Lakshman opened his eyes and found himself to be standing in the centre of the training building. He took a deep breath and slowly released it as he released his energy surrounding him. As the energy subsided, he held his hands out and looked at them intently.

“Although I said all that, I detected a lot of fear from him when I said about releasing the last seal. Will things really go out of control once the last seal is broken and can I control it? Every time I broke a seal, I felt something strange taking over me and controlling my body along with my powers as if it belonged to it.

I didn’t think too much about it because it all felt like a dream back then, but now…  Now that I realise, I finally understand just how truly indebted I am to the Decisive Player. He truly put his life out there for me and now, I am left alone with the Voice of the Phoenix. That ancient thing that reincarnated together with my spirit is an evil entity that only wants war and destruction.

This time, when the final seal breaks, the Voice of the Phoenix will push its way to the surface and take over me? That would likely be the case considering just how strong it is and unleashing all that power at once might overwhelm me… Right now, I am able to suppress it to the deepest part of my mind, but once the power gets released, what am I supposed to do…?”

Lakshman truly did not know what he should do in case what he feared might come true. He was confident that he will most likely be taken over by the Voice of the Phoenix and then be forced into battle against the Calamity Titan. The idea was good and he was confident he was able to defeat the Calamity Titan with his fully acquired powers, but it still bothered him.

“Judging from how fearful the energy that the Calamity Titan involuntarily released, I am not sure that is good. There’s no doubt it’s good to be able to defeat him, but… what then? What will I be forced to do after that? Bring destruction to the entire world?”

He briefly closed his eyes and imagined what the destruction of the world looked like and what he saw frightened him. Lands removed of all grass and trees by the destruction, with continents broken away or destroyed to sink into the ocean while magma rose to the surface of the world. Ultimately, the slowly collapsing order of the world would eventually lead to total annihilation.

“Ah!” he said out loud in shock and breathed out of breath. “T-That’s bad…!”

The very thought of such devastation done to his world frightened him because of his role. As Phoenix Titan, his main duty is to protect the world and everything else came after that. However, if he, the protector, becomes the destroyer, there would be no one left to save the world or stop him for good. Even the gods would not do anything to stop it because they are simply observers and life givers.

“No! They gave me their Divine Protection and the Decisive Player even sacrificed his life to save me. I must not lose myself in the power that gets released by the breaking of the last seal. Even the God of Energy, Engraut said the same thing about how a dangerous monster might destroy the world in the future. Yes… If I am to fulfil my duty as the Phoenix Titan, I must stay in control!”

With that, he finally sighed before saying, “Well, it’s not like I can contemplate on breaking the seal right now. I feel more training is necessary before I’m ready to acquire my full powers. In the meantime, I’ll just focus on finding alternative means of getting stronger. Something like transformation…”

At that word, his eyes suddenly widened in surprise as something struck him in his mind. It was a question and one that he had never bothered to think of before due to never needing to. Now however, he realised he needed an answer to the question regarding his transformations, but the person he wanted to ask was asleep.

“Oh well. I’ll just ask Erza later in the morning,” he said finally before sighing deeply.

***

The next morning, Emilia and Ondine woke up early to make food for everyone using the vegetation from nearby. After finishing breakfast, Lakshman walked around to check on how the things were on top of the Eternal Turtle. They covered great distance and were getting closer to the Teleportation Zone, but he was on guard at any sign of more enemies headed their way.

“I’m confident the Calamity Titan won’t come after me, but that doesn’t apply to his followers,” he thought as he went around fixing the buildings that had fallen down due to the recent battle.

His last stop on checking around was the Magic Titan’s quarters, which was a room like the size that Lakshman and his wives stayed in. She was apparently lying down on the bed and still sleeping from the recent battle.

Sumara had checked on her earlier and stated that Amaranda will most likely wake up in a few hours. This relieved the concerned Temidan, who had been anxiously waiting for his master to awaken. Lakshman found his worries a little bit unnecessary, considering Amaranda was a Magic Titan. It was when that Lakshman found out that Amaranda Lefrity was not as powerful as what a true Magic Titan should be, according to what her Sacred Spirit staff, Temidan told Lakshman.

