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CONVERGENCE

Within the ever-encroaching darkness, weaving in through the complex array of pathways around a small chapel-like ruin, a group of people remained silent . Well up front were three men, walking shoulder-to-shoulder while inspecting the chiseled, aged dome of a chapel to their right . The three were Althone, Gustav and Felix’s grandfather, Butcher of the North - Andrew .

"Are we really not going to talk about it?" Althone spoke up, corners of his lips rising up into a faint smile .

"Humph, smelly brat," Gustav cursed, instinctively reaching for his wrist which was still aching . "Do you really hate your Father so much?!"

" . . . I’m just asking . Sorry . "

"How strong is he?" Andrew, on the other hand, didn’t seem to have same inhibitions holding back Althone and asked plainly .

" . . . damn bastard," Gustav cursed under his breath . "He’s no weaker than me . "

"Huh?!" both Althone and Andrew exclaimed at the same time . Though neither thought the beggar was weak, they did firmly believe Gustav held back in his attack . In the end, beggar was still a beggar; Gustav was, after all, Arch Emperor of the greatest Dynasty on the Western Continent .

"It’s a good thing you didn’t fight with him in the City," Gustav said, glancing at Althone . "I’d be one son short right now . "

" . . . no weaker than you?" Andrew picked up on the underlying meaning . "You mean he could be stronger?"

"I can’t say," Gustav shrugged . "We both held back considerably . At the very least, in terms of pure body strength, he’s miles ahead of me . But because I don’t know property of his Qi, cultivation method, arts and so on, I don’t know if he’s stronger in an actual fight . "

"That’s easy then," Althone said, sighing in relief . "There’s no way he can have better resources than you . He’s also much younger . "

"I wouldn’t be too sure," Andrew said . "He had enough confidence to enter this place all alone, despite knowing that numerous powers could converge here . "

"Wasn’t he with your Grandson?" Gustav asked .

"He most-likely sent him back by now . There’s no way that kid is strong enough to swat a fly here, let alone anything else . "

" . . . as harsh as ever . "

"Indeed . "

"Are you really the one to talk?" Andrew said as he glanced at Gustav strangely . "I distinctly remember you beating this kid every day for decades . At the very least, I never did such a thing . "

" . . . what do you mean beating?! I was clearly training him!"

"Ah, so that’s why Empress Annya had to take precious medicine after precious medicine to save poor Al’s life?"

" . . . fuck you . "

Meanwhile, dozens of miles away, a figure was casually walking along the path, seemingly disinterested in everything surrounding it . On his way, he’d passed numerous artifacts and potential places where cultivation methods were held, yet he ignored them all without exception, as though he was merely taking a casual stroll through the park . Suddenly, his eyes lit up as he looked toward east followed by his lips curling up into a strange smile .

"He’s here, huh?" he mumbled . "So he’s finally recovered? I suppose I can lend him a hand . . . just this once . "

At the same time, westward of man’s position, currently sitting by a ruined columns piercing out of the earth was a woman wrapped in thick robes and a veil . She was holding onto a thick book and reading through it, her thin eyebrows dancing to the rhythm of her thoughts .

" . . . he’s here . " a strange voice suddenly echoed just near her ear, jolting her back to reality .

"Eh? Who’s here?" the woman asked .

"Relish--no, I suppose he’s back to being Ethwart now . " the voice replied .

"What?!! What’s he doing here?!" the thick book dropped from the woman’s hands as she suddenly jumped up, growing alert immediately .

"Relax, he hasn’t spotted us yet . " the voice said .

" . . . this is bad . Could it be that the Uncle sent him here for investigation?"

"Doubtful . It’s most-likely his personal curiosity . "

" . . . dammit . This is growing more and more dangerous," the woman sighed after a short thought, slumping back, seemingly listless . "First it was those Echo bastards, and now it’s him . Just how many people have snuck into this place? Wasn’t it supposed to be difficult?"

" . . . it’s difficult for those from this continent," the voice said . "As they have no means of forcibly tearing through the spatial barrier . But can something on this level really prevent anyone who wants to enter? You should be more careful . Chances are, there are a whole lot more people here than we initially anticipated . "

" . . . shouldn’t we also be asking for reinforcement by now?" the woman asked, frowning .

"Even if you do, you won’t get any . They’re still trying to re-establish their footing in the world after that disaster . Besides, there are no functioning portals anywhere near here . What could a pack of small Demons possibly do?"

"En . . . " the woman seemed to agree, yet at the same time appeared even wearier than before . "I should have just taken the invitation . . . "

"Aye, you should have . "

" . . . that’s right . Pour the salt onto the wound . You bastard . "

"That’s what I’m here for . "

" . . . "

Unbeknownst to Lino, Althone, Gustav and even Damian, the number of powerful experts that were currently inside the ruins breached well past three digits . Strangely, though, as though driven by the will other than their own, they all took different passages; the problem was that all those passages led to the exact same location: the very heart of the Forgotten Kingdom, where the ruins of the Empyrion Palace remained half-buried in dust .

There, in one of the barely-preserved rooms, a fire was currently blazing in a makeshift fireplace, lighting up the room . Save for the fireplace, there was only a table, a couple of chairs and a bed inside, despite its rather large size . Currently, two figures were sitting on the chairs; a woman was reading a small book, while a man was inspecting a strangely-shaped, wooden tool .

"Huh?" the woman softly exclaimed as she raised her head and looked outside the makeshift window .

"What is it?" the man asked, frowning as he got up .

"No, it’s nothing," the woman said . "More and more people are piling on in here . "

"Haii . . . that bastard’s sure taking his time . " the man grumbled as he sat back down .

