Percival began reminiscing about their childhood, recalling how Jonathan would constantly get into fights with other kids, which always landed him in trouble.

Jonathan chuckled, embarrassed, and stated that he only fought kids who picked on others; he wasn't just going around beating kids up for no reason.

Percival laughed in response. "You always were the hero type, huh, Jona?"

Jonathan replied, "At least I wasn't dating every woman I laid my eyes on."

A little ashamed, Percival clarified, "Well, they were the ones who came to me. I didn't do anything to make them like me."

"That only makes it even worse, Perci," Jonathan replied with a smile.

"Yeah, sure..." Percival said, cracking up.

Percival then snapped his fingers, and the reality around them began to warp, playing out their childhood memories.

Memories of them together as brothers growing up with their parents; memories of them playing with kids their age; memories of their ups and downs as a family; and times they got into heated fights and later apologized and made amends.

Watching their memories with joy and nostalgia, a familiar scene began to play. A much younger Jonathan was playing in the rain by himself, near some stairs outside.

Jonathan remembered this scene. It was the day he accidentally slipped down the stairs, spraining his ankle and fracturing a few bones.

The scene continued to play, with the younger Jonathan playing by himself, slowly getting near the stairs, and crouching down to stare at the raindrops as they hit the stairs. But then Jonathan was utterly baffled and speechless as he watched a younger Percival sneakily come from behind and gently push him off the stairs.

As Jonathan's younger self fell, hitting the ground incredibly hard, spraining his ankle, and fracturing a few bones, he screamed and cried in pain. The younger Percival merely stared down at him from the top of the stairs with a cold expression on his face.

As the scene shifted to other memories, Jonathan sat in utter disbelief at what he had just witnessed. He slowly turned his head towards Percival, who seemed completely unfazed, eating an apple with his other hand on his cheek.

"What is the meaning of this, Percival?" Jonathan said, in a more serious tone.

Percival calmly continued to eat his apple, completely ignoring Jonathan and sifting through their old memories.

Jonathan asked again, with a more angered tone, but Percival cut him off, excitedly pointing to the now-playing scene of their younger teen selves at a funeral.

In that scene, everyone wore black attire, drenched by the pouring rain. Many people cried over the deaths of the deceased. Percival then asked Jonathan if he remembered this tragic event.

An event that left them both orphans at a young age, as their parents, Elizabeth and Benjamin, had tragically passed away after a horrifying incident involving many people, who were brutally massacred by gifted people.

Percival continued, stating how everyone, including Jonathan, cried their hearts out over their parents' deaths. Except for himself, as not a single tear was seen on his face because he didn't feel a single thing.

Percival added that during their parents' funeral, he realized how weak their parents were. It never crossed his mind that a gifted person like him was being raised by such weak ants.

He even tried finding their parents' killer and ending their lives too, but it didn't make him feel anything. That's when he realized that ungifted people shouldn't even exist in the first place. So why not eliminate every last one of them, including the ungifted from other races, and create a new world order?

Jonathan stood up in anger and yelled at Percival, telling him how dare he disrespect their parents like that, and what kind of madness was he on to say something so despicable and horrendous.

Percival calmly snapped his fingers, destroying the illusion he created around them. He then turned his head towards Jonathan, saying in a calm demeanor, "Do you think I'm joking about what I said?"

"Have you ever questioned why I've been gone for so many years?"

"Did you really think I was going around, living my life, falling in love with some random royal princess, raising a bunch of goody two-shoes kids, and taking care of animals in a barn, like some pathetic low-life farmer?"

"No!" Percival yelled in a more irritated tone.

"I have been working my face off, in hopes of achieving my dream, unlike you."

Pointing his finger around the entire house, Percival asked arrogantly, "Who do you think invented everything you low-life ungifted use in your daily lives?"

"Who do you think invented the cars you use, the phones you use, and began the Industrial Revolution?"

"It was I!" he said in a loud tone.

With a more disappointed look on his face, Jonathan questioned Percival if the reason he came to meet him today was only to further ruin their already broken relationship.

Percival coldly replied, "No. I didn't come here for you but for other reasons. One of those reasons is my lab subject that is currently in your care."

