Chapter 821: Together again

Ten years later...

A man sat leisurely on a mountaintop, enjoying the breathtaking scenery all around him.

Clouds drifted beneath his feet, parting occasionally to reveal a vast forest stretching toward the horizon. A river wound between the mountains, its waters flashing gold beneath the afternoon sun. Farther away, enormous beasts moved through the trees, their calls carrying faintly on the wind.

The man lifted a cup to his lips. His golden crimson eyes observing everything silently.

Behind him, a group of children was playing.

Their laughter carried across the mountaintop, occasionally interrupted by a shout of protest whenever someone decided the rules no longer suited them.

"That doesn’t count! You used your wings!"

"You used roots!"

"Roots aren’t flying!"

Damon took another sip of tea.

A small girl with pointed ears stood beside a rock, her hands on her hips. Above her, a boy hovered with two tiny crimson wings beating furiously behind him. Several vines had wrapped around his ankle, preventing him from getting very far.

The other children watched with great interest. One was taking bets.

Damon glanced toward him. The child immediately hid the handful of mana stones behind his back.

"Really?" Damon asked.

"I was holding them for everyone."

"How responsible of you." He then laughed and called the boy over. "Come here, you little scammer."

The boy approached cautiously, keeping his hands behind his back.

Damon held out his palm. After a moment of hesitation, the boy deposited three mana stones into it.

Damon waited. Two more appeared. He continued waiting. The boy sighed and emptied his pockets.

"An impressive amount of responsibility," Damon said, examining the little pile. "And what were you going to give them if they won?"

The boy leaned closer. "I would tell whoever lost had cheated, so all bets had to wait until the next round."

Damon stared at him. Then he burst out laughing.

The child smiled, encouraged.

"Absolutely not," a woman’s voice said behind them. The boy’s smile disappeared.

Kate walked onto the mountaintop, her gaze moving from the mana stones in Damon’s palm to the child standing beside him.

Damon cleared his throat. "I was just explaining how unacceptable this is."

"You were laughing." She held out her hand to the boy. "Return everyone’s stones."

"Mom..."

"Duke, you cannot cheat your brothers and sisters. They are your family. You have to take care of them."

Duke looked toward the others, then back at his mother. "Can I cheat people who aren’t family?"

Damon turned his face away, laughing.

"Damon," Kate warned.

"I didn’t say anything."

"You’re shaking."

He set his cup down and cleared his throat. "Your mother is trying to teach you something. Pay attention."

Kate gave him a look before crouching in front of their son. "No, Duke. You cannot cheat other people either."

"What if they cheat me first?"

"Then you come to us."

The boy considered that. "Will Dad eat them?"

This time, Damon couldn’t help himself. Kate closed her eyes as his laughter rang across the mountaintop.

"Return the stones," she said.

Duke took the little pile from his father and hurried away before the conversation could become any less favorable.

Kate straightened and turned toward Damon. "Not a word," she said.

He held up both hands. She sat beside him, accepting the cup he poured for her. For a while, they watched Duke reluctantly refund his brothers and sisters.

There appeared to be some disagreement over the amounts. The little girl with pointed ears held up two fingers. Duke held up one. She pointed toward Kate. Duke immediately produced the second stone.

"He’ll be fine," Damon said.

"He will be, provided someone stops encouraging him."

Kate shook her head, though a smile finally escaped her. Damon slid an arm around her waist and drew her closer. She settled against him, her hair brushing his cheek.

"It’s almost time, my love," Kate mumbled.

"Yes, I know." Damon smiled. He had been waiting for this for a long time now. "Shall we go?" He stood up and offered a hand to Kate. She accepted it with a nod. Together, the two of them disappeared from the mountaintop.

They appeared inside a cavern somewhere. The entire place was filled with several formations and treasures.

"Are you ready, hubby?" Aurora walked over and gave Damon a big kiss. Her twelve wings glowed brightly, showing her excitement.

Damon hummed. "Shall we start?"

The ritual started, and soon enough, a powerful wave of energy rippled. A blood-red beam shot up to the sky, golden runes dancing everywhere. A moment later, a slender figure stepped out of the red beam.

It was a beautiful woman with crimson hair and crimson eyes. She flashed her eyes open, shock and disbelief filling them. "I... How is this possible?" She gasped, touching herself.

Damon took a step forward. He smiled warmly, opening his arms wide and giving a big hug. "Welcome back, little red. I have missed you."

Bloodreign froze. Crimson tears spilled from her crimson eyes as she saw Damon and recognized his aura. "My liege... you became a God..."

"Yes, my dear. I did."

She then looked around at everyone. Aurora, Kate, Mark, Lirae, Erin, everyone was here. Moreover, everyone was a God... she became utterly stunned.

Damon chuckled and guided her outside. "Come. Let’s go home."

"Yes, master." Blood Reign smiled.

Everyone teleported back, leaving just Damon and Blood Reign. "Do you want to take the scenic route with me?"

"Yes, master."

The two of them flew all around the new world. Damon explained her how he created a superior world by combining the Venom King’s inner world with Azuna and earth and how everyone lived here now. He told her everything that happened since the Gods confronted him on earth.

