Eventually, the whipping came to an end, the sobbing of the two sibling becoming the only sound in the hall. His expression did not soften one bit as he deposited the two of them in front of himself and glared at them.
"Will you cause trouble again?" he asked toughly.
Lucitian glared back but didn't dare speak out, so he just nodded his head roughly. Meanwhile, Lucitera pitifully lowered her head and nodded weakly, evoking a sense of pity in one's heart.
However, Draco's eyebrows twitched with annoyance. "Scram! How stupid to you think your father is to fall for such a show?! When I was out there causing trouble, you weren't even born!"
Flinching after getting caught redhanded, the two teens immediately displayed casual expression, all former scenes of their tearful suffering gone. It was as if the scene from before had simply been a hallucination, because the change thereafter was too sudden and complete.
Lucitera giggled and brought her wide sleeved kimono towards her mouth, covering it in a coquettish manner. "Hahaha, dad is so amazing! I was so sure we would get you this time!"
Lucitian folded his arms behind his back with his nose in the air, a look of disdain on his youthful features. "Hmph. Old man, you are not bad. You possess at least 1% of my noble bearing."
The other women were not too surprised to see this scene, while Draco himself looked like he had aged ten thousand years in an instant.
Ten years... ten years!!
He hadn't done anything in this time but be a father to his children, a husband to his wives and a friend to his people. He had not meditated on Refinement once, practiced his bloodline nor cleared so much as an inch of Grey Rot.
During those ten years, he had not made any progress at all in terms of power growth! In fact, in some ways, he might have regressed!
He had dedicated himself like this because of the awakening he had undergone after his return to his ancestral home 10 years ago. Draco had stood there chastising his own parents for neglecting him, but wasn't he doing the same to his own children?
How could he have the face to talk roughly to his folks when his own children had been put to the side in favor of the pursuit of power, power which he already had so much of that he literally had to seal himself to prevent the world from shattering.
However, if one would describe Loki as naughty, then these two brats before him were like Primordial Gods of causing trouble. Lucitian and Lucitera had no filter, and anything that interested them was something they would do, because they had the power to do it.
With the near limitless power from both parents, they already had 100% perfection at birth, only that they suffered from the same problem as their parents in terms of control. This was a huge problem since they were growing kids with no sense of maturity or adult sensibility causing them to become increasingly out of control, especially 3 years ago when they hit puberty.
Since then, Draco had struggled to even find the time to partake i his favourite hobby, defiling his wives, having to deal with the attention grabbing nature of his two most troublesome children. If they showed no regard towards behaving an a day they knew their father considered important, then you could imagine just how unscrupulous they were on normal days!
The problem that made Draco feel helpless was that if you looked at the cause...
Eva was an arrogant and benevolent goddess like woman who dictated the rules and had a fixation on 'righteousness' - in her own terms of course - while Shuangtian was an arrogant and domineering empress-like woman who established decrees and believed in imperial authority.
If you looked at both of them, there was no element of troublemaking in their default personalities, so where did it come from?
Well, lets see, what was the common denominator between the kids? The same father? The father who was a legendary troublemaker crafted from the mold of the world's most legendary troublemaker?
"Don't worry father, I will relieve your burdens one by one!" Kuro said with motivation, his eyes gleaming with determination as he stood up.
Draco nodded and turned to Rosella who walked up with a mixture of worry and shame on her face. She also bowed slightly, hers less rigid and more full of a kind of worship rather than loyalty.
"Esteemed Father, I was able to pass on the message you tasked me with but... my younger brother Loki disappeared. I'm sorry for letting you down!" Rosella apologized with a look of sadness.
Draco sighed and squatted bringing his face near Rosella's. This startled the young miss who did not know what her respected father wanted to do until Draco gently stroked her hair with a loving expression.
"My silly little Rose. I've told you countless times to stop calling me that and act like Shiro. Call me 'Papa' just like you used to do when you were younger."
Rosella blushed and lowered her head slightly, clearly enjoying the pampering from her father but feeling that she wasn't worthy. After all, she among all the children worshiped Draco the most given that she was the most intelligent from a young age and had been fortunate enough to be able to glimpse their father's greatness and ability.
Ten years of him being around had given them great childhoods, but it had almost diminished their awe of him. The only reason why Kuro even respected Draco to such a degree was because he had been the one to personally teach him how to harness his Destruction Element.
In the process, Draco had revealed his power which caused Kuro to feel endless respect and ingrained the idea that his father was the strongest being he would ever encounter. As such, he aspired to be like Draco the most and actively fought Lucitian as well as Loki who always disparaged Draco for being ignorant.
For Rosella, the most precious thing was their father's time, which made her revere him even more for dedicating 10 years of it just to ensure they grew up well. How could she dare to ask for more?
But still, even so, hearing Draco's words, she couldn't help but feel a little greedy in her heart, wanting her dad to pamper her a lot more like he used to do when she was younger. As such, she sweetly called out 'Papa', which made Draco laugh and carry her up, spinning her in the air.
"Hahaha, that's my darling Rose! Just as cute and lovable as your mother!" Draco teased both her and Roma, who blushed at the same time.
Draco put her down and waved a hand casually. "As for that Loki brat, forget about him. If he finds himself over his head, he's bound to use his family ring to call me or anyone over. Besides, I'm not worried in the least for him, not when my precious Devil God's Divine Set as well as forty Divine-grade potions and scrolls of various types 'coincidentally' went missing not too long ago."
Draco glared at Zaine who looked unashamed at the last part, simply flicking the front part of her karen-like hair that clearly said that for her son, she would do anything. Managers world-wide had to be afraid of her fury!
Hearing that Loki was overgeared beyond the level of God Grid, Rosella became much more relaxed. She then bowed respectfully once more and went to stand beside the smiling Roma who was proud of her daughter's responsible and mature nature.
Draco then looked to the portal for the Divine Ascension and checked the church's status to see that they were undergoing the test within. While it was a piece of cake for the players of Umbra to go through, there was a part where they would have to covert their classes and condense their laws, and then upgrade their Source Origin to become genuine True Gods.
That part would take time, and this was why Draco had them all do it at once, so that they could get it over with. Luckily, Draco had something else planned in the meantime as he beckoned to everyone to follow him out of the church.
"A friend and a cute little patootie are coming from afar, having spent a long time out in the world. Let's welcome them." Draco informed them with a smile.
Above the church, the void of Space was torn open in a way that was familiar to the Morningstar Clan members, because Draco himself always did so in such a manner. Yet Draco beside them hadn't made a move, so how?
From the tear came a giant airship that was unfamiliar to the kids, but the five wives instantly showed looks of shock and excitement, for they knew what this ship contained.
And lo and behold, on the deck of the ship, looking down on them, were the outline of two figures. One was an exact replica of Draco himself while the other...
It seemed to be a lovely young miss?