"What do you mean? It’s only been a few years . " the woman reprimanded .

" . . . he’s alright . . . right?" the man asked in a solemn voice, hiding his face .

" . . . he is," the woman said, walking over suddenly and hugging the man . "I can feel it . "

"Ah . . . I should have never left without him . . . what was I thinking? However clever . . . he was still just a kid . "

"You can’t keep blaming yourself like this, Eggor," Ella said, holding his face up by his chin while stroking his hair . "You said it yourself . He’s clever . He would have known to get out . "

" . . . I still can’t forget that spear . " Eggor said, sighing . "Not only did he somehow get Rog to craft him something like that . . . what did he do to it to make it impossible to pull out?"

" . . . " Ella’s expression sank for a moment as she got up from her squatting position . "It’s imbued with his Will . "

"His Will?" Eggor asked, looking up at her .

" . . . hm," Ella nodded, sighing as she sat back onto the other chair . "To think he was able to manifest it so quickly . . . "

" . . . " Eggor remained silent, waiting .

"I made a terrible mistake," Ella said . "By giving him the Writ . "

" . . . the Writ?!" Eggor’s expression jerked suddenly . "You . . . ah . . . no wonder that bastard grew so strong so quickly . So that’s it . . . "

" . . . I thought he would use it to get through the buffer phase quickly," Ella continued . "And then focus entirely on the smithing, leaving cultivation behind . Alas . . . "

" . . . you’re really dumb, aren’t you?" Eggor suddenly said, looking at her strangely .

"Huh?"

"You gave a completely powerless kid the most powerful tool in the world, and you expected him to wash his hands off of it after tinkering it for a while?"

" . . . "

" . . . "

" . . . yeah, in hindsight . . . "

"He should be fine then," Eggor said, sighing . "There’s no way the Writ would have allowed him to die so quickly . Especially if he already condensed his Will . "

" . . . his is a different world from ours, Eggor . While you and I can always just withdraw from the world and enjoy peace . . . he can’t . Seeing that spear, I realized he’d already entangled himself beyond the point of no return . He’s as much a part of this story as everyone else is now . "

" . . . what did the Patriarch say?" Eggor asked suddenly .

"He won’t do anything - help or harm," Ella said . "Not that he can afford to . While that old Jailer may have started this war with intention of masking Lino from the other Bearers, those beneath him all have their own ideas and goals . For the time being it’s merely a prelude . . . however, chances are, it will eventually turn into a Realm War . "

" . . . can either side even afford another Realm War?" Eggor asked, frowning . The last Realm War ended an entire era . . . didn’t those fools learn by now?

"I don’t know . . . " Ella shook her head . "I thought we had another few thousand years before any escalation . Ah . . . "

" . . . if he’s gotten so far," Eggor said after short silence . "It means he already made his choice, Ella . He was never dumb . Though perhaps he didn’t understand the true extent of what he was tangling himself with . . . the bastard knew enough . "

" . . . he he, look at you . The moment you realized he’s most-likely alive, you’re already beginning to practice your tough-guy persona for when he comes . Ha ha ha . . . "

" . . . . " Eggor hid his head quickly, feeling his cheeks burn .

"Chances are . . . he’s most-likely part of this group," Ella suddenly said, surprising Eggor . "Though I can’t confirm it . . . my heart’s been restless for weeks now . And it certainly isn’t because of those buffoons . "

" . . . Annar’s with them . . . you know that, right?" Eggor asked, arching his brows .

"So what?" Ella replied, suddenly turning toward Eggor and smiling; just for a brief moment, a flash, her housewife appearance vanished, causing Eggor’s heart to freeze momentarily . "Even if his grandfather came, I would still flatten them all if they become threats to our little reunion . "

" . . . you really have talent for saying terrifying things with the most beautiful expression . . . it’s kind of horrifying, actually . " Eggor said, feeling sorry for the currently traveling folk .

"He he, I’m a lady after all . I can’t go around behaving like a barbarian . "

" . . . a lady?" Eggor looked at her strangely yet again . "Yeah . . . sure . . . . "

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

"There are many things I want to tell you . "

"Now that’s just mean . How can you treat your poor wife like that?"

" . . . "

"W-what?" Ella asked, flustered, as she saw Eggor’s eyes .

"Nothing . . . it’s just . . . I’m wondering how I managed to snag you from all those talented, brilliant and handsome folk from the Holy Grounds . " Eggor said, smiling .

"Oh, that’s simple . " Ella said, smiling back . "You have the biggest muscles and the smallest brain!"

" . . . "

"Pfft . . . ha ha ha ha," she burst out into laughter as she saw Eggor’s pained and somewhat angry expression . "You idiot . . . what are you asking me that question for now? You’ve found my heart when no one else even bothered to look for it . If it weren’t for you . . . I would have been just another jaded, cold, unforgiving cultivator . I can’t say for the rest . . . but I very much prefer this life over that one . "

" . . . we’re living in a rotting dimensional pocket, within a shitty, dusty room with nothing but a single bed and a couple of chairs, in the middle of fucking nowhere, waiting for a brat that I KNOW will make me spit blood the moment we meet up . . . yeah, I think I’d rather be a jaded, cold, unforgiving cultivator living in a freaking palace . "

" . . . " Ella rolled her eyes at him and sank back down in silence, picking the book back up and resuming her reading . This peace, quiet, tranquility . . . his presence across from the table, knowledge that he’s always there . . . that was Ella’s idea of a perfect palace, though even she was too embarrassed to say it out loud .