Karnage: Sorry this is really late and a bit short. I literally sat down Tuesday to begin writing, and I was like "Oh yeah, lemme just check and see how many novel updates I missed".....when I saw how much my jaw literally dropped. How the hell could there be so many novel updates for christmas! I spent the entire week catching up on them...I kept going...

"Imma just finish this chapter...surely...for sure...I'll begin writing after...."

10 minutes later....

"After this fight for sure....I'll definitely begin writing again...."

2 days later....

"Holy crap....Cloudjade is a whore"

4 days later.....blood-red eyes....

*Pulls out wifi plug*

.......and that is how you have your chapter here tonight lol. Back to reading for me tonight, I'm no where close to finishing! Enjoy and forgive any errors

V2 Chapter 16-

This young lady......was Sol's Intelligent Weapon, the Queen Basilisk. This was not her true form as Sol's power was unable to make her appear with her true power and she could only manage to create a body of a young girl, or more precisely a younger looking version of herself. She playfully held onto Sol's arm as she ignored the crowd and maintained a mischievous smile, Sol seeing this smiled wryly as he knew this Queen was quite troublesome.

The Queen Basilisk had awakened before Mitra, she decided to appear before Sol in her new accessible form and surprised the latter greatly; mainly because she was naked at first. Sol asked Maria to make her some clothes and she readily agreed with stars in her eyes once she noticed how pretty the little Queen was.

Even Sol was quite taken back by her appearance, he had never seen anyone that could compete with Zee in beauty and this young girl was definitely one of them. However, the relationship Sol had with this little Queen was strictly familial and treated her like a little sister because of their bond and her young appearance.

The latter was quite fond of Sol and also shared these feelings. The little Queen had become quite happy that she was able to take such a form and for the first time she was able to hold her own children with her own hands. The twins loved seeing their mother very much and a heart warming reunion ensued, she rubbed their heads and gave them quite a few kisses and hugs spoiling them as much as she could.

**

As the gazes fell on the pretty young Queen, she ignored them and maintained her mischievous smile. The two walked forward as their arms interlocked and chatted quietly and a beautiful laughter like silver bells resounded from the young Queen, anyone who saw the couple would be astounded as their appearance seemed to match one another perfectly and seemed to be close relatives. They also seemed much different to the people of Earthernvale and possessed a powerful aura similar to their King.

Liore had been fidgeting endlessly as she saw the appearance of this young girl and felt a bit bitter. She didn't know who the girl was and felt a little jealous in her heart, though it didn't show on her pretty cold face.

Liore poured herself another cup of wine and drank it all in one go, luckily everyone's eyes were on Sol and the young girl and did not take any notice of her swift actions, except for her mother whose gaze had been shifting back and forth from the two.

(How beautiful...) -Liore

She bit her lips and stared at the two, she tried to calm her jealous and envious feelings forcing a smile.

Sol walked towards the Royal family's table and pulled a chair for the little Queen to sit on, after making sure she was seated properly. He sat down beside her and gave an indifferent smile as he looked around and enjoyed the beauty of this Grand Colosseum. His eyes flashed with appreciation as he looked at the marvelous decor and suddenly had a weight thought that it could have been done better, this wasn't him being arrogant but he felt like he himself could have done a better job. He didn't know why he felt this way but ignored this thought and looked around with a slight smile. A few voices threw greetings toward Sol as they were all smiles and the atmosphere was truly a joyous one.

[It seems you've arrived and you've brought company] -King Ironspine

[Ho ho ho, quite flashy might I add!] -Former King

[Big brother! Who is this pretty little sister!! Also, big brother looks really cool!!] -Regius

[My! What a pretty little girl, Sol can you introduce her to us?] -Sophia

Sol smiled and then placed his hand on the young girl's head and rubbed it, the little Queen did not fight up and instead pushed her head towards Sol's hand cutely.

[This is little Queen, she is my sister and my sword] -Sol

The group seemed to not understand as they looked at Sol blankly. The Former King seemed to have realized something and looked at Sol dumbfoundedly. He thought for a bit and then couldn't help but ask.

