“What?!” Venezuela and Erza together exclaimed in shock.

“He’s… stronger?!” Venezuela asked incredulously.

“Are you sure, Lucky?” Erza asked doubtfully.

Their husband nodded and replied, “Yes. I’m sure of it. I felt it in that initial moment he tried to attack me. He’s gotten way stronger than the last time we fought.”

“Um,” began Lina nervously, “is that a good or bad?”

He glanced at her and smiled before replying, “It’s good that he’s gotten stronger. It just means our battle wouldn’t be boring. But… it also means it won’t be an easy fight.” Then he added wryly, “I guess I got a tough battle on my hands.”

“Pardon?” Lina asked, blinking in confusion at his last words. “A tough battle? Does that mean—?”

“It doesn’t matter right now though!” He suddenly exclaimed much to their surprise. Lakshman indicated towards their home and said, “You’re our guest, and I’ve kept you out here standing long enough! Let’s go in and meet my family.”

“Ah. Yes. Of course,” the young girl replied, smiling and seemingly forgetting the topic they were previously on.

As she and the Phoenix Titan walked towards the home, Venezuela and Erza followed them with worried looks on their faces. They did not get distracted like Lina and took their husband’s words seriously about the battle going to be tough on him. This made them begin to worry that their husband might lose like the last time that these ancient rivals fought against each other in the Dragon World.

Upon reaching home, they were greeted by the rest of them as they welcomed Lina into the house. Silvera was stunned upon seeing Lina and launched forward to hug the girl while crying.

“Spectra! You’re here! I thought I’d never see you again!”

“Huh?!” Lina exclaimed, thoroughly taken aback at being hugged and cried upon by one of the wives of the Phoenix Titan. “Wait. Madam! Please! I… I’m Lina Pricemark. I’m not this… Spectra person. Please stop crying.”

“No way! You are Spectra! My best friend before I met Lucky!” Silvera said and looked up at her pleadingly as if those words could reignite her memories. “Don’t you remember? We fought together, and you helped me be together with Lucky? Don’t you remember?”

“Uh…” Lina began hesitantly and glanced towards Lakshman while saying, “I’m sorry to say this but… you’ve probably mistaken me for someone else, madam.”

“What?” Silvera asked, looking shocked. “No! I couldn’t have! I mean…!”

She hesitated as something about this did not feel right and she turned to her husband, who suddenly said, “Hey now! This isn’t the right way to treat our guest! She’s my protégé, so welcome her in properly already!”

“Yes, yes,” said Tetra, who like the others, got the message and smiled at her. “Come in, young miss.”

“It must’ve been very tiring to tag along with our husband, right?” Ondine asked with a smile.

“The work must’ve been really stressful, I’m sure,” said Sonia with a chuckle.

“Ah. No. It’s not that stressful or tiring,” replied Lina as they led her into the house, leaving Lakshman and Silvera standing at the entrance.

“Lucky!” Silvera exclaimed as she followed him out onto the porch. “What’s the meaning of this? What happened to Spectra?”

He sighed and turned to her before saying, “Sil, she’s not the Spectra we knew.”

“Huh? How can that be? She’s obviously Spectra! Even her energy signature is the same! I can tell!” His wife replied firmly, who had also sensed the familiar energy signature of her past user and best friend.

Her husband nodded in agreement and said, “That is true, but… what makes you think she’d be the same after rebirth?”

This made Silvera blink with surprise before she exclaimed, “What?! Are you saying she’s… reincarnated?!”

“Exactly,” he replied with a nod. “I had no idea this happened until I saw her by sheer coincidence when I was with my sisters. That’s when I knew instantly that she was Spectra but different because of being reincarnated.”

“I… see…” said Silvera slowly, looking saddened by this piece of information. “This means… she doesn’t remember any of her past, like meeting me, our journey together and… our parting.”

He saw his wife’s eyes filled with tears at the sadness that engulfed her at the thought of meeting an old friend who no longer remembered them. Feeling sympathy, he moved forward and gave her a warm hug that allowed her to weep into his chest silently. Lakshman felt sadness that one of his old friends did not remember him, but it was especially painful for Silvera because she was saved and freed from the Calamity Titan’s control by Spectra, who then transferred her control over to Lakshman before leaving that world.

After several seconds, they heard their names being called, and they broke away while Silvera wiped her tears away and tried to compose herself. Then they entered the house and joined everyone as they continuously riddled Lina with questions ranging from what was her favourite food to what she thought about working with her king.

