Sometime later;
King Lucas silently stared at his daughter for more than a couple of minutes before he opened his mouth, "I don't know how to react, my sweetheart. Whether he is stronger than you or not, whether he becomes a demigod or not, he is just a kid. And how old are you? 43… How could my daughter of all the people have such thoughts? Tell me that you are just kidding."
"Relax dad, I'm not some pedophile…" Leah became more casual with her father since she was alone with him. She further explained, "He might be 14 now. But, what after, let's say 20 years or even 30 years? He will be 44 and I will be 70. Both of us would probably be in the supreme realm by then. The age factor would no longer matter.
Look at you and mom. She is 324 years older than you. Even Azrael's mother is far older than his dad. If you want to secure the future of Camelot, you should also think about the future circumstances, dad, not the present."
"Well, if you say it that way, I cannot argue." King Lucas let out a deep sigh and then patted her shoulder, "since you have the clarity, I won't say anything else. Just remember that the future of Camelot should always be given priority over anything else."
"I know, dad. Don't worry about it. Even if this fails, I can still find a worthy candidate. The world isn't lacking geniuses. Worst comes to worst, I will just request the adult Azrael to donate his sperm and go for artificial insemination to deliver the baby. I don't need to marry a man to secure the future of our kingdom."
King Lucas couldn't but inwardly sigh as he heard his daughter's reply. He knew that he was wrong for trying to constantly push his daughter to think about the kingdom instead of telling her to find her happiness. He never told her that, not even once.
***
Red Pavilion, Death clan village;
In the arena located in the red pavilion, two figures were in the middle of an intense battle. Well, more than a battle, it can be said that it is just a one-sided fight where Velez was completely destroying every attack launched by Albin Ash, the newly appointed pavilion master.
"Soul skill: Sand puppet army"
Albin Ash unleashed his most powerful skill at Velez who had a Death knight as his guard to shield him from everything.
10ft-sized humanoid puppets of more than thirty in number with five of them in rank-7 made their appearance before their master.
Looking down at Velez from the back of a dragon formed by sand, Albin spoke, "Here I go, bro. Just don't die, okay?"
Velez was unafraid. He snorted in response, "Hmpf, you wish…"
"Attack!"
As Albin motioned his arm, the sand puppets started rushing toward their two targets like bulls.
Looking at them, Velez mumbled, "well, let's see whose army is stronger, my dear Albin."
"Soul skill: Rise of the undead"
He unleashed a soul skill of the Death knight, which is strikingly identical to that of Azzy's. Both of them work the same. They will summon all the undead stored in their mindscape.
Perhaps, the only notable difference between them is the fact that Velez had greater command over his soul skill. He could even create several other techniques with those soul skills.
But here, he doesn't need to depend on such tricks. After all, he had more rank-7 undead puppets in his army and they were far stronger than those rank-7 sand puppets.
As Velez's undead army clashed with Albin's sand puppet army, the former decimated the latter.
Albin could only sigh in response and admitted defeat before coming down.
Once the both of them dismissed their Arcana, they started walking together with a can of chilled beer in their hands.
Taking a sip, Albin said, "You know you still had the chance to say "Yes" to my sister and we will become in-laws. Once she makes a breakthrough to rank-8, my great-grandmother will announce her as the new Matriarch of the Ash clan."
"And I too told you before Albin. I already had someone in my heart," replied Velez in a calm manner. After a brief pause, he turned his head to look at his friend and added a statement, "I believe I have told you this before. One time, one wife, and stay loyal to that relationship. That's it."
"Well, it doesn't hurt to try to ask." Albin shrugged his shoulders as if that rejection didn't affect him a little bit. Putting his hands over Velez's shoulder, he then asked, "So, I'm thinking… How about we hit the underground fight club in the evening?"
"Ugh… Those things are boring." Velez rejected the idea right away.
Albin then said, "Well, they have a new champion last week. It is rumored that he has a superior physique that makes them feel like he was made of steel."
"Now, that's interesting…" Velez's ears perked up and his eyes lit up in curiosity. "What is his name and soul power?"
Before Albin was about to give an answer, they heard a familiar yet irritating voice from above.
"It looks like our dear young master is interested to fight weaklings to satisfy his ego."
As they raised their heads, they found that it is Gredor Crescent (Kylan Crescent's son & Izora's cousin).
"What do you want?" Velez asked coldly. He didn't like this fellow. Despite being a rank-6 Arcana Master, Gredor had a great amount of influence within the clan. And because Gredor wants the throne for himself, he just didn't give any opportunity for Velez to form friendships with the other sub-clan leaders.
Looking down at both of them, Gredor Crescent spoke, "A piece of news for you. Vesyrn Garcia has returned but the matter isn't that simple. He appeared to be in rank-8, i.e. higher soul power than yours, and his wife appears to be pregnant. My father is throwing out a grand party in the evening. So, I guess you have to ditch that club of yours and visit our clan.
Before I go, I'll give you another interesting piece of news. My dear cousin is in the middle of her eighth month. Solving the mystery might help you in the upcoming fight. Good luck…"
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