"How do you feel after hearing the revelation?" Matheus asked.

"Nothing," Basil answered neutrally; his Pacifer Seal shone brighter.

Matheus smiled bitterly at the look he was getting from Basil. He knew that look well; it was the look that someone who would destroy the Heavenly Throne to vent his anger had.

"The choice is yours, Basil Pacifer. No one will blame you if you choose to abandon your title."

The fall of the Fated Child would be an equally unfortunate and saddening event for the Pacifer Clan. He was sure the Pacifer would also rather die than watch the vessel of their Master meet that unsightly fate.

"To be on your Clan's side is to lose yourself; you will not die, but you will live inside The Lord with no consciousness. You can run away from your task and live a happy life. Remember, whatever choice you—keuk."

"You are loud, aren't you?"

Basil was grasping Matheus' neck, making it hard for him to breathe even though he didn't need to breathe since he was a soul. The reason why it happened was that Basil's authority over his Mindscape had exceeded Matheus'.

He could will anything to happen and making a soul choke was one of them. It was still mind-boggling, regardless, since Matheus' soul was by no means weak, even if it was just a tiny fragment of the real one.

"Just as they need me, I need them—Pacifer Clan. We are riding in the same boat by default, so we have to row it together," Basil said coldly. "Of course, I will be the only one using them to achieve my goal—that's my intention since the very beginning."

"Hn..."

It was getting harder for Matheus to breathe as Basil lifted his body higher. His eyes widened both in horror and astonishment.

"I will stick with them till the very end and take full advantage of them. They will be my sword—the ones who spill blood in the place I desire." Basil sneered. "As for The Lord, you don't have to worry. I will devour his soul."

Matheus' hand that had been busily trying to get Basil's hand to let go of his neck lost its power. He stopped retaliating as he relaxed his body and stared at Basil with a small smile.

"Does that mean you will treasure Pacifer Clan?" Matheus spoke without opening his mouth.

"I cut many things with my sword. Whether they will break or persevere is not my business."

"Ha-ha-ha. That is good enough to hear."

The light in Basil's golden eyes got more intense as he thought about what Matheus was implying. Said Soul Fragment kept his eternally small smile and even suggested Basil end his life.

"May you find the next Matheus pleasant, Basil!"

Just a second after those words were said, Basil clenched his hand so hard that Matheus instantly turned to dust. He was quite grateful to the first Matheus he met, but this one really touched his reverse scale.

Clicking his tongue, Basil frowned lightly. He looked at the stone tablets that stood around him and swept the air swiftly.

The four stone tablets were gathered and combined into one. It turned into one big stone tablet that had half of its surface filled with two paragraphs of unknown characters that were shining in gold.

"The first Matheus provided me with the information about the whereabouts of the precious Artefact and Relic that could help me in my journey—I am grateful for that. The second one gave me the truth that I had hoped not to hear ..."

Basil put his hand before his mouth, covering a grin that he was too ashamed to show.

"... I am excited. The Lord's Soul, huh? Two can play this game. I will make his soul my stepping stone to reach Godhood. I will not lose in this battle full of deceit."

Whoever The Lord was had made a grave mistake. Basil couldn't fulfil his role as his vessel in the past and he was revived to fulfil it now.

Basil, unfortunately, was as selfish as God. He didn't mind burning the whole world down if it meant achieving his goal.

He didn't like to be someone's plaything. No matter how strong the one pulling the strings from behind was, he wouldn't back down; he would be that one sticking out nail which split the hammer in two.

So what if his opponent was a God? One or hundreds of them—he would make them squirm under his feet!

...

When Basil opened his eyes, the Mana in the air reacted to his spike of emotion and exploded the air. A quite strong shockwave swept the surroundings, shaking Iliana and the others slightly.

Basil's golden eyes looked deeply into Asia's azure eyes as they gradually regained their original colour—brown. As if knowing what Basil would ask, Asia immediately smiled bitterly.

She was about to open her mouth when Basil put his hand before it, thus stopping her from speaking. They stayed that way until his Pacifer Seal was deactivated.historical

"Who do you see me as?" Basil took his hand off Asia's mouth.

"Basil Pacifer, my most brilliant descendant."

"Why do you call me husband?"

