260 David

"It seems that this little boy has some ancient descendants, in his human line, with rather incredible origins compared to the world in which he is," commented Alexander briefly.

The qualities of Blood Mana guaranteed an offensive advantage out of the ordinary; placed inside some Skills or used to upgrade weapons, it would have guaranteed an unparalleled corrosive power. Even the largest defences would collapse in the face of the Blood Mana. It was a cruel power but, for an archer like Vlad, that Mana was a true gift.

Using Blood Mana, a fighter at the Third Phase could easily have injured an enemy at the Fourth. Although Vlad did not possess the destructive power of Lightning Mana, thanks to his particular Legacy he was capable of inflicting much more subtle and lethal damage.

In fact, considering their diametrically opposite nature, it seemed odd that Scarlet Tear and Morning Lightning were two pieces of the same equipment. Mana of Blood and Lightning were two offensive but oppositely polarized Affinities.

Bucephalus yawned. Meanwhile he had been eavesdropping on Iblis and Snowflake. The horse was used to act as a bodyguard, always alert to everything that happened around his King. Bucephalus was Alexander's eyes and ears, and had been so for ages. By now, it was a behavior embedded in his body.

While Alexander was whispering to himself, the horse in human form patted him on the shoulder. A pat on the shoulder, of course, means here a kick in the ass.

"A big shot, universally speaking, is coming," he informed him.

The horse was rather worried about what might happen next. Iblis had just destroyed a Seal of Location and looked furious. The Seals of Location activated at the exact moment they were destroyed, sending their owner's position to the one who had the twin Seal. And, unfortunately, in this case the second Seal belonged to Snowflake's father.

But Alexander didn't seem particularly interested.

"But first ... shouldn't we do something for the other friends of the boy and Lumia?" the King asked, "at least now that Iblis is distracted."

"It makes no sense," Bucephalus replied. "None of them have much latent potential, other than the cat and the Archer; and the latter does not even have much blood of the Blood God in his veins. If we hadn't thickened it, it would hardly have surfaced. It would still boost his constitution and base talent, but nothing more. Now he can channel it to..."

"Yes, yes", mumbled Alexander, raising his head to look around. He had been distracted by the sudden change in the air. A terrifying Mana had filled the Colosseum and the whole city. Alexander felt as if his skin was about to peel off the muscles, a horrible sensation.

Bucephalus snorted. Alessandro was always too optimistic, but he appreciated this trait of his. The two exchanged a knowing look and disappeared from the arena, only to appear in the stands with a pack of popcorn. The show that was about to begin looked very interesting.

Iblis, lost in his anger, had not in the least noticed that Bucephalus and Alexander had hidden away in the stands. At that moment he was just thinking about how his reckless actions had led him to radically change destiny.

When he was still alive, Iblis had certainly been the most powerful being of his whole era. Even Amaterasu had never been able to stand up to him completely. One of its peculiarities, however, was the bad character that had distinguished it over the years, or rather, over the millennia.

He had never really lost his temper with Helial, so he had left the boy with the impression of a measured and calm millennia-old demon. But all of this couldn't be further from the truth.

For example, Iblis had once discovered that a prominent member of a Clan of Life intended to ask for Amaterasu's hand.

Certainly anyone would expect stolen kisses, secret marriages, love fugues and all the usual clichés. But no, it didn't go that way.

There was just a huge massacre.

The proposal never reached the Paladin of Life's ears, because Iblis had skinned his beloved's suitor and eliminated his entire Clan before it could happen. No women or children had been spared, and their heads had been rotting on pikes for weeks.

That was why Iblis was known throughout the universe as a real monster, the scariest monster to have travelled through galaxies.

Anyone who wanted to marry Amaterasu would have done better to prepare to see his entire lineage completely destroyed, without exception.

And so it had been.

But some members of Destruction didn't like this, either.

Iblis, however, did not care about the opinion of others. The Devil always kept his promises and the threats he made. It was rumoured that his threats could be used as a bargaining chip that would never lose value.

One large blue vein pulsed on Iblis's neck and two on his forehead. To tell the truth, the Devil was not in the least thinking about the possible accident that could happen very soon. Iblis was thinking about how badly he was after betraying his word, helping Alexander to alter destiny, and not checking the Seal's nature before destroying it.

Just then, the sky fractured.

From a huge blueish crack came a shower of lightning, tearing the fabric of space as they passed. A tyrannical Aura enveloped Snowflake, while words heavier than lead came from the fracture.

"You have finally come to your senses. Let's see what kind of Heavenly Star Tiger you are now."

