Chapter 1286  Abandon Your Wrath

"Our clan is the rightful place for Ragnar"s blade," said the woman as she aimed one of her swords at Arthur. "I will have to ask you to leave it here."

"Is that an order?" asked Arthur with a smirk, but the woman did not answer. Something unnerved her about the young man in front of her, and she couldn"t pinpoint what it was. However, before it could escalate into a fight, two figures appeared in the sky above them.

Arthur could not see them, but he felt their presence. They were like a bottled-up volcano beneath a pond of serenity. The pair descended from the sky, forcing the woman to lower her swords and bow to them. Her actions made Arthur realize their ident.i.ty.

"Greetings, Clan Leaders," Arthur began as he turned toward them. "The name is Arthur Netherborne. I came here for my grandfather and his guests."

"We know who you are and what you came here to do," said the man in the pair, his voice calm but undeniably cold. "Your grandfather claimed that you had some sort of right in the clan, even though this is your first time visiting this place. We rejected that notion, and your grandfather acted against us."

"Our family"s blood runs hot and uncontrollable," answered Arthur with a laugh, disregarding the edge in the man"s voice. "You will have to excuse my grandfather. Although I have never met him, I bet the years took their toll on him. As for whatever right he demanded that I obtain from this clan, disregard it. I have everything I need."

"You are a rather sensible man to know where you belong, and where you do not," said the woman in the pair, her hands clasped behind her back. "If you can convince your grandfather to give up on his silly dreams, then you can take him and leave our land for good."

"You are rather sensible too, unexpected for a clan of wrath," said Arthur with a laugh as he strode forward. "Leave my grandfather to me. I just came here to take him and leave anyway."

"Dear Patriarch, Matriarch!" called the woman while bowing. "I must report that the blade that man wields managed to disrupt the wrath I attacked with. It is the Blade of Wrath itself, Nightmare."

"I already noticed that," said the Patriarch with a nod as he looked at Arthur. "We must ask you to leave that here, too. This clan is where the blade belongs, and it has been stolen for countless years."

Arthur stopped walking as a thin smile formed on his face. He knew that things wouldn"t go so easily. Nightmare was the sole weapon capable of handling his current strength and wrath. Anything else would be like using a toothpick to fight. For that reason, there was no way in h.e.l.l that he was going to give it to them.

"You should already know that Nightmare is connected to my wrath. No one else can use it except for me," said Arthur with a smile as he shrugged. "Leaving it here would be a waste of its potential."

"As long as you forsake the wrath you have acc.u.mulated as well, the bond between you two will dissolve," said the Matriarch, making Arthur"s mouth twitch. These people were persistent and arrogant to demand these things from him. "Once you have done these things, you can take your grandfather and leave."

"Sure thing," said Arthur without any emotion. The clan leaders were silent, suspicious, but still allowed him entry. Before they flew away again, they turned toward the woman on the ground. "Take him to see the prisoners, Nyx. Make sure that he doesn"t do anything foolish."

"As you command, clan leaders," the woman called Nyx bowed again and watched the two leaders fly away. Then, she turned toward Arthur, eyeing him with anything but trust. "You want me to believe that you will just give up on the strongest blade in existence?"

"Nothing more precious than family," said Arthur with a shrug. "Lead the way, Nyx."

The woman stared at him with a frown before she led the way inside. Although they almost knew that Arthur was planning to resist them, they still allowed him entry because there were over two hundred disciples inside. As he walked through the gates, then the streets of the fortress, he felt their piercing gazes land on his body.

"How did the son of Silvera awaken wrath to begin with?" asked Nyx while leading the way, glancing back at him from head to toe. "And what happened to your eyes?"

"Those are two unrelated questions, but I would be happy to answer. I don"t know what you mean by the first, and the second is a long story," answered Arthur while seemingly looking around the fortress, although he couldn"t see. "You have a good amount of wrath stored in this place."

"This is Mount Ehler, constructed by the first founder to arrive on our planet. We came here running from Devaheim, and this mountain ensures that we are never found by them."

"Where did you come from?"

"I have no idea," said Nyx with a shake of her head. "According to legends, the Netherborne Family was hunted down for countless generations, barely surviving extermination by the G.o.ds. But ever since we arrived in this world, we managed to remain hidden."

"It makes sense. If I had an enemy capable of defying me, the strongest realm in the universe, I would also hunt them down to make sure he doesn"t rise again," said Arthur with a nod. "And what about the thing with the Silvera Family? How are you two related?"

"The Silvera Family is just a branch family that began when your grandfather, Benjamin, failed to awaken his wrath. He was the first child of the Netherborne family that could not use wrath, not even the slightest bit. Some people say that Ragnar had a wife with silver hair, and her blood might manifest in an offspring or two."

"Hence the name, Silvera," muttered Arthur with a nod. "It feels amazing to know the truth behind my origins, although I expected to find nothing of that sort. I just thought that the Silvera Family was a local family of Sourna."

"Their name is quite known since they became the messengers between us and the rest of the world," said Nyx as she led him into the inner fortress, guiding him through the corridor past the wrath boulders. Arthur did not even glance at the field filled with screaming people, making Nyx a little surprised.

"You don"t seem like a bad person, since you are answering my questions quite easily," Arthur told her with surprise as they walked through the black corridors until they reached the prison. "Even though you just tried to slash me apart."

"When I was five, I failed to reach the first enlightenment. After feeling like a failure, I descended the mountain and chanced upon your grandfather, Benjamin, who hosted me in his house. Since he was in the same spot as me years ago, he helped me reach the first Path of Enlightenment and master the black lightning."

"And you are grateful for that?"

"More than anything, but he was still shunned from my clan by the clan leaders. I felt sorry for him, and for his family who will always remain in the dark regarding their heritage and destiny. Although I never expected to see that he had a grandson."

"Did you meet Seref?" asked Arthur, but Nyx was silent this time. She opened a door for him with stairs descending down and gestured for him to enter.

"I cannot discuss his son, or your father in this case, without Benjamin explaining what happened to Seref. You can go and ask him yourself. Once you are done, come back and I will take you to see the clan leaders."

Arthur thanked her and began to descend the stairs. Although he was sure that the place was dark, it didn"t restrict him in any way. After all, he was blind, relying solely on his senses and existence to see the world. It made him see the world in colors of his imagination, which was more than enough to avoid being dependent on others.

Cells lined each side of the hallway that Arthur found after descending, and most of them were empty. A few had people that eyed Arthur as he pa.s.sed, and some of them called for him to die or how much they wanted to kill him. After a moment of thinking, Arthur realized that these people must have been poisoned with wrath while attempting to master it.

"Who goes there?" a voice asked from the last cell in the corridor. Arthur did not even need to see the old man to know that this was his grandfather. The reason was quite simple, but alarming just the same. His grandfather was overflowing with the mana of creation, appearing like a golden sun in his senses.

"Arthur Netherborne, or Silvera, whatever you like," he answered. "You must be Benjamin, right?"