Chapter 419 After Years

"Very well. I will excuse myself. I like to stay a bit longer but I know doing that will only hold you back," Heragon said as he smirked at Basil. "Please, do come to our Empire after your matter is settled. We will still fully cooperate even if you don't but I will be thankful if you do."

Whispering, he continued, "My people will be ecstatic meeting the successor of the only person who didn't leave us behind with those Demons." He winked playfully and then left while waving his hand lightly.

The ground rumbled; as Heragon stopped in his tracks, a mouth-like earthen structure came out of the ground. It devoured him and then submerged into the ground. Heragon's presence entirely vanished, indicating that he was no longer around.

Uncaring to the unique exit, Basil recalled the thing Heragon had said a few moments ago: "…the only person who didn't leave us behind with those Demons." He wondered just what The Lord was thinking to decide to remain in the Mortal World.

Was he planning to decimate all of the Demons by himself? Was that why he created the Pacifer Clan? If that was the case, where was he before the human population hit rock bottom?

Questions filled his head. The more he thought about them, the more questions popped up. In the end, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. He lived in the present. What happened in the past and what might happen in the future were irrelevant to him now. Reminding himself this, he kept the thoughts for later.

Turning to Estel and Siofra, Basil said, "'Tis time for me to depart. Although I am confident Dantalion won't come tomorrow, I am not daring enough to say he won't come the day after. Therefore, until my return, do be careful."

Siofra chuckled lightly, earning a wondering look from Basil. "Ah, pardon me. I can't help myself." She covered her mouth with her hand. "You have accepted that persona of yours as part of yourself, it seems. The way you talk faintly resembles that of your persona."

"I won't deny I have gotten to be fond of talking that way." Basil nodded lightly. "Rather than a persona, however, I prefer to call it a fa?ade, made to separate myself from the rest of the world…. I was afraid that the environment would taint me, slowly making me forget who I was."

Basil didn't like opening up to people. In his past life, the only people he had ever opened up to were Irene and Iliana. In this life, he had never once opened up since he felt the people that he knew weren't exactly the people he had known in the past. Therefore, he couldn't help frowning after what he said to Siofra.

Looking at that reaction, Estel and Siofra smiled at the same time. "Being old is weird, isn't it? Despite having many people surrounding us, we still feel alone because of our different way of perceiving the world. Talking to someone of your peers takes care of that loneliness, no?"

"We don't dare to pry about you but we cannot pretend to not see what is presented before our eyes. We are not as good as the Pacifer but we still can tell you have a very 'experienced' soul," Siofra explained with a smile.

"Experienced…yes, experienced. That is the correct expression." Basil smiled softly. "We shall talk some more in the future, Estel, Siofra. It may hurt my future wife but this is my first time feeling like I am genuinely talking."

"We will always wait for you, Lord Basil," Estel and Siofra said in unison.

Saying his farewell, Basil immediately left for Alphoetra Village, which was where he believed Iliana and the others would be. He encountered many Elves on the way; all of them bowed to him respectfully even though he wasn't looking at them.

He didn't mind being treated like such, though. Rather than hearing people screaming his name, saying how much they adored him, he preferred people showing their respect for him that way.

After five minutes of walking, Basil arrived at Alphoetra Village. The Elf Warriors didn't waste their time; as soon as they saw him, they immediately escorted him. Guided to the biggest guest manor Alphoetra Village had, he met Iliana and the others.

They looked at him in wonder but no one asked where he had gone to or whom he had met. Instead, they waited for his farewell because they knew he was leaving soon.

"I am departing soon," he began. "Dantalion only has thirty-six Legions under his command; however, he is more terrifying than Goap ever could be. He creates Monsters like Chimaera for fun, so you have to be careful."

The people looked at him in wonder at the way he spoke. They had heard him talk the old-fashioned way for a month straight, so they felt slightly weird hearing him talk like that.

Iliana stepped forward. "Be careful on your journey. I am sorry I am not strong enough," she said as she hugged him. She was self-aware, so she didn't even try to make Basil bring her with him. She didn't want to burden him.

"We will wait for your return, My Lord," Ione said as she approached the couple. Standing awkwardly before the couple, she didn't know what to do next. "Uh…I think that is—"

Ione was silenced when Basil put his hand on her head. He wasn't blessing her; he just wanted to ruffle her hair. It was something that Basil had never done before. It made her feel that the barrier that had always been separating them had finally shattered.

