“I said move, kid! It's the last time you'll hear me repeat it! "

Mars had his face caked with mud and his clothes tattered, but he had no intention of looking down at the coachman who stood in front of him. He didn't care that he was only in Phase Two or risking his life with every second that passed. The coachman had guests of honor in the carriage; this one, with its gold and pearl ornaments, seemed to come straight down from heaven. In the most important city on the planet, they had finally visited the Immortals, and not just any Immortals!

The man driving the carriage had a long white beard and a dignified bearing, as befits a person above vile mortal disputes.

But a boy who seemed to have several brain problems had hurled himself in front of the moving carriage while chasing a stray dog. The guards had approached him to forcibly remove him from the road and prevent the stop from embarrassing the royal family, whom he had sent to welcome guests in a magnificent procession. The royal family waited at the gates of the palace and no delay of any kind would ever be tolerated.

The guards wanted nothing more than to take the boy away, behind some alley, and put some common sense in his noggin. As the guards all along the procession were at the Ninth Phase, it would only take a few seconds to get the job done. But another screaming little boy with unkempt dark brown hair and a wild look got in the way, creating a stir in the crowd and preventing the guards from acting. Now, the carriage had had to stop so as not to run over them and get dirty with blood.

The first boy had barely gotten a shove from a guard and had not yet been taken away. It looked like an uproar would soon break out. "The guard attacked my brother!" Mars screamed at the top of his voice, staring at a newly appeared purple hematoma on Speedy's arm. "Damn!" a guard yelled. In an attempt to get those two brats off his feet the only thing that came to his mind was: "Go away and this insolence will be forgiven!"

Fuck him, he would be forgiven! The coachman thought to himself, beckoning to the guards through his Divine Sense. He knew that his guests, especially the woman, did not like scenes of this kind; therefore, he would take care of those two in the shadows. Now, the coachman just wanted to move forward, but ...

"Ugly bastard, I said you have to apologize to my brother!"

Faced with the stunned faces of the crowd, the tallest boy took a terrifying leap towards the coachman, who was an Immortal.

Mars had lived a life of injustice, hardship, flights with Speedy under his arm, and had always had to run away before anyone could do anything to him. One glance was enough for him to understand that this was going to be their last day, that those guards would never really let them go.

"Mars! Mars!" Speedy yelled, not fully understanding his brother's actions, but still terrified. The coachman had a large pulsating blue vein on his forehead.

"Okay, the King will probably skin me for this, but I'll make sure not a drop of blood touches the carriage."

The coachman raised his hand, ready for a backhand that would have reduced the brat into tiny particles of dust. By inserting some Mana into the blow he would be able to turn him into ash, without having to worry about cleaning up anything.

The Aura of Mars - the Immortal had to admit - was, however, incredibly dense. Although he was in the Second Phase, a pressure field had formed all around him within a hundred meters. The crowd felt overwhelmed, despite the boy's anger being directed at a single person.

Speedy's eyes were full of tears and mucus had run down his chin.

There was no need to be smart to understand what was going on.

“Men, whether they like it or not, can always choose to do good or evil. Many of us deny ourselves this faculty, reject it as if it did not exist, believing that, in this way, actions belong to fate. But every man is the architect of his own destiny and what morals his body will feed on tomorrow. "

The coachman's hand was blocked. A woman of shocking beauty shook her head, disappointed by the behavior of that Immortal. The woman had come out of the carriage in silence and, levitating, approached the coachman.

"Anyone who transgresses the principles of Life must be punished without exception, I'm sorry."

The coachman's pupils became two slits and, before he could open his mouth, his existence became but a distant memory. It was gone from the face of the universe in a split second.

Mars, on the other hand, had been grabbed by a man with snow-white hair and a young face. He was a tremendously handsome man and possessed a bearing worthy of the greatest of kings.

"Kirin, are you okay?" Amaterasu asked, watching Mars try to wriggle out of the arms of one of the most powerful beings in the universe.

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“Humans, always the same. Why don't you lock your puppies in cages if they're all like this? Bah!"

Amaterasu put one foot on the road.

The crowd was silent and the guards had all bowed. Nobody dared look up higher than their feet and breathe too loudly.

But a childish scream broke the sacred silence of the crowd.

“Give me back Mars! Ugly and bad! " Speedy had freed himself from the grip of the guards and, without even looking in front of him, had begun to punch Amaterasu.

Seeing that scene, some guards felt faint and prayed with all their heart that the King would not have the whole body of the gendarmerie executed for allowing that attack. But, knowing his majesty, they did not believe in such clemency.

"Ahahaha!" Amaterasu's crystalline laughter captured the hearts of all present, be they men or women. It seemed they had never heard a laugh before they heard her laugh and more than one person dared to look up, giving themselves the sight of her bright eyes.

Anything would have been considered an affront, if done in front of one of the most powerful figures in the universe, even a mere glance. But looking at her eyes and her smile was worth dying for.

Yes, it was really worth dying for.

A woman with golden hair and a simple dress, but with small and fine embroidery, had put a hand on the boy's head.

“Don't worry. Nothing happened, don't worry. "

The child suddenly calmed down, cradled in the arms of that gentle, fragrant, luminous woman. That woman reminded her of her mother.

