It was an era of peace in the Mortal Realm. Thus, there was almost no piece of important news that was delivered to Ira. It seemed like he could spend an endless amount of days enjoying his peace and he planned to at first, but it was clear he couldn’t.

Of course, that realization didn’t hit him until two slow years had passed and a shocking event broke the period of calm. A terrible thunderstorm raged outside of the city for a few months but there was no damage due to Ira’s protection. There was also a strange event where the plant’s in Raveria’s garden, a place that was effectively time-looped, showed signs of decay. In addition, a murky yet iridescent red substance could be found dripping from the corner of a random ceiling inside the fortress every so often before dissolving.

...

“Keeper,” A Dark Elf bowed toward Ira who was sitting outside of a familiar chamber with a calm expression.

“Already?” Ira smiled as he stood up.

Following behind him was Ravera, Zephyr, Valeryn, and Harper. Each one of them had traces of nervousness and excitement on their faces.

“Come on,” Ira said to them while letting out a chuckle.

He entered the large chamber with his children behind him and immediately approached the bed where Avery sat upright, holding a black-haired infant in her arms.

“She’s a girl,” Avery said with a smile.

Ira and his children were naturally curious and peered over to see the new arrival.

“Hold on,” Ira said as he received the infant from Avery. He smiled as he looked at the newborn whose eyes were dark red. It would be ominous to most parents, seeing those murky red eyes that were nearly black in color, but Ira was obviously overjoyed.

“Liliara,” Ira whispered to her as he stared into her eyes lovingly and she in turn stared back at him in awe.

“A wonderful name,” Casey interjected from the side.

A result of inheriting bloodline memories caused his children to have a pre-established sense of attachment to him. Showing that to be true, Liliara looked at her father in pure and simple-minded disbelief, reaching out to him with her small arms. Ira brought her closer and she began to grab at his face but he didn’t mind at all.

“Can I see her?” Harper asked.

“Of course, but it might not go so well.” Ira slowly handed Liliara to Harper and prepared for the worst but it never came.

Harper held her newborn niece expecting to hear crying immediately but Liliara maintained a calm expression, her dark red eyes looking directly into Harper’s, seemingly unimpressed by what she saw.

“Hi!” Harper grinned cheerfully but Liliara didn’t return the sentiment. Her expression even seemed a bit cold but she tolerated being away from Ira better than any of her siblings did before.

“S-She doesn’t like me?” Harper tried to get a feel of her emotions from their bloodline connection but Liliara gave off an unreadable feeling.

“I want to hold her!” Raveria said.

Ira nodded and Harper reluctantly gave Liliara to Raveria.

“Don’t worry Liliara, I’m your big sister.” Raveria giggled as she looked at her younger sister.

Liliara showed a small and very faint grin but other than that, she didn’t react like when Ira held her.

Sensing something was a bit off, Ira took Liliara back. “Alright, let her get some rest.”

Liliara’s shocked expression returned as she stared at her father right up until he gave her to Avery.

“She’s very affectionate toward you, Ira,” Avery commented, noticing her daughter's behavior.

Liliara looked up at her own mother with a warm gaze but she wasn’t full of pure wonder like she had for Ira.

“I’m glad,” Ira replied with satisfaction.

Soon after, Liliara closed her eyes and fell asleep while in Avery’s arms.

Just as Ira was about to continue, a knock at the door drew his attention since there was no reason for someone to interrupt.

“Enter.” Ira showed an expectant face.

“Keeper.” A Dark Elf entered and knelt down immediately. “It’s...Rhys...She’s...Well, I was told to inform you, Keeper.”

“...Already?” Ira looked unexpectedly flustered as he turned to Avery who gave an approving nod.

“Alright, then let’s go.” Ira gestured for his children to gather around him and they hurriedly did. That also included Harper, who was still recovering from Liliara’s reaction and dragged her feet as a result.

Without another word, Ira teleported all of them away, appearing in a similar chamber filled with Dark Elves. The key difference was, Rhys who was resting on a large bed with an infant in her arms.

“Congratulations, Keeper.” Sylvia greeted Ira with a bow. “You have a beautiful girl.”

“...A girl?” Ira blinked in confusion.

“Is something wrong, Keeper?” Sylvia asked.

Rhys also showed a questioning expression to which Ira shook his head.

“No, it’s just...I just learned that I have two daughters today.”

“The Keepress also had a daughter?” Sylvia inquired with surprise.

“Yes,” Ira replied as he approached Rhys and received his newborn daughter.

“It’s a good omen no doubt.” Sylvia seemed pleased.

Meanwhile, Zephyr ran to Rhys’ bedside and climbed up to hug his exhausted mother.

“Just look at you.” Ira gazed into his daughter’s eyes. Tiny electric sparks emerged from her body but he was unaffected, too busy looking into her bright yellow eyes to notice. Streaks of lightning seemed to flash in the depths of her pupils as she looked at him.

“Have you thought of a name for her?” Ira asked.

“Mom says her name is Nephele,” Zephyr answered in place of his mother.

“Nephele...I see.” Ira smiled as he lightly rubbed Nephele’s cheeks.

Her face wrinkled and then she sneezed which caused a strong burst of wind to blow through the room overturning anything that wasn’t heavy enough to resist.

“Woah!” Raveria yelled.

“She can control wind like you, Father,” Valeryn said while fixing his hair that had been messed up with the wind.

“She sure can,” Ira responded. He couldn’t help but wonder if he was imagining the mischievous smile on Nephele’s face.

