The curtain of Darkness receded, getting smaller and smaller, eventually merging with the tall young man who was standing at the centre of the battlefield without a single scratch on his body or his black suit.
Everyone stared at the lifeless body of Nergal, how pitiful it looked, covered in blood from head to toe, and silence reigned as their hearts felt a little heavy.
In the long lives that they had spent in this world, this was the first battle between Mortal Gods that they had witnessed where someone had been so helpless that even their God Powers had proved useless.
Qin Feng stared at Keith with a multitude of thoughts running through his mind. He was hoping to see even the faintest signs of fatigue which would give him some idea about Keith's strength, but the Inheritor of Erebus seemed as fresh as ever.
A 23-three-year-old Auror had so effortlessly dealt with someone in the Third Martial Realm. Had he not witnessed it with his own eyes, he would have never believed it, and it was the same for every Mortal God present in the Valley.
What was certain was that no one was going to even think about standing against Keith from this day onwards. And most now wanted to become friends with him to stay on his good side. It was something that depressed the Inheritor of Hades as it meant that if things fell apart between them, no one would come to stand by his side.
However, what weighed the most on his heart was the fact that Keith was much more talented than him.
Qin Feng could not help but think that he probably did the right thing by handing Ingvild over to Keith. He definitely could not afford to be this man's enemy.
This train of thoughts made him feel a little hollow and dizzy, and he started feeling weak until he brushed these thoughts aside and seriously looked at the young man who was brightly smiling at his blonde wife.
No matter how strong Keith was or how unfathomable he seemed, Qin Feng vowed to himself that he would surpass him one day.
As if his thoughts were heard, Keith looked in his direction and a light smile curved on his lips.
A wolf was looking at a Dragon, and it was the Dragon that felt intimidated. How laughable was this?
"Lord Erebus." The Inheritor of Hades politely nodded.
"Qin Feng." Keith nodded back to him and then smiled some more as he watched the Inheritor of Hades take his leave from the Valley of Tombs.
"I hope that you will not target his forces, Lord Erebus." Abuzar walked over together with Ian and Caspian, and Keith simply shrugged at his words.
"I have no interest in them." He honestly said, and then looked at the Inheritor of Poseidon, who approached Azdaar's body and then waved his hand, which resulted in the earth reaching out and enveloping the dead body in its hold.
Under their eyes, Caspian gave the fallen Inheritor of Nergal a burial, and then even created a tombstone for him that held his name.
The Mortal Gods who had gathered here all approached Keith one by one, greeted him politely, and then took their leave.
Some stayed a while to pay their last respects to the fallen Mortal God whom they had known for a long time, but none of them really held any grudge against Keith.
It was a fair duel, and only me could have come out of it alive.
Only Abuzar, Ian, and Caspian remained, and it was then that the Inheritor of the Babylonian God of Light raised a question that was running through his mind.
"What was that yellow light that emerged out of Azdaar's body? I sensed a Divinity from it." He curiously looked at Keith.
"It was a Divine Protection." He nodded. "Azdaar had something on him that granted it, a Magical Artifact."
His words piqued their interest, but he refused to give them more details.
"It's precious?" Abuzar curiously asked.
"Probably not to you. But it is valuable to me, a little security." He nodded.
The Inheritor of the Babylonian God of Light nodded his head and then smiled at him and Rebecca.
"I am holding my Ascension Ceremony two weeks from now." He happily said. "I hope you will join us that evening, Lady Hecate." He invited Rebecca, having already invited Keith when they last met.
"I will be there with my husband, Lord Abuzar." She politely bowed.
Her words elated him and he nodded his head before looking at Keith.
"The Erra will be disbanded and they will not pursue the matter, I assure you of that."
Now that Azdaar was dead, no one could head the Organisation of Erra, and it was just a matter of time before it was disbanded.
"Don't think Qin Feng would miss the opportunity." Keith smiled. "You don't have to care about these mundane affairs, they don't concern me."
"As you say." The boy nodded to him and then bowed before leaving the place at an astonishing speed, leaving behind a trail of light.
"What's your plan now?" Volos asked as he looked Keith in the eyes.
"I am going to spend the next two weeks with my beloved wife in Italy." He told him, and Rebecca was elated to hear his words.
