120 Fated Successor 3

Dyon trembled listening to these words. To lose everything he's worked so hard for… just to be told he wasn't good enough…

"So… the sage settled down, waiting for fate to take hold. He had given up on everything.

All he had left was us… although we were just as talented as his more powerful generals, because of our young age and weak cultivations, we survived only because we were ants not worth being stepped on…

Then, one day, the sage's inner world resonated with his created blood sacrifice technique and awoke him from his slumber. The only thing he told us before he allowed you all in was that he had split his soul to suspend his youngest and last daughter in time along with all of his accumulated knowledge and wealth within the only abandoned universe in existence: 'Chaos.'

I can't tell you much about that universe… nor can I tell you where it is or how to get there… but we hope as a fated successor, you'd do our pitiful master this last favor…"

'no wonder… it makes no sense for such a powerful existence to only have a supreme level treasure… it's not enough for his level. Not to mention the fact it was definitely too easy to wipe him out… regardless of the fact he was just a remnant soul'

Dyon took a deep breath… when suddenly, he grinned, "the wives of such a powerful man should have been goddesses among women, no? Then wouldn't his daughter be an incomparable fairy? You don't need to ask me twice."

Arios' eyes widened in shock, before he laughed so hard that his stomach hurt. The thousands of white haired generals cut through the once somber atmosphere with their uproarious laughter. It seemed they had found themselves a good leader.

Dyon smiled, tapping Arios on the shoulder, "There's still one more thing, Arios…"

Arios wiped the tears from his eyes and looked towards Dyon.

A complicated look appeared on Dyon's features, "do you remember your origin?"

Arios froze, "my origin?... I come from a low-ranking universe… from a planet called earth."

Dyon gripped Arios' shoulder, "your sister misses you," Dyon's smile was gentle, but his words filled Arios' eyes with tears of sadness, longing and joy.

The demon generals, knowing of Arios' odd back story, smiled knowingly. It seemed like at least one of them would get a happy ending.

Due to Dyon's prodding, Arios finally told his story.

Many years ago, he had left the Sicarius family to pursue his own path much like his elder brothers. He was a genius, but he was still intrigued by the Focus Academy… mostly due to its teleportation to the Elvin World. However, it wasn't the world itself, but rather, the reason such a low-ranking school even had such a powerful array.

His curiosity only increased when, at the opening ceremony of his entrance, he noticed the creation array the pillar family kids used. Although he had told his family he was headed to Focus Academy because the Elvin World was beneficial, his true purpose was to investigate these abnormalities.

He kept it a secret for a simple reason: his father. Head Sicarius was a stoic man who wanted his sons to lead their own lives, but that didn't mean he wanted them to be reckless. Because he was a close confidant of the Royal God Clan, he was well aware of the dangers that were associated with the origin of those arrays. Not meaning that he knew about the blood sacrifice technique, but he was fully aware about the destruction of the sect that left those arrays behind: The Celestial Deer Sect.

Because Head Sicarius knew how dangerous the enemies of the sect were, he didn't want his son to be involved in any way. But, Arios was stubbornly curious. As a result, he snuck into the center pillar library using his assassin techniques and read about the Celestial Deer Sect and came to the same conclusion Dyon did: the remains were in Focus Lake.

But, unfortunately for Arios, not only were his movements noticed since he didn't use the same covert methods Dyon did by sneaking in using the ponds, the Celestial Deer Sect didn't reveal itself to him like it did for Dyon. He could only head back empty handed.

Soon after, the Elvin World Opening was announced, and Arios of course participated. However, while inside, a girl he had gotten close with tried to kill him. Dyon, who was listening, immediately knew that this girl was Tammy.

Because Arios was hiding his true cultivation, Tammy was no match for him. But, he could see that she was deeply troubled and felt she was backed into a corner… although he didn't know she was doing this because people noticed his sneaking into the central pillar library. As such, Arios never revealed his cultivation level to Tammy, and instead let her 'kill' him. Because Arios had mastered the technique to a much higher level than Ava, a technique he called Assassin's Soul Death, he was able to cut off his soul and reinstate it at will. This was why while Ava's soul crystal cracked, Arios' simply dimmed, losing the connection.

Because he was playing dead, the teleportation array obviously didn't take Arios at the end of the month. The worst part was, all this time, the Storm family thought Arios was sneaking around because he knew something, when really, he was curious about something completely different.

But, Arios decided to make the best of the situation. He stayed in the Elvin Kingdom, tempering himself in the forest. He even joined Florence Academy eventually. But, he wasn't as lucky as Dyon yet again and was regulated to a foot soldier role for the campaigns. That being said, he didn't mind too much because he could always go to the main continent to lead his own armies. It was just that he wanted the experience of being a foot soldier so that he could better lead in the future.

However, Arios' string of bad luck wasn't yet over. Because of the anomalies of the Gates and their unpredictability, coupled with the stupid decisions of the leading young master at the time, Arios fell into a warp in time.

By all rights, he should have died, but, the Demon Sage saved him, bringing him along his own campaigns. Arios thought it would always be impossible to come back… even the Demon Sage couldn't control time perfectly, let alone him. But, it seemed like he had finally come back home.

Dyon smiled as Arios wiped the last of his tears, "we'll go see your family in no less than a year. In fact, if you'd like to go now, I won't blame you."

Arios blinked, "how long has it been since I've been gone?"

Dyon thought for a bit, "Ava was only 15 when I met her, so she should be 16 at most right now."

Arios looked like he had just heard the greatest thing in the world, "only 2 years? I've only been gone 2 years? HAHAHAHAHA."

His laughter was light, as though a massive burden had been dropped from his shoulders.

Arios was only 20 right now and he left home at 17. But, despite this, he had no way of knowing what point of earth's history he had come back to. The fact he had been gone for even less time than he experienced away was only the best of news to him.

Dyon smiled, 'it seems like that technique the demon sage used stopped their aging completely and stopped them from being aware of how much time had really passed. Arios should have experienced thousands of years in the deformed state, but to him, he only spent 3 years as a demon general. I guess the Demon Sage truly is a kind man…

Since you've lived such a pitiful life, I'll take up the mantle for you. I can't take you as my master, as I've already promised that to someone else, but you've earned my respect. Once the time is right, I'll be the new Demon Sage. I'll save your daughter. I'll slaughter your enemies. And I'll make sure they know the reason why they're dying. Consider this a thank you for leaving your legacy to me and an apology for being the fated reason you died.'

The demon generals sat down on the ground, happy and content with everything. Although Dyon still had many questions… from their hair to who they were as people and what they'd done in the past, he held it in for now. These people had been through a lot, it was time for them to relax.

Arios looked at Dyon with an interested impression and said something that made Dyon rethink his whole attitude.

"So, successor. When's our next campaign?"

Dyon looked at Arios for a bit, feeling the blood of the demon generals boiling along with his.

Dyon grinned widely, 'I guess it's time to make a splash.'

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that backstory was painful to write, and that's probably one of the milder sad backstories I've got ready for 'Focus'. We'll have to hold back the tears together :'( At least Arios is still alive. He'll be important not just as a friend to Dyon, but also, remember when I plugged another human had attended elvin academies before? Arios will probably play an interesting role here too

Hope you enjoyed!!

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