Chương 1251: 1281 - Life Story

For the sake of time, Leon added only what details to his story that were strictly needed, skipping over much that he could've elaborated upon. For the most part, Serana listened quietly, not even interrupting when Leon told her of his interactions with the Thunderbird, save for a few bitter expressions. What that meant, Leon could only wonder about as she didn't say anything when he paused to let her speak, if she wanted to.

She continued listening as Leon told her of his discovery of Nestor's lab—with Justin being a strategic hole he left in the story, at least for the moment—but her demeanor grew noticeably more agitated when Leon said that he kept Nestor alive.

"Why?" she asked.

"He's useful," Leon said.

"He was rendered harmless and servile enough in the enchanted ruby. In the time since, he's more than made up for that little indiscretion."

"Trying to steal your body is not a 'little indiscretion', my son. That man should've been torn apart in all the ways that are possible for such a crippled man." Leon contemplated her words for a couple seconds, his mind turning them over and over again as he wondered how to explain it to her in a way that she might accept. He was worried there was already going to be a problem integrating his mother into the family that he'd built, and he didn't want her fighting with Nestor, too.

"I am the last of the Thunderbird Clan," he finally said, his tone silencing his mother more than the words themselves.

"The Thunderbird herself confirmed as much. Nestor… he's still alive in a sense, but he's still ultimately just a magic body stuffed into an enchanted gem. She doesn't count him in that way, as he possesses neither blood to carry her power nor soul realm for her to reside in. Still, he was alive in the last epoch of the Thunderbird Clan, and is a highly skilled enchanter whose specialty in golem crafting has brought significant wealth to my Kingdom, let alone everything else that he's taught me.

Since Father, I had no other living relatives. The Thunderbird could only do so much; having someone else around who knew my Clan was… I never could've resisted the opportunity." Silence settled over the mother and son like a heavy woolen blanket, Serana mulling Leon's words over for several seconds before her imperiously furious expression relaxed.

"I… can understand that much," she said.

"I'm afraid you've gotten a poor example of draconic unity so far, and for that, I apologize. I can't remember the last time I was in a forgiving mood, but I can still understand forgiving family." Multiple follow-up questions tantalized Leon, and he got so far as opening his mouth to ask one, but he thought better of it. He could ask about the rest of the Great Black Dragon Clan when he was done. After a moment's thought, he decided to continue the story.

However, he didn't get very far before he was interrupted again.

"… a Primal God?!" Serana almost screeched as she shot to her feet.

"Alive?! And he dared to infiltrate my son's mind?!"

"That nightmarish monster tried more than that," Leon continued.

"As I said, he backed up Jormun, giving him power beyond what a normal seventh-tier mage should be capable of. But with the Bull Kingdom's fleet with me, we fought over each of the islands—Jormun always managing to slip away in all the fighting—until we finally caught up with Jormun at the remnants of the final island in the chain. I flew ahead atop Anzu as the fleet secured the straits and waterways between the jagged rocks and fought Jormun in his base. There, he summoned an angel—""An angel?!"

Serana interrupted again.

"Is that so surprising?" Leon asked.

"With a Primal God lending him power, I thought it fit in retrospect."

"Angels were nearly wiped out following the war that ended the Primal Age," Serana stated.

"Unlike demons, they possessed feathers that, when planted in the earth, grew fruit trees that would, eventually, produce a wine finer than ambrosia." Leon cocked his head.

"Why isn't that more common then? Seems to me like that would've replaced ambrosia entirely if it's so much more effective."

"The trees aren't everlasting," Serana said.

"They also don't reproduce. The only way to get more after they die is to harvest more feathers from another angel. There are no more angels, however. Or were …"

"Still maybe 'are'. The demon I contracted with—Xaphan—fought the first one—"" First one?!"

"Yes. First one. Xaphan beat it, but when I fought Jormun… I suffered one of the worst defeats of my life. Luck and greed saved me, nothing more. The Primal God demanded my life and blood as a sacrifice for it to finally escape its prison. Jormun obliged. I was thrown into a pit where I was drawn deeper. Eventually, I reached the gravesite of what looked like thousands of Primal Gods arranged almost like a city, where every grave was an enormous pyramid.

Surrounding many of these pyramids were the remains of other angels, one of which was still walking around, apparently mindlessly patrolling the area around the largest pyramid, where Krith'is lay."

"And you killed it?" Serana asked expectantly.

"I avoided it," Leon clarified.

