Chapter 1019

"....."

The silence that descended upon the town was deafening.

By now, all the townspeople had completely evacuated, leaving Grey behind on his knees beneath the giant flying ships floating ominously in the sky.

Gustav was now standing after blasting his throne away.

His men stood around him like a protective shield.

The silence stretched for several minutes as Grey struggled to process everything he had just heard.

His whole life had been a complete lie.

Everything he thought he knew and believed in was a total falsehood.

His entire existence had been engineered by the man standing directly before him.

Not just him, even that damned Celestial had been using him as a mere pawn.

Everybody had been playing him like a ball without feelings, pushing and pulling at their own goals without a single consideration of his own thoughts and emotions.

He was simply a pawn in everyone’s game. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

And in the process, he had lost so many loved ones that he simply didn’t know how to feel right now.

"I see...."

Grey finally found his voice after minutes of listening to Gustav rant again and again.

Slowly lifting his head, he looked deep into the leader of the Otherworlders’ yellow eyes.

"... Tell me one thing. Di-Did you ever genuinely love mum? Di-Did you ever for once genuinely care about your family and son?"

"..."

Gustav thought for a few seconds, then the corner of his lips twitched in dark amusement.

"Well, what do you think? Did I?"

Grey kept searching the man’s eyes for anything—something he could use to justify everything he had been through.

Years of suffering. Years of pain. Years of rigorous training for an enemy he thought he knew but didn’t.

"I-I-I was called a cripple for years. While my peers had all been flaunting their magical affinities, I couldn’t.

I was bullied, beat around continuously by those who shouldn’t be able to even lace my shoes.

You knew about it. You kept pacifying me repeatedly that it would all be okay.

You were right there, seeing and listening to the shades, remarks, and taunts against me and the family, but you said nor did anything. For what? Revenge? What was the revenge even about?"

Grey coughed out a mouthful of blood again as he glared at Gustav.

"... Because your damned fame was taken away from you? You killed your wife and made your own biological son go through hell because you had a spat with your former friends?

You destroyed worlds and planets because of what? You wanted fame? You wanted to dominate? You wanted to prove something to your former friends?

And then you come over here to try and justify all this?! ARE YOU MAD?!" Grey bellowed in deep rage that couldn’t seemingly be calmed down by mere words anymore.

"...."

Gustav stared at his son’s raw rage with a completely indifferent expression on his face.

"They have always called me a madman for my vision," he uttered before looking down at his crackling hands.

No remorse nor guilt resided in his words as he smirked.

"So... maybe I’m mad indeed."

"...."

The eerie silence stretched out far longer than it should have as Grey pushed himself back up to his feet.

He staggered around for a split second, a blank look on his face as he stared down at the ground.

"Ah... I guess I inherited two things from you, pops." Grey lifted his head to look at a thoroughly confused Gustav.

A sudden smirk crossed his face as the supposed gaping holes in his chest and abdomen could be seen... dissolving?

It was like pixels... glitters scattering harmlessly into the air.

’Huh?’

Soon enough, it vanished, and in its place, Grey was... was perfectly healed?

’No. That’s not right.’

The injuries were never there to begin with.

His clothes were perfectly restored and didn’t even look like they had been ripped through in the first place.

The trail of blood around his lips was completely gone.

So too was the massive pool of blood beneath his feet.

They had all vanished into thin air like they never even existed to begin with.

That was the exact moment Gustav’s eyes widened in sudden realization.

’Illusion magic? A high-level one at that for it to successfully fool me? But ho—’

His sharp gaze immediately snapped to the grand building seven metres behind Grey that loomed heavily in the backdrop, his mind instantly flashing back to a few minutes ago.

He could vividly recall Grey looking toward that building a few times.

Even before the blade had stabbed through his torso, the warrior mage had been subtly tracking that structure.

Then, the reinforced glass of the building shattered outwardly as a thick tree branch burst through the frame.

A slender figure stood atop the branch as it shot forward, coming to a halt directly behind the warrior mage.

Elara!

Grey smirked, completely relaxed.

"I’m always thinking ahead, father. I’m not just a genius in terms of raw magic, but in wit and tactical deception too."

