d do that..."


    Whilst still locking swords with the invisible opponent, Arthur pranced around to either dodge or parry the iing projectiles with his ice de.


    His movements were simply absurd.


    Arthur was dodging projectiles he could not see while locking swords with an opponent that he could not see.


    The attacks that missed Arthur struck the nearby buildings and destroyed thempletely. Some of the stronger ones were repelled with his second sword and they crashed far away.


    It was a fantastical sight of me spears crashing into buildings and burning them to ash instantly, stone spears crumbling even more buildings easily.


    Arthur dodged the mini tornadoes that raged with a ferocity that could tear an intermediate-stage grandmaster to bits and the lightning spears scorched the earth where theynded.


    In just a few minutes, two-thirds of the entire estate had been reduced to a pile of rubble. This was happening while Arthur and Zach were still shing swords while moving from one building top to another.


    Yet Arthur didn''t suffer much damage, just a few burns from the mes that burned him lightly, besides that he was fine.


    Even his enemy who should''ve been engaging him couldn''t help but had his breath taken at this sight.


    "Impossible...a mere brat who can''t use his energy!"


    "You''ve been quite focused on that for a while, could it be that you''re jealous of me or something? It seems like you think that''s my weak point and you are trying to pick at it."


    Arthur spoke towards Zach who still managed to form words despite his crumbling sanity.


    ''If they were trying to create a monsterized devil that retained his sanity, then this guy is a sess''


    "O-, Ooooohh...!"


    "Didn''t they teach you to not get distracted during a fight?"


    ''A good time for a perfect Counterattack!


    As Arthur further increased the speed of his sword, the pitch of the tones yed between the ice sword heightened.


    Gradually, the invisible Zach got cornered, and then


    **SWISH!


    Atst, Arthur''s ice sword had finally sliced off the monsterized Zach''s right arm.


    "AHHHHHH!?!?!?"


    Along with a scream, the sliced-off right arm that was covered in runes, fell with a plop, revealing its figure. The light of one of the shing runes on the arm, died down the moment it fell.


    A few secondster, its owner slowly faded into existence.


    ''It seems the Rune that caused the invisibility was on that sliced-off arm huh?''


    Zach iled around while screaming and because of his violent riot, he fell off the roof, and back to the ground.


    Arthur, who had wanted to take the fight off the roof for a while now, jumped down with him.


    The moment hended, he switched out the ice sword in his hands for a me sword.


    ''Now'' let me get it right this time.


    First, the me circle.''

 Chapter 62: Arthur vs Zach IV

    <h4>Chapter 62: Arthur vs Zach IV</h4>


    ''Now, let me get it right this time.


    First, the me circle.''


    Pouring more energy than before into the artifact, he generated another ming sword and impaled the ground around the fallen Zach.


    Fire began to swell from the ground below, dying their surroundings in a deep shade of red.


    Arthur let go of the de and peered beyond the mes. The injured and still healing Zach had been shaken by the sudden surge of heat, and again, his view had been obstructed.


    Arthur allowed Zach to stagger to his feet, before summoning hisst and most powerful magic gun, he waited for a moment before, taking aim, and firing.


    ''Should be around his heart?''


    **PHSEWW!


    There was a whistle. And after a moment''s dy, it was followed by the sound of something bursting open.


    The sword''s mes waned.


    They began to die down, but then suddenly sprung to life once more, almost as if they''d been fanned by some sort of motion.


    Arthur''s entire body was suddenly filled with a sense of impending doom. It wasing from his side. There was something right beside his neck.


    He looked, only to see a partially healed Zach standing right there, sword in hand.


    His arm had healed but there was now a visible hole that went all the way through his side and came out the other end.


    ''When did he get there?!''


    "GRRROAR!" Blood was spilling from his mouth. He was grievously wounded, but he roared nheless.


    "Die!"


    And in that instant, his sword began to move. Straight towards Arthur''s head.


    Time almost seemed to slow to a standstill. The de felt like it was approaching frame by frame.


    Arthur could see it slowly drawing closer to his eyes.


    ''Even if I slowed his time, it was already toote.''


    The judgement he made almost seemed to trigger an instinctive action.


    The arm he had his gun in moved without him willing it to and positioned itself right between his face and the iing de.


    **KKRANG!


    He heard it right as he lost control of his hastily casted time spell and time began to speed back up.


    The de pierced his arm and caused a sharp pain to begin coursing through his nerves.


    ''Fuck!!! It hurts more than hell!


    Wait, I''m in he- NOW''S NOT THE TIME FOR THAT ARTHURUIS.''


    Arthur scolded himself internally and analyzed the situation quickly.


    Impaling his arm had caused Zach''s de to shift its course.


    And so, rather than skewering his brain like it was supposed to, it had only skimmed the side of his skull.


    He wasted no time in immediately shaping his other, empty hand like a de and thrust it straight into Zach''s chest.


    The hard sensation of bone was soon followed by the raw, unpleasant feeling of running his hands through raw flesh.


    ''My aim was true.''


    Fresh blood scattered through the air like petals in the wind as Arthur''s arm erupted from Zach''s back.


    However-


    ''I missed again?!!''


    Zach had tilted his body at thest moment and Arthur had missed his heart.


    Just like Zach''s sword had missed Arthur''s head, Arthur''s hand had missed Zach''s heart.


    As Zach took greater damage, Arthur took advantage of his weakened state, to pull his hand out of Zach''s chest before delivering a blow to thetter.


    One he infused with a huge amount of magic, not caring for the eyes of the spectators or the approaching Epic realm guards.


    The punch sent Zach flying through multiple walls and crashed in front of a half-destroyed building near the entrance of the estate.


    "Arthur? Are yo-...!"


    And at the worst possible time, La''s voice echoed as she walked in.


    Some of the stronger guards had arrived alongside a few fourth years and some fifth years who were in the intermediate stages of the grandmaster realm.


    The magic circles that kept summoning monsters were broken and the monsters were being dealt with quickly.


    La had gone over to where she saw Arthur take Zach in order to confirm the status of Zach.


    "La! Get away, it''s dangerous!"


    Unluckily, when La walked into the estate, it was the fallen Zach who greeted her.


    "GAAaaaaaaahhh!!!!"


    "Kyaah!? W-, what is he¡ª!? This is Zach Pearce...!?"


    "M-, more...! I need more mana!! EneRgy!!! GIVE MEEEE!!!!!"


    The crazed Zach leapt up and lunged at La, His ferocity was that of a wounded beast itself.


    "YOU¡ª!"


    She reflexively activated a simple offensive magic, however, it was not enough to stop the charging Zach.


    He created small barriers of magic to block her attacks.


    She spread her wings and tried to fly away but Zach stretched out his arm and clenched his fist, a rune glowing on the back of his palm.


    Her body stiffened, it was simr to what those on the receiving end of her paralyzing magic eyes felt.


    If this continued on¡ª


    "I won''t let you!"


    Although Arthur always annoyed La on a daily basis, ying all sorts of pranks on her and dragging her into his various antics, it did not change the fact that he cared for her.


    She was one of the few people Arthur really trusted, there was no way he would let any harme to her.


    Especially by an opponent, he was supposed to be fighting against.


    With barely perceptible speed, he arrived in front of the charging Zach andunched a kick towards his face.


    One became two and two became three.


    Three kicks with more than double physical strength, and Zach had no choice but to be pushed back greatly.


    Some of his bones were even broken by the kicks, the hole Arthur left beside his heart was still there, and as such the kicks only served to worsen his injuries.


    Arthur clenched his fist, pulled back and punched with greater force than that of his kicks.


    The punch sent Zach flying through what was left of the already broken buildings. He spat out a huge amount of ck blood.


    The hole in his chest, plus the punch that Arthur delivered resulted in his insides beingpletely messed up.


    He tried to stand up, but he couldn''t, one of Arthur''s kicks had broken his legs, and they were taking longer to heal as his body judged the hole in his chest to be more life-threatening and was actively trying to heal it.


    Arthur looked at this and spoke out loud.


    "Lute, La and the rest of you. You all saw nothing here today"


    At his words, La showed a confused look on her face, this confusion further increased when she saw what Arthur did next.


    He revealed his wings.


    She had seen what happened thest time he did so she was about to speak however the aura she felt after he did that shut her up instantly.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Hello, my name is Lute, I am a guard in service to her highness Cattleya Vaughn, the princess of the Devildom of hell.


    I have been serving the princess ever since I was at the age of ten, she saved me from my war-stricken gxy and brought me to the Capital of the Devildom, Aeturn


    The rest of the members of my team were like me, all victims of the numerous intergctic wars that ur daily all across the billions of gxies that exist in the Devildom.


    Although her highness saved us on a whim, it did not change the fact that she saved us.


    We all swore oaths of loyalty, oaths that bound our souls to her.


    It had been nearly a thousand years since that day.


    I achieved the realm of demigod a few decades ago after gaining authorities in thews of life and darkness, I was promoted to team leader since then.


    When her highness gave birth to her son, she put us in charge of guarding her son.


    My team was just one of many but when he was to attend the academy, we were selected to be the sole team responsible for his safety.


    We were quite familiar with the prince''s unpredictable attitude that he inherited from her highness as we had guarded him for almost a decade.


    We were also familiar with the widely known fact that he could not use magic or any energies. We felt sad for the prince when we discovered this and hoped he would regain his ability to use energy.


    Although most would be depressed at such a discovery, the prince was far from that. In fact, he worked harder to be stronger and even though he was still a superior stage master, he had grown strong enough to face a grandmaster all on his own.


    His sword skills were also noteworthy, capable of overwhelming some legendary realms, based on sword skills alone, that is.


    He was currently fighting a monsterized brat named Zach who seemed to be the son of a marquis.


    Even though monsterization magic was banned, and by the king himself, he still dabbled in it.


    However, there seemed to be more to this as he still retained his sanity despite having transformed into a rune eater.


    It seemed that the monsters the brat summoned had been dealt with and so his best friend and possible future fianc¨¦ came over to check on him.


    Unfortunately, she appeared at the wrong ce at the wrong time. She was clearly in danger so I was about to act to save her for the sake of the prince.


    However, the prince moved after than I expected and kicked away the monsterized brat.


    He then unleashed a punch that clearly knocked the living daylights out of the devil, as someone with an authority in thew of life, I could tell that the devil had lost a lot of life force due to that attack, yet he still took great internal damage.


    "Lute, La and the rest of you. You all saw nothing here today"


    At the prince''s words, I tilted my head in confusion clearly not understanding why he said that.


    He then did something I had rarely seen him do, he revealed his wings.


    About a year ago, I noticed the prince seemed to be avoiding using his wings.


    The reason still remained unknown to me, until now that is.


    Unable to use his energy?


    That was clearly bullshit!!


    He was very capable of using his energy, the enormous amount of energy that wasparable to that of a legendary realm existence.


    He cast a spell I was very familiar with, one that created a dome of darkness capable of covering the entire area.


    It also had a feature that prevented probing magic or skills from being used to sense what was going on inside.


    Detection was also impossible for those with lesser energy levels.


    From what I sensed, the guards that appeared to take care of the other monsters were all inferior stage Epics, they could notpare in energy quantity or quality to the prince.


    However I also noticed something else, the prince''s body was breaking down, this was probably due to the enormous amount of energy he held and was probably the reason he concealed it.


    I was about to take action again, this time to stop him from further damaging his body, however, his next actions shocked me to the core.


    "Ah..."


    I was sure, till the day I died, I would never forget what I just saw.

 Chapter 63 Arthur vs Zach V

    63 Arthur vs Zach V


    "Lute, La and the rest of you. You all saw nothing here today"


    Arthur informed as wings sprouted behind him, he could clearly sense La''s shock at his actions. He justughed lightly and manipted his magic with jaw-dropping skill.


    "Veil of darkness"


    Light was blocked by something leaving the area in pitch darkness. From outside, a dome of darkness could be seen covering the entire area.


    The dome was special, not only did it render sight useless, but it also rendered probing and sensory magic skills useless in detecting the activities within the darkness.


    Beings with lesser energy levels than the caster should just give up all hope in breaking in or out.


    He could sense that the guards who were handling the monsters did not possess higher energy levels than he did.


    Looking at his arm, he could see small spider web-like cracks on it.


    ''It seems my divinity and that weird negative energy are battling for supremacy in my body again huh? Gotta end this quick then''


    He then red at Zach who was struggling to get up, magic power zed in Arthur''s pupils and Zach stiffened in a very ufortable position as if he was frozen in ce unable to move a muscle.


    That was simply because he actually was.


    Just like Creusery said on the day of the entrance exams, Arthur was able to utilize the power of aw.


    And he was not doing it unconsciously.


    He stopped Zach in time with the power of thew of time.


    Raising his arms he spoke,


    "Come forth, lost souls."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Let''s take a moment to ask a question.


    What was hell?


    In various cultures, it was an abode where evil souls were subjected to punitive suffering, most often through torture and eternal punishment after death.


    Every universe had a variation of hell where souls suffered after death.


    In Olympus, it was Tartarus, the primordial gxy cluster that resided below the underworld.


    In Vedas, it was a realm with over 130yers where the dead soul goes to a deeperyer depending on their actions in life.


    In Asgard cluster, it was a cold ce guarded by a four-eyed blood-soaked hound.


    In Oblivion, it was a great realm split into many lesser realms where souls went depending on their race, it had the asional time devouring dragon that came over to attack and eat souls to recover its power.


    However, for the universe of hell, it was almost everywhere. As such using magic that required the souls of the dead was very easy to use in the Hell universe.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Arthur reached within himself and utilized thew of darkness and he forged a hiltless sword.


    The sword was made with the small quantity of wandering souls he was able to attract, and he also utilized the souls trapped within Zach, who was still frozen in time- the souls were owners of the runes he had eaten.


    Grasping the very ominous de with his right hand, he smiled lightly before waving his left arm.


    "Tempest"


    This time, it was thew of wind.


    He created a small tornado, Zach''s immobilized body was sucked in, then thrown around and sliced in multiple ces at imperceptible speeds by countless des of wind.


    Normal, he would have regenerated these wounds, however, the power of time stopped his regeneration from acting.


    "Tsk...The energy consumption is crazy"


    There was a reason why it was only those in the Legendary and Sovereign realms who were allowed to tap into the power of aw.


    Besides the fact that they were high existence levels, they were the only ones who could withstand the energy consumption.


    As a progenitor, Arthur was capable of dabbling inws without having reached the Legendary and Sovereign realms, still, he was not exempt from therge energy consumption.


    If he did not end things quickly, he would be unable to maintain the veil and his appearance of being able your use energy would be exposed for all to see.


    However, Lute solved that problem instantly.


    "My prince, leave the Veil of Darkness to me." Lute stepped in and utilized his magic.


    Lute constructed a stronger and more durable dome beneath Arthur''s. Relieved from a burden, Arthur chuckled and dispelled his Veil of Darkness.


    The dome fizzled out of existence revealing the more powerful dome hidden beneath. Multiple people who had been trying to probe through Arthur''s magic skill received bacsh from Lute''s Veil of Darkness.


    "I suggest you end him quickly your highness, your body''s condition is getting worse."


    Arthur nodded and retuned his focus to the Tempest he casted and dispelled it. The tornado slowed down and wind blew across the area revealing an already bloodied Zach. He had sustained fatal injuries from his head to toes and was soaked in his own blood.


    "I admit I''m going too far for a bug like you, but honestly, your very existence pissed me off ever since I first saw you."


