The stunning silence within the room was more than enough for people to understand the true depth of the problem at hand. The revitalization of the corrupting energy meant the rebirth of those corrupted beings that would soon lead the world towards a bitter end. It would lead to a time when one wouldn’t know who their ally was and who their enemy was.
“This is the current sighting of the crack,” Quarex spoke within the silence, showing the image of a humongous crack. Its outer lining was dark black, while small intangible lines of red energy could be seen leaking from the crack. The appearance of the crack was sinister enough to make anyone dare not walk close to it.
‘So that’s it… huh?’ I thought while looking at the crack. Most, if not all, people believed that the corrupting energy appeared out of thin air. Not many knew how it truly came to be during the war that drenched the world in red. Only that the powerful started to be twisted in mind and soon in the body.
But the truth was that the truly powerful knew the reason for it. The so-called energy appeared due to this crack, this single crack that came into being during the later time of the war. Even the truly powerful only knew that the crack came into being due to the fight between the two all-powerful goddesses.
Their extreme fight led to a cataclysmic burst of power that opened up this rift, which started to leak this so-called corrupting energy. The funny thing was the fact that the two couldn’t close it, nor did they do anything godlike to deal with it, thus leading to the protection and handling of the rift towards their creation.
‘If only they knew the truth…’ I lamented while looking at the red, death-like rift. The truth here is that the rift did open up due to the Goddesses’ energy coming together, but it wasn’t because of them attacking each other. No, it was because of them combining their powers to stop a single attack.
Yup, just as you have guessed, it was due to my ancestor…
Remember that arrow attack that my ancestor shot? The single arrow he released due to his despair and anger, combining both his bow and his lover’s harp? Yeah, that single attack actually led to the creation of this rift.
‘Not the proudest moment of my bloodline…’ In all honesty, I was half-expecting to be killed or even turned into an enemy of the Gods after I came to truly understand the power and results of my bloodline. What I hold goes completely against the norm, though that worry went down the drain soon…
But I still wonder what other secrets are being held, for I could tell that Orpheus is hiding something from me, trying her best not to spill things to me. And for the all-loving mother to do that, either that information will hurt me, or something is preventing her from even speaking about that information.
‘Now is not the time to think about this…’ Shaking off my thoughts, I focused on the room where the atmosphere had turned much more deadly.
“Did you find out the reason for this?” A calm collected voice asked, prompting me to turn towards a woman who looked to be created from all the colors of the world. Her hair sparkled with rainbow colors, her four eyes matched the description, and two antlers grew out of her head. Her body was on the mature side, with the atmosphere she was giving off being dangerous plus sexy?
‘Oh?… my mind is being taken for a moment.’ The moment I blinked my eyes, the attractive feeling soon turned normal. She had quite the mind-controlling aura about her. After all, she was Jamilia Laxskree, the leader of the Krees, a special group of half-beings taken in all under one wing.
“No, we haven’t, and that’s another reason for this meeting,” Quarex spoke. As he said so, the display went off, and he began to speak again.
“The powerful attack at the Academy is just the beginning of this rising again. An era of war would soon descend upon the world.”
‘Manh… this guy knows how to make a meeting depressing.’ While I thought so, Quarex continued.
“With this attack at the Academy, they would soon start enacting their plan. Thankfully, this attack was turned into nothing due to the quick action of Mira Lionheart.” While he finished speaking, the device on the table fluctuated, after which Mira, in a virtual form, appeared in the room. Just as she did, she gave a bow of respect to all in the room before she started to speak.
“I will get right to the topic. We have significant information from them, which will soon reach all of you. But the most important topic is the fact that this rise in corrupting energy won’t stop; it will continue to increase…”
“We will be able to deal with ‘them,’ but what will we do about the corrupting energy?” Trixi asked with narrowed eyes. To this, Quarex spoke.
“Austin Lionheart.”
The moment he said so, another display appeared, showing me dealing with all the corrupted energy back at the sea world when I fought Xavier.
‘Nice angle,’ I thought while appreciating myself. Quarex continued, “As of now, he is the only one we have come to know who can deal with this energy. Perhaps he might even be able to detect and deal with all this before the issue becomes much more problematic.”
As he said so, the room became silent, but it was quickly broken by the words of Ghkerle.
“Why don’t we just take that weapon from him and study it? It’s the one dealing with the corruption energy, and perhaps we might even be able to recreate the weapon itself.”
This idea seemed more than feasible as I could see some of the leaders even accepting the idea.
“That won’t happen…” Mira suddenly spoke, causing me to smile. Her words cooled down the atmosphere as Ghkerle suddenly spoke with a rough voice, “Why not?”
“Because the weapon itself is bonded to Austin and is something that responds to his bloodline. It needs his energy to be sustained and to take it away, you would have to kill him. That’s the only way,” Mira explained.
The moment she said these words, the expression on Mira turned colder than ever. Her eyes peered at all of the leaders as she spoke without a hint of rest.
“If such a plan takes place, you shall be making an enemy of the Lionheart family, the Mages Association, and the Archery Association. Trust me, we will be giving it our all.”
And as such, once again, the atmosphere became much more dangerous. After all, while these organizations are powerful, the ones Mira spoke of aren’t pushovers. Everyone here surely knows about the madness of our family. They know that Mira is the successor of the Mage Association, and I am the successor of the Archer Association. Pissing off one might not be bad, but pissing off all three of us is worth a talk.
‘Nice one, aunt,’ I silently gave a thumbs up to Mira. And just as the atmosphere was getting more dangerous, Nini spoke.
“Why don’t everyone cool off, No one here wants to get into fights, especially at a time like this. All we want to do is create solutions. How about looking into the place that Austin got his weapon from? Maybe there might be more?”
As she asked this, everyone turned towards Mira, who shook her head. “It won’t work. All of you should know that the area is filled with weapons that choose their owners. Plus, we did a search, and nothing of that sort was found.”
“Then right now, this boy is our best shot,” Jamilia suddenly said, her eyes eerily focused on the display of my figure as Quarex spoke. “We have already placed him under Stage Level 4 protection. Nothing will touch him, and he stays in our sight, for we can be sure that ‘they’ will surely try something.”
‘Um… bro, I am sitting right here…’ For a moment, I wondered what the faces of everyone here would be if I suddenly removed my mask. It would be quite the show. But then again, I would lose the edge I have over all these people. I know the right time to show my true face to them all.
“Then shouldn’t we move to form the attack center?” Nini asked. From there, the talk diverged towards the future—making plans, new recruiting, and many more. It was a total global protection talk where everyone started to chime in with their ideas and ways to deal with future threats that might come our way.
