Chapter 416: Alora Or Kael?
"What’s that golden ice? I’ve never seen anything like it before," Someone said from inside his personal magic shuttle.
A lot of lions were starting to notice the peculiarity about the golden ice that Alora controlled.
Added to the pulse that they had all felt a moment ago, suspicions were starting to grow in their minds.
The pulse was the main reason why most of them had come here at this point. Many of them were just traveling around in their shuttle, going somewhere when they felt the pulse and immediately got attracted to his place.
Only Pagast’s subordinates could say that they were here not because of the pulse.
Most of them here had sensed the aura from the lion system and there was a very faint taint that could be sensed from lions who were linked to the lion system.
Alora was emitting an aura similar to that, except thousands of times thicker and it came with a strong sense of being in the presence of a tyrant.
Pagast saw the thousands of golden ice swords and spears arranged in rows around Alora as she continued moving closer.
The killing intent was strong and not hidden.
"Alora?" Pagast called, forming ice under his feet as he took flight into the sky.
Hearing his call, Alora merely tilted her head to the side slightly, but she didn’t answer.
Pagast frowned, "Alora, if you keep on acting like this, you’d end up dying...just like your mother!" He said.
However, Alora didn’t give him the reaction he wanted. Not even a frown.
Her face remained stoic.
The only change was the spike in killing intent.
"Interesting, so that’s how you’ve been manipulating her..." Alora said.
Pagast’s eyes widened. If he wasn’t sure now, he would be a fool.
Alora didn’t react to his trigger words and she was now referring to herself in third person.
"Who are you?" Pagast asked as his own aura flared up. Icy winds conjured around him with spiky ice balls and jagged ice disks.
Two frost swords were conjured in his hands. He gripped them tightly while keeping his gaze on his daughter.
His white tail waved around behind him and his furry ears stood fully erect.
His broken nose was now completely healed.
"Kael," Alora said plainly.
The name rang a bell, a really loud bell, in their minds.
Wasn’t that the name of the Primordial Lion?
"Kael? As in the Primordial Lion?" Pagast asked, caution rising in his chest.
"Kael, as in the King of Kings," Alora said, confirming everyone’s guess.
This was no longer Alora. This was someone else who was using Alora’s body.
This was the same person everyone was looking for.
Kael.
He was here, but not technically.
But how?
"It’s really the Primordial Lion,"
"But how did he do it? That’s clearly not his body. I’m sure we have a Primordial Lion, not a lioness this time."
"Do you have anything against females?"
"Of course not."
"Guys, that golden ice must be one of the Primordials’ mysterious powers."
"If it’s him, we can probably ask him a lot of questions like where he is or how he powers the System. It must be a lot of work for him,"
"I’m just glad he’s alright."
The onlookers discussed in system chat rooms or in private spirit channels.
Pagast’s shoulders slumped as he understood that things might be more complicated than he had understood.
The appearance of the golden ice and Alora’s rise in power level now made sense to everyone including him.
This was clearly the work of the Primordial Lion.
Pagast was silent. He thought of what to say but didn’t find the appropriate combination of words.
"Pagast, you are really getting on my nerves," Alora echoed out.
Pagast frowned, he didn’t like the way Alora was talking to him.
"Forgive me Primordial Lion," Pagast bowed his head slightly, a pretentious show of respect.
After all, he was openly a Primordial Supporter. His relationship with his daughter had nothing to do with his affiliation with Kael.
"Kael or...Primordial Lion...King of Kings...Uhm..." Pagast didn’t know how to address Kael. Calling him by his name may be disrespectful seeing as hundreds of millions of lions were literally dependent on him.
But seeing that Alora was not interested in correcting him, he carried on with what he felt comfortable with.
"Primordial Lion, you see, I once fought a lot of dragons and almost died under so many attacks. Although I survived, I also received hidden wounds.
My wounds have not healed because the dragons had their destruction essence inside me all this time.
I never talked about it because it was a shame to my Lionhood. Forgive me Primordial Lion,"
Pagast’s explanation was reasonable...almost.
Indeed, for lions who prioritized their might over anything, admitting that they were injured was not something they would just do.
Especially when they were very prideful and narcissistic like Pagast. His decision to keep it to himself was not absurd.
"Pagast, you must think everyone is stupid like you, don’t you?" Alora asked.
