180 Book 6: Chapter 3 – Son of Heaven
"So what happened next after running into Linley?" Ace asked, bringing the focus back to the story.
"After realising the danger Linley was in, Cesar took action and forced the saint to leave," Mira explained.
"As the so-called king of killers, I'm surprised he didn't kill her,"
"We were as well, until Cesar explained that unless he was paid, he always made a point to avoid killing saints from the Radiant Church and the Cult of Darkness.
Although he's not scared of them, killing them always brings more trouble than it's worth," Mira shrugged before continuing. "But anyway, after saving Linley, he explained how, after parting with us and awakening his bloodline, he went on to graduate early so that he and his father could focus on slowly rebuilding their clan's strength.
In doing so, they finally gathered all the ingredients to concoct the potion to restore the purity of Lina's soul.
After leaving the forest of Darkness, they had prepared to meet up with Linley's brother and mother when they got word back from the Dawson Conglomerate that the ones who had tried to kidnap Lina was Clayde. As a result, they decided to head back to the Kingdom of Fenlai to kill him first before meeting back up with the rest of their family.
But before they could, the beast tide erupted. It was, ironically, the chaos of the beast tide that ended up protecting Clayde."
"Makes sense," Ace nodded. "But that can't be the end of the story. That would of, at most, slowed you guys down by an hour."
A guilt-filled sigh escaped Mira's trembling lips before she explained, "When Cesar stopped the saint from the church, unfortunately, it attracted the attention of a few of the saints of the magical beasts.
By the time Linley had finished his story, they had already nearly caught up to us. It would've been easy enough to escape had it just been the four of us, but I foolishly suggested we bring Linley and his group with us, to which Cesar readily agreed.
Unfortunately, in a scenario like that, you're only as fast as your slowest person. In the end, we were surrounded by five saint-level magical beasts."
Hearing that, Ace could understand why Mira felt guilty, not that he blamed her. How could she know what was happening in the O'Brien Empire? Plus, in the end, everything worked out for the best.
"Still, with the strength of Cesar and Uncle Aiden, we quickly managed to slaughter a path out of the encirclement, but things took a drastic turn for the worst when I managed to break through to the sixth rank," Mira said, the guilt in her voice only getting thicker, much to Ace's confusion.
"Why do you make your breakthrough sound like a bad thing?" Ace asked. "If anything, shouldn't that have made things easier for you guys?"
"Yeah, it would have, only it turns out that, like you, Alissa, and Linley, I also have a unique bloodline which decided to awaken the moment I reached the sixth rank," Amira sighed as she calmly activated her bloodline right there and then.
Ace's eyes widened in surprise when he saw a literal angel manifest from the void behind Mira.
The angel was a carbon copy of Mira; only this angel had six wings and a golden halo that radiated pure light.
It was then that he noticed the actual changes to Mira as he subconsciously scanned her with his [Observation].
Not only did she experience a whole rank increase as both a mage and a warrior, but her spiritual essence seemed to jump from the late stages of the eighth rank – which, considering she was naturally only at the late stages of the sixth rank, was already incredibly impressive – all the way to the peak of the ninth rank.
"Similar to when the barrier around your soul broke, or when Aunt Millie's soul healed itself when my bloodline awoke for the first time, it created a huge disturbance, attracting the attention of all the powerhouses in the area," Mira sighed.
"The results were that remaining saint-level magical beasts all converged on our position," Mira explained. "Uncle Aiden and Cesar stopped caring about the presence of Linley and his group and tried to take Alissa and me out, but by then, it was too late.
The three prime saints – all of which were Six-Eyed Golden Ni-Lions – were the first to catch up with us, causing Cesar to explode with all his strength.
His strength was incredible; he quickly suppressed all three of them on his own, but before he could kill the first one, a terrifying suppressive force surrounded all of us, causing the space in the area to freeze."
"Godrealm…" Ace sighed when he remembered the feeling of being trapped in O'Brien's.
"Exactly," Mira explained with a hint of unwillingness. "With that Full God, Dylin, entering the fray, escaping became all but impossible, especially as the three identical lions were apparently Dylin's children.