Confused by what he just said, Jonathan questioned, "Lab Subject?"

Percival replied, "Oh yeah, I forgot. You don't know anything about that monster you adopted as your child."

Jonathan angrily yelled at Percival, telling him not to call his son a monster or ever insult any of his children again.

Percival smiled and stood firm in what he had said, stating, "The kids you call your children are born gods. Especially that son of yours, Aleksander."

Getting back to his point, Percival continued, saying, "To be honest, brother, I never really expected you of all people to be the one to end up with that boy, Xavier."

"But I guess it was my fault for not putting in a stricter security system for my secret base, where Xavier was being held."

Holding his head in frustration, he murmured to himself, "Rebecca, you pesky witch. Just killing your family doesn't make up for the amount of pain and trouble you've caused me."

Regaining his composure, Percival slowly stood up and instantaneously appeared before the portrait of Jonathan's wife, Fyodora, and a small case that contained one of Fyodora's precious pieces of jewelry.

Percival then opened the box, revealing a beautiful blue gem, as he said, "The Fable Stone of the Ivanovich Family. A rare stone that contains an almost limitless pool of energy within it. And it's now in my possession."

Jonathan questioned Percival on what he was doing, and Percival replied, "Remember when I talked about killing all ungifteds that exist? Well, this stone is one of the keys to helping me achieve that goal."

Percival continued, "I already possess a vast and mighty army and empire of my own. With all the political connections and money I've made through my inventions, all that is left now is to make that boy Xavier watch the world burn before his very eyes. As I kill every single person he has and will ever love."

In a more sinister tone, Percival jokingly said, "I have already killed his parents and the rest of his entire family bloodline. All that's left are a few ants that will surely break him when they die."

Filled with pure rage at hearing that Percival had killed all of Xavier's family members, Jonathan yelled at him, asking why he did something so evil to Xavier and why he hated him so much.

Percival sinisterly replied, "I've always hated Xavier's existence, even before he was born. And him taking the Legendary Blade of Hope, Excalibur, one of the ultimate tools I planned on using for my goal, only fueled my hatred for him even more."

Jonathan then declared, clenching his fist, "I won't let you leave this place with that gem on you, Percival."

To which Percival responded mockingly, "I'd like to see you try, brother."

Jonathan immediately rushed at Percival but was surprised when his hand merely phased through him.

Creating numerous clones of himself, Percival began toying with his brother, mocking him for thinking that he could defeat a god like him.

But to Percival's surprise, Jonathan was able to see right through his illusions, grabbing his real body by the collar, and saying in a cold tone, "Your mind games and illusions don't work on me, brother. I'm long used to you using them on me."

Jonathan then delivered a powerful right hook to Percival's face, making him drop the Fable Stone.

Jonathan tried to grab the stone, but Percival merely spun one of his fingers, and the entire house began to distort and break apart into cubes, making Jonathan feel nauseous.

Percival took that chance to hit Jonathan with a deadly blow to the ribs, making him cough out blood.

Laughing hysterically, Percival mentioned how he always loved fighting against him, since he was the only person he enjoyed fighting against as a kid.

Percival then attempted to reverse kick Jonathan, but he quickly moved out of the way. Grabbing Percival's leg, he attempted to break it.

But Percival easily stopped his hand in place and immediately landed a right hook on him.

Percival followed up the right hook with an onslaught of attacks, which Jonathan was luckily able to defend himself from.

They both went back and forth, going blow for blow, blocking and countering each other's attacks. Jonathan tried his best to grab the Fable Stone off Percival. But Percival merely toyed with him throughout the entire battle, like a dog in a cage.

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Jonathan then struck the hand Percival held the Fable Stone with, making him drop it again. But Percival quickly reacted and knee-kicked Jonathan, who barely blocked it in time.

Percival then immediately landed a spinning kick on Jonathan as he blocked his knee kick, sending him flying and crashing into the kitchen.

As Jonathan slowly got back up, Percival taunted him by tossing the Fable Stone into the air near him, saying, "If you want it so badly, then take it."

As the Fable Stone flew through the air, slowly descending to the ground, Jonathan immediately jumped to try and catch it. But this was a grave error, as it was exactly what Percival had hoped he would do.