    Arthur spoke, despite the fact that Zach was frozen in time his senses were still working so, Zach could still feel pain, every wound on his body was agonizing. He never subject to sustaining such amounts of wounds.


    Arthur held out his jet ck sword made of pure darkness and lost souls.


    Violet coloured magic gathered into the jet ck de and carved out a pattern.


    It became a vacuum that sucked in even more magic.


    It was almost as if everything in the world was being sucked towards Arthur''s sword


    A terrifying amount of power coalesced on the de. The kind a superior-stage Master like Arthur should definitely not have.


    "This is my current strongest."


    Arthur strained to say as he fell into a stance, his arms were pulled back and levelled to his shoulder and the tip of his sword was pointed at Zach.


    Despite being airborne without any form of footing, his stance could only be described by a single word, Perfection. It was a stance solely for the sake of thrusting


    "D-, don''t..."


    Zach''s pleaded as his body scrambled to heal the most fatal injuries. This was because Arthur had ceased tapping the Law of Time to conserve energy. Zach could move, but he had lost all will to fight.


    He was now frozen in ce by the most primal of emotions, Fear


    What is shaking with that rattling sound?


    The ground quaked


    The air howled.


    Zach shook.


    Everything shook.


    La realized that she, too, was shaking.


    But she was not afraid. Rather, she was ecstatic.


    She somehow felt proud that Arthur was this powerful, when she heard people secretly calling him inept and making fun of Arthur being unable to use his energies, she wanted nothing more than to beat them all up and dere that Arthur was not inept.


    But she couldn''t, she made promise to him.


    However seeing Arthur''s back floating in the sky, she anticipated the day he would reveal to the world, to reveal his true strength to everyone who secretly looked down on him.


    Unaware of La''s thoughts, Arthur marvelled at the strength contained by the sword he was holding and his wings fluttered softly. He descended slowly to the ground.


    "Behold..."


    The ominous sword of darkness d in light was drawn back...


    [Extreme Nothingness]


    ... and then released.


    Sound disappeared.


    The torrent of light swallowed Zach.


    It pierced through the broken walls, the ground, everything. It pierced, swallowed, then soared into the sky.


    The veil of darkness was opened by Lute up to let the light go out.


    And then... it exploded.


    A pattern of light was seared into the dark sky, casting a violet shade over the entire campus city, all the onlookers stared in shock. The Epic realms guards who tried to peer across the veil of darkness unsessfully stopped their futile actions and started at it dumbfoundedly.


    From far, far away... a violent wind reached the city-sized area where the dormitories were located btedly.


    It dispersed storm clouds, rattled every house, quaked the earth with enough force to be mistaken for an earthquake with a magnitude of more than 7, and then vanished. The only thing left in its wake was a beautiful night sky littered with innumerable stars and the full moons.


    As for Zach-


    -He was vaporized, with not even an atom left.


    Staring at his masterpiece Arthur folded his wings beforeughing out loud, and his body fell weakly. La panicked but Lute caught him mid-air and held him as if he were holding the most precious thing in existence.


    Life energy poured into Arthur''s damaged body, healing his injuries


    The veil of darkness was dispelled. When those who were outside saw this, they rushed in and were met with the scene of an unconscious Arthur and a strange ck-clothed man holding him.


    However they could not move further, that was because they all felt it, the aura that could only be released by those who possessed authorities.


    "Demigod..."


    Someone muttered absentmindedly.


    Remembering the attack they just witnessed, they all assumed he was the one responsible.


    It was logical and made perfect sense. It was impossible to connect the dots to an unconscious Arthur. Edward swallowed his fear and asked,


    "Z-zach?"


    "Gone, without a trace."


    Lute replied without taking his eyes off Arthur. After healing him to a certain extent, he carried him on his shoulder and spoke out.


    "Tasha, get the youngdy, I''m taking the prince to his room."


    He disappeared with Arthur immediately after.


    A simrly clothed woman appeared briefly behind La and picked her up before disappearing along with her.


    The Epic realm guards and the other students were left dumbfounded as the only ones they could ask for the details of what happened had disappeared.


    Also, no one wanted to bother a demigod... especially as the memories of the attack remained fresh in their minds.


    As for why no one was surprised to see the demigod realm Lute, they all assumed he was Arthur''s secret guard.


    It waspletely normal for Arthur to have such privileges as he was a prince of the Devildom.


    Deciding to ask for the detailster, the Epic realm guards instructed the students to check if there were any injured left. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    Luckily no student lost their lives, even though some lost limbs when the summoning circles spat out five superior-stage grandmaster realm monsters.


    Luckily the guards arrived on time and dispatched them with nought but a single attack.


    This was the power of Epic realm existence.


    Able to deal with a superior stage grandmaster with a single attack.


    And so the curtains closed on that faithful Saturday night.


    \

 Chapter 64 Aftermath

    64 Aftermath The third son of Marquis Pearce, Zach Pearce, monsterized and attacked Prince Arthur alongside some other students!


    That was the only thing at the top of the search lists of all news channels, websites, apps and social media.


    It showed how serious Zach''s monsterization was, and to top it off, he attacked the prince. Most of the Devildom''s nobles knew how much the devilian royal family doted on its newest addition, Arthur.


    Especially his mother Cattleya, they all felt pity for the House of Pearce and all its vassal houses at this.


    However, before that pity, was disdain.


    It has been over ten thousand years since the ban on monsterization magic was created. Very few people dared to go against a ban that Diablo personally put in ce.


    As such, over the past ten millennia, most of the people who practised monsterization magic did so in secret or found some other alternative. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    For the nobles who valued their statuses more than anyone else, they did not dare touch it for fear that they would lose their status upon being found out.


    In the current society, no secret was truly a secret.


    However this time a noble was caught dabbling in monsterization magic, to top it off it was a Marquis.


    One of the highest-ranked nobles of the Devildom.


    Though there were tens of thousands of nobles in the Devildom, the number of nobles who possessed the rank of Marquis was less than a thousand.


    In a Devildom whose territory spanned an entire universe, covering billions of gxies. There were only less than a thousand nobles with the rank of Marquis.


    This showed how few they were.


    The nobles at this rank were the true high-ranked nobles as the only other nobles that existed above them were the dukes and the grand dukes which were the main entities of the pantheon.


    And yet one of these few elite nobles, from a house with nearly a hundred thousand years of history, was openly breaking a rule set by the king of the Devildom.


    The Marquis of Pearce lost all the prestige it had built up since its inception overnight.


    Some other Marquisates even went as far as to send official petitions to the royal family for the House of Pearce to be stripped of their rank and status as nobles.


    They felt that the noble status that came with the rank of Marquis had been besmirched by the house of Pearce and believed it would only be redeemed if the bad eggs were thrown away.


    In this case, it would be the House of Pearce in its entirety.


    Another note of concern was the attack itself, there were hundreds who witnessed Zach personally attack Arthur and the students with him, he also went ahead to summon hundreds to thousands of monsters, ranging from the inferior stage master realm to the superior stage grandmaster realm.


    Zach himself was also confirmed by many eyewitness reports to have achieved the peak of the grandmaster realm on his monsterization.


    A few even remarked that it was possible for him to have achieved the legendary realm if he was given time.


    The monsters that were summoned, were all promptly dispatched by thebination of the students led by Grand Duke Eryrth''s daughter, La and the guards led by the head of security In the second-year dormitory the attack took ce.


    It was said that La showed great leadership skills that made even the third and fourth-year students that arrivedter on, listen to hermands in dispatching the monsters.


    Words of praise were said by every one of the participants of the battle.


    A few first-year students even testified that she personally took action to protect them from stray magic attacks while helping them evacuate the scene due to the fact that they were far too weak to help.


    In the end, La who was already admired by many, had gained more fans and admirers. Her poprity increased exponentially overnight.


    Finally, the crux of the matter.


    The monsterized devil, Zach Pearce.


    Zach himself was said to have been severely wounded by Prince Arthur, before being promptly finished by one who was presumed to be his guard.


    There were many doubts about this as it was unheard of for a master realm who could not use energy to severely wound a superior stage grandmaster, however, there were various eyewitness reports and video evidence that showed this was true.


    "He punched the guy through buildings, with just one hand!" A student said.


    "I was stunned you know, one moment he was pulling his fist back, the next Zach was flying in the air." Stated another.


    "The kicks! Those Kicks! He somehow made the monsterized dude cough out blood repeatedly with just kicks."


    There were various statements like this from the students who had witnessed Arthur battling with Zach.


    Beside each of the dormitory buildings, there were small estates,parable in size to small towns situated there.


    These were for the students who did not wish to stay in the dormitories with other students and wished to live alone in private.


    These lodgings were made for the sake of these students and were very expensive. Each and every one of the buildings was made of some of the best energy-resistant materials that could withstand the strength of a superior stage grandmaster realm existence''s punch.


    Yet, the estate that was situated beside the dorms where the attack took ce, waspletely reduced to rubble.


    The sight of multiple magic attacks of various elements, ether, aura, prana and many other energies could be seen from afar.


    A few students who caught the fight on camera, uploaded videos that showed Arthur dodging most of these attacks with moves that looked like he was dancing.


    It was even reported that Zach possessed the ability to turn invisible for a moment of time, yet Arthur was somehow able to pinpoint his location every time.


    "Even though he used artifacts, can you use the same artifacts and beat a superior grandmaster, while being a master realm unable to use energy?"


    "All those who said Prince Arthur didn''t fight him off, I got video evidence here!"


    Many students took offence against those who imed Arthur did not defeat Zach, and provided multiple pieces of evidence to shut them up.


    The final attack that was said to have been seen from kilometres away, however, was stated to be the work of the guard who was at least a Demigod realm existence.


    Prince Arthur was healed of all injuries, however, he had remained unconscious for the following three days after the event.


    Finally, thest issue of concern.


    The wounded.


    Luckily, the incident ended with no fatalities of any sort.


    All students who were in the area at the start of the attack were ounted for, this was confirmed multiple times.


    However, a few students were said to have lost their limbs when a quintet of superior stage grandmaster realm wolf-like monsters were summoned.


    These monsters were promptly killed upon the arrival of the Epic realm guards.


    Although the students who lost their limbs, had them regenerated at the hands of the Demigod realm nurse in the closest infirmary, it did not change the fact that they once lost them.


    Of these injured students, most of them were children of the Devildom''s nobles and one of them was the grandson of Duchess Jostron.


    A descendant of one of the main entities of the pantheon was injured.


    It was said that the Duchess was enraged upon hearing this and almost started a war with the House of Pearce if not for the timely intervention of King Diablo who called a meeting with all the Dukes and Grand Dukes.


    Duchess Jostron was known far and wide for her excessive love towards her descendants despite having many of them.


    It was said that she took time to care for each and every one of them for a long time after their births. Some even said that she cared for them more than their actual mothers did.


    If Diablo did not intervene, the House of Pearce might have not lived to see the light of day ever again.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    In the royal castle, there were various conference halls and situation rooms in which the main entities of the pantheon held meetings depending on the severity of the situation.


    Today, the lowest ranked of these rooms was filled as the dukes and grand dukes arrived on the scene in response to the summons from Diablo.


    The room was decoratedvishly with furniture of the best quality, made out of the hides of deity realm beasts.


    The tables were made of wood gotten from a special realm in the burning realms where the essence of thew of wood was abundant.


    It was strong enough to act as a shield to block a full-powered attack from a superior stage demigod. The rest of the room had various artifacts that worked with various energy types for air conditioning.


    The beings meant to use the room were powerful high-tier deity realm existences and possessed bodies powerful enough to resist most kinds of temperature as such extra care was put in to make themfortable.


    "It''s unlike his majesty to dy like this."


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 Chapter 65 Meeting Begins

    65 Meeting Begins


    "It''s unlike his majesty to dy like this."


    The enchanting voice of Duchess Asmodeus, the holder of lust rang out in the quiet room.


    At her words, the other beings present in the room nodded in assent. The table in the room was circr-shaped with thirteen chairs around it.


    There was a slight gap that ran across the diameter of the circle, dividing it into two halves.


    On one half, sat the six dukes;


    The holder of fury, Araman.


    The Holder of gluttony, Tilkan.


    The holder of lust, Asmodeus.


    Duke Hollis,


    Duchess Celiosa andstly Duchess Jostron.


    On the other half of the table, the seats for the grand dukes and the royal family were kept, with Grand Duke Conrad Eryrth, the holder of pride present.


    Duchess Asmodeus looked towards Conrad and asked.


    "Mind telling us the real reason the meeting was dyed for 5 days?"


    "I have no idea either".


    Conrad however, shrugged his shoulders while replying.


    The meeting that was called was originally supposed to be held three days after the incident urred.


    However, much to the shock of the dukes, Diablo postponed the meeting for 5 days, saying he was personally overseeing the rounding up of all the members of the House of Pearce who were involved in the monsterization incident.


    The Dukes, on the other hand, did not believe this to be the real reason he dyed the meeting, however, even the one known to be the closest to Diablo, Eryrth, did not know why Diablo dyed the meeting.


    Ever since Diablo postponed the meeting, the quantity and quality of information about the incident that had spread had reduced drastically.


    The entire academy had been silent, no one entered or left and those who were outside did not know what was happening inside.


    The Dukes deduced that this was courtesy of Diablo himself taking action, he seemed to not want something that was currently happening in the academy to spread out, at least not yet.


    Allmunication with the outside, even to the stations on the moons of the Kreiz were all cut off. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Even Eryrth could not find out what was happening there.


    The entire was under close watch by Diablo''s personal knight troop. They kept a close eye on the and prevented all sorts of entrances.


    Teleportation was also not possible due to the barrier diablo put around it.


    As the dukes were talking amongst themselves, two more figures walked into the room, one of which was the Holder of Greed, Grand Duke Mammon.


    Behind him was Crown Prince Creusery.


    Mammon was a slightly pudgy man with ck hair and brown eyes, when it came to military affairs within the Devildom, he was effectively themander-in-chief.


    Creusery had his mother''s red hair with few silver streaks within, he had red eyes to match it.


    As the Dukes stood up to greet Creusery, another person entered, one that should definitely not be in hell at the moment.


    It was none other than Grand Duchess Inglis who was supposed to be conducting diplomatic operations in nearby demon-ruled universes.


    "Hey everyone!"


    She gave a light-hearted greeting and took a seat. However, the greetings she received in response were not light-hearted.


    Although Inglis still retained her title of ''Grand Duchess'', she was Diablo''s wife. On a normal basis, like Aurora, she should have the title of Queen.


    As such, of all the Grand Dukes, she was the highest-ranked one.


    She only retained her title of Grand Duchess as the duties of the one holding the title of Queen were too cumbersome for her and she felt it would encroach on her time for research.


    Such an absurd reason that many believed was not enough for her to shirk her duties as the queen but surprisingly Diablo agreed.


    The marriage between Diablo and Inglis was purely political as such there were no feelings of love between them, However, both of them respected one another.


    They respected themselves and each other''s opinions, this was one of the reasons for their good rtionship that hadsted more than ten thousand years.


    A few minutes after Inglis took a seat, Diablo finally arrived, with Belphegor trailing behind.


    His silver hair fluttered lightly despite there being no breeze as he walked into the room slowly.


    With the exception of Creusery and Inglis, the others in the room also rose to give their greetings.


    Waving them off slightly, Diablo took his seat and ran his hand through his dull silver hair. Creusery looked around a bit before asking.