"I will leave Iliana in your care, Ione."

"Trust my wit and you shall not be disappointed, My Lord."

"Disappointed I never have."

Taking his head off Ione's head, he turned to Chester and Blake who immediately nodded their heads. They weren't good at expressing themselves, so they preferred giving their farewell in a simple way; the Warriors and those whom he considered friends did too.

Lastly, Basil turned to Anthony. Amara jumped at Basil as soon as their eyes met and then hugged him like it was her last day seeing him. It pained her heart that her biological son had gone down the wrong path. Basil had spent a good amount of time with her over the past two years, so she couldn't help considering him as another son of hers.

"Your journey will be hard. Bring my heart with you and you shall return to me," she muttered as she rubbed Basil's back warmly.

In response, Basil hugged her lightly and patted her back. "I am not going to die, so you don't have to act like I am going to."

"Hush! This moment is rare, Basil. Let your mom have her moment."

"Who is my…" shrugging, in the end, Basil let Amara do her thing.

When Amara let go of him, Anthony and Margaret, also known as, Mei Qi, stepped forward. Mei Qi said nothing, meanwhile, Anthony put his hand on Basil's shoulder.

"I won't wish you luck or warn you to be careful. You are way more capable than me; I am sure you understand what you should and shouldn't do. I, however, want you to forgive me if my wife hinders you on your journey."

Anthony already knew Basil didn't need a guide so he could reach Huaxia safely; therefore, he felt slightly bad for asking Basil to bring Mei Qi with him. It had been years since Mei Qi last saw her father, so he didn't have the heart to tell her to stay.

He would like to bring her there with him, however…

"Are you not going?"

"I am not very liked by my father-in-law." Anthony smiled wryly.

He was afraid of Yang Tian Long, Mei Qi's father. Tian Long didn't forbid him from marrying Mei Qi; however, the constant threats he received from Tian Long and the fact that Tian Long was capable of doing what he said frightened him.

Turning his eyes to Mei Qi, Basil assessed her to see how much she amounted to or how long she could stand on her ground until she had to hide behind his back. The black-haired woman stared into his eyes and then knit her brows as she noticed how critical he was toward her.

Raising her sharp chin as she crossed her hands before her fair-sized mounds, she scoffed lightly. Her hair lightly bellowed as the wind blew it; her eyelashes graciously fluttered as she blinked her eyes.

"I may not look like it but this Princess—hey, where are you going!?"

Even before Mei Qi finished her sentence, Basil had walked out of the hall where the people were gathered. The hall was filled with silence even after the two left. They couldn't believe the serene and quiet Concubine had that side. As always, Basil's ability to get on someone's nerves was astonishing.

When Basil and Mei Qi reached outside, Deacon greeted Basil respectfully. He didn't care about Mei Qi since Basil was his heaven. Fortunately, Mei Qi was not a petty person. She didn't mind that in the slightest; instead, she turned to look at the young man beside Deacon.

"So…you decided to follow along," she said.

"…Yes," the young man answered.

"Even after what your family said to you?" she asked, referring to the saddening news she had heard.

The young man, Xiu Li, smiled bitterly as he recalled what his family had said to him after Braxtein released the list of criminals which had his name on it. "A disgrace you are, Xiu Li. Throw away your name. You don't deserve to be a Wei! Never come home."

Uncaring of whether he stood on the right side or the wrong side, his family, for the second time, banished him. Wei Xiu Li had ceased to exist; he was now the Xiu Li with no family.

|Do you hate me for what happened?| Basil asked in Hua Dialect.

Widening his eyes, Xiu Li frantically replied, |I dare not hate you for what I chose myself, Big Brother! I…I realized long ago that I am unwanted. I have stopped trying to impress my family ever since I met you, Big Brother. I just want to be myself…and for that, I am okay without a family.|

|Family is not within the blood; it is within the bond. It may take a long time for us to feel like the real ones; however, Xiu Li, we are a family.| Mei Qi chimed in, surprising Xiu Li and Basil. |Don't you think so too, Basil?|

|They who stand side by side are friends. They who lean on each other are family. I don't know what your definition is but I think we are one,| Basil said in response.

Xiu Li put his hand before his chest and then clutched it tightly as he stopped his tears from coming out; for the first time, he felt accepted. With a light heart, he went to Huaxia, his home country, with Basil and Mei Qi…his new family.