Xinyue and Elize arrived in the area where the Cloud Giants resided soon enough, however, once they arrived there, Xinyue paused, unknowing of where to move next.
After all, Damien didn't bring Xinyue with him to meet the Cloud Giants, so her only real marker in this territory was the golden palace that seemed to have disappeared.
Just as she furrowed her brows, a light fluctuation spread in front of her, giving way to a small section of malleable space.
"It seems we've been invited in," Elize said with a smile.
Xinyue nodded, leading her through the spatial portal and arriving within the golden palace's familiar domineering halls once more.
The duo traversed the palace until they made it to the throne room, giving Xinyue an all too familiar feeling. Just as she pushed open the door, expecting to see a noncommittal man uncaringly eating spiritual fruits like last time…
Voom!
A powerful pressure descended.
Thud!
Xinyue was immediately forced to the floor while Elize struggled to keep her balance. Confusion set in instantly. Why was Damien suddenly attacking his allies?
But when Xinyue finally managed to raise her head and look at him, the questions in her mind vanished.
Despite the fact that he was weaker than her, she absolutely couldn't put up any resistance at the moment.
Whether that was because of the golden palace's suppression or Damien's own icy murderous aura was unknown.
Currently, Damien didn't resemble his usually carefree self at all.
He sat upon his throne, radiating the dignity and authority of an Emperor. His cold and deadly gaze was trained on Elize alone, never even acknowledging Xinyue's presence.
"Who are you?" He asked without a change of expression.
Xinyue struggled to lift herself off the ground and answer, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her from doing so.
Thud!
Instead, a second knee hit the ground.
Without hesitation, Elize kneeled on the ground, lowering her body even further into a full kowtow.
Xinyue's eyes widened in shock.
Damien's brow raised in curiosity.
Eliza's mouth opened as she introduced herself.
"Elize Handler greets Young Master."
"Oh? But isn't Xinyue your Young Master?" Damien questioned rhetorically.
Elize slightly lifted her gaze so she could see him.
"Young Master, please accept this subordinate!"
Damien's eyes sharpened.
Of all things Damien expected Xinyue to bring here, this definitely wasn't one of them.
However, his current emotion wasn't something he could explain with words.
After all, the feeling he got from Elize was something he'd only felt twice before, and although this feeling was far, far less defined than the previous two, Damien would never forget the feeling of this specific type of connection.
It was a connection of blood.
"Tell me who you are. You should understand the consequences of lying or hiding the truth." He stated.
Elize hesitated for a second. "Young Master, there are many things that you cannot know, however, I will answer you to the best of my ability."
Damien nodded. "Then first, what is your relationship with Void Palace and how did you end up in the Ancient God Clan?"
He got straight to the point. His words cut through the atmosphere, particularly striking Xinyue deeply.
Void Palace?
It was a force she'd never heard of.
But considering Elize's current attitude, wasn't she an outsider who infiltrated the Ancient God Clan?
How…
How was that possible?!
Naturally, Damien had his own considerations about the matter. There was a reason he didn't send Xinyue out before speaking to Elize, despite knowing clearly what the topic of their conversation would be.
And as Elize began to answer his question, he found that his assumptions were mostly correct.
"Young Master, my ancestor is a direct blood descendant of Void Palace. I was raised in this lower universe by my mother, but I have been instilled with countless memories of the past, allowing me to know my purpose for existing here in this place."
"As for the matter of the Ancient God Clan…"
Elize glanced over at Xinyue and hesitated for a moment.
"Speak," Damien ordered.
Elize sighed in resignation.
"The Ancient God Clan is a force cultivated by my ancestors for the sake of aiding the Young Master when he finally appears."
Xinyue felt her heart stop for a moment.
Even Damien's eyes widened with some surprise.
"Oh? Expand on that."
Elize nodded and continued. "The Ancient God Clan was originally an indigenous tribe of evolved humans living on the boundary of Eien. When my ancestor arrived in this realm, he saved them from certain destruction and began to care for them on a whim."
"However, unbeknownst to him, the people he saved were far more special than he gave them credit for. Over the years, they evolved and became stronger until their gene pool concentrated to the point of birthing a trait, which later became termed the All-Seeing Eyes, a reflection of reality itself that pieces through all things."
"The Ancient God Clan wasn't originally supposed to exist, and even the ancestor was planning to leave them on their own after they developed to a certain extent. Yet, before he could leave, he was visited by the Wanderers of the clan."
"Wanderers?" Damien asked.
"Yes. The Wanderers are a group of clan members who traverse the upper and lower universes reading the flow of fate and karma."
"I see," Damien nodded in understanding.
From here, he could pretty much understand how events panned out.
The Wanderers likely read his future existence in the flow of fate, and after Elize's ancestor learned of it, he remained behind to cultivate the Ancient God Clan into a force that could truly aid him.
'It seems the rest of the clan has been putting in more effort than that damn dad of mine.' He scoffed inwardly.
Dante was in prison and couldn't move for obvious reasons, but Damien was still allowed to insult him, right?
Nevertheless, Elize's slight bloodline connection with him and the Ancient God Clan's existence were explained quite easily since Damien already had enough information to guess most of the things Elize told him.
There were probably several secrets hidden within the stories that Elize could tell, but Damien wasn't interested in them. He already got the answers to the questions he wanted answers to.
The matters of Void Palace weren't his to worry about.
What was more surprising was the coincidence that led to their meeting. If he hadn't obtained the All-Seeing Eyes from a random spider in the First Dungeon, would he have ever made it to this point?
Damien closed his eyes for a second and organized his thoughts. Afterward, he turned to Xinyue.
She was the Young Master of the Ancient God Clan. Learning these things from Elize likely struck her far harder than anyone else.
But she was smart enough to not blatantly deny something that could very well be the truth.
"Xinyue, what do you think about this?" He asked curiously.
Xinyue raised her gaze to meet his own, her eyes filled with complicated emotions.
After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke.
"I am not convinced."
4 simple words.
4 words of defiance.
Her prideful clan was going to subordinate itself to another power so easily?
Unacceptable!