    "Leya isn''t back yet?" "No."


    Diablo gave a short reply to his question, Inglis then spoke to Creusery.


    "It''s ''Leya'' this time, what''s it gonna be next time?"


    "Dunno, whatever I feel like at the time."


    Creusery had the habit of calling Cattleya all sorts of pet names, Inglis could not even remember thest time Creusery had called her by her full name. It had been that long.


    "Is the situation in Chrysa really that bad?"


    Creusery asked Diablo while thinking about the universe of demons that Cattleya was said to have gone to.


    "Yes, the Angels must have received outside help. In herst report, she said they had a ''Book of Truth''."


    Hearing his words, the expressions on the faces of all the devils in the room darkened. Even Inglis, who was all smiles, was frowning deeply.


    "Pull her out of there, immediately. I don''t want my daughter within the vicinity of such a dangerous artifact."


    Inglis'' cold voice rang out, the Dukes were shocked at this. Even if he was her husband, he was still the king of the entire hell universe, yet Inglis did not seem to care about such at the moment.


    "If you won''t call her back, I''d do it myself."


    She then stood up and was about to leave, however, Diablo''s next words stopped her.


    "Calm yourself, I have already given the order for all of hell''s forces to be removed from Chrysa. Cattleya is my daughter too, she is also one of the main entities of our universe.


    One that governs the very fickle aspect of destruction, I can''t let her stay too long In such a ce."


    Inglis, upon hearing this, signed in relief and took a seat. From her reaction now, one could tell how dangerous this thing called ''Book of Truth'' was.


    The ''Book of Truth'' was a tool used by the Angel race, it could only be used by them.


    It was a book that recorded the true names of the most powerful names of enemies the angel race has had since they first appeared.


    Most of the names there were the names of Masters of Universes, Deities and some Demigods too. They were of races considered enemies with the angel race, fallen Angels, devils, demons, fallen celestials and many more.


    It was a very mystical book, after a name was recorded in it, as long as that person fought against any angel in the future weak or strong, their true name would be gradually perceived by the book.


    After the entire true name of that person was recorded in the book, no matter what universe they went to, as far as it was not their home universe, the Angels there could use the true name recorded in the book to expel them from that universe and even directly obliterate them, provided the Angel''s in that universe have a significant influence in it and possess a book truth.


    The true name of any being was the closest thing to their soul, touching their true name meant touching their soul. This was why most beings carefully protected their true names from being fully known. At most, their parents would know their true name, as they are usually the ones to give it. However, this was only while they were a lower existence.


    In other words, when a being reached the demigod realm, their true name changes and the new true name is known by that being alone and no one else.


    The book of truth possessed by the Angels of Chrysa was nothing more than a projection of the original. This was the same as most of the other universes under the control of the angel race. Even if this projection is destroyed, it would not be long before it can be projected again.


    The book was an artifact that most enemies of the angel race, especially the demon race, wanted to destroy, however in order to truly destroy the various books of truth in the universe of the Angels, the original had to be destroyed.


    The problem was its location.


    It was in the hands of the most powerful member of the angel race in all of existence.


    The Progenitor Angel.


    Even among progenitors, the progenitor angel was rumoured to be one of the more powerful ones. He created the book of truth as a means to help both his fellow Angels and the members of the demon yer race when he waged war against the progenitor demon, billions of years ago.


    Its aim was to record the true name of the Progenitor Demon and eventually use that name to kill him, however, the Progenitor Demon seemed to have a means of resisting his true name from being perceived.


    So with the help of the progenitor of the demon yer race, it was modified to work against not only demons but also all enemies of the angel race as a whole.


    If a name was written on a copy of the book of truth, it could only be used in the universe it was written in and loses its effects if taken to another.


    This was one of the restrictions the book had.

 Chapter 66 Meeting Adjourned

    66 Meeting Adjourned


    Many did not possess knowledge of the existence of the book. The knowledge of its history was even more closely guarded.


    As Alexia guessed, the knowledge of the progenitors was known by the masters and main entities of many universes but was actually kept under tight wraps by them as they did not want many to know of the existence of these powerful beings that possessed control over their respective races.


    Diablo sighed while thinking about the contents of thest report Cattleya ''sent'' to him. Clearing his throat, he spoke out loud.


    "We''ve digressed.


    I believe you all know the reason why I called this meeting, you may think that the monsterization of a single devil might not warrant this but it does, because this incident is rted to one of you here."


    Hearing Diablo''s words, except Belphegor, all those in the room showed shocked expressions.


    If the matter was truly rted to the then it could not be considered trivial anymore. Seeing their reactions, Diablo continued speaking.


    "The Marquis of Pear-, Former Marquis, was indeed guilty of dabbling in monsterization magic in an effort to make his son stronger and eventually, himself.


    However, the idea was not his, it came from someone else."


    They all ignored how Diablo just casually deprived the Former Marquis of his title just like that. Their focus was on thetter half of his statement.


    He was insinuating that the idea came from one of them. They exchanged probing gazes with each other.


    "So, who''s the culprit?"


    Creusery broke the silence and asked, the dukes thanked him in their hearts for daring to ask. Slight traces of anger could be seen on Diablo''s face so most of them thought twice about asking him.


    "It''s better to not beat around the Bush. Mammon."


    "Huh??!"


    Mammon let out a confused voice, he was shocked. He did not expect his name to be called.


    The current Holder of greed, Grand Duke Mammon, seeded his title after helping Diablo reim the throne after the coup twelve millennia ago.


    Before then, he was nothing but a branch family member of the previous holder of Greed house, currently, he was its only survivor as the rest were all massacred by diablo.


    He, alongside Belphegor, Inglis and Conrad were the four who assisted Diablo''s return to power, although he was the weakest of the four, he was given the seat of Grand Duke and the authority of greed to hold.


    Seeing what happened to the members of the previous house that held the power of greed, he secretly vowed in his heart to never ever anger Diablo in any way or form.


    Even though his greed for power made him sometimes covet Diablo''s throne, remembering the ends of the previous holder of greed and his co-conspirators snuffed out any desires towards it he may have.


    He was very sure that he waspletely unrted to this matter as such he could not hide his shock after hearing his name card by Diablo, luckily Diablo''s next words and actions calmed his growing anxiety.


    "You really need to watch your descendants properly, well it''s a bit toote for that."


    Mammon became scared, he began wondering what Diablo meant by his statement however, Diablo just pulled out his phone and ced it in front of him.


    Looking at the screen, he could see what he originally thought was the video of Arthur fighting against the monsterized Zach. However, it was not, it was a video of Arthur beating up someone else.


    However, he noticed that the person Arthur was battling against seemed to be using a partial version of monsterization magic.


    He looked towards Diablo in confusion, Diablo then put his hand on his chin, wearing a pensive look on his face for a few minutes before finally speaking.


    "Your great-grand son''s, grand son? Or was it your great grandson''s, grandson''s, great grandson?


    This is why I told you not to have too many kids, it''s hard to keep track of all of them, now look at what one has done."


    Mammon internally sighed in relief before speaking with a slightly shaking voice.


    "Your majesty, worry not, I shall sanction this descendant of mine with great haste,"


    "I should say that to you; worry not, Arthur has already dealt with him.


    I didn''t want you all to find out yet so I blocked all news leaving the academy, that video I just showed you was taken five days ago."


    Hearing what Diablo said, the dukes finally began to figure out the reason for the postponement of the meeting and sighed.


    Duchess Jostron sighed and thought to herself.


    ''He definitely wanted to watch the prince beat up the descendant of Mammon and spent the next few days gloating about it. ''


    One thing all the Dukes had noticed was that Diablo surprisingly had a childish side to him. Duchess Jostron and Duke Hollis once walked in on Diablo bragging about Cattleya''s genius when a master of a nearby universe came visiting.


    Not knowing the thoughts of the others in the room, Diablo continued speaking.


    "Too many kids lead to too many problems, this is why I only have two you know? Even still one of them is quite the case to deal with."


    As Diablo said that, he felt a reing from Inglis'' direction, coughing awkwardly, he turned over to Conrad who had been silent since the beginning.


    "I heard La yed a big role in resolving this incident, it seems she has also reached the peak of the superior stage, given a few months, she might be a grandmaster."


    "Hmm"


    Although he only gave a short reply to Diablo''s words, one could see from the look on his face that he was very proud. Looking at him, Duchess Celiosa sighed and thought to herself.


    ''This guy only shows his emotions subtly, I wonder how my sister even figured out that he liked her.''


    If La heard this thought, her jaw would definitely drop in shock, she was under the assumption that her parent''s marriage was a political one of some sort, however, it was not.


    "So, that brat and his family, alongside the rest of the House of Pearce would suffer the same punishments."


    "What punishment?"


    "Haven''t thought of it yet, one thing is for sure and that is they are losing their rank and status as nobles without question. Is that okay Mammon?"


    Diablo asked Mammon, who flinched lightly before replying.


    "Yes, it''s fine."


    Truth be told, besides his Eldest sons and daughters, Mammon did not really care much for his other descendants. Especially if they were 6 or 7 generations apart from him. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Whether they lost their status or not was not his problem to deal with, all he had to handle was the bacsh that the House of Greed may suffer due to being involved in this incident.


    "Now that''s settled, on to more pressing issues. I''ve already told you all about the situation in Chrysa, all contact with them is to be cut offpletely, it''s a lost cause."


    The aura around Diablo changed, and the dignity of a King he possessed manifested itself, the Dukes were all shocked that Diablo waspletely cutting off contact with Chrysa.


    "Your majesty, isn''t that a bit too much?"


    Belphegor, who had been silent from the start, could not help but ask. It was fine to withdraw major forces, but cutting off all contacts was going too far.


    "No, it''s not, they somehow got their hands on a Book of Truth, which means one of two things, either the Ancient Angels have their eye on Chrysa, or the Progenitor Angel himself has taken action.


    The strength of a progenitor who is hundreds of billions of years old is not to be underestimated in any way or form; we can''t let him have his eye on us, especially when another progenitor is already looking toe here."


    Surprise showed on the faces of those who heard his words, they understood the actions he took for the safety of the hell universe, even if it meant cutting off what could be a potential ally, however, his words of a progenitor having their eyes on the hell universe was news to them.


    Seeing them urging him to continue with their eyes, Diablo spoke solemnly.


    "I haven''t figured out what race it is, however, I noticed movements of various beings preparing to summon a Progenitor directly into the hell universe, which cannot be allowed to happen."


    "So you''re saying the ones making the preparations might not be the ones who are summoning huh?"


    "Exactly"


    Diablo gave a short reply to Duke Hollis'' question, he was in charge of everything rted to summoning in the hell universe, if they attempted to summon such a being, there was no way he would not notice when the summoning began.


    After that, they addressed other minor issues that needed their concern before adjourning the meeting a few hours afterwards.


    After all the dukes had left, only the Grands and Diablo were left in the room. Mammon stood up and was about to leave but the voice he heard next made him stop in his tracks.


    "Can Ie out now?"


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 Chapter 67 Fake and Real Allies

    67 Fake and Real Allies


    "Can Ie out now?"


    The voice he heard was one of a person that should not be here at all, even Inglis and Creusery were surprised as well.


    Inglis shot a re at Diablo, only to be met withughter in return.


    "Gee, shadow magic is very stuffy."


    Alongside those words, Diablo''s shadow stretched out on the ground, and from within it, rose a silver-haired, ck-eyed woman.


    This was none other than Cattleya, someone who was not supposed to be in the hell universe.


    "When did you return?"


    "I never left for Chrysa in the first ce."


    "What? I saw you leave with my eyes."


    "You saw my ''clone'' leave.


    Chrysa was suspicious as fuck, no way I''d go over there personally. I did go over to Bracken for a bit though."


    Cattleya replies to Creusery''s words, speaking about Chrysa, her obvious disdain evident on her face.


    Looking at the trio of Diablo, Cattleya and Belphegor who was not surprised at Cattleya''s presence, Creusery asked skeptically.


    "What are the three of you hiding from us?"


    "Didn''t I already say it, Chrysa was a lost cause, the Angels had taken over for a while now, and the former master had been overpowered and stripped of his authority."


    In continuation of Diablo''s words, Cattleya spoke up.


    "The request for aid was a hoax, one meant to get the attention of a main entity from our pantheon toe over, they had intentions of¡­killing whoever did."


    Inglis'' aura exploded at her words, the fact that the ones who they perceived as allies were actually enemies in disguise who aimed to take the life of her daughter angered her.


    Cattleya smiled and moved over to where Inglis was, she ced her hands on thetter''s shoulders and spoke softly to calm her down.


    "Stay calm mother, as you can see I am safe, Dad found it fishy so he told me to send one of my ''special'' clones instead."


    "Are you sure they were deceived?"


    Her question was expected, someone strong enough to take down the master of a universe would definitely have the ability to tell clones apart from the original, the ones around him too.


    "Yep."


    "And how sure are you?"


    Cattleya showed a mischievous grin and made a peace sign before releasing her aura, surprising even the silent Eryrth, Mammon also had his jaw drop.


    "Mid-rank authority in thew of trickery, GET!"


    Thew of trickery was one of the variousws that Cattleya dabbled in, it was not her main since she only got the basic rank authority and left it at that.


    However, nearly a thousand years ago, she began working on her ''special'' clone project. She intended to create disposable clones of herself that could not be told apart from the original.


    Thew of trickery was aw she needed in order to do so. As such, achieved the ridiculous feat of gaining a mid-rank authority in thew of subterfuge, within less than a thousand years.


    If one counted the actual time she put toprehend thew, it was barely 200. Even with the increasedprehension speed that beings who already had other authorities gained, it was a little hit too fast, hence their surprise.


    Diablo also showed a look of surprise, but that was for something other than the new authority she had. Cattleya noticed this and turned to Belphegor.


    Belphegor nodded at her and she clicked her tongue in response.


    "Tsk...Why the fuck are you pure-blooded devils all so damn sensitive?!"


    She withdrew her aura and stomped her foot on the floor in anger, before going over to take a seat next to Inglis.


    Copsing the hands of both chairs, she rested her head in Inglis''p and spoke with a pout.


    "Comfort me, mum, dad and uncle Bel are bullying me."


    Inglis did not know the real reason but she red at Diablo for the nth time today, seeing this, Conrad had one thought on his mind.


    ''Good thing I didn''t say a word even though I noticed''


    Diablo coughed awkwardly and asked Cattleya to continue with her report. She was still pouting, but she decided to continue what she was saying.


    "So there was someone there who possessed an ability or aw simr to that of thew of trickery as I was not able to detect them until I faced them personally."


    "Wasn''t it your clone that went?"


    "Huh? Did I not tell you I sent a silver of my consciousness into it to make it more believable; also it enabled me to directly see everything going on there.


    They did find it weird I came alone but probably because they were confident that I wouldn''t be able to see through their schemes, unfortunately, they also could not see through mine."


    Thew of trickery was one that allowed the user to falsify the essence of thews theyprehend and their true realm of existence.


    It can also enable them to falsify their physiology, transforming them intopletely different beings. The false can be indistinguishable from the real and vice versa.


    At the low rank, the transformation of physiology was possible, at the mid-rank; falsification of one''s true realm of existence is possible.


    At the high rank, it is possible to mask thews theyprehend, above that, one can even mask their authority. The number can be falsified and they could even make themselves look like they have a certain authority when they truly did not.


