Lakshman was walking in the empty corridor of the castle with no one following him or watching him. It felt a little lonely, but he appreciated it for once because it gave him some time to think. After a very long time of absence, he finally returned and he was very happy to see that his people do not hate him for his disappearance, which he was grateful for.
“Well, it’s not exactly my mistake for disappearing like that, but I suppose the fault does fall under my fingers for crazily attacking the Calamity Titan…” he thought quietly as he placed his hands over his head in a relaxed manner. “I hardly knew anything about him other than the fact that I feel great desire to kill him, which I still don’t know why. Damn… Having my memories back quickly would explain a lot of these things.”
He sighed once more just as he heard the sound of voices coming from somewhere up ahead. Looking at the direction they were coming from, he realised it was the courtyard where the soldiers usually trained, however, he believed they would be taking a break being it was lunch time. As he listened to the voices, for some reason, he recognised them, but was not sure where exactly he heard them.
Without pause or hesitation, he quickly hurried in the direction the voices were coming from, which sounded as if they were training. He heard the shouts of magic spells, which was followed by a loud bang and smoke rising into the sky before disappearing. Then, he heard a third voice and he instantly recognised this voice, making him smile happily as he reached the courtyard.
On the courtyard, there were two girls practicing using magic with by extending their strong arms out. The two girls were identical looking and looking at them made Lakshman feel a sense of Deja-vu that he could not explain for some unknown reason. He turned his attention to the one supervising them and his eyes lit up with happiness and excitement when he recognised who it was.
“Mariana!” he called out and caught the attention of the middle-aged woman, who wore spectacles perched on her nose.
She turned around and look at him through narrowed eyes before they widened with great surprise.
“Y-Young master…?” she asked weakly as if she could not believe that he was standing physically there. “I-Is that really you…?”
Lakshman slowly walked over to her and said, “Yes! I’m the son of Indra and Lakshami, plus the one who often tried to skip out of classes with you.”
She chuckled just as he reached her and without warning, he hugged her tightly with great happiness coming over him. At first, she was taken aback at his sudden hug, but she relented and began to pat him on the head gently while forming a smile on her own face.
After a moment, they separated and he happily told her, “It’s good to see you, Mariana! I’m really happy to see you…!”
She nodded and said, “We feared that you had died ten-years-ago, so both masters and mistress were devastated at your loss. So, it’s great to see you alive and well, young master.”
“Ah… I’m sure they did feel that way,” said Lakshman with a smile of understanding. “Anyway, thank you for worrying about me.”
At that moment, he heard the sound of the two girls behind him muttering in quiet voices.
“Is that… Annayya…?”
“Yeah… It’s Annayya…”
“Annayya…”
“He’s alive…?”
“Yeah… It looks like it…”
Hearing those words was like being hit in the face by a powerful hammer, which was what Lakshman felt as the heavy impact of those words hit him. He quickly turned around to look at the girls, who flinched as his sights fell on them.
A wide smile slowly formed on his face as he tentatively asked, “Ah…! S-So… You’re… Priya and Indira?”
They blinked at him in surprise before nodding their heads at him in unison in conformation. This made his smile change into a wide grin that surprised them. He was very happy to see how big his sisters have grown and how beautiful they were becoming, which they seemed to have obtained from their mother.
“Wow… You’ve grown so much…!” he said slowly as he walked towards them with a wide grin on his face to greet them.
As he approached them, one of the twins suddenly glared at him fiercely as she said, “Stay away from us, traitor!”
“Huh?” Lakshman said and he blinked in surprise at the words his sister uttered to him.
“Young lady!” Mariana quickly said as she walked over to scold her. “That’s rude of you to speak like that to the young master, who is also your brother! After ten years, he finally returned, so you should be happy about that!”
“Yeah, but…” said the second twin in a nervous voice.
The first twin glared at her as she said, “Why should we care about the traitor that let our parents die?!”
“Young lady!” Mariana exclaimed in a shocked voice and quickly turned back to speak to Lakshman. “Please, ignore what she just said…”
Her words fell on deaf ears because he had gone into a shock that blocked out all words and reasons. Lakshman’s grin instantly vanished and was replaced by a horrifying expression on his face by the words he heard.
It took him a moment before he turned his attention to Mariana as he nervously asked, “Mariana… W-W-W-What does she mean by that…? That my parents…. Our parents are…?”
Before Mariana could respond, the first twin glared at him fiercely as she said, “They’re dead and it’s because you were far away! They’re gone because y-y-you failed your promise to protect us! You… traitor…!”