“Mistress mostly used elemental magic that used the energy from nature to become strong,” Temidan informed Lakshman in a low voice. “If she had the power of the sun, the Sunflower attack could’ve destroyed that giant meteor.”

“I see. That explains why she used strange magic spells on me,” said Lakshman and he nodded his head in understanding.

Temidan nodded as he looked worriedly at the sleeping face of his master. Then, all of a sudden, he turned and glared at Lakshman with a serious expression on his face.

“For your information, mistress is off limits to the likes of you!” he said firmly to Lakshman.

Realising what Temidan was talking about, Lakshman chuckled and said, “Calm down. I have no interest in making her mine. Besides, she’s destined for someone who’s also betrayed by their own race or clan.”

Lakshman heard about Amaranda’s curse and the betrayal she experienced by her race. It made him feel that whoever that was destined to be her partner was someone that was also betrayed by their race or clan. Unfortunately, this was just the gut feeling and there was no positive proof to back his belief, but he believed it might be true considering he correctly guessed the love between Shalany Jagabadasen and Dominic Rutherford, the Sword Titan.

Temidan, instead of becoming relaxed, sharpened his eyes and said, “Also! I’m not ‘staff boy’!” My name is Temidan! I’m a proud Sacred Spirit that serves the Magic Titan! Don’t forget that!”

Lakshman chuckled incredulously and said, “Come on… You’re still on about that? Didn’t I tell you already that I’m sorry for calling you that, Temidan?”

“You disregarded my dignity as a Sacred Spirit and as such, I have no respect for you!” Temidan replied firmly and he went back to caring for his master, leaving Lakshman feeling stumped.

Lakshman smiled drily before sighing deeply.

“Oh well. It can’t be helped,” he thought and that was the end of that.

***

Later, when he returned to the room they were staying at, he saw his wives sleeping on the bed. Everyone, except Erza and Tetra, were fast asleep and he momentarily watched them sleep. He often missed the chance to see his wives sleep since they would usually wake up earlier than him and sleep later than him. So, it always entertained him to see his wives sleeping blissfully.

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“Watching someone sleep is bad manners,” said the voice of Erza, who was sitting leaning her back on the chair she sat on.

He turned to her and smiled before saying, “There’s nothing wrong for a husband to look at the cute faces of his sleeping queens.”

“Hey! Don’t turn the Destiny Queens into something silly!” Tetra told him indignantly.

“I didn’t,” said Lakshman and he sat down at the edge of the bed to softly stroke Cantia’s cat ears, which she appeared to be enjoying, despite being asleep.

For a few minutes, Erza and Tetra sat in silence as they watched Lakshman gently play with Cantia’s ears. He was wearing a gentle smile on his face, but his two wives could sense how troubled his mind was.

“Is something the matter?” Erza asked him curiously. “You seem troubled.”

Lakshman turned to see Tetra agree with her with a nod of her head. He inwardly smiled at how sharp his wives were at figuring him out so easily.

“Actually, I kind of am,” began Lakshman and he told them everything about what happened the previous night.

Both Erza and Tetra became alarmed by what they heard and they opened their mouths to shout.

“You did what?!”

That was what they would have shouted, but Lakshman had instantly reacted and used Silencer around them to make the girls become quiet. Their lips moved, but no sound came out. This momentarily surprised them before they glanced at each other before turning to give him a very stern look. Lakshman could guess what the both of them were thinking, but Silencer is a powerful magic spell and it did not allow any sound to escape from their mouths, which also affected him since he is also inside the barrier.

With no choice, all three of them began using Telepathy to use their thoughts to communicate with each other.

“Why the hell did you do that?! Go and make contact with the Calamity Titan! Are you out of your mind, going and aggravating the enemy like that?!” Erza exclaimed in a loud voice that made him wince.

