Chapter 296: The Phantoms Of The Fourth World

The two stood in front of Carl’s parents’ graves, staring at the two tombstones. The air in the cemetery was thick with the scent of damp earth and lingering decay, a stark contrast to the divine truths buried beneath their feet.

​"Are you ready, Carl?" Mirabella asked, and Carl nodded his head, his jaw tight.

​Mirabella nodded, and snapped her fingers, activating the dark dome, which enclosed the two, separating them from the outside world. The energy flared, forming a perfect hemisphere of impenetrable shadow that swallowed the ambient light and silenced the howling wind of the ruined city.

​’No one should know about this... If the bodies aren’t here, this sword academy’s students might tell their teachers.’ She thought, and stretched her hand towards the two graves. Her spirit energy pulsed, sinking into the soil.

​The ground tore opened, and two Brown coffins rose into the air, stopping in front the two. Chunks of dirt cascaded off the polished wood, which remained remarkably pristine despite the passage of time.

​Carl stared at the two coffins, and exhaled deeply:

​"Carl?" Mirabella called in a low voice, worried.

​’Carl has been with me from the start of this life, I now take him as my younger brother... As a big sister, it’s my responsibility to look after him. Is this why I feel so bad seeing how sad he is.’ She thought, staring at Carl’s side profile:

​’He tries to hide it, but he is very bad at it.’ The subtle tremor in his shoulders and the glassy sheen in his eyes betrayed the heavy burden of his grief.

​"I’m okay, Big sister... Can you open the two together?" Carl asked, his gaze not leaving the coffins. He needed to rip the bandage off all at once.

​Mirabella nodded as two celestial guardians moved towards each coffin, and in unison, they pulled it opened.

​"....?!!"

​The two were stunned speechless, staring at the empty coffins. They blinked, their eyes fixed on the golden crystal in each coffin. The gems hummed with a concentrated, otherworldly frequency that resonated deep within their bones.

​"What is this?"

​WHOOSH!

​A golden light shone from the two coffins, illuminating the dark dome with the brilliance of a miniature sun. And before their stunned gazes, a beautiful woman with long golden hair and eyes appeared from the crystal in the mother’s grave, followed by a handsome man with golden eyes and hair, from the man’s coffin. Their spectral forms radiated an ancient, untainted aura that belonged to a much higher realm.

​Although their hair was no longer blonde, and their eyes were golden instead of blue, Carl instantly recognized them. The mundane disguises they had worn in life had shed, revealing their true, ethereal nature.

​"Mother? Father?"

​"Wow!! My son is already grown up!!" The moment the phantom woman heard what Carl said, she instantly beamed with happiness, flying towards him, intending to hug her son, but her hands went through him.

​"This?" She stared at her hand in disbelief, the shimmering golden particles of her projection phasing harmlessly through Carl’s physical body.

​"Oh love, did you forget we’re dead?" The man said, placing his palm on his wife’s shoulder. Even in death, his presence carried the stoic dignity of an ancient warrior.

​"This... But. I want to hold my son." She said in a low voice, staring at Carl with watery eyes. The tragedy of their existence—immortal souls reduced to untouchable echoes—hung heavy in the air.

​"I know... But think for a moment, how did our son knows about what we placed in the coffins and even dug it open?"

"....?!"

​The Lady’s eyes widened in horror, she looked at Carl’s black outfit, staring at the dragon logo on his chest, a symbol of the current brutal reality of their invaded world.

​"No!! It can’t be, Lady Genevieve promised us that Galaxy Fall won’t descend on this planet! That’s why we came here to hide and live a normal life!!" She yelled in shock, her divine aura flickering with distress. The very world they had fled from had found their sanctuary.

​"It seems something happened, and Galaxy Fall descended on Earth." The man muttered, and turned his golden eyes towards Mirabella, analyzing her power.

​"Huh? Who is this?" He moved his gaze on her, and his eyes widened in surprised. The sheer density of her energy was unmistakable. "You have Genevieve’s scent on you, are you her daughter?!" He asked, and Mirabella nodded her head.

​"Correct, Genevieve is my mother, and she already passed away." Mirabella said, her voice steady but carrying a profound underlying sorrow.

​"That’s impossible!" Carl’s mother yelled, the absolute certainty in her voice echoing through the dome:

​"Genevieve is already at the ranks of Gods!! Who can she die?! Besides, no one can kill her, I am sure she shattered her soul and hide away!" She yelled, her words stunning Mirabella.

​’This?! My mother indeed shattered her soul, can she still be alive?’ She thought in shock, her mind racing to re-evaluate everything she knew about her mother’s supposed end, and asked:

​"Mrs Manchester, when did my mother made the promise to protect this world?" She asked, desperate for pieces of the cosmic puzzle.

​"Hmm... That’s when we’re still in the fourth world, after the great war. Thanks to your mother, my husband and I survived... After some years of hiding, your mother discovered this planet, and created a doorway for us. We are the last of our clan, and our enemies were after us due to our pure divinity." She said, detailing a multiverse torn apart by a war so devastating it forced gods to flee. She then turned to Carl, her expression softening into desperate maternal concern:

​"My dear, I can see you already unlocked the first stage of your bloodline. Please, you are still weak, so don’t use your powers. If you do, it will attract powerful enemies... At least reach the fusion stage before using your Powers." She said in a sad tone.

​"So... We, we are actually from the fourth world." Carl asked in disbelief, looking at his feet, his fist clenched. His entire life, his identity as a human of Earth, had been a carefully constructed lie to keep him safe.

​"I am so sorry, love... My time was up, so I couldn’t tell you all these, and you were so young back then, you won’t understand anything. So your father came up with this idea... We believe one day, you will question your origin, and will come back here. I am so glad I can see you are all grown up." She said, as golden tears rolled down her cheeks, weeping for the childhood she had to fabricate for him.

​"Son, our golden Angel clan are the original angels in the whole four worlds, we are the closest to the gods, meaning we can easily break through to higher realms better than anyone else. Well..." He turned to Mirabella, respectfully acknowledging the terrifying lineage standing beside his son:

​"Apart from the Sun family, they’re the Apex of power, our family is the Sun family’s blade." He said.