“Move!”

With a loud yell, Azane turned around and hurled her halberd with all her might. Not waiting for another moment Azane kicked the air and flew forward.

Kali was both surprised and confused over what Azane was doing, but she quickly understood that this battle they fought would only be the beginning!

She handed Shin over to Aria carefully before she turned towards where Azane rushed to. Kali squinted her eyes and glared with cold eyes, she slowly reached out her hand and her scythe appeared in her hand once again.

Azane was dashing forward with nothing in her hands, but she was clearly gazing at something in the distance, her eyes were narrowed and blood was flowing out of her mouth.

After a couple of seconds, Azane saw something in front of her, it was a dark clothed man with a halberd pierced through him.

The dark clothed man calmly glanced at Azane dashing towards him, a faint smile appeared on his face and he spoke with a calm voice.

“Is this weapon yours?”

Azane didn’t listen to the dark clothed man, she just appeared in front of the man and held her halberd and pushed the man with her other hand. As Azane was coldly gazing at the man, she said with an ice-cold tone.

“Who are you and what do you want?”

“Haha…”

The man let out a soft laugh before replying.

“Do you usually pierce someone and afterwards ask them a question?”

“Humph!”

Azane held her halberd with both of her hands, preparing for a counter-attack.

As the man saw that Azane was being vigilant, he didn’t move at all but only spoke with a calm voice.

“Then, would you mind me asking a question?”

Azane was rather astonished that the opponent wasn’t fighting but asking a question.

“A Valkyrie…!”

“Ah!”

The man nodded, still having a faint smile on his face.

“Then you should be the that child’s follower, am I right?”

Azane didn’t know why the man was questioning her, she didn’t answer and kept her guard up against him.

“You don’t have to be that vigilant, I will not fight today, I have no need to lie to mortals.”

The man spoke calmly, as he saw that Azane was still keeping her guard up, he continued.

“Even if I attack, it will be my defeat.”

He shook his head and said calmly.

“I will most likely take me a month or two before I would be able to make a mortal body again, besides, I don’t want to make an enemy of that child.”

As the man was explaining, Kali appeared behind Azane.

“Tell me why you’re here then!”

Kali’s coldly asked the man as she was holding her scythe.

“Haha…”

As he was laughing, he let out a small sigh too.

“The other Gods are arrogant, they do have the right to do so too.”

As he was speaking, he calmly glanced at Kali.

“The ones you have been fighting with are only a proxy body made by a God, even if those bodies die, the Gods themselves won’t die.”

“Why aren’t they using their main bodies then?”

Kali asked in a slight confusion, but she was vigilant.

“Even if the other Gods are arrogant and don’t want to accept it, we are not the strongest beings out there.”

The man calmly answered.

“What if I told you that there are beings which can destroy every single God without batting an eye, would you believe that?”

Beings above of Gods? Aren’t the gods in the Divinity Stage, and there are beings above that stage?!

Kali was surprised, but she didn’t show any emotions.

“You’re saying that a being like that is either protecting the world or blocking the Gods?”

Kali shook her head and asked another question.

“Why are you here telling us things like this?”

The man let out a faint smile and glanced behind Kali.

Aria with Shin in her hands appeared, behind her were Peutoa, Eline, Anaj and Laura.

“Did you hear what I was saying?”

The man asked softly.

Aria nodded, nothing more.

“Then I will tell you why these Gods are afraid…”

The man raised his hand and pointed at himself and everyone else besides Shin.

“We have all shackles that suppress us, mortals, Gods, Divine Beings, every single being out there has these shackles which keeps us locked.”

He then calmly pointed at Shin.

“But, someday a child will be born without these shackles. It will be hard to even find a child without these shackles during a period of a million year…”

“They are destined to soar up to the heavens and rule the world as beings above Gods. But, that’s only if they survive till they become that strong.”

Everything went silent, no one could speak a single word and had their mouths slightly agape.

“Now, tell me this. Would the Gods wait for another being to become stronger than them? Or would they want to kill that child before it became strong enough?”

The man asked a simple question.

“Then why are you telling us this?”

Aria asked calmly, she knew that the man in front of her was strong but so far, he had only answered their questions without being arrogant nor attacked them.

“I am not stupid enough to start a grudge against a child who might, in the end, become an unrivalled powerhouse.”

