Surviving the Death Hunt

Over the past two days, Arthur had been laid to rest. People from across the world, even strangers who’d never heard of him, came to Barbados to pay their respects. Meanwhile, the Rover family held a private funeral, burying Arthur beside his wife, who’d died sixteen years prior.

Only a handful came to the private ceremony. Word was that Haven attended, but Scar couldn’t locate her in the sparse crowd. Purple couldn’t find her either, despite hoping for a conversation.

Emma had woken up, finally, and was strong enough to be at the funeral.

That was the pleasant news, and Scar had held onto it for exactly as long as it lasted. Then Julien ended up in the infirmary. Good things in this particular season of his life had a habit of coming with a price tag attached.

Right after the funeral, Julien had gone straight into training, pushing hard at his Protector State, trying to nail it down. But something slipped.

He lost concentration at the wrong moment, and with it, his grip on his own blood and the blood he was trying to control. The worst possible thing to lose simultaneously.

His body went pale and stayed there, paralyzed on the ground, while hours moved past him. A maid found him eventually, stumbled across him more than anything else, and by the time he reached the infirmary, unconsciousness had already taken over.

Scar had put the rest of it on hold for now. Training hadn’t stopped, it never did. Meditation to reconnect with his inner realm, and every day in the simulation room, going up against the Gate God. Those two things remained.

Now the three of them were together: he, Amber, and Emma, who had been in bed since morning. The funeral had drained her completely.

"Don’t look at me with those eyes..."

She adjusted her big glasses.

"Arthur never shared much with me, unlike my predecessor, since I was still a child. But seeing how quickly he aged made it obvious. There was only one answer: he was repeatedly activating his Divine State."

The Divine State was one of two states that drew a hard line, only the Founders of Magic, old Inheritances, or those refined to an exceptional degree could activate it.

Most just called it the god state, which said everything about what it offered. The abilities it unlocked existed somewhere beyond what an ordinary human was built to handle.

To most people, it was a myth. To those who had wielded it, seen it, or heard it from someone who had, it was very real. But the power came at a cost. Without constant use, it faded, weakened, and the body grew unable to handle what the state demanded of it.

"The Divine State restored absolute youth and beauty, comparable to the Zheng Clan’s and the nuns’ Elixir of Youth, but operating on a far higher, celestial scale."

Amber took a deep breath upon hearing Emma’s words.

"Then you mean my father’s defeat was due to him not activating his Divine State in recent times?"

Emma nodded in agreement.

"He last activated it at the age of twenty-eight, when he fought a Hostile-level Scarlet Kin named Tamer."

Emma’s emotions crept up on her. She started playing with her fingers as she talked.

"Tamer had a family and even a husband classified as a Danger-level threat. It was obsessed with the idea of family, and as a Dreamwalker, it could easily invade households and slaughter them.

When Arthur finally killed it, he was forced to destroy its entire family as well. The family wasn’t real, only grotesque creations born from its power, yet it loved and protected them all the same.

That never sat well with him. After that battle, he stopped pursuing greater strength... and abandoned his Divine State."

Scar’s frown deepened. The story didn’t add up. He’d heard about Arthur killing a Hostile-level threat, but the details were different from what he knew.

"Ah, Emma... just how many Hostile-level threats did Arthur defeat?"

Emma paused, uncertain. She took a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I’m not certain. Five at least... perhaps more. He attained the title of Sovereign at only twenty years old."

Amber looked at him. His bewildered expression made her smile slightly, amused for some reason.

"Don’t think too hard about it, Scar. The Supreme Council and the High Court only tell the public what they want them to hear."

That didn’t help Scar’s confusion any. He was still dazed. Only one Hostile-level Scarlet Kin existed in his experience, the Gate God.

The thing was so powerful that even a simulated version one-shot him. Arthur killed five of those. Named Scarlet Kins were supposedly stronger than unnamed ones, but even so, five seemed impossible.

Sigh.

"There are individuals whose strength surpasses even Dain and Arthur. Dain alone spent more than eight months in the Scarlet Kin domain to eliminate Monic. Others reside there permanently, confronting threats capable of ending the world. Some haven’t returned to the human domain in decades."

Pause...

"Think about it... what happens when humanity realizes there are beings beyond Quagmire, Theo, and Morveth? Or that some humans can rival such monsters? That knowledge wouldn’t bring hope, only fear. And their terror of Akumas would grow without limit. These people are treated handsomely to stay away from the spotlight."

Scar exhaled.

Thinking about it, it wasn’t shocking. He’d been wondering what the God Killers did and why they were so hard to find. They only appeared when Catastrophe-level threats attacked. It made sense now.

But that wasn’t something he cared about much. He’d been waiting for this opportunity to apologize to Emma for putting her through so much and fill her in on decisions he’d made while she was unconscious. Before he could speak, Emma hurried to speak first.

"I get it, Scar..."

She adjusted her glasses, eyes fixated on her white sheet.

"If you wish to research on your own, I understand. I only hope I may still be of some help. I am, after all, in your service."

Scar furrowed his brow.

"Wait, I thought you only served me because of Arthur. Loki is your master now, right? Do you think he’d let this happen?"

A soft smile tugged on her lips.

"It’s not an issue. Loki wouldn’t oppose Arthur’s wishes, even if he tried. The bond between my Inheritance and his surpasses mere friendship; it existed long before our Inheritances were born, and we still don’t fully understand it. Rest assured... I will serve you for all time."

Amber glared at Scar, looking ready to bite his head off.

"What’s your problem with Loki? I’ve told you, he’s not a bad guy. Truth be told, you two are pretty similar."

Scar smiled uncomfortably. He’d expected Amber to hate Loki since her father had passed his Inheritance to him instead of her. But it turned out Amber had forfeited it willingly. When she became a nun, it was her way of rejecting the Inheritance entirely.

But this wasn’t why Scar was wary of Loki, and it wasn’t because of what happened when they were kids either. It was what he’d been doing lately. The guy had been spying on him. Scar could feel eyes on him even when sleeping. So creepy. It gave him chills.

Emma stretched, then reached for a few books and handed them to Scar.

"These are the books I was able to gather. They should serve to refresh your memory about your Inheritance."

She frowned.

"There is, however, one thing you’ll need, something that can compensate for all the stories I failed to gather: the Chosen One. It’s an ancient tablet, a duplicate in fact, but I’ve read it once, and everything on it is authentic."

Scar looked down at the books in his hands. Heavy, even though there were only three of them. He’d never gone to school, reading them quickly was going to be rough.

"So where’s the Chosen One tablet?"

Emma shrugged.

"I thought I knew where it was, but Mingle said the location has been changed. You’ll have to find it before it moves again. It won’t be simple. It’s an ancient relic, and removing it would be like stealing a priceless artifact from a museum."

Hmph.

Scar wondered how that would be possible since he didn’t have many connections anymore, not with Arthur dead. But then he realized something, he could use the underground market. He ran a gambling company, after all.

He smiled.

"That won’t be hard. Thank you, Emma. You’ve done far more than I could ask. I’ll find a way to repay you someday."

Emma took a deep breath, like she wasn’t familiar with compliments.

"Don’t be so sure, Scar. Whether the tablet awakens your memories will all come down to how you interpret the books I’ve handed you."

Scar nodded in understanding. This would be tricky, but his connection with his inner realm last time had given him an idea of what to look for. Before he could read the tablet, though, he needed to connect with his inner world at least once. He had to.