With the threat of the vampires and their servants gone, Kai contacted the woman with the Guardians. With her knowledge, the anomaly from this continent had been cleared. Now, it was off to the last human continent, the Ancient Dragon Continent.

The name originated from the ancient dragons guarding the continent since time immemorial. Legend has it that dragons themselves had built the continent but it had little evidence supporting it.

Ancient dragons were dragons that reached above S-class, even SS-class dragons were counted as ancient because like vampires, dragons get stronger with age and they have limited ways to temper their bodies because of their builds. That's why any dragon that reaches SS-class would be over thousands of years old and those at SSS-class were over tens of thousands of years old.

But it was doubtful for a dragon to reach above that. A dragon above an ancient dragon was on the level of Gods, and those were the Dragon Kings and Dragon Queens of their time. Most dragons lived between five hundred to three thousand years while the minority reached even further.

Dragon Kings and Queens weren't necessarily over ten thousand, it just meant that their level of power and growth were that much faster compared to others. A candidate for a Dragon King or Queen would reach S-class by a hundred, SS-class by five hundred, and SSS-class by two thousand.

Seniority wasn't important to dragons, it was power. A candidate Dragon Monarch would be respected and awed by those below him but scorned by those above him.

(A/N: I'll start referring to Dragon Kings/Queens when spoken of together by Dragon Monarch.)

Even if the ones the Dragon Monarchs are stronger against were older than them, the latter would still respect the former.

Other than the dragons, there were the longer-lived elves, the human-like beastkin, and a plethora of other races.

Kai had set up a base of operations in this continent using the bandits. Although it was his base of operations, the bandits ran it while he was away so it was almost the latter's ownership since Kai would most likely return only every few months.

Of course, Kai rewarded them handsomely and promised them more if they kept fulfilling their duties while he was away.

It had been about a month since the incident with the vampires and everyone had finally finished preparing to set off. They traveled across the continent to get to the port town on the other side and took a ship heading towards the other continent.

The passengers had a variety of races, not like the ship they had taken to go from Soaring Eagle to Ethereal Moon which was only filled with humans. Majority of the passengers were beastkin, the minority were humans and a single elf.

Of course, there were some with greedy eyes looking at the elf. After all, elf slaves sold for a lot but the biggest reason would be the fact that the elf had covered themself in a hood.

If the elf was a woman, the price for selling her to slavery would skyrocket while if it was a man, then he would be the best slave for labor seeing as how they don't age. An elf covering themself in a hood was likely to be a woman.

"Why are you here?"

Kai walked up to the elf under the eyes of everyone in the room.

"...Ah, Sir Tatsuya. I didn't recognize you for a second there."

Kai was now posing as Kenji so the elf didn't recognize him instantly. This elf was one Kai and the others knew well, it was Syl, Lion's assistant.

"Good timing though, I've something to pass onto you, Sir Tatsuya."

Kai raised a brow and took the parcel handed to him.

"You may read it now but please be wary of others' eyes."

Kai ripped the parcel and read the letter placed on top. Reading the letter, Kai's brows slowly furrowed. There were few matters that could truly make Kai worry so seeing his face like this left Syl surprised.

"What does it say?"

"Did you get this from a woman with silver hair?"

"...I also hold silver hair but yes. Her eyes looked lifeless but she was beautiful, oh yeah, she also wore a cloak."

"Alright, I got it. So, where are you heading off to?"

Kai burned the letter in his hands to ash in an instant.

"Casually changing the topic to avoid my question, huh..."

"I can't tell you the exact contents but I suggest you turn back and warn everyone, the continent will face darkness for an entire year, I don't know the exact date but it will be within half a year. I'll return before then to do something about it, but I suppose we will still have to face a month without the sun."

"I'll inform everyone but currently, I'm on an urgent mission so turning back is impossible."

"And I suppose I won't be told what it's about?"

"Nn."

Kai shrugged his shoulders at Syl's smile.

"Give my regards to your husband."

He bid her farewell and then walked back to his group's spot.

"Was it Syl?"

Seeing Kai approach with a grim expression, Amelia asked him.

"Yeah... Yoko, I have to talk to you."

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"...?"

It was rare for Kai to make that sort of face. Yoko followed him and parted from the rest of the group.

"How's Emi?"

Hearing that, Yoko's eyes turned cold.

"I won't let you have her. Save the kingdom, save the continents for all I care but I won't let you have her."

"..."

Kai fell silent. The two of them kept walking in silence until they reached the deck.

"Only I can save her, please."

"What do you mean?"

The mood between the two of them was cold. Yoko's killing intent was overflowing while Kai was on the passive side. Naturally, Kai didn't want to fight her, especially over Emi.

"What do you know about bloodlines?"

Kai looked into the horizon with a look of melancholy.

"...They are traits and abilities inherited from ancestors and passed down genetically. And that blood inside daughters are more potent than sons."

"Correct. Now, let me ask you, what is in my bloodline?"

Yoko's eyes widened and she was shocked speechless for a long time.

"The blood of a human, angel, and demon..."

"Exactly. Did you know, that I was a stillbirth baby? It only lasted for a few seconds but it doesn't change the fact that I had nearly died."

I really died though- or at least, the original owner of this body.

"Then Emi, how did she live?!"

Even Kai, born as a male had become stillbirth but Emi's blood was several time more potent! That meant that there was only one reason, there was something even stronger within her body suppressing the blood.

"Accompanying her birth, a seed-like item was born in her body, most likely to adapt. Her body was forced to evolve and produce something beyond human."

Kai stopped looking into the horizon before looking into Yoko's eyes.