Percival smiled sinisterly, pointed his finger in a gun gesture towards the gas tank right behind Jonathan, and said in a calm tone, "Bang!"

In an instant, the gas tank exploded, causing a massive blast that destroyed the entire house.

As the house lay in ruins, slowly being consumed by flames, Percival emerged from the smoke, completely unscathed, not even a single scratch on him.

Wiping some dust off his shoulders, Percival began to walk slowly towards the nearly unconscious Jonathan, who had the left side of his body brutally burned to a charred state, with two of his limbs missing.

Seeing the state his brother was in, Percival laughed mockingly, ridiculing him for ever thinking he could be a hero and stop him from achieving his goal.

Jonathan groaned in severe pain, coughing up an absurd amount of blood.

Percival then placed his hand on the right side of Jonathan's body and immediately ripped out his brother's heart.

Holding Jonathan's heart in the palm of his hand, Percival said in a calm yet evil tone, "Huh, I don't see what's so special about your heart."

"It's just a regular, ordinary heart, like every other living creature's."

"So why is it that people are so quick to say that you are a loving and pure-hearted person?"

Sighing in disappointment, he added, "Well, I guess we'll never know."

As Percival was about to leave, Jonathan slowly asked in an anguished voice, "Why... do you... do this, brother?"

Slowly turning his head around, Percival answered, "Why do I do this, you ask?"

"You see, brother, I have always hated you growing up."

"I never understood why someone as weak as you, who wasn't even gifted, was more loved than me."

"But... I loved you," Jonathan replied, tears flowing down his cheeks.

To which Percival responded, "I don't need your useless love."

"I don't need you, Mother, Father, or anyone else."

With a more psychotic look on his face, Percival continued, stating with a sinister smile, "The only thing I want and desire is power!"

"Absolute power above all the Herrschers and Supreme Gods!"

"Even above the Creator himself!"

"And I will stop at nothing until I achieve that dream!"

Jonathan then said in a pained tone, "You're... insane, brother."

"Your... wicked plans... won't succeed."

Hearing that, Percival smirked and replied, "Many of my wicked plans that you don't know about have already succeeded."

Slowly walking towards Jonathan, Percival continued, "For example, have you ever wondered how your beautiful and loving wife, Fyodora, mysteriously contracted the Black Death and died?"

With his face now near Jonathan's, he then yelled in a psychopathic voice, "It was me, Jonathan!"

"I am the reason your wife died from the Black Death!"

Hearing this horrifying revelation, Jonathan sat utterly speechless, unable to process what he had just heard.

Percival continued, explaining to Jonathan that he had poisoned Fyodora when she became pregnant with Violet by injecting her with a large dose of varmint blood that he had extracted, which contained the Black Death.

He then stated with a cocky expression, "I was hoping it would kill Violet before she was born, as I didn't want another Aleksander to be born."

"But hey! At least I got to see her suffer slowly as her life vanished from her eyes."

"Plus, Violet was even born with some physical disabilities because of the poison."

Unable to even move his body, Jonathan glared at Percival, his eyes tearing up, filled with pain and sadness, as he never imagined his brother would betray him like this.

Percival then grabbed Jonathan by the jaw, staring him dead in the eyes, and said, "You've always liked talking about love and how it is the light of the world."

"But now I will show you evilness, the darkness, and the destroyer of this world. And you won't be able to do a thing, as you watch from heaven, your loved ones slowly perish from this world by my hands."

Slamming Jonathan's head onto the wall, Percival slowly began to walk away, with the Fable Stone around his neck and his heart in his hands, saying, "Have fun watching your children suffer, especially that child, Xavier."

"I will make him suffer more than any other being in existence, and forcefully make him watch the world burn around him as his loved ones die one by one every second by me."

Percival then left Jonathan to slowly bleed out as the house he had made so many memories in with his loving wife and children slowly burned to ashes around him.

Leaving Jonathan's house, which was engulfed in flames, Percival was met by a few of his henchmen, who calmly waited for him outside, all dressed in white and red attire, with a gold Omega crest on their clothes.

"How did it go, my Lord?" one of the henchmen asked.