"I'd thought I was being clever, advancing toward a place of power I could use to escape. Instead, the angel was used to draw me further in, to the top of the tallest pyramid, where the Primal God assaulted my mind." Serana clenched the arms of her chair so tightly that Leon thought they might snap—a reasonable worry given her power. However, she retained enough control not to go that far, but Leon heard the wood in her grip creaking.

"In my mind, I was nearly helpless," Leon admitted.

"The Thunderbird attempted to help me, but I was still knocked unconscious. I'm told that it was only the intervention of the Great Black Dragon that saved me, as he reduced the Primal God to dust with the Eye of Calamity." Serana's demeanor shifted.

"He… acted?"

"He did," Leon confirmed.

"He later appeared to me in my soul realm. Or something. But that was after. I woke up after the Primal God was gone, and the angel patrolling around its pyramid was dead. Worse, the chamber was starting to flood, forcing me to find a way to escape as quickly as I could. After finding and using an ancient rune that teleported me away, I was left in a vast underground chamber shaped like a cylinder and covered in millions of runes.

This was the core of a transformation enchantment: an enchantment designed to stimulate the bloodline and allow a human to transform into the form of their Ancestor!" Golden eyes widened.

"That was real? I'd assumed what you did against Bennu was a trick…" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"No," Leon confirmed, "it was real. Though the one I found was designed with Jormun specifically in mind, and his bloodline was so diluted that awakening it by normal means was impossible. For me… I can't say by my own experience what happened as I blacked out almost immediately upon activating it—"" Why would you do that?!" Serana demanded with extreme worry.

"My darling boy, why?!"

"There was no other way out," Leon said.

"And with everything that had happened and not knowing what was going on with Jormun and with Naiad and Anzu and my friends being involved… I was in a hurry. I used the enchantment, and it apparently stimulated both of my bloodlines at the same time…" Serana's eyes grew so wide that Leon almost thought they were going to fall right out of their sockets, but she remained quiet, wordlessly urging him to keep going.

"I assumed the form of a dark bird," Leon narrated.

"Its power was so great that it temporarily catapulted me to the ninth-tier from the seventh. I settled into the eighth after returning to human form, but was left injured and couldn't advance for years after. Anyway, sprouting wings allowed an escape, and along with the others, I did battle with a transformed Jormun: he'd assumed the form of an enormous horned serpent, equally empowered as I was.

But we prevailed in the end, slaying the serpent and saving the whole damned plane—not that most of them are aware anything at all happened. I was still largely unconscious throughout it, and as I was waking…" Leon's breath hitched as he suddenly remembered with strange clarity the dream he had back then of him and Artorias back in the Forest of Black and White. He wanted to tell Serana about it, but his tongue rebelled, refusing to form the words.

So, after several moments, he moved on, keeping the dream as a private memory only for himself.

"As I woke, I found myself before the Great Black Dragon himself, his magic body in human form within my soul realm."

"He appeared?!" Serana gasped in shock, her surprise seemingly even greater than when Leon revealed that the Divine Beast had slain Krith'is.

"He did. He announced himself with such grandiosity that to this day it still leaves me speechless. He declared that his power and approval would never be mine, that I would never be part of his Clan, that I was nothing more than a bastard who had no claim upon his lineage or Clan…" Serana left her chair and pulled Leon up from his, taking him into her arms. Her embrace said more than any words ever could, but she still whispered into his ear, "You are my son.

You are part of my Clan, no matter what anyone says, even our distant, silent Ancestor. His attitude doesn't surprise me, but I wish it were different."

"He appeared later to me," Leon stated.

"It's jumping ahead a bit, but I… I encountered a Primal Devil as it tore free from its bindings. It attacked me, and… apparently, I repelled it. With the Great Black Dragon's power. With the Eye of Calamity." Serana separated from him, stunned. She was at a complete loss for what to say, so Leon continued.

"He wanted to acknowledge me. But he demanded that I give up all ties to the Thunderbird Clan and join his Clan instead. To give up my vassals and Kingdom, all to join the Great Black Dragon Clan. I told him to fuck off." Serana's shocked exterior cracked as her lips twitched upward.

"… My Clan has been… I wonder…" She sighed and released Leon, her expression fully dissolving into one more thoughtful than anything else.

"This is a lot to process, Leon…"

"Take your time," Leon replied.

"The Eye of Calamity…" Serana whispered.

"The most destructive power in the universe, greater even than Doomfire. It has never manifested in any of our Clan members before… Can you show it off in any way?"

"I don't have control over it," Leon admitted.

