“You know?” Ace asked as he emotionlessly met his master’s gaze.
To Kimika and Lazerim, it sounded like Ace was surprised that Aiden knew the intruders were from the O’Brien Empire, and even they were surprised he was able to tell as he had been with them the whole time, but Aiden knew what Ace was really asking.
“Your mother told Arianna and I the truth a couple of years ago,” Aiden replied honestly.
“You’ve known for a couple of years?” Ace asked back, his tone void of any emotion. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
To the others, Ace sounded cold and detached, but the truth was his emotions were so turbulent and chaotic that the only way he could keep himself from doing something rash and impulsive was by completely suppressing all of his emotions.
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Aiden shrugged. “Your mother’s situation is more delicate than you know,”
“Because she had a pure soul?” Ace asked.
“Exactly,” Aiden nodded. “But it’s not that simple. As you now well know, those with pure souls are most likely to experience severe behavioural changes after suffering a traumatic experience, but your mother’s an extremely rare exception to that rule.”
Killian and the others didn’t understand everything that was being said, but with how serious the situation appeared to be, they just listened quietly.
“After O’Brien forced himself on Milianna 14 years ago, your mother should’ve spiralled, her personality becoming more dark and warped by the day, but when she realised she was pregnant, you became the beacon of light in her world that allowed her to retain her pure, albeit slightly tainted soul.
As you learnt from that Doehring Cowart fellow, by creating a certain potion, it’s possible to heal a tainted pure soul, but what he didn’t say was that if you use it, although the individual’s personality will revert back to normal, they will lose their natural talent. The only way for said person to truly recover from a tainted pure soul is for them to overcome their heart demon.
If it weren’t for that, my wife would’ve already taken O’Brien’s head for daring to touch one of her beloved disciples.
It took a lot of effort on my part to stop that crazy wife of mine, you know.”
Each bit of information that Aiden revealed was more shocking than the last, but the thing that Killian, Lazerim, and Kimika were most shocked about was the fact that if everything Aiden said were true, then that would mean O’Brien, one of the four deities of the Yulan Plane, was Ace’s biological father.
The only ones who weren’t surprised were Lance and Ace himself, who had figured it out the moment Kenyon recognised Milianna.
What surprised Lance, though, was that if Aiden was right, Arianna was actually stronger than the War God. But for those that knew she had already comprehended three of the six profound mysteries of the laws of light and was on the verge of completely fusing them understood that she was more than able to fight and defeat the average low-ranking deity, but none of that mattered to Ace. The only thing he cared about was helping his mother.
“What’s your plan?” Ace asked.
“You,” Aiden responded. “To put it simply, if O’Brien’s the darkness in her heart and you’re her light, you just need to defeat O’Brien.”
His plan would sound absolutely insane if an outsider were to hear, but everyone present understood just how insane Ace’s talent was, and now it finally made sense as to where he inherited his talent.
Between his maternal bloodline – Haki – and his biological father being a genuine deity, his being so freakishly talented made perfect sense.
All things considered, even though O’Brien was a deity, it wasn’t a question of if but when Ace would surpass his biological father.
Ace was also confident in his ability to surpass the man referred to as the God of War, but the problem was that he knew it wouldn’t happen overnight, and his mother’s condition was clearly anything but stable.
“You don’t have to worry so much,” Aiden said calmly. “As long as you’re able to truly convince her that you’ll be able to defeat O’Brien in the future, and I mean so that she believes it from the very bottom of her heart, her soul should remain stable.
Ooh right, and we also need to convince her that we here at the pavilion are able to provide a safe enough space for you to reach your full potential.
“And how do you suppose he does that?” Lance asked, the frustration he felt from his inability to help shining through.
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“Isn’t that obvious?” Aiden replied casually as he retrieved a fresh gourd of wine from his storage ring. “We just use those clowns from the O’Brien to show off a bit.”
“So, what do you say?” Aiden asked as he lowered his gourd from his mouth to look into Ace’s eyes as the corners of his lips curled up, forming an almost fiendish grin. “How about we, master and disciple, use the rats from the O’Brien Empire to put on a show?”
“It’d be my pleasure,” Ace said, a cold smile suffusing his lips, making him look like a little demon.
.
.
.
Things had been pretty tense at the base of the mountain when Lauriella arrived, especially as the killing intent she was radiating was so palpable, it had Lina, Wharton, and Brutus quaking in their boots.
She didn’t know what happened, but the fact that Milianna, one of her junior sisters, was unconscious in Ace’s arms was enough to set her off.
If it weren’t for the fact that Aiden’s voice just appeared in her mind, she would’ve already attacked directly. Still, although she was in left in charge by Mathias, she still had to listen to Aiden.
“You wish to challenge Ace?” Lauriella asked coldly as she looked at the vigilant Haydson.
“My disciple does, yes,” Haydson, the Monolithic Sword Saint, replied calmly.
