*Crack*
Emperor Carnet looked over at where the sound came from only to notice that it was a Life Bead belonging to his foremost researcher. One that he went to painstaking lengths to keep alive no matter what.
"Damnit! How? Who let her kill herself!?" He shouted in a fit as he quickly started heading towards the door.
*Crack*
*Crack* *Crack*
From inside of the box that he kept and just before he stepped out of the room, he began to hear Life Beads shattering one after the other. Soon they were breaking by the dozen until the box was filled with nothing but cracked glass marbles, no longer holding their magical nature.
The emperor threw the box at the wall as he stormed out of the room before winding his way through an underground maze. He stopped at a dead-end and began to infuse his mana into the floor at his feet, at least he tried to.
"FUCK! Even the teleportation formation on the other side was destroyed!? How?!"
Just as he was about to destroy the entire place due to his anger, the teleportation formation lit up with a greenish glow and a man wearing white and golden robes appeared on the spot. As soon as he saw the emperor staring at him, he bowed at his waist and spoke.
"Your Majesty."
"Heinrick! What happened? Why did all of the Life Beads break?" The emperor asked heatedly.
"The facility has been destroyed…by the Death God. I don't know how he found it, but he obliterated everything with his wicked black fire. I've seen flames like that before, many years back at the healing convention." Heinrick, the former Head Royal Healer of Carnet turned undead minion by Mitas answered.
"So, you know who he is?"
"Unfortunately, no. The Death God was wearing a hood that covered his face quite well. If I'm honest, he's far too powerful to be the individual I saw only a bit over a decade ago anyway. That kid was only a 4th stage and looked on the brink of death when he escaped, I doubt it's him. My best guess would be his father or an older relative seeking revenge." Heinrick answered his honest opinion.
"Damnit! Why now of all times! We were just starting to make progress on this phase of research! Speaking of the projects, were you able to save any of the materials we were planning to use for me? What about that woman's most recent journals?"
"Unfortunately, due to no longer having my dimensional ring, I was only able to save a single material and its required sub-ingredients within my storage bag. As for Lydia's notes, no I wasn't able to get any. I barely got away if I'm honest. I managed to activate the teleportation node just moments before the fire got to them."
"Which one were you able to get away with?" Emperor Carnet asked in a hurry as the materials he was referring to were things he had painstakingly collected over thousands of years and was only finally able to make use of when Lydia's original research was released.
"The Phoenix Heart Your Majesty. In the moment, I decided that it was the most important one to your power and saved it."
"Good! Good! Well done Heinrick! If only that lich bastard hadn't stolen you from me!"
"I too regret no longer being able to call you my liege Your Majesty." Heinrick frowned as he spoke. Even though it had been over a decade, he still hadn't come to terms with his undeath. At a glance, he looked alive and well, but his insides spoke a different tale.
"Let's begin the procedure immediately then! I'll show that so-called God of Death what it is to mess with me and my Carnet Empire! Then I'll take what should have belonged to me in the first place and become unstoppable! I'll rule over this world like I was always meant to!"
Heinrick bowed once more while speaking, "I'll begin the operation preparations right away Your Majesty."
When Heinrick walked away, the emperor mumbled to himself, "Thankfully Mitas lent me Heinrick for a time or else all would have been lost. Fucking Death God, whoever you are…I'll make you pay for destroying everything I've built up. I'll take everything away from you once I know who you are."
…
After destroying the research facility, Lydia's prison for the last 15 or more years, Kayn summoned the Wanderer's Villa and headed straight for his mana gathering room. He obtained a single 6th stage core from the facility. He would have had two if the one he killed didn't sacrifice himself to give the other time to escape using a teleport formation.
Kayn recognized the one who got away, and he had a bone to pick with him for starting all of this. He could sense that the man was no longer among the living, but once Kayn found him, he would be sure that the former Head Healer joined the dead permanently. Devouring the core, Kayn sat and rotated the Void Star technique.
He was ready. He felt confident that he could kill the Carnet Emperor. This last little boost would just be the icing on the cake.
Soon, the finale would begin.
…
"Hey Grandma Charlotte! Have you seen the news of this Death God that has been terrorizing the Lavanth continent? He seems super strong! I'm glad we aren't there though, it wouldn't be good to get caught up in one of his massacres." Lara said as she burst into Charlotte's study room.
A growing beauty, Lara was in the latter half of her teens now even closing in quickly on the 2nd stage. Charlotte didn't let her practice using her mana much and only allowed her to study it. She even had to set up a specific room for Lara to practice in just in case.
Charlotte didn't explain everything to her, but she was firm and strict about Lara not using mana outside of that room. Lara didn't understand why as Charlotte refused to explain it to her, but she was lenient with almost anything else, so Lara followed her rules without fail.
"Lara, how many times have I told you to not barge into my room without knocking?" Charlotte scolded the bright and bubbly teenager. Despite most likely losing her brother and only remaining family a couple years ago she only displayed a happy face in public, but Charlotte knew that she still cried behind closed doors some nights.
"Sorry Grandma Charlotte, I'll try not to do it again." Lara sheepishly apologized.
"No, though, I haven't heard about this Death God of Lavanth. I've been a bit busy with research so I haven't paid attention to the news at all. How did you get ahold of an article from Lavanth anyway?"
"One of the street stalls. I always buy a bunch of the different ones to see what's happening, and to see if there is any mention of Brother…"
"Lara, we've discussed this. The chances are extremely low that he's still alive, or even in this world if he is." Charlotte spoke with a sigh as she and Lara had been over this many times.