She finished with a struggle as tears began streaming down her face while the second twin tried soothing her while tears were also forming in her eyes. Mariana looked at Lakshman briefly before going over to console the two sisters that are his only family left to him by his parents.
Lakshman’s eyes widened with shock at the words uttered by his dear sister as the realisation that his parents were gone dawned on him. It also made him realise earlier how Felix and Darian had struggled to answer questions related to his questions. From the shock of learning the truth, his entire body began to shake and his mouth gaped open with a stunned expression on his face.
Just then, Felix, along with Darian, Rumble and Dominic, hurried along the corridor and saw Lakshman standing there. One look at the shocked expression on Lakshman’s face and the crying twins, confirmed Felix’s fears that Lakshman had learnt of the truth about the deaths of his parents.
At a gesture, he got the others to remain behind as he entered the courtyard with a smile on his face before he spoke softly to Lakshman.
“Lucky… The girls just got emotional and said some nonsense, so you don’t have to take a word they just said to you, alright?” he asked him while wearing a pleasant smile on his face.
Lakshman slowly came out of his shock and just heard the last few words Felix spoke to him. Seeing the Phoenix Emperor standing in front of him suddenly angered him greatly.
He kicked off the ground and charged at Felix at high speed, catching the Phoenix Emperor off guard. Reaching him quickly, Lakshman hammered his left arm against Felix and pushed him back until his back smashed hard against the wall, causing Felix to groan as cracks formed on the wall with Lakshman’s arm pinning him there.
Glaring at him fiercely, Lakshman demanded, “Felix…! Tell me… What are you trying to hide from me…? What happened to my parents?! Answer me!!!”
Felix looked at him with a greatly troubled expression on his face, but it was Dominic who responded to that question.
“As you heard… They are dead,” said Dominic and Felix glared at him angrily.
Hearing what he feared to be confirmed, Lakshman stared at him with wide eyes full of shock with his jaw slackening slightly. Felix became very angry and he shoved Lakshman’s weakened arm aside and pushed him back, causing Lakshman to stumble before standing with a weak expression on his face.
“They are dead… and they are not the only ones. The entire Rodfox Kingdom, along with all the nearby towns and villages, were gone by a single attack, performed by the Calamity Titan!” Felix informed the totally shocked Lakshman, who gasped with horror.
“It was three months after your disappearance when all four kingdoms united our forces to take on the demons, however, the Calamity Titan wanted to avoid killing us all since we’re strong and apparently useful to him,” said Darian with his fists clenched in anger.
“Yeah and that’s why, he bombed Rodfox Kingdom with this majorly devastating attack that was around 300 kilometres wide in radius!” Rumble said with a furious look on his face. “Everything in its path was destroyed, all humans and non-humans were wiped out without a chance to defend themselves! In the end, it was a massacre… a complete massacre…!”
Darian nodded and he said, “Yes and that’s part of the reason why I, Rumble and Marilia moved here. I feared that something might happen at Rodfox Kingdom, but I never would’ve imagined that bastard would willingly destroy an entire kingdom and kill countless lives just to avoid destroying the army…! Now, the Rodfox Kingdom is removed from the face of the world along with the countless lives that were destroyed that day.”
He was gritting his teeth dangerously as his arm sook dangerously, which was stemmed by Rumble, who was extremely angry himself.
“What’s over is over and mourning their deaths won’t bring them back,” said Rumble with a sad expression on his face. “What we can do now is focus on getting back at that bastard for what he did…!”
“Yes… For once, you think the right thing,” said Darian and he smiled at his friend.
They turned back to face Felix, who nodded at them in agreement before turning his attention back to Lakshman.
“That’s why, we have to focus on paying that evil man for what he did…! He will pay… Lucky?”
Felix asked Lakshman with a questioning look on his face and so did Dominic, Darian and Rumble as they all looked at his face.
Lakshman’s face and his entire body had gone into shock upon learning the truth about the death of his parents. He held his head down as he stared at his shaking hands as the memories he had with his parents since young began flash through his mind at high speed.
***
“I’m making sure to train you hard today so that life doesn’t give you a harsh lesson instead,” was said by Indra during one of their training sessions when Lakshman complained about it.
“When you get sick, it hurts my stomach because we are always connected as mother and son,” was said by Lakshmi during the few times he got sick during childhood to reassure that she loves him.
“I dislike your mistakes, not you in person. After all, what sort of father would I be if I hated my own flesh and blood?” was said by Indra one time when Lakshman made a silly mistake.
“You might think we don’t spend much time with you, but remember that we love you. We work tirelessly every day just for you so that you will live a happy life instead of facing the same struggles we faced to get to this point. Okay?” was said by his mother upon one evening after she and Indra came home while looking exhausted.
