"Albus is out as well. My guess is Issac was the one who killed him." Julian murmured as he felt his connection with Albus break free.

[ His dragon was freed by Jason and his guardian. Without that beast's help, Albus was just a pair of old bones since he was using the dragon's life energy to sustain himself. ] Galirius commented.

"Hiro was correct about everything so far. Sometimes his abilities surpass mine and shock me." Julian sighed before entering a tent situated close to his.

"Briana, your turn is coming up soon. Gale and Albus are both out." Julian instructed.

"So little brother actually told the truth. Do you trust him though?" Briana asked frankly.

Being the first princess of the kingdom, she had known her father for quite a long time. Both of them didn't have a normal relation and simply thought of the other as a tool to be used.

"I do trust Hiro since he outright told me that he is helping the other side a bit. But I am not sure whether he is just acting or truly playing both sides." Julian confessed. "As long as his plans work, everything is fine."

"I see.." Briana murmured. "So I just have to go back and activate the spell left behind by Albus?"

"Yes, that's all. Once the spell is activated, the entire city with be pressured down by a force field. Its a tier 5 spell and someone like Albus would have never been able to complete it."

"But isn't it an air spell?"

"No, I was the one who handed it to him. It was a dark magic spell but the runes could be created by any mage at a similar level. The spell can only be activated by a wind mage." Julian explained.

Briana got up from the couch she had been relaxing on and stretched her body. She was wearing simple clothes but now that she had to fight, she would have to change into her armor.

"Give me my weapon if I am going there." Briana demanded.

"Here." Julian raised his right hand forward to reveal a black dagger resting on his palm.

The dagger had a sleek glow and was radiating a dark aura. A long rune was carved on its hilt while golden symbols were etched all over the blade.

It was obvious that the weapon had something special about it.

Briana took the weapon from Julian's hands and threw it up. She caught it when it came down and repeated the process several time.

Her hand would land on the hilt every single time no matter how quick or slow the dagger was.

"All right, I will go there in about ten minutes. There is something I need to discuss with Hiro." Briana walked out of the tent.

"He is staying with his mother in her tent. Its the one right beside me." Julian gave the directions and walked out as well.

'The conquest on the demon continent is going rather well. Except for the sins and their families, the demons can't do anything against my army. They are much weaker than anticipated.' Julian entered another tent.

This one only had a magic circle drawn in the middle. The magic circle was glowing blue and seconds later, a projection appeared in the middle of it.

"Greetings, my lord." A man in his late forties knelt in front of Julian. He was wearing heavyweight armor alongside a war hammer which was hung on his back.

"How are things going, Nlad?" Julian asked with a yawn.

"We have managed to capture twenty percent of the demon kingdom and are converting majority of the captured demons into Lord Galirius's followers." Nlad suddenly paused as though there was something he didn't want to say.

"What happened?" Julian asked with a serious gaze.

"From what I have heard, one of the sins is about to call down their patron to help fight. The burden will be shared amongst other gods so they will be able to come down easily." Nlad revealed.

Julian fell deep in thought when he heard that another god would be involved in the fight.

"Things will be fine as long as the sin of wrath doesn't summon his patron. Honestly, Wrath and Lust are the only two sins I am wary of." Julian commented. "Keep things going. If a problem arises, I will appear there personally."

"All right, my lord." Nlad's projection vanished as the magic circle deactivated.

Julian stared at the magic circle for a few seconds before walking out of the tent. He looked lost in hi words and was moving without any destination in mind.

'I will have to go there soon. Hiro, I hope your plan works.'

***

"Hiro, are you sure that your plan will work as long as I activate the spell?" Briana questioned Hiro who was currently standing outside his mother's tent.

"We have gone over this numerous times, sister. As I said, the pressure will weigh all of them and they don't have a wind mage at hand who can counter it. You should be able to handle things well." Hiro reassured.

"I will be taking Gon with me as well. Both of us will make sure that the plan works or you will be in trouble." Briana glared.

No matter how hard she tried not to, she always got annoyed by Hiro's existence.

"I won't get in trouble either way, big sister." Hiro smiled. "You are a pawn while I am the king here. Father is the player and he will do everything to protect his king."

"This isn't chess, brat." Briana scoffed.

"It isn't but you know it as well as I do. Father doesn't care about any of his children except for me and Mila." Hiro kept his smile. "Good luck on your quest."

He entered the tent again and put up a magical barrier to prevent anyone from getting inside.

Briana glared at the tent for a few seconds before walking away to find Gon, another member of the ten supreme commanders who was going on the quest with her.

'I will show you, Hiro. I might just be a tool but I am more powerful and cunning than you. Just you wait.'

***

"What did she want?" Silvia asked once Hiro returned.

"The usual stuff about my plan. Honestly, I can't blame them for not trusting me. If I was in their situation, I wouldn't trust myself either." Hiro chuckled and laid down on the bed, resting his head on his mother's lap.

"Your head is more messed up than your father's head, you know." Silvia chuckled. "But then, this was expected considering you are my child as well."

"Reminds me that you still haven't told me how you felt after meeting your parents again." Hiro reminded.

"I don't know how to say it but I felt weird. I have been away from them all this time and have been doing many questionable things. My presence made it clear to them that I am staying here on my own accord." Silvia smiled sadly.

"But they couldn't have told whether you were under a contract or not."

"You forgot that your cousin is there as well. Jason's powers allowed him to tell that I wasn't under the influence of a contract," Silvia reminded. "He is an interesting fellow."

"What is your impression of him?" Hiro asked curiously.

"For starters, I noticed he has Michale's purple yes. Those were always a mystery since no one in our past few generations ever had those eyes. However, he shares Evelyn's beauty as well.

His aura reflected both my parents respective auras. His eyes contained the same fiery passion as Michael as well as the same dangerous calm Evelyn possesses. I never met Evelyn's parents so I don't know whether he has their qualities." Silvia explained.historical

"I'm still surprised by the amount of information you can know about someone by simply observing them." Hiro said in a amazed tone.

"I have been doing this my entire life. Observing is the only thing I am good at." Silvia sighed. "That's the only thing I can currently do after being reincarnated."

"Aren't you tired of overseeing other fates and influencing them to get to the final stage?"

"Aren't all of us doing the same thing? We observe our surroundings and take decisions based on them. Our life is full of choices and paths and by choosing them, we reach the end goal.

The only thing I do is observe other fates instead of mine. My patroness is extremely ancient and that was the only ability she granted me before going into a deep slumber." Silvia explained.

"What a dangerous ability she gave.." Hiro sat up and stared into his mother's eyes. "But are you happy by how things are progressing?"

"I don't know. I never really thought of my happiness. Fates are also interlinked and can be influenced by other divinity holders. Even I don't know everything," she admitted. "But as long as you are safe, everything is fine."

Silvia lovingly touched Hiro's cheek before ruffling his hair with affection. The latter couldn't help but smile at this.

"I wish you were a bit more greedy, mother." Hiro sighed in the end.

He had said this numerous times yet his mother never seemed to listen to him.

"Its not in my nature. I will just guided things to the best ending I can see." Silvia smiled sadly. "Now go out and do what you have to."

"I promise I will keep myself safe." He said at last before walking away.

'I promise that I will make sure that you gain more trust in yourself and become selfish enough to search for your own happiness. But until then, I will keep myself safe and prevent you from being sad..'