An hour later, Sumar and the twins, Indira and Priya, returned home and were pleasantly surprised to see their friend there. So, they dropped their things in their rooms and hurried back down to join in on the conversation. By that time, Emilia and Ondine began cooking their dinner and brought out some snacks for everyone to have in the meantime.

“Wow!” Lina exclaimed when she took a bite out of the cookie. “This tastes so great!”

“I’m glad you like it,” said Lakshman with a smile.

“Emilia’s the master chef of our family!” Cantia said cheerfully. “She’s like the goddess of cooking around here.”

“Ondine too,” added Tetra with a smile.

“Yeah, but she mostly cleans dishes though,” replied Cantia with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Hey! That’s no way to speak positively about someone in front of a guest!” Tetra scolded her sternly.

“I’m just being honest here,” replied Cantia, looking at her as if she was strange to treat it as such.

Lakshman quietly listened and watched the spectacle happening before him with a soft expression on his face. Before he encountered Emilia, coincidentally met Erza, stumbled into Venezuela, saved Silvera, engaged feelings for Sumara, and met Sonia, the only girls that hung out with him who were actively trying to gain his affection were Tetra, Ondine, and Cantia.

He remembered his first encounter with Cantia in her cat form, whom he used healing magic for the first time to heal. Later, he encountered Ondine in the forest where the young Water Spirits often hung out and played and ended up making her his Spirit Slave. Tetra had been with him all that time in her sword form, but only chose to reveal herself to him when he was struggling against his second encounter with a Two-Headed Cerberus.

In one form or another, these three had always kept him company and always tried to get his affection in one way or another. Ondine and Tetra often fought with each other verbally to reign over the other while Cantia tried to win his heart through her cat form. It was a chaotic time, but now that things settled down and everyone was getting along well, Lakshman finally appreciated how things have developed and was glad to have everything as it was.

“I’m glad to have everyone with me like this,” he said softly with a loving smile.

Everyone turned to look at him, stunned by his sudden words as they were not expecting him to say them.

“What’s wrong, Lucky? You said that so suddenly?” Asked Sonia, looking curious.

“Oh. It’s just that… I reflected on the past,” he told them, and they all eyed him curiously, which indicated that he should go on explaining it. “Well, it was mainly the past when it was just Ondine, Tetra, and Cantia when I was still a kid and didn’t realise their feelings for me until later on.”

“Oh,” said Sonia, looking surprised.

“It’s alright, Lucky. You were only a kid back then,” said Tetra soothingly with a smile. “Not all kids would understand love or the like at that age.”

“Yeah,” agreed Cantia with an embarrassed smile. “We were a little forceful to want your affection back then and didn’t take into consideration your age.”

“What was it like to you seeing them behaving that way back then?” Lina asked curiously, her eyes suddenly shining as if she wanted to know the depths of their romance from when he was still a kid.

“Well,” he began as he thought back to how he felt about it and said, “I guess I thought they had disagreements and continued to fight each other verbally. I always thought it was strange of them to behave like that. Almost childish actually.”

“C-Childish?!” Cantia and Tetra exclaimed, and they heard something drop from inside the kitchen where Emilia and Ondine were cooking.

They heard Emilia quickly assess the damage while Ondine quickly apologised for dropping the pan. Sonia burst into a hilarious laughter while Sumara and Silvera smirked while controlling her laughter. Only Venezuela and Erza looked amazed by his words while his sisters, Indira and Priya looked flabbergasted.

“Y-Y-You thought… we were… childish…?” Tetra asked, looking aghast.

“Well…” he began hesitantly and smiled sheepishly as he continued saying, “you were always arguing over the same thing over and over again, but in different ways. It was like who gets to hold my hand, who gets to hug me, who gets to sleep next to me, who gets to practice with me first, and like that.”

“Ah yeah. That did happen a lot, didn’t it?” Sumara lamented with a slight grin.

“You knew?” Lakshman asked his once teacher and now wife, who smiled and nodded. He was taken aback by this and asked, “You should’ve said something if you knew!”

“Sorry, Lucky, but I found their antics rather funny,” admitted Sumara much to everyone’s surprise. “It was so obvious to me, but you were completely clueless to their attempts that I just couldn’t bring myself to explaining it to you. Besides, I was hoping you’d take notice of their feelings on your own since I can’t spoon feed you everything.”

