Alm and Bruno’s eyes narrowed, and quickly, a cold aura permeated the entire place, penetrating towards the behemoth. He, in turn, as a pure divine beast, clearly felt the ominous weight of the will of that figure. His anger seemed to be a prelude to disaster.
’Don’t get so worked up,’ the behemoth spoke with a snort. ’I’m not lying, and your question was about who the enemy is. After I was sealed here, four Empyrean families were assigned to guard the seal. I am a sacred and immortal creature, and even with my powers sealed, I can influence many aspects. Therefore, they are crucial to keeping me imprisoned.’
Alm and Bruno spoke dryly. ’Who are they, and where are they?’
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’They are Empyrean families with different talents and races. The first are dwarves specialized in one aspect of the laws of the earth, metal; their surnames are Grimstone. Another are elves, specialized in using life energy, they are called Litharion. There is a peculiar divine beast specialized in using Yang, called Yangta. And finally, a clan of humans who use mental power, their surnames are Moonlight.’
Alm and Bruno froze...
Moonlight...
It was exactly the name of Ruri’s clan. In the past, her entire people were ruled by this clan in a city called Montide, and currently, Ruri was the sole survivor of the Moonlight clan. Their minds went blank for two seconds, then they reasoned and asked.
’You mentioned two? Who are the two you sensed?’
The behemoth thought for a moment, sensing the auras near the crystal, then answered. ’There’s no doubt, one of them has a dense mental power, it can only be from the Moonlight clan. And another has pure and bestial Yang power, it can only come from the Yangta beast.’
Alm and Bruno were puzzled... Yang... Loeus? Wasn’t he a pure human? Then they reflected, they also have the behemoth’s blood and are not pure humans. No one besides them can tell that they have a beastly bloodline; thus, Loeus should be the same. Their bloodline is so subtle and different that everyone just thinks it’s a technique or mastery of the law.
’But... yes! It’s very subtle; these two are just lateral descendants,’ the behemoth spoke after realizing it belatedly. ’These four families don’t live on the planet. Instead, they reside on the satellite that orbits it, so I can’t know much...’ he awkwardly tried to justify.
Alm and Bruno thought; on this planet, there is a very large moon similar to Earth’s. That’s why they didn’t care much before. Not that it made a difference; they couldn’t have known this.
’The entire satellite is a formation that can gather QI and laws from the divine world. This way, they are not so adversely affected, but as it is a formation, it’s not exactly identical to the divine world, staying in between,’ the behemoth continued explaining. ’They live in four separate spatial worlds on the satellite and keep a watch on the seal.’
’Every ten thousand years, some of them are sent to do maintenance on the seal. So, to pass the time, they amuse themselves and end up creating random descendants on the planet. After a long time, a population with blood from the four families on the planet was elevated. Then they decided to bring them all together and create a lateral branch of their families to keep things more organized.’
Alm and Bruno were intrigued; they had never heard of the other three families on the planet, and the Moonlights were nearly extinct; something seemed off. So, the behemoth continued matter-of-factly.
’The Empyreans are something only a level below a hero and exist only in this universe. They are as malicious as heroes should be, so they decided to use these lateral branches for their benefit.’
Alm and Bruno felt a premonitory discomfort; if Ruri and Loeus had families like this, that’s quite an unfortunate destiny...
’The families used a divine demonic technique to purify their karma, transferring all their karmic curses to their lateral branches. With this, they maintained a celestial blessing while causing trouble elsewhere. Thanks to that, their real descendants could go to the divine world and compete with everyone there equally,’ the behemoth continued thoughtfully.
’I’ve seen that currently, the lateral branches of Litharion and Grimstone have been extinguished... and that was my avatar’s fault. He refined their bloodline unknowingly into something strange. As for the Yangta and Moonlight, I thought they were finished, but it seems there are still representatives by your side.’
’In the end, the karma of all those living on the planet is so bad that they will slowly go extinct. But the families above don’t care; in a few centuries, they will descend and repopulate the planet. There’s no loss for them.’
