Capítulo 138: Book 5: Chapter 12 – Luenna
Cesar's thoughts were too hard to read, as his face showed no emotion. If it weren't for the fact that he was staring right at him, Ace wouldn't be able to sense anything at all. His very presence was like a dark void.
Cesar's emotionless eyes scanned the battlefield, nodding at times and furrowing his brows at others. Not even the pained grunts of his handless disciple did much to distract him.
It was only when his indifferent eyes fell back on Mathias that he opened his mouth for the first time.
"You must be related to that little monkey kid and his master," Cesar speculated aloud. "A mid-staged saint with the comprehension of a prime saint… Not bad."
"And you… To defeat that grand disciple of mine as, despite being three ranks lower and half his age, not bad at all," Cesar nodded before Mathias could voice a reply as his eyes fell on Ace, a hint of interest and amusement flickering through them. "Are you another of that woman's disciples? If not, you could become my disciple. If you do, I'll train you till your strong enough to beat up that cheeky little ape!"
This time, whether it was Ace, Mathias, or even the dumbfounded Silas, who appeared to have just regained consciousness, they all looked speechlessly at the middle-aged man.
He was completely flippant and nonchalant. He could clearly see that hundreds of his men had been killed. Even his grand and personal disciples had been defeated, and yet, he wanted to take one of the perpetrators as his disciple.
This wasn't the attitude one would expect from the so-called king of killers. The only one not surprised by Cesar's actions was Ragnor; he appeared to be very much used to this lazy and carefree master of his.
"So…" Cesar asked again. "What do you say?"
"Sorry," Ace shook his head calmly. "Not interested."
Though still taken aback by Cesar's attitude, he had no interest in taking another master. Not even one as powerful as the Yulan continent's most prolific assassin.
"That's too bad," Cesar sighed regretfully as the most dense and terrifying killing intent Ace had ever felt exploded out of him. "I guess I'll just have to kill you all then."
Ace had felt the killing intent of many powerful individuals, but without fail, they all paled in comparison to the man before him.
Ace's eyes became pinholes as he froze in fright. For the first time since he had comprehended [Observation: Future Sight], he felt like it didn't matter how hard he tried, he could only die in front of Cesar.
It was a such a terrifying feeling that for what felt like the longest three seconds of his life, Ace genuinely forgot to breathe.
Then as if it never existed in the first place, Cesar's horrifying killing intent vanished as quickly as it appeared.
"Ooh, you actually managed to stay on your feet?" Cesar voiced in a congratulatory manner as he flashed an amused smile.
Of the mortals present, only Ace managed to stay on his feet; the others had all fallen to their knees or flat on their faces under Cesar's display of terror.
"Please stop intimidating the children, Cesar,"
As Ace heard the voice of who he immediately recognised to be his master's wife, Arianna, he couldn't help but sigh in relief as he fought to catch his breath.
Looking over his shoulder, he found the reliable figure of the Pavilion's spiritual guardian, her face, as ever, the picture of grace and elegance, as she calmly looked at Cesar admonishingly.
"No need to be so uptight," Cesar replied, his voice still calm, but Ace could sense a faint apprehension. "I was only playing around."
"Playing around?" Arianna asked back. "In that case, I'd like to 'play around' a bit as well."
This time it was Cesar's turn to show fear.
Other than the one who rules over the Forest of Darkness, Cesar had met all the deities on the continent, but it was the woman in front of him who scared him most.
She, like Mathias, was only a mid-staged saint-level warrior and mage, but her true power was simply unfathomable.
He knew that if she wanted him dead, he'd be lucky to last one strike.
Not wanting to lose any more face in this situation, Cesar could only clear his throat and hurriedly change the subject.
"So what's going on here anyway?" Cesar asked as he tossed his disciple off his shoulder, glaring at him threateningly, as if to say he had better fill this awkward silence.
Arianna knew Cesar was trying to change the subject, but she merely smiled and did nothing to embarrass him further.
Ragnor was used to his master's eccentric and shameless behaviour; what shocked him was the genuine fear Cesar tried to hide.
Ragnor had seen his master interact with both the War God and the High Priest at different points in time. Although cautious, Cesar hadn't looked to be scared.
It was then he remembered a caution his master had given him and the other high-ranking members of Sabre after the incident with Wukong.
"Don't look for revenge with that monkey kid or anyone related to him, and if a mission comes in to assassinate him, reject it directly!"
At the time, he and the others had all been surprised as, till now, other than the few deities and prime saints, there was no mission Sabre didn't dare to take on. Whether it was the various world leaders, generals, or saint-level experts, Sabre was willing to take it on.
It was only when speaking to him alone that Cesar explained that Wukong's master was a saint no weaker than himself.
Though surprised that there was a prime saint that Sabre hadn't heard of roaming around the continent, Ragnor didn't think much more about it; after all, each of the prime saints were terrifying figures capable of slaughtering saints like him with ease.