[Y-You....she is an intelligent weapon?] -Former King

Sol smiled and nodded.

[Not only that, she is the mother of my Soul Beasts] -Sol

When Sol said these words the royal family became completely speechless....what a connection!

Not only did he possess a rare type of Soul Beast but two Soul beasts that were twins, adding on to the fact that his weapon was the mother of them both; this was just too weird! The way they saw it, Sol was abnormal within abnormality and he had luck enough to make the Gods bleed with envy.

Sol grinned as he found their reactions funny, before he could speak a cute voice interrupted them-

[This Queen shall be called "Lilith". I'm sure it's a pleasure for plebeian such as you, ehehe] -Lilith

[...Strange...I felt like this has happened before] -King Ironspine

[...Indeed] -Former King

As they heard this the Royal Family gazed at the unassuming sharp-tongued girl with surprise and they suddenly felt a bit of Deja Vu....their gazes just happened to move towards Sol's shoulder where his bow used to be.

Sol laughed as he knew what they were thinking, he remembered Mitra had a similar introduction and that the Royal Family had been looked down on by both of his weapons.  After having enough fun with their expressions, he grinned at Lilith.

[Lily, relax. It's not nice for a young woman to behave in such a manner] -Sol

Surprisingly when Sol spoke to this troublesome looking young girl, she obediently leaned her body into him and rubbed her head with a sad expression and teary pretty golden eyes peering into Sol's, pretending to be hurt. When Sol saw this scene he was instantly reminded of Hydrian and Hydreas when they were born and looked at him similarly with baby like eyes. They also did this when they wanted something, Sol knew....this was definitely a scheme!

Sol pretended to hesitate for a bit and then grinned evilly as he pulled her little nose harshly.

[Tricks!] -Sol

[Oww! The pain...this Queen did nothing wrong..] -Lilith

The pretty little girl's face became flustered as her eyes revealed a wronged expression full of pain. She pretended to faint from the pain and fell on Sol's lap, were it not for the fake peaceful snores people would actually believe it.

While all this was going on, Salira had a strange expression as she stared at the little girl. For some reason she felt like she had seen her somewhere before but couldn't quite put her finger on it. It made the hairs on her back stand up as she looked at the little girl and a trace of fear seeped into her heart not knowing the reason why.

Lilith seemed to have felt her gaze, and for a split second she opened her eyes and gazed into Salira's eyes. Inside, there seemed to be a faint hatred that was suppressed and as she focused on Salira it started growing more and more deeper in her eyes unknown to anyone but Sol.

Salira however, could feel the gaze a hundred fold and she felt exactly like the time the S-Rank had broken through their city walls and looked at her with similar hateful and domineering eyes. This powerful gaze of utter hatred that seemed to hold her in complete disdain.

*Pat*

Suddenly Sol's hand landed on Lilith's back and lightly patted it surprising Lilith and breaking her hatred filled gaze, the little girl looked at Sol and this time the sad expression seemed to be sincere and Sol knew the reason why. He rubbed her back and gave her a caring expression, that seemed to say "It's okay"

The little girl's killing intent faded as she inhaled Sol's scent, in a glow of light Lilith's body became a golden mist that entered Sol's palm becoming a tattoo of a sword with a serpent wrapped around the blade and handle. Salira looked at Sol's palm, fear still deep in her eyes. Sol ignored her emotional changes and subconsciously rubbed his palm, by now it was pretty noticeable to everyone what had just happened, tension like that couldn't be overlooked.

Sol sighed as he poured himself more wine and wore a slight smile, he seemed as though he had something to say thus all eyes had fallen on him.

[Seems there's no ignoring it now, might as well get to the point] -Sol

Sol fished out a runic ring and rolled it along the dining table towards Salira, the ring slowly rolled towards the latter who instinctively stopped it as it came closer to the edge. She picked it up and revealed an astonished expression, Sol seeing this took out a dusty old book from his interspatial ring and slid it across the table towards her.

These actions naturally gathered the attention of the people present and they all stared at the ring which bore Salira's family seal and revealed astonished expressions. The dining area of the royal family contained a sound barrier and as such Sol decided to go ahead and speak freely.

