"Am I still facing reality or a world of mad fantasy? Pinch me, I'm dreaming. The Red God...has been defeated?" Faced with this absurd conclusion, Celestia blanked out, unsure of how to process this result.
Granted that the fight took place in Mithras' Mandala, with rules and quirks that provided him with an overwhelming advantage, this conclusion still didn't make any sense. The Higher Planes' number one Ero Guru and God of War had lost his Inner Flames and gotten jumped by a Mortal Plane youth's fists and flames.
Heruka...had gotten jumped by one man!
Celestia had watched it all from start to finish, yet did not doubt that even if she screamed it for the whole world to hear, laughs and ridicule would be her only response. And she couldn't blame the world...because even she, the witness, couldn't believe her eyes.
Mithras' hair had become a mane of solar flames, stretching and spiking upwards as he turned heels, ambling at Celestia with a cool and relaxed gait.
This time around, the Jade-Faced Queen didn't dare to show a lick of sass. How exactly did Sucuria expect her to compete with this freak? The Red God at the same level cannot resist him, so how am I supposed to compete?
Worse...as Mithras stood before her, with the pressure of his aura on full display, Celestia could sense the gains he'd made through this fight. His current rank and level standing at:
<Templar Rank: first level of the Golden Palace>
<Sid Level: 1,000,001>
A Sid Level of one million, also known as the Divine Step for only those who'd crossed that step could reach Embryonic Wisdom or achieve Godhood. Outside the Blood Aristocracy and the Holy Balmaria, Vel'Asha was the only Guru of the Spiritual World to possess a Sid Level of one million.
Mithras now joined that exclusive list, and with the achievement of a complete tyrant-class Thesis on top...could now call himself the number one Flame Controller in the history of the Spiritual World!
And his path...had only just started!
That Mithras now towered above Celestia, the intensity of his gaze shaking her to her core!
The two turned in synch, facing the other surviving member of the first generation: the Blood Marquess, Sucuria!
"Lady Sucuria." Hakim bowed directly, giving Sucuria a treatment unlike what he showed the other members of the first generation. The audience wasn't surprised. In the early days of the Empire, before they matured and found their own way, the second generation rallied behind the first for leadership. But they didn't necessarily follow their Blood Fathers.
Hakim and many others followed Sucuria, relying on her teachings to embrace or tame their Abominations. So, while Hadubrangr might have been the emperor, it was Sucuria who had the most influence over the second generation.
"Your entire family has been exterminated by your nephew. Hope you're not feeling too sad."
"Family? Words have meaning, Blood Nephew. Don't use them carelessly. My family died 103,300 years ago. I killed them myself. Whatever arose from the ritual...was never my family.
My only regret is that I didn't get to decimate Hadrian and Arminius as planned. The plot was so close to success too...delayed because of those busybodies! Ahh...I really hate my brothers..." lamenting the wasted opportunity, and the power she could have gained from Arminius and Hadrian, Sucuria cried a little, wiping off the tears with a blood-stained handkerchief.
"Worldbreaker...huh? Hakim, how did you get your hands on that thing? I refuse to believe you are the Beast."
"Mhm...you might not have a choice. But as for whether I'm the Beast...or not...I really don't know, nor do I care. But I do recognize myself in the primordial creature that exists to delete the filth.
The world is 99.9% filth and 0.1% beauty, so we might as well lay it all to waste and let the Lord save the worthy!" Imagining a world of dropping dead and continental rivers of blood, Hakim thumped his feet, head shaking on a silent beat.
"Poor child, I've never seen such a cheerful nihilist. You must be really fucked up inside," Sucuria's lips curled and her head tilted, eyes nailing Hakim with a weirdly compassionate look.
Aurelian walked past the two, the gathering of second-generation Fylkirs and Princeps lining up at the Emperor's left and right.
The Empire...forever victorious! This was the Fylkir who made these words iron facts. That Fylkir now claimed their rightful place as Blood Emperor—completing the Rebellion of the Second Generation.
Aurelian walked to the edge of a hill, looking in the direction of Mainyu Archipelago as Hakim and Sucuria stood at his left and right.
'Oxoei...(Academy!)' Aurelian's voice rumbled in the Blood Nobles' minds, and as they pictured the storm about to sweep through the Jade-Faced Academy, their lips stretched into fiendish grins!