"It was amazing, Seraphina!" Percival replied with excitement.

"I haven't enjoyed myself like this for years now," he continued.

Glad that her master was finally able to enjoy himself after constantly working tirelessly, Seraphina smiled with joy and snapped her fingers, making all the blood stains on Percival immediately vanish.

Seraphina then took Jonathan's heart and the Fable Stone, storing them in a safe and secure container.

Another henchman placed a fancy and lavish black coat on Percival's shoulders, giving him a cigar to smoke.

"Ah, thank you, Yuto," Percival said as Seraphina snapped her fingers, lighting Percival's cigar.

"You're welcome, my Lord," Yuto replied proudly.

As Percival smoked his cigar, he questioned, "Oh, by the way, where are Heinrich and Sage?"

Another of Percival's henchmen, Raven, replied, kneeling and bowing her head in apology, "We sincerely apologize, my Lord."

"Sage and Heinrich said they would arrive with Grande Valhalla before you finished your work with your brother."

Raven then murmured to herself, irritated and frustrated, "Yet they aren't here yet."

"Those two know how to get on my nerves."

Percival laughed at the situation, saying, "You don't need to worry."

"Just let them have their fun."

At that moment, Violet, Aleksander, and Xavier arrived home, in shock and utterly speechless, as their house, which they grew up in, slowly burned before their eyes.

"Father!" Violet and Xavier screamed in horror, remembering that Jonathan had stayed behind, not coming to celebrate the Day of Heroes with them this year.

Percival, seeing them, happily and warmly welcomed them, saying with a big smile, "Ah, welcome back home, my niece and nephews."

"How did the Day of Heroes go for you?"

"Was it amazing?" he continued.

Aleksander immediately cut Percival off, demanding he explain why their home was burning down and where their father was.

Percival smiled sinisterly. "Oh, your father, Jonathan?"

"He's right here," he said, holding up Jonathan's heart in a see-through container.

At that moment, a storm of rage flooded Aleksander's body as he instantly released a terrifying red burst of energy that covered the entire landscape, including their farms.

Percival retaliated by activating his aura to counter and clash with Aleksander's, laughing maniacally and mocking him and his siblings.

Seeing that Percival was beyond his league, Aleksander began to use his aura to protect his siblings, taking severe injuries from Percival's mere aura head-on.

Percival arrogantly said with a smile, "I would love to play with you guys further, but I have important things to attend to."

"Plus, it would be a wise idea to see your father now before he takes his final breath."

As Percival's blackish-gold aura completely overwhelmed Aleksander's, he deactivated his aura. As he did so, the sky above them began to crack, and a bright beam of light illuminated the heavens.

In an instant, a gigantic flying golden city, larger than the entirety of Sitka, appeared from the heavens, casting a massive shadow over everything below it.

"Ah, they finally arrived," Percival said with a smile as he turned his head towards the beautiful flying city made of pure gold.

Raven sighed in relief to see Heinrich and Sage had finally arrived before Master Percival got tired of waiting, making her heart beat stress-free.

Afterward, numerous ships appeared from wormportals, filled with legions of soldiers.

The massive flying golden city, Grande Valhalla, then descended a long and massive golden staircase for its master, Percival.

As Percival and his henchmen ascended the stairs, reaching the top, they were greeted by Heinrich and Sage, who kneeled and bowed their heads, saying, "Welcome back, my Lord.

Percival turned his head towards Xavier, saying with a sinister smile, "See you later, my dear Novus."

But Xavier merely stared at him, utterly speechless, unable to process what was happening.

As Percival and his army left in the blink of an eye, Aleksander and Violet immediately ran towards their now completely burned-down house, with Xavier following behind.

Reaching their house, they were all utterly horrified to see the horrifying state their beloved father was in.

Somehow able to survive without his heart, Jonathan smiled brightly as he saw his beloved children, despite being in excruciating pain.

Xavier and Violet immediately hugged their father. Jonathan gently petted their heads, even though he was in great pain, and asked them how the Day of Heroes went, and if it was fantastic this year like usual.

But his children didn't reply. Instead, they broke down crying, filled with pain and sorrow.

