Several days later, Evander Megalos was attending a coronation that would make him the new Angel King and many important officials from the Heaven Continent were attending it. The matters regarding Lakshman’s trial and suspicion was lifted and everyone deeply apologised to him for thinking of him as evil.
The Nine Commandments of Light thanked him for sparing their continent from utter destruction when he had the chance because of their previous king. Once that was over, the Commandment of Justice, Ford, came to him and stated that he misjudged him because of his blind arrogance. Lakshman only spoke to him quietly and said something that caused Ford to become frightened.
“The next time you allow your arrogance to blind you, it won’t be your pride that’ll get destroyed next time.”
After that, he was requested by many to attend the coronation, including Evander, but Lakshman did not really care for any of it because he wanted to return home with his family; Venezuela, Tetra and Silvera. Joining him was Atem, Natasha and the previously known princess of the Angel Race, Sonia Angloid.
Upon his return, all of his wives rushed over to him and began to question him about his health condition.
“Are you alright? Are you injured?” Sumara asked with an anxious look on her face.
“Do you need healing?” Erza asked urgently and she summoned her staff out of thin air.
“Did you beat the crap out of him-nyaa?!” Cantia demanded with an eager look on her face.
“Do you want something to drink?” Ondine asked curiously and she materialised water that she had prepared for herself onto her hand.
Lakshman chuckled at their questions and responded by saying, “Yes. I’m alright and no, I got no injuries because I healed myself a while back. As for beating that guy up, I did my best and sort of turned him into a living vegetable. Don’t ask me questions about that; I’ll tell you later when I’m not being bombarded with so many questions!”
His last words caused his wives to realise their mistake and they fell silent while making embarrassed expressions on their faces. Sonia and Atem look on with amazement on their faces at the drama scene that occurred before them while Natasha smiled warmly at how close they were.
At that moment, Emilia past them and arrived at the front while looking at Lakshman with a small smile on her face, which faltered when she saw that he was not wearing the clothes he had left in a few days back. She walked forward a few steps and raised her hand to touch his shirt while looking at him with a curious expression on her face.
“I don’t remember you having these clothes in the assortment that we bought for you,” she said and Lakshman looked at her with a sheepish grin on his face.
“Sorry… My shirt got incinerated and my pants had to be thrown out because it got badly damaged. Even Restoration couldn’t repair it because, as it seemed the clothes were getting old,” replied Lakshman while he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
“Never mind,” said Emilia and she sighed deeply before smiling up at him. “Welcome back.”
She spoke softly and firmly, which caused a smile to spread over Lakshman’s face as he spread his arms out and hugged her warmly.
“Thank you,” he replied softly in the same warm tone.
While they were hugging each other, Erza, Ondine and Cantia looked at them and at each other before nodding their decision at the they made through eye contact.
“Hug us as well!” they said and they walked forward to hug Lakshman.
Emilia, quickly, broke free from his hug and allowed the three girls to hug him while sporting a look of amusement on her face. Still, she was smiling with everyone else in the room at this warm scene between a husband and his wives.
Sumara stood back and shook her head as she said in exasperation, “Kids…”
Lakshman heard the word and he looked in her direction before smiling as he realised what she was thinking. Sumara was from the Manjuvad Demon Clan and they possess a great amount of dignity that do not allow them to make silly movement like what Erza, Ondine and Cantia did. Remembering this, he broke free from his wives and turned his attention towards his seventh wife.
“Do you want to hug me?” he asked her curiously with his arms spread out in a welcoming gesture.
She looked at him and blinked in surprise before smiling and replying, “Would I say no?”
With that, she walked forward and embraced him warmly with a happy smile on her face, which was mirrored on his own face. A few seconds later, they broke from the hug and looked at each other with faces filled with warm happiness for one another. His wives continued to stare at them when Atem cleared his throat to get their attention.
“Mmm?”
Lakshman looked around and noticed Atem staring at them with a raised eyebrow because he did not like being put to the side lines.
“Oh! Right! Sorry about that,” said Lakshman and he quickly walked over to stand next to him. “Let me introduce you to two people that’ll be staying here and one person that’ll be part of our family.”
His wives looked at him with looks of curiosity on their faces while Venezuela, Tetra and Silvera did their best to keep straight faces.