    Cattleya used this to make her clone indistinguishable from the real her, as such the traitorous demons who were nning to sell her out to the Angels, thought it was actually her.


    As for why she came alone, it is widely known that Cattleya was a lone wolf on the battlefield. Her Annihtion knew no one, friend or foe. As such, they did not think it to be weird that Diablo sent her alone.


    "It was one of my special clones I''d been working on for years, I somehow managed to stuff nearly 50% of my energy in it, alongside a few other....''gifts''.


    "Gifts?"


    Mammon raised an eyebrow in question, they were obviously trying to kill her, yet she sent them gifts.


    Creusery was also surprised at first, however, after seeing the mischievous grin on her face, he instantly understood that there was more to these ''gifts'' she sent.


    Standing up, Cattleya began dancing around the table. Although there was no music, her movements were soft and elegant.


    She moved like she was at a ball, dancing with someone else, however, the words she spoke were definitely not the kind one would hear at a ball.


    "In Romersk, they are called esplosivi, in the Shinto universe, bakuhatsu-mono, in Amhara, fenij¨©wochi and in Nyanja, Ziphulika." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    While disying her knowledge of variousnguages, she circled around the table and returned to her seat before continuing.


    "In the mostmonnguage, English. Spoken in all known universes, they are called ''Explosives''.


    Bombs made with the cores of several superior stage mid-tier deity monsters, with the heart of an inferior stage high tier deity realm quilin as the core.


    I stuffed all that into the clone, and blew it up in their faces, genius right?"


    All those in the room, Belphegor and Diablo included, had one thought in their heads after hearing this,


    ''What, the actual fuck?!''


    Cattleya, knowing fully well what was going through their minds,ughed before speaking.


    "So mum negotiated with our actual allies, and I gave our fake allies a gift. I guess we''re all ready for the war then?"


    Her words brought them all out of their stupor, Diablo frowned upon hearing her speak. He did not like the fact that they had to go to war.


    Thinking of the trillions of lives that would be lost, he sighed deprecatingly. He did not like war, not because he sympathized with the ones who would lose loved ones and family or those who would be rendered homeless by it.


    He simply felt it was a waste of time and energy, nothing more nothing less.


    However, this time, he could not avoid it.


    Multiple pantheons were secretly gathering their forces, and the war against the gods, celestials and their other allies was bound to resume very soon.


    Chrysa''s hostile takeover was just the beginning. He had sent Inglis to conduct negotiations with their allies, present and future, in order to prepare.


    "We''d deal with that matter another day. I don''t feel like talking about that now."


    "y then, I''m gonna go see Arthur."


    Cattleya jumped up from her seat and made her way towards the door. Creusery looked at her and spoke.


    "I recall there was a rule that prevented visits from parents while school was in session. You also went to see him earlier this week before he beat up that kid"


    "Really bro, don''t you know that rules are made to be broken?"


    Leaving that reply, Cattleya warped out of the room leaving behind the others who all simultaneously sighed in exasperation.


    Even Belphegor gave up on preventing her from going over to the academy, he knew even if he used force, she would still end up there somehow.


    Besides, unless she wanted them to, no one in the academy would know she was ever there in the first ce.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!

 Chapter 68 Five Days Earlier

    68 Five Days Earlier Let''s backtrack to a few days ago, five days before the meeting urred and three days after the incident with thete Zach Pearce.


    To the top floor of one of the second-year dormitories in the Royal Academy, located on the triple-mooned Kreiz.


    The suns were setting in the west, their afterglow illuminating the surface of the seas of Kreiz, dying them golden and sparkly.


    Inside the only room on that floor, one reserved for the members of the Devildom''s royal family, on the event that they attended this academy.


    The afterglow of the setting suns shone diagonally through the ss windows, bringing about a tinge of heat.


    The insides of the room were calm with a touch of warmth.


    On the only bed in the room, a silver-haired boy groggily rose from the bed, he ignored the presence of the ck-haired girl asleep on the couch beside it.


    He then walked over to the bathroom, before emptying his guts into the toilet.


    "Fuck, that''s disgusting"


    He rinsed his mouth in the sink multiple times, then took some water and washed his hair lightly. Looking at the mirror, he noticed something weird.


    "My eye is blue?"


    His left eye had be blue, blinking twice, it returned to its original ck colour.


    ''I think it''s high time I stopped messing withws.''


    He heaved a sigh and walked back into the room, picking up his phone beside him, he sat on the bed and began catching up on what he had missed while he was asleep.


    "What the? I was asleep for three days?!"


    "Yes, my prince."


    A deep voice replied, turning around, he saw a tall human man, dressed in all ck. The boy, Arthur, spoke towards him.


    "Just what happened Lute? Why was I asleep for three days?"


    "The strain on your body was far too much, although I healed youpletely, I did not recover your lost energy nor did I recover your fatigue.


    Your body chose to hibernate itself until you were back to normal."


    Arthur shook his head at the ridiculousness of the answer he received.


    ''Why the fuck is my body doing things like that on its own?!''


    He scrolled through his phone and found a message from the high drifter he contacted, it was filled with information on the real reason the Former marquis dabbled in monsterization magic, the second artifact that Count Harper possessed that was needed and the true mastermind who coaxed the Marquis into attempting this in the first ce.


    "So, before I go beat up that idiot, fill me in on what happened these past three days." He then turned around to the girl on the couch who had finally woken up and continued. "Good evening La."


    "..."


    "Hello?"


    "..."


    "Kreiz to La?"


    She stared at him in silence for a few more seconds before abruptly standing up and hugging him silently.


    Arthur, who received a hug from one of the girls that most boys in his ss would do anything for, had one very rude thought run through his mind.


    ''She''s heavy!''


    Of course, he did not dare say it out loud for fear of the consequences. Getting that out of his head, he then realized there was something else that had weight on his body.


    He looked down slightly and thought to himself.


    ''She''s just 13 but she has more ''assets'' than some women more than thrice her age.''


    Another thought that he would definitely earn him a ''right straight'' to the face if he dared to say it aloud.


    After finally having her fill, La pulled back slightly, took a deep breath and jammed her forehead against Arthur''s, with a bit too much force.


    "Ow! What in tarnation?"


    "That''s for being an idiot and pushing yourself too far, you''re not immortal you know? Why would you do something as crazy as that knowing fully well of the consequences?


    Also, how can you use the power of aw?"


    Arthur was about to deny her statement but she cut him off,


    "Don''t think about denying it, I''ve seen my mother use thew of wind before, it gave off the same feeling as what you did three days ago."


    And so his escape route was cut off, but he obviously was not going to tell her he was a progenitor, even though there was a slight chance of her actually believing him.


    She was more likely to question his sanity, as such, he saw no reason to tell her, and he just stared at her in silence.


    La was no fool, seeing Arthur stare at her silently, she realized he wasn''t going to tell her the reason even if it meant the death of him.


    She sighed and let go of him, she walked out of the room, not before leaving a few words.


    "I''m gonna go take a shower, let Lute brief you on all the bullshit that happenedtely, and do not leave till Ie back, got something for you."


    After she left, Arthur sighed and gestured for Lute to begin his briefing on the events that happened while he was unconscious.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    While Arthur was being briefed on the happenings of the past three days, Cattleya arrived at the academy for the first time in a long while.


    She wanted to see Arthur as soon as possible but she held herself back. Her reason was simple, she wanted to check out the scene of the battle between Arthur and Zach.


    Such a thing was unnecessary, however, she still did it because of one reason.


    ''Lute''s report was suspicious.''


    Cattleya has learnt to trust her instincts over the thousands of years she has lived. Like the situation in Chrysa, she felt it was suspicious and decided not to go, and that saved her from being caught in enemy territory.


    When she read Lute''s report on Arthur''s fight, she felt it was suspicious. The story matched up perfectly with the other reports from others who witnessed the fight.


    Looking at it, there was nothing wrong, yet she still felt this way.


    And so, she decided to go and see the scene of the battle herself. Although Arthur was strong, fighting and defeating a superior stage grandmaster without energy was impossible for him.


    Even if he used the strongest of his strengthening artifacts, he still could not do it. She knew this well, after all, she was the one who prepared those artifacts for him


    Also, Zach was monsterized, so among superior stage grandmasters, he was significantly stronger.


    He could have even broken into the Epic realm if given time, so she did not feel that Arthur defeating him was not possible.


    Lute imed to have been responsible for thest attack, he also said he put up the veil of darkness so that others would not see the end of the poor monsterized Zach.


    He also said that it was to prevent others from seeing Arthur''s injured state.


    The reasons he gave were too sloppy, Lute was strong enough to end a thousand Zachs with little effort, yet the darkness dome was open for nearly five full minutes.


    It was far too long for him to deal with Zach and heal Arthurpletely. There was also something else that caught her eye.


    In one of the hundreds of reports written by the students, there was one that spoke of Arthur flying right before the dome of darkness covered the scene.


    ''Arthur does not know flight magic, he also does not have a high realm of existence that enables him to fly without wings, as such he could only be flying with his wings, the very same wings he has not used in almost a year.''


    Cattleya had also noticed Arthur''s avoidance of using his wings, normally she would have ignored it. However, after the entrance exams where he used the power of aw, she began to think he was hiding things from her.


    Sure, everyone had secrets, she also did not want to pry, however, she felt that whatever Arthur was hiding concerned his well-being greatly.


    Because of that, she decided to attempt to find out what he was hiding, that was also the reason she had Lute go over to the academy, to watch Arthur''s actions.


    ''However, it seems Lute listens to Arthur more than he does to me, huh?''


    She walked past the guards who were in charge of watching the scene of the battle, but none of them noticed her at all.


    As she looked at the ruined estate, her expression darkened instantly. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    ''I don''t even need to check, the essence ofws is filling the area, I can sense like three, or is it four?


    There is death, there''s wind, and even the annoyingw of time is here too. Andstly, this ce stinks of thew of destruction.''


    She instantly figured out all thews that Arthur used, however, what she did not know was how he was able to tap into the power of thesews.


    Of course, the reason was the time crystal given by Alexia, she added extra information inside it. The method to tap into the power of aw used by Legendary realm existences.


    Unfortunately, Cattleya did not know of the crystal, hence she could not connect the dots.


    She squatted and picked some sand in her hands, her eyes glowed as she activated her bloodline ability.


    ''Oh my, he has an annihtion already, it''s frighteningly simr to mine too.''


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 Chapter 69 The Short Version

    69 The Short Version ''Oh my, he has an annihtion already, it''s frighteningly simr to mine too.''


    From the traces of residual energy left by Arthur''sst attack, Cattleya was able to deduce what he utilized in that attack.


    The bloodline ability of the devilian royal family; Annihtion.


    The Annihtion possessed by each of the members of the royal family was subtly different. Creusery''s annihtion gave him the ability to burn almost anything, corporeal and incorporeal.


    Cattleya''s annihtion was just pure unrestrained destruction. Arthur''s ''extreme Nothingness'' was an application of his annihtion.


    ''But it''s not awakenedpletely huh? Well that''s all I can tell''


    She stood up once again and deactivated her bloodline ability, alongside the authority that she used, one that did not fit her personality.


    The low-rank authority of wisdom. That was what enabled her to read the traces of energy and deduce the abilities that Arthur might have used.


    ''Let''s go see how my little rascal is doing now. Maybe give him a few knocks on the head for fighting something far more powerful than he is.''


    She thought this while chuckling to herself, as in the next moment, she had vanished from the area.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    After Arthur was briefed on the happenings of the past few days, he took a moment to collect his thoughts beforeing up with a scheme. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    He had nned to defeat the true mastermind secretly but after seeing all the attention he had garnered he decided to make use of it.


    Looking at his watch, he saw that he could still challenge another student for a rank-deciding battle and decided to use that.


    ''Unlike Zach, this guy isn''t monsterized visibly so attacking him normally would be a breach of school rules. I can''t break the rules too much or it''d be more difficult for me to threat-, persuade the directors to let me do whatever I wantter.''


    In other words, Arthur was going to provoke the mastermind, and then challenge them, before beating them to the point where they have no choice but to reveal their trump card.


    And that was exactly what he was aiming for.


    Lute said that the press clubs of the various school years had been wanting to interview him for a while now, so he was going to begin taunting the culprit with that.


    He dressed up lightly and left the room, ignoring La''s earlier wordspletely.


    Using his all-ess permit card, he entered the nearest teleportation gate and went over to his ss block cafeteria.


    ''I should probably order an extrarge serving of....everything? Nahh that''d be too much, just half the menu.''


    While thinking of how he was going to order a ridiculous amount of food to eat, the teleportation waspleted and he arrived at the cafeteria.


    Upon arrival, he bumped into a student who was about to use the gate he wasing out of. She shrieked and fell on the floor when she collided with Arthur.


    She was about to curse loudly at the one who pushed her, however, seeing Arthur''s face, she held her tongue as her face became pale with...fright?


    Noticing this, Arthur raised an eyebrow in question but decided to help her up first.


    "Here."


    "Huh? Oh!"


    He held out a hand towards her, and although she was initially confused, she remembered she was still on the floor and grabbed his hand with a red face.


    Pulling her up, he was about to ask why she looked scared at the sight of him, however, he was interrupted by a scream, one that came from another girl who was nearby.


    "Ahh!"


    Her high-pitched scream attracted the attention of a few more students who turned to look in her direction.


    Upon seeing Arthur who had let go of the girl''s hand, more screams erupted across the hall. Arthur was initially confused, wondering why they were screaming.


    ''They''re not screaming in fear but in joy? And it''s mostly girls, it''s kinda like how they''d look at an idol. And their gazes are directed at....''


    He looked to see if there was anyone around him that would warrant such a reaction from many girls, however, there was no one beside or behind him.


    ''Then they''re looking at me?''


    It finally dawned upon him that he was the one their feverish gazes were directed at. "Bro! You''re finally awake!"


    Edward''s loud voice brought him out of his stupor, and a few other of Arthur''s acquaintances walked over with Edward.


    "Umm...why?"


    Arthur asked Edward, gesturing to the girls who were not so secretly taking photos of him and probably posting them on various social media.


    Edward however, justughed and patted Arthur''s back, saying.


    "It''s a long story, let''s go sit down first shall we?"


    Arthur nodded and was led over to his usual spot by Edward, calling the waiter, he ordered a quarter of the Menu, half what he originally nned.


    This was due to the fact that he could hardly eat with all the states boring into him.


    ''I''d probably have most of it packed up so I can take it to my room.''


    "That''s a lot, you gonna finish that?"


    As one of the boys seated at the table with him asked, Arthur nodded in affirmation before taking a moment to look around.


    The girls were looking at him like they would look at their favourite idol, and most of the boys were staring at him in a simr manner.


    He could see the pure untainted admiration in their eyes.


    He looked back at Edward, ignoring the small argument going on between a few girls about who he locked eyes with and asked once again.


    "Umm...why?"


    Seeing the look of pure confusion with a tinge of curiosity on Arthur''s face, brought about a fewughs from the guys around him.


    So do you want the long version or the short version?"


    "The short version."


    Arthur replied to Edward''s question almost immediately causing thetter to chuckle a bit before replying.


    "That''s cool with me too, so where do I start now?"


    "From three days ago on Saturday, this is probably rted to that right?"


    Arthur replied, gesturing to the number of students staring at him which seemed to have nearly tripled within the few moments he had been sitting.


    Edward began narrating the story, this included parts that Lute didn''t tell him about because Lute saw them as irrelevant.