Seeing the pain his children were in, Jonathan comforted them, saying, "Don't cry, my beloved children. Daddy is alright."

Then Aleksander, in tears, began apologizing to his father for not being there to save him, and for being weak.

Jonathan smiled, placing his right hand on Aleksander's cheek. "Don't say that, my son. You're not weak, you're strong. And I am proud of you, Violet, and Xavier for what you've all accomplished. You are all the joy of my life and the reason I still have hope in the world."

As it suddenly began to rain, Jonathan instructed Aleksander to take care of his siblings as the older brother. He continued, telling them to stay strong and be good, loving people in life—people who others would look up to as heroes and rest in comfort, knowing that their light was still there in the voiceless pit of a world they lived in.

With death knocking on the door, Jonathan said with a bright smile on his face as he teared up, "Always remember, my beloved children, Daddy loves you all very much."

Finally taking his last breath, as he opened the door to the other world, Jonathan was greeted by a bright light. Suddenly waking up, and finding himself in a beautiful and vast field.

Lying on the smooth green grass, confused about where he was, Jonathan was utterly speechless when he suddenly saw Fyodora's face, staring down at him with her beautiful smile.

"Long time, no see, darling," Fyodora said, smiling like an angel. "How have you been?"

Jonathan merely stared at her in awe, his eyes slowly filling with tears. He then suddenly got up and immediately hugged Fyodora, startling her and making her face turn red as she blushed uncontrollably, embarrassed.

"I missed you so much," Jonathan said, hugging Fyodora even tighter.

Fyodora smiled and replied, "I missed you too, darling."

The scene then changed back to Aleksander and Violet, grieving over their father's death, with Violet refusing to let go of Jonathan's lifeless body. Xavier sat there in utter disbelief, with the shine in his eyes slowly fading, being replaced with a look of utter despair.

At that moment, Xavier was filled with so much anger and sadness that his cosmic eyes began to glow brightly. The Visor of Time tried to suppress and keep the sudden surging energy coursing through Xavier under control, but it was too much. The flux of energy completely overtook the Visor of Time, and in an instant, a burst of energy blasted out of Xavier, piercing the heavens and splitting the clouds.

Aleksander and Violet were pushed away by the burst of energy, but they immediately got back up and ran to their little brother's aid.

"It's okay, Xavier. Big sis is here for you," Violet said as she tightly hugged Xavier, even though she was being badly burned by the extreme heat caused by the burst of energy.

"That's right, Xavier. Please don't cry, because we are here for you and won't ever leave you," Aleksander added, hugging Xavier as well.

Xavier, regaining control, broke down in tears of despair, unable to believe his father was dead. But Aleksander and Violet sat there with him, comforting their dear little brother during this tragic and traumatizing moment.

Back at the Grande Valhalla, where Percival sat on an immense, levitating golden throne with long staircases that, though not connected to the throne, he could still use to descend. He then felt the sudden surge of energy released by Xavier and said with a smile, "Oh, it seems like the Visor of Time wasn't able to suppress the power of Xavier's Eyes of the Beginning."

"What an interesting boy that Astrion Vessel is."

Then Sage, one of his henchmen, came before him, bowing, and asked, "My Lord, forgive me for asking, but why didn't you kill Aleksander right then?"

Percival, surprised by the question, replied, "What do you mean by that?"

Sage elaborated, "Well, you once said that Aleksander was the most dangerous being to currently exist because of his potential. And that if Aleksander were to reach his true potential and remove the limiters set on him by his contractor, he would be a danger to your plans."

Understanding why Sage would ask, Percival explained, "Ah, you're right, I did say that".

"And it's true, that Aleksander's potential is what makes him a fierce creature".

"So if he were to ever reach his real power, he would quite easily, be the strongest Herrscher to ever exist in history, only behind someone like Grand Emperor Julius".

"But I don't need to worry about Aleksander getting in my way because I already have my main means of getting rid of that boy".

"Plus, wouldn't it be better to first mentally break him, before killing him?".

"Because that sounds more fun and exciting than just killing him right away!".

"And I also have another means of killing him too".

"So relax; don't worry about him and just have fun."

To which Sage replied, lowering his head, "Yes, my Lord, I understand."