The man smiled a little broader as he explained.

“I would rather try to become an ally of that child even if it means that I have to go against the other Gods.”

Kali wrinkled her eyebrows and frowned slightly.

“What you said is something we haven’t thought of, but let me ask you this.”

“How can we trust you?”

“Haha…”

The dark clothed man laughed lightly before taking off his robe.

He had long white hair which was tied in a horsetail and he had deep and bright white eyes.

“If I came here with any thoughts of harming that child, I would have long since been dead.”

He laughed lightly and smiled.

“What do you mean?”

Aria frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice.

The man let out a bitter smile and raised his head towards the sky. He opened his mouth and spoke.

“Would you believe me if I said that my younger brother supported that child? Heh… my younger brother set up a spell on this child’s body before he died, even if he wasn’t a God, he sure was powerful.”

As he was talking, his voice trembled slightly.

Hmm??? The only ones which are supporting Shin as we know of are his Guardians and the few of us.

Kali was in deep thought for a second.

The White Guardian Kuugo!?

“Kuugo…”

Kali said that in a low voice.

“Yeah, Kuugo was my dear younger brother.”

Even when Kali murmured in a low voice, the white-haired man heard it clearly.

He lowered his head and glanced at Shin.

“On the day he destroyed his soul mark, I was able to recognize his aura and fully understood what had happened to him.”

“My little brother Kuugo was someone I deeply cared for, and it seems like he had been taking care of this child with everything he had. Therefore, I will be doing the same, I will believe in my little brother.”

Slightly shocked, Kali asked another question when he finished speaking.

“You said something about a spell?”

“The spell I was talking about is a spell which only a few certain Gods are able to use.”

He explained shortly.

“Even amongst us Gods, almost none of us would be able to create such a spell. The spell itself would only activate if someone’s aiming for the host’s life. Even Gods of the higher echelon would be injured and the weaker Gods would die without knowing what happened.”

He answered briefly, he paused for a second before continuing again while slightly narrowing his eyes

“Kuugo’s body and strength might have been of a mortal, but his intelligence was far beyond mortals and could even rival the strongest of the Gods.”

Kali’s expression didn’t change at all, but she was shocked within.

“What’s your end-goal besides teaming up with Shin?”

She stared at the white-haired man and asked with a slightly cold voice.

“Haha…”

He laughed weakly as he slowly raised his head to the skies and his eyes shone in a white light.

“Let me ask you this then.”

He lowered his head and fiercely gazed at Kali and Aria.

“How do you think the Seer Keria back then saw the vision?”

“Why did the Thirteen Rulers back then thought about harming the ‘Child of God’?”

“Hehe...”

His laughter sent shivers to everyone’s marrows.

“I finally understood everything after seeing the destroyed soul-mark of Kuugo.”

“The Gods were the reasons my little brother died, do you actually believe that I will let a single one of them escape with their lives?”

Revenge…?

Everyone had the same thought.

In the endless darkness

Shin knew that he was unconscious, but he strangely felt a pressure within himself boiling up.

As he was in deep thought, he appeared mid in a scene of thirteen people.

Shin was able to recognise twelve of them, but not the last one with white hair. Before Shin could think more of it, he could hear them talk.

“What did you speak about, something about the truth?”

The woman clad in dark clothes; Muir, asked the silver-robed man; Kuugo.

Kuugo nodded slightly and explained further.

“Deducting from every fact from what I have gathered and from the source of the Seer Keria, I’m now able to confirm it!”

“Stop beating around the bushes and tell us what’s going on!”

The large being wearing brown clothes; Bayoun asked with a slightly forced voice.

“My facts are nothing in comparison to ‘see’ what’s truly going on.”

Kuugo shook his head and said in a soft voice.

“Let’s go underground.”

Without a delay, the scene changed and everyone was in dark room with only a mirror in the centre.

“Give me some time and watch the truth yourself!”

Kuugo placed his hand on the mirror and closed his eyes. A silver light passed his body shone in the mirror and displayed moving images.

Everyone kept their eyes glued to the mirror, even Kuugo as he hadn’t seen it before.

Shin in the background was also keeping his eyes on the mirror.

