“What?! You let them go on their own?! How could you?!” Felix shouted at Dominic in a shocked voice.
“W-Well, Venezuela told me to not interfere before they teleported out of here,” Dominic told him nervously.
The two of them were sitting in Felix’s room inside the castle with each seated behind the desk in their respective position; Felix behind the desk while Dominic sat in front of it. Dominic wore an uncomfortable expression on his face as he nervously looked at the furious faced Phoenix Emperor.
“That’s not a good enough reason, Dominic! How could you let them go like that? You should’ve stopped them!”
“Felix… You know about Venezuela being very hard on anyone that tries to get in her way and forcing them to not go using my powers as Sword Titan is a bit… You know…”
Seeing Dominic hesitate made Felix realise he had asked the impossible of Dominic. The Sword Titan heavily believes in justice and from his point of view, letting them go to save their husband was the right thing to do. However, it was clear his feelings were not happy with the decision and it slightly annoyed Felix.
“Fine… I understand your point, but why tell me this an hour after they left?” Felix asked and he looked annoyed.
“Ah. You see, you’ve been busy helping the healers with fixing up the wounded and then you began ordering the Phoenix Clan to get ready to storm the various known locations of the Slavemancer around the other kingdoms. Then, you instructed a large portion of the Phintex Rajas to concentrate their full powers in defending the kings and their families of neighbouring kingdoms from any attack from the Slavemancer’s forces.”
“You didn’t want to interfere with my business and that led you to wait a whole one hour before telling me this…?” Felix asked in an exasperated voice. He banged his fist on the desk and said, “Curse your prideful justice! Don’t you know that there’s nothing stopping you from informing me about the wellbeing of my king?!”
“Ah…!” Dominic said and his eyes widened in shock as he realised the obvious. Then, he looked very sad as he said, “I’m sorry, but I keep forgetting Lakshman is the king of a kingdom because of the way he often acts.”
“Yes, I know the feeling,” Felix said in an understanding voice. “Being part of the Nine Pillars of Power takes more precedence than his position as king. However, he did his best as king as well, so I have no complaints on his actions and behaviour.”
“Thank you for understanding,” Dominic said gladly and Felix nodded his head at him.
“Yes, yes, but that leaves us with a problem…” Felix said slowly as he put his hands together. “It’s been an hour and there hasn’t been a word from them after leaving for this long. It makes me worry as I sit here and think about what might be happening to them. I don’t know where they went either even if I wanted to help them out. Dammit…!”
Felix sighed and in a loud voice, he said, “Phintex Raja!"
In an instant, a Phintex Raja appeared kneeling with his head bowed slightly as he asked, “Master. You called?”
“Yes. I want you and several others to go trace the last known location of Emilia Serabell— I mean, Emilia Reddy after she left here. I want a report within the next ten minutes! Hurry!”
“As you order, master!” the Phintex Raja said before disappearing as he warped out of the room.
Ten minutes later, the Phintex Raja warped into the room, causing both Felix and Dominic to quickly turn to look towards him eagerly for good news.
“Report to me,” Felix said quickly and the Phintex Raja bowed his head curiously to his master.
“Sir! We have traced the last known location of Emilia Reddy, which happened to be within the boundaries of Rodfox Kingdom. There, our team discovered a great battle had taken place and we found a large hole in the ground in the vicinity. The battle was fierce and the mountains, which should have been plenty around there, have been reduced down to only a several.
As we explored the area, we could sense the energy signatures that belonged to her majesty, Venezuela Reddy, along with Ondine Reddy, Erza Reddy, Silvera the Demon Slayer, Tetra the Phoenix Blade, Cantia Camdra and his highness, Lakshman Reddy. We also detected two other energy signatures, one of which belonged to the Slavemancer, but the other we could not identify.”
“I see. So, where are they?” Felix asked the most important question.
The Phintex Raja hesitated for a moment before saying, “We have used the highest known spell to sense all life signals in the world, World Sensor, and except for the life signal of the unidentified energy signature, we could not detect the rest of their life signals.”