“What an excuse!” Cantia flared up at her with fire in her eyes. “You were obviously enjoying it!”

“I was,” agreed Sumara with a grin. “It was amusing and kept things lively.”

“Why you…!” Cantia lamented, her fists shaking from irritation while Sumara smiled in embarrassment.

Lakshman looked at them and said, “Well, I am glad I was able to figure things out, and we are here together. I’m really glad.”

There was a moment of silence as they watched him before Tetra asked, “Why are you saying this now, Lucky?”

“Do I need to schedule a time and say it when I’m glad to be with my family?” He asked her and laughed at his own joke.

The others began to laugh at the joke as well before Cantia proclaimed her love for him.

“Is that so? In that case, I’m glad you’re here with us!” Cantia said firmly. Then she asked the others, “Isn’t that right?”

“No doubt about it!” Sumara agreed with a sweet smile.

“Definitely!” Tetra agreed with a wonderful smile.

“Most definitely, yes!” Sonia agreed as she smiled proudly.

“I couldn’t agree more,” agreed Venezuela with a serene smile.

“I concur that a thousand times!” Erza exclaimed with a grin.

A moment later, his sisters moved closer to give him a warm hug.

“I’m glad you’re with us, annayya,” they said together and hugged him warmly.

“Me, too. Me, too,” he replied and patted them on the side where his hands could reach while everyone watched this wonderful scene with warm smiles.

A while later, they gave Lina the tour of the house and brought her to the room their babies were sleeping. She was amazed by how cute they were and simply watched them as she did not feel confident in holding them properly. By the time they came downstairs, it had gotten late and she wanted to leave for home, but they invited her to stay for dinner.

“No. Really. My father would worry if I didn’t return home soon,” she told them.

“It’s fine. I’ll drop you off personally and let him know right now,” said Lakshman and called for a Phintex Raja, who appeared out of thin air and gave him the mission to inform her father about Lina having dinner with the Phoenix Titan. Once he left, he turned back to her and said, “See? It’s that simple.”

She could only smile and say, “Thank you.”

That evening during dinner, Lagron and Amaranda arrived as usual to have dinner with them. For a moment, it was tense between the Dragon Titan and the Phoenix Titan as they stared at each other at the entrance without saying anything else. Then Amaranda nudged Lagron and shook her head, which made him sigh while his shoulders slumped.

“So? Did it hurt?” Lakshman asked his rival with a smile.

Lagron raised an eyebrow and asked back, “Oh really? You think that little throw would hurt me?”

His words made Lakshman blink twice before saying, “I wasn’t asking about you; I was asking about the Spirit Turtle since you obviously crashed into him.”

“Huh?!” Lagron exclaimed as he was taken aback. “Hey! Be a little more concerned, damn you! It wasn’t an easy throw you know!”

“I know that, but knowing your arrogance, I knew you wouldn’t admit if I didn’t push you to reveal it,” replied Lakshman, causing his rival to click his tongue with irritation. “So, you think you will be able to fight tomorrow?”

The Dragon Titan instantly narrowed his eyes and asked, “Huh? Is that a question? Huh?!”

“Just to be sure.”

“Just to be sure? You’ve got to be kidding me! I know I’m sure to crush you and reign supreme tomorrow! That’s for sure!” Lagron stated firmly with a determined grin on his face.

“Good. I was beginning to worry that a slight injury from earlier might make you unable to fight me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?! I’ve never backed down from a challenge, fool!”

“How about that one time you couldn’t fight me after issuing me a challenge at the Valley of Rust?”

“Oh,” said Lagron, suddenly remembering and becoming troubled. “That was… well… I broke my arm during my battle with my brother. How was I supposed to fight you then?”

“You could’ve healed that arm of yours,” suggested his rival.

“Like hell I would allow myself to be healed!” Lagron exclaimed loudly. “It is shameful for a warrior to get healed just so he could fight! A mighty warrior would not need to heal himself unless absolutely necessary otherwise they should fight their hardest and perish like a true warrior!”

There was a moment of pause before Lakshman said, “You’re an idiot.”

“And you’re the fool for becoming soft!” Lagron complained. “Where was the warrior that fought tooth and nail to the bitter end towards the goal that he set himself up with?!”

“Those days are long gone, Lagron and I’m not Asura; I am Lakshman,” replied the Phoenix Titan in a firm voice.