“One of the reasons we call you a strange kid because you never asked anything form us, unlike most children. You were always content with anything that you had, except your strange desire to get stronger. So, we may not be the best parents that you could possibly had, but we are grateful to have a son like you,” was said by Indra upon Lakshman’s fourteenth birthday.
***
Tears began forming in Lakshman’s eyes as the many fond memories he shared with his parents flashed through his mind. The ground began to shake around him and pebbles started to rise off the ground as his began to build power unconsciously as he took tentative steps backwards and into the courtyard.
“Young master…?” Mariana asked him tentatively, but he did not hear her.
As his mind reached the end of the memory stream of his parents, he clenched his fists tightly and gritted his teeth furiously.
“No… No…. No….!” he said slowly in a rising pitch with his power growing stronger and stronger.
He tilted his head up at the sky and he yelled in despair, “NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”
With his yell, he began surging with immense power that caused the ground to beneath him to crack to all sides and the fast blowing wind to buffet hard against them. With a shocked reaction, Felix, Dominic, Darian and Rumble were the ones who were pushed back before they slammed hard into the castle walls by the forceful wind. Mariana, along with the two twins, was pushed back before she leaned against the castle walls with them as the wind pushed against them forcefully.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
Lakshman screamed and screamed with his power going out of control and with it, he unconsciously transformed into the Phoenix Titan: Final Form.
His surging power causing the entire capital to feel his power, which shocked them at how sad and gloomy it felt for them. His Elemental Glow of golden-red aura rose to the skies like a brightly lit light. The sky began to change rapidly to reflect the powerful feelings he was feeling on the inside. The ground began to shake violently around the capital and they started screaming that it was an earthquake, not realising it was because of their king’s wildly raging power.
***
Inside him, the last seal began to crack continuously, but for some reason, it did not break. Only the energy got released that made his powers go out of control. From out of the darkness, a dark chuckle could be heard before a voice spoke through the darkness.
“Fool…! The seal’s cracking, but what good does it do me when he’s gone into self-destruct mode?”
***
On the Demon Continent, they felt the faint force coming from somewhere far away, causing them to widen their eyes with shock. The Calamity Titan narrowed his eyes as he sensed the presence and correctly dedicated who it was, along with Serabella that say next to her on the Demon Lord’s throne room.
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“Master… This power… Doesn’t it belong to the reportedly resurrected Phoenix Titan?” she asked and he nodded without saying a word. “Oh no… That’s bard, isn’t it?”
Calamity Titan simply shook his head and said, “No… He’s just sad… I don’t know what happened or why, but he’s hurt and is feeling very unhappy…”
***
Felix and the others recovered to stare at the brightly glowing golden-red aura surrounded a screaming Lakshman. They were shocked at seeing the current form he had taken in his despair with his powers going out of control.
“W-What is that form…?” Darian asked in a shocked voice.
“He’s gotten really long hair! That’s amazing!” Rumble exclaimed excitedly.
“Idiot! Now isn’t the time to feel excited about it!” Darian scolded him angrily in a loud voice while the wind smacked against them. “The boy’s crying and we can literally feel how sad he is from his out of control flowing energy and power!”
Dominic stared at Lakshman with wide eyes as he thought, “I can’t believe this… I trained under extreme gravity for these ten years and I’m stronger than his normal form, but now… he is so powerful…!”
Felix stared at Lakshman’s wild surging power and he shouted, “Oh no…! This isn’t good…! Lucky! Stop it…!”
“What? What’s wrong?” Dominic asked him in a loud voice.
“He’s gone in self-destruct mode!” Felix shouted back at him. “By overloading his powers, he will eventually go pop, resulting in an explosion that will kill him and destroy the nearby land in the process! His feelings for his parents are so strong that it’s killing him…!”
After hearing his thoughts, all of them were shocked to discover what was happening in front of them. Even the twins, who has thought of him as a traitor for not protecting their parents, were horrified by learning of what their brother was doing. They no longer felt any animosity towards him and desperately kept calling out to him to stop, but he no longer heard any of them as he continued to scream in despair as his body began to show the veins.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
***
Ondine, Emilia, Erza, Tetra, Silvera, Sumara and Cantia were busily cleaning the house, which was almost complete. They were happily talking to each other when, all of a sudden, a their felt intense pain in their chests as if something was gripping their hearts.
“Ah… What the heck…?” Cantia exclaimed in a shocked voice as she knelt down from the sudden shock. “My chest hurts…”
“Yours isn’t the only one,” muttered Tetra as she clutched her own chest as the pain slowly subsided.