    While Arthur was busy dealing with Zach, a few other second-year students, alongside some third and fourth-years arrived on the scene of the original attack.


    The summoning circles that Zach left were powered by one of his runes so they were not disabled even though he was not in the Area.


    The monsters spat out by the circles increased gradually, another thing was that the magic circles were not stationary and moved around on the ground.


    In the event that two or more circles crossed paths, theybined and became stronger and spat out far more powerful monsters.


    In order to prevent the monsters from escaping, a fourth-year student that''s specialized in barrier and restraining magic created a barrier around the area.


    He was attacked by the monsters because they somehow instinctively sensed he was the one keeping them enclosed and preventing them from running out to devour the weaker students who were running away.


    La assigned some students to protect him while effortlessly ughtering monsters in the inferior stages of the grandmaster realm. As for the higher ones, she left it to the fourth-year students who were there.


    Naturally, not everyone who saw the scene participated in the battle, they had various reasons for doing this. Some said that it wasn''t their business so they would not participate. Some came over to watch the show just for the fun of it.


    There were even those who looked at the abilities disyed by high-ranked members in their school year in order to develop countermeasures for these abilities in the event that they challenged them.


    There were also those who felt that participating in the battle was a waste of time and energy and would only move if they were attacked.


    A few even snatched some monster corpses for experiments and other unknown purposes, leaving shortly afterwards.


    Then there were the press club members.


    In the Royal Academy, there were hundreds, if not thousands of extracurricr activities that students could participate in.


    Clubs were one of them.


    There were various clubs of various genres and departments. One of the most popr groups of clubs was the Press club.


    As their name implies, the press clubs were responsible for spreading information of activities that urred in the academy.


    One of the former press club heads even created a school forum for the sake of spreading various news.


    In the academy, they are undoubtedly the group of clubs with the most members, most of which were influential figures with lots of connections.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 Chapter 70 Interview

    70 Interview The press club members were influential in the sense that most people tended to believe whatever news they spread.


    Naturally, there have been those who spread fake or incorrect news for various purposes. The school personally took actions to sanction those students and disband their clubs.


    They were also forbidden from joining any other clubs till their graduation. To be more specific, the ones who took action were the directors of the clubs'' department of the Academy.


    As such, not many dared to publish fake news for any reason of any sort.


    The press club members have a reputation for going to great lengths in order to get their information.


    Some students avoided them because they feared any personal information or secrets being exposed. Due to this most of the press club members hid their identities.


    They even had undercover members who acted like they were in other clubs and mingled among other students with the aim of fishing out juicy stories to be published.


    During the battle on Saturday evening, a lot of the press club members were on the scene in order to capture the battle moments as closely as possible.


    Some of them even personally participated so they could get the best photo shot.


    As for Arthur''s battle, a few press club heads personally went over to record the scene of his battle.


    Their presence was the reason Arthur used the veil of darkness in the first ce, so they would not see him using his magic.


    He made no gestures when using it, even his magic power maniption was too swift for them to even notice anything was wrong.


    This was the reason they did not think Arthur was not the one that cast the veil of darkness. There was also the fact that Arthur being unable to use magic was an established fact in their minds so they unconsciously believed it was Lute''s doing.


    One of the more popr press club heads who had a personal blog where she posted events that happened in the school, caught most of Arthur''s battle on video.


    She posted the video there alongside some catchy taglines and it instantly attracted the attention of many.


    It was shared thousands of times and even became her blog''s most-viewed post. The reason for this was very simple.


    Arthur''s appearance while fighting against Zach was to sum it up shortly; Amazing and Cool.


    The sight of Arthur, who had a face that would put some celebrities to shame, coupled with his visibleid-back attitude through most of the fight caught the hearts of many.


    For the boys, they admired him.


    For the girls, he became their new idol.


    The scene of Arthur dodging Zach''s barrage of energy projectiles while locking swords with thetter, with movements that looked like he was dancing, was the icing on the cake.


    Like La gained more poprity for her efficientmands in dispatching most of the monsters, Arthur gained more than thrice that for his battle against Zach.


    Another fact to be noted was that Zach was confirmed to be a superior stage grandmaster, in other words, Arthur overwhelmed someone an entire realm above him while not using any sort of magic or energy.


    Although the final blow was said to have been dealt by Lute, it did not diminish his poprity. It made perfect sense that he should not be able to defeat a grandmaster on that level without magic.


    There were some negative reactions but those were mostly from those jealous of him, they were also instantly bombarded with hundreds of insults from Arthur''s fans.


    "So that''s pretty much it."


    "I thought I asked for the short version?"


    "This is the ''Short Version''." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Arthur and Edward stared at each other for a few seconds in silence, until Arthur abruptly took a bite of thest steak on his te.


    The amount of time that Edward spent narrating was enough for Arthur to finish most of his meal. During the narration, various students came over asking for autographs from Arthur.


    Although Arthur wondered what they were going to do with them, he still signed them either way.


    Sighing deeply, Arthur took a drink before turning his gaze to the press club heads who were seated at the table wanting to ask him questions.


    Pondering on it for a moment he rose up five fingers in front of them.


    "Five minutes?"


    "Five questions, pick the most important five, I''ve got other things to do."


    The group instantly huddled up like football yers before a match and began discussing what to ask him.


    Arthur used the time they were discussing to finish his meal, he then took out his phone to reply to La''s angry messages that he had been receiving for the past ten minutes.


    When he was done, the discussion between the heads was alsopleted and they began asking him questions.


    "Now then your highness, it''s been three days since the incident yet the waters haven''t calmed at all. A LOT of students wanted to hear what opinions you had on the incident. They sent us questions they wished for us to ask you and we picked five out of this


    Number one, ording to one of your ssmates, you were not surprised when Zach suddenly attacked you all on Saturday, as if you expected this, could you tell us if this is true and why?"


    Arthur narrowed his eyes and stared at the smiling devil in front of him who was holding a recorder out for a few moments before answering.


    "That''s not one but two questions but I''m gonna let it slide as this is the first."


    A Few of the press club heads clicked their tongues at this but Arthur ignored them and continued his words.


    "If you want to know if I knew of and expected Zach''s attack, then yes, I did. However, I did not expect it to be on that Saturday. I thought it would have been the Friday before. As for why I knew? It was because I noticed his corrupted energy weeks ago, one of the reasons I was hanging around him the past few weeks was because I realized he was in the process of monsterizing." This shocked many people who were listening, some took out their phones to stream the interview and those watching these streams were shocked.


    "Wow, I had thought he just happened to be your next target for your¡­pranks?"


    "Ah, that was 50% of the reason, 30% because I wanted to mess with a high-ranking noble''s kid, 20% because I noticed he was monsterizing."


    Manyughed as they heard an answer that only Arthur could nonchntly give out. Chuckling lightly, the interviewer continued asking.


    "Second, Zach was a superior stage grandmaster, with an energy pool that let him maintain a summoning circle that spat out five superior stage grandmaster level monsters and many more.


    How did you defeat him, or rather how were you able to suppress him?"


    "Ahh, naturally I had the help of some artifacts."


    Raising his hands and gesturing to the bracelets on his arms, he continued.


    "This one lets me see through all sorts of concealment, that''s how I noticed he was monsterizing, the other is a bracelet that umtes energy over time and uses that umted energy to increase the wearer''s strength ordingly.


    I had been umting it for a week now and it boosted my physical strength by nearly 3 times


    As for how I was able to dodge his attacks even if he was invisible, that was because my energy senses are quite urate despite not being able to use my energy.


    I simply sensed the ridiculous amount of energy that his invisibility rune was unable to concealpletely.


    Locking swords with him and dodging his magic attacks, well that was obviously because I''m just that skilled.


    Coupling my genius skill, urate senses and this artifact multiplying my already monstrous physical strength, I don''t think the average superior stage grandmaster can survive."


    Arthur''s words could be summed up in one word. Arrogant.


    His words were arrogant and slightly narcissistic but no one cared, it was the arrogance of the strong, arrogance of the gifted.


    Most of them doubted they could achieve what Arthur did in his situation.


    To start with some of them could not fathom the thought of being unable to use their energy. As such, Arthur''s arrogance was seen as an obvious thing as what he achieved was enough for him to act like so.


    Some even gave a round of apuse for him after he was done speaking.


    Arthur then nced at his phone before eximing loudly.


    "Is there a problem, your highness?"


    "Um... So something really urgent seems to havee up, so I might only have time to answer one more question."


    While many were saddened at this, they had no right to obstruct Arthur if he did not want to answer them at all.


    Him answering then in the first ce was already good enough. The heads huddled up once again and deliberated before finally asking thest question.


    "Okay then, here''s ourst question.


    The Marquis of Pearce would most likely suffer great sanctions for this, however, a rumour has been circting around.


    One that says that the Marquis was forced to use his son as a monsterization target for various reasons.


    However, we all know the only ones with the power to force someone who was as influential as marquis Pearce to do such.


    What do you think about this?"


    Arthurughed at their method, they did not want to offend any of the Dukes so they used a roundabout means to ask him.


    "I would like to borate on this but I don''t have the time, so I''d just go straight to the point.


    A Duke house is indeed involved, or to be more specific a member of a Duke house. As for the marquis being coerced, that''s a lie.


    I spent weeks investigating this so I''m sure that the Marquis did this willingly, if anything the poor Zach was taken advantage of."


    "Then what is going to happen to the culprit? Can you answer that before you go?"


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    0

 Chapter 71 Suspicious Meetings

    71 Suspicious Meetings


    "Then what is going to happen to the culprit? Can you answer that before you go?"


    Arthur nced at the time before he nodded and continued speaking.


    "Y''all probably know my social media right? Watch them closely tomorrow, I''m gonna personally beat up the mastermind.


    Also, take note of the main arena of the second-year ss A facilities block. A big fight''s gonna happen there."


    With that, he stood up, takeaway packs in hand, and walked over to the teleportation gates and teleported away from the cafeteria.


    It took a few moments for the people left behind to register his words properly.


    When they realized what he meant, there was a lot ofmotion both online and offline.


    The fact that a member of a ducal house was involved in the incident was shocking. What was even more shocking was that Arthur said he was going to deal with the mastermind personally.


    Although many said the culprit would most likely run after hearing Arthur''s threat, many said there was a high chance they would not.


    Eventually, they all decided to wait until the next day.


    On a side note, Arthur gained millions of followers on all his social media that night


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Meanwhile, the one who was the target of most discussions at the moment was currently moving through one of the numerous forests on the academy premises.


    He was thousands of kilometres away from the cafeteria he was just in. ''Teleportation gates are convenient as hell.''


    Reaching apletely random spot, he spoke while looking at his shadow.


    "Lute, Leave." n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    "I cannot do that, your highness."


    Arthur stared at Lute who made himself visible for a few moments, he then asked again.


    "I''m not telling you to go far, just far enough that you can still see me while not within earshot."


    "I cannot do that, your highness."


    "You''d regret it if you stay though. Last chance Lute, leave." Lute stared at Arthur for a few moments, he seemed to be deliberating whether to actually leave or not.As much as he hated to admit it, there were times he lost track of Arthur''s presencepletely. He had guessed it was due to one of his mother''s artifacts, a pair of boots with a stealth function.


    The target of these boots was to fool Diablo''s senses, so for someone like Lute, it was impossible for him to see through them.


    ''Just why did the princess give him such dangerous artifacts.''


    Lute sighed as he used short-distance teleportation magic to move out of Arthur''s range.


    In Arthur''s hands was a meter of some sort, the gauge on the meter continuously reduced as Lute moved further away.


    Suddenly, the gauge spiked once again, reaching its limit immediately. Arthur put it away and turned around, looking at the seemingly empty spot in front of him, he spoke.


    11:00


    "Come out already you fucker, I know you''re there."


    Along with a heartyugh, a figure materialized itself from the darkness. A tall man over six foot with hair as dark as the night.


    "You and your weird artifacts, how do you get these things?"


    "Why in literal Hell should I tell you?"


    "No reason, I was just curious. Here, the invite"


    The man pulled out a small card from his pocket and gave it to Arthur. Collecting it Arthur read through the contents before lighting it up with a lighter and turning it into ash. Looking at the man, he spoke.


    "It''s next year, yet you guys have already prepared so much. This is fishy as hell."


    "Everything we do is fishy, it''s our way of life."


    The man replied with a slight chuckle and was about to move back into the darkness, however, Arthur''s next words shocked him.


    "Larry, you''re not a high drifter, are you?"


    The man, Larry was slightly surprised that Arthur called him by his actual name for the first time in years but he was even more shocked by Arthur''s keen observation. He grinned and turned to stare at Arthur, he then asked teasingly.


    "What do you think I am then?"


    "I don''t know, just feel like you''re something else, I do think you are a drifter, just some other kind or breed of drifter."


    Larry stared at Arthur in slight shock for a few moments before quickly rposing himself, however, Arthur noticed this.


    ''As I thought, he has rubbed me the wrong way ever since I met him.''


    "As much as I''d like to y guessing games with you, I have to leave or a rather troublesome person would notice me."


    "Troublesome?"


    "Yeah, like you she''s been suspicious of me for a while now, she might attack me instantly if she sees me here. A hint on her identity, she''s close to you."


    Leaving those words, he vanishedpletely.


    Arthur just stared at the empty space for a moment pondering on hisst words.


    ''She''s close to me? Why the f*ck does this guy like leaving vague hints. Just how many people do I know that are strong enough to scare him and are also women.''


    He began walking out of the forest while thinking about who he could have possibly meant.


    ''This is the academy so perhaps it''s one of the ''Big ten'' directors? But grandpa said none of them was around now.


    Honestly, how did a guy like that be the head of all drifters in hell?''


    The man Arthur just spoke to was none other than the supposed ''high drifter'' who was the leader of the drifters of the hell universe.


    Arthur kept on cursing the man in his mind as he met up with Lute and returned to his dormitory building. The moment he walked into the building and was about to enter the elevator, he was called out to by an enraged, slightly nervous La.


    "Arthur! You damned¡­prince!"


    She probably intended on cursing at him, only to remember he was royalty and had to hold her tongue as they were in a public ce.


    Trailing after her was Nicole who was quiet as usual. "Were you looking for me or something?"


    "Obviously, just where did you go?"


    "To conduct business?"


    Arthur could almost see the question marks floating around her face as she tilted her head in confusion. Chuckling slightly at her unusual action he patted her head a bit.


    "Huh? Why the sudden head pats? And stop it, you''re scattering my hair."


    "No reason, just felt like, so why are you looking for me."


    While rearranging her lightly ruffled hair, she gestured to Nicole who was hiding behind her for some reason.


    Taking a deep breath, Nicole walked out from behind La and stopped In front of Arthur, she then bowed her head and said in a slightly louder voice than usual.


    "Thank you!"


    Arthur was confused at first, but then he remembered the reason he went over to troll Zach in the first ce was because of her.


    ''I feel bad seeing as I lost sight of my original goal.''


    "Nahh, don''t worry about it was nothing. More importantly, raise your head, I don''t want weird rumours circting around tomorrow."


    He replied awkwardly to her heartfelt gratitude. La stared at him in shock seeing him do this.


    "What?"


    "Oh! Nothing much, I just thought you were gonna make a silly remark and was getting ready to hit you for it."


    Arthur thought she was joking but seeing her tightly clenched fist, he realized she clearly was not.


    "Just how little trust do you have in me?"


    "Little? Far from it. I trust you quite a lot you know? That''s why I know what kind of bullshit you can pull."


