Chapter 139: Book 5: Chapter 13 – A New Subordinate
Alissa's body trembled violently at the mention of the name, Luenna.
Her mother had died when she was still very young. Still, that was a woman she would never forget.
As she was still only young when she passed, Alissa didn't remember a lot, but the one thing she would never forget was the love and affection she held in her eyes when she looked at her.
Till now, her deceased mother was the only one who'd ever looked at her like that. Not even Cain, the man she saw as the closest thing to a father in her life, had ever looked at her like that, but now, despite only meeting for the first time today, Cesar appeared to be looking at her in the same way.
Cesar sighed when he saw her reaction. He didn't need her to answer him; her reaction was answer enough.
"You know, throughout my life, I had only ever taken on two disciples. The first is that idiot over there," Cesar explained softly as he pointed towards Ragnor. "And the second was Bakaiyo…
Bakaiyo Prey."
Cesar's words came as a shock to everyone present, but no one was more shocked than Alissa herself.
"Bakaiyo was born at a time when the bloodlines of all the descendants of the four supreme warriors were waning, but unlike the others of his generation, the purity of his bloodline was abnormally high.
The higher-ups of your Prey Clan arranged a marriage between him and a member of the Hyde Clan, who also had a pure bloodline, in the hopes that their children would have a high purity of either bloodline.
But Bakaiyo didn't care about that; he just wanted to live freely. As a result, he ended up running away from home." Cesar smiled warmly as he reminisced about his youngest disciple. "Not having thought it through, he ended up out of money very quickly, but he was determined to make it on his own and never return to the Prey Clan.
Still, since he had to keep his identity a secret, his options were limited. Ultimately, he decided to join Sabre, which was when he met me.
Even though he was hiding his bloodline, his talent was incredible. Not too dissimilar to your own, in fact.
Anyway, he quickly rose through the ranks and enjoyed an incredible career and later got married to a young and talented mage – Luenna Klear.
He was so taken with her that he even took her name, not caring how the rest of the world saw him. Unfortunately, that was when things took a turn for the worst.
At some point during their travels, he was found by the Prey Clan. Realising he was a rank nine warrior at the time, the patriarch at the time decided to go out personally.
Even though he was a saint after transforming, the patriarch at the time was a peak saint before transforming, giving him the power of a prime saint after transforming." Cesar snorted a hint of his killing intent leaking out before he quickly hid it, not wanting to scare Alissa any more than he already had.
"In the end, he was forcibly brought back, and because of his unwillingness to cooperate with their wishes to continue their bloodline, he was executed.
That was the real reason I slaughtered my way into their clan.
And for the record, I didn't kill all of them," Cesar rolled his eyes, thinking about the actions of his foolish subordinates. "Only their experts…
"I knew your mother was pregnant at the time, but I had no idea she had survived," Cesar sighed regretfully. "Otherwise, I never would've allowed you to grow up without a family."
"It must've been tough on you all these years." Cesar looked down at Alissa dotingly as he gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "Grandpa's sorry he didn't find you sooner."
Alissa felt a jolt of electricity coursing through her body as soon as the word "grandpa" left Cesar's mouth.
Even when she imagined the day she learnt the truth about her background, she never imagined for one second that she would actually have any family left, but as she looked up at Cesar, a warmth that she never believed she would feel again flowed through her body.
"Your mother, Luenna…" Cesar said, snapping Alissa out of her daze. "What happened to her?"
"Mother…
She died of an illness when I was still young," Alissa explained, unable to hide her sadness. "It was only when I went through her stuff, looking for a memento, that I found a saber medallion.
I didn't know what it meant at the time, but I figured that joining Saber was my best shot at finding answers."
"You two probably have a lot to catch up on," Arianna said gently. "We'll leave you to it; just make sure to bring her back to the pavilion at some point in the next few months. All the students are due to be going out on a little mission."
"The Pavilion? Students?" Cesar asked.
"It's the school I joined a few years ago," Alissa explained.
"School? No granddaughter of mine needs to go to school!" Cesar scoffed. "What school could possibly provide you with better training than me, the king of killers?!"
"Ahem," Arianna gently cleared.
It was only when he heard that not-so-subtle reminder that he remembered the monster that was standing behind him.
For the first time in god knows how many months, Alissa chuckled. Cesar's attitude towards her put her mind at ease. Although she still had many questions, at the very least, she felt comfortable around him to laugh at his unusually casual behaviour.
"The Pavilion is my home," Alissa explained. "I don't want to leave."
Cesar stared at the only daughter of his now-dead disciple as if he were deep in thought.
The intensity of his gaze made Alissa worried, but as much as she wanted to get to know this 'grandpa' of hers, she wouldn't if it meant being forced to leave the pavilion.
It was clear things would've worked themselves out one way or the other after Ragnor and Cesar arrived, but the fact that not only Ace and Killian but even Mathias and Arianna all came out to find her let her know that the Pavilion was her family too.
"Since you want to stay in the Pavilion, then I'll join too!" Cesar declared matter-of-factly before turning to face Arianna nervously, having almost forgotten she was still there. "If that's alright with you, that is?"
His words came as a shock to everyone. Even Arianna was taken aback by Cesar's sudden decision. Still, she pointed towards her bloodied disciple. "Ask my disciple; it's his school."
Mathias was still speechless by the sudden turn of events when his master through him under the bus.
