The rest of the day continued rather peacefully.

Orion returned to his room after pushing Olivia away multiple times.

He had a lot to think about, yet, he felt that there was not much time for that.

The first thing that came to his mind as he sat on the bed was...

-

Reon stopped the screen displaying Elliott and everyone else.

"I've made the time go slower for us. Orianne, we need to talk."

His expression suggested that he wouldn't let this go, even if she ignored it.

"Is it something we have to discuss now?

While hugging Orion, she wasn't very thrilled of the incoming topic.

"There's no way around it, you know I'm that, right? You heard the same thing as me."

She nodded while caressing her son's hair gently.

"I did. What does it changes? Do we simply forgive him, because he wasn't himself? That's too simple, and you know Orion won't give up on revenge either.

Feeling his body recover slightly, Orion gazed past her face, into the white sky.

"I never said we should forgive him. I'm trying to tell you to see the bigger picture there."

While crossing his arms, Reon frowned.

"The bigger picture? That Miasma, who we knew only from our legends, was in reality the one erasing our factions?"

He nodded at her words.

"That too. But before that. Have we ever thought of civilization before us? Do you remember Cevetia's Crater?"

Orianne tilted her head in confusion.

"Why are you bringing Cevetia... Eogis was also attacked by one of those creatures, is what you're trying to say?"

The conversation somehow flew from one ear to the other for Orion, as he was clearly out of it.

"Cevetia was the one to name it, that has nothing to do with anything, but the sheer size of the crater, doesn't that sound strange to you? That we had not heard of a previous civilization? Absolutely no clues? Even Noah's tale was but a legend to us."

"If not for the Remnants blocking those stories, we would have known about them. Or humanity was in too dire of a situation to record anything."

"Elliott is one survivor of that civilization, don't you think it's worth listening to what he said, at least now?"

It was not that he had forgotten the horrible deeds the man had done, but he also felt bad for him, as being controlled while being conscious of it might not have been very pleasant.

"Reon, what words of nonsense are you speaking? This is Elliott we're talking about here."

"He hasn't killed our son, Orianne."

She was unable to acknowledge it, but it was the truth. As she gritted her teeth in anger, she finally gave up.

"It's not our choice. It's his."

As this was the truth, Reon nodded.

"Orion. Listen well."

Using the tone of a father, Reon called out to his son.

With difficulty, Orion grabbed the edge of the table and straightened. Orianne was saddened to let him go, yet she still let him get away from her grasp.

Orion and Reon stared in each other's eyes, until the words came out naturally.

"Watch this."

A screen appeared once again in front of them. It showed a part where Elliott was telling his story. The screen focused on a little girl holding Orion's hand.

"That's..."

His eyes opened wide.

Everyone was focused on Elliott except Stella. They were all too focused to notice, but something was happening with her.

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While grabbing his hand, a symbol Orion recognized as one being the sigil of a Remnant blinked in her eyes. Her darkened eyes had a the symbol of a spiral in them, something that never showed until now.

Her focus was completely turned to the bedridden Orion, the only person she trusted completely to this day. Unknowing to her, she had activated her power, and improved his own regeneration, healing him through the tale of Elliott.

That was the reason for his slow recovery, and the pain subsiding. Watching the little girl only caring about him, forcing her power involuntarily as she wished for him to survive.

"Yes, I noticed that child worrying about you all this time. Not only her."

Orion's eyes switched to Amelia and Karteira.

"Even after you've lost control, they believed in you. They cried for you. At no point they will give up on you."

"Are you fine with leaving them behind? Are you really going to forget everything you've seen, experienced, and everyone you've encountered, just to achieve a worthless end?"

Orianne looked down. All she wanted was for Orion to be happy, but it conflicted with his desire to avenge his parents.

"Is vengeance all you can think about? Don't you have better things to worry about? Like, for exemple, two beautiful girlfriends, and a cute little daughter?"

This struck deep into Orion's heart. The conflict was creating a great turmoil in his mind.

'But what about Elliott? I can't forgive him! But I don't want to leave them yet. Not yet!'

Until Reon gave him a way to break his conflicted thoughts.

"Why don't we simply forget about him? If he's not an actual threat, use him. Exploit his power for yourself to protect what you care the most."

"Forget? About Elliott? That's going to be difficult."