“This is Atem and he used to observe me as a job, but he’s quit it and has come down to see what life would be on the ground. Natasha, you know, Sonia’s maid and she was fired from her work and since she had nowhere to go, I brought her along to be Sonia’s aide. As for Sonia, she was the Angel Princess, but she abandoned that title to come live with me one of my wives.”
“Oh!” his wives said and they turned to look at her with curious looks on their faces.
Sonia was looking extremely nervous with the way her fingers kept fidgeting in front of her. When they all looked at her, she jumped in fright and tried looking away in every direction except theirs. Finally realising that they were expecting something from her, she looked around nervously before bowing her head deeply and speaking loudly.
“Hello and nice to meet you! I’m Sonia Angloid and with your permission, I’ll be one of your sisters and Lakshman’s wives! I am inexperienced in family matters and kitchen matters, but I’ll do my best to learn and improve myself to be the wife that is deserving of the Phoenix Titan!”
“Oh…”
The wives of the Phoenix Titan were surprised by her behaviour, which was firm and sincere with a lack of dishonesty in her words. Emilia and Ondine, however, were smiling warmly as they had already accepted the fact that she will also be the wife of their husband because it was her destiny.
Just then, there was a sudden voice that shouted in alarm, “What?! Another wife?!”
The girls parted way and turned towards the back to find Priya Reddy and Indira Reddy, Lakshman’s twin sisters, staring at them with different expressions on their faces. The expression on Indira’s face showed signs of shock and alarm at the news of Sonia being the ninth wife of her brother while the expression on Priya’s face showed extreme anger as she was shocked that her brother was going to marry again.
Lakshman looked towards them and saw the expression of astonishment on Indira’s face while Priya’s face showed an expression of great anger. Realising that Priya was going to explode her anger on him, he quickly decided to stop her by holding his hand towards her.
“Why don’t we continue our conversation in the living room, rather than, at the entrance,” he said and a surprised Priya hesitated for a moment before nodding in agreement with an annoyed expression on her face.
As they headed towards the living room, Lakshman realised that someone from their ranks was missing.
“Where’s Amaranda?” he asked Sumara curiously.
“After sensing your victory in battle, she decided she was not needed anymore to safe guard us. So, she took her leave by saying she needed to do some intense training of her own to be as strong as you,” replied Sumara and Lakshman looked surprised by that.
“I see. Well, let’s just leave her be and hope she returns soon,” he said with a smile on his face.
***
They all sat down in the living room a few minutes later and Lakshman’s wives were standing at Priya and Lakshman, who were sitting in front of each other. Lakshman was trying to keep his cool, but his smile was a little forced because of the worry he has for what his sister would say. Priya, on the other hand, was staring at him fixedly with an expression of utmost seriousness as she prepared to speak.
“So, annayya. We’ve come into the living room and have sit down; so go on and say what you want,” she said in a calm voice as she maintained her temper.
“Priya…” he began hesitantly with a slight nervousness in his voice. “Understand that I did not force Sonia into a marriage with me for political purpose or anything. Things happened in your absence and the outcome proclaimed that the two of us should marry.”
Priya blinked at him for a moment in silence as he digested what she heard before she asked, “Okay. I take it that you’re unwilling to explain the details of the events occurred outside. Fine. I’m not interested in what happened anyway, but I am curious to find out why you’re getting yourself another wife when you have so many already.”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “I suppose that’s a question that many have, but there’s a simple answer to it; destiny.”
Priya stared at him in disbelief for a moment in silence before exclaiming, “Huh?! Destiny?”
“Yes,” said Lakshman just as Ondine opened her mouth to speak.
“You see, Priya, all nine of us here,” she began and indicated herself with the other wives of Lakshman, “have married and lived together with Lakshman back in the ancient times when he was known as the first Phoenix Titan, Asura Rangavardan.”
“In the ancient times…? The first Phoenix Titan…? Asura Rangavardan…?” Priya asked while blinking in confusion as she exchanged glances with her twin sister, Indira. “This all sounds so weird…!”
Ondine chuckled as Emilia opened her mouth and smiled as she said, “It might sound weird, but it’s all true. We’ve been married to your brother in the ancient times and through the process of reincarnation, we’ve been reunited once again.”
“Vodina…” said Priya slowly as she looked at Emilia with a look of doubt on her face. “If… If you say it’s true, then it must be.”