"Fine. I will return to Netheria and will see you at the Ascension Ceremony." Tronten nodded to them and then to Caspian before walking away.
It was only after he had walked dozens of metres that he suddenly picked up speed and blurred from the eyes of people who could not keep up with it.
Now that only Caspian remained with them, Yingying and Minami, together with Iseul, Julian, and Naomi finally approached them.
"It was an interesting fight." The blonde man smiled.
"Glad you liked it." Keith chuckled and then looked into his eyes. "You have a message for me?" He guessed.
"No." He shook his head. "A request. But it can wait another day." Caspian nodded to him and then to Rebecca before suddenly leaving.
"Any idea what it might be?" Rebecca curiously asked, and Keith just smiled at her question.
"Congratulations, Captain!" Julian and Naomi saluted him with bright smiles, which prompted him to chuckle.
"You may return to Netheria with Zor after you have finished your tasks. I will be leaving for Italy tonight."
"Yes, Sir!" They acknowledged his command and then followed him and Rebecca out of the Valley.
A couple of hours later, the sky darkened as the sun sank, and a private jet departed from a desolate airport in the middle of nowhere.
As soon as they ascended to the sky, Keith gently placed his head in Rebecca's lap and closed his eyes.
"You over-exerted yourself today." She lightly said as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Just for a pendant."
Keith smiled in his heart at her words.
As expected, she had picked up on it when Azdaar spoke about it back in the Valley of the Tombs.
"It is not an ordinary pendant." He told her.
"That I can tell." She smiled.
"It's the legacy of the Yellow Emperor." He told her and chuckled as he heard her heart thump hard.
It was the same for Minami as she had read a tale about one of the Inheritors of the Yellow Emperor and had an understanding of what this legacy meant.
"The Yin half or the Yang?" Minami curiously asked, and Rebecca perked up her ears at the question.
"The Yang half." He told them.
Yingying and Marianne were the only ones who did not understand what they were talking about, and though they looked curious, they were not going to raise a question about it.
Keith sensed their curiosity even though his eyes were closed, and smiled.
"Yellow Emperor was one of the main Gods of the Tian Pantheon. You can find his name in Chinese folklore." He told them. "There were four other Emperors, and all five of them left behind very interesting Legacies."
"The Blue, White, Black, and Red Emperors?" Yingying, who knew a lot of Chinese folklore asked.
"Yes. But the original Blue and Red were Empresses." He informed her.
"What's interesting about their Legacies?" Marianne finally asked as she found Keith willing to tell them details.
"No one can be born with their Inheritance." He told them. "One can only find them."
"All five pendants are divided into Yin and Yang halves, and they are invaluable treasures that even Immortals would kill for." Minami indifferently said, but her words were gravely serious.
"Yes." Keith nodded his head. "It is because once someone has found the two pieces of the same pendant and merged them, they have a chance to become the Inheritor of the said Emperor by going through the trials that have been divinely prepared for them." He opened his eyes and smiled at his blonde wife. "There are four trials in total for each of the five Legacies, and once you have failed a trial, you don't get to retake it or get access to the next trial. However, you can still keep the pendant till the end of your life or as long as you can hold onto it as the world comes after you," He chuckled. "And these lockets are one of the finest Defensive Artifacts with a lot of benefits for the wearer."
"What happens if you pass one trial and fail the next?" Rebecca curiously asked.
"The first trial holds 10% of the Emperor's Legacy, the second trial holds the next 20% of the Emperor's legacy, the third holds the next 30%, and the last holds the final 40%." He told her.
"I see." She smiled at him. "Too bad that we can't use it."
"We don't need it."
Hecate's legacy was slightly superior to any of the Five Emperors, not to mention the legacy of Erebus, which stood at the top of the Divine Hierarchy.
Besides, True Inheritors were not eligible for the Trials of the five Emperors. To them, these pendants were merely Magical Artifacts.
"Whom do you plan to give it to?" Rebecca curiously asked.
"I am keeping it with me until I find someone worthy of passing all four Trials." He told her and she nodded to him, resuming to run her fingers through his hair.
"Sleep." She strictly said.
"Yes, Ma'am." He smiled and then closed his eyes, and when he felt her plant her soft lips on his forehead, his smile brightened.
It was a good day, and now he needed his rest.
