Chapter 447 Lines Drawn
447 Lines Drawn
Erica's divinity over phoenixes made it so that there was not a single one of them who could refuse her.
And since Caelum was half phoenix by birth, this also included him.
Before he knew what he was doing, he was lumbering downstairs against his own volition, coming to stand pathetically in front of his flaming hot mother.
"What the hell is this nonsense I'm hearing..? You would dare to run around and drag my name through the mud with no concern for what it would do to my reputation?! To leverage it against this young girl?!"
In the face of a rampaging Erica, most men, immortal or otherwise, would immediately become subservient and unable to properly think straight.
Caelum was among those men.
It didn't matter if she was his mother or not, the sight of a fully red faced Erica was so terrifying that he thought she would actually kill him.
Although Abaddon would have thought she was cute in that moment.
"W-Well I just-"
"You just what?! Told this young girl some lie about you besting your brother-in-law so that you could subsist on some notoriety to which you have no claim?! Like a PARASITE!?"
'I should have known that there was no way that this chicken boy could have bested Prince Apophis!' Monica thought angrily. 'He probably did not teach Prince Belloc how to sword fight either!'
Had she never have gotten separated from her friends at the bar last night, she likely never would have fallen into this scheme of his.
"You couldn't even get accepted into the Gold Legion, yet you act as if you have some sort of sway over mine?! Are you mental??"
"I-I just grew bored of-"
"You would dare to lie in my face!? As if your examiners would not tell me that you were kicked out of your unit?!"
Transcendent Dragons and Spirits alike can all use every weapon that they pick up flawlessly via Seras' blessing of war.
However, just that alone is not a guaranteed pass to get into the army.
How much talent do you have?
How far will you take Seras' blessing?
How will you expand upon what was given to you?
And most importantly, how determined are you to be the best when everyone around you has exactly the same skillset as you?
Without a suitable answer to those questions, even Darrius will not take you into his forces, and he is more laid back than even Belphegor.
Caelum not only half-assed his own training, he did no extra work to improve, boasted about how he would assuredly rise quickly through the ranks due to his family connections, and tried to fuck everything that walked in front of him twice.
As a result, he was cut by an officer under Darrius' command during bootcamp, and became a laughingstock of the Gold Legion Cadets.
The phrase, 'Don' t be a Caelum' is now a popular motivator to help get new recruits through basic.
Erica's face finally reverted to a few shades back to normal as she let out a massive sigh of disappointment.
Turning to Monica, she took both of her hands in her own and lowered her head apologetically.
"Monica, right? You have my apologies for my idiot son's behavior."
"N-No worries, ma'am. Since I have gotten to meet you, it is all worth it."
"My, what a sweet girl..." Erica smiled softly at the young girl and it was clear that her mood was improving if only a little bit.
"I'll tell you what... give me your contact information. If you are still interested, I will happily train you in my free time."
Monica's eyes became glowing balls of sparkling orange radiance. "Y-Y-Y-Y-Y-You mean it???"
"I warn you that I can be a difficult task master sometimes, but if you are still interested then-"
"Y-Yes, of course I am!!"
Monica must have been excited, because the way that her fiery hair increased in volume all of a sudden could not have been explained through any other measure.
She hurriedly gave Erica her contact information, home address, and even her full name before flying out the front door excitedly, declaring that she had to tell her whole family about this day.
It took several minutes after Monica had left before Erica could even bring herself to look at her son again.
And when she did, she found him trembling like a whipped dog that was just waiting for another beating.
"Caelum.... what am I going to do with you?"
"...I have no excuse, mother."
Exhaustedly, Erica ran her hands through her hair that she was on the verge of tearing out.
"I... am going to marry Abaddon."
Visible confusion could be seen on Caelum's face as his brow twitched repeatedly.
"W-What...?"
"It's not a certain thing, but.. No, it is certain.And I wanted to know if you would be apart of it."
"H-How can you go and lie beside that barbaric man?! Have you forgotten how he threatened me and what his daughter did to my ar-"
"The greatest accomplishment in my life as a mother is that I have never struck you or your sisters even once as a form of discipline. But if you badmouth Abaddon or Thea again, I may not be able to hold firm my hand."
