Chapter 212 - Xin"s Revelation

Seven pairs of eyes silently stared at him, their gazes boring into Calron. Currently, the hut was crowded with Asra, Harol, Rain, Linda, Roran, Ellie, and Rebran.

"Where do you want me to start?"

Calron sighed and sat himself down between his friends.

"Hmph! Of course, from the beginning!"

Linda glared at him while crossing her arms over her chest. Rain gave Calron a secret wink, telling him that he wasn"t really with the others on this.

Nodding his head, Calron began recounting the story of his last mission, meeting the other young members of the tower clans, plan of infiltrating the darkling territory, discovering the hidden army and how he got separated from the group to investigate the enemy commanders" tents. He then continued to describe how Yelin attacked him on Resir’s orders via the soul imprint inside her, and also the existence of other illegal slaves being forced to act as a.s.sa.s.sins against their will.

It took Calron over fifteen minutes to explain it in detail, and the process went smoothly as no one tried to interrupt him in between. Once he was done, the room turned silent as everyone digested the new information.

"Do you think a war will break out within the city? I really don"t want to fight my friends from the other clans…"

Harol spoke up first while scratching his head.

"I hope not, but I know for a fact that Resir will be trying to prevent the Raizel clan from leaving the city. His best chance to take us out is while we"re inside the clan"s mansion, so he"ll try to convince the King and the other Tower Lords to attack us tonight before we leave in the morning."

Calron stated, patting Harol on the shoulders. He did not want the situation to turn out this way, but at the same time, he would not allow others to take advantage of the clan anymore.

It"s the only semblance Calron had to a family, and he"d fight to the death before letting it be destroyed by some Royal family and Tower clans.

"It"s the future of our clan. We can"t let them trample all over us and our clan"s reputation! Besides, we’re only leaving the city and don"t want to fight the other clans, can"t the King just let us go?"

Rain voiced his opinion.

"It"s not such a simple matter, Rain. If the King lets the Raizel clan freely leave the city, it will send a message to the citizens that the Royal family is losing its power, and to our enemy kingdoms it will convey that the King is weak. The city wants to avoid that and to appear in control, they"ll have to stop the Raizel clan."

Asra explained in a calm tone. He could already sense the guards outside in a frenzy as they prepared the mansion"s defenses in case of an attack and triggering all essence barriers to bar any intruder from entering.

"Calron, did Resir actually try to kill you?"

Asra glanced at Calron.

Seeing Calron firmly nod in response to his question, Asra closed his eyes while clenching his fists. "After we went through all that to save him and the other Lords, he repays us with this. He"s looking down too much on our clan… Maybe, he"s forgotten just how scary our fathers and uncles are in battle, let alone the Patriarch. The Raizel clan never backs down from a fight!"

"I"m with Asra on this one! If they want to attack us, then they"ll need to be prepared to lose their lives as well."

Rain thumped his fist in the air, full of enthusiasm.

Linda remained quiet, her mind occupied with thoughts of what would happen once they left the city and what they"ll do with those thousands of slaves, but she didn"t want to dampen the mood in the hut.

I"ll bring it up to Calron once we safely get out of the city.

"I"ll fight alongside Boss no matter what!"

Rebran stood on his hind legs atop Ellie"s shoulders and exclaimed loudly.

"Me too!"

Ellie chimed in with her small fist in the air.

"Oy, that cat talks!? I thought it was Ellie"s pet!"

Rain gasped with his mouth open the moment Rebran spoke.

"I"m a Griffin, not a cat! Tell them, Boss!"

Rebran growled at Rain, his tail up in the air.

"Yeah, he"s a Griffin."

Calron answered noncommittally. None of the people in the room believed him except for Ellie and Roran who had already seen Rebran"s true form and knew his parents were Griffins. However, unlike his parents, Rebran’s morphed form was that of a large white lion with tusks, so it was debatable whether he was technically a Griffin or not.

"Boss! They don"t believe you!"

Rebran whined, seeing no change in expressions on the others" faces.

The atmosphere in the room turned jovial as everyone kept teasing Rebran while the latter threatened to turn into his true form inside the little hut.

"Anyways, I"ll go see where my father is and find out if my uncles returned from their missions out of the city."

Asra said after a while and headed out. Soon after, the others said their goodbyes as well and went back to their places to get ready in case a battle took place tonight.

"Big brother, I"ll go get our stuff from the inn and bring Avor here."

Roran spoke once the others had left Calron"s hut except for Ellie and Rebran.

"Make sure you hide your face and not get followed by the city"s troops."

Calron reminded his brother.

Roran nodded his head and walked towards the hut"s door. However, just before he left, Roran turned around to face Calron.

"This time, I won"t let big brother burden himself with all the wounds and pain like last time."

Roran"s stated in a somber tone, his fierce eyes conveying to Calron how seriously he meant those words.

"I know…"

Calron smiled at his closest brother and replied warmly. Roran left after thumping his fist against his chest and grinning with confidence.

"You two stay here and don"t wander around. I"ll be back in a while."

Calron ordered Ellie and Rebran before leaving the hut.

"Hey, let"s play that game you taught me yesterday!"

Calron heard Rebran"s cheerful voice behind him, as he continued to head in a different direction.

"It"s about time I practiced the second stage of this ability."

He murmured while his azure eyes slowly transformed into a dull grey.

"XIN!"

A rumbling roar echoed in the sky, and four figures rapidly flew towards Xin, who was on her way to the Royal Palace. Three of the silhouettes were men while the fourth was a woman. They were all the Ancestors of the tower clans within the city.

"I sensed Morain"s energy inside the city. I heard that b.a.s.t.a.r.d tried to kill my descendant and the threatened the King!"

A tall and robust man snarled, his large body stepping in front of Xin.

"Get out of my face, Talok. I was about to head to the King to talk to him about things concerning this very issue."

Xin said frostily, a deep purple energy coiling around her body.

"Easy, Xin. We"re not here to fight. All of us just woke up from our slumber, and we want to know why Morain has stepped out of bounds with his latest move. It"s very… unlike him."

A slender man placed his hand on Talok"s chest and gestured for him to take a step back.

"Morain has decided to leave the city, and I think we should let him, Laxerus. Fighting him will bring about more death, including any of ours."

Xin recalled her energy back into her body and answered the slender man. Despite her distaste of Talok, it seemed she respected Laxerus at least.

"Whose side are you on, Xin? That b.a.s.t.a.r.d spat on the city we all built together, and if we don"t stop him, who knows what he might do in future?"

Talok interrupted, vehemently trying to persuade others to join forces against Morain because he was aware that without the others" support, he wouldn’t be able to take down Morain on his own.

"He"s correct, Xin. We can"t let Morain undermine the King"s authority and get away with it. If all five of us join our strengths, I doubt Morain will be able to escape unscathed."

The woman with Talok and the others spoke out.

"It"s not so simple, Orian."

Xin shook her head. She was the one closest to Morain back in the day and knew more about certain things than the others did.

"I know you still have feelings for him, but our purpose is greater than that. Remember why we all chose to lay in slumber for centuries."

Orian said gently while the others sighed in response.

"You don"t understand… None of you were with Morain or the Raizel clan as long as I have. Have you not wondered why Morain is the Ancestor of his clan, but they don"t have the same name as us and instead call themselves the Raizel clan?"

Xin looked into each of the Ancestors" eyes.

"It"s because Morain is not the only peak Heavenly stage expert of his clan. The Raizel clan has a group of hidden Elders all at the peak of Heavenly stage!"