Rolling his neck around with a wide smile, he pointed directly at Gustav, who now wore a deep, frustrated frown on his face.

"... What did you think? That I wouldn’t anticipate that the leader of this damned organization would attempt to finish me fast? Ha! You see... the moment you displayed two of your affinities, I knew there had to be a third."

Grey stretched his arms exasperatedly, his confidence returning in full force.

"I recalled visiting the Emperor’s chambers and saw a painting of a hooded man using the lightning affinity to take down massive beasts.

Knowing this, and figuring out that the man before me was an Original, I easily decoded that there was no way two separate Originals would wield the identical primary affinity.

Hence, that particular power was specifically meant for you. Which was precisely why I had Elara cast a high-grade illusion beforehand. Good thing I brought her along for the ride."

Upper Zodiac One leaned in slightly with a visible smile behind his ornate mask.

"He definitely got your genes and brain. He really is your son. Haha!"

"..."

There were a few tense moments of silence before a cold smile slowly curved Gustav’s face.

"Ah... a lion doesn’t birth a dog. But my son, how exactly do you plan to cope against my true prowess?"

Lifting his hand to the sky and swinging it back down in a sharp motion, Gustav signaled his forces.

Grey followed the trajectory of his arm, and right there, the hidden men laying in wait within the flying ships began leaping down like militants from a helicopter embarking on a precise surgical mission.

They were jumping down with incredibly fluid agility and combat precision.

Within a single minute, Grey’s eyes beheld more than two hundred thousand men.

Warriors and formidable mages alike stood before him, and with them came thousands of beasts that could be said to come directly from one’s worst horrors.

These were mutated beasts of all shapes and sizes.

Thousands and thousands of them further added to the terrifying numbers the enemy brought with them.

All these forces stood firmly behind Gustav, just a few inches away from the elite Zodiacs, who didn’t even shift into any defensive stances at all as they kept watching the unfolding scene.

Grey’s eyes scanned the vast enemy army as their numbers sprawled extensively across the terrain, emitting an overwhelming physical pressure and a suffocating aura.

The deep growls from the beasts echoed out through the empty town like the low groans of ancient, waking horrors.

"Oh my son, what shall you do now?"

"..."

Grey simply beamed as he lifted his own hand and then clicked his fingers a few times in succession.

"I will summon my own backup, dad."

Ashen portals began appearing all around the town, specifically stabilizing a metre away from the Supreme Magus.

Two dozen ashen portals yawned wide open, and from their depths, roars could be heard that shook the very earth as waves of battle-ready men surged out.

Weapons were drawn in their hands, and they were being led directly by all of Grey’s trusted allies from Vayun to Arondale.

Men continuously surged out of the rifts.

Some of the portals appeared strategically atop the buildings in the background, with heavy cannons immediately being set up on the flat roofs.

Within five minutes, the portals finally vanished, and stepping forward, all of his loyal allies proudly flanked him.

High in the air, Kira—the legendary lightning phoenix—hovered with burning wings.

On the ground, flanking the Supreme Magus while the massive army stood behind them, were his top commanders: Leo, Gunther, Thalos, Mada, Rivock, Fenrir, Alba, Killian, Lilly, Randin, Amir, Scarlet, Greg, Raze, Kael, Arthur, Jay, Vanica, Charlotte, Viktor, Sol, Lyra, Max, and Dante.

Mages and seasoned warriors alike shifted into their respective battle stances as they stared directly ahead at the enemy with immense focus.

Gustav smirked, genuinely amused by the display.

"Seems you have been quite busy."

Lifting his hand once more, he snapped his fingers, and almost immediately, his massive army surged forward with loud, thunderous roars that shook the ground violently.

Grey remained utterly calm as he lifted his hand high to the sky.

"MAGUS LEGION!" Grey shouted aloud, his booming voice carrying over the entire battlefield like a seasoned military commander.

CRACK—! BANG!

A massive lightning sword screamed down from the heavens directly into his waiting grasp.

Gripping the massive weapon tightly and pointing it forward toward the oncoming tide, he uttered chillingly.

"... Rain Chaos."

— AAAAAAAAAAH!

Grey’s men darted forward to meet the enemy head-on, the earth shaking with every single pound of their feet.