Lagron clicked his tongue again and said, “Those days are indeed gone, but that doesn’t mean we can get complacent. Just look at the trash of our current society? We were better back then.”

“Times have changed, and the people won’t remain the same. Everyone will move on and adapt to new lives for a better life.”

“Perhaps, but one thing hasn’t changed; my desire to defeat you!” Lagron said, and pointed at him. “Mark my words! I will defeat you tomorrow and reclaim my pride!”

There was a moment of silence before Lakshman smiled and said, “Good luck.”

Just then, they were called in for dinner and they dropped their topic and headed in. As they ate, the women were chatting nonstop while having fun together with a new addition that was Lina. Even Amaranda spoke a few times as she was curious about the young girl that joined them that night.

After dinner, Lagron and Amaranda left while Lakshman took Lina by flight and arrived a few minutes later at her home. He gently landed on the balcony of her room and let her down on her feet, where she turned around and thanked him for the wonderful dinner and time she got to spend with his family.

“Um…?” She began, and he turned around before leaving to hear her request. “May I join in witnessing your battle with the Dragon Titan tomorrow?”

“Sure, if you’re interested,” he told her, and her smile widened, and she nodded her head eagerly. “In that case, I’ll have a Phintex Raja pick you up in the morning before the battle starts. Is that fine?”

“Yes! I’ll be ready!” She told him as she was fuelled by excitement.

“That’s fine,” he said with a smile, “and also, make sure to sleep properly this time. Don’t stay awake all night thinking about the match too much otherwise you’ll be very tired like the time we had the meeting with the other kings.”

She suddenly froze with a stricken expression on her face because this was totally unexpected. Lina had not expected to be discovered about her lack of sleep at that time or the fact that her king was advising her to sleep properly. This made her become very embarrassed about being discovered and quickly turned away to hide her shame.

Lakshman understood her reaction and smiled as he said, “Alright. See you tomorrow.”

“B-Bye,” she told him, and he flew into the air before flying back to his home.

No sooner that he left, she crouched down with a squeal of, “Oh, you, big dummy! How could you embarrass yourself like that?!”

She was very embarrassed and it took her a few minutes to recover and pick herself off the ground and move into her room.

The next morning, Lakshman and his family were joined at their home by Lagron, Amaranda, Valerian, Dominic, Shalany and their children along with Nara and the Phoenix Emperor, Zen Phylon, and his wife, Sasha. They were later joined by Marilia, Wolfenstine and, finally, Lina. All of them were there to witness the battle between the ancient rivals; the Phoenix Titan and the Dragon Titan.

“The day has finally come! The day of your defeat!” Lagron said with a grin.

“We’ll see about that,” replied Lakshman with a smile.

“You think you can win?” Stuart asked curiously.

“Like I said, we’ll see,” replied his childhood friend quietly.

“There’s no need for nervousness,” his past self, Asura, assured. “I’ve never lost against him before, and neither will you.”

“Well, technically I’ve lost to him before but I wasn’t at full strength at that time,” said Lakshman in his mind, referring to the time he went to recruit the Dragon Titan to join his efforts against the Calamity Titan.

“That doesn’t count, and Lagron said so himself,” reminded Asura.

“Yes, but our battle now isn’t like any of the battles we had in the past,” stated Lakshman. “I just got this feeling but… maybe he has a chance this time.”

“Yes. He certainly does have a chance when you’re being so positive about your defeat,” said Asura coldly, which made Lakshman smile wryly.

They sat around the hall talking to one another for a few minutes before Lagron rose to his feet and said, “Let’s go. Your defeat is waiting.”

“Sure. Sure,” said Lakshman easily and rose to his feet.

He and Lagron led the way out first before they were followed behind by the rest. Mariana and Shalany would be staying behind to look after their children while the rest came to watch the battle between the Phoenix Titan and the Dragon Titan.

Upon arriving a few meters away from the house, Lakshman aimed his hand at the front and activated his powers. In an instant, a small white space formed like a portal in front of him. It grew to a door like rectangular shape that allowed one person to enter at a time.

Everyone walked through it and arrived at a massive built up arena with seats everywhere. Lakshman explained to everyone that this was once a training area in this dimension space of his before he changed it today for this battle. So, he indicated for everyone to take their seats while he and Lagron headed down to land inside the arena.

“Honestly, I wish I could project our battle to the world to demonstrate my might!” Lagron lamented.