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Emilia smiled and everyone else did, except for Cantia, who raised an eyebrow in amazement in her human form that she had changed before sitting down.
“I find it funny that you believe it when Emilia tells you,” commented Cantia with a bemused expression on her face.
“It makes sense because she does most of the cooking, defending and healing in the family,” stated Erza before chuckling with a smile on her face.
“No,” said Ondine and she turned to look at Emilia with a smile on her face. “Priya trusts her above the rest of us because she is the most peaceful one among us.”
Lakshman smiled and nodded his head in agreement as he said, “True.”
Emilia looked around at them smiling at her and she blushed a little before she replied, “Oh… Stop that.”
“Now, that’s what you call being modest,” said Sumara and they all laughed as she winked at Emilia.
Emilia sighed and shook her head before saying, “It feels strange, though, to possess my ancient memories while living my current life.” She turned to Lakshman and curiously asked, “How did you manage to move on with the unlocked memories of your past, Lucky?”
They all turned their attention towards him and he looked at them with a warm smile on his face.
“I find it best to accept my past and present so that I can move onto the future in order to not create complications for myself and everyone around me.”
“That’s a good logic,” said Sonia brightly and they all turned to look at her in surprise. She looked at them for a moment nervously before saying, “I mean, it does help you from getting a headache.”
“Right…” said Priya slowly and she turned back to face Lakshman with a puzzled expression on her face. “I’ll accept that you’ve been reincarnated, all ten of you, but explain to me why.”
“Such a thing is not unprecedented,” stated Lakshman with a cool expression on his face.
“Many legendary heroes rose to fight the evil of their time and joined the ranks of World Guardians. I believe my previous life as Phoenix Titan sacrificed his life to summon them to stop the racial war occurring over 8000 years ago. I haven’t entered their ranks yet because it seems like I have unfinished business in this world, which is why I and my wives have been reincarnated.”
Priya nodded her head in understanding when her expression changed to that of concern as she stared at her brother with eyes filled with worry.
“Um…” she began hesitantly before continuing bravely. “What happens when you, uh, complete whatever purpose you were reincarnated to do…?”
Her words sparked a look of concern on Indira’s face as she looked at her brother as his wives looked at him quietly with composed expression on their faces. He looked around at them and smiled a little as he noticed that each of them were trying to hide their looks of worry from their faces.
Turning back to his sister, he smiled and replied, “Only the God of Life would know. Even Engraut didn’t explain what would happen to me when I complete the task I was born for.”
Priya looked confused as Indira curiously asked, “Engruat? Who’s that annayya?”
Lakshman realised that his sisters would not know that name and he chuckled a little with a wide smile on his face as the twins looked at each other in surprise. After recovering, he opened his mouth and reveal who the name belonged to with a smile that was also formed on his wives’ faces.
“Engraut is the name of the God of Energy.”
Priya and Indira stared at him fixedly like frozen stones for a moment in silent before breaking free. They jumped to their feet in alarm and screamed in unison.
“The God of Energy?!”
Lakshman’s wives winced in surprise and he clapped a hand quickly to avoid his ears being pierced by their loud shriek.
“Yes. Now, calm down and sit down,” he said as he rubbed his ears experimentally.
The two of them sat down and looked incredulously at him because of how calm and casual he was about saying a god’s name. To them, a god was a being that should be prayed to and feared of, but their brother’s behaviour of saying a god’s title, especially his name, so casually caught them off guard.
“Y-Y-You’ve… met the God of… E-Energy…?” Indira asked while Priya was rendered speechless.
Lakshman nodded his head just as Silvera opened her mouth and said, “Yes. He visited us early in the morning and frightened us with the level of power that only gods possess. I don’t think any of us managed to recover quickly or speak to him like Lucky did back then.”
“That was before we disappeared, of course,” clarified Tetra and the girls nodded in understanding silently while still staring at their brother in disbelief.
“We don’t know why he came to inform us, but his explanation made perfect sense as to why we easily fell in love with Lucky,” stated Erza with a meaningful look on her face.
“Yeah, well, he’s not a bad person to talk to,” stated Cantia with her arms behind her head in a resting position. “Still, he’s so full of energy that I felt dizzy by the enthusiasm that guy possessed while he talked to us.”