Looking at her Father, Nephele blew air out of her mouth and sent a powerful gust of air into Ira’s face.

“She’s going to be a troublesome one,” Ira mumbled. He could now confirm that smile was radiating with disruption and already felt that Nephele would be wilder than any of her siblings.

Ira spent a little more time with his daughters before letting them rest and heading back to his own bedroom. That night he didn’t sleep at all, he simply stared into the darkness of the room. His eyes remained half-narrowed as he came to a decision by himself.

“Ascension,” Ira whispered to no one.

The arrival of two more daughters acted as a reminder that he couldn’t rest easy until he could ensure they would never be harmed. Being in the Mortal Realm meant he could never really know what the Gods were planning. The Entity who stopped his ascension didn’t promise to interfere with the Gods schemes. It didn’t ally with Ira, but rather, tolerated his actions. So it stood to reason that it wouldn’t obstruct the Gods if they began breaking taboos since it would drive Ira to action even faster.

Ira sunk deeper into his thoughts without a single word. The only thing that changed was the increasing certainty in his eyes.

…

The next day, Ira gathered his family together and instructed the Dark Elves to put together a large feast.

Even Sylun and Sylvia were invited and the latter decided to bring her daughter, Suvi. Before they entered, Sylvia spoke to her daughter.

“Suvi, you must be respectful when you enter.”

“Yes, Mother,” Suvi answered. She had very little interaction with Ira and his children and the closest connection she had was meeting with Rhys who was friends with Sylvia.

Due to her bloodline, Sylvia was similar to Ira’s children and grew a rate faster than other mortal races. Jydar’s traits manifested themselves in the form of her pale skin and reddish fox-like eyes while she had the pointed ears common to elves. Also, due to Sylvia ingesting the sap of the World Tree, there was a massive amount of pure spiritual energy being emitted from Suvi.

“Are you finished? The Keeper won’t take offense if she isn’t able to follow along with standard etiquette.” Sylun smiled at the sight of Sylvia laying out various rules and instructions for the little Suvi.

“I’m aware Mother but…” Sylvia felt as if she hadn’t said enough but stopped when she saw her daughter’s innocent eyes looking back at her.

“Fine, let’s just enter. I don’t want to make the Keeper wait for too long.” Sylvia fixed her daughter white dress and entered without delaying a moment more.

“Keeper.”

The three of them spoke in unison while bowing. Suvi’s bow a bit sloppy and because of that Ira found it cute.

“There’s no need, come and sit down.” Ira gestured them in.

Ira’s children looked toward Suvi with different gazes. Raveria seemed glad to have another possible child to play with since she only had her Father, Harper, and her siblings. Valeryn’s eyes seemed to see the spiritual power within Suvi as he slightly narrowed them before changing his gaze. Zephyr, who had a mouthful of food, momentarily stopped chewing before waving at the girl and going back to his meal.

“H...Hi,” Suvi greeted in a quiet and nervous voice.

“Ah, I haven’t seen the little princess since she was born. Have some sweets.” As Ira finished speaking a bowl full of pastries manifested in front of Suvi.

“Waaah,” Suvi gasped in surprise. She cautiously took one and, under her Mother’s urging, she took a bite before her face lit up.

“So good!” Suvi shouted.

Ira laughed at her reaction and returned to eating. Avery and Rhys sat on opposite sides of him holding their daughters. Liliara devoured the flames that Avery fed to her with a still expression that mirrored her mother’s. Nephele, on the other hand, was making strange sputtering sounds while Rhys fed her some sort of porridge.

“B-b-b-bu. B-b-b-bu.” Nephele continued blowing porridge bubbles.

Rhys used a damp cloth to wipe her daughter’s face and continued on.

“B-b-b-bwa!” Nephele swung her tiny arm and silverware was blown away with a gust of wind but Zephyr waved his hand and stopped it all before setting it down.

“Nephele.” Ira chuckled lightly while transmitting his intent through their bloodline connection.

Nephele seemed to realize what Ira wanted and stopped causing a commotion, finally allowing everyone to eat in peace.

The meal was coming to end when Ira put down his eating utensils quietly. His small action seemed so serious it drew pause from everyone else.

“I’m going to be ascending very soon,” Ira spoke clearly.

Silence and disbelief filled the air, it almost seemed as if time was frozen for a second as everyone stared at him blankly.

Avery stopped the trembling of her hands and spoke with a misleading calm.

“When?” Was the only question she was able to force out.

Ira could sense she was restraining her emotions and could only close his eyes as he answered. “In the next few days.”

Raveria jolted up with a devastated face and slammed her hands on the table. “You can’t!”

“Why...does it have to be so soon?” Avery questioned.

“I don’t know what’ll happen if I delay my fight with the Gods. The best move is to attack them now,” Ira responded calmly. He prepared himself for their reactions the night before. As long as he could give them assurance it would lessen the impact of his absence.

“...How long will it be until you come back?” Harper asked while staring at her empty plate.

“It won’t be longer than a year or two, I swear.” Ira smiled as he looked around the table.

“You’re lying!” Raveria shouted at him before she ran off in the blink of an eye.

“Raveria!” Avery yelled as she stood up to follow but Ira stopped her.

“It’s fine, Avery. I’ll go find her later.” Avery sat back down at his words and held Liliara.

The room became quiet and Ira’s sons seemed to have lost their appetite.

“B-b-b-bwa!” Nephele sputtered out once more, breaking the silence, causing Ira to let out a low laugh though no one else could.