Felix could not believe what he just heard and he slowly asked, “What?”
“All of us poured out magic into expanding the World Sensor to great distance that covered the entire world, but we were unable to detect the life signals of his majesty, his wives and the Slavemancer. Only the life signal of the unidentified energy signature was detected, which happened to be somewhere in the Demon Continent.”
Felix appeared shocked when Dominic said, “I can understand if the Slavemancer died at the hands of Lakshman or that unidentified person. However, to not be able to detect the rest of their life signals?”
He looked down at the Destiny Sword and asked, “Seta! Can you detect the life signal of Lakshman or Phoenix Blade or the Demon Slayer?”
There was a moment of pause before the Destiny Sword told him in his mind, “Unfortunately, I am unable to detect the life signals of any of the ones you just suggested.”
“How about the rest?” Dominic asked quickly with a desperate expression on his face.
“I’m afraid I’m unable to detect their life signals as well. It appears as if though their life signals had suddenly disappeared from there and this is possible if they had died,” the Destiny Sword explained to him in a calm voice.
“No… It can’t be…!” Dominic said in a shocked voice.
Felix was looking at Dominic, but a sudden thought came to his mind and he quickly turned to the Phintex Raja.
“Can you tell me what sort of energy was this unknown energy signature you detected along with the rest?”
“The unknown energy signature we detected was massive, dark and seemed to be really pure, despite there being lethal energy surrounding the area. It was a kind of power that we, the Phintex Raja, have never studied or encountered till now, sir!” the Phintex Raja said in a nervous voice.
Felix widened his eyes hugely in shock at those words and he slowly said, “Massive dark pure energy?” He looked at his hands and muttered, “No… It couldn’t be him… could it…? That’s impossible because he was thought to be killed by the Phoenix Titan, but again… that could’ve been just a trickery…!”
“Is something the matter, sir?” the Phintex Raja asked him curiously.
“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Felix replied distractedly as he quickly recovered from his reverie. “You can go now.”
The Phintex Raja bowed his head before warping out of there and Felix looked up to see across the desk at the Sword Titan. Dominic was wearing a shocked expression on his face as he had difficulty swallowing the only answer that remained before them.
Dominic quickly looked at his sword and seriously asked, “Seta! Are you absolutely certain you can’t detect the life signals of the people we’re looking for?”
“Master… Within the boundaries of powers that I am allowed to sense, I am certain that I cannot detect he life signals of Lakshman Reddy and his wives! However, I do sense the presence of an old enemy from around 8000 years ago.”
“What? An old enemy from 8000 years ago?” Dominic asked in a surprised voice and Felix’s eyes widened in disbelief when he heard those words.
“Are you positive this enemy is from 8000 years ago?!” Felix asked abruptly and surprised Dominic.
“Um… Seta?” Dominic asked her curiously for a response to Felix’s question.
“I am certain because the Sword Titan of that time fought him and almost died before the Phoenix Titan arrived to fight him. I can never forget the pure darkness he commands, even though he is fighting for the side of evil!” Seta said in an angry voice.
Dominic looked towards Felix and nodded at him, causing Felix to gasp in surprise. Then, he breathed a heavy sigh before saying, “I don’t believe this…! I thought he was surely dead, killed at the hands of the Phoenix Titan of that time!”
“Um… Who’re you—?” Dominic began with a confused expression on his face.
At that moment, they heard a loud piercing voice shout, “HHHeeeeellllllooooo!!!”
Both Felix and Dominic quickly clapped their hands on their ears and said, “Gah! My ears!”
For a moment, there appeared to be disturbance in the air as scratchy noises were made before the voice was heard speaking telepathically to everyone in the world.
“Oops. My mistake! It seems that I had spoken a little louder without intending to. So, let me start over.” The speaker cleared his throat loudly and telepathically said, “Hello my future subjects of the world! How are you doing on such a wonderful day? It is a wonderful day for me because today, I am happy to say that I will be becoming the overlord of the world!”
“What?!” Dominic exclaimed as Felix widened his eyes in shock.
