"Master was disappointed when you escaped 14 years ago," Kenyon exclaimed excitedly as he reached forward as if to grab Milianna, only to be stopped by Wukong.

"What do you think you're doing?" Wukong said, his tone icy as he grabbed Kenyon's wrist.

It wasn't just Wukong who made a move. As soon as Kenyon stepped forward, without even thinking, Ace, Lance, and Killian all stepped in front of Milianna, glaring at Kenyon threateningly.

Milianna simply stood there trembling in terror as if she'd seen a ghost, all colour having faded from her face. "I…

I can't go back! Please, don't take me back!"

"Mom?" Ace said worriedly when he saw his mother's reaction.

"Mom?" Kenyon said in shock as he stared at the dark-haired boy. "She's your mother? That would make you ma-"

"This king doesn't give a fuck about anything you have to say," Wukong said as he flicked his wrist, summoning his crystalline bo-staff. "Anyone who dares make a move on this king's junior sister deserves death!"

As he said that, bolts of lightning suddenly flickered around his body as he erupted at a speed that shocked not only Kenyon but even Haydson.

As a saint, even if he wasn't expecting it, Kenyon should've been fast enough to easily resolve anything that a rank nine warrior through at him, especially as a saint-level warrior who specialised in the laws of wind, but Wukong's staff was genuinely like a bolt of lightning as it tore through the air aiming right for his head.

Thankfully, even if Wukong was much faster than he anticipated, he was no slouch himself. He was able to summon his straight sword from his storage ring and raise it just in time to barely block Wukong's strike.

The moment the staff and sword made contact, Kenyon's eyes widened in disbelief. Kenyon was sent skidding back over 20 meters before coming to a stop.

Wharton, Lina, Brutus, and even Haydson watched Kenyon slide straight past them in shock. He may have only been in the early stages of the saint realm, but Kenyon was also a direct disciple of O'Brien, a genuine deity, he ranked near the top of those at the early stages of sainthood, yet he was still forced to retreat by a mere mortal.

But Wukong was far from done. He flashed passed Wharton and the others appearing directly in front of the stunned Kenyon, his staff descending with unbridled fury aiming to crush his opponent's head.

"Fuck off!" Kenyon roared in humiliation and anger as he waved his sword to meet his ape-like opponent's staff.

Despite being surprised about Wukong being able to attack with the speed and strength of a saint, he assumed that was the limits of Wukong's power, and although impressive, it wasn't at a level he had to be worried about.

As far as he was concerned, when he started using his full strength, he'd be able to finish Wukong in at most five moves. But, unfortunately, he was destined to be disappointed.

As hard as it was to believe, it appeared that Wukong hadn't gone all out with his first strike. Kenyon felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he felt the unparalleled momentum of Wukong's descending staff.

'I can't block this one,' Kenyon noted as he immediately went from attempting to block to parrying with the aim of using the force behind his opponent's attack to put some distance between them.

Kenyon realised he couldn't afford to treat Wukong as if he were a mortal. If he wanted to win this, he had to treat Wukong as if he was one of his peers. Unfortunately, things just went from bad to worse for him.

'Kenyon's realm may be superior, but this Wukong fellow's insights into the natural laws aren't much worse than my own.' Haydson analysed as he dumbfoundedly watched Wukong dominate the battle.

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Whilst the others were watching Wukong's battle with Kenyon, Ace and Lance were focused on Milianna.

They both remembered the day when they all met ten or so years ago. Back then, after Ace had been rude to Lance, Milianna had been so scared that she actually raised her voice, forcing Ace to apologise out of fear of what Lance would do to them.

Then there was the time she told them about her origins. When she mentioned the O'Brien empire, she was able to forcibly hold back her emotions, but Ace and Lance could see the fear and distress in her eyes.

Between all of that and what Kenyon just said, how could they not understand what happened to Milianna in the past?

Ordinarily, Ace wouldn't have been able to control himself. He wouldn't be able to quench the anger in his heart until he burned the whole O'Brien empire down to the ground, but he could literally feel his mother's emotions.