Caelum clenched his fists in a rare moment of defiance.
However, he still took a step back out of fear that his mother would indeed keep her word and hit him.
"What's so great about him... You all just get around him and turn your backs on me."
"Your fragmented relationship with your sisters is your own fault. If you were capable of thinking with more than your member, then you might not be as despised by them as you are.
And despite your childishness, I am still here trying to offer you a place into the life I am trying to build. But it all depends on your willingness to better yourself."
"...I do not want anything to do with him." Caelum said firmly.
"Then why did you accept his blood? You would take his power but not share his dinner table?"
"I took nothing! I was simply asleep in my bed at home and then I woke up here with everyone else!"
For some reason, Erica faltered at his words as if she was having a hard time processing it.
A mixture of confusion, realization, and mild disappointment showed up on her face.
Realizing there was nothing else left for her to say, Erica turned her back on her son and started heading towards the front door.
"I see then... since you have made your choice then I will not force you. I hope that you do not come to regret your decision."
Erica's hand lingered on the doorknob for longer than she would have cared to admit, and only those who knew her best would know that it was taking everything that she had not to cry.
"I will not tell you again... do not use my name for anything else."
She finally closed the door behind her with a quiet click and flew all of the way home in a state of true depression.
Her mind was so cloudy, she ended up flying right over her home three different times.
-
'She's really gotten stronger.'
Abaddon narrowly avoided a sword swipe to the face from his eldest daughter and nearly received an impromptu haircut in the process.
Forcing a separation, he tapped his foot on the ground a single time and a wall of ice thicker than a bank vault formed between the two of them.
He knew full well that she was far too smart to waste time trying to go through it, so he craned his neck above to see what her next action would be.
As he expected, she came flipping over the boundary gracefully with an entirely new weapon in her hands.
Shields weren't something that he often saw his daughter using, but he realized that it must ave been in anticipation of what would surely be his next move.
Abaddon opened his mouth as wide as he possibly could and a current of ominous black and red lightning spilled out from his throat.
Already expecting this outcome, Thea smiled like a madwoman as she raised her shield to defend herself at the last moment.
As she thought, her father's attack was quite forceful, so much so that it made her entire arm tremble like it was going to fall off.
However, she could feel the difference.
If this were before she broke her sixth seal, her father's attack just now would have broken every bone on the right side of her body.
Her growth excited her, and because of that she felt like she was drawing ever closer to her parents' level.
"Now, boys!"
""Got it!""
Suddenly, Belloc and Apophis leapt into the air alongside Thea.
With her taking the brunt of their father's offensive at the moment, both of her younger brothers were free to advance offensively and bring home a win for the whole team.
However, Abaddon was not limited by the ability to only attack a single place at once. (As his wives would tell you.)
The space above his head began to distort ominously like one was looking in a mirror.
Since his children were already in free fall, there was not enough time to avoid what was next to come.
Or was there?
""Be careful!""
Just before the three children could fall into his trap, a wave of water pulled them away to safety at the last moment.
Once they were safe, the same wall of water returned once again, only now it was slowly freezing into numerous blades of ice.
However, a single swipe of Abaddon's tail was enough to reduce the entire wall into snowflakes.
'Every time that I think I've reached the limit on how proud I can get of them, they always manage to show me that I have no limits at all.'
With a smile, Abaddon dispelled the wall of ice protecting him from his children's onslaught and smiled at the scene in front of him.
Thea, Mira, Apophis, Belloc, Yamaya and Yamaja were all giving him determined faces, and brandishing their weapons with an unmistakeable intensity.
"You guys are doing great. Your coordination is so well though out that-"
Mira : "Daddy can not complement us right now, we're enemies!"
Yamaya : "Indeed!"
Apophis : "Don't patronize us!"
Belloc: "Don't give us anymore tips in the middle either!"
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry."
Abaddon knew that he should have been taking this a bit more seriously, but he just couldn't help but find it to be slightly difficult.
But since his children were giving this their best effort, he would have felt like he was mocking them if he continued not to do the same.
'I think I'll show them something special... just this once.'
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