There was a momentarily silence, in which Emilia said, “I have a bad promotion about this…!”
It was then that they suddenly sensed the great power coming from somewhere, which made them realise it was their husband. For some reason, he had gone into his full power mode, but seemed to be going out of control with the way his energy felt somewhat sad and gloomy.
“Lucky must be in pain!” they all said at the same time and surprised each other.
“We have to go… Now…!” Silvera quickly and they all agreed.
They were about to exit the house and quickly fly over there when, to their surprise, pink magic circles, which were shaped like hearts at its centre, appeared at each of them. The magic circle covered the area in which they stood and before they could shout out their surprise, they were warped out of there without delay. The next second, they found themselves standing near the courtyard with the wind bellowing past them forcefully.
“What the heck is going on here-nyaa?!” Cantia exclaimed as he transformed into her humanoid cat form from the shock of finding themselves suddenly standing at the castle.
“What the?!” exclaimed Venezuela as she appeared in a bright pink like that them a few seconds later. “Why is Lucky glowing like and powering up?!”
Felix was quite shocked to suddenly see them all there because it was almost impossible for them to fly through the barrier since it would set off the alarm. So, it mystified him for that moment as to how the girls had gotten there without tipping the alert system of the barrier off. At the same time, he was slightly taken aback when he saw Sumara among them, whom he instantly recognised as the person that taught Lakshman magic since he was just a kid.
While the girls stared at Lakshman’s screams of despair, Venezuela turned to Felix and asked, “Felix! Explain!”
“R-Right…!” Felix said distractedly as he focused on the present situation. “L-Lucky learnt that his parents had died!”
“What?!” Ondine, Venezuela, Erza, Tetra, Silvera, Sumara and Cantia exclaimed in shock. “They’re dead?!”
“Yes and after hearing about it, he started screaming with his power going out of control!” Felix informed them in a very loud voice so that they can hear him over the howling wind. “If this continues, he will self-destruct by overloading his powers!”
They all looked shocked by the news of learning their deaths, making depressed expressions on their faces. All, except Emilia and Ondine, who turned to look at Lakshman screaming over and over wildly with his power raging around him and the wildly blowing wind buffeting against them. The tension, along with the pressure in the air, was so intense that it made the rest of them feel weak to the knees.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
Emilia and Ondine glanced at one another before nodding in agreement before taking the first step out into the courtyard. Everyone else, including his fellow wives, were shocked by the daring and audacity of these two as they struggled against the wild blowing wind to reach out for their departing husband, whose veins were starting appear all over his body.
Venezuela watched them struggling to force themselves against the wind and shouted, “I’m not going to stand here and do nothing!”
“Nyaa!” Cantia said in agreement.
“Agreed!” Sumara said and Erza, Tetra and Silvera nodded in agreement.
Together, they began walked in the direction of their raging husband while the wind blew forcefully against them, threatening to blow them off their feet. Even so, they continued walking forward to the surprise of Felix and the others that were lying on the ground while leaning against the wall that had cracks in it from them smashing them earlier.
The first to reach Lakshman was Emilia, who immediately winced at the pain from the multiple wounds that appeared all over her body from the powerful slicing wind surrounding him. Ondine was shocked to see the blood seeping out of the multiple cuts on her body, but Emilia ignored them and while surging with power, she was the first to hug Lakshman.
Struggling against his wild raging power and she screamed in his ear, “Lucky…! I know what it feels like to lose your parents and feel abandoned…! Even the cuts I feel now are nothing to despair filling you up… I know and that’s why, share it… Share your pain with us… That’s what we have to do… as husband… as a wife… as a family…! Please… Calm down…!”
Ondine and the rest of his wives also joined her, only to get severely wounded by the cutting wind that slices across their bodies numerous times. Even though the pain was stinging and almost caused them to give into the pain, they began surging with power as they all hugged Lakshman from all around desperately as he continued screaming.
“I…. I lost my parents when I was just a baby, so I may not know fully what it feels like to lose parents, but please…! I don’t want to lose you…!” Ondine shouted desperately.
“Lucky… I lost my own father and I felt great sadness then, but I still have my mother. Even so, that doesn’t mean I want to give you up for her!” Venezuela screamed at him.
“Nyaa!!!” Cantia screamed at him with a pained expression on her face. “I know nothing about my parents, but you’re my family-nyaa!! Your pain is my pain, so please stop-nyaa!!”
With tears forming in her eyes, Sumara bellowed at him, “You made my dream come true by marrying someone as old as me! You didn’t care that I was several years older than you or anything! All you cared was love and it pains me to see you like this…! Please…! Come back…!”
