Chapter 456: For Your Sakes.
"Zan’el is inconceivably powerful." Sol announced to his closest allies and friends in a large meeting room, heading a large rectangular table with ikaris on his right wit Dina and Arla next to him. "That is what Rasha told me."
"Rasha Silva." Ikaris’s hand balled into a fist smashing the glass in her grasp when she thought of the way the woman had looked at her. "As Zan’el’s Godslayer, she is also at fault for the death of my Mother and Father, I wish I had seen her last moments, the terror in her eyes when she realised her life had come to an end, the last breath she took before she went to hell..."
"Ikaris." Dina nudged her waking her from what looked like a trance to everyone else as her hair shimmered between black and white, rising and falling hypnotically to the beat of her heart."Calm down."
"Apologies," Ikaris cleared her throat looking at Sol who reserved himself in his seat thinking of the fact that the woman in question was not dead and was currently a week into a new life on earth, she did end up within the system so she was not entirely powerless but had refrained from learning any skill or trying to become strong out of fear that she would be discovered since her face was now in the codex as a defeated enemy.
The only thing different about her was that the draining of her mana had taken her hair from a light blue-ish pallet to the inverse auburn, she was more or less a redhead so she decided to stay that way and live a fulfilling life far from any violence or spotlight, made possible by a single bag with a few items she would need to start anew, including a new identity.
"What if she was not dead?" Xie asked. "From what I know of the Godslayer race, they are resilient enough to escape even death-"
"She is dead." Ikaris answered him sharply. "But if she somehow survived Master’s wrath then I would seek her out and kill her myself, scum as herself are otherwise irredeemable and deserve only the sharp end of a blade." She glared at him while her hair flickered.
"Apologies," Xie smiled and then looked at Sol who raised a brow when he realised the knowing glance the man was giving him.
"So you know." Sol linked himself privately to the man.
"Indeed I do, you spared the enemy and stole her power for yourself, from what I observed from the fourth plane, she is now human, though I could not hear what you spoke of I understood her gratitude as emotions are also of that dimension, I chose to not question your judgement from seeing her gracefully accept her defeat and your clear compassion towards her." Xie answered looking at Dr’ul who was speaking while he conversed with Sol.
"I only ask these, Sovereign, will you spare any more of our enemies and will you keep this truth from your Wife?"
"I already promised to not tell a soul and I would appreciate it if you kept this a secret as well, I understood midway through the fight that Rasha was acting out the facade of a long dead loyalty, she could not betray her master as his Godslayer and there was nowhere that he couldn’t find her mana if she ran, I felt her soul and saw through her desires when we clashed for the last time, her only wish was to be free, to live as a woman unbound by the current wars and the Emporium."
"And you sympathised with her..."
"Indeed I did," Sol answered honestly. "She had been suffering since the first great war."
"I understand, it was a personal decision based on your own interpretation of what someone like her despite all she had done in her master’s name truly deserved," Xie hummed nodding when Cecelia made a point while speaking to Ikaris. "And the other answer?"
"The other two generals and Zan’el are Vatui, they made personal choices and betrayed their sworn loyalties all on their own, they were not forced to fight, they were not coerced into betrayal; everything they did was of their own accord." Sol took a deep breath and released a cmall cloud of mana causing the room to quiet at his presence again.
"-Only hellfire await them and anyone else that stands in my way." He suddenly spoke up perfectly integrating his answer into the outward conversation between the others.
"The third General was almost more than I could handle, I have my doubts about the second, that’s why I will allow Xie to answer that call while I work on the newfound powers I have and push myself, I will not fight the second but by the time I face the first I will be far stronger than he is." Sol declared, standing and looking across the table.
"There is a chance that the battle we partook in a week ago will not play the same a second time, aside from the third General everyone else was handled relatively easily such will not be the case for the rest, their armada increase in power and number the closer you get to the Emperor." Ikaris spoke up where he left off.
"We all need to get stronger." Dr’ul stood next clasping her fists and grinning. "Xie."
"I will assist." The man answered her call without a moment’s hesitation, paying his respects to Sol and Ikaris before leaving with her.
"Issue the order, Alpha," Sol turned to her who had silently stood behind him the entire time. "We have just under two months remaining until we make it to the Nexus, Umbra and Giza should only be three weeks to a month away, by the time we launch an attack, every single member of this force should at the very least quadruple the power they have currently. We will be in the jaws of the enemy."
"Provide them with resources; skills otherwise unused or inaccessible knowledge previously withheld -anything to help them grow exponentially compared to their current self, create as many extra-dimensional gateways and small planes needed to get it done, the grind begins now."
"Right away," Alpha nodded and closed her eyes while everyone saw a window pop up before them relaying a more detailed and formal announcement to his casual order.
"Dear, you seemed distracted in the latter part of our review," Ikaris turned to him.
"I was having a separate conversation with Xie on the conclusion of my fight with the Third General," He answered resting his hand on her head when she rested her forehead against his chest and took a deep breath.
"I will not pry then," She nodded against him. "I only wish for you to be alive at the end of this so we can all return, as a family, to be happy after everything is said and done."
"A tall order, but one I aim to fulfill without fail." Sol chuckled placing a kiss on her head and then smiling at Dina and Arla who watched them silently.
"I have never asked before, Master, because you had already claimed personal responsibility for Umbra and all of his actions as the one he was born of, but if he were less of a threat that you were sure someone else could destroy and Giza was not on this sure path to annihilating all life as we know it, then would you turn tail and run?"
Dina asked the question with a tone of finality giving room only for a serious answer, causing Ikaris to raise her head and turn while the rest of the attendees to the breifing left and Ling Fuhua entered with a bounce to her step and a smile on her face, though when she saw Sol’s expression she paused in her stride towards them with a raised brow.
"I would." Sol answered. "Unless Ikaris truly wanted to fight Zan’el more than she wanted to be with us then there would be no other reason for me to be doing this, outside of Umbra and Giza," He clarified. "What I value the most are you, my loved ones, my Family, friends, and aquaintances even, I have fostered a lot of healthy relationships and beautiful connections that I can’t afford to lose." He balled his fist and slowly raised it.
"Most importantly though are you few in particular whom I hold within my soul. "Talia, Ikaris, Arla, you Dina, and Sara as well are the air in my lungs and the life that reminds me to open my eyes every day, if there was even the slightest chance that taking you all away would solve our problems and ensure your safety we would already be on the farthest end of Source from the Grand Collective..."
"But that is a dream," Ikaris finished where he left off again. "Umbra and Giza aim to turn all light to darkness, Source included, and they are using the Emporium as a shield for Umbra while he grows."
"There is nowhere to hide from this, so I will destroy them and prevent it from happening at all, for your sakes as well for the sakes of everyone else."