Book 3: Chapter 22 – The Truth of Leonel’s Past

Seeing the confidence on the boy's face, a slight frown adorned the enchanting face of Dark Empress Shelia. "Rohault Empire? So that's the force behind you?"

Ace didn't say anything in response, but the look in his eyes was all Shelia needed to see to draw her own conclusions.

"I'll go meet our guests," A handsome man wearing an unassuming fitted black robe with a long straight sword sheathed by his side said calmly from the rear of the group.

This man was Gediah, the leader of the Cult of Shadow's Demoniacs – the cult's secret elite force of all saints. In terms of personal power, he was second only to the Dark Empress herself. He was also her husband, meaning the daughter Shelia offered up to Ace was none other than his daughter. Still, when his wife made the offer of an arranged marriage, he didn't so much as bat an eyelid.

Shelia didn't say anything in response as her husband calmly made his way to meet the party from the Rohault Family.

"The Rohault Empire may be one of the six major forces, but they're still a little inferior when compared to my Dark Alliance," Shelia explained indifferently as she looked down at Ace, having long since regained her indifference. "But seeing as you have no intention of marrying into my family of your own free will, I guess we'll have to do it the hard way.

Garoa, bring the boy up to the main hall."

Ace had his doubts as he watched Shelia lead her followers out of the dungeon and up the stairs, but there was nothing he could do at this point other than put his faith in Amira and the others.

.

.

.

Whilst Ace was being carried up the stairs to the main hall, Amira, Leonel, and Julius were stood on the back of a giant lion with reddish-yellow fur and glowing scarlet eyes as it floated in the skies above the castle disdainfully looking down at the mortals beneath it.

Amira's original plan was to have Leonel lead a beast tide to wait on the outskirts of the Dark Alliance's territory whilst she made her way here by herself, where she would demand Ace's release after informing the Cult that Ace was a member of her Empire and that rejecting would lead to a beast tide today and followed up by a war against her Rohault Empire, but whilst hunting for other beasts, they ran into a lone Fire-Lion of the seventh rank.

After easily defeating it, the lion let out an unwilling roar. Amira and the others understood it was calling the rest of its pack, but as Fire Lions were magical beasts of the eighth rank, they decided to wait, as the more high-ranking beasts in the beast tide, the better.

What they weren't expecting was that the reinforcement it called for wasn't another fire lion at all, but a Bloody-Eyed Mane Lion – a mid-saint level fire-type magical beast.

Apparently, the young lion they had previously defeated was the granddaughter of the saint-level beast.

Just as Julius was cursing their luck, the saint-level lion they assumed would try and kill them stared at Leonel in disbelief before roaring with laughter as tears of joy fell from its scarlet marble-like eyes. It was then that they found out that Leonel was none other than the long-lost son of the saint-level lion.

Apparently, around half a decade ago, one of his wives had actually laid a large egg. But as lions didn't reproduce by laying eggs, he and the rest of his pack understood that it had to be a Divine Beast, as all Divine Beasts are hatched from eggs. So, just like for the dragons of the dragon pit, the lions saw this soon-to-hatch egg as their path to rise.

Unfortunately, they had many rivals in the wild. One of which was a pack of Wolves led by a Saint-level Sky-Wolf. When the wolves had gotten word about the egg they were protecting, led by their Sky-Wolf leader, they assaulted the pride of lions in an attempt to kill the egg.

The fight was particularly brutal, but the difference between the leaders of both groups was virtually non-existent. It only came to a stop when they realised that the egg had already hatched and the Divine lion cub had already made its escape, presumably after sensing the power of the two saints in the distance.

But because their fight went on for multiple days before stopping, Carter, the Bloody-Eyed Mane Lion, wasn't able to find it after that. His whole pride had spent a long time trying to track its newborn son, but it couldn't find him anywhere.

And after their war against the wolf pack, he and his family of lions were already injured, and as they were in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, where many other powerful beasts were lurking, ready to pounce, they had to retreat from their original home in an attempt to nurse their wounds.

Though he knew it was unlikely he'd ever see his son again, Carter had never stopped looking. With his saint-level spiritual essence and his incredible senses, he was able to recognise his long-lost child with just a glance.

The palpable excitement of the saint-level lion was completely understandable. Still, that excitement quickly turned into an unbridled rage when he learnt that his son, a genuine Divine Beast with infinite potential, had forged a bond of equals with a mere human child.

He was about to kill Amira and Julius in a fit of rage, but Leonel hurriedly stood in front of them, unwilling to back down, even if it was his father and a saint at that.

Seeing how determined his son was to protect the humans frustrated him. As a magical beast that stood near the apex of all magical beasts, he understood better than most that the relationship between humans and beasts was virtually always hostile, with the only time that humans and beasts were able to co-exist relatively peacefully was when humans subjugated beasts. So how could he, as a leader of a powerful group of magical beasts, ever look kindly at humans?

If it were any other member of his family acting against him like that, Carter would've mercilessly slaughtered them and then killed the humans, but Leonel wasn't just any member of his family. Aside from the fact that he was a Divine Beast, Carter went to sleep every night for the last five years racked with guilt for not being able to protect him.

As Leonel had spent the last five years fending for himself in the wild instead of under his protection, he couldn't bring himself to kill those his naïve son cared for – even if it went against his better judgement.

But his tolerance only went so far. When Leonel asked for his help saving his human partner, Carter almost re-lost his temper, but Leonel wasn't willing to give up so easily.

When he explained that Ace was only captured after risking his life to save his own, Carter's rage calmed – albeit only slightly. Still, he had no intentions of rescuing the boy from power like the Cult of Darkness.

Leonel argued that since he wasn't going to help, then he should just pretend they never met as he wouldn't be leaving with him.

Carter prepared to knock his son unconscious and take him by force, knowing that Leonel wouldn't see reason after just meeting him, but before he could make his move, Amira stepped forward.

She explained that Leonel wasn't just an ordinary Divine Beast; he could be considered an Apex Divine Beast, one that, by all intents and purposes, is unmatched in the same realm.

Carter snorted, replying that he obviously knew that, but Amira's following words caught her off guard. She explained that even though Carter's natural ability was nothing short of incredible, Ace was able to defeat Leonel despite being of the same rank.

Hearing that, the giant, scarlet-eyed lion looked towards his son in disbelief, only to see him nod as if to tell him that everything Amira said was true.

Amira then said that if he were to help him save Ace, his pride of lions would effectively be getting themselves two freaks on the same level as Leonel and that he definitely wouldn't be disappointed.

Feeling intrigued, Carter eventually agreed to help them, but he wouldn't risk the lives of his son or the rest of his family by fighting directly against the Cult, to which Amira assured him that that wouldn't be necessary.

From that moment, Carter was the one who took charge of creating the beast tide, and as a mid-stage saint, he was far more efficient than his son.

Whilst Carter, Leonel, Amira, and Julius were waiting above the castle, the rest of his pride was waiting on the outskirts of the city with thousands of magical beasts. Several of which were actually of the ninth, eighth, and seventh rank.

Upon exiting the main gates to the Cult's main headquarters, Gediah's head turned to the east, where he sensed the presence of several very powerful magical beasts.

A helpless sigh escaped his lips as he calmly floated into the skies only a few meters away from the saint-level lion that had put the fear of god into all his subordinates below. "My name's Gediah; how may I help you all today?"

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Book 4 - Chapter 36