"I've used it twice that I know of: once against the Primal Devil, and once again—albeit briefly—when the Great Black Dragon finally deigned to acknowledge me. He pushed me into using it somehow, though I haven't been able to consciously reproduce it." With trembling hands and a shaky tone, Serana said, "If it was going to be anyone, I'm not surprised it was my son!" A wide smile spread across Leon's face in the radiant light of his mother's approval. However, it quickly faded as her expression shifted.

"That… is a matter that will require more discussion. For now… my Ancestor scorned my son for years. As did my father…" Raising an eyebrow, Leon asked, "Are you suggesting the two might be related?"

"It would make sense," answered Serana thoughtfully.

"When I was young… er … younger —when I was younger, he was warm and kind to all who bore our bloodline. Never would he have considered leaving you all alone, especially not in the Divine Graveyard! He barely allowed me to adventure there, and I had to rely on all of my charm for that! But after the war with Kamran and all the losses we took… no, before that, he was upset that I had married after leaving for my adventures. Mother was… more supportive, but still disapproved. I think…

I hope that something else may have caused my father to act as he did later, to prevent me from returning to find you."

"It's possible," Leon whispered.

"Both of my Ancestors have influenced me in the past, mentally and physically. Given he has more descendants, the Great Black Dragon retains more of his power than the Thunderbird. I… I wouldn't hope for it, but it's possible." Serana nodded slowly, but her expression shifted into surprised curiosity when Leon continued.

"There may be a way to ask him directly. I have in my possession—rather, back in my capital city, something I stumbled upon, a rare treasure found recently, allows me to use my power to bring a…

'physical' and 'solid' are too strong to use…

'tangible'? Tangible can work… I found a treasure that can summon Ancestors from soul realms, giving them a tangible body in the physical world. It's hard to sustain and it leaves them exhausted and needing a long time to rest, but if you're going to follow me back to Artorion, then we can use it to question our Ancestor together!" Despite what he'd revealed, it wasn't the Ancestor Gem that Serana immediately focused on.

"'Artorion'?" she breathed. She took his head in her hands again and brought his head down low enough for her to kiss his forehead.

"That's a wonderful name." Leon beamed in delight.

"This 'treasure' you speak of," Serana said as she released his head, "sounds almost too good to be true. I've never heard of magic like that before."

"Neither had I. It's not a Universe Fragment, but rather seems reliant on an ancient rune within it. Nestor and I are studying it, but making heads or tails out of it is not the easiest thing—" A pulse within Leon's soul realm silenced him, his reaction eliciting a worried, "Leon? What happened?" from Serana, who quickly went on guard. In a flash of light, Leon summoned his breastplate, though instead of donning it with his power, he let it rest on the arm of a nearby chair.

In a reinforced compartment lay Clear's tau pearl, safe behind a thick layer of Adamant. Enchantments woven into the armor allowed its healing properties to flow easily from the armor into his body, or even out of it if Leon allowed it. Its power followed Clear's general philosophy closely: it was designed to heal but would conjure a barrier of light if Leon willed it hard enough. This power was gentle and warm, embodying the healing power that Clear leaned into so heavily.

Now, however, the power coming from the pearl, even though it couldn't be seen within Leon's armor, was distraught, frantic, and wild. Leon's brow furrowed as his eyes scanned the armor. He immediately realized that there was nothing wrong there, and so he naturally leaped to the next conclusion: something was going on with Clear.

"Mother," he said, "I have to investigate this; one of my people is in danger. We'll pick this up when—""I'm going with you," Serana declared.

"Any enemy of my son is an enemy of me." Leon smiled warmly, grateful to hear those words. He allowed himself only a moment to revel in them, however, as he quickly left the room, Serana following closely behind. With Tempest Knights falling in behind him, he quickly located Anna in a nearby room chatting with some of the diplomats and secretaries that made up Clear's administrative staff.

It didn't seem like it was business-related; Anna had simply gotten to know some of them fairly well while helping Clear handle correspondence over the past few weeks. Leon didn't take the lack of urgency for a good sign, however, and when he burst in, the entire room went silent, and all eyes found their way to their King.

"Anna," Leon said without preamble, "where's Clear?" Anna glanced at the diplomat she'd been speaking with, whom Leon recognized as one of Clear's top subordinates. He'd convinced four Kingdoms to surrender to Leon all by himself, and ten more with the aid of mid-level subordinates during Leon's conquest of the Demetrion Cluster.

"The Chief Diplomat is only an hour and a half away from missing his second check-in," the diplomat admitted. Leon scowled.

"He's not going to make it. We need to find him! Now!"