    Arthur could feel his face twitching at that reply but he held back any retorts he had and turned to Nicole who was looking at them strangely.


    "So I''d leave it to you to clear any weird misunderstandings she might have gotten and would get."


    "Huh? Would get?"


    "Yep, she''s bound to."


    After confirming that there was no one in the area, he leaned over and lightly pecked La''s forehead.


    It took her a few seconds toprehend what had just happened. When she did, her face turned red instantly. Arthurughed heartily while moving towards the elevator, he did it because he expected her cute reaction but seeing it put a smile on his face.


    "You! Ah, Nicole, it''s not what you think, okay?!"


    She wanted to hit him for doing that with no rhyme or reason but she remembered the innocent child that is Nicole who was beside her and began iling around trying to clear her misunderstandings.


    Before the elevator door closed she had a look of remembrance on her face, then turned to Arthur and said.


    "My condolences!"


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    The confused Arthur returned to his room, wondering what she meant by that. As soon as he arrived he dropped his bag of food on one of the tables and was about to take off his shirt when he noticed something.


    ''The scent of perfume? And it''s not La''s. I don''t know this scent¡­.''


    Before he coulde to a conclusion, he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine.


    "Arthuruis Vaughnheim."


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 chapter 72 Level Four Situation

    72 Level Four Situation


    "Arthurius Vaughnheim"


    Arthur stiffened involuntarily, he did not even have the peace of mind to think about the barrier that was suddenly around his room.


    ''That- impossible!''


    There were only two people in existence who knew that Arthur''s full name was actually ''Arthurius''. Of those two, only one knew hisst name was actually ''Vaughnheim''.


    The problem, however, was simple.


    ''She''s not supposed to be in hell at the moment!''


    "-'' She''s not supposed to be in hell at the moment!''- is what you''re probably thinking right?"


    At this point, Arthur now understood why La gave him her condolences as he was leaving.


    ''She knew!''


    He also realized who the ''troublesome'' person the high drifter who did not seem like one, spoke of was.


    Turning around with a cramped smile on his face, he waved lightly and spoke.


    "Hello mum, long time no see?"


    "Hello Arthurius, it''s been nearly 5 months. You seem to have been up to a lot."


    Cattleya replied to Arthur''s greeting with a smile that could melt the hearts of many on her face, however for Arthur, he could not see that smile at all.


    ''She''s pissed, she''s definitely pissed!''


    Arthur was 110% sure she was definitely angry. After all, she called him ''Arthurius'', twice!


    In his 13, nearly 14 years of life, Arthur had realized a simple method to tell if his mother was angry at him. And that was by her calling him by his actual name.


    It was an action she took unconsciously, the more times she called him by his name, the more annoyed she was at him.


    ''She called it twice! This is a level 2 situation!''


    Arthur had devised levels for gauging his mother''s anger, the more times she called him by his full name, the higher the level.


    "What''s wrong, Arthurius? You''re strangely silent.


    ''Level three!''


    "Nothing, just surprised to see you here, that''s all."


    "Oh really, you sure you aren''t feeling guilty about anything, you''re fidgeting a lot."


    "Huh?"


    Arthur looked at his body at her words, however, he discovered he was not fidgeting as she said he was.


    ''Then wh-''


    His thoughts were cut off when he suddenly heard her voice in his ear.


    "You have a lot of exnations to give me Arthurius, a lot."


    She had suddenly moved from his couch where she was seated, to right in front of him within the few seconds he looked away. Meanwhile, Arthur''s mind was elsewhere. ''Level four!! I''m doomed!''


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    "So let''s begin shall we?"


    After a few knocks to the head that felt more painful than any of Zach''s attacks, yet dealt him no damage besides the light swelling on his head, Cattleya''s anger finally dissipated.


    Most of it however as she was still slightly pissed, her annoyance was evident in her tone.


    As for Arthur, he was made to kneel on the ground and was prostrating while touching his head on the floor.


    "The first of your crimes-"


    "I plead not guilty!"


    "Shut up Arthurius."


    "Yes, mother."


    Arthur immediately became docile at his mother''s words. Cattleya continued speaking.


    "Your first crime is your stupidity."


    "I''m sorry, what?"


    "Arthurius¡­"


    "No no no, you can''t me me for that, there''s no way I would keep calm if I was just suddenly called stupid, even by you."


    "You do so when La does it though."


    "She''s special."


    "More so than your mother?"


    "You''re a different kind of special."


    "Arthur, you couldn''t possibly-"


    "Nope, far from it."


    "I hadn''t finished speaking though."


    "We have simr thought processes, so trust me when I say that I know what you''re thinking and you''re definitely wrong."


    ''I definitely don''t feel ''that'' way about La.''


    Arthur''s thoughts were interrupted by Cattleya''s next words.


    "Then why did you kiss her?"


    If he was having a drink right now, he would have definitely choked on it after hearing that question.


    "I didn''t kiss her okay?! It was just a light peck! And to her forehead at that! I just wanted to tease her a bit."


    "Adolescent boys sometimes tease the girl they like though."


    "Pfft¡­What am I? Eight? I''m older than all that bullshit."


    "You''re just 5 years older, it''s not much of a difference."


    He was about to say it was abig difference before remembering that his mother was a ten-thousand-year-old Archdevil, 5 years was like a blink of an eye for her.


    He sighed in exasperation at that fact, then a dangerous thought suddenly came to his head.


    ''Mum''s actually quite o-''


    "Hmmmmmm?!"


    Cattleya''s timed re, however, killed all those thoughts that threatened to surface. ''Scary!''


    "I believe I was talking about your stupidity right?"


    "We''re back to this now?"


    "Of course, I wonder in what universe, do 13-year-old superior stage masters who supposedly can''t use their energies, challenge superior stage grandmaster realm devils who''ve been monsterized."


    "He was originally an inferior stage though?"


    "Does that really matter, did you know he met the requirements to be an Epic? If you had dawdled any longer he might have actually be one."


    Arthur was shocked at this revtion, however, if one thought about it calmly, it was actually true.


    The process of improving health, increasing longevity and growing more powerful was aplished by increasing energy levels either by cultivating their energy within or absorbing energy cores and other energy treasures, training in martial arts or other skills and eventually gaining authorities.


    Zach had met the energy requirements for the legendary realm, his skills were also not low as he was still within the top 1000 in his school year.


    His soul strength was partiallycking and his body had lots of impurities as he had absorbed the runes and energies of dozens of people.


    Even if he became a half-baked Epic, it did not change the fact that he was an Epic.


    It was an existence that one would need to be at least a superior stage grandmaster to face properly to have even a sliver of a chance of victory.


    Even Arthur who could kill superior stage grandmasters while at the superior stage of the master realm was no match for a legendary.


    Of course, Lute had noticed this and would have intervened regardless of Arthur''s opinion if it seemed like he was going to break through.


    However, this was unlikely as Zach made a stupid decision.


    He left a bunch of summoning magic circles that were siphoning part of his energy as such he did not have enough left in his body to break through.


    Even so, given time, he would have still be an Epic regardless of the amount of energy that was in his body at the moment as the requirement wasn''t the energy currently in the body but the upper limit of the energy they could hold and how much of that energy they could use.


    Breaking through was simply using one''s energy to forcefully break the current upper limit and Increase it exponentially. It was faster and more efficient than waiting for the upper limit of one''s energy to naturally break and increase naturally.


    "So do you realize how stupid your decision was now?"


    "Yes, mother."


    Of course, although Arthur said that, he really didn''t think so, after all, he had the trump card of using the power of thews.


    Especially thew of time that he had begun toprehend slightly after using it for a while against Zach.


    ''Alexia did say that using thew was one way of increasingprehension speed, but it doesn''t always work though. Sometimes you just have to sit down and use your energy while essing the power of thew to understand how thew works.''


    With those cards under his belt, Arthur was 100% sure of his victory against Zach.


    Cattleya looked at her son who acted like he agreed with her but actually didn''t and sighed.


    She then decided to address the main issues at hand.


    Looking at Arthur who sat up while kneeling, she asked the question she had wanted to ask for years now.


    "Arthurius, three years ago you met a woman named Alexia. Did she do anything strange to you?"


    "Alexia? I''m not gonna ask why you know her name but no, she did not."


    Arthur was thinking that the guards he was with at the time definitely told Cattleya about it when her next question came.


    "Then how can you use the power ofws?"


    "Use what now?"


    "Don''t y dumb with me Arthurius, did you really think I wouldn''t notice? The traces are everywhere around the scene of your battle."


    "That was clearly Lute,e to think of it, where is he?"


    "Don''t try to change the subject Arthurius, I personally checked the traces of the battle scene myself. I know whatws were used there.


    I don''t recall Lute having an affinity for wind or time. And he definitely doesn''t have an ''Annihtion''." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    With that, Cattleya effectively cut off Arthur''s escape route.


    As shown before, Cattleya could tell whatws were used in a certain area by tracing the residual essence left after thews were used if they had not dissipated yet.


    This was how she was sure Arthur was the one who used thews.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 73 Partial Truth

    73 Partial Truth Cattleya''s ability to read the traces of residualw essence allowed her to deduce whatws were used in a certain area recently.


    This was how she discovered she was being protected by thew of causality when she was pregnant with Arthur.


    Arthur stared at his mother with serene eyes, she looked back at him with a simr gaze.


    He was her son, and he had a simr thought process to hers, that''s why he was sure.


    She was not going to let him off until she got the answer she wanted, no matter how long it took.


    Running away was also futile. Still, he decided to try his luck.


    "Lute could have made some new advancements, just because you don''t have an affinity doesn''t mean you can''t use it.


    Besides, I''m sure he reported to you that he ended Zach himself."


    "As if such a sloppy report can fool me, besides, I already scanned Lute.


    There were no traces or any of the usedws in his body."


    She walked over to the couch and took a seat before continuing.


    "There were so many high-definition videos of your fight taken, you know?


    Others may not notice but I noticed the domes of darkness.


    I said ''domes'' in plural because there was more than one cast. One of them was obviously by Lute, the other was you."


    "It could have been La?"


    "I admit that she''s quite talented, however, she does not have the energy to create a veil capable of blocking out Epic realms."


    Arthur stared at his mother who seemed to have prepared an answer for every possible question he could have asked to make her think he was not the one responsible.


    Sighing in defeat, he decided to tell her part of the truth.


    ''Definitely not telling her I''m a progenitor.''


    "Fine, yes I can use the power of thews, however, I don''t do it consciously. It''s only when I make some sort of breakthrough or master a technique that I do it involuntarily."


    He stood up and walked over to his bags on the table, picking out a bottle of water, he drank half of it before continuing.


    "The day I first fought against La, that was when I noticed it. It happened when I perfected uncle Creusery''s technique.


    The academy entrance exams, when I reached the peak of the superior stage of the master realm.


    Lastly, against Zach, when I knocked on the door of the grandmaster realm.


    None of them has been voluntarily, it just happened."


    Of course, this was a lie, it was only the first time that was involuntary. Back then he didn''t even realize he used the power of aw, and it was only a little. Too little for anyone to take note of unless they had the power of time.


    None of the spectators there did, so none of them noticed.


    Cattleya still found it suspicious, however, it was slightly more believable.


    "Does it have to do with that woman?"


    "Yes, she''s the one who made me realize what I used was the power of aw, she also told me about my affinity for the powers of time."


    ''That woman'', was, of course, the candidate of time, Alexia.


    Arthur''s affinity for time can be said to be a result of his grandfather. The ''Titan of time'', Kronos. Kronos was a high-tier deity who was proficient in thew of time and ruled the then-universe of Orthys, now Olympus, for tens of thousands of years.


    Cattleya also thought this was why Arthur possessed an affinity for time as Arthur was naturally Kronos'' descendant.


    "Then your ''Annihtion'', what is it?"


    Annihtion.


    It was the name the Devilian royal family called their bloodline ability.


    It was a special ability that manifested in them at young ages and bloomed fully when theyprehended thews of Destruction or Annihtion.


    Each of their Annihtions was different, and the conditions to awaken them were also different.


    As Arthur did not have the ability to use his energy, or so Cattleya thought, she believed that he would not manifest his Annihtion yet.


    However, she was quite surprised when she sensed traces of Annihtion coupled with the power of thew of destruction at the scene of the battle.


    Arthur had manifested his Annihtion, and he could tap into its power already.


    Thinking about how more than half of the estate waspletely destroyed as a result of Arthur''s Extreme Nothingness, Cattleya figured that his ability might be simr to her pure unrestrained destruction.


    "I don''t know what it is, I only got a feel for it after uncle Creusery showed it to me multiple times. It feels like... destroying thingspletely?"


    Of course, the true nature of Arthur''s Annihtion was far more powerful and more dangerous than that but he would only discover thister in the future.


    If Diablo had gone to check the scene in person, he may have recognized Arthur''s Annihtion, but he did not.


    While thinking she was going to test out her new martial art on her brother, Cattleya asked thest question she had.


    "Since when could you use your energy?"


    Of course, using his Annihtion or the power of thews was not possible without being able to use his energy in the first ce. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    Arthur had four energies in his body, Magic, aura, Divinity and some other negative energy which he felt was at odds with his divinity.


    So far, he could only use his magic and his aura. He mostly used his aura when attacking with weapons durable enough to withstand it.


    "About 3 years ago, not long after I met Alexia. It started with my energy flow slowly returning and it eventually became faster."


    Cattleya sighed and looked at the ring on Arthur''s finger.


    ''That''s Creusery''s concealment ring, no wonder I didn''t notice it.'' Arthur did not always wear the ring, only wearing it asionally when he wanted to hide his energy.


    Today, he wore it because of one simple reason. He didn''t want anyone to know he was a half-step grandmaster yet, until he could hide it like he always did.


    Cattleya, however, had other thoughts.


    "You said you knocked on the door of the grandmaster realm right, that means you''re ready to advance. However, it seems to have been stalled, most likely by the fact that your energy isn''t flowing currently."


    "Yep"


    "Good, take off the ring and circte your energy, I''m gonna guide your breakthrough. I''m guessing that your wings seem to act as the conduit for the energy cirction so open them up."


    Arthur stared at his mother for a few moments before finally deciding to tell her thest thing he did not say.


    "Um¡­if I use my energy, my body-"


    "Won''t be able to take it right?


    I guessed that was the case, I''m gonna prevent that so breakthrough as fast as you can so your body can be stronger and can hold more of the ridiculous amount of energy that can make even Legendries jealous."


    Arthurughed at his mother''s words before agreeing with her. He had absolute confidence that she would help him and prevent his energy from going berserk and destroying his body.


    He took off the ring and shrugged his shoulders, revealing his ck with a tinge of silver-colored wings.


    His wingspan had grown slightly to nearly 4 meters now and he had to move to a more spacious part of the room to let them out fully.


    Seeing the chaotic state of her son''s energies made Cattleya frown.


    ''Excessive energy built up so he could advance, if he held it back any longer it might have had adverse effects given his situation.''


    Arthur''s body was currently a walking energy bomb, and he didn''t even know it.If he was forced to release his energy in a dire situation, he might as well have just exploded altogether. He nned to fight against the mastermind of the incident tomorrow. If he did so while in this state, he would have undoubtedly lost as most of his focus would be on calming his energy as it would have been rampaging as he was in a fight.


    Shaking her head at the ridiculous situation, Cattleya began using her own magic and aura to help Arthur move his energy through his energy circuits in a way that would calm them down temporarily.