“My whole reason for coming to this world was because I loved you so much!” Erza shouted at him in a desperate voice. “If you go away, I won’t have any reason to live anymore…!”
“We are your swords and your pain is our pain! Share it and let us all mourn their deaths together!” Tetra shouted with Silvera nodding while tears flowed down her face.
It was as if their pleas fell on deaf ears as he continued to scream, “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”
They realised their pleas had failed, but instead of giving up, they began surging with more power and activated Spirit Amplification at the same time. This was an Emperor ranked technique and it was a powerful skill that allows their voices to reach the very hearts of the person or people they are attempting to communicate with.
Together, they shouted, “Lucky…! Please….! Stop…!”
***
Deep in the part of his mind where he was despairing, he looked up with a surprised expression on his face when he heard the final cry from his wives in desperation as they called for him to return. Just then, a light appeared in front of him and his eyes widening, he felt comfort and happiness as he extended his hand towards the light before everything was surrounding by a brilliant white light.
***
There was a violent roar from the sky and rain began falling down on them where they stood. It was raining hard on them and caused the ground and everything in the capital to become wet, causing the people to quickly go into their homes. They looked out with very surprised expressions on their faces when they felt the despairing energy suddenly dim and disappear in a matter of seconds.
Lakshman had stopped screaming and his raging out of control power calmed down completely. The golden-red aura surrounding him, subsided and disappeared in an instant with the wind finally slowing down.
He opened his tear filled eyes to look up at the dark clouds that rained water down on them. After blinking for a few seconds, he looked down at his wives with a slightly startled expression on his face before noticing that they were sporting multiple cuts all over their bodies.
Before he could say anything, however, Emilia looked up at him and said, “Welcome back…! We missed you.”
“You worried us,” Ondine said with tears forming in her eyes.
“Never do that again…!” Venezuela said in an annoyed voice while wiping the tears from her face.
“Nyaa…” Cantia purred with a happy expression on her slightly cut face.
“If you’re in pain, share it with your wives. We’re here to help you,” said Silvera with Tetra nodding her head in agreement.
“You are the reason I’m even here… I can’t allow you to go away without taking me with you!” Erza said as she sniffed with a sad look on her face.
“You’re not alone anymore… You have us, your family… to keep you company,” said Sumara with a small smile on her face. “So, please… Don’t do that again…”
Lakshman looked around at them all with a slightly dazed look on his face before looking around. There was a great load of damage done to the castle and the surrounding walls, including the numerous smashed glasses that littered the ground. Finally, realising what had happened, he looked back at his wives with a sad smile on his face.
Nodding his head once at them, he slowly said, “I’m sorry…”
He suddenly felt very weak and collapsed onto Emilia, surprising her and the rest of them.
“Lucky! Lucky!” they cried out in shocked voices continuously, but he did not respond.
Sumara quickly checked his pulse and widened her eyes with shock before she shouted, “Oh no! His pulse is very low…!”
They were shocked to hear it, but Felix was in his form instantly as he shouted, “Dominic!”
“I know!” Dominic responded simply and he quickly reached Lakshman before lifting him over his shoulders. “Hold on, Lakshman. You’ll be fine soon…!”
With that, he ran out of there at high speed and headed towards the hospital room with the girls rushing after him. Mariana and the twins also followed after them quickly with great worried looks on their faces. Once they all left, Felix was the only one left and he looked around at the damage that was done to the surroundings.
“Even though he was going out of control, he still unconsciously held back so that he did not completely destroy everything,” thought Felix before chuckling.
He remembered the bravery of his wives as they risked their lives to stop him from self-destructing. He noticed how courageous each and every one of them was, which slightly surprised him from thinking of Ondine’s actions. He noticed that she had changed greatly from a simply reckless woman to a grown mature and gentle woman from the way she carried herself.
“Looks like Lucky has formed one amazing family,” thought Felix with a small smile on his face with his eyes closed as he remembered the events he just witnessed. “My own daughter’s married off now married to the one who is qualified to take over the charges as the next Phoenix Emperor. This leaves me with free to make my decision to finally act!”
With that, he flashes his eyes open and in that instant, his black eyes had changed to deep red colour as he ready to face his last battle.
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Author's Note
The word "annayya" translates to mean "big brother".
Everyone! Thank you for reading this rather long chapter! It's been a few months since I managed to write such a long chapter and I feel really exhuasted, which won't surprise me if you are as well. This chapter sure was super intense!!! So intesne that I'm literally lying on the ground, drained of all the energy that I had to begin with today. Still, this is nothing compared to the craziness that's to come soon! Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and hope to see you return in the next chapter as the story continues!