The excruciating pain, the overwhelming terror, the profound despair. He could feel it all. In that moment, all he wanted was to take his mother as far away from Kenyon as possible.

"Mom," Ace whispered gently as he took her clammy palms into his own. "Mom, it's Ace."

"Ace?" Milianna stammered as her tear-filled eyes fell on her son. "Ace, I can't let him find you. I can't let him."

"It's okay, Mom. We're safe." Ace said as he pulled her into his arms to try and calm her down. "We're at the Pavilion. We're safe!"

"Ace," Lance called softly. "We need to get her inside."

"I know," Ace nodded as he gently lifted his mother's trembling body into his arms before making his way towards the entrance to the Yin-Yang mountain with Lance, Killian, and Leonel following behind him.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Brutus roared when he saw Ace walking away.

Even though there was a saint-level battle taking place right behind him, Brutus was more interested in making sure Ace didn't escape.

Whilst it was true that Ace had left a shadow looming over Wharton's heart, it was nothing compared to the one he had cast on Brutus.

He was just about to dash in Ace's direction when he felt his spine chill.

The moment Brutus looked like he wanted to stand in Ace's way, Joel and the other disciples of the Pavilion locked onto him. The killing intent each of them had developed over the last six months focused solely on him.

But as much as they had improved, Brutus was still a warrior at the peak of the seventh rank. The killing intent they radiated could, at most, be called disturbing. The true sense of danger that he felt came from Leonel.

Not only was Leonel a Divine Beast, he was also a beast that grew up in the mountain range of magical beasts where he had to kill on a near daily basis just to survive.

He was already frustrated over his inability to help his human partner in his time of need, so when he saw Brutus about to try and get in Ace's way, the aura he radiated made Brutus feel like he was a little mouse being stared at by an apex predator.

"Enough!" Haydson said, using his battle-qi to protect his voice into the ears of everyone present as he used his magical movement technique to appear between Kenyon and Wukong, calmly stopping Wukong's staff from crashing into Kenyon's side and forcing him to retreat dozens of meters.

"Haydson," Kenyon said between deep breaths. "You have to capture that woman and her son. I promise, if you do, my master will reward you handsomely."

When he heard that, Haydson would've been lying if he said he wasn't tempted. As powerful as he was, he knew he was nothing in front of O'Brien, a genuine deity, but before he could say anything, a woman bathed in violet flames appeared in the sky above Ace, looking down at the intruders coldly.

As soon as his eyes met Lauriella's, Haydson had to forcibly suppress the shock he was feeling. One of the things he prided himself on was how accurate his instincts were, and right now, his instincts were screaming at him that this woman was dangerous.

When he first agreed to take Wharton on this trip, he thought this would be a quick trip to a weak little school in the middle of nowhere that he could crush if he wanted to, but never could he have imagined that he would've been so wrong.

First, there was Wukong, whom even he had to admit was without a doubt the most talented person he'd personally ever seen, including him and his disciple, and now there was a descendant of one of the four supreme warriors that he'd never heard of that seemed to be no weaker than him.

'What kind of institution is run by powerhouses of this level?' Haydson wondered as he slowly rose in the air to face the enchanting saint-level Violetflame Warrior.

.

.

.

At the same time, Ace had just arrived at the peak of the mountain still carrying Milianna, where he found his master, as well as Lazerim and Kimika waiting.

"What happened out there?" Kimika asked as she looked at Ace and his group. "Why did little Kong pick a fight all of a sudden?"

Though they heard Kimika's question, Ace, Killian, and Lance were still too focused on Milianna to think about responding.

Aiden frowned when he saw Milianna's condition. Before any of the others could react, he appeared directly in front of Ace and his mother, placing his hand on the top of her head without warning.

If it were anyone else, Ace would never let them do as they wished with the woman who brought him into this world, but after five years, the level of trust Ace had in his master couldn't be put into words.

"I'm guessing our guests outside are from the O'Brien Empire," Aiden sighed as he looked into the near-emotionless eyes of his disciple.