Asia could answer it instantaneously; but, for some reason, the words stuck in her mouth. Basil smiled softly at that, causing her to tear up—she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

"I am sorry—I was just messing with you," Basil said with a chuckle. "I know that you are just a lustful and unfaithful wife who forsook her husband for a younger male."

"Hey, why do you make me sound like an insufferable harlot?!" Asia snapped before chortling afterwards. "Seriously though, I never saw you as my husband's vessel before. I see you for who you are—the person who makes my heart skip a beat again."

"... Harlot."

"Oi."

The first male Pacifer and the First Matriarch stared at each other silently for a few seconds before chuckling softly. None of them had ever expected to have that kind of conversation one day.

Basil sat up and muttered, "Thank you..."

"Hm?"

"Thank you for seeing me as Basil Pacifer and not the Fated Child. Also, I am sorry." Basil gazed at Asia solemnly and she immediately knew what he would say. "You will never be able to see your husband again. I will kill him, for real this time."

Asia's heart tightened as soon as she heard those words. She felt like the wife who decided to end her husband's life so he didn't have to suffer from his illness anymore: it was relieving and torturing at the same time.

Drip. Drip.

As her tears dropped to the ground, a warm hand landed on her head. It caressed her head tenderly, quickly untying the knot in her heart.

"I may not be able to fulfil the role well, but I will be your husband in return. Therefore, I want you to remain on my side."

"You already have Iliana, don't you? Are you suggesting that we should have... an affair?" Asia muttered. "That is erotic—it makes my heart skip a beat!"

As if her previous gloomy mood was a mere illusion, Asia had regained her usual brightness. Basil knew, however, she was just hiding her sadness, so he smiled and nodded his head simply.

Asia got emotional again and couldn't help hugging Basil this time. She cried silently in his warm embrace until Jade of Soul Memoir could no longer hold her soul and she had to return to Basil's Mindscape.

'You can take your time. We won't have any fight in the near time, so you don't have to immediately return to Durendal's Sword Realm. I can't accompany you there, but you feel less lonely when you stay in my Mindscape, don't you?'

'How do you know?'

'It's been years. Also, I can feel you closer when you are in my Mindscape.'

'Iliana will kill you if he heard that, you know?'

'I know, that is why we have to keep it a secret.'

'Ah, an affair... How tragic and exciting this relationship is!'

Ignoring dirty-minded Asia, Basil stood up and then picked up Durendal and Caliburn from the ground. He swung them lightly once, creating two shallow trenches in the ground, before storing them in his Spatial Ring.

Roughly 300 metres from him, he could see Iliana and the others. They were looking at him with bemusement, astonishment and jealousy.

He swung his left hand once and the body of the Dragon was immediately stored in Solomon's Spatial Ring. As he walked up to the people, he thought about the wisest excuse to say to Iliana.

He knew there were two jealous female Pacifers before him, but he only had to placate one to have a life that was free of guilt. Although she loved violence, Iliana was still an emotional woman; she was just natural at making him feel guilty.

"Here..."

"This is?"

"Roses."

Basil looked at the roses Iliana had just given him with a sigh and then looked at her questioningly. Iliana just crossed her hands and turned her head to the side.

"She was your lover in the past, wasn't she? The rose is my congratulation—I am happy if you are happy."

"... I've told you not to read too many romance novels from Huaguo. They mess with your head." Basil shook his head in amusement. "That was my Sword Soul—a part of my soul that gained consciousness. She is my saviour in perilous times."

Iliana turned her head back to Basil and uncrossed her hands. "I know. It's just... A little bit unsettling to see the two of you being so perfect with each other," she sighed.

Glancing at the others, who were feeling awkward, being the considerate human he was, Basil told Iliana to talk about the matter later. She nodded her head immediately and climbed down the mountain with the others.

No conversation was made on their way to regroup with their army. Except for Iliana and Ione, all of them were looking at Basil in curiosity.

Upon knowing that the Goddess-like Asia was his Sword Soul, they couldn't help finding him more threatening. That aside, even the fact that he had nurtured a Sword Soul was terrifying.

'Joyeuse is said to also have a Sword Soul. Up to this day, I still can't sense it, but Sir Basil has nurtured his own,' Cyane mused nervously. 'This man... Depending on how the world treats him, he will either be a God or a fiend.'

They couldn't act much, but they did earn something from that day: Basil wasn't someone they should make an enemy.