    ''Shouldst long enough for him to break through before they start overflowing.''


    "All right, follow my lead, you don''t need all your energies to break through, just your magic and aura are enough.


    Try to hold back your divinity that seems like it wants to eat me up and that other weird energy you have."


    "It''s a lot harder than it sounds okay?!"


    "Better start now or you''d implode very soon."


    Hearing that, Arthur looked up and stared at Cattleya with watery eyes.


    "You won''t let that happen right?"


    "If you don''t start now, I might actually begin to consider it." Her reply shocked him to the core, he even let his hold on his energy slip a bit which earned him a knock alongside a light scolding from Cattleya.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!

 Chapter 74 Intermediate Stage Grandmaster

    74 Intermediate Stage Grandmaster Arthur slumped down to the ground and began to meditate. As he entered a trance, a vibrant light began to shine out from him in every colour and powerful energy shot out from him.


    The energy burst caused a rush of wind around the room, and a lot of things fell and caused a ruckus.


    Cattleya had put up a barrier earlier so even if one were to stand right In front of his door, they would not sense a thing.


    Seeing the iridescent light shining from his body, Cattleya was shocked and rendered speechless.


    ''All affinities?!''


    This was something Alexia hadn''t seen, she hadn''t checked for it as it was extremely rare.


    The light meant that Arthur had met the conditions to awaken his affinities for all elements and their correspondingws.


    Even among progenitors that had the most affinities that their race could possibly have, very few possessed affinities for all elements and their correspondingws.


    Arthur''s affinity exceeded that and even stretched towards beingpatible with most of the knownws.


    Naturally, there were those he still did not possess an affinity for. One can''t have everything in life after all.


    After about an hour, the iridescent light stopped shining from Arthur and turned into one bright light and began to shake his body.


    His bones and muscles were being reconstructed. After trembling for about ten more minutes, his body began to show a different phenomenon.


    ''I expected this, but it seems it still wasn''t enough huh?''


    His face skin began to crack faintly. It was different from when his body was unable to withstand his energy.


    ''Body reconstruction huh?''


    The cracks began to spread all over his body. It was as if he would shatter with even a slight touch. It was then Arthur moved as if he was ufortable and all the cracks shattered, turned to dust and disappeared.


    The energy wind that blew began to calm down and he opened his eyes.


    Seeing his mother''s smiling face in front of him, he knew he had sessfully advanced.


    He checked his body and was slightly stunned.


    "Intermediate stage grandmaster realm, never thought I''d experience the phenomenon of going up two stages at once."


    "You have already met the energy requirements for the superior stage of the Epic realm so you can rest assured that you''d be fine till that level if you deal with your rampaging energies, that is."


    Arthurughed and dusted himself, standing up, he realized his body felt lighter than before.


    "Like this, I canst for about 10-25 minutes before my energy goes haywire and starts trying to make me implode. It depends on how much energy I use, and for the amount I can control, I think it can let me survive an attack from an inferior stage legendary, without any strengthening magic or artifacts."


    That was true, Arthur could now fight inferior stage Epics without energy and have the leeway to think about winning.


    Of course, if he tried that with an intermediate stage or higher then he would probably be courting death.


    His physical strength was also higher, his speed faster and his durability also increased exponentially too.


    Unfortunately, his enormous amount of energy was still too much for him to hold, however now, he couldst longer before it began eating at him.


    This was despite the fact that his energy increased slightly after he became a grandmaster.


    He would most likely be like this until he reached the sovereign or transcendent realm.


    Cattleya looked at her son who acted like he had gotten a new toy and thought.


    ''Maybe I should seal his true name after all?''


    Not knowing the dangerous thought his mother was having, Arthur continued checking out his body.


    He waspletely confident in defeating the mastermind of Saturday''s incident with rtive ease as thetter was only a superior stage master.


    One might wonder, why did the culprit not run away after hearing Arthur''s threat.


    The answer was simple: pride. Coupled with overconfidence.


    He believes that Arthur has no way to figure out who he was as he was very meticulous in hiding his tracks.


    Even normal drifters would have not been able to find him.


    He also believes that he was capable of handling Arthur, who was a superior stage master.


    This is due to the power he had gained from his experiments in monsterization. His test subjects were numerous and Zach was the greatest sess. As for the failures, at least we know who the owners of the runes Zach devoured are now.


    Like Arthur had deduced, his aims were to create a monsterized devil who could still retain their sanity and Zach, was the only sess.


    Unfortunately for him, his pride and confidence in himself would be his undoing as Arthur just had a huge power-up.


    Cattleya looked at Arthur in silence for a few moments before making up her mind and walking up to him with a serious look on her face.


    Faster than Arthur could react, Cattleya fished something out from her inter-spatial ring and stabbed it into Arthur''s shoulder.


    "Ow! What the f*ck??!!"


    Of course, the natural reaction to such a sudden action was to curse out loud while screaming in pain.


    He even unconsciously tried to back away, unfortunately, Cattleya was a high-tier deity. If she didn''t want Arthur to move, there was nothing he could do.


    And that was exactly what happened, he could not move an inch. Cattleya didn''t even use her energy, just her pure physical strength was enough to root him to the ground.


    Arthur felt something enter his body and quickly enter his energy circuit. "Stop trying to move, it''d only hurt more."


    "Would it kill you to at least tell me what suspicious things you''re putting in my body?!"


    "Just a small micro device that can watch your energy state and alert me if you''re about to implode.


    It''s only good if you''re in the same star system so don''t go too far without informing me."


    Arthur was stunned, not because of the device his mother injected into his body, but for a different reason.


    "You''re being a helicopter parent now?!"


    "I am not, I''m simply an average mother you can find anywhere who cares for her son."


    Arthur rolled his eyes at her reply, naturally, Cattleya saw this and flicked him on his forehead before letting him go.


    "That''s good, now I can watch if you''re doing anything crazy and stop you before you do it."


    "Just what do you take me for?!"


    "An exact copy of me, besides your gender."


    Arthur clicked his tongue in response because she was right.


    If Cattleya was a Male, she would look simr to how Arthur did. Their hair colours were the same with Arthur''s being slightly lighter. The eye colours were the same, though that won''t be the case for long as Arthur''s left eye had shown a colour change, it was currently temporary but it might be permanent in the future.


    This was likely due to his unnatural affinity with thew of time as it was manifesting in his physical body.


    Alexia was simr as her eyes also turned blue as she advanced in thew of time.


    Besides these few differences, Arthur and Cattleya werepletely alike.


    Their unpredictable personalities, love for pranks and ridiculous genius talents.


    As such, she knew fully well that Arthur would probably just decide to leave the academy once In the future for no reasonable reason, going out of the range she could monitor with the device as she had no ns to leave Aeturn or the surrounding star systems for the next few years.


    "I''d find a less dangerous alternative in dealing with your rampaging energy."


    "Less dangerous? Just what did you n on doing to me?"


    "Sealing your energy with your true name?"


    "The fact that you can say that to your son so casually with a straight face is scary as hell."


    "We are in hell, although it''s not all pretty, it''s not scary as the humans say you know?"


    "Excuse me mother, have you been to any of the ''Nine Thousand Circles''tely?"


    "Don''t remind me of that ce now will you?"


    "Weren''t you just saying hell wasn''t scary?"


    Arthur and Cattleya bantered lightly like this for a few more hours.


    He told her of most of the happenings of his school year so far, he also informed her about his ns to participate in the nning of the mini sports festival that was postponed for two months. n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om


    She also gave him a nefarious idea when he told her about his n to ''make La squeal''.


    In the girl''s dormitory, La suddenly shivered in fear but felt nothing that could possibly cause that.


    Unfortunately, she did not know that a certain mischievous mother and son duo were nning something that might make her regret participating in the sports festival for the rest of her life.


    As for the results of that, we can only wait and see. Around 12am, Cattleya finally left after warning Arthur not to mention her presence to anyone as she was not supposed to be in hell at the moment, especially his grandfather as she had ns to surprise him.


    Unfortunately, her surprise failed as Diablo had long noticed her arrival from Bracken, the universe she actually went to.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 Chapter 75 Interlude 3 – New Moves are Made

    75 Interlude 3 ¨C New Moves are Made


    In an entirely white space, with asional ck balls that looked like dots floating in the air, two beings were seated opposite each other


    There was a chessboard atop a table in between them and unlike normal chess boards with 16 pieces per side, this one had twelve.


    To be exact, 11 pieces were on each side of the board and one of the pieces had been removed from each side.


    The c1 and c8 pieces respectively.


    On one end was a dark man, dressed in his usual three-piece suit with a hat to match.


    His face was as ever-changing as usual, showing different expressions every second.


    Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow as the expressions on his face all turned to ones of amusement.


    He looked at the woman opposite him and spoke.


    "Grandmaster already, faster than I thought."


    The woman who was wearing her usual white gown, with a white shawl, tucked part of her long white hair behind her ear and spoke with an enchanting voice.


    "As expected of that person." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    The man stared at her in silence for a few moments, his ever-changing faces all sporting a mischievous grin.


    One that did not go unnoticed by the woman opposite him.


    "No."


    "I haven''t said anything yet."


    "I can tell whatever you want to say would be nothing short of a promation of your intention to interfere."


    "Do you perhaps have the power to read my thoughts?"


    The man asked with feigned surprise. The woman, however, just silently picked a few of the floating ck dots and began juggling them in her hands. After a few moments of silence, she finally replied to him while still juggling those ck dots.


    "You know full well I do not, peering into each other''s thoughts is one of the things we cannot do.


    It''s just that I''ve known you long enough to predict your thoughts even in my sleep."


    "You sleep?"


    "I asionally simte the action of sleeping, it feels nice."


    He stared at her with looks of pure confusion, however, she ignored this and continued juggling the ck dots in her hands.


    Eventually, she stopped and picked a random one, leaving the others to continue floating, she stood up and spoke to him.


    "I have things to do, don''t interfere when I''m not looking."


    "How can I? You''re always looking."


    "Hmm¡­ good point."


    She disappeared afterwards leaving the man who beganughing lightly.


    "Even if I don''t interfere, it''ll eventually end the way I want."


    He then looked at the chessboard and moved the f8 piece on the board two steps further.


    He then disappeared afterwards.


    In the empty space, the f1 piece moved two steps forward, in response to his earlier movement.


    A man dressed in ck, seated atop a throne made from the bones of various beings of various races stared at the night sky above him while running his hands through his ck hair.


    The area surrounding this man was filled with the corpses of tens of millions of beings of various races and genders.


    Each and every one of these corpses were mutted all over and the facial expressions on the dead beings showed how much pain and fear they went through in the few moments that led up to their deaths.


    The corpses closest to him were in the worst states, that was expected, after all the bones that made up the throne the man was seated on came from them.


    Elves, high pixies, dragonoids, satyrs, sirens,mias, kobolds, ogres, trolls, giants, liches, gnolls, demons and many others.


    Legions upon legions of these beings were all ughtered by this man, and his reaction afterpleting this great massacre was-


    "Boring...."


    -he felt bored.


    The auras of hundreds ofws poured out endlessly from his body, so manyws that it would take over an hour just to count them all.


    He raised a hand and flicked his fingers towards the night sky, the next moment a few stars glowed brighter for a while before disappearing.


    14:55


    This was followed by waves of gamma radiation that could wipe out an entire''s worth of humans in a few minutes.


    Nevertheless, this man still had the same bored expression on his face as he watched this happen. He then closed his eyes and fell asleep on the throne of bones in the middle of the corpses.


    He remained like this for a few hours before one of the corpses crossed over to the realm of undeath and began walking the earth again.


    As if on cue, all the other corpses began rising up one by one, bing undead variants of their original races.


    The energy that rolled off their bodies was at least twice of what they possessed when they were alive.


    Within a few minutes, most of the numerous corpses had risen from the dead and be undead.


    As most undead showed great hatred for the living, this undead did not show much difference as they all simultaneously turned to the only living being in the area.


    The hatred they held towards him was more than just the hatred an undead would hold towards a living being.


    Whether instinctively or not, they seem to realize that he was the one responsible for their deaths in the first ce and attempted to get revenge with their newfound powers as undead.


    ****GRRRRAAAAAAA!!!!!!!


    An ogre undead roared loudly and waved the staff in its hands causing tens of thousands of magic arrows to materialize in the air.


    Each and every one of these arrows contained enough power to tten theoid they were on multiple times over.


    However, before it could gesture for these arrows to fire, the seemingly sleeping man finally opened his eyes.


    "Noisy."


    That was all he said.


    Just one simple word infused with magic power.


    The effects, however, were not so simple.


    The tens of thousands of magic arrows floating in the air faded away like they were never there in the first ce.


    Some undead turned around and saw the Ogre that cast those arrows gradually turning to dust right before their very eyes.


    However, they never got the chance to turn back.


    That was because they too had begun turning to dust at a time they did not know.


    And like so, contrary to the hours it took for all these powerful undead to rise, it only took a few seconds for them to all be wiped out.


    Staring at the undead turning to dust, the man on the throne of bones withdrew the essence of thew of necromancy that was wildly pouring out of his body.


    That was the reason the corpses became wild undead in the first ce.


    His enormous aura of necromancy sped up a phenomenon that should have taken decades, if not centuries to aplish.


    He just wordlessly stared at the undead until they all turned into dust.


    "Ah!"


    Eximing lightly, he hit his fist against his palm and stood up from the throne, the bored expression on his face was gonepletely.


    "Why don''t I just descend personally? Nahh...causality would not let me.


    In that case, I can just use an avatar?"


    He stretched out his right hand and energy poured out of it before condensing into a single point and forming a small translucent bead.


    The bead then dropped to the floor before expanding as the energy inside it increased exponentially. Within a few minutes, it had be a giant cocoon, one pulsing with ck lines all over it.


    Humming happily to himself, he began waving his hands as an orchestra conductor would as the essence of variousws danced around in response.


    "Darkness, death, fire, curses, decadence, vitality...that should be all right."


    His obsidian eyes then began glowing with a dangerous light as enormous amounts of energy poured out from him into the cocoon once again.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    This time it did not stop until the cocoon had absorbed energy to its limit, it then cracked open to reveal a humanoid avatar that had the exact same looks as the man.


    The only difference, however-


    "Ah! I forgot about clothes."


    -it was naked.


    He waved his hand and the avatar was instantly clothed in simr garments to his, he then repeated this action, creating a giant space rift beside him.


    "Alright, go cause some chaos so I can be entertained."


    With those orders, the avatar nodded and wordlessly walked into the rift.


    "Things are going to be very, very fun."


    After saying that, he smiled and sat back down on his throne while staring at the iplete night sky.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    At an unknown point in the chaotic void, a being who was floating around in space, stopped their movements and looked in a certain direction.


    The being was dressed in all ck, with a hood above their head obscuring their face from sight.


    Two dots, glowing in an iridescent light could be seen from inside the hood as the being stared towards the direction of a certain universe where a dangerous existence just descended.


    ||For. Bnce.||


    The being spoke those two words, their gender being indiscernible from their voice, before turning around and waving their left hand, creating a gigantic space rift in front of them.


    Entering into that rift, the being drifted away, into the cosmos far beyond.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael

 Chapter 76 Fishing among Stars

    76 Fishing among Stars


    In a unique spatial area of an unknown secondary universe, an isted space that very few beings could enterfortably due to the crushing pressure of the ambient energies in the area.