His thoughts were raging toward vengeance, why would he forget about what drove him to this very moment?

"Do it like this then. You watch his actions, and decide for yourself if he could bring harm to you. If not, leave him be. At this point, we know that our true enemy is Miasma, not him."

"Don't you think he might be miserable enough now that he freed himself?"

The idea of taking into account Elliott's feelings never crossed his mind. He never considered, for a single moment, that he was a normal being that felt anything.

"Elliott? Miserable..."

His mind began to reenact the whole story Elliott told. A few minutes later, he nodded.

"Right, I can do that. If you tell me I can simply ignore him, then I will."

Reon smiled, before adding something else.

"What's going to be your next goal? You've been running after something impossible from the very beginning, are you going to choose something a little more approachable this time?"

"..."

His eyes went to the screen. Orianne placed her right hand on his back, as he made up his mind.

-

'Protecting what I consider important to me for sure is my ambition, but making them happy is something I will have to work my whole life on.'

After making up his mind, he chose to return his consciousness to his body. He had to part ways with his parents once again, but he felt better in many ways.

But his place wasn't inside the bracelet. It was next to Amelia, Karteira, and Stella. He had to support the ones who chose to follow him. Those who refused to give in to corruption. Those who fought on the same side, and those who needed his help.

'I'm committed to follow that promise. I will protect them, and I will stop holding back anymore.'

After thinking about Amelia and Karteira's wild assault the night before, and the fact that he still hadn't seen Stella since she helped him and haven't petted Sirius either, the next topic randomly popped in his head.

It concerned his own powers.

'Since recovering, my body feels lighter. I'm not suffering any setback at all, and I can feel my own attributes active.'

He was now able to freely switch between his angel and demon form at will. Unlocking them was a huge plus, as they helped his magic circulate faster and more efficiently, something he was having trouble doing before.

'What I did earlier...'

The memory of him copying Karteira, throwing himself from the window with a single, effortless push to catch Karteira and Drania returned.

'I've been using the light element for a long time now, but it was the first time I've seen it used this efficiently. I knew Karteira had potential using the speed enhancement, but it took her less than a day to go faster than both me and the twins.'

'Maybe because she only have one element to focus on?'

He closed his hands and opened them a few times.

'I have a lot of work to do to adjust to this new feeling. I feel so free it's weird.'

There was more opportunities to grow now that he was able to freely use his factions' forms.

"Now..."

He stood up and approached the window in his room. He placed his forearm on the glass and looked down.

In the garden, Olivia was instructing her maids, who nodded each time she pointed at a direction.

'What am I supposed to do with her?'

'In all honesty, she is a lovely person. A little mischievous is how I would describe her, but I only felt an overwhelming desire to get intimate with me. And my brain could only see her as 'beautiful'.'

He closed his eyes.

'This is conflicting. Amelia and Karteira were enraged after hearing about the kiss, but I don't think they hate her. Though, she's not going to accept a 'no' for an answer.'

'Yet, how did they manage to survive for so many years? Did they merge together with humans? That would be unheard of. Or they reproduced between each other? That would be... oddly disturbing.'

But what Orion was unfamiliar with, was the long lifespan of the angels and demons. The thick magic flowing in their body was cleansing their body constantly, stopping the aging process around their thirties.

That's why his parents looked young, even though they lived quite a long time. Two hundred years was the most they could live on.

Olivia was part of the eleventh generation of her family, and the last one of the demons. There was not only her family that fled Eogis in the past, but a whole part comprising various families of demons.

They naturally died down with time, leaving Olivia the last true demon alive. That was the reason why she felt so attractive to him.

She was naturally a good match, as his demon blood reacted to hers. Paired with the sigil of the Remnant of 'Beauty', he could only watch as his heart slowly acknowledged Olivia as an attractive woman.

"..."

Olivia felt someone stare at her, and as she looked everywhere, she finally noticed Orion at the window.

With a surprisingly normal smile, she waved at him. Without thinking, he also waved at her.

That seemed to have made her in a very good mood, as she paced happily back into the castle.

'Well, I guess that's fine.'

He walked back to the bed, and lied on it. He stared at the ceiling, until drowsiness took him away.

"..."

When his breathing showed that he had fell asleep, someone slowly opened his door.

Two pairs of eyes glanced inside the room.