“The people are already scared of us as is, so don’t go suggesting ideas that’ll make them pretty much fear the Nine Pillars of Power outright,” replied Lakshman curtly.

Lagron shrugged his shoulders and said, “You’ve gotten so soft! Did you hit your head when you were a baby?”

Lakshman chuckled and said, “Idiot. My upbringing in this lifetime is that much better compared to back then. My parents were assassinated, and I only had my brother to protect in a world of clans out for each others’ throats. Things are not the same now as we’re heading towards peace and harmony.”

“Peace and harmony,” said Lagron and snorted. “I wonder how long your efforts from back then lasted? Two generations? Maybe three? At most four?”

“What matters is that our efforts made an impact on the people, and though conflict continued to take place, the Phoenix Clan continued to remain a supreme force around the world and kept the people from destroying one another while the Dragon Clan went into hiding,” replied Lakshman with a serious face.

This made Lagron lose his smile as he said, “I agree. The Dragon Clan has lost the grit they once had. I’m sick of them.”

This startled his rival, who asked, “Lagron, how can you say that about your clan?”

“Because I speak the truth!” The Dragon Titan replied furiously. “The clan I fought for, the clan that I protected, and the clan I shed blood for… that Dragon Clan is no more and all that’s left is a shell of its former glory. A weak clan that hid itself to save itself the shame of facing off against its rivals; the Phoenix Clan!”

“And the reason that they became like this? Isn’t it because you always sought strength and power over everything else?” Lakshman asked, to which Lagron did not respond. “I always saw you pushing your clansmen to reach greater heights in the name of progression by utilising the urge to acquire more and more strength and power. But in doing so, you sapped them of whatever else they needed to retain that drive and that madness finally blew up and that resulted in them having to hide so as to not reveal how weakened they are compared to in the past.”

“Enough!” Lagron said sharply, but Lakshman did not stop and continued speaking.

“Whereas, I focused on my clan to stay strong, determined, and continue towards the future with hope for a better life not just for ourselves, but for the next generation, and their next generation and the ones thereafter. It’s not about today; it’s about tomorrow! Why does it matter what will happen to us when all that we sacrifice today is so our children, our grandchildren and their children will not have to suffer like us! That’s why the Phoenix is regarded as the fiery force of freedom and justice! Unlike your Dragon Clan that sought only strength and power.”

“That’s enough!” Lagron bellowed, so loudly that everyone stopped chatting and looked down at them in surprise. He looked towards his rival with a fearsome expression on his face and said, “You’ve made your point, but I don’t care. I’m not digging up the past; I’m only pointing out your weakness! Don’t go rubbing your comparison between your clan and my clan!”

“Oh?” Lakshman asked, looking surprised. “Would you look at that? You actually still care about your clan.”

“I… I don’t care about them!” Lagron insisted fiercely, but Lakshman simply smiled.

“If only words could express how we truly felt on the inside,” he said, which made Lagron become very annoyed.

“Stop it, you fool! This isn’t about our clans! This battle is between you and me! It’s about time we settle this, once and for all, who truly is the strongest warrior in the world!” Lagron exclaimed in a sharp voice.

“Yes. It’s about time,” agreed Lakshman with a nod of his head.

They kicked off the ground and landed on opposite ends of the arena before facing each other again. Then Lakshman looked up at the spectators and requested Tetra to do the countdown for them.

“Alright!” She called back, and he nodded in agreement.

“Heh!” Lagron exclaimed, and he began to surge with incredible power while radiating red aura that surrounded him.

Lakshman did not say anything as he too began to surge with an equal measure of power while a radiating golden-red aura that surrounded him.

The two warriors stared at each other while the wind blew wildly around them and shockwaves were sent in all directions. The hair and clothes of the spectators were buffeted by the strong wind while the shockwaves were blocked by the barrier that was erected around the arena by Amaranda, the Magic Titan.

“May the best warrior win!” Tetra wished them.

“That would be me!” Lagron gloated proudly.

“Heh!” Lakshman snorted with a small grin.

She raised her hand into the and announced, “Ready…!”

This marked the signal for them to prepare themselves, which they did by taking their fighting stances. Both had great seriousness and focus on their faces as the only one they had in their sight was their opponent.

Tetra looked at her husband for a few seconds and then turned to look at Lagron for a few seconds before bringing her arm down and announcing, “Begin!”

As the announcement signal was heard, both warriors kicked off the ground and flew towards each other to begin the battle of the ancient rivals that was long overdue.