Her words instantly rendered all of Pagast’s explanations pointless. What was the point when Kael did not believe a word?
"What do you want me to say?!" Pagast, now frustrated at being put in a corner in front of so many eyes, raised his voice at Alora.
"I don’t know what you’re trying to imply, Primordial Lion, but I won’t let you bully me at all.
I won’t let you!"
Alora scoffed, "If I bully you, who wants to save you?"
Such bold words.
As if to make her point, Alora looked around at all the magic shuttles and lion Queens around the mini planet.
"I WANT TO BULLY LION KING PAGAST! WHO WANTS TO SPEAK UP FOR HIM?"
She announced, simultaneously allowing her killing intent to reach such peaks that those within the magic shuttles could feel it.
No one said anything, not even Pagast’s subordinates.
Not because they were afraid of Kael or Alora. But because they did a quick math in their minds and understood that Kael’s value was far more than anything Pagast had to offer.
So what if they offended Pagast by not speaking up, they might suffer seriously if they ended up offending Kael.
Just thinking of how depressing their life would be if the Lion System were taken away instantly made them act like they didn’t know Pagast.
Pagast sighed, being fairly intelligent in his own right and someone who understood Lion psychology very well, he expected this.
Alora waved her hand, "Before I kill you, I want you to tell me why you are working for the dragons," She said.
More magic shuttles were coming and they had all locked in on the white figure with thick killing intent.
Anyone who heard the last sentence could not help but look at Pagast with a tinge of hostility.
"Primordial Lion, that is a bold and audacious accusation! How can a lion work with a dragon?" Pagast roared. He tightened his grip on his two swords.
"What did the dragons offer you?" Aloa asked as she increased her speed.
"Primordial Lion, this is not right!" Pagast declared as an icy light appeared in his eyes.
"What did the abomination offer you?" Hundreds of golden swords and spears shot forth, each with the power to destroy mountains, aiming to obliterate Pagast.
"I am not working with the dragons!" Pagast shouted as he raised his swords and slashed out, sending a vast ice blade at Alora’s incoming form.
*BOOM!*
Right before everyone’s eyes, Alora smashed through the ice blade, turning into a whitish-gold beam that streaked straight for Pagast.
Thousands of golden ice blades and spears clashed with the thousands of white ice discs and spike balls.
Ice shards flew everywhere as they all tried to converge on one point.
A dainty fist covered in a golden ice gauntlet shattered everything in its way and found its knuckles coming in contact with Pagast’s chest.
Fast.
Incredibly fast.
Pagast’s body smashed back into the mini planet and the mini planet itself moved slightly.
The void shook and began to freeze over as two powers struggled for dominance.
*BAM BAM BAM...*
Father and daughter exchanged a series of blows, each aiming to kill the other.
"Show yourself, abomination!" Alora commanded as she relentlessly pounded at her father with a golden ice hammer in her hand.
She swung the hammer at Pagast who raised his swords to defend.
Pagast shot back, creating a long and deep frozen trench that curved around the mini planet.
"Show us that Destruction Essence, show us how you use it! Show us your wounds!" Alora kept on rushing Pagast.
Both of them were at equal power level but Kael was more...aggressive.
Kael was going all out with this, expending Conquering Essence to kill Pagast by any means necessary.
But Pagast was also strong and a very experienced fighter. Alora wouldn’t be able to take him down easily.
At this time, Exalon had just arrived close to the scene in his arkship.
He was the only one in his command chamber and was quietly watching the events unfold on his screen.
He had not yet decided his judgment of the matter when he heard a ding.
The golden screen of the Lion System appeared in front of Exalon, showing him the public mission section.
...
[Mission: Traitor Amongst Us.
Description: Lion King Pagast has decided to side with the dragons and has betrayed our lion race in the process.
This heresy cannot be left unpunished, it mustn’t.
Objective 1: Kill Pagast.
Reward: 100,000 Conqueror Points, One Lionhood Bar instant refill (for all contributors).
...
Objective 2: Extract Information from Pagast by any means necessary.
Reward: 500,000 Conqueror Points, Three Lionhood Bar instant refills, One promise of assistance from the Primordial Lion (for all involved).
Bonus Reward: One Heavenly Beacon.
Time Duration: 60 minutes remaining...