Chapter 118: The patriarch

A vortex of fury formed in the skies, a celestial blue rage casting cold throughout the small forest.

"General..." a soldier murmured upon seeing the skies turn blue, nearly frozen, and the trees around transforming completely into ice. "T-This area has already been cleared..." He stammered in fear, feeling the piercing gaze of the insane woman before him turn towards him. Gathering all his courage, he tried to continue.

"T-The mission will end when we reach the clearing, in the fifth area," he said, trembling with fear and cold, as the temperature around the woman was already below zero.

"Two months should be necessary," she said, looking at the knight with disdain. "Tell the knights to move forward." She concluded while pulling her crystalline sword from the ground. "B-But General... they are exhausted..." The knight murmured, trembling with fear. The woman's gaze turned to him again, colder than ever.

"The strong survive, and the weak die," she said. Ice began to climb up the knight's legs, slowly trapping him. He screamed in pain as the unbearable cold took over his body.

"Please, General... no... I beg you...!" he pleaded, his voice trembling as the ice climbed up to his waist, his limbs becoming numb. "Aaaah! I was... I was wrong...!"

The general showed no mercy. With an impassive look, she raised her crystalline sword and, with a slow and deliberate movement, pierced the heart of the frozen knight. He let out one last cry of agony.

"Ahhh... no... please...!" His voice broke as the blood instantly froze around the blade. His eyes widened in pure terror before finally closing, his body falling lifelessly to the ice-covered ground.

The deadly silence of the forest was broken only by the sound of the icy wind as the general withdrew her sword and looked at the rest of the soldiers approaching. "Advance, we are heading to the border," she ordered coldly.

"Y-Yes Ma'am!" They said, fully recovering from their exhaustion... after all... none of them wanted to die.

"I wonder how I will kill that old man..." She murmured as she walked behind the soldiers...

[Meanwhile...]

Strax's footsteps echoed through the spacious hall. He had just arrived at the main mansion, where his father awaited him for a "serious conversation." Many things crossed his mind, but the moment he stood before the massive dark wooden door and placed his hand on the handle, all his worries concentrated into a single question: what was the true reason for this conversation?

Moreover... The System made a small noise, revealing a golden tab.

"That's a good answer." Albert said, though it didn't really matter. He wanted to test whether Strax still knew the rules or if it was Xenovia behind his activities. The first time they met, Strax had challenged him by strictly following the family rules and attacking him with them.

"I summoned you for other reasons, but you may address me as you wish." Albert said and sat down again.

"I'll ask you the same question I asked your brothers." Albert said, tapping his finger on the armrest of the chair, making a noise. "What is your mistake in killing your brothers?" He questioned.

"So... you're here as a father who lost his children..." Strax thought... but he soon took a breath to respond.

"Revenge and Justice." He said, looking at Albert this time... on equal terms, using the Dragon's Aura to protect his spirit. "I was forced to suffer for many years, simply for having a small difficulty in cultivation.

And because I was standing out, they felt entitled to treat me like a nail to be hammered." Strax said, but he didn't stop, "If you're a member of the Vorah clan, you should repay what you've received. But... We know very well that this wasn't a fair battle.

First, an attack by assassins, then kidnapping my wife, and finally plotting against me using a clan." Strax replied, his tone heating up as remembering Beatrice's kidnapping didn't make him happy.

"I've been watching you for a while. Even when you were imprisoned in the mines, you didn't give up. Even with those idiots robbing your money and using you as a slave, you didn't give up. And even after all that, you still forgave that woman and took her for yourself." Albert said, continuing to think of more things to point out.

"Even the lost daughter of the Blaze family was involved, and I don't even need to mention a Storm, as you probably don't even know what that is." Albert said, drawing Strax's attention.

"What does Monica have to do with this..." He wondered as he saw his father pacing back and forth, as if he were... anxious?

"And this bodily reconstruction... A beastly physique? What is this power you have that causes so many problems at once?" Albert questioned, as if blaming Strax for something he didn't even know about.

Strax was surprised by the question... He thought his father would be colder, but it seemed like he had... broken?

I mean, this man was really starting to seem like a normal person... "I-I don't understand?" Strax said... "Blaze and Storm are Ducal houses, and considering you have two potential heirs in your hands... You are now the greatest target in all of Thalassia." Albert said, shattering Strax's face... like shards of glass.

"I will tell you why I called you here." Albert said, staring at him while crossing his arms... "I will go to the Capital." He said, continuing after a brief pause, "Currently, the General is about to break through to the next level; she will become the fourth person of the Emperor stage." Albert said, Strax had already heard about her, the General in charge of transforming the Kingdom into an Empire, who had a special physique...

"Soon, Thalassia will become an Empire." Albert said, and Strax felt a strange tension in the air.