The twins stared at her in alarm as Indira exclaimed, “Please…! Give him some respect…! He’s a god for crying out loud…!”
Lakshman chuckled and said, “I would give him respect like I always do, but he isn’t that respected among the gods to begin with because of his method of trespassing in other people’s private spaces. I found that out when I spoke to Tintika, the Goddess of Time.”
At those words, Indira’s eyes widened and she finally fainted into Priya’s arms. Priya held Indira in her arms and stared at her brother in disbelief with her mouth hanging.
Tetra looked curiously at him and asked, “When did you meet her?”
Lakshman looked at her and replied, “I met her during the time when we were recuperating from the Frozen Time effects after we woke up from ten years of sleep. It was there that she revealed that my Divine Protection of Time activated and stopped our time while putting us to deep sleep in an undetectable barrier.”
“Oh… So, it wasn’t because you used Dimension Warp…?” Sumara asked shrewdly with her eyes narrowing sharply, which caused him to look at her nervously. “I didn’t teach you to lie to you’re the teacher that taught you magic so long ago.”
Lakshman was alarmed by her words and he quickly said, “Hold on, Sumara. I wasn’t lying to you when I proclaimed that Dimension Warp activated Frozen Time because it was the trigger that put me and my wives to sleep. It’s the truth.”
Sumara stared at him through narrowed eyes suspiciously for a moment before looking normal again with a smile forming on her face.
“Good. I was starting to worry that you were making things up to look impressive in front of me,” she stated and Lakshman laughed nervously.
“If she knew the truth, she’ll definitely get angry at me!” he thought nervously.
“So it seems that our husband met with a goddess for the first time and decided to keep it a secret from us,” suggested Cantia with a cheeky smile on her face. “I wonder what he did with her during that time when we weren’t around.”
“Hey…! Hey…! Stop saying weird things that’ll create a lot of misunderstandings!” Lakshman said warningly to Cantia and she laughed heartily. “Anyway, we just talked for a bit and she told me some information before leaving. Nothing else happened, so stop assuming things.”
Cantia chuckled once more before she said, “Lucky… I was just joking…”
Lakshman looked at her with an exasperated expression on his face with a raised eyebrow, causing everyone to laugh. It was a happy moment, which was broken when Zen entered arrived at the living room entrance.
Seeing Lakshman, Zen breathed a deep sigh in relief and said, “Oh. Thank goodness you’re here. I thought I’d have to go to the Heaven Continent and find you there.”
“What’s up?” Lakshman asked him as his smile slowly disappeared and was replaced by a look of concern.
“It’s Dominic,” began Zen and Lakshman narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “He woke up a while back and has been rather out of it for some reason, so I thought you’d know what he’s feeling so down about.”
Lakshman digested this information and nodded in understanding before he said, “I see. He’s feeling down because of the defeat he suffered at the Dragon Continent and his confidence in himself has started to crumble. No matter. I’ll observe him for a few days and if he hasn’t improved by then, I’ll have a chat with him.”
Zen nodded in agreement and smiled as he said, “Good. Now, onto pressing matters, the kings from the other kingdoms have called for another meeting to talk with you again.”
Hearing that made Lakshman smile a little as he said, “I see. Well, do your best to handle that matter.”
“Huh?” Zen said as he blinked in surprise. “You want me to handle the discussion with them, but aren’t you supposed to talk to them as our king?”
Lakshman shook his head and said, “I said to you before; I’m not a salesman to convince them. They’ve lost their chance to have an audience with me and besides, I am more concerned about the future than the present.”
“About what, Lucky?” Cantia asked curiously and he looked at her with a serious expression on his face.
“The Phoenix Calamity War that’ll take place two years from now,” said Lakshman in a serious voice and everyone stiffened by those words. “With the angel matter out of the way, I can finally focus on gathering the Nine Pillars of Power for the battle that will require all that we got to offer.”
With those words, Lakshman clenched his fists tightly and narrowed his eyes with intense seriousness on his face.
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Author's Note
Hello everyone and thank you so much for waiting to read this chapter. It took a while because my life just got a little busy with work and all, so I got down to writing the chapter when I became free. This is also the end of another arc and will be the start of another, so I hope that you liked all that was offered in this arc and will look forward to more as the story continues! Until next time, keep yourself healthy, safe and happy at all times! ;)