“This Dark Star, had he made any moves yet?” Councilman Floyd asked.“Yes, he had,” councilman Nigel answered.“Shade lord Dark Star has made two moves to be exact. One is that he challenged another shade lord to a fight and won, with the second being he called for other shades to rally under him under the premise that he is going to overthrow us.”“Heh, typical,” councilman Bruce said.“That is what every new shade lord does as soon as he is promoted. Challenge the old to build prestige and make empty promises to take revenge by overthrowing our civilization.”“None of them ever change. If it was so easy for us to be destroyed, we would have been extinct thousands of years ago.”“I agree. As surprising as a new shade lord being promoted is, it is not cause for us to be concerned or take him seriously at all. We can just treat him as we do the other shade lords that have appeared over the long course of our history.”“Just like them, he is bound to cause waves. What do you all think?”

It has only been five years since the royal council learned of the old one. But now they were hearing about him for the second time.The council members naturally knew what this meant...“It seems like the old one is making a comeback, just like her highness Azalea and Jeremiah predicted. Things are getting really troublesome right now.” Councilman Floyd said.The other council members agreed with him. They too knew what councilman Floyd was referring to.In the process of following the trail of breadcrumbs left by Arran’s parents, the royal council previously learned a lot of things regarding the incident four hundred years ago. One of these naturally included what Arran’s parents knew about the old one, and it was the most important discovery the council had made.Another discovery they made was a prediction from Arran’s parents that said the old one was still not defeated and he would return to seek revenge on the Aeth for foiling his plans over and over again.When the council mem

Arran stood once more in the council hall before the thirteen members of the royal council. His neutral face carried a sense of anticipation.All this time, Arran hadn’t put his mind on the matters concerning his parents... at least he tried to. But deep down, while he trained and interacted with his companions, Arran always anticipated the time he would be called to the council hall once more than that would signify that it was time to hear about his parents once more.On the podium, the thirteen council members stared down at Arran with different expressions hidden in their deeply laden eyes.Arran could sense the tense atmosphere in the meeting hall and it gripped him like a vice, making him worry that there was bad news waiting for him.There was silence for a long time as nobody spoke. The air became heavier the more time passed until it became somewhat oppressive.Finally, councilman Homer broke the ice with a lighthearted joke.“Three times in five years. That’s how many times

By the time Arran returned from the royal council, it was already late at night. Nobody was aware that Arran had already returned since it had been done in secret, and Arran didn’t even inform Eris or Charmy.There was a training room outfitted personally for Arran’s use inside his residence in the academy. Arran was currently locked in there, leaning against the padded walls as he thought about everything he’d learned from the council members.Arran was in a daze as his mind wandered. His thoughts went back to the memory of his parents when they were still on earth.Arran was trying to figure out if his parents had ever shown any signs of the burden they bore on their backs as they tried to protect him from his so-called destiny. He wanted to know that he had been able to notice these signs back then, even if he couldn’t have understood this. This way, Arran would feel relieved about not being an unfilial son.Sadly, try as he might, Arran could not recall ever noticing any signs of

Still, although Arran needed to break through, it wasn’t something that could be rushed. There were still a few things Arran had to do before he finally started breaking through officially, one of which was informing Eris and Charmy of his intentions. This matter was not very important and would not affect the success of Arran’s breakthrough. But before Arran started, he wanted to take the rest of the day to relax and adjust to his current state.After all, earlier in the day, Arran had been Involved in a battle so he needed to return to his peak state before he broke through.Thinking of this, Arran finally left the training room in his residence. He was planning to go look for Eris and Charmy.As soon as Arran came out, he suddenly jumped in fright from being startled as he felt something run against his legs and walk past.Thinking that something had managed to get into his residence, Arran quickly looked down. That was when he met the disdainful black eyes of a midnight cat.Seein