Frozen

Seith wasn't a fool.

As things stood now, he and the Patriarch's Faction were in a precarious position. Of course, his chair on the Star Order Council was practically set in stone, as was the case for every Patriarch before him. However… He simply wasn't satisfied with this.

Of all the Patriarch's in Luxnix history, Seith would not only be the one with the shortest tenure, but he would also be, by far, the most emasculated. Ever since Myghell began to show his talents, Seith had fallen by the wayside and this Crown Heir of their family had become the de facto Patriarch. In fact, many of Seith's roles in the family now were the very same roles he had had as the former Crown Heir. It was nothing short of humiliating to an extreme.

While he was sweating over the daily tasks of the family, Myghell lived a life of leisure. He had all the resources he could ever want, all the access he could ever want, and even had certain clearances that Seith himself couldn't easily access.

Seith had worked his whole life for the sake of claiming the Patriarch position, but everything he had dreamed and pined for was put on the back burner for a junior who didn't seem to care very much for the family to begin with.

He couldn't understand why those old bastards couldn't see it. Myghell had no family in the Luxnix, he at most had thin blood ties twice or thrice removed. Among all those who called themselves Luxnix in the main family, he was probably the most detached and he had clearly made it a point not to form ties that were too close to anyone else.

However, the Star Order Council were blinded by his talent. Not only had they chosen Myghell over Leonel, but what Seith cared the most about was the fact they had actually chosen Myghell over him.

They practically stripped his position of all the power it was worth. He was nothing more than a figurehead for his own family, a happy face to show to outsiders.

In his youth, he had had dreams of eradicating the Viola and Montex families, claiming the entirety of the Sector for the Luxnix. But, he had practically been castrated.

Everything in the family had entered a state of hibernation, all for the sake of Myghell and his maturation process.

Quite frankly, Seith could never hate Leonel as much as he hated Myghell and the Star Order Council.

So, why had he released such a signal? Well, wasn't it obvious?

He hoped that whoever it was that was protecting Leonel in the shadows could make these bastards suffer. Only in this sort of Chaos could he have the chance to rise again and become the Patriarch that he was always meant to be.

It seemed that in the years of arrogance the Luxnix had been fostering, they had been brewing animosity within their own borders... and from more than one person, at that.

BANG!

The moment pillar rose up, it smashed into an invisible dome above. The instant the Patriarch's Emblem had activated, so too had the protective Force Art of the Luxnix Estate.

Beautiful and complex hieroglyph-like formations crawled through the skies, shimmering in golds, whites and silvers as the call of a bird resounded.

The pillar of light splitting into countless pieces.

All across the Luxnix Estate, thousands of Feather Sword warriors were alerted, the pins on their lapels lighting up one after another. Their expressions only had time to turn serious before they all vanished as one.

Back in the location of the battlefield, the blinding lights only seemed to continue. The number grew in size, the vague outline of several figures taking form.

By the time it all faded, the Feather Sword warriors all stood proud and tall. Of course, this number only included those that were currently in the estate and hadn't been deployed. In addition, there were no Twelve Point Feather Sword warriors in sight as they were the personal guard of the Star Order Council. However, this line up alone seemed to breathe pressure into the air.

"Patriarch!"

The Feather Sword warriors all respectfully saluted at once. The booming sound of their voices even dwarfed Seith's earlier shout. However, Seith made no move to command them. He was waiting, waiting for something in specific.

He wasn't going to send these Feather Sword warriors off to their death, that would do him no good. What he needed was…

At that moment, a mountainous pressure descended from the skies. Whether by coincidence, an illusion, or maybe reality, the protective barrier of the estate seemed to glow with a fiercer light, even as the concentration of Snow Force more than doubled in an instant.

In the skies, standing upon what seemed like nothing, an old man with a flowing white beard and hair appeared. His ancient robes fluttered in the skies and his sharp eyes scanned the battlefield, taking it all in, in an instant. His hunched back did nothing to take away from his momentum.

"Who dares attack my Luxnix family?!"

The momentum dwarfed anything Seith or the Feather Sword warriors could match. This man would have been very familiar to anyone who had been at the Gate several weeks ago… This man was none other than the Star Order elder that had sided with Sparking Star Order, Winged Star Order.

The old man seemed to deduce that all of this was caused by Leonel in an instant, the thinking speed of a Sixth Dimensional expert with such strong Internal Sight being far beyond what most could imagine. He immediately locked onto Leonel, his pressure falling down in waves.

However, what he could have never expected was for that pressure to vanish like a refreshing spring breeze just before it could reach Leonel and right as a light sigh rang through the air.

Leonel, who hadn't turned his head back even once since he began to walk forward, even after all the oppressive auras rising to his back, was suddenly forced to stop his steps.

Before him, an older woman wearing fluttering white robes stood. A cane of pristine white wood supported her right side, and though her face was covered in the wear of age, it still carried the delicate touch of beauty. Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.

She gazed toward Leonel with a complicated look, her eyes filled with regret, remorse and sadness.

For a moment, it seemed that everything had frozen.