“Bring him and follow me,” Lauriella replied before turning to make her way back to the peak of the mountain. “Ooh, and if any of you act out, I give you my word, none of you will be leaving with your lives.”
A helpless sigh left Haydson’s mouth at that point. He was beginning to think this was a bad idea.
He hadn’t been paying much attention before, but when Lauriella appeared, he spread his perception only to discover two more saint-level magical beasts in the vicinity.
With how territorial beasts were, he knew there was no way that beasts of that level could live so close to a force like this unless they were allied with them in some way.
If that really were the case, Lauriella’s threat wasn’t a bluff. She really did have the ability to kill them. Even if he were alone, it would be hard to escape.
Still, although this was a terrifying force, as long as they didn’t do anything else to overstep, he didn’t believe they would genuinely dare to go overboard with their actions. After all, they were all important members of the O’Brien Empire, and Kenyon was even a direct disciple of the War God.
“Kenyon,” the sword saint called as he turned back to his middle-aged friend. “Don’t cause any more trouble. Let’s just finish this challenge and leave.”
Even though he was unwilling, Kenyon knew Haydson was right. He had also sensed the saint-level beasts in the vicinity.
Seeing Kenyon agree, Haydson gave a whistle telling the Silver-Tailed Hawk to follow it.
With the way things progressed, Wharton wasn’t as arrogant as he had been when they first arrived.
Seeing so many powerful experts standing behind Ace, he knew he couldn’t afford to be as wilful as usual, but he had the utmost faith in his master – the man he seriously believed to be the most powerful saint in the world.
As such, he wasn’t too worried about his safety. All he was concerned about was whether they’d still be able to force Ace to accept his challenge. So when he saw his master signal that they’d be able to proceed, he couldn’t hide his relieved expression.
“That man…” Joel said as he looked at the middle-aged saint flying beside Haydson. “If I’m not mistaken, that’s Kenyon, the War God’s last disciple.”
“So what?” Faye snorted, clearly still pissed off by their overbearingness.
“Didn’t you hear what he said when he looked at Aunt Milli?” Joel asked. “His master was disappointed when she escaped 14 years ago.”
As he said that, a light went off in the heads of all the disciples.
“You don’t think that the War God is Ace’s…”
Though he didn’t finish his sentence, the others all knew what Kannal was implying as they were all thinking the same thing.
“If it’s true, it would explain Aunt Milli’s reaction,” Yulana sighed.
“It would also explain Ace’s talent,” Faye added.
“If we’re right, things definitely won’t end peacefully today,” Osiris added as he made his way to the mountain’s entrance, followed by his peers, each of whom had already come to the same conclusion – no matter what happens, they would stand behind Ace, even if it meant standing against one of the most powerful factions on the continent!
At the mountain peak, Milianna woke up just as Lauriella and Wukong arrived.
“Ace,” She called out fearfully. “We have to leave. We have to leave right now, or he’ll find us!”
“Mom, calm down,” Ace commanded in a gentle yet strangely forceful tone. “We’re at the Pavilion, we’re safe here.”
“You don’t understand!” Milianna said, tears streaming down her face as the face of her worst nightmare appeared in her mind. “If that man finds us, no one can stop-”
“Milianna,” Aiden suddenly interjected, interrupting his wife’s disciple mid-sentence. “You need to calm down.”
Though there was nothing strange with his words or even the tone, Ace and the other experts among the group all felt an odd spiritual resonance as Aiden spoke. They didn’t know how or what Aiden did exactly, but it had the effect of calming the panicked woman, albeit only temporarily. Still, it was long enough for Ace to say what he needed to.
“Mom, I know about O’Brien,” Ace said calmly, his words eliciting a look of shock and fear from his dark-haired mother, who, despite being forcibly calmed by Aiden’s weird spiritual technique, still paled in fright.
“Mom, I need you to listen to me,” Ace said, remaining perfectly calm. “Can you do that?”
Even though she was petrified and desperately wanted to do nothing more than take her son and run as far and as fast as she possibly could, Ace’s composure was weirdly infectious.
“I know you’re scared, but I promise, as long as I’m alive, no further harm will ever come to you,” Ace said gently as he stroked his mother’s pale, clammy cheeks. “All you need to do is have faith in me. In time I’ll surpass O’Brien and make him pay for what he did to you, but until then, we have the instructors to protect us.”
Her mind was telling her how crazy everything Ace said was, but as she looked into Ace’s eyes, she couldn’t help but be affected by the pure, unwavering resolve they radiated.
“Your son’s right,” Aiden added, deciding to strike whilst the iron was hot. “It may be hard to believe, but as powerful as the O’Brien Empire is, they mean nothing to us here at the Pavilion.”
“And I’ll prove it to you,” Aiden said as Haydson’s group floated up in the sky to his rear. “Just sit back, relax, and watch the show.”