CH 89

Emilia's ability is Mind Manipulation. Starting out as a basic telepathy until eventually reaching a state where she could send out mental 'suggestions' to people and they accept it as the truth. It was the same ability that is combined with the barrier around them now. She used her ability to make everyone seeing the barrier decide to 'ignore and stay away'. Allowing them to talk without disturbance.

During the time they were together, her ability rose to a rank that allowed her to heal her soul using mana. It was then that her artifact became free from its captivity. As a person with half a soul, she couldn't live without the other half as a child as the process of rebirth made the soul weak and feeble.

This made the original soul, Estophelia, decide to use her Legacy that is in the form of a black book to let the little girl's body live on even with merely half a soul. Using it as a stop gap for until she decides to put the two halves of their soul fragments together, essentially reincarnating. But things didn't turn out as intended in that future.

With the book in her possession, Emilia obtained two new abilities. First was an ability that takes a lot of mana to activate, Mind Fragment. Emilia takes in memories from one person and puts it inside the book to share the memories of one person to another. This is what she had used right now, but instead of her mana, she let Zel supply it with his much more ample mana capacity. It was also the basis of the Memory Chamber, as Zel used this ability of hers as an inspiration when creating it.

As for the second one, it's something she couldn't use as of right now. She could barely activate Mind Fragment, and that one takes much more mana to use.

"See for yourself, the future of this world." Zel retraced his memories while removing the parts that are too personal for him to share. Allowing Jessica to face the possible reality as if she was there herself. But for now, all Jessica saw was a pitch-black darkness reminiscent of when she uses her ability.

"Open your eyes, Jessica." The familiar voice of the sounded out in Jessica's ear, but it was strangely different for some reason. When she realized that the darkness was due to her eyes being closed, she willed herself to open them. A red sky greeted her as portals after portals emerged in the open air above where she was sitting.

Looking around to find out where she was, she saw that she was standing on top of a tall wall. Circular in its path, enclosing a spacious city in the middle. As she looked further ahead in front of her, there seems to be two more walls like the one she was one, circumscribing twice to form one big circle with two smaller ones inside it.

"You like it? Designed it myself. Though I had a lot of help, I can proudly say that this is the heart of my kingdom. Welcome to the city of Oculus, the capital of the Pantheon Kingdom!" A tall, Olympian man declared loudly as blue flames appeared around him. He wore a clean white robe with a simple, unadorned crown on his head. But even though the clothes he wore looked plain, the pressure she felt from him wasn't as mild as it displayed on the surface. It was as if she was beneath him by being a lower existence.

"It's ahh... Beautiful." It was only now that Jessica realized that she wasn't alone in this place. In fact, there were many people moving around. Though the man beside her was the only one who seems to care about her presence as they moved without looking at their direction even once. So she looked at him with her ever curious eyes to find anything different about him.

'No way!' But what she identified caused no small amount of discomfort to dwell inside her mind. This couldn't be true, but there was no denying the truth in front of her. This man, his hunk of a man was the same person as that little boy she was talking to earlier. He was Zel Huertazuela in adult form. She recognized the ring on his finger as well as his familiar aura.

The purpose of this throwback to memory lane, however, was to show Jessica what happens in the future. In the time that Jessica was looking around the area surrounded by the centermost walls, Zel was focused on the slight shift in mana density in the air. The vast area was only filled with six sectors, consisting of Zel's Palace, the Research Hall, The Training Hall, The Council District, The Testing Facility and the Surveillance Hall. All the essential buildings and personnel are kept in here as it is the safest area in the whole city.

"What's that?" Jessica who was marveling at the sight before her was unable to take her eyes away from the city center as a portal suddenly appeared above the city. A gigantic claw held the edges of the portal, as if forcefully prying it wider. Though its advance was quickly stopped by a crack breaking the tips of the claws that made it lose its grip on the portal. 

"Is that, senior Billy?" Looking at the direction that the 'crack' came from, Jessica couldn't help but be surprised. There were three people in that area, with one man who was second only to her idol leading them. One of them was a tall young man who still had lightning crackling on his open palm that faced the air. His eyes glowing green as his grin filled with arrogance made him look quite sinister.

Though his smile didn't last long when another portal appeared, this time it wasn't alone. A series of portals appeared around them, with not just claws, but even tails, feet and even upper bodies trying to go through them. More men with high ranking abilities sprouted from the walls and held these monsters back. Men with weapons that released various beams and ammunition also started fighting with the monsters that have already passed through, ending their short-lived existence on this planet.

