The tension outside the dimensional portal had been at an all-time high for the last three days. Nobody in the ancient city knew the exact duration of the Interdimensional Flag War, but it had never been longer than 11 days.
However, now that almost 14 days had passed, the situation was getting out of hand.
"How much longer do we have to wait?" Alice asked, not even trying to maintain her image as Frozen Duchess. She nibbled on her lower lip, clearly uncomfortable with the current situation.
"I don't think you have to worry too much. This year's generation is among the strongest we've had as participants. Don't forget that we have three Heavenly Chosen in this year's Flag War. Maria will heal everyone, Kaleb will freeze all enemies, and Quinn can teleport behind the Tekur in an instant, backstabbing them. Their 7-Star Soultraits will be of great use. They won't die!" Oliver Zeus tried to comfort Alice, only for Olivia Blaze to scoff.
"It looks like you don't even bother worrying about your nephew. I understand that Killian is strong, but he is not exactly invincible. If he overestimates his own prowess, or underestimates his enemies, the situation can go south real quick."
Oliver Zeus rolled his eyes, "Why are you even thinking like that? Being all negative won't help you, at all."
Small electricity currents passed through Oliver's eyes as he stared at Olivia Blaze. Her eyes seemed to ignite in response, ready to have a heated debate with Oliver.
However, before the two Professors could start fighting, the area around the dimensional portal started to tremble wildly. The fabric of space around the purple portal was ripped apart and it didn't take long before the first participants of the Interdimensional Flag War were thrown out of the isolated dimension.
"It's open!" One of the Professors from another Academy shouted. Usually that would have earned some sarcastic remarks since everyone could see the dimensional portal with their own eyes, but nobody said a word.
Everyone kept their eyes trained on the portal and the emerging participants to search for their students.
"I found Killian!" Oliver exclaimed not long after the portal opened.
As if on cue, Killian Zeus' head flicked in their direction. He saw Olivia Blaze and Alice Zenovia standing near his uncle and executed his Inheritance Technique to use his strongest movement technique. In an instant, he appeared next to his uncle, who opened his arms as wide as possible, ready to embrace his little nephew.
"Uncle, call grandfather;" He said, his eyes dead-serious.
"Wait a moment, Killian. Why should I call the patriarch right now? How about you tell us what happened first?" Oliver Zeus asked, lowering his arms in embarrassment. He was not sure why he expected his nephew to jump into his embrace. Killian would never do something like that.
"We have no time for that. It's important for us to be the first to negotiate with Michael," Killian said through his gritted teeth. He hated every word leaving his mouth, but it was a fact.
Michael possessed powers that could change the well-established balance of the High Society, or even the entire human race. If they could get on Michael's good side it was only a matter of time before the Zeus family became one of the strongest households.
"But if you really need to know what happened, the situation is fucked up. Roughly 80 Descendants are traitors. They're affiliated with the Supreme Human Alliance and nearly killed everyone. Sandro Piex, Quinn Karta, Leonardo Capidor, and several others are among the traitors. We managed to kill half of them, but the others escaped. They left the Flag War before the portal opened. How? I don't know," Killian explained as quickly as possible before dismissing the traitor nonsense.
They could talk later about the traitors.
"Negotiating with Michael is more important though. He read the memories and minds of the Tekur and learned their Soul Techniques. He even created his own Soul Technique in the Flag War, managing to kill far more Tekur than anyone else…myself included…That bastard…" Killian couldn't help but curse Michael at the end of the sentence. He took a deep breath to calm down his nerves and continued to speak, "Michael can create custom Soul Techniques. Using him, every member of the Zeus family can unleash bursts of strength equivalent to twice or thrice their current combat prowess!"
Killian wanted to tell his uncle about the Soultrait Symbols and the fact that Michael could strengthen Soultraits as well, but he decided to do that a little later. Alice was standing next to him, and Michael had promised Kaleb that he would tell Alice about his power before anyone else. Killian might hate Michael, but it was not as if he could afford to get on his wrong side. Not right now, at least.
That was what Killian hated the most. Even if he wanted to kill that lucky bastard, there was no way he could do that without sacrificing mankind's progress toward a better future. It was totally fucked up!
