Chapter 556 - 554: Leo.

Chapter 556: Chapter 554: Leo.

"Old fuck. You’re drooling," I pointed out, as Father seemed to have been spellbound by Mother’s smile.

"Oi! Shut up and let me appreciate Art. When have you ever seen anything more radiant or beautiful?" Father asked, obviously trying to bask in the misleading belief that he’d somehow one-upped me in the partner department.

No doubt, Mother was beautiful—the most beautiful there was—but,

"Look again, old man, heh!"

"What?"

"Ravena... Clarissa, dear sisters, it’s been a long time," Mother addressed, her voice shutting down whatever questions the old man had for me.

"Fufufufu... Sera, my love, even death couldn’t reduce your beauty. Look at how you’re glowing. Or is just the after-effect of reuniting with your son?"

"Hahahaha... it might be both, Clarissa," Mother laughed, hugging Clarissa tightly.

"Who are you kidding? You’ve always been the most attractive wherever you entered," Aunt V smiled, giving Mother a hug as well.

"Ravena, your words are misleading. I mean, have you two seen yourselves? I almost didn’t recognize you two; you’re stunning."

"Fufufufu... I know. My dearest husband takes good care of me," Clarissa smiled coyly.

"Ehh!?" Both Mother and Father stood shocked at those words.

"Husband? You!? Who’s the unlucky fellow?" Father burst out like a cat with its tail stepped on.

"Regulus.... What’s that supposed to mean?" Clarissa asked with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

"Ehh.. don’t get me wrong. You’re a... umm... well, you’re a woman, so that’s one thin—"

BANG!!!

A blow to the face sent the old man flying.

"Regulus... still can’t control that mouth of yours, can you?"

"Ughh... see? That’s my point. You’re batshit crazy. Only someone absolutely mad can even think of... ehh? Dante? What the fuck are you doing?"

I gave the old man a mean grin as I appeared between Clarissa and Aunt V.

"Old man, didn’t you say you wanted to know what I’ve been eating to get this big?" My smile widened.

"No..."

"Fufufufu... my darling, are you sure he can handle the answer? You know he’s too green for some things," Clarissa cooed.

"No.. no.. my love. We need to enlighten the ancient fucker."

My arms wrapped around Clarissa as I pulled her into a deep kiss.

"Mmm~~~...." Her eyes closed as she wrapped her arms around me, our kiss deepening.

"Haa... satisfying," I breathed out, licking my lips as I turned to the flabbergasted old man. "That... is why I’m big and healthy."

The expression on the old man was priceless.

Mother, for all her own worth, was only shaking her head helplessly—not the reaction I had expected, as she seemed categorically unfazed. The old man, on the other hand...

"No... it can’t be..."

He was still stuck in denial, his eyes shaken. "My own son... he... he..."

Clarissa was already smiling victoriously, enjoying the old man’s dilemma, until—

"He likes cougars!!! And crazy cougars at that!! What happened!? Where did it all go wrong!? My life is ov—"

BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!

Three fists immediately pelted the old man, sending his body flying through space as Aunt V, Clarissa, and surprisingly even Sana, who had been silent all this while, attacked.

"Oi!! Who the hell are you calling a cougar!?" Sana yelled.

"Eyy!? Sana, that’s the part that bothers you? He just called you crazy, too."

Elira had to make the matter worse, bringing to the girl’s attention the other part of the conversation.

"Ra.. Ravena? Wha? Why?"

"Big brother..." Aunt V already had a vein pulsing at her temples as she balled her fist tightly, "it seems you still don’t know how to talk properly."

"Wait... wait... wait... if you’re acting like this, then does that mean..."

He turned to look at me. I was already behind Elira, my arms around her waist, smirking. "Dante.. that kid... he... you.. and this woman... and that one too?"

I could see the old man fall into a spiral of confusion as his brain short-circuited, and then he spoke words that sealed his fate:

"HE GOT SO MANY WOMEN AND I ONLY GOT ONE??? HOW’S THAT FAIR!?"

"Oops..." I stepped back faster than thought as the region seemed to get a few degrees colder.

"Ahh.. Reggie... poor Reggie... looks like you’ll be returning to the afterlife sooner than expected," Aunt V shook her head.

"Fufufufu... at least now he might learn how to talk. That’s if he survives what’s coming," Clarissa laughed.

"Humph! I still have a bone to pick with this bastard, but I guess I’ll let the crazy woman handle it this time."

Even Sana moved aside as the hurricane arrived.

