Chapter 55: The meeting with the older sister

"Is your family made up of failures?" Strax questioned this time. "No," Albert replied. Strax looked at him and said, "Then you're turning a blind eye to your family. It's already full of failures." Strax said.

"Are you questioning how I manage the family?" He said seriously, and Strax responded, "Yes, you're a terrible patriarch for allowing two despicable beings like these two to have any bond greater than slaves, tarnishing the Vorah name." He said, and everyone looked at Strax in disbelief at what they had just heard.

Everyone couldn't take their eyes off Strax... did he just challenge the patriarch and insult the entire family? No one could really believe what was happening.

"Are you going mad?" Virgil murmured, and Strax turned to him. "Madness is relative; I just know my position," Strax replied. Again, he seemed like another person, as if they had never known him.

"Knowing your position?! You're the failure!" Dominic retorted. "And the failure, after insulting the entire family, stands intact in front of the Sword God of Thalassia, perhaps the strongest human," Strax said, and everyone trembled. "There is something you lack: a sense of reality. Right now, Albert can't do anything to me, no matter how much I speak.

At this moment, in my current position, I am not a person," Strax said and started walking around the table towards Virgil, who still had his face dirty from the explosion. He looked into his eyes and said, "Due to the Rules, I am untouchable," he revealed.

"What an... interesting man," Diana thought, watching how he was establishing his position while everyone looked at him with even more contempt than they should have. "How are you so sure of that?" Hinna asked. Strax smiled at her macabrely, "I am not a person; I am a reward," he replied, leaving everyone in silence.

He then started to walk, about to continue his monologue while Albert smiled slightly, enjoying the situation.

"He did as he pleased, spoke as he wished, and challenged me without running any risk," Albert thought, and Diana saw that smile. She thought Albert was enjoying what was happening. It had been a while since she had seen that, so she decided to join in his game.

To them, the strongest, people like Strax were just insignificant worms, and therefore, this humiliation barely made sense; after all, it didn't matter.

"Are you saying nothing would happen to you?" Diana smiled, her red eyes gleaming. Strax looked at her with a mischievous smile and replied, "And would you risk breaking a Vorah Law? Something that hasn't happened since the Patriarch died? Please, Diana," Strax said and turned to his siblings. "You are too much of failures; even though you are stronger, you can't do anything.

Your strength is fictitious. Weak people are clever, they are cunning; you are trash, relying on physical strength and combat skills, not on mentality. That's why you can't do anything."

"W-What was that?!" She thought, quickly heading outside, feeling... a bit embarrassed.

While Strax was lost in thought, he heard, "We have a lot to discuss," coming from behind him.

Strax snapped out of his reverie when he saw the woman approaching, beautiful as a work of art. He hadn't known women as beautiful as she, and to think that in just six years, she had changed so much. "It's good to see you again, sister. It's been a few years, hasn't it?" Strax bowed in reverence, while being hit by the woman's cold, lifeless gaze.

Well, she had always been like that; he was expecting something similar.

"Yes, it's been a long time. You've grown a lot," she said and then added, "Come on, you'll stay at my mansion. It's not safe here." Strax had no choice but to agree, after all, he probably didn't even have a room. He just followed the woman in silence, not that he wanted to talk much, but there was no room for conversation; Xenovia was very serious.

They began to walk calmly, Strax remaining silent until they left the main mansion and entered the smaller connections on the property. When he turned to look, he saw a strange scene. "Jesus, what happened here?" He asked, seeing some mages reconstructing the landscape with magic.

He was really surprised by the destruction; he hadn't seen this before and hadn't felt any impacts since he arrived, meaning, "When did this happen?" He asked. "Less than a week ago," Xenovia said while stopping and her black sword started to float.

"Xyn," Strax said, clearly still remembering the sword that gave Xenovia her name, the sword... that his mother once used. A phoenix appeared, flying and burning the debris that needed to be discarded. "It's good to see you're in good health, little bird," the black phoenix said as it perched on his shoulder, shrinking its body size.

"Have you been well? Has Xenovia not taken good care of the sword? I'm sorry for not being able to wield it; I was very weak back then," Strax commented. He never had the opportunity to speak to the sword, despite knowing his mother was one of its users. "Don't worry, despite this woman's temper, she is still better than that idiot of a father you have, can you believe?

He wanted to wield me," she said. Strax swore she was pouting at him. "What a strange combination..." Strax thought, seeing these two women, yes women, despite not having a fixed gender, Xyn had a female voice.

"Can you stop talking as if I'm not here?" Xenovia turned, speaking with a serious face that made Strax tremble slightly for a few seconds, but he quickly regained control of himself and nodded. "Come, let's go inside," Xenovia said, and Strax looked ahead, seeing a smaller mansion that seemed quite luxurious despite its simplicity. "You've renovated this place..." he thought, after all...

that place brought him many memories, which he didn't even know if he could categorize as good