What he didn't even consider was his master's words, "A saint no weaker than me", meant that she was actually stronger, but looking at the way in which his carefree master reacted to this woman's presence, told him everything he needed to know.
Coming to that realisation, Ragnor couldn't help but take another look at the woman standing calmly behind Ace, but no matter how hard he studied her, all he could see was a mid-staged saint.
The only thing that was slightly out of the ordinairy was that she had reached the middle of the saint stage as a mage and a warrior, but she wasn't the first talent to focus on both paths; even the man who'd left him handless was at the same stage.
It was only when he thought back to Mathias' last attack that he realised something strange. 'The profundities infused…
They've reached the Prime Saint level!'
Ragnor's dark eyes almost popped out his socket when he realised that, as it meant that if Mathias were to make another breakthrough and reach the peak of the saint rank, he would directly become a prime saint.
As his comprehension had reached such a stage, there was no reason for him to still be a mid-staged saint… Unless it was by choice!
He didn't know why anyone would choose to keep from breaking through, but as soon as he came to that realisation, he understood that the only way for this mystery woman to be a mid-staged saint but be stronger than his master was if her insights surpassed his own, which would mean her insights were equal to that of a deity.
Upon coming to that realisation, he looked at Arianna as though he were looking at a monster.
If it weren't for his master clearing his throat, he would've continued staring foolishly, forgetting their current situation.
"Sorry," Ragnor said with a newfound respect before turning back to his master. "I was told by one of our members that a young member of the Prey Clan had been captured by one of our assassins in an attempt to please and impress you."
"Impress me?" Cesar snorted disdainfully. "What's impressive about capturing a child?!"
"Because after you slaughtered your way into the Prey clan, you never bothered to explain yourself, and rumours began to circulate about your apparent hatred of that particular branch of the four supreme warrior descendants," Ragnor explained, exasperated by his master's nonchalance. "Since then, any descendant discovered was assassinated by the junior members hoping to do right by you."
Alissa trembled when hearing that. She could only imagine the fear her fellow Pray Clan family members must've felt as they were continuously hunted down.
"Idiots! A bunch of idiots! What kind of foolish idiots have you allowed into my organisation?!" Cesar spat as he continuously cursed his subordinates as though they could hear him. "Pass down an order from me; anyone found to kill a member of the Prey clan for no reason will be executed by me personally!"
"Master…" Ragnor called, only to be ignored.
"I'm guessing the little Prey girl is another of your disciples?" Cesar asked, turning back to Arianna apologetically. "On behalf of my stupid subordinates, I apologise. You have my word; she will be free from any further attempts on her life by my organisation."
"MASTER!" Ragnor shouted.
"What? Why are you screaming like a child?!" Cesar snapped back frustratedly. "Can't you see I'm talking here?"
"I know, but I wasn't finished explaining," Ragnor sighed.
"What more is there to say?" Cesar rolled his eyes.
As far as he was concerned, the quicker they sorted this mess out, the sooner he could leave and get as far away from the monster in front of him as possible.
"Look at her," Ragnor said, motioning towards the silver-haired teen who was the cause of all the commotion. "Doesn't she look a little… Familiar?"
"Familiar? Why would…" The moment Cesar stopped to really pay attention to the little Tigerstriped warrior, he couldn't help but freeze in disbelief.
Alissa had been listening intently, hoping to gleam any bit of information she could about her background, but till now, she was left with more questions than actual answers.
Still, she didn't dare to interrupt. Though she was effectively the topic of conversation, she knew she was too weak to interject, and she didn't dare do anything to annoy the 'King of Killers', but before she could react, Cesar had disappeared from his original position, only to appear in front of her.
Alissa hadn't been the only one too slow to react. Despite paying constant attention to the dark-robed killer, Killian, who was standing right beside his 'classmate', had only noticed Cesar's appearance after it was too late.
Still, he reacted instinctively by swinging his axe with all his might, a ferocious glint flashing through his eyes as he ignored the obvious difference in strength.
Unfortunately, the difference in strength couldn't be closed just by wishing it so. Despite being a mighty warrior in his own right, the blade of his trusted battle axe shattered upon making contact with Cesar's body doing absolutely no damage to anyone but himself as his arms numbed under the impact.
Cesar, though, didn't seem to notice the boy's attempt. His full attention was solely on the silver-haired teen.
Though shocked and terrified by the sudden development, Alissa didn't find the killing intent or anger she had expected. In fact, if she didn't know better, she would've sworn the so-called 'King of Killers' was looking at her with hesitation, disbelief, and even affection.
"Your mother," Cesar asked softly. "What was your mother's name?"
It took everything Alissa had to stay standing; her emotions were too chaotic to even think about replying.
"Your mother's name," Cesar said gently, not minding her inability to respond. "Was your mother's name, Luenna?"
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Book 7: Chapter 6 – True Overlord
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