Chapter 22: Grandpa is O.P.
"Is there a realm beyond the Transcendence?"
Jayce asked with an expectation-filled face, causing Taylor to form a difficult expression.
"Um.... maybe."
Jayce's facial expressions morphed from expectation into deadpan as he stared at his grandfather.
"Cough, Jayce. You know, the way to become a Transcendent is kept a secret, not even Monarchs are unaware of it. The only thing we know is, it'll not be like the normal breakthroughs but rather more likely to be similar to the breakthrough to the Star or Elite realm, a fundamental and qualitative change to the extreme."
Taylor coughed and explained things to Jayce who was still looking at him with the same expression.
"So, I'm not sure of the realm or realms above the Transcendence, but what I know is that there maybe no limit to how strong one can become. Even if there is one, we humans haven't gotten near that."
"So, don't fixate yourself on becoming a Transcendent. Always keep an open mind and try to do your best, try to achieve the highest degree of power possible in every realm."
Jayce simply lowered his head, thinking about those words, while Taylor seemed to be in no hurry for a reply.
'So, even he doesn't know. No, it's only logical for him to not know or not tell me even if he knew.'
"I understand, grandpa."
Taylor smiled and beckoned him to follow.
The pair of two again started their tour, which lasted for around another 15 minutes. When they were walking in a hallway, Taylor suddenly spoke up.
"Do you remember the kid named Brian from the Waltz family? He had dark red hair and red eyes."
"Mm...yes, I remember him. He even brought a gift that was specially made for me. Why do you ask?"
"There was an incident where a cult named 'Shinto' executed a suicide attack on the Waltz family envoys and...."
Jayce's face changed as uneasiness swept over his mind.
'Don't be what I think, Don't be what I think, Don't be what I think.'
He inwardly prayed in his heart but, alas, Taylor's next words were straightforward, as if he wished to break even the silver of hope that Jayce might've had.
"... all of them are killed."
Jayce's heart clenched at those words. Right now, his mind was filled with pity, uneasiness and fear.
He felt pity for that boy and the others who died, but his uneasiness and fear of what was going to happen seemed to overwhelm the pity he felt for them.
'I think I can now understand why he brought me here.'
Without him having to think any further, Taylor spoke up.
"So, we are going to pay our respects and enact retaliation from our side against the Shinto group."
"Have the Waltz family been informed? Do the other families know about this?"
"Yes, the Waltz family had already been informed. Well, we didn't need to, they already must have known it since they were the ones who were attacked, especially Brian must've had some artifacts with him."
"About the second question, most families do not know it yet. This attack was done in an extremely covert manner that even us, could only get there when it's already too late."
"I don't get it. Brian is an important family member from a tier 1 family. How did he not have any life protecting artifacts when he was out?"
Jayce asked with a frown on his face. He has some idea about how rich these graded families are and to what extent they can go to protect their well-being. So, he's more shocked that Brian couldn't escape even with all that.
"Sure, he must've had some, but as I said, it was a well executed suicide attack. They must've spent a ton of fortune, effort and time to pull this off in our territory."
"But, why then? Also, what do they gain by sacrificing this much?"
Jayce knew people can make stupid decisions because of their emotions, but he didn't think an organization such as this would sacrifice this much just because of their ideology.
"These are questions I can't answer you yet. It involves deep politics. Let me just state that these kinds of organizations have more motives and reasons than what they let out normally."
After that, both of them entered the room where Victor tried to resurrect him. Yes, what Victor tried was typically not healing, rather resurrection. He could heal most of those fatal body wounds without a hitch.
An awakener's soul will not be completely extinguished right after they are dead, so there's always a chance to resurrect them if they were aided right away.
But only a chance. Typically, normal people cannot be resurrected. But, Brian's family's artifacts helped in that regard, keeping his soul and body intact for a while. But even if they could do so, in the end he's still a normal human, a child at that.
After arriving, they paid respect to Brian and 4 other envoys of the Waltz family along with the two deceased of the Roderick family who were a part of the escorting team.
After 2 minutes of silent prayer, Taylor left Jayce in the corridor to deal with some other things. Jayce, too, felt the need to cool himself down.
'sigh...life is so fickle and fragile. The boy I was talking to yesterday is now gone. Even though I know about death and the consequences of death from my knowledge. But, when facing it in realtime, it still feels....heavy.'
'Like, when I think about how that could've been mentioned or how I would die one day. It's just plain creepy.'
'Is it the reason he brought me here? To let me have a real life experience regarding death of people? To let me know, no matter the artifacts and family, I would still die if I didn't have the power myself.'
Countless thoughts and questions were running in his mind. He also suspected that his grandfather might want him to be part of the retaliation, to take a look at the harshness of the real world.
Around 20 minutes later, Taylor came back. He looked at Jayce with a reluctant expression.
"Jayce, I will be leading this retaliation mission. S-"
"I will come to watch."
"..."
Taylor was dumbfounded at his statement. He never wanted to bring Jayce on the mission, he just came to take him back home since he's going to lead the mission this time.
'You're coming to watch? What do you think it is? A circus?'
"But, you know how dangerous it can be, right? Also, it will be a lot more gruesome and violent than you could imagine."
"I think I'll be fine."
"Why do you think so?"
Taylor asked with an amused expression. Jayce answered without any pause,
"Because.... I think grandpa is O.P."
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A.N.
Hello!
Hope you all liked the chapter. If there are any issues, leave them in the comment box.
Next chapter will have some action sequences. But not MCs one though.
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Thank you!
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