"So…Michael is alive?" Alice asked, sighing deeply in relief, "That's good."
"Alive? That guy is a monster." Killian cursed, stomping the ground hard beneath him with a kick.
It was rare for Descendants to call someone a monster. However, many considered Killian one, simply because he was much stronger than most Descendants. Yet, hearing Killian call someone a monster was new. It was definitely not something the three Professors expected to hear.
Alice and the others had many questions to ask, but Kaleb and Michael appeared next to Killian before any further questions could be asked. Michael bumped lightly into Killian with a smug smile. Killian stared at Michael, however, that was all he did. He didn't even confront Michael for bumping into him.
That surprised Oliver Zeus the most.
Meanwhile, Olivia Blaze stared blankly at Michael's eyes.
"Your eyes…"
Michael tilted his head and smiled lightly, "Hello, Miss Blaze. Nice to see you. My eyes are beautiful, I know."
He teased the Professor before turning to Alice, who was already occupied by Kaleb.
"Sis, you have to marry Michael before Maria steals him from you!" Kaleb demanded loud enough for several Professors and Instructors in the vicinity to hear.
Most turned their attention to them for a few seconds before shaking their heads with a hint of a smile. Being young was truly a blessing.
"W-what are you talking about?!" Alice asked, her eyes widening in shock. Her ears turned red and she retreated a step.
"We need to make sure that Michael is part of the Zenovia family before the Seraph household can nab him!" Kaleb repeated as if everything he said was self-explanatory and it was the only logical step.
"You treacherous bastard. You act like a dumb idiot, but it seems like you have a brain between your ears," Killian praised and cursed Kaleb simultaneously.
Kaleb showed Killian his middle finger before his attention pulled back to Michael.
"We can also ask our parents to adopt him. He has an Ice Soultrait. That should make everything a lot easier."
Michael frowned deeply and pulled his friend to his side, "What are you doing?"
"I'm obviously trying to help you out. If you belonged to the Zenovia family nobody would bother you because of your power," Kaleb explained. He winked at Michael, acting like his plan was foolproof.
However, Michael could only sigh deeply.
"You do realize that everyone would think the Zenovia family gains a monopoly of Soul Techniques and everything else If I were a part of them. Other families would simply join their hands and pressure the Zenovia family to 'ask me nicely' if I could help them," Michael explained, "By not being affiliated with anyone, everyone might try to pressure me into giving them what they want, but they would restrain each other as well. That makes everything a tad easier for me."
Even though Killian didn't like Michael, he was right. Though not entirely. If Michael were to create dozens of Soul Techniques for the Zenovia family before giving them more Soultraits and enhancing them permanently, the entire Zenovia family would grow stronger – potentially strong enough to protect Michael from all possible harm.
But that meant Michael would have to rely on Zenovia family's protection, which was evidently not something he wanted to do. Killian didn't know a lot about Michael, but he understood that Michael didn't want to rely on anyone. He wanted to be independent and protect himself.
"I don't really understand what is going on," Alice intervened once she regained her composure. She looked at the three young Lords and understood that a lot must have happened in the Interdimensional Flag War.
"How about we go somewhere and talk about the Flag War? After that we can talk about…anything you guys want to share…"
Killian glanced at Michael and agreed readily. As long as he was among the first to start negotiating with Michael about the prize for Soul Techniques, Soultraits, and the enhancement of Soultraits, Killian was fine with everything.
Kaleb agreed as well. He was a little bit impatient since he saw Maria disappear in the direction of a beautiful woman with a majestic robe, but it was good as long as Michael was next to him. Nobody could take him without alarming others.
"Before that, I would like to talk to you alone," Michael said, directing his words toward Alice.
"If it's not about the Flag War, can we wait until we finish this first?" Alice asked, not sure why she wanted to stall for time. Kaleb's earlier words rang through her ears, causing her to curse her little brother and herself. Why was she acting like a little child?
"I think it's quite important. It is related to the Flag War as well, though distant," Michael responded, "You need to hear this to understand everything that happened in the Flag War properly."