"In due time, we will have to face adversities like this. It's not just this place that has to undergo this kind of event, as the whole world will be enveloped in hundreds, if not thousands of portals. If I didn't comb up this many Gifted, or what we call Rankers in my time, only a few would survive." Zel walked around as if the cries from dying men and the roars of aggrieved beasts and extraterrestrials had nothing to do with him. Even the familiar faces he met were only treated with a side glance, nothing more. It was useless to dwell on this future as his goal was to meet with another kind of conclusion.

"I don't understand, is this because of something we did?" Jessica looked around in horror as the beasts weren't simple animals, with a few even looking quite human. Their eyes were pained, as if they were not even happy with their own terrible actions. Surges of mana and various abilities injured, maimed and killed those who are unlucky. Not even the strong Green-rank gifted can take fifty bolts of lightning without dying, much less those who look like they were barely Red-rank.

"Look at that portal over there, tell me what you see on the other side." Zel pointed at a portal in the distance where a few humanoid creatures lurked. They weren't like the mindless beasts that came to wreak havoc, they had structure and discipline in their actions. In particular, there was a seemingly female warrior leading them that shouted strange noises towards the rest of her race.

"Are those... aliens? An alien colony!?" Jessica carefully scanned the unfamiliar race and it piqued her interest to a whole new level. Their race was as diverse as the human race was, but there were still many similarities among them.

The most common skin among them was brown in nature, with a few being darker in color. Most of them had long haired that swirled at the top of their heads, forming an aesthetic look when added with their luxurious looking robes. Their physique was quite small in build, leaning more towards the skinny side as she couldn't see anyone that had a bulky appearance. Their facial structure was similar to humans, but their eyes were different. Although they still had the whites on their eyes, there was only a single color in the center of their eyes compared to the complex eyes of a human's.

"In a few months' time, those creatures will introduce themselves as the Philis. Their race came from a planet had already lost most of their resources, leading to internal conflict, eventually losing their chance at survival. But an intelligent member of their race found out the mechanics of planar exploration. Opening a portal to our dimension was a fluke in the nick of time, a hope they will fight for with all their might." Zel frowned as he remembered the war against these assholes. Though he was glad to have defeated them and even get the complete planar travel technology from them, it was a costly war. 

"Let's go. We should speed this up, I don't have much mana left." Zel and Jessica floated to the sky as their surroundings changed. They were each standing on a pedestal as moments passed by in front of their eyes.

At first, the point of a battle was to survive. It was too difficult to keep a tight leash on all your forces when individuals with different agendas rise up every now and then. Men who have lofty ambitions, those with noble aspirations, all mixed up in the kingdom established by Zel and his Pantheon. Whatever their intentions were, they were all pests that were more harmful than their assistance provided.

The world had turned into one where factions and alliances are formed, so the Pantheon fight those who are hostile against them. But it wasn't easy to do that when they had to take care of enemies waiting at all sides. Especially against enemies who have a very distinct advantage against their forces.

Their more advanced technology as well as greater affinity with mana allowed them to wipe the floor with the majority of the Human race. Countries fell to the hands of these much stronger races, billions were massacred while the few left behind were enslaved. It was a disaster born due to a lack of unity, a lack of leadership.

It was also at this time that Zel found himself cornered as the only ones he could protect were those in his kingdom. Receiving memories from the ring on his hand, helping mankind to advance mana technology further than it ever could on its own. He was one of the few who gave mankind hope, and even then, he was targeted by those had protected.

Those who only rode on his back actually dared to take what was his, even calling him selfish for refusing their greed. This eventually led Zel's kingdom to ruin, killing the ones he loved while the ones responsible for its fall decided to keep his kingdom's achievements for themselves. Since he didn't have the power and the will to fight back, he decided to first understand the memories left behind by the ring on his finger. It was when he met the Seventh iteration and decided to go back in time. 

"Gasp." Jessica who had kept her eyes closed all this time opened them. Her body felt as if it needed to suck in every oxygen in the air or it will die. A terrible headache passed through her while the memory Zel sent her way a while ago lingered inside her head.

"So, what do you say? Will you help me?" Zel sent a few strands of mana towards Jessica whose body absorbed it without any rejection. If she had reacted negatively at this transfer, the mana would have done nothing. But instead, it passed through her body and cleansed the clogs that occurred when Emilia's ability suddenly stopped working. Releasing her from the nausea that she was going through.

As a person whose soul was bound to his by a contract, she was now under his command without a question. But that didn't mean that he will mistreat the young woman, he'd rather get respect than fear from his subordinates. As for the others who are not under him, they can fear him for all he cares.