Alm and Bruno snorted with heavy hearts. They already knew that Loeus had bad karma and a divine family. But, having helped Ruri, they hadn’t reflected that she wasn’t much better than him. Ruri was a slave who had her entire family killed and lived confined as a servant of a mediocre clan; as a girl, she wasn’t mistreated temporarily. But surely, once she became an adult, the mediocre clan would use her to elevate themselves, and her fate would be worse than Loeus’s. And Alm and Bruno still had the audacity to criticize Langrum for helping Loeus earlier...
The behemoth then, seeing their tense state, remembered something and spoke. ’The four families didn’t come alone; they brought their servants with them. There are twelve small allied families, and these are the most active workers on the planet. Because you destroyed the first seal, these servants were activated to investigate. Eleven of the families are investigating the sea; after all, the land is just a small part. One of them came to the land.’
Alm and Bruno now understood the origins of the elf they killed. So, they thought for a moment and asked, ’How many seals are there? Why didn’t they come with everything after I destroyed one?’
’There are nine seals; destroying one wasn’t a big deal. They can recreate it in a few thousand years. I can only speak with you because I put a large part of my soul in the crystal, but my sealed power remains completely the same.’ The behemoth responded coldly. ’The servants were activated now, but if you destroy the second one... then the families will be severely alerted, and they won’t rest until they find the culprit.’
Alm and Bruno sighed; these families must have cultivation at the divine level, and they would have to do this compelled by the system. Therefore, being limited to mortal cultivation, they would be easy targets... the situation seemed quite complicated.
They thought for a moment and didn’t see an apparent solution, so they just said, ’My two allies, Ruri and Loeus, are trustworthy. I changed their destinies myself, and if they had any ill intentions, I guarantee I would be the first to know. I have ample experience in this.’
’Hmm... it may even be true. But when the families act, they will obviously use their descendants for dirty work and repopulate the lateral branches with them. Making children among themselves is the best way to keep the blood pure. They will sense all of them and make them slaves. You have one of their girls; she will be a breeding machine and have as many children as they can make. You should stay away from them...’ The behemoth spoke harshly when he was interrupted, feeling his soul tremble.
The whole atmosphere became dense, and the eyes of Alm and Bruno emanated uncontrollable rage. The behemoth sighed; the figure in front of him... the karma and death imbued in him were so dense that it suffocated even him. How many lives had he taken? An entire universe? He wondered.
Without any control, Alm and Bruno spoke slowly. ’No matter, I will refine and destroy them completely. My allies will fight by my side.’
’I understand. Well, you have two of the last ones. And... I subtly sense the bloodline of the others in your body. What is that?’ The behemoth asked, trying to lighten the mood.
’Something from your idiotic avatar. He called it the ’Diagram of Natural Bloodlines.’ From what you said, he refined the bloodline of the dwarf and elf clans into it.’ Alm and Bruno said dryly.
The behemoth then thought for a moment, recalling his avatar creating that. Soon, he had an idea. ’If you put the bloodline from this diagram into a dwarf and an elf, you can create the illusion that they are descendants of the families. Of course, if they examine it closely, they’ll know it’s something external, but I highly doubt they’ll look twice.’
Alm and Bruno nodded slightly. ’I have a dwarf ally, and I promised to give this to him. But an elf... they are rare on the planet, and I won’t give it to just anyone.’
’That... but I felt an elvish lineage...’ The behemoth spoke doubtfully and fell silent, feeling more closely the people near the whale and the crystal. ’How strange... it’s an elf, and at the same time, it isn’t. It reminds me of something I saw a long time ago...!!!’
Suddenly, their eyes widened in surprise. ’Wait! Is this a Chromaraic? The mother race of humanoid mortals? How the hell can it still exist here!’
’Corin, yes. I brought him from another universe recently. He is my disciple and is trustworthy,’ they responded calmly.