Lakshman chuckled with his mouth without making any sound before thinking, “Come on. I just wanted to say hi and leave him feeling a little bit afraid of me. Now, he’s going to constantly worry the hell out of his mind as to what the heck I’m going to do next!”

“This isn’t a laughing matter, Lucky!” Erza said sternly.

“I can understand that you threatened him and everything, but this isn’t good. That guy’s a crazy bastard and who knows what the hell he will pull on us!” Tetra told him in a rather worried voice.

“No. I have this weird feeling that he won’t do anything to harm us in anyway. Rather, I’m confident he will try to become stronger to try and reach his true transformation. Actually, that’s why I wanted to talk to you, Erza.”

“Don’t talk to me!” Erza said sternly in his mind with a serious frown on her face. “You go and do that without letting us, your wives, knowing anything about it! I’m now angry at you!”

With an “Hmph!” she turned her face away resolutely. He was slightly taken aback and he looked towards Tetra for some help. All Tetra did was shook her head and left him with a rather stern message.

“You brought this on yourself. Go and fix it yourself.”

He nodded in understanding and he rose to his feet to walk over to his annoyed wife. She saw him coming and snorted angrily, but did not turn to face him.  

“Ah…! Don’t be that…!” Lakshman said through his thoughts as he knelt before her. “Please…? Won’t you turn to me and show me that beautiful face of yours…?”

Like this, Lakshman attempted to catch her attention, but she resolutely ignored all of it. Finally, he shrugged his shoulders and pretended to give up. He rose to his feet and made to walk away, causing her to turn to look after him with an unhappy expression on her face. The next instance, he disappeared and reappeared kneeling beside her much to her surprise. Before she could do anything, he leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek, which caused her to blush deeply. Tetra silently clapped to praise him on his efforts.

“W-W-What are you doing?!” she exclaimed as and she turned to look at him in surprise while blushing deeply.

“You weren’t talking to me, so I thought my love for you might do the trick,” said Lakshman before winking at her with a cheeky smile on his face.

She appeared to be surprised and telepathically told him, “Why you…!”

Raising her clenched fists into the air, she began hitting him lightly on the shoulders. It was a light punches that almost seemed playful on his very strong body. He did not feel any pain, but he pretended to feel it by wincing each time she hit him.

“Sorry…! I’m really sorry…! I won’t do it again! Okay? So, please talk to me again…? Won’t you?” he asked her telepathically in an imploring voice.

Erza looked at him sternly for a moment before sighing and telepathically saying, “It can’t be helped since it’s already been done, but make sure to let us know so that we do these things together!”

Lakshman’s smile brightened at hearing those words and he gave her a hug that surprised her. He was clearly embarrassed about the hug, but she hugged him back lightly. They were soon joined by Tetra and it became a threesome hug, which they liked very much. After separating, they moved to sit closer to each other as Lakshman had something to speak to Erza and Tetra wanted to hear about it.

“Erza. I had never bothered to ask this question before, but in the future time form your world, have I ever transformed into others forms?” he asked her curiously while looking intently at her.

She blinked at him in surprise and nodded as he telepathically said, “Yes, you certainly have. However, not that you bring up the topic, I’ve never seen you transform into having spiky blonde hair or into having that really long blonde hair.”

“I never transformed into having blonde hair?” he asked her telepathically with a surprised look on her face as she nodded at him.

“That’s right. When you transformed, you always had flaming golden-red hair. I believe the colour scheme is similar to the one that Eternal Phoenix, Phylex had on its body,” she informed him. “Your eyes are also different from the red crown-shaped eyes that you currently have. I don’t quite know how to describe it, but it’s certainly different. Also, your power from now is nothing compared to the power I sensed from you from my time in my world.”

Lakshman was shocked by what he just heard from her and so was Tetra. She quickly looked at Erza with a very surprised expression on her face before telepathically asking her a question.

“Are you saying that the Lucky, sitting before us, is nothing compared to the Lucky from the future in your time when he was in your world?”

Erza turned to her and nodded once before saying, “Yes.”