A man who appeared to be in his fifties made his way through the blue lightning casually, not caring in the least about what was around him. He only had eyes for Snowflake. He had the bearing of a ruler accustomed to ignoring the screaming crowds as he passed. He had flaming red hair, down to his pelvis and well-groomed, which gave him a hieratic aura. A scarlet beard covered his stern jaw. He was a splendid man, a god even. His movements seemed to come from a past long gone.

Snowflake narrowed his eyes and felt the fur all over his body stand up: "Father."

"And he's not alone," laughed a voice behind the old man. Three men appeared, covered from head to toe in armour of White Crystal.

Nathal, Shamms and Soba.

The Heavenly Star Tiger etiquette dictated that, in formal settings, the Tigers would assume their Human form, while their true one was reserved for battles.

"Here they are," sighed Snowflake running a paw across his face.

"Son," thundered the man with the long red hair, still levitating in the sky.

"Son. Father. Son. Father. Son, you fucking old bastard I broke the Seal by accident, can you get the fuck out now?" Snowflake was ready to kill himself after seeing daddy and his merry fellows.

Nathal ignored the words of the black-fringed child and levitated beside Snowflake. "Solmon, don't get second thoughts. You are the youngest and have not yet achieved Immortality, but our father has always recognized you as a legitimate son. You are the fourth descendant, the one with the most perfect legacy. Why do you always have to behave like this?"

Nathal put a hand on Snowflake's white fur, which seemed to enrage him. Still, a terrifying pressure didn't let him from open his mouth.

"Nathal, leave your brother alone. We are not here to punish him. He is a lost lamb. Besides… " The man with the long red hair looked around, sniffing the air carefully. "What is this stench, this disgusting and filthy Mana?"

Alexander and Bucephalus began to laugh out loud, nearly falling from the stands. Popcorn flew from their mouths over the poor, unsuspecting Goblins paralyzed by the Time Block.

At that point Nathal, Shamms and Soba noticed them and looked around. Only then did they notice that time was frozen and frowned. But they said nothing. They were there to accompany their father, so it was up to him to interact with any other being in the universe other than Snowflake. This was the etiquette.

The man also noticed that time was blocked and realized that those two Humans, sitting among the immobile Goblins, had something special. "Friends, I see that you are practitioners of Mana of Time, an art long lost and counted among the most precious treasures. But…" he continued to sniff the air, annoyed by an unpleasant smell. His eyes shifted to the Revenant, the petrified Folly and the Undead scattered in the arena and on the stands; but the stench didn't seem to come from any of them. "I feel a strange demonic Mana… indeed, it seems to belong to some kind of Devil, perhaps some disgusting being of Destruction. Was it you who eliminated him?"

Being a Heavenly Star Tiger, the man's bearing was truly out of the ordinary. Alexander knew that by showing interest in him he would wrong Iblis, so he restrained himself. But he had to admit that his elegance exerted a certain fascination on him.

On the other hand, the Heavenly Star Tiger expected those two to give him a bow because, despite their uncommon Aura, they would hardly be more powerful than the Patriarch of the Heavenly Star Tigers. Anyone on his level or even remotely close could not be unknown to the big boys of the universe.

Bucephalus turned to Alexander, completely ignoring the man.

Nathal, Shamms and Soba immediately exchanged a glance, scandalized by such arrogance.

"Maybe he's too short to notice him?"

"Uhm?"

The man raised an eyebrow and turned to Snowflake, suddenly noticing the presence of a child. It seemed that the little boy was shaking slightly. In fact, he was foaming with anger.

"David, how long. You're still the same retarded brain-damaged shit head, I'm glad to hear that, you and that shitty hair of yours."

Nathal, Shamms and Soba gasped. Their brains immediately stopped working. No one in the universe had ever dared to talk to their father like that.

Their brains were kaput, shutters down.

David was about to furrow his brows angrily when he noticed something terribly familiar in the boy's smile. Beings like him did not feel terror, and hardly felt emotions at all.

But now if David hadn't already lost all his composure it was only because he was experienced enough to know when to send his brain into autopilot. He couldn't admit to himself that he recognized that child.

"Who are you to dare to talk to our father like that?" Nathal intervened. "You know our entire race could wage a war against whatever pathetic you are just for-"

Iblis snarled, "The first to move dies. A communication with the world outside this planet and you will all be exterminated."

Nathal could not accept the insult and was about to approach and beat that brat when suddenly he heard his father, the most composed creature in the world, scream at the top of his lungs.

"STOP! EVERYBODY STOP! DON'T EVEN MOVE A MUSCLE OR YOU WILL LOSE YOUR LIFE!"