[Salira...truth be told, Lilith was the S-Rank beast that attacked your city] -Sol

Quiet! Complete and utter silence! The people present felt as if they had heard wrong and gazed at Sol blankly. The 3rd Queen, Salira, was the only one who didn't look as though she had heard something wrong and looked at the Sol's hand with a mysterious gaze. Several emotions could be seen in her eyes and all of them were with ill intentions.

[Sol....Did I mishear you?] -King Ironspine

Sol's smile faded and his eyes became serious as he gazed down into his custom made golden goblet that was designed with both a red and black serpent around it's rim, seeing that it was empty he revealed a disdainful gaze.

He poured himself a full serving and took another gulp. His slight smile returned once more and then his eyes met King Ironspine's.

[This is truly good wine] -Sol

Then as if he remembered something, he turned to look at the King and spoke once more.

[No, you heard correctly] -Sol

The King was speechless, he didn't understand why Sol was being so neutral towards the situation. Not just the King, but everyone present felt as though Sol was being a bit too harsh as he seemed not to care at all. They had also noticed Sol no longer addressed them as "King" and "Queen" anymore and wondered how he changed this much. Not that they were offended, but Sol seemed to carry an animalistic fierceness that couldn't be hidden. Though he laughed and smiled, his eyes always remained incredibly sharp and a hint of suppressed ferociousness would surface every now and then when he laughed without restraint. It had become obvious to the King and Former King that Sol didn't have perfect complete control over this fierce side of him and fragments of it would slip through his other emotions.

The King and Former King couldn't even begin to imagine what caused these changes and were on a totally different level from when he had left, they knew he would adapt to survive but this was simply too drastic. Sol's personality had made a complete 180 degree turn around and he carried more of a mysterious and dangerous aura similar to a serpent's. Seeing their expressions, Sol didn't feel any particular way and continued to smile indifferently. His gaze fell on Salira and he directed his words towards her.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

[Even though Lilith is the means by which your city was destroyed, the true killer was a man called Madius Relias Solzen. A thief that was the mastermind behind the entire plot, the one your parents took care of. You may feel as though Lilith is a devil that destroyed your entire world, but you who harbored her child's killer also destroyed her entire world.

You may think I'm heartless or that I'm cruel, but the truth is, both of you are victims and were you in each other's shoes you would have done the same things. If you want me to hate Lilith because she was a victim in this, then should I similarly hate you? You should know the bond between a Soul Beast and it's master, Don't make me choose] -Sol

His words were firm and gave no room for debate leaving the royal family surprised and speechless. Sol continued to sip from his golden goblet, poured himself more wine and seemed not to care at all. He let out a sigh and the indifference in his eyes dissipated as he remembered meeting Lilith inside the cave and her desperate expression, he looked towards Salira and spoke again.

[Just so you know, that thief died a horrible death of fear and pain. If you're talking about suffering, then Lilith's suffering does not lose out to yours] -Sol

This was Sol's attempt to pacify the situation a bit, and at the very least give Salira some type of closure as he didn't want to have to deal with this too long.

No one could say anything as they looked at this astonishingly handsome youth, the first thing they recognized was that Sol did not differentiate between human and beast. To them this was a strange trait to have in this sort of chaotic world where beasts eradicated humans, to Sol however, this was not strange at all, if one had power then naturally one decided the rules.

The things Sol had heard and based on his own deductions, Sol believed that there were indeed humans who stood at the peak of power that similarly destroyed beasts! He also knew that he was not the only human to ally with beasts, that there was definitely other humans who possessed a beast race mark like Sol, though theirs wouldn't be a mutation like his.

It was obvious the royal family and Earthernvale....was just too weak to know these things!

Sol did not want to say this to offend them anymore because he wasn't a bully, He was harsh about the matters about Salira and Lilith in order for them to understand he would never favor Salira over Lilith, and this they understood seeing the relationship between the two.

Thinking about Sol's disposition on humans and beasts, the royal family weren't idiots and understood that Sol had to ally with beasts in order to stay alive after his disappearance, especially since they themselves heard him say he had became part of a Familia.