    A figure of a single being could be seen. A young woman with long blue hair that reached her waist and monolid eyes.


    Her eyes were shining with an iridescent light as this being was currently situated upon... a star.


    Her body was gigantic in size as she could actuallyfortably sit upon a star. In her hands was an item that could bemonly found among fishermen.


    It was a fishing pole!


    A gigantic fishing pole with a golden fishing line stretched out towards the starry space in front of her.


    She had a certain thought that would make many beings spit out blood in shock.


    ''It doesn''t feel like my first time doing this, I feel like I did this before, with someone else, just can''t remember who. We broke a lot of stars that day.''


    **WAA


    A wave of energy erupted not too far from her as the figure of another being appeared, it was a normal-sized ck-haired woman who had ck eyes.


    Seeing the gigantic figure of the blue-haired woman fishing among the stars, she sighed and spoke.


    "Alexia, stop searching for random star systems to mess with their time flow okay?"


    "Hmm... oh, the jobless supreme."


    "I''m not jobless okay?! And I have a name, it''s Kelly, at least call me that. And also, return yourself to normal, it''s hard to talk to you when you''re like that."


    "Tsk..."


    Alexia clicked her tongue before returning to her normal size, the fishing rod in her arms doing the same as she put it away into her subspace.


    "So what is it, jobless supreme?"


    "Kelly!"


    The ck-haired woman who was always with Alexia, Kelly, sighed in exasperation at the fact that Alexia seemed to dislike using her name.


    However, she did not dawdle on that for too long as her face turned serious the moment after.


    "I want you to answer me honestly Alexia."


    Alexia who noticed her serious, tone, adopted a simr attitude and replied.


    "About what?"


    "It''s about Lucifer''s descendant."


    Hearing that, Alexia couldn''t help but roll her eyes. Kelly ignored that and continued speaking.


    "You''re not nning to do the crazy things you did with Lucifer with his descendant right?"


    Alexia burst out inughter before replying,


    "Crazy things? It was just a few pranks on some candidates of destruction. Nothing more, nothing less. Those were fun times."


    "Don''t y with me, Alexia."


    "I''m actually not you know?"


    "Varona."


    "What''s that?"


    Alexia gave her a look of pure curiosity as she did not know where or what Varona was. Kelly''s expression turned dark at this.


    "Don''t y dumb with me Alexia."


    "I''m not, but you''re calling the name of something or somewhere I don''t know." n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    "That''s where you kept the ''Rule breaker'' both you and Lucifer stole."


    Alexia''s expression became cold at Kelly''s words, she red at thetter while replying.


    "What are you gonna do about it?"


    The air between them became tense, it was as if a fight was about to break out immediately. Kelly broke the silence saying.


    "You sent Lucifer''s descendant there didn''t you?"


    Alexiaughed and replied, her eyes still carrying the same cold glint.


    "Yeah, so what? It''s not like the rule breakers were yours in the first ce.


    It never belonged to you guys, neither did it belong to your superiors."


    "Bullshit, the rule breakers are rightfully ours. We were the ones who gave them to you. Both Lucifer''s sword and your ''Chrono controller''.


    We were merely just lending them to you candidates."


    Alexia''sughter increased at her words, she held her stomach and continuedughing, much to Kelly''s obvious displeasure.


    "''Rightfully ours'', ''Merely lending''.


    I''m sure you don''t even know the rule breakers were made by a progenitor."


    "Impossible, there''s no way the progenitors possess the power to create such powerful weapons, no progenitor does."


    "No progenitor does? Aren''t you forgetting a certain progenitor who possesses a certain power against creation?"


    Kelly was confused at Alexia''s words, how could someone with the power ''against creation'' be the one to ''create'' the rule breakers?


    "Huh? What do you mean certain power ag-"


    It was then, Alexia''s words finally clicked with her, there was indeed such a contradictory existence. However, it was simply absurd for him to be responsible for the creation of the rule breakers.


    "Impossible! There''s no way he can!"


    Alexia gave her a smug grin upon seeing her reaction. "See, you didn''t even know.


    I''m sure that superior of yours watching our conversation through your eyes knows. He just didn''t tell you."


    Alexia continuedughing at Kelly''s ignorance when suddenly, the air changed.


    All the ambient energies in the area dissipated, all except one.


    To be more specific, the area was filled with a superior kind of energy that made all the others ''shrink back in fear''.


    Mana, aura, ether, aether, prana, divinity, enigma, demonic power, soul energy, life energy, holy power, death energy,w essence.


    It did not matter what kind, they all dissipated themselves so as not toe in contact with that superior energy that was currently spilling out of Kelly''s body.


    Kelly''s hair changed colour from ck to ash, her circr pupils became a vertical rectangr shape with a dull grey colour.


    Staring coldly at Alexia, she slowly opened her mouth, a voice totally different from before spilling out of her lips.


    ||Alexandria dicur||


    Alexia''s body tensed lightly at that, her yful attitude from before, gonepletely.


    Kelly''s body began emitting sparks, thew of causality was going wild, the being that had possessed her was far too powerful to be in that ne of existence.


    Even if the being was possessing the body of their subordinate and did not break anyws, thew of causality still searched for a reason to expel them from that universe.


    Before something even greater than thew of causality could take action, the being looked at a faraway ce and then continued speaking.


    The next second, the being was gone, however, their words resounded in Alexia''s ears.


    Kelly''s body fell weakly to the ground and Alexia rushed to catch her.


    As for their light argument just now, Alexia knew that Kelly only acted that way because thetter was worried for her. The actions she was taking were far too dangerous. Even Lucifer did not survive the consequences, much less her who was far currently weaker than he was due to the two problems she was currently facing.


    Stroking the unconscious Kelly''s face, she thought to herself.


    ''I have no choice, I have to at least solve one problem, so Arthur has less to do.''


    Looking in the same direction the being who possessed Kelly looked at, she spoke out loud.


    "Get stronger faster Arthur, it seems the big shots have noticed you already."


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Arthur who was sleeping soundly on his bed, woke up with a start.


    He felt a chill down his spine and his blood turned cold.


    ''What the fuck was that!''


    He had acute senses, which was why he noticed it clearly.


    Some sort of dangerous existence gazed at him. It was for a very short time, not even a tenth of a second. But it felt so clear to him.


    ''Just who is prying this time? I thought the rumours of me being unable to use my energy should have made them overlook me for a few decades.


    Or is it because I fought Zach?


    Damn, that b*stard, I''d beat him up more than I nned today.''


    Like so, Arthur got up from his bed, took a longer shower than usual and groomed himself up for the day.


    He picked up his phone on the desk and took a picture of the rising sun.


    Uploading it to one of his social media, he captioned it nicely.


    "Y-you, b-but yesterday you were? H-how?"


    14:56


    The reason for her shock was not because of his slightly cringy question, neither was it because she remembered the kissst night. It also wasn''t because his buttons were still opened up and she could see his toned chest muscles.


    "Beautiful morning today isn''t it? Seems like a good day to beat up some ''evil'' masterminds isn''t it?"


    He turned around and asked La, who had walked into the room and was staring at him in shock.


    However, she didn''t answer him. He walked to her and waved his phone in front of her face, only then did she recover from her shock.


    "Kreiz to La?"


    "Y-you, b-but yesterday you were? H-how?"


    The reason for her shock was not because of his slightly cringy question, neither was it because she remembered the kissst night. It also wasn''t because his buttons were still opened up and she could see his toned chest muscles.


    Definitely not because of that.


    She was simply stunned as she sensed Arthur''s realm of existence. She was sure he was still a superior stage master like herst night, but now he''s suddenly an intermediate stage grandmaster, anyone would be shocked.


    Arthur realised the reason for her shock and looked around his room. Seeing the familiar ring on a table, he walked over and picked it up.


    ''Good thing mum didn''t take it.''


    While thinking that, he sighed in relief before putting it back on and Turning to look at the still-stunned La.


    "Let''s go have breakfast first, I''d tell you on the way."


    With that, he walked out of the room while buttoning up his shirt, La listlessly trailing behind him.


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael


    Creator''s Thought

 Chapter 77 Its Story time

    77 Its Story time


    It didn''t take long for Arthur to exin the full situation to La, he also told her about his ns for the day.


    By the time the both of them had arrived at the school block, he was already done.


    Before he entered the building, he checked the inter-spatial ring that Cattleya gave himst night. He had asked her for a teleportation artifact but she gave him the entire ring that was filled with almost a hundred different artifacts. A few of them were teleportation artifacts so he picked the fastest and most efficient. It was one that teleported the target or targets to a predetermined location. N?v(el)B\\jnn


    He marked the main arena of the second-year A-ss facilities building. This was where he nned to drag his target.


    Some students who were free were also staking out the arena and when they saw hime over there and do something with an artifact, they assumed he was preparing for the day''s event.


    He pushed open the doors of the school building to the point where they banged on the walls, causing a lot of eyes to turn towards him due to the loud noise.


    "Good morning everyone, beautiful day isn''t it?"


    Along with that greeting, he strolled into the hallway with a rxed gait.


    "Good morning Prince Arthur."


    "Morning Tris, just call me Arthur. Nice hairstyle by the way, ponytail fits you best."


    Tris, whose greeting was replied andplimented, had her cheeks turn red. This earned her some res from the surrounding girls who began to take the initiative to greet Arthur.


    Arthur smiled and responded to most of their greetings. He also greeted the guys too, mostly the ones he usually hung out with.


    "Sup Jack. Is that the jacket you talked about?"


    "Yep, just arrived this morning."


    "Cool stuff bro."


    "Thanks"


    He fist-bumped Jack and the other guys around him before moving on to the next group.


    "Oh my Patty, you just keep looking prettier every day. Purple contacts? Beautiful!"


    "T-thanks."


    Arthur smiled at her before moving on to the next.


    "Sandra!"


    "Wonderful morning isn''t it your highness?"


    "Not as wonderful as you are."


    "Oh, you tter me."


    He leaned closer to Sandra and whispered in her ear.


    "Honestly, you''re the prettiest I''ve seen all morning. Don''t tell the others, they might get jealous."


    She chuckled lightly in response, and Arthur patted her head lightly. Looking around, he saw a couple in a corner.


    To be more specific, the guy had just asked out the girl and she agreed. Arthur walked up to him and ced a hand around his shoulders.


    "Jon! Did she agree?"


    "Yeah" As Jon responded with a light nod, Arthur gave a short apuse, the girl blushed lightly as Arthur''s presence gathered attention.


    "Smooth bro, real smooth"


    Jon just chuckled in response and Arthur congratted him once more before leaving.


    He encountered his ss''s form teacher on his way to his ssroom, grinning mischievously, he called out to her.


    "Morning Ma'', you''re sporting the blue suit today. Blue framed sses too, with how gorgeous you look, Sir Erwick would definitely ask you out."


    "H-huh?"


    She was visibly confused at Arthur''s words, then upon realizing that her crush on another one of the teachers was just exposed by Arthur, she flushed red in embarrassment.


    "Yep, our form teacher''s definitely the cutest."


    "H-hey!"


    Arthur dodged the hand that threatened to grab him and ran over to his ss.


    The moment he entered, he spoke in a loud voice purposely, so the form teacher who was not far behind could hear.


    "Hey, guys! Who else agrees with me that Ms. Oka is the prettiest teacher in our year?"


    Immediately he said that, there was a slight uproar in the ss as the students began either answering or arguing about who was better among themselves.


    "I agree!"


    "Me too!"


    "Nahh, Ms. Tica is the best."


    "I''m on team Oka."


    "Team Oka Rules!"


    Arthurughed and spoke again before the teacher who had arrived behind him, could stop him.


    "If that''s the case, who agrees with me that we have to protect our cute Ms. Oka from the wolves that are the Male teachers?"


    And weirdly enough, despite their shing opinions before, there was a unanimous agreement.


    As she walked into the ss, the students began cheering for her.


    Arthur who had been captured by Ms. Oka and had his mouth sealed with magic also jumped up to cheer.


    In the end, they kept on cheering until they received a noiseint from the next ss over.


    "Now can we finally start the ss?"


    The pouting Ms Oka asked and the students all nodded in affirmation unanimously. She was one of the younger and friendlier teachers so a lot of students liked her.


    She was also one of the few teachers that Arthur did not frustrate to the point of making them want to quit their jobs like the others.


    And so the Wednesday morning began on a joyful note.


    ¡ó¡¡¡ó¡¡¡ó


    Lunch break was a one-hour period before thest two sses of the day. As Arthur''s ss A did not have any sses during the period before the break, they had two hours free.


    It was at this time Arthur decided to begin his agenda for the day.


    He walked out of his ss silently, not many noticed him as most were either on their phones and other devices or chatting with their groups of friends.


    A few were not in the ss as they went to other ces to enjoy themselves.


    Arthur went over to the lounge and tea room on his floor. Entering inside, there were a few students from his ss, along with others who had free periods.


    He waved at them and ordered a drink before going over to take a seat opposite one of the students who was seated alone.


    A quiet-looking boy with ck hair and bangs that covered most of his face.


    He tilted his head seeing Arthur sit in front of him, but Arthur just smiled at him in silence. He then brought out his phone and took a picture of the tearoom, captioning it ''Its Story time''. He uploaded the picture on his social media.


    After finishing most of his drink, he began speaking. The lounge was usually quiet as most people talked in whispers so Arthur''s voice attracted their attention.


    "Once upon a time. There was a boy.


    He grew up as the son of a noble, he received praises from all those around him for as far as he remembered due to his genius intellect and extraordinary talent.


    However, one day, he was defeated in a spar by a seemingly average noble boy, and since then his parents criticized him daily for his loss. They had always felt inferior to the parents of the seemingly average noble boy, as their son lost to him, they felt even more ashamed and took out their anger on the poor boy. He ended up growing up to be a warped person. He inherited his parent''s inferiorityplex and always tried to prove he was superior to the other boy, only to fail time and time again. In the end, his inferiority turned into hatred.


    Eventually, his parents retired and gave the title to him. As a noble with a title, he had the responsibility of marrying and producing heirs to further his bloodline.


    He was engaged to one of the most sought-after women of his generation and eventually married her. She also had a status simr to his so she was perfect to be his wife.


    To show off and brag to the target of his hatred, he had a wedding as luxurious as possible and showed off his wife almost everywhere he went.


    However, to his shock, the one he tried to show off to, not only gained a new title that was higher than his but also married ady of higher status.


    This increased his hatred and his inferiority. Like his parents, he ended up passing his inferiorityplex down to his children.


    He had four sons and they all tried to surpass the children of the man who was the target of their father''s hatred.


    The first son, praised for his superior swordsmanship challenged the man''s son but lost miserably. The second son praised for his superior magic ability, challenged the man''s son but also lost even more miserably.


    As for the third and fourth, they simply gave up without even trying. The third became silk pants and the fourth was thinking of following in his footsteps.


    The first and second received a harsh scolding from their father, even more so when it was revealed that the one they lost to, wasn''t even serious about swordsmanship or magic.


    He was more interested in alchemy and only trained in swordsmanship and magic as a pastime.


    Quite sad don''t you think?"


    He paused his storytelling and had another drink. Looking around he saw that most of the people in the lounge, even those who came inter were silently urging him to continue with his eyes.


    Arthurughed lightly and asked the boy in front of him.


    "Should I continue?"


    Your gift is the motivation for my creation. Give me more motivation!


    Creation is hard, cheer me up!


    _michael


    The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and


    continue reading tomorrow, everyone!