Blood Reign quietly nodded as she observed everything.

Soon they arrived at an enormous castle. In fact, the word castle did not even begin to cut it. The entire building sprawled like a mountain range. It was enormous and luxurious, not sparing even the tiniest bit of detail.

"I have a separate wing just for you." Damon led her to her personal quarters.

Blood Reign paused for a moment and looked in the distance where a cat lazily napped. It was Nox. She brows shot up in surprise as she saw that even the little guy was a God now.

"Come in." Damon led her to a beautifully furnished living room.

Blood Reign sat down in a daze and a moment later, tears once again dripped from her eyes. "Master... I... I am sorry."

Damon sat next to her and held her hand. "What is wrong? Does it hurt anywhere? Do you not like the humanoid body? Would you have preferred something else?"

"No. No. Its perfect master." Blood Reign shook her head. "Its not that... Its just I was not there to help you... It is my sole purpose to pave the way for your ascension and yet I failed-"

"Idiot." Damon smiled. "What are you talking about? From the beginning it was you who helped me the most."

"But master... You must have wasted a lot of treasures to bring me back like this."

"Heh... little red... have you forgotten... you brought me back. Now i am just returning the favour."

"And a waste? You don’t think that I still need you? Let me tell you something else. If you feel like you have missed everything while you were asleep you better think again. Do you remember that small pebble we found back in the game world? Do you remember how you helped me harvest some sort of ancient energy from that stone? Something that helped me evolve my bloodline?"

Blood Reign nodded seriously. She remembered that unique energy too.

"It turns out that single strand of energy is more important than all the gods I swallowed."

Blood Reign stared at him.

Damon raised his free hand. A thin strand of energy appeared above his palm, so faint that she might have missed it if she hadn’t been looking directly at it.

The moment she sensed it, her fingers tightened around his. "That..."

It was the same presence she remembered from the pebble. Back then, they had barely managed to extract a trace of it. She had known it was extraordinary, but neither of them had possessed the strength to understand what they had found.

Now Damon was a god.

And he was still looking at that strand with caution.

"What is it, master?"

Damon smiled. "Something that convinced three very unpleasant creatures not to eat me."

Blood Reign swallowed.

"So... will you help your master find the root of this energy and truly become a Primordial God?"

She vigorously nodded again. "Yes, my liege, that is your true destiny."

Damon chuckled. "Then we have a lot of work ahead of us."

Blood Reign wiped the last of her tears away. "I am ready to serve you again, my liege. What form shall I take? I can become a glorious blood sword for your hands."

Damon laughed and patted her head. "Nothing for now. I have picked up some new skills including divination. I am still playing around with them. When I am done, we can make our move. Until then, relax a little, will you?"

"There is a grand banquet arranged to celebrate your return. Everyone is waiting for you."

Blood Reign looked toward the door. "A banquet? For me?"

"Yup. Until now you were only speaking to me. Don’t you want to talk to everyone else?" Damon chuckled. He stood and offered her his hand. They had barely stepped into the corridor when Nox lifted his head.

Damon pointed toward the banquet hall. "Food."

The cat immediately got up.

Blood Reign watched him trot past them.

"Some things haven’t changed."

"You have no idea."

The doors to the hall stood open. Warm light spilled into the corridor, along with the smell of roasted meat and the sound of several people talking over one another.

Blood Reign slowed when she saw the table. Everyone was there. Aurora rose from her chair, wearing a sexy black dress. Kate smiled and waved.

"Finally," Mark called. "I was beginning to think you had forgotten about us."

"I had to convince her she wasn’t going straight back to work," Damon replied.

Erin shook her head. "Of course you did."

Blood Reign smiled shyly as Damon guided her inside. A little boy stopped in front of them, forcing them to pause. He looked up at her, studying her face with great seriousness.

"Are you little red?"

"Yes."

"Dad said you are his best friend."

Blood Reign looked up at Damon. He shrugged, smiling. "What? Was I wrong?" She shook her head quickly, her cheeks turning crimson.

Duke took her hand. "Then you can sit next to me. Dad already has everyone sitting next to him." He led Blood Reign toward an empty chair. She followed, looking back once.

Damon nodded. For years, she had been the voice only he could hear. The companion whose presence he felt when there was no one else beside him.

Now his son was introducing her to his siblings, proudly explaining which one had wings and which one would grow roots around her chair if she wasn’t careful.

Blood Reign listened to every word. When Duke finally paused for breath, Aurora leaned over and embraced her. "Welcome home."

The others followed. Some hugged her. Some squeezed her shoulder. Mark began a grand greeting that Erin interrupted halfway through, insisting he could make his speech after everyone had eaten.

By the time Damon sat down, Blood Reign was laughing. Almost everyone was laughing except for Kaden who had his eyes closed. Damon suspected that the guy was already in training mode in his mind.

Damon chuckled and tasted the food.

"How is it son? I have cooked the dragon meat to perfection!" Damon’s mom asked, watching him expectantly.

Damon smiled and nodded. "Thanks, mom. Its the best meal I have ever eaten."