"Regulus... what did you just say?"

The calm voice of Mother was one even I dreaded, for that was a voice I was glad was never used on me, since it usually preludes a fate not many would wish to see.

"Sera... Sera.. calm down.. I.. I just.."

The poor old man couldn’t even speak properly before—

BANG!!

"Ahh.. Sera!! Wait!! Wait!!"

BANG!!!

"Mother, use this!"

I tossed over a massive club I’d created, denying any sort of weight whilst raising its effective damage-dealing capacity.

"Thank you, my love."

"No worries, Mother. I’ve got you."

"DANTE!! YOU LITTLE SHI—"

BANG!! BANG!! BANG!!

"Sera!! You’ll kill me again at this rate... wait, please!!"

"Then die, you piece of scum!"

BANG!!!

"Ahhhh!!!"

...

"Damn... Dante, your mother is..." Malachi tried finding the words, but—

"Don’t worry, Aunt Seraphina gets like that sometimes. She can be sweet, but also very scary when she wants to be," Leo did the explaining.

"I suddenly feel like we’ll be having a lot of explaining to do about a lot of things," Paku muttered, and I couldn’t help but agree.

Don’t get me wrong, but I was sure once this reunion high was over, I would be having a lot to answer for, like...

"Se.. Sera... you... before you kill me, at least look at your son properly. He’s got... he’s got tattoos."

"Damn that old man."

I snapped out of my thoughts, only to see the old man giving me a weak yet victorious smile.

"Shit... Mother.. I can..."

"Hmmm?"

Mother turned, about to speak, when her eyes landed on—"Leo?"

The chicken-cat froze like a deer facing headlights.

"Leo? Is that... you?" she asked, a tremble in her voice.

"Aunt Seraphina... it.. Haa... it’s me," he sighed, his wings folding.

"Little Leo?"

Father recovered almost instantly as he appeared beside me, his eyes scanning the golden griffin. "Why are you in this form?"

"Godfather..." the chicken-cat greeted.

"Bahh... I didn’t ask for your greetings, kid. I’m asking why you’re in this form," Father waved off his greeting.

"I... I’m more comfortable like this."

"Leo... have you... have you relapsed? Did the dreams return?"

Mother’s voice was weak, sadness dripping down her tone, as suddenly I found myself snapping to attention.

"Aunt Sera.. no. The dreams stopped long ago. Father... he made sure I didn’t wallow in that headspace again."

"And yet, my boy, I still feel a dense wave of despair and agony from you. And is that... fear?" Father’s expression sharpened. "No.. that’s not it..."

His expression turned curious. "Weaponized? Fear... weaponized?"

"Damn..."

"Okay. More than your sailor mouths, I can see the relation between you two now; his senses are insane," even Shaia was surprised.

"Boy... what have you been up to since I was gone?" Father asked, an intriguing expression on his face.

"A lot... Godfather... a lot. Father almost went feral when he learned the news of your death," the chicken-cat shook his head weakly.

Father was about to reply, but—

"Leo... you say you haven’t relapsed, but you still refuse to face me properly," Mother’s voice cut through their conversation as Father moved aside.

"Aunt Seraphina, can... can I not? I’m more comfortable like this," he tried to protest, but—

"Nonsense! I want to see my cute Leo. You must be all grown up by now, fufufu... come, let me see, let me see."

"This..."

"Hoho? This little fucker of mine hasn’t seen your face yet, has he? Hahahahaha!!!" Father laughed. "No wonder you two haven’t torn each other apart yet. Heh! Go ahead, little Leo, show us that beautiful face of yours."

"Godfather... can you stop?"

Now I was curious. With the way Mother’s eyes were shining and Father’s smile was provocative, there seemed to be something about Leo’s face that was quite the sight.

"Heh! Chicken-cat, go ahead. You claimed to be on par with that freak in looks, so show us the moneymaker," Malachi goaded.

"Hehehehe... he dared to lecture us, now we get to see what he’s been hiding all this while," Paku joined in.

"Haa.. this is stupid," the chicken-cat sighed, shooting Mother a pleading look, but—

"Hmmm.. hmmm..." Mother’s eyes merely sparkled even brighter as she spread her arms in a waiting gesture, boxing the chicken-cat in.

"Haa... fine. Have it your way."

A golden light engulfed Leo’s figure as he approached Mother, yet the moment the light went out—

"What the fuck!?"

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A/N: I wonder what dude’s face looked like. Who can guess? Anyways...

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Thanks for reading...