"I know! But look at this!" Lara said as she dropped the article in front of Charlotte for her to read. "Didn't you say that my brother could use all of the elements and was the only one you knew who was able to do that in recorded history?"
Rather than looking down at the article, Charlotte looked up at Lara. "I did say that. Why?"
Lara only pointed at the article, to which Charlotte responded by quickly reading through it and mumbling to herself. "All elements…feats never thought conceivable…controls the elements like a god…savior or murderer…estimated death toll nearing one billion?!? Oh, it's mostly undead, but still over hundred million? This Death God didn't just kill mages, he slaughtered any involved…how ruthless."
Charlotte looked up from the article only to be surprised by Lara's expectant face.
"Well?" Lara asked.
"Well, what? If you think this Death God is your brother, I'm sorry, but I don't think so. This person is just too powerful. They must have come from another lower world, which is why I haven't heard of them before. It's not impossible to travel between worlds, just incredibly difficult.
"I never told you this as I didn't want to douse your hopes, but Kayn's chances of getting back here were…close to zero. He was on a world devoid of mana. If given enough time, maybe he could make it back, but that fast and coming back as powerful as the Death God? Highly unlikely. I'm sorry to dash your hopes child.
"Say this Death God was Kayn, would you still be able to treat him as your brother and love him as you do, even knowing he has enough bodies under his feat to create a mountain?"
"Of course I would love him! I'm sure he has his reasons! The article even stated that he has saved millions from slavery and the clutches of the undead! I don't think the Death God is a bad person, he's just in a bad situation that requires extreme actions. If he turns out to be my brother, then I'll do everything I can to help him! What about you Grams? Would you still respect my brother if he turns out to be the Death God?" Lara replied instantly and then asked her own question.
"I have no qualms with people who kill for a reason. You don't reach my age and prowess without blood on your hands either. It will just depend on his mentality when he finds us. But that begs the question, if it is your brother, why didn't he come find us first thing?" Charlotte questioned as this was another doubt that kept her from thinking the Death God was Kayn.
"Maybe he just wanted to help those people first? I'm sure brother Kayn would have gathered information on us, and if he knew we were safe, why not help them out first?"
"Haha silly girl. You truly don't understand your brother's care and devotion to you, do you? I know he's been out of your life longer than he was in it, but he set everything up for you. Everything he did, he kept you in mind and stated several times that all he cared about was keeping you safe."
Charlotte chuckled at the girl who didn't even understand how much her brother cared for and loved her. She was quite certain there wasn't much that Kayn wouldn't do for his sister. Her words had the opposite effect to what she was expecting though.
Lara soon began to tear up, but still mumbled out some words, "At least you responded better than Kinzie did. It's like she's completely moved on from Kayn! How could she do that when we don't know if he's for sure gone?"
"Oh, you went to see her before me huh?" Charlotte jokingly accused.
"Well…I just thought she would be a little more excited…but she said that if the Death God was Kayn, she wouldn't be able to look at him the same. Also, she said something about her fears coming true if that was the case." Lara dejectedly replied.
"That's understandable for her though Lara. Think about it. The boy she knew and loved grew up into a machine of war that seeks out enemies to kill. Not everyone can come to terms with that much death. Even if she has killed some herself, she didn't slay more than a few hundred and that was all in the chaos of battle.
"This Death God on the other hand has sought out the enemy, and slaughters them without remorse. According to that article, he even killed some of the children. Who knows when they will stop killing, what if once they finish with Carnet and Inmortuae, they turn to the regular citizens. We don't know if they are actually a Devil that needs to kill for some forbidden way to grow stronger.
"I am glad to hear that Kinzie is finally starting to think of her own future. Knowing what she fears, it's a good first step for her. Even if the Death God turns out to be Kayn, it's probably easier for her just to think he did die back then."
"How can you say that? Just like me, Kayn had you take her with you! He obviously cares for her just like does for me! Why can't she love him the same!?" Lara argued as her anger at Kinzie burst to the surface. She felt betrayed that Kinzie was moving on from her brother already. Kinzie even told her that she had a date coming up!
"Lara, you must understand, Kinzie must have realized that even if Kayn comes back, their relationship was destined to fail. Kayn was…possibly is, meant for great things. The heights he would have reached in his lifetime are unfathomable.
"Kinzie on the other hand? She has already crested her limit. She's probably gone a little beyond it, but much further isn't possible for her. You'll learn as you get older, but everyone has a limit to their growth in one way or the other. For Kinzie, that limit is the 3rd stage.
"Kayn will leave this world one day, and I doubt he would want to leave behind his lover. He would stay here, hampering his own growth just to watch her wither away and die. Her fear is that his growth is too fast for them to actually have a relationship before the time comes when he should leave her. She would feel guilty and fear that Kayn would resent her. Knowing your brother, he will understand the situation quite quickly if he ever comes back. Does that make sense?"
Charlotte spoke in a motherly tone as she did her best to help Lara understand the situation. Unfortunately, Lara was a teenage girl who hadn't experienced much of life yet, so she was hard to convince.
"Hmph! She can just regret throwing away someone like my brother forever then!" Lara scoffed as she stomped out of the room and slammed the door.
"Haaaa…children…" Charlotte sighed, but turned back to her research. She was close to finishing the project, but she needed to hurry. Lara would reach the 2nd stage very soon, and she needed to finish the aura dampener artifact she was working on before that happened.