Within a Hot spring in the Reizon House, Lucius quietly relaxed.
In front of him was a massive blob of golden strings that seemed to be constantly moving and changing, like the tides of fate and destiny.
Even though he was relaxing, his mind was making countless calculations every second trying to control the mini-fate threads in front of him that represented the collective lives of trillions of beings within a lower world.
Even though some might say this was cruel and insensitive, Lucius didn't care, this was a casual form of Law training for him.
The more he applied the theories he had within his mind the more he could understand his Laws and create skills around them.
Ancestor Layla appeared behind Lucius.
"These springs haven't been used since your father left." She said with a reminiscent expression on her face.
"So you were a protector…was it mother or father?"
"Both. After you disappeared they trained me and prepared me for the day you would come back. I'll be accompanying you from now on." She said as a sweet smile appeared on her face.
"How'd they know I was alive? The eldritch curse should've been way out of their league back then."
"Hope. They always believed in your ability and never lost hope."
Lucius heard these words and complicated feelings arose within his heart. He knew there was something amiss with this answer but this wasn't what bothered him.
His relationship with his parents was one so complicated yet beautiful that he didn't want to think about it.
"Are they okay?"
"After they reached the last great realm they both received invitations from 'that place'. Your mother was recruited by her original clan, which has a pretty prestigious reputation over there and your father entered as an irregular."
Great shock assaulted Lucius as he heard those words.
"They're waiting for you. So cheer up!" Even though Lucius never said it or showed it, ancestor Layla could feel a deep sorrow and emptiness within his heart that seemed to eat him from the inside. She was practically raised to protect and cherish Lucius, she couldn't bear to see him like this.
Lucius sighed and leaned back in the hot springs. Even though his heart was lighter now, his worries were still present.
"What about my siblings?"
"They are all at the-"
"Stop… the ties of existence are shaking. We are being observed."
"Humph."
Ancestor Layla snorted and a deep shock wave full of incomprehensible power emanated from her, completely destroying the presence that was peeping.
"So you've reached such power as well…why are you still here?"
"I was waiting for you, Lucius."
Lucius smiled and stayed silent for a moment. It had been a while since someone cared for him in any type of way. Though it was bit creepy to have someone you barely knew care about you as much as Layla did, he was used to worse.
He didn't necessarily miss it but it was nice to have someone by your side.
"Let's wait till I get a bit stronger to talk about that place. Now tell me what's going on with this war?"
"Tensions are rising within the leading true timelines. What sparked the entire thing was the war between the Human Emperor's forces and The Monkey God's forces."
"What could they be fighting for?"
"At first we thought it was just a petty war the Human emperor started due to his previous grudges with the monkey god but we later discovered that this was cover."
She waved her hand and a holographic depiction of the bloody war appeared.
"They found The Enera Excalibur. The real one. And that's not all."
Her palm opened and the hologram changed, showing two individuals within an immense treasury.
Lucius immediately stood up when he saw this, not caring about the fact that he was naked in front of Layla.
"Is that…"
"The Treasury of Pandora."
Lucius looked at Layla with an extremely serious expression. Such news was so big and important even he didn't know what to say.
"How did we even discover their plan?"
"No one knows. The footage was just randomly released by the merchant alliance. When questioned they said some anonymous being sent it to them."
"Multiple runic and forensic experts have analyzed the footage and confirmed that it is legit and this is the actual treasury."
The hologram shifted and multiple images were shown at once.
"Across all true timelines, within their respective firmaments, we've found these summoning circles being drawn by a mysterious entity. No matter what we do we can't erase or destroy them."
"I think these two matters are related."
"What makes you think that?"
"The footage was obviously released by the Human emperor to bait someone or something."
Lucius nodded his head as he had already figured as much.
"If you closely look at the runes drawn, you'll notice they follow the Arthirian pattern and contain a powerful sovereignty that has at least reached Transcendence. Most beings at this level have already left to that place, only five have remained within the true timelines."
"I'm guessing the Human Emperor is one of them?"
"Yes and the Arthirian rune style is a staple of the royal human race. To create a summoning formation of such power and complexity using this runic style you would need to either be its creator or have spent thousands of eons studying it."
"The Human Emperor checks all boxes."
Lucius got out of the spring and a black robe appeared on him as he walked out with a pensive look on his face while ancestor Layla closely followed behind.
"The other major powers immediately attacked and with no surprise, the Human Emperor and Monkey God forgot they were enemies and sided with one another."
"Another huge surprise was the fact that their powers combined could easily withstand the assault of all others combined. They were ready and had been preparing for this. I personally think they've planned this for a very long time."
After dumping all this information on Lucius, Layla gave him a few seconds to think and process this information.
Lucius used all his laws in conjecture as he worked his souls in overdrive to think of the most optimal path forward for the Reizon house.
He was their Patriarch, it was his job to prevent anything from happening to them.
He stayed quiet for a few minutes as they strolled within the immense Reizon estate under the beautiful glow of the night.
He didn't have enough information and context.
"I'm missing too much information. How have the Elders reacted to all this?"
Within the Reizon household, the title of Elder could only be given to beings that reached the peak of the firmaments but didn't have enough talent to reach that place or beings who willingly decided to stay back and protect the House from the shadows.
"Of our 120 elders, 40 are actively participating in the war and the rest have come back waiting for your orders."
Lucius kept walking, his thoughts running at even faster speeds than before. The weight upon his shoulders had just exponentially increased but he was ready to bear it.
The day he cut his veins open and became the Patriarch of his House, he knew times like this would come. Especially within the era he was in.
Layla smiled as she felt the determination and confidence emanating from Lucius. The hole within his heart was slowly being filled and it made her happy.
"Schedule a Grand meeting in a week. For now, let's go to the House affiliates."