The mirror showcased time fast-forwarding, the birth and ruin of empires. Finally, within a castle, a mother birthed her child. The moment the child was born, a ruthless aura shook the whole continent and made everyone aware of the child.

Not seconds passed before thirteen people stood above the castle before levelling the castle to nothingness.

Standing in front of the mother and baby was a male coldly gazing the thirteen flying people.

He didn’t speak a single word, he also sensed the aura which came out of his child. But, he would, of course, protect his own family, even if it meant dying!

The dark clothed person in front sent a shiver of her aura and crushed the male. Not even waiting for another second, the mother of the child was also crushed.

Being left all alone, the baby cried with a loud voice, but no one cared.

“Take the child!”

The dark clothed person; Muir ordered without batting an eye.

Kuugo went forward and picked up the child without showing any emotions.

The scene changed again…

In a dark room which smelled like blood and filth, sat a young child. The young baby which was taken had grown and filled his 10th birthday.

His body wasn’t covered and his body was filled with endless scars.

Not long after, a door opened and a couple of people went inside the room.

“The Gods are supporting us to lead down those Mystical beings down to earth to save you so we can kill them.”

Muir said in a joyful tone, but her smile vanished as she noticed that the child wasn’t paying any attention to her.

She covered the child with a dark aura, not even a second passed before the aura vanished.

The child was only left with a bloodied body, but not a voice escaped his mouth.

He only raised his head towards Muir and glanced at her with a dazed expression, wondering why they would want to hurt him like this.

Not even getting a chance to rest, his body was covered in several different auras; black, red, white, silver and brown.

Their auras didn’t vanish for over ten minutes, when it finally was gone, the people could only see the child barely able to keep his eyes open. Both his legs and arms were severed and tons of new bloody scars were made.

“Fix him up.”

“Humph!”

Muir annoyingly left when she knew that the child wouldn’t even scream after bearing with such pain.

The lady clad in red; Mekina trembled slightly and enveloped his body in a red soothing flame. The child’s severed limbs slowly attached itself to his body and the pale colour on his face slowly regained some colour.

The ones which were in the room turned around and was about to leave when they heard a weak voice.

“Thank you…”

They all shivered and trembled fiercely when they heard the weak voice.

The child knew that they didn’t want to hurt him, after countless of times he could sense that the one doing the most damage to him was the woman clad in dark clothes. Not only that, he could sense that the rest were holding back with the best of their abilities to not injure him, for that, he was very grateful for.

After having escaped the room, they could only breathe in relief.

Mekina shivered and drops of tears dripped from her face.

“Why are we even hurting that child for?!”

She snarled in a low voice.

Kuugo answered lightly.

“Didn’t Muir tell us? Help the Gods defeat their enemies and let them help us evolve to become Gods.”

“But is this the way of becoming a God, torturing a child!?”

Mekina barked back at Kuugo as she stared at him aggressively.

Kuugo didn’t answer and only walked away without making a single sound.

The ones who glanced at Kuugo’s back could only see a lonely person. But, none of them cared because they knew that Kuugo was on Muir’s side.

Kuugo left and walked into his own room, his room had only a bed in it.

He didn’t sit on the bed or lay down, he just stood in the centre silently. Kuugo slowly turned around and said.

“You have now seen the truth, what will you do?”

As if knowing that the past him and the other ‘Rulers’ were watching, he asked in a deep voice.

“N, no…”

In front of the mirror, Mekina stuttered and her eyes widened.

Shin finally remembered that the previous vision he had could relate to this vision. He finally understood the whole situation.

Hehe, the Gods out there are arrogant, aren’t they?

Shin’s previous expression of innocence vanished into thin air and a creepy smile appeared on his face.

Seems like I have to face them sooner than later and I promise that I will destroy every one of them…!

Shin shook his head and thought further.

There were two things which didn’t make sense.

One; who was the male in silver, Kuugo was it? How was he able to predict the future?

Two; Who are the Mystical beings which the Gods wanted to descend for my sake?

“Hehehe…”

A laughter suddenly appeared, Shin raised his head and laughed without any care.

His eyes slowly turned ice-cold and his laughter could most likely send shivers to Gods.

“Even if the Gods themselves or the Mystical beings tries anything, I promise that they wouldn’t be able to do anything, I will murder them all…!”

After Shin finished speaking, his laughter filled the surrounding once again.