"Yes, my king." Jessica who understood the Pantheon's goal set her mind straight. As her soul had already surrendered to Zel, with her mind finally accepting the same, she was now his to command. She knelt in front of Zel, bowed her head and pledged her service to the boy.

Then the boy she just pledged allegiance to fell to the ground without any hint of doing so beforehand. The fall spooked the serious Jessica into falling to her butt as she watched Zel crawl to Emilia's side. The little girl then sat on the ground and patted her thighs, smiling at the dumbfounded Jessica.

"So, fellow council member, it seems that you're part of the family now!" Emilia who was uncharacteristically jovial smiled at Jessica who sat on the ground. Her eyes were glowing blue, with the barrier around them still active. She could probably keep this up for just a few more minutes before she depletes her mana pool, but it was already more than enough. Jessica had accepted the invitation already, after all.

"Did I just get scammed into a contract?" A look of deploration can be seen in Jessica's eyes as she looked at Zel who was lying on the ground. His head resting on Emilia's thighs as he rested his eyes for a while.

"I got a really bad headache right now so, Shush!" Zel raised one finger over the front of his nose in response to Jessica's plight. Making the young woman feel like she was scammed into slavery by a boy a little less than half of her age.

It was made worse by the seemingly provocative laughter that occasionally came from the little girl in front of her. Little did she know that the girl was just so enamored with the sight of her lover looking like a young boy.

'Hehe. He's so cute! I want to pinch his cheeks.' Emilia strongly resisted the urge to pinch Zel's youthful cheeks as she used her hands to comb his hair. She knows that he loves when she does this because he does it for her when she gets sick. And she knows how good if feels to have this done to you by a loved one.

"Urgh. I'm fine now, Emilia. Thanks." Zel who felt his headache go down a level sat up and turned his head to face Emilia. He gave the young girl a pinch in the cheek to convey his gratitude, not expecting to get one in return.

"You're very welcome. Hehe." Zel thought that it was weird how excited Emilia was acting when he finally realized something important. Thinking back to what could cause the usually reserved Emilia to act like this, it made sense for her to act this way. Going back in time wasn't the same for her as it was to him, not really.

He was used to experiencing going back to a state of being a younger self, so he knows that he is someone occupying a younger body. For Emilia, however, it was like a young girl getting the memories of an older woman. Though it sounded the same, it was essentially a different situation.

'It should be fine, I got over it after a while. We have all the time in the world anyway.' Zel was about to try and get some sleep when he felt the skin below his head shake a little. It was then that he looked up to check up on Emilia and only saw her give him a smile. Shaking his head internally, he felt the barrier around them losing its stability, even though it was just a flicker. He knows that Emilia was pushing herself to keep it up, just for his sake.

"I really don't know how to tell you how much I love you. Tsup." Zel sat up from his lying down position and gave Emilia a kiss on the cheek. With the girl giving him one in return, though he blocked it since she reached for his lips. It ended up being on his cheek as well since she wouldn't relent.

It felt weird to kiss her in the lips as they were still too young, she just looked too young. He still had the worst headache of all his lifetimes but felt better knowing that Emilia will always be there for him. This little amount of pain he was experiencing shouldn't be a reason for him to make her suffer, not for him. Even if she was willing to.

"Hey, Jessica. I've got a mission for you." Zel pointed at Jessica who was looking strangely at him. But since she nodded her head, he continued. "I'll give you a month, set up a company by this name. I need it registered to your name. Do that for me, and I'll help you remember your past. I'm talking about the ones from before you were at the Association."

"Gasp." Jessica was still gawking at the two adorable kids in front of her when she finally processed what Zel said. All she remembers was living in the hands of the Association. As for a life from before that, she didn't know what to make of it. But inside her heart started a fire, one that burnt fiercely. It was the start of her new destiny, breaking the shackles that the Association placed on her life.

"Pantheon Industries?" Jessica looked at Zel with a smile. As a person who is keen on details, she remembers that Zel called his kingdom 'The Pantheon Kingdom'. It seems that he's already bent on keeping the brand.

"Alright. Let's go." It was then that Zel commanded Toph to conserve his mana. Ceasing all operations in his mana core and effectively hiding the fact that he is Gifted. It was the same for Emilia, though she had to do it manually instead of Zel's more automated action.

She slowed down her breathing and with it came the gradual stagnation of mana in her nodes. Blocking the path of mana made her mana core stall. Though it wasn't at the same level of concealment as Zel's, it was enough for the level of discernment that the current Gifted in humanity to miss her completely.