"Who...are you?" The Queen Mother asked, causing a spell of confusion to spread across the scene.
Not many knew what Akamana di Angra looked like. Even in the Angra Theocracy, the Grand Priestess had quite literally not shown her face in the last 500 years, erasing past portraits to keep her real appearance a secret.
Why? A whim, mostly. And while most of those who remembered Akamana's appearance had died long ago, Vel'Asha happened to be one of the few who remained. Akamana even claimed they were friends. A dubious claim no doubt, but they clearly knew one another. So why could Vel'Asha not recognize the Grand Priestess?
"Oh Vel darling how could you say that? You're breaking my heart and ruining my street cred. And to think I came to assist you in your time of need. Sucks to be your bestie," Akamana said with a little pout, looking sideways with crocodile tears in her eyes.
The face rang no bell. But once she heard Akamana's tantrum, the Queen Mother's eyes widened, shining with enlightenment.
"Akamana?" Vel'Asha remained skeptical. Yet except for Akamana, what noblewoman could act so wild, dramatic and eccentric?
"The one and only! Vel darling, long time no see. Nine hundred years have passed since I've ripped out my old man's heart. In that span, I've never lost—not even to the dragon nobles of the Holy Continent.
But one person managed to fight me to a draw...a prodigy from the Higher Planes who almost made me rediscover the taste of defeat:
The Yaksha Dark Preceptor—you," Akamana said in a calm and cheerful tone, casually dropping a bomb that made Elektra's eyes widen for the 357th time of the day.
"Huh?" The fox queen couldn't believe her ears. And she wasn't the only one. Even Mithras and Cassandra hadn't seen this one coming, shocked to find out that the Dark Preceptor behind the royal family's demonic dealings was none other than...Vel'Asha?
How was that even possible?!
All eyes turned to the Queen Mother, with Elektra hoping that her teacher would refute Akamana's nonsense. Alas, Vel'Asha didn't deny the allegations. Staying as stoic as a rock.
"I know it's hard to believe. I had a hard time believing it too when I first found out. And yet the truth was staring me in the eyes.
Divine Secrets and Sid Manipulations are not related. In theory, you could be at the second level of Flame Refinement and still become a Sage King. But in practice, a talented Sage will take five hundred years on average for each Divine Secret and peak at the third.
A prodigy on the other hand will take two hundred years on average but might peak at the fifth.
The ancients based this standard on the woman who managed the legendary feat of mastering five Divine Secrets in just 1,000 years—becoming the youngest Dark Preceptor in history.
Despite her background as a member of the Forbidden Race, tribes and species competed to receive her guidance, but she ultimately chose her late father's tribe, becoming the Preceptor of the entire Yaksha race," Akamana explained, and again, the Queen Mother stayed silent, making the audience realize that the Grand Priestess spoke nothing but facts.
Vel'Asha was the Yaksha Dark Preceptor.
"Naifems, the forbidden race. Whenever a demon mates with an Apsara, the resulting child will be a Naifem, born with feline traits, feathered wings, extraordinary physical attributes, and a tragic destiny.
<Templar rank: 12th level of Blood Longevity>
<Sid Level: 750,000 units>
<Mutation: Ground Pulse (third class)>
<Sid Flame: Ground Demon Flame (third class) <> Wrathful God Fire (Red) <> Cruel Genesis (divine class) <> Calamity Demon Flame (saint class)>
<Talent: Iron Vow of Chastity (divine class), Divine Integration (tyrant class), Complete Absorption Curse (saint class)>
——
Once more, poor Elektra's mind became a mess. What was true, what wasn't? Everything was a lie! The world no longer made sense, and overwhelmed by grief and confusion, the fox queen's heart spiraled out of control, on the verge of a medical crisis.
"But of all the motherfuckers who promised you the sun, the moon, and the mountains, you chose Odoacer and agreed to sign a pact with him. But you didn't fully trust him, so you hid the fact you were the Yaksha Preceptor, using a Flame Shadow to give yourself a fake boss.
Odoacer was only mortal. It's nice enough that he got the chance to meet you, how could he possibly know the Yaksha Preceptor's real identity? For centuries you've studied him, watching him go from a confident, free-spirited and eccentric prince whose banters made women swoon every three seconds to a calm, vicious and calculating monarch.
His ambitions had not changed. Yet the way he approached life and treated his kin had turned cruel and nihilistic.
Lyssandra became the final test. A tool you used to find out how far Odoacer was willing to go to achieve his great undertaking. The answer was "no bottom line," making you realize you'd put your eggs in the wrong basket and wasted your heart on a piece of shit.
Now you wanted out. But there was one problem. You see children, when Superior Beings descend from the Higher Planes, they must follow a strict set of rules. Mainly, suppress your powers, agree to never use lethal force, and sign a covenant with a local resident," here, Akamana arched her head back, and with a series of graceful spins, broke into a spontaneous dance.
"The covenant acts as a travel document, giving the Superior Being the right to live in the Spiritual World.
As long as the covenant stands, they can't leave. So, for Vel'Asha to go back home...she first had to end her covenant with the House of Uriah by helping them rebuild the Great Blood Empire as agreed upon...or exterminating their male line.
A pity that Vel is not heartless. After raising Odoacer's son for centuries and treating him as her own flesh and blood, how could she endeavor to murder him or destroy his house?
Quite the opposite! Vel realized that even without Odoacer, she'd gotten a taste for life in Flameheart City, her heart warming up whenever those Uriah kids or citizens would call her Queen Mother.
For them, she didn't mind holding on a little longer. Help Odoacer complete his undertaking, then go back home," Akamana sang in a melancholic tone, and snapped her fingers, causing Gaiseric's corpse to appear at the Queen Mother's feet.
Vel'Asha's eyes stretched impossibly, shaking from head to toe as her hands reached for her fallen son.
"Sadly, the reason you've been holding on for has died—killed by your favorite student. Vel...my sincere condolences," Akamana cut her dance short, speaking in an honest and straightforward tone. The melancholy in her voice deepened, forming an odd contrast with her brutal words.