Everyone present watched her as she laid her hands on a completely dirty child, so soiled that, not even in the slum his mother would have gladly hugged him. Instead Amaterasu had taken him in her arms, bringing him to her and consoling him. But, before he could say more, with a thunderous noise, the entire royal family appeared in the sky. King, Prince and Queen. All three were lined up high in the city and slowly descended towards the street.

"My God! Guards! What happened to our distinguished guests? " the King screamed, red-faced, seeing two filthy children near Amaterasu and Kirin, the emissaries of the Clan of Life. They were vassals of the Qingguang Clan, so they could not help but try to ruffle them in every way.

"Immediately take away those two little monsters, who are defiling His Highness Amaterasu and His Holiness Kirin!"

Amaterasu was only there to try to avoid the total destruction of that planet. The Prince had been mad enough to claim that he had a huge soft spot for her and would do anything to get her hand. If Iblis knew of it, that planet would no longer exist.

Seeing the Prince approach Kirin and extend his hands in disgust towards the child, Amaterasu shook her head for the second time. With great regret, he saw the same expression on the faces of the King and Queen as well.

"We came here because this fool has endangered the entire planet with his babbling, fools!" Kirin roared, kicking the Prince full in the chest.

The King flew to retrieve his beloved son, who shot at full speed into the sky. He first made sure he wasn't dead, then returned to his guests with a contrite, stunned expression.

“Has the Clan of Life turned into a tyranny?! My son just wanted to help you get rid of those two ticks!"

"That's enough."

Everyone froze. Kirin himself felt a terrifying pressure on his soul as Amaterasu gave the last pat on the boy's head, letting him go.

The woman slowly ascended to heaven, under the paralyzed gaze of the whole royal family and all the people. It unfolded two huge white angel wings whose wingspan exceeded eight meters. There was a patch of dirt where he had hugged the boy. Kirin wondered why she hadn't wrapped herself in Mana to avoid getting dirty.

“A sovereign who considers his less well-off subjects like insects to be crushed, just because they are uncomfortable to the eye and dirty, does not deserve to defile my sight. You were afraid of getting your hands a little dirty because two kids were playing and they interrupted a pompous procession that I would have happily avoided. And all this to save a little face to you and this half-man of your son, who would get his hands on helpless kids?"

Amaterasu's palm split the air in the Queen's direction and her head immediately rolled off his body, which crashed to the ground moments later. Once dead, an Immortal had no second chances.

"Because intolerance is complicity, indulgence of wickedness is tyranny."

Amaterasu moved her hand again. This time it was the Prince's head that fell.

“Because, to have a woman's favour, it's not even worth destroying a flower. The soul of such a man, lowly and dissolute, does not deserve to exist."

Amaterasu snapped her fingers and the Prince's body, along with his soul, dissolved into thin air.

"Please have mercy, have mercy!" the King had gone from stately disposition to that of a beggar in a second.

Amaterasu gestured to Kirin, telling him to get out of there and take the two children with him. Then he stepped forward and joined the King, pinning him in place with the pressure of his Aura.

The woman amplified her voice, so that it was heard by the whole kingdom: “Remember: the next time you allow such a tyrant to take control of your fortunes and those of the weakest, all of you will be punished. Now look, because if the first two had a simple death, as idiots, this one will not have a grace of the same magnitude."

Amaterasu's hand glowed with the brilliant Mana of Life. It seemed as if the sun had melted in her hands. Sharp as a blade, her palm inflicted the first cut on the King's face, then a second on the arm, a third on a leg.

With each blow, the Mana of Life burned part of the man's soul, causing him to emit chilling screams. Amaterasu was slowly destroying his body and soul at the same time, controlling the vital values of his body and stabilizing them continuously, to prolong his pain. Not only did the King's body deserve to disappear, but his soul also had no right to exist.

What was worse for the King's glorious fame was that his torture had taken place in front of the people, in front of an immense crowd of subjects frightened by the immeasurable power of Amaterasu.

When she had finished, after several hours, Amaterasu looked around with a serious and almost intimidating look.

Looking around, he noticed that one of the two boys, the older one, had remained there. A void had formed around him. Nobody wanted to be near him.

Amaterasu landed in front of Mars, retracted his wings and looked at him smiling.

While everyone was still stunned and frightened, Mars jumped to his knees and beat his forehead to the ground several times, until it bled. Together with blood and earth, mucus and tears mixed together.

"Why are you crying?" Amaterasu asked curiously.

"I have never seen so much justice in my entire life, my lady."

Mars continued to cry and sob. She knew Speedy had to be safe in the hands of people like her.

Amaterasu took a closer look at the boy and raised an eyebrow in amazement. For the first time since she had arrived in that place she perceived an Aura that did not leave her indifferent. That kid must have had qualities. “In a few days there will be a test to become my disciple,” she told him.

“I will personally teach how to fight, but only to one person. Several thousand men and women from all over the universe will flock to have this chance. However, Level and talent aren't all that matter. I will choose my disciple on the basis of his resolve."

Looking the boy in the eyes sparkling with courage and tears, Amaterasu smiled and asked him: "Would you like to participate?"