Inside his study room, Keith was sitting in his chair, looking at the map of Orenesia, memorising it, and across from him, his three wives sat at the table, waiting to raise their questions.
"Yes?"
"How does Mother know how to break Mind Seals?" Qingyue was the first to raise the question, and she quickly followed up with another. "And how is she already in the Martial Realms?"
Rebecca and Avriel stayed quiet, and by the looks of it, they had the same questions as well.
"Why do you not ask her?" He playfully questioned, and while both Avriel and Qingyue were debating how they should answer, Rebecca just giggled.
"Daughters don't question their mothers," she meaningfully said.
"And they question their father?" He raised his brow at her, and she grinned back at him.
"Wives can question their husbands."
"Right." He rolled his eyes and then sank back in his chair, pulling the metallic ball in his hand, which immediately stopped projecting the map.
"So?" Qingyue asked again, and he smiled at her.
"Because she is your mother," he replied.
Rebecca's eyes briefly widened in surprise when she heard his words, immediately understanding what he meant, and her giggle confused her grey-eyed sister even more.
Avriel too pieced things together, and then looked at him in surprise.
"And she's a Mortal Goddess as well?"
"Yes." He nodded to her.
"Whose Legacy does she have?" she curiously asked.
"Her case is a little special. If you want to know whose Legacy she possesses, you will just have to ask her about it."
"Why did you not tell us this before?" the grey-eyed girl suddenly asked.
By now, even Qingyue got the gist, and Keith could not help his laughter when he saw the shock on her face.
"She's..."
"Yes, she is your mother and I am your father." He nodded to her. "To me, she is technically not my mother but is my older sister."
"And she was never married to Michael Demiliore, right?" Rebecca smiled. "A false reality to protect her and you?" she guessed.
Keith was not surprised that she reached such a conclusion. After all, playing with reality was her forte.
Hearing her words, her sisters looked rather dismayed, and when they saw Keith nod, they were utterly shocked.
"You always knew, didn't you?" He smiled at his blonde wife, who giggled and nodded her head.
"It was obvious to me. The Sacred Rune of Marriage wouldn't have taken root otherwise. Besides, she always gave off the same feeling as you do. I am quite keen to the suppression of my Bloodline."
Keith nodded to her words and then looked at Qingyue, who was wearing a frown on her face.
She had, of course, figured out what relationship he shared with Venessa.
By now, it was obvious to everyone in the family, and no one dared to question either of them about it.
Nearly everyone was unbothered by it, and those who felt bothered never dared to raise the matter.
Even Qingyue did not confront him about it and only made Celine confess it to her in secret, and though she had been quite disturbed when she confirmed the truth, she was not as unsettled as she seemed right now.
He could guess why it was the case, and the reason was that it was now clear to her that she would never be able to surpass Venessa's importance in his heart.
His dear wife was quite the envious one.
"I love you."
Hearing his sudden words, Qingyue panicked a little, realising that her thoughts had been seen through by him, and then she lowered her head in shame.
Her reaction prompted both her sisters to giggle at her, and she threw them glares before glancing at him and lowering her head again.
She was envious of her own mother, and it was quite embarrassing.
"She dotes on Minami more than any of us." Qingyue feigned a complaint, changing the subject, and her words made her sisters giggle some more.
"Why don't you go and say it to her?" Rebecca teased.
"I won't." She straightforwardly answered and then looked at her husband. "Any idea where Ryou is?"
"Yes."
It was Rebecca who answered her question.
"There's an organisation called the Bloodhand in the Central Continent. It is an intel and assassination organisation that appeared around a hundred years ago. Its base is believed to be in the City of Zayinsday, the seventh City of Sin on Amaya." She informed them of the information that they had extracted from the three Commanders of the Elysian Army's Ninth Golden Platoon. "The City of Zayinsday is quite close to Sirius, where you want to go."
Keith, who confirmed the information from the System, nodded to her words.
"We will meet him before we go to Sirius. Victor will be happy to see his old friend."
"So you are taking Victor with you?" The blonde smiled at her sister's words, who nodded her head.
"He's my bodyguard." She lightly said. "Keith gave him to me." And she made it clear that Rebecca should not hold any ideas about pulling Victor into her camp.
"You will also take Ruru and Riku with you." Keith suddenly said, catching all of them by surprise.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." He nodded to his grey-eyed wife. "Pay attention to your safety."
"Thank you." Qingyue gratefully smiled, knowing well that the Hubo twins would prove to be a great help to her. "We will be fine."
"We have three days of Amaya's time left. I need to find a place to take everyone out before the Steele of Time and Space starts the Cataclysm." Keith nodded to her words and then informed them.
"What will be the new time difference after the Cataclysm?" Avriel asked.
"Three to one." He informed them. "Three days inside Aerzar will equal a day on Amaya."
"So, it will be two days in Aerzar and a day in the Heavens. And then the time will become equal when we reach the Immortal Realm?" The blonde guessed, and Keith nodded his head to her.
"Yes."
"City of Sin has teleportation channels throughout the entire world. We can leave for our destinations by tomorrow. How long will the Cataclysm last for?"
"A couple of weeks."
"We will need to find a suitable place for the Blood Guards, the Hubo Family, and the Zurks." She frowned. "We also need a safe place to initiate the Martial Tribulations. Can we do it inside Aerzar?"