“I have lived for more than 8000 years, right back in the time when the Emperor of the World ruled this world with an iron fist that never allowed anyone to challenge his authority! It’s been 8000 years since then and it’s high time someone else takes over the mantle of responsibility that he left behind when he suddenly disappeared in the year 1000 of the Iron Era!
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For a long time, I have waited for my chance to resurface into the world after suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Phoenix Titan 8000 years ago! Now, I am free at last and I will finally be able to become the next Emperor of the World!
The current Phoenix Titan will not stop me because I have seen to it that he was killed! I killed him along with the allies he had with him in his attempt to stop me! The same punishment will be laid to anyone who dares to get in my way and that especially goes to the Nine Pillars of Power…! If you dare to challenge me, you will most certainly perish! Mark my words!
Obey me and you shall live, but disobey me and you will perish! I do not need trash clogging the world. With this, I, the Calamity Titan, will now take my rightful place as the Emperor of the World! That’s why, obey me subjects… object my world!”
Those listening to his powerful voice were left speechless from sheer shock of hearing world conquest of the world they were living in. Pandemonium erupted in the villages, towns and capitals of all the four kingdoms as people began running around madly with fright. They did not know who this unknown force was, but they could tell that he was a dangerous being and they suddenly feared for their lives.
“That Calamity Titan killed Lakshman and his wives?!” Dominic exclaimed in an angry voice. “That bastard, but who is he? I never heard of a man by the name Calamity Titan before!”
“His name is not meant to be spoken at all, except by those powerful enough to challenge him, master,” the Destiny Sword told him in his mind. “Many feared him and they began calling him the Ruler of Darkness.”
“Ruler of Darkness?” Dominic asked with a perplexed expression on his face. “I don’t remember you telling me much about him.”
“I hardly knew anything about him either other than his name and that he fought my master 8000 years ago,” the Destiny Sword replied.
Dominic appeared to be confused before looking towards Felix and was surprised to see the dark expression on his face. Felix was looking shocked as he stared at his hands with wide eyes full of fear. It was the first time for Dominic to see Felix looking so frightened.
“F-Felix…? Are you okay?” Dominic asked uncertainly.
“Do I look okay to you?” Felix asked as he lifted his head to look weakly at Dominic. “That bastard just declared himself the Emperor of the World! If what he said is true about him killing Lakshman and his wives, then there’s no one left to stop him anymore!”
Dominic narrowed his eyes suspiciously and asked, “You seem to know something about this guy… Mind explaining to me a bit about him to me, Felix…?”
He has asked slowly and clearly, but his message carried the demand for an answer. Felix noticed it and he sighed before beginning to explain to Dominic about the Calamity Titan.
“According to what’s been recorded in the Phoenix Clan historical records, the Calamity Titan was one part of a group known as the Pillars of Power, which was the Nine Pillars of Power of the past. He was the strongest out of it, although it was a difficult comparison between him and the Phoenix Titan, but they appeared to be mortal enemies as they always seem to try and kill each other upon meeting face to face.
Anyway, when the Emperor of the World suddenly disappeared, the Calamity Titan betrayed the order of the Pillars of Power and attempted to seize control of the entire world. However, that’s when the racial war occurred and during that time, the Calamity Titan was supposedly killed by the Phoenix Titan.
His death was an assumption only and there had been no real proof to suggest he had died. Who would’ve thought that he had gone into hiding and had waited 8000 years to fully recover from the battle damage he took against his battle with the Phoenix Titan of that time. Now, he’s returned to once again take over the world by becoming the new Emperor of the World!”
As he spoke, Felix wore an extremely pained expression on his face as he put his hands together.
“What a disaster…! I, not only didn’t suspect the suspicions around his death, but I didn’t bother to push Lakshman to ultimately break that seal locking away the remainder of his power… I really am failure of a Phoenix Emperor…!” Felix said with a shame faced expression on his face.
