Chapter 223 - Return To Ishgar {1} When A God Returns

On the edge of God's mountain, a rift surfaced and out stepped an older looking version of Portgas D. Gildarts. The one thing that really separated their looks was his full bushy brown beard that covered the lower parts of his face and hid some of his wrinkles. "Good to be back!" He said and breathed in the fresh and clean air. His eyes scanned around and everything looked the same, the castle, the extensive garden, everything was the same. The clouds gathered around this peak would normally make it quite difficult to see the island below, but not for him. Much to his surprise, the island's look had become even more magical. The word paradise wouldn't cut it anymore.

"It's been far too long," His tone was calm, but there were subtle hints of childlike wonder hidden within. He suddenly felt a powerful presence come alive from the direction of his castle. It took no more than a few seconds before his eyes caught sight of a girl in her mid-teens to come flying towards him with a bright smile on her face.

"Lord Amell!" She yelled loudly as she landed on the ground in front of him. She bent down on one knee and a tear or two fell from her eyes. "Welcome back, Lord Amell!" Her voice was weak but her posture was graceful.

"Thank you, Alora. I see you mastered transformation magic. You look beautiful," Amell smiled kindly.

"Thank you, my lord! Are you back for good?" She asked with enthusiasm. She had so much excitement building up inside of her that she thought she would explode.

"You know I don't stay in any world permanently. But I will definitely stay for a few years, maybe even decades. I handed the empire over to my son, Byakuya, so for the next upcoming centuries I will laze around and do whatever I want." He was genuinely happy that he now had almost no responsibilities.

"You have no idea how happy that makes me," Alora was close to breaking out into dance.

"Now come on, stand up, I won't have you kneeling any longer," Amell commanded the wind to pick her up.

"What's been going on here during the years of my absence? Tell me as we walk!" Amell took Alora and started walking. Alora followed behind him. Amell had gotten used to being an emperor, so it didn't bother him anymore when people were walking behind him instead of walking beside him.

"For a report on the outside continents, you will have to speak to Sebas as he is in charge of information gathering. But concerning this island, I know most things. For example, after years of the feeding of your magic, the strongest beasts on this island are now comparable to Acnologia in strength."

"Interesting," Amell said and took a second to think about something, "What about the hierarchy among the beasts? I can already feel that your dragon brethren are no longer the strongest among the beasts."

"It is as you say. There are still five Overlords, but only one of them belong to the dragon race. The other Overlords are Luna, a giant python. Aurora, a Griffin. Eleanor, a Pheonix. And lastly, Leo, a Golden Sun lion. They all possess strength equal to Acnologia. Aurora is probably the overall strongest among all five of them. But Leo is the physically strongest, while Eleanor has the most powerful magic among them."

"What's the name of the last Overlord? The dragon," Amell asked while glancing back at Alora. She responded happily as always, "Caleb, my lord!"

"I see, and Gildarts?" Amell's tone of voice turned a little more serious, but his aura got warmer.

"Gildarts and Atlas comes back every few years to challenge the Overlords. He has yet to beat them, but he has fought to a draw with Caleb and Luna. But he got completely demolished By Leo and Eleanor." Alora seemed both happy and sab about her report on Gildarts. While reporting on him, her expression went from happiness, anxiety, sadness, and lastly anger. Amell had no idea what exactly caused these feelings inside her to bubble up, but he guessed that it had to have had something to do with Gildarts.

"So his strength is progressing well then?"

"Definitely. His power grows very slowly, but the scary thing about him is that I don't know if his power will ever stop growing. I can't even imagine how powerful he will be in the future." Alora looked proud as she said that, and all the depressing feelings inside of her was gone.

"Well, I will be staying here a while so I won't search him up this time. He and I will meet when the time is right." Amell and Alora were approaching the castle and the big double doors were kicked open by a woman with long red hair and tanned skin. Behind her followed another woman with glasses and an apathetic expression. Both women were wearing stylish maid outfits, and beside the woman with glasses stood an elderly man with white hair. He had a calm expression, and his aura would send a wizard Saint running for their life. Of course, that doesn't mean he compares to the eight wizard saint. For that position still belonged to Amell.

They walked out to meet Amell, and when they arrived two meters in front of their lord, they went down on one knee as Alora had done. "Lord Amell, welcome home! We are honoured to have you grace us with your presence." The butler said respectfully with his deep and powerful voice.

"I have returned! This mountain shall once again be walked upon by its God." Amell's voice rang out over his island, forcing everyone, even the mighty Overlords to bow down to the might behind his intent.

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