"This seed-like item in her body is absorbing the power from her body. Even if you trained her to use magic, her growth rate would be so slow it would take her years to reach F-class. But, once that seed absorbs enough power to grow, I can guarantee to you that not just S-class, she would shoot up to the peak of humanity's power in an instant."

"SSS-class?!"

Yoko was even doubting her own ears but seeing Kai's face, she knew that he was serious.

"When will it happen?"

"It won't happen for a few years unless something happens but it has already awakened and sprouted. Once we get back to the continent, Emi will reach S-class."

A massive surge of magic power in a child's body. There was only one foregone conclusion, death.

"Then we have to save her now!"

It would take two weeks for them to reach the other continent. Yoko probably even considered swimming to go back to Ethereal Moon and get back to the continent.

"Calm down, she isn't in any danger. I can send you back home anytime but you don't need to worry. Until that seed in her body sprouts completely, she will get stronger without any drawbacks."

The worry in Yoko's eyes faded slightly but it was still noticeable.

"Then... what happens if it sprouts completely?"

Kai closed his eyes before opening them and looking to the sky.

"At most, she'll live for a few days."

Of that, he was sure. After all, Emi had died in front of his eyes.

----------------------------------------

That night, Kai experienced a nightmare. It wasn't a normal nightmare, it was a glimpse of his memories from the other timeline. Ones he didn't want to remember but had to.

It was a time before he acquired the power to become a God. A time he greatly regretted, one he wished he could change.

"[Abyssal Wolf]!"

Kai's body was insanely tattered as he used the strongest attack in his arsenal before flopping down on the floor devoid of power. He was so injured that he couldn't even be recognized with all the blood and wounds surrounding his body.

In front of him was an empty abyss which was once filled with enemies. In this place, he was alone. The sky was red and the ground had died, it was quite the dismal place

He quickly began trying to heal himself. After all, he wasn't a vampire in this timeline.

"I... can't lose... consciousness here..."

Kai said with determination but... there was an unmistakable tiredness in his voice. Unfortunately, he was too injured this time, he even used Greater Self-Healing yet it showed little effect.

Of course, he wouldn't die but that didn't mean he could heal fast. To him, every second was important. Every second was a life- no, tens of lives gone. In this war involving the entire world, he had to move.

"Kai!"

Erina appeared next to him. Her eyes were devoid of any emotion but her brows were furrowed with worry.

"You're too reckless! You used Abyssal Wolf three times today!"

The both of them were already at the peak of humanity's power, SS-class. They fell too short of being an SSS-class which humanity needed.

"No, I have to fight..."

"You can heal your wounds but you won't regain the lost blood. Stand down!"

Erina forcibly stopped Kai from healing himself. Even if he had healed his body, the damage had still affected his soul, it wasn't wise to continue fighting.

"Erina, I have to keep fighting!"

"Kai, please... I can't bear to see you hurt yourself..."

Erina's plea only stopped Kai for a moment before he struggled again. Ever since the war started, Kai's mental state underwent a drastic change.

At first, he was fine but after a few months had passed, he began having nightmares about the people he couldn't save, a few more months passed and he was on the verge of breaking down but could still manage to keep it from others. A year passed and everyone could see the crazed madness in his eyes, it wasn't one that would harm those close to him, it was one that could harm himself and the enemy, a madness to kill.

Now, Kai was on the brink of breaking, he would soon become a machine solely to kill the enemy.

Seeing Kai in his current state made a single tear fall from Erina's eye.

"...Huh?"

Feeling the teardrop, Erina touched her cheek to trace a moist line.

"Tears...?"

This was impossible, she had lost her ability to display emotions and even lost most of her real emotions.

The teardrop fell on Kai's neck. Feeling that, the madness in Kai's eyes receded and he quickly propped his body up to grab Erina by the shoulders.

Seeing the moist line on her cheeks made Kai's own eyes glisten with tears and they started to fall down uncontrollably.

"Erina, your tears... they're back...!"

Even with the death of her father or the death of her friends and loved ones, she had never cried- no, she was not able to. Kai blamed himself for it, for not being able to save her sooner, seeing her cry for the first time in years made the guilt in his heart lessen and brought back his sense of self.

Erina was speechless. After all, it had been years since she last felt it.

But now wasn't the time for celebration. Erina quickly grabbed Kai's body and leapt hundreds of meters backwards using magic.

BOOM

A huge explosion destroyed the place that they had just been in.

"Tartarus..."

Seeing the giant flying monster-like ship, the two of them felt despair. Now, it was truly over. It was one of the demons' trump cards.

Another laser shot out from behind Erina and Kai which landed on Tartarus. Although it hardly did any damage because of the ship's defenses, the power was almost as strong as Kai's Abyssal Wolf.

Turning around, they felt even more despair.

"The Garden of Eden."

This time, it was the angels' trump cards. Contrary to the humans' expectations during the war, the angels did not side with them, they attacked everyone just like the demons.

This war wasn't only humans versus demons, even the Gods were having conflict and wiping each other out. Kai and Erina had rewards put out for their heads, it looked like these two ships were used to corner them.

Teleportation was out of the question, they had locked space around this area.

"...At least, I get to spend my final moments with the person I love the most."

Erina spoke, knowing that they were going to die. She hugged Kai tightly, not minding all the blood that colored her dress.

"No, I won't let you die...!"

Kai broke free from her embrace and faced the two ships. He raised a sword and roared just as the two ships locked on to his position and fired.

That's right. Take my life. Take it as many times as you wish, but I won't let you take hers!

Kai channeled all the power in his body and the surroundings but even if he prepared now, it was already over. The lasers had already shot out and no matter what he did, he wouldn't make it.

BOOM

All of a sudden, the lasers that had just shot out exploded in mid-air. A figure of a child about ten was floating in front of Kai with the child's back facing him.

"Emi..."