’Great! This solves it; he can absorb any humanoid bloodline. He just needs to keep his other bloodlines sealed, and the elf one will surface as if he were one. It will be impossible to differentiate him from a half-elf; if he has the physical characteristics of an elf, no one will say he’s not a pure one,’ the behemoth said excitedly.
Alm and Bruno then reasoned where the behemoth was getting at; they had the potential to have four representatives of the families, but so what? Then, the behemoth continued.
’The Chromaraic and the dwarf will have no problem; my avatar preserved their pure bloodline. If we find a way to enhance the others’ bloodlines when the families arrive in force. If they are trustworthy, you will gain many possibilities.’
Alm and Bruno thought... if bloodline wasn’t a problem, indeed, they were confident they could make them stand out even among the pure members of the families. If they were taken to their homes? They would have a double-edged card and many possibilities to destroy them. As for Ruri, if she stands out, her clan won’t waste her as a breeding machine. After all, they are cultivators, and creating a powerful member is always a priority.
’You have more detailed information about the families, right? You’ve seen them in action on the planet from time to time; if you pass me the memories of everything you’ve seen and felt about them, I can figure something out,’ Alm and Bruno spoke thoughtfully.
’I will give you much more than memories, my son...’ The behemoth began to speak, and stopped feeling their penetrating gaze. ’Cough... I will give you everything; I’m not very good at creating new things, that’s a characteristic of mortals, not primordial beings. If you really manage that, you might be able to break the three seals that exist on the continent. The others are submerged in the sea, and more than that, even the heroes of the divine world will be alerted and come to the planet.’
Alm and Bruno sighed; they truly hoped the system wouldn’t force them to go further than this...
’With three seals broken, my powers can flow slightly, and they will take millions of years to repair those seals. It gives me a window to escape, a 1% chance, but it’s already a miracle I have any chance at all,’ the behemoth spoke with melancholy.
’Don’t risk too much. I may not be strong now, but I will eventually set you free. Just don’t disappoint me, and I’ll repay the favor I owe you in the future,’ Alm and Bruno said softly. ’I have a clear picture of the situation now, and I’m deeply involved. Even if I’m not compelled, I’ll have to destroy these families. I have to cleanse the karma from Ruri’s bloodline.’
For the first time in a long while, the behemoth felt a glimmer of hope in his chest. It had been infinite years since he was imprisoned in total darkness, being used as fertilizer for the enemy. All he dreamed of was to see the sun and feel only the gentle breeze of the winds again.
He then looked at the figure and made up his mind: He had to help as much as possible. This should be his last chance. So, sensing their body and bloodline, he saw something.
’You have three internal runes? This Yin rune of yours is quite powerful; Heaven’s Will always grants strange powers... and they are very similar to my true powers. I am the manifestation of life, death, and mortal earth. Your Yin and Yang power is similar... but very corrupted; as for the earth, it’s very thin. I can help with that.’
The behemoth analyzed thoughtfully and concluded by nodding. ’I will use all the power of my soul within this crystal to change your internal earth rune. It will become something identical to me, and that will make it easier for you to use my power. I will also leave many pieces of information, things about my powers and memories of the four families.’
Alm and Bruno nodded; they had many difficulties with techniques that used the laws of the earth and bloodline. They had developed two, but only because they saw an illusion of them using it, and it wasn’t very useful.
The main problem was that they had to use the bloodline along with Yin and Yang to trigger the full power of Ruri’s hero rune. So, they only fought using physical cultivation. However, if their earth rune became so powerful, it would be like an external being within them. And they could use high-level earth laws even after losing the bloodline power. With that, they would have two extra powers to use: the Yin rune and the Earth rune.
’With each passing minute we talk, I lose a bit of my soul in this crystal. So, to make sure we do everything, let’s end it here. By the way, the other big crystal of mine; it only has my will. I did many tests, and this was the only one where I managed to put so much of my soul. The other small crystals have only an irrelevant fragment.’
Alm and Bruno nodded, and then the eyes of the behemoth trembled slightly. That was the farewell. Soon, the whole earthy brown world began to contort. And after an hour, the whale opened his eyes.