As all this was going on, at some point Salira had picked up the diary of Madius and begun reading of his atrocious acts. A range of emotions flashed through her eyes and one could see her grip on the book tighten as if she just wanted to shred it apart, but she somehow managed to read it through.

She indeed had the bearing of a Queen as she let out a sigh and regained a composure, she searched the ring and discovered quite a few of her family heirlooms and treasures. Her red eyes welled up with tears as she bit her lip and decided to calm herself. A few memories of her family flashed through her head and she smiled as she gratefully accepted the ring into her bossom.

The 3rd Queen got up from her seat and made her way to a balcony across from where they sat and her silhouette vanished behind the curtains. Everyone understood she wanted time alone and left her to think for herself.

Seeing this, Sol nodded inwardly and gave the Queen props for being able to act somewhat rationally. He believed she wouldn't harbor any foolish intentions like revenge and try anything ridiculous.

The King and Former King noticed Sol no longer wanted to speak about this subject, and so smiled bitterly. King Ironspine cleared his voice which gathered the attention of everyone as he began to speak.

[Well enough about that for now, what happened in the past should stay there! Let us enjoy the feast and our main reason for being here] -King Ironspine

The King spoke loudly and filled with vitality, obviously to break the tension. As he spoke he had a maid pour him some wine, his eyes landed on a roasted bird on the table ripped a large delicious looking drumstick for himself and licked his fingers as he enjoyed the fine food.

[Father is right as always!] -Regius

Regius had no ulterior motives whatsoever as he greedily attacked the food with nothing else in mind. The others also followed suit, they began talking, drinking and eating as if the earlier conversation had never happened.

They understood no good would come from digging up past grievances and decided it wasn't worth offending Sol over at all, obviously since he had no part to play in it. They also noted that he would absolutely not choose their side in this matter.

[Sol....You must tell us about your experiences this past year] -Former King

The Former King couldn't hold back any longer and needed to ask right away, as this question had been asked the surroundings grew quiet as they all perked up their ears. Naturally they all wanted to know how Sol survived and his encounters that made him as powerful as he was.

Sol laughed and looked at the Former King with a mysterious gaze as he recollected his time spent in Serpent Falls.

[Well...where do I begin...hmm, after I was doused in flames created by purified mana--] -Sol

As Sol began telling his story, a range of emotions could be seen flashing through the royal family's eyes. Excitement, joy, worry, amazement and reverence. Liore wrinkled her brows when she heard about Zee but said absolutely nothing as if she had long given up and poured herself another cup of wine. Sol told them everything from the very beginning to end with the exception of the part about his inheritance from the Shimmering Diamond Emerald Serpent.

The King, Julius Ironspine could feel the blood pumping in his veins as he heard of the existences that surpassed Saints. He suddenly felt as though he wanted to go along on Sol's journey, but thinking of his talent and his current status he could only laugh at himself shamefully.

A simple Saint like him wouldn't last a minute inside Sol's world, not to mention he couldn't abandon Earthernvale. The King however, truly wished to become stronger but becoming a Saint is as far as his talent would allow him to grow and so could only give up in his heart.

The Former King seemed to be more interested in Sol's advancements than his adventures and was completely astounded when he heard what Sol had become capable of. Aside from gaining a mutant variation King's mark of a Lamia, he had become the holder of three Soul Beasts and had gained not just a single attribute but a second.

The second being an attribute that a human should not be capable of acquiring - Poison.

Medical Saint Renissa's eyes shone with an unprecedented glow as she heard these details, naturally in her line of work; poison is medicine and medicine is poison. Obviously, If one had gained astronomical gains in one, then they had similarly gained equal gains in the other.

She listened intently as Sol recalled herbs and recipes, how to grow them and where to find them. She learned about finding insects with potent medicinal qualities and her cold face was filled with smiles and anticipation to try out these things.

Naturally some of the recipes would be out her reach being in an area barren of mana such as Earthernvale, but nontheless there were many that were within her reach. Sol specifically gave her the recipes of the ones within her means and keeping in mind the drop of his blood that entered the King, he decided that her reach might expand a tiny bit. As Sol thought of this, a smile crept on his face and his eyes flashed as he threw a subtle glance at the King as if watching a specimen.