"Not before the Cataclysm." He shook his head.
The four of them turned silent as they thought of some plans.
Keith handed over the drone to Qingyue, who used it to project the map on the table, looking for suitable places to stay.
"How are we going to make money to cover the teleportation fee? Agaurum isn't ready. We need to buy ingredients for it as well." Avriel raised other important issues, which made the grey-eyed girl frown.
"Don't worry about it." Keith shook his head with a smile and then took out twelve Storage Rings which he had purchased from the System.
All of these rings were only of the Profound Grade, but their quality was unquestionable.
"These should cover the cost of the ingredients. If they are not enough, we can simply create some Techniques or Arts and sell them." He said, making the white-haired girl smile. "They will be enough. We also have the Storage Rings and armours of the Golden Army, but I suppose it would be unwise to sell them in the City of Azensday."
"No need to draw unnecessary attention." He nodded and then stood up. "Let's go. We don't have much time."
The next instant, Keith, Rebecca, and Avriel arrived on Amaya, inside the Forest of Dreams, and by the light of the sky, it looked like there were still several hours before sunset.
Donning their cloaks, casting their hoods, and wearing half-masks on their faces, the three of them utilised their Movement Art, infusing it with Darkness, and silently rushed towards the Isthmus of Sin.
It only took them a little over an hour before they arrived at the City Gate, and seeing the airships in the sky and the carriages on the main road, they took their time to observe the situation.
There were dozens of soldiers wearing the emblem of the Elysian Empire, both on the road and up in the sky, and they were keen on searching for everyone who wanted to enter the City of Sin.
"Reveal your Realms and state your names!" Someone asked them as soon as they were spotted, and the three of them complied, revealing the strength of Peak Martial Masters, which took the guards by surprise.
"My name is Argus, and these are my wives, Abigail and Jean." Keith gave their middle names, and the guard nodded before he logged them in the records.
"May we ask which Faction you belong to?" He politely asked them, and the soldiers of the Elysian Empire perked up their ears.
"We don't belong to any Faction." Rebecca lightly said.
"You are Elysian?"
"No."
The guard raised his brow at their truthful answer but did not ask them why they were coming from the border of Elysia.
It was not his place to question Aurors at the Peak of the Fourth Martial Realm, and from the three of them exuded the Aura of Nobility.
"Welcome to the City of Sin." He smiled as he took out three bands from his Storage Ring, scanned them with the small drone that was flying over his left shoulder, and then handed the bands to them. "Please wear them during your stay in the city to avoid any trouble."
"Thank you." Keith lightly smiled at him as he accepted the bands, and then the three put them on their wrists before entering the gate.
The moment they passed through the city's veil, which was both the defence and detection barrier, they sensed several pairs of prying eyes on them.
However, they only stayed on them for a few minutes before they looked away.
Keith, Rebecca, and Avriel stopped in their steps to look at the majestic city, which was straight out of some dream.
It was dark, illuminated in a blue hue, and the dark buildings and towers, which reached several hundred metres into the sky, towered over everything. Subtle veins of light ran across their surfaces like living circuits, feeding mana into the structures.
The streets were very wide, paved with faintly glowing lines of enchantment that marked lanes, and people passed by them in their carriages, or on their magical beasts.
What was interesting was that some of the carriages were levitating in the air, and most that had wheels had wheels made out of Aura. They moved without rattling, gliding smoothly, accompanied only by the soft hum of enchantments at work.
The beasts that led these carriages were all very beautiful, and they were mostly horses of all kinds, their manes threaded with faintly shimmering runes.
Up in the sky, several airships were going in and out of the city, their hulls brimming with mana arrays, giving off a low thrum like giant hearts beating. From afar, if they had not known better, they would have mistaken them for spaceships.
They saw a few airships land on top of some buildings, guided down by luminous docking arrays, and then their attention was on the holographic billboards, where the news was being transmitted to the population. Crystals projected moving images into the air, flickering faintly with excess energy.
Even though the two girls had already seen glimpses of the city from the memories of those three Martial Tyrants, visiting the place in person and experiencing it for themselves was still surreal.
"Is it your first time here?" They heard someone knowingly ask, and when they turned around, they found a young boy wearing a smirk on his face.
He too was wearing a cloak, but he was not trying to hide his identity.
"My name is Daim. I can show you around, but it will cost you a hundred Spirit Stones. I know every corner of this city, and I can lead you to any place that you want to visit."
"Oh?" Keith smiled at him. "Can you tell me where the Treasure Halls are? Or the premises where you can sell Magical Artefacts?"
"Sell?" The boy curiously eyed them, but after hearing their accent, he had visibly become much more polite.
From his experience, only the nobles possessed such a clear accent.
"If you want to sell Magical Treasures, the Cirian Gallery will offer you the best price. And you can sell anything there, even if it is..." He meaningfully trailed off, and they understandingly nodded their heads.
"Lead the way."
Hearing that they were willing to accept his service, the boy, who looked no older than twelve years, happily smiled and bowed to them.
"Please." He courteously asked and then started walking towards the street on their left.
"He's ripping us off, you know."
"I know." Keith chuckled at Avriel's words. "But he seems fun."