“Don’t say that!” Dominic said quickly in a firm voice. “You’re not responsible for his return and you definitely didn’t let Lakshman walk into his death! He was a proud warrior and like the rest, he fought him with everything he had, as we’ve heard of how furious the battle had been by the Phintex Raja. Besides, he wouldn’t have wanted you to blame yourself like this! Instead, he would’ve wanted you to fight this menace and take him down, which he would’ve done as well!”
“Stop saying that…! I’m powerless against the Calamity Titan!” Felix said weakly. “Lakshman was extremely strong for his age and he easily surpassed me in both speed, skill and strength by the age of eighteen, but all of that were easily thrown away when he was easily killed by the Calamity Titan! That guy’s a monster and he will achieve his goals by any means necessary!”
“That’s a load of trash talk!” Dominic burst out angrily as he suddenly jumped to his feet, with his chair falling back from the force of him standing up. “I’m the Sword Titan and I’m also the Ally of Justice! Let’s fight together, combine our strength and defeat that evil menace once and for all! There is no way we can lose if we all fight together because there is strength in numbers!”
Felix looked up at him and slowly asked, “You really think we have a chance at victory?”
“Yes, we do! We have to pool our collective powers fight as a team to win this battle against him! There’s no way we can lose because justice is stronger on our side!” Dominic replied confidently.
Felix remained emotionless as he continued looking up at the determined Sword Titan. Then, he slowly formed a smile on his face as he nodded in understanding. He suddenly realised how hopeless he felt a moment ago, but that was replaced by a burning spirit of energy as he decided to take action.
“Very well! We’ll bring the four kingdoms together and also request help from the other races because I’m certain they will not abide by the tyrannical rulership of the Calamity Titan. The past Emperor of the World ruled this world through compassion, but the Calamity Titan’s rulership will be nothing more than dictatorship! That’s why, we must stop him immediately!”
Dominic nodded in satisfaction and said, “Okay. I will immediately make my way to Mardana Kingdom to arrange for the king to get his soldiers ready for war.”
“Do what you can, but leave most of the diplomat talking to me,” Felix said and Dominic nodded in agreement.
“Well then…! I’ll see you later!” Dominic said before he left the room, closing the door shut behind him.
Felix was smiling with ignited strength and courage as he thought, “I will avenge your deaths, Lakshman, Venezuela, Emilia, Erza, Tetra, Silvera, Ondine and Cantia!”
As he thought those words, he was suddenly reminded of something as he thought, “Wait… Lakshman died, so who will tell Indra and Lakshmi their one and only son died…?”
Felix’s burning spirit suddenly dried up and he slumped in his chair as despair began to surround him once more. He finally sighed before hearing the sound of birds flying past his window and he rose to his feet to look out into the beautiful sky. The day started out so beautiful, but now he felt it was not so beautiful anymore as the clear blue sky began covering up with dark clouds, an ominous sigh of what was to come.
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Author's Note
End of "Arc 10: Contesting"
Ah... Finally, it's the end of another arc, which will be the beginning of another very soon. So, we had a lot of things happen in the last few chapters; Lakshman and the Destiny Queens appeared to have died, Calamity Titan now assuming total control of the world, and Felix, along with Dominic, are preparing a war to wage against the Calamity Titan.
The story's received both love and hate from lots of people and I appreciate all the encouragement and complement I received that boosted my energy reserves to push me forward to keep writing this amazing story. However, now I'm curious about what my fellow beloved readers are thinking right about now that they reached this far in the story. Here's a serious question from me: Should I stop Phoenix Rising here or do you want me to continue writing it? Should the story end at Lakshman and the Destiny Queen's apparent death, or do you want to see where the story goes? I have so much content left to write, but that depends on your response, my good readers!
I will wait a week and hope people will still have some love left for the story to respond honestly to my sincere question. If the answer is yes, I will definitely keep writing to the best of my ability and keep you all entertained! If the answer is no, that's just too bad and I won't be able to continue writing Phoenix Rising anymore, which would automatically disallow me from writing its sequel, Phoenix Rising: The Rising Guardians.
People are free to ask me their questions if they have any doubts or feeling confused right about now. Feel free to comment and I will do my best to respond without revealing too much of spoilers since I don't want to ruin the surprise for you!