The first thing he did was attack Cesar leaving him with a hair's breadth away from death. Just as it looked like Cesar would die, Uncle Aiden used the power of his soul to withdraw a single golden drop of liquid from his storage ring."
As she thought back to that drop, a look of awe and even reverence appeared on Mira's face. "I only found out after, but that drop of liquid was actually a drop of sovereign's might. Apparently, it blesses anyone who absorbs it with the power of a sovereign.
When he saw it, Dylin's brows furrowed slightly, but still, no fear could be seen on his face. Presumably, because he was confident that even if Uncle Aiden absorbed it, he still wouldn't be able to threaten him, but when Uncle sent a message to Dylin mentally, Dylin's face dropped.
I don't know what was said, but whatever it was, it genuinely appeared to put the fear of death in him.
Ultimately, things ended with Uncle Aiden getting Dylin to agree to let us go by making a trade. We got to leave without being attacked; in return, Uncle Aiden gave Dylin that drop of light element Sovereign's Might.
Still, even though we were allowed to escape with our lives, Cesar was still badly injured, causing the speed of our group to drop substantially, which in turn prevented us from being able to be there for you when you needed us most.
I'm so sorry!"
"Silly girl!" Ace gently chided. "You have absolutely nothing to apologise for – I'm just glad you're all okay, and your bloodline…
It's incredible!"
Ever since finding out about what happened with Ace, she had spent every day riddled with guilt. It was only after hearing the sincerity in Ace's voice that Amira's mind was finally put at ease.
"I know, according to my mother, mine is the bloodline of the Viz clan – a powerful clan from one of the higher worlds.
It allows us to conjure something called a 'Spiritual Manifestation' into reality. The Manifestation of each member of my clan varies from person to person. The Manifestation could take the form of a weapon, a magical beast, or potentially even a Divine Beast; the variations are limitless.
Still, the only hard and fast rule is that the earlier it is one awakens their bloodline, the more powerful it is.
Apparently, the average descendant of the Viz clan awakens their bloodline at the deity rank, similar to a Divine Beast.
Not even my mother has awakened hers yet, but she said that since mine awakened at the sixth rank, it makes it one of the purest bloodlines she had ever heard of in the clan's history." Amira said, her face radiating pure unadulterated pride. "As you can imagine, after hearing all of this from her, I desperately wanted to learn more about our Viz clan, but she refused to tell me. She said that if I really want to know the truth, she will tell me everything when I become a deity."
"Deity?!" Ace asked wide-eyed. "That's a bit harsh, isn't it?"
"That's what I thought," Mira sighed. "But apparently, with my talent, she'd be surprised if I wasn't able to become a deity in 100 years."
"That's true," Ace nodded, understanding that if not for his reincarnated memories, even with his bloodline, it'd be arguable whether or not he'd still be stronger than Amira.
"It's still a long time to wait," Mira pouted adorably. "But for now, I'm just happy that I've finally closed the gap with you – well, almost closed."
Ace merely smiled but didn't say anything.
"What, you don't believe me?" Amira snorted, her battle intent surging forth like a rushing tide. "Why don't we have a little spar for old time's sake, Mr "Son of Heaven"."
"Son of heaven?" Ace asked, his head tilting in confusion.
"It's the epithet you got given after everything that happened in the O'Brien Empire," Amira snorted with an exaggerated eye-roll. "After the events of last year, most think of this as the start of a new era, and you, 'Mr Son of Heaven', are seen as the young poster boy of this new era."
"I see," Ace sighed helplessly.
"Don't you dare sigh like that!" Amira snorted, glaring threateningly. "Are you gonna accept my challenge or what? That first-ranked core disciple spot has been yours for a bit too long now!"
"I would love to," Ace said as his eyes drifted out the window, as a knowing smile suffused his lips. "But before that, it appears we have some guests to see."
Before Amira could voice her confusion, the sound of an excited roar threatened to blow her eardrums!
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Book 12: Part 1 – New Descendants of the Gol Clan
