Immortal Kingdoms

It was unknown how much time had passed. Suddenly, Leonardo found his consciousness in a deep black space of nothingness. This space would sometimes alternate from darkness to a crimson ocean of blood, sometimes from a criminal ocean of blood to a desolate colorless land, and sometimes from a desolate colorless land to an ocean of lightning.

However, no matter the cycle or transmission, it would all settle down as a single drop in the vastness of this darkness. It could be said that each drop represented a portion of Leonardo's cells, but what confused him was that if this were the case, then would that make the ocean of darkness his body?

He was in this peculiar state of mind, watching as one drop of crimson, gray, and pale blue descended into the dark ocean without as much as causing a ripple. It could have been hours, it could have been days, it could have been weeks, it could have been months, but Leonardo simply found himself absorbed in this state of mind until suddenly, he glimpsed something within the ocean of darkness.

Curious, he descended with his consciousness into the ocean to find the source of this peculiar feeling. The moment he entered the ocean, he heard the sound of a thumping heart that beat in sync with the ebb and flow of the waves. More accurately, that muffled heartbeat was the driving force of these waves.

At the very bottom of the ocean, Leonardo saw a massive black heart beating rhythmically every now and then, but it was silent at the moment. Not too long later, the heart twitched, and the soundwave of another powerful beat erupted and sent waves throughout the ocean.

As the soundwave washed over Leonardo's consciousness, his mind was jostled awake with a powerful bang in his head. He immediately shot up from his lying position, only to find himself sleeping in white robes on a comfortable bed.

Above him was a vast ceiling with the depiction of a twelve-winged angel curled up while hugging a crimson star, a ubiquitous sea of darkness encroaching upon the gray halo of her silver wings.

This is Grace. Leonardo thought to himself as he eyed the kindness on the woman's features.

Leonardo had no time to think before he heard a loud explosion coming from the outside, and he could feel the land shaking. Startled, he immediately got off the bed with his stiff and rigid body, almost finding his muscles unfamiliar to him.

He urgently needed some time for meditation to adjust his state of mind per his body, but now wasn't it.

…

"How long do you think this formation is going to last for?! Hand over your white flag, and you can keep your lives!" A loud shout from a saint traversed through heaven and earth, shaking the buildings of the five districts that used to be separate towns.

Although energy couldn't phase through the Odd of the Elements formation, shockwaves from the compressed air were different. Heavy pressure shocked the mundane structures of the districts as the humans within experienced nothing less than an earthquake.

Misaka, Sitri, Lucas, Pandora, and Miko took a post in one district each, protecting the residents from the aftershocks of the powerful sound waves.

"How long are you going to turtle yourselves up, huh?! We know that Bloodthirsty has been killed by Goddess Arcadia, we all saw her wrath on that day! The Goddess wants you all dead, you better hand yourselves over obediently!"

A soldier on a high siege post shouted through a voice-magnifying formation, claiming to have witnessed the battle that shook the Crouching Dragon Province to the core. That battle four months ago was a brutal massacre under the hands of Bloodthirsty and his five Blood Generals.

Of course, the people are now calling them Blood Generals, but a fierce controversy erupted as some people claimed that there are five, some claimed that there are four, and some claimed that there are six.

However, when people began to list the generals down, the only difference between the four and five was the accountability for Juvia. As for the party claiming that there were six, they simply claimed that while Juvia was protecting the Imperial City, a set of six saints blocked the saints of the Crouching Dragon Army, Bloodthirsty included.

However, no one could recall anything specific about the sixth saint, not even his appearance or how he fought. They just knew he was there, but that was the extent of it.

Not even the saint watching from the distant borders could recall what he saw and wanted to report. It was as though the person both existed and didn't at the same time. It was a curious thing.

Not even Misaka and company could confidently claim that they've fought side by side with Lucas after all these years together, let alone a group of scouts. This sense of self-contradiction was a brutal weapon in and of itself, causing the group to sweat thinking about it.

A doubt in the heart is a fatal blade to one's confidence that could disrupt their connection with the world around them. The confusion would block them from comprehending the essence they want to seek enlightenment in, as that doubt would eventually shift from doubting themselves to doubting the world itself, doubting their path and belief, eventually their confidence and faith would crumble to never be restored.

Leonardo stood on one of the high pillars of his palace, only overshadowed by the massive dome of the main palace hall. That dome stretched into the clouds above, and if Leonardo stood there, he wouldn't be able to see the situation at hand.

On his shoulder was Aria, the little fox. For the past four months, Aria remained in the palace to screen it off from anyone trying to pry into its secrets. Not even the sacred items of the three ruling powers could spy on whatever happened within the palace with her protection.

Thus, Leona and Kieran were free to focus on their own matters. Aria's vision wasn't any less than Leonardo's, but on the contrary, it was beyond his current realm. Thus, she glimpsed hints of where Kieran's foundation and martial intent would lie, allowing her to impart him with a suitable divine cultivation technique in the same manner she did to Leona.

In these few four months, Aria was stealthily overseeing the growth of the two children. Leona was now ten, but her control over her martial intent had improved significantly to a point where she could somewhat control her own psychic waves and emotions.

As for the fifteen years old Kieran, his precision, accuracy, calculations, and oversight had increased significantly as well. Although he was only fifteen, each of his actions and movements was borderline mechanical with the amount of detail he puts into them.

It was like coincidence and luck didn't exist with this child. When it comes to his actions, for example, range practice or games, he could replicate anything, anything, and anywhere. He simply needed to put his mind to it, and it's done in a matter of how long it requires him to adjust.

After adjusting, he could redo, replicate, and/or recreate the moment in an endless cycle.

Juvia had the frightening notion that if he could see through someone's body and directly study the circulation of their worldly energy, Kieran would have the ability to steal their martial arts, and cultivation techniques, and if she wanted to exaggerate and add in their muscle language, he could also learn to steal their daily habits and martial skills.

She was frightened that these siblings matched one another like two faces of the same coin. One reflects the heart, the other reflects the body.

Together, the duo would make a nightmare of an enemy.

Luckily, they had been adopted as Leonardo's children. Then again, Juvia wasn't sure which party here was the luckiest in the end.

As she stood on the pillar, hugging Leonardo's waist from behind while her head rested against his sturdy and warm back, these thoughts occupied her mind, not overly concerned about the dozen or so saints and hundreds of thousands of soldiers putting the Imperial City under siege.