"I guess it's alright," Mathias replied, knowing that with his master's presence, Cesar wouldn't be able to try anything.
"What about Saber?" Ragnor asked, about to palm his face at his master's impulsiveness, only to remember he had no hands left.
"It's yours," Cesar shrugged. "You've been running it the last few centuries anyway."
"You don't need to choose one or the other," Mathias explained, amused by Cesar's unrestrained take on life. "The pavilion gives all its members freedom to join or start other factions, aside from the Radiant Church and the Cult of Darkness."
"See, there you go; you don't need to cry about not having me to clean up after you," Cesar berated his eldest disciple.
Ragnor merely rolled his eyes, too lazy to get into a war of words with this shameless old man he called master.
"I think he and your master are going to get on," Arianna said soft enough that only Ace could hear her.
"Ahh, don't remind me," Ace groaned as he imagined how annoying the two would be together.
"Now, when should we go?" Cesar asked, turning towards Arianna, no longer as fearful as he was, believing now that they were members of the same organisation, she wouldn't do anything to him.
"After I heal your disciple and grand-disciple," Arianna replied.
Her words came as no small surprise to the handless Ragnor, but before he could even react, she had already appeared in front of him, moving at a speed that not even he could follow.
"This… You…" Ragnor looked down at his 'stumps' in disbelief as he watched new flesh forming and taking the shape of a pair of hands, no different to the ones he lost. "Than…"
He looked up to thank the goddess who'd healed him, only to find she'd disappeared just as quickly as she appeared.
Looking back down at his hands, Ragnor clenched and unclenched his fist, marvelling over how it felt no different to the original.
If he was unsure before, he was certain now. 'Her comprehension into the laws of light are well into the deity realms.'
Aside from Alissa, Silas may well have been the most confused person present. Not only had he lost to a teenager, but when he woke up, he found his master handless and his grand-master, whom he could count on one hand the number of times he'd actually met in person, agreeing to join another faction.
He didn't even react to his healing until after Arianna had left his side to return to her group. If not for his master's reminder, he likely wouldn't have snapped out of his daze for some time.
"Quickly, Silas," Ragnor hurriedly said to his disciple. "Say thank you!"
"Ahh, right," Silas said, shaking his head to get rid of his jumbled thoughts before turning to face Arianna and bowing respectfully. "Thank you for healing me!"
"It's fine, child," Arianna replied, grabbing Ace, and unceremoniously lifting him on her shoulder, before turning to Mathias. "Are you ready to head back?"
"Ugh!" Ace grunted. "You know I'm injured too!"
"I'm ready," Mathias replied, doing the same to Killian and Leonel.
"I'm ready too," Cesar interjected, gently putting Alissa on his back.
Arianna nodded gently, preparing to take off before stopping to look at the armless warrior.
"Is he with you?" Arianna asked curiously as she glanced back at Ace.
"I've never seen him before," Ace shook his head.
"I set him free," Killian voiced suddenly. "I thought he might make a good ally – he also has a feud with the O'Brien Empire."
"I see," Ace said, curiously sizing the man up from Arianna's shoulder. "What's your name?"
"Errm… Ah… Cirulus," The man said nervously, having never been in front of so many saint-level experts before. "Cirulus Reacher."
"What's your problem with the O'Brien Empire?" Ace asked.
"They killed my dog, so I killed their prince and his guards," Cirulus stated straightforwardly.
"You provoked one of the biggest empires on the continent because they killed your dog?" Ace asked incredulously.
It wasn't just Ace; everyone looked at the armless man as though he were insane.
Cirulus didn't bother to explain himself, he knew how he sounded, but he didn't care. He had originally been a faithful serving Colonel in the O'Brien Army, and because he opposed a mission to slaughter a bunch of innocents who had offended the 13th prince, the prince had his men kill his dog.
He didn't care that he had effectively been banished from his home, nor that he had a death sentence because of it hanging over his head; if he had to go back, he'd make the same choice each and every time!
He was accustomed to the looks he was currently receiving, so he didn't mind; what he didn't expect was Ace's reaction.
Ace suddenly burst out laughing, only stopping due to the pain from his injuries worsening.
"Haha, I wasn't expecting that," Ace said as he refocused on the man. "How do you feel about the O'Brien Empire now?"
"You've got your freedom back now, and the O'Brien Empire still don't know where you are," Ace explained, seeing the look of confusion on Cirulus' face. "If you want to go into hiding and live out the rest of your life in peace, I won't stop you, but if you want to continue to make the O'Brien Empire suffer in the future…
Follow me!"
As he heard Ace's offer, Cirulus couldn't help but take a deep look at the mysterious youth in front of him.
Truth be told, he didn't have much interest in continuing to oppose the O'Brien Empire, not because he wasn't still angry with them for throwing away all his years of service for an arrogant and ungrateful prince, but because he knew no matter how hard he tried, with his strength, he wouldn't be able to do any real damage. Even if he became a saint in the future, that wouldn't change.
He didn't know what Ace's problem with them was, but just thinking about his talent and the experts he had backing him, he could see a day of reckoning in the future of his former homeland, and he wanted nothing more than a front row seat to that fateful day.
"Your faithful servant, Cirulus, greets Young Master!" The armless man voiced respectfully as he knelt down to show his answer.
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Book 7: Chapter 8 – Restructuring of the Necropolis
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