Suddenly the King felt a shiver run down his back, he looked around and not noticing anything strange continued chatting.

As for Nightmaster Duke, he enjoyed hearing of the battles filled with Sol's heroic tales. The different types of beasts and the way Sol destroyed them. This old man, although he was quite a kind-hearted and trusty man; he was indeed a lover of battle and was a true warrior. Sol's exploits had been explained modestly from his mouth, but the ferocious gleam in his eyes seemed to say otherwise.

The 1st Queen was quite surprised at every development and had teased Sol about Zee several times, she teased he needed a woman like Zee to tame him. Sol smiled wryly and teased back, the Queen found out to her hilarious surprise that Sol had become quite fresh with himself.

Lieren, the 2nd Queen had listened to Sol's stories and was quite shaken. Lieren would never forget about how he had saved her and she would always be grateful to this young man. She didn't say much except for thanking him for saving her, as she saw her daughter's half drunk appearance she decided not to comment too much despite her curiosity about the fact that Sol might have a mini female serpent version of himself running around .

Naturally the appearance of Zee had given Liore a blow

It took some time for the group to calm down after hearing Sol's adventures and they all had a mixture of emotions.

[It's a good thing you came back in one piece, such battles were indeed fearsome. That Fire Titan Ape was it? ....Sounds like a frightening beast] -Nightmaster Duke

[Hearing of those battles...Makes my "coming of age" trip to the wilderness seem like a trip to the stables] -King Ironspine

[Such precious medicines...Sol, even though I may be 'a frog at the bottom of a well'. I have to say these techniques.....they surely surpass anything I've ever heard about or read. I have confidence in saying even in a city more larger and much more prosperous than ours, I'm sure your skills will be highly valued there] -Medical Saint Renissa

[.....Hmmm...A Lamia woman sounds just about right for you, you've become somewhat of a little rebel and only a woman like that can get you to behave...Hahaha, I'm sure Salira would agree ] -Sophenia

[Mother what are you saying to Sol? Sol you must definitely promise to let me meet that cute little baby otherwise I'd hold a life long grudge!] -Sophia

At this point, Regius and Salina had already fallen asleep curled around Blacky who seemed to be quite wary of the presence of Sol's Soul Beasts. He had gotten a feeling of restlessness ever since Sol had arrived and he sensed Hydrian, Hydreas and Vritra's presence. This feeling was a natural one and this was Blacky's natural reaction to being in the same proximity of multiple predators much more powerful than himself.

A wolf's nature was proud and unrestrained, every type of beast had it's own nature and aura. However, when Blacky had become exposed to Sol's Soul Beasts he had become incomparably shaken. Blacky's demeanor was naturally proud and domineering but in the face of a true predator that carried a much colder bloodlust and much more ruthless nature, he could do naught but try not to offend them. Blacky did not dare to meet Hydrian' eyes in particular and instead searched Regius for fleas as it gently nibbled on his hair, hoping they would stop staring at him as if he were food.

Between the twins and Vritra, Hydrian had always been particularly domineering despite her passive nature. Sol didn't know why and neither did her own mother Lilith. Lilith said that cases like the other twin Hydreas had been seen before multiple times and she knew Hydreas was a deviant mutated beast, she had awakened thanks to Sol's blood and had become something that surpassed a Golden-Blooded Winged Basilisk.

Hydrian however, Lilith had no idea what she was. Hydrian seemed to love the Light Affinity more than any other, despite the fact that she was equally talented in Fire and Poison Affinity thanks to Sol's blood.

Sol noticed Hydrian would just stare in a daze at the sun all day long as if she longed to take to the skies and fly. Lilith had a feeling, that Hydrian was becoming something else other than a serpent.

Lilith wasn't sure and it was only a speculation, but she heard of something similar supposedly happening once before. It had become a legend she had heard from her own parents, it was a story that every serpent who possessed intelligence had heard and was passed down to them.

It was the legend of a serpent that longed for the heavens.