"What?! This... you…" Heze was momentarily shocked.
’Yeah, it seems like your father is hiding something. I don’t sense the queen’s domain in you, and your body has the same aura as the depths of the Sea of Bones. Let’s talk calmly—our goals seem to align,’ the whale said calmly in his mind.
Heze looked at the whale, and the pieces started to fit together. Everything that had happened in this universe recently, and everything that went down on planet Gloom... If he really was the Heaven-Defier, someone of his level could have orchestrated it all.
He remembered his father’s excited words. The young Leviathan’s eyes sparkled, and his body pulsed. He took on a humanoid form, but instead of the imposing, muscular version they’d seen before, Heze now looked like a young human, at most ten years old, with dark skin and a brooding expression.
He turned to the beasts he led and ordered them to withdraw from the siege. Then Bruno said, "Tell them to search for the Soul-Wind Gems in this nearby area; that way, they won’t raise any suspicion. That kid won’t bother us anymore."
Heze gave the order, and the beasts, looking a bit confused, spread out through the region. As Purimu had explained earlier, the Soul-Wind Gems were fist-sized and appeared randomly in the vast white that stretched across the horizon, as if they sprouted from the void, floating, just waiting to be picked.
The whale observed the Alliance people, who seemed bewildered, not understanding anything, and turned to Purimu with a firm look. "Have them do the same, but don’t attack anyone."
She swallowed and nodded, quickly giving the order, and everyone dispersed. No one from the Alliance was gravely injured; those who died were the exalted ones who had blindly charged in. The beasts had no choice but to retaliate; otherwise, they wouldn’t stop. After killing enough of them, the rest realized they couldn’t win and went defensive to buy time for their "fabulous Leader" to arrive.
With everyone dispersed, Heze and the whale slowly approached Purimu, who remained silent, not understanding why they were coming closer.
The whale, looking at Heze, asked, "Let’s start from the beginning. What exactly are you looking for here?"
"My father… he said there are five runes hidden beneath the Blood River. One in the center, and the other four on the edges. I need to find them; it’s the only chance to free the Ziz," he answered calmly.
Purimu and the whale were surprised. Bruno asked, "Wait, the Ziz is alive? And why does your father want to do that?"
"Yes, but only his soul still exists. The Ziz controls the laws of time and wind. His body may just be bones now, but, being made of primordial power and with the laws of time, everything can be reversed," Heze said in a low tone, looking worried. "As for my father… he didn’t give me the details, but he said it would help someone."
The whale nodded. "So, there are five seals. You’re going to destroy them?"
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"Huh? No, that’s impossible," Heze replied without hesitation. "My father can’t come here; he’s bound to guard the Black Sea and is under constant surveillance. I would only transfer a bit of my bloodline to the runes. With that, he can gradually use my blood from a distance to create an opening in the seals."
"An opening... that will take a long time. It won’t be necessary; I can destroy everything at once," Bruno said decisively. He and Alm were already considering a new path opening up. "Can you communicate with your father?"
Heze nodded. "My inner rune contains a fragment of his soul. I could burn some of my bloodline to reach him if needed, but just once, and it would cost me dearly."
"Huh? He left a part of his soul in you, and you carry his pure bloodline. Why do you seem so weak?" Alm asked, sensing something.
"My father... he’s very weakened... and I, despite being his son…" He clenched his fists, trembling, as if about to cry.
Alm and Bruno sighed. Something was clearly going on with the Leviathan. But apparently, he wasn’t an enemy. The legends said he allied with the queen during the war to survive, betraying the others. Seeing the fate of the other two primordial beasts, Alm and Bruno even thought they might have done the same in his place.
For them, survival was the priority. They could even fake loyalty to the queen, willing to do atrocities to maintain it; in this way, searching for a way to overthrow her. But they knew the queen wasn’t a fool and certainly had ways to prevent such a simple betrayal.
"We don’t have much time here. I need to speak directly with your father, but it won’t be necessary for you to burn anything," said the whale, and the young one nodded.
Then, they turned to Purimu, who had been listening in silence. "Your mother talked to you about this, didn’t she?" The young woman trembled slightly and nodded, unsure of what to say.
"Are you seeing things more clearly now? It’s not black and white. What’s before your eyes is only the surface, what they allow you to see. What would happen if your ’wonderful uncle’ found out you messed up the plan of someone on your side? And, worse, for no reason. A bit of talking, and you’d feel he wasn’t a threat, just like me."
"..." She lowered her head, clenching her fists, not replying.
The whale scoffed. "Raise your head. If you’ve learned something, move forward. Now, we have work to do." He turned to Heze. "I’ll invade your inner rune and speak directly to your father. Meanwhile, she’ll protect us."
Heze nodded, and they turned to Purimu, who gave a small jump, realizing what they wanted. Nodding, she warped the spatial laws around them, creating a barrier that concealed the two from external senses and vision.
Inside the barrier, it was just Heze and the whale. A fragment of the whale’s soul moved toward the young one’s core, where he used his energy to activate the fragment of the Leviathan’s soul. In seconds, a dark presence seemed to open its eyes.
A gruff voice rumbled: "Hm? Two divine souls? No... what the hell are you?!"
Alm and Bruno started to respond, but the voice quickly recognized something and exclaimed, "The Behemoth’s bloodline! You finally appeared!"
Alm and Bruno nodded, realizing he’d been expecting them. This wasn’t the first time it had happened—the immortal Oni from planet Pristine and even Kaiyka had been alerted to their arrival.
"Let’s get straight to the point," Alm said without hesitation. "I’ve never killed an immortal cultivator before... a primordial beast doesn’t count, right? Well, here we have hundreds of them, all heroes... this is perfect. Let’s make an interesting spectacle together."