By that point, Leo was only a few kilometres away from the Pavilion when Shamar caught up to them.
Sensing that, Leo glanced back at Lance as he came to a sudden stop.
Lance may not have been able to truly communicate with the lion, but he understood the meaning behind that look, not that he needed it.
The moment he felt the overwhelming presence of Shamar once again chasing after them, he ignored Milianna’s protests and tears as he forcibly scooped her into his arms and began hurrying through the air in the direction of Yin-Yang Mountain.
“You lot think too highly of yourselves!” Shamar snorted when he saw that.
He knew Leo was a Divine Beast, but as it was still only at the sixth rank, as incredible as its innate abilities and comprehension were, it wasn’t at the point where it could threaten a saint.
Shamar flew straight through Leo’s sky-covering fiery paw-print and casually slapped the top of his skull, sending it crashing into the ground.
If it were another beast of the sixth rank, Shamar’s strike would’ve killed it, but he had already seen the power of its body from its previous fights. He knew it could take that much of a beating and live.
Lance felt a shudder coming from the very depths of his soul as Shamar’s fist was mere inches from turning his skull into paste. Still, he managed to suppress his fears and keep running.
Shamar on the other hand, had felt a familiar aura crash into him. Though it wasn’t particularly strong, it had been enough to make him falter.
Looking at the boy in his hand, he saw a pair of jet-black, ice-cold eyes trying to pierce his soul.
“You should kill me,” Ace voiced with an ice-cold indifference that made Shamar’s soul shudder. “If you allow me to live…
I will make you watch as I kill your master, and then I’ll kill you!”
As much as he believed in his master, the longer Shamar looked into Ace’s eyes, the more he began to believe in Ace’s declaration.
It wasn’t that he thought any less of O’Brien, but after everything he had come to learn about Ace, especially knowing what his master had done to offend the teen, he couldn’t see any way of Ace being convinced to put down his hatred, and even less of a chance of stopping him after he matures.
The only way to protect not only himself but also his master is to kill Ace now before he gets the chance to mature.
Because of the speed at which Leo was moving and the way Lance had been holding her, Milianna couldn’t see much previously. But with Lance now carrying her like a princess, it was easy for her to see over his shoulder.
Hell, with her senses, even with the rushing winds, she could hear everything Ace had said and even feel Shamar’s rising killing intent.
“Noo…
Don’t…
Please…” Milianna whimpered in an almost incoherent tone. “Lance, please! I’m begging you! Please Turn around!
LANCE!”
This was by far the hardest decision Lance had ever made. After all this time together, he had also grown to love Ace like a son, but before leaving for War God’s Mountain this morning, Ace had pulled him aside for a chat, during which Ace made him promise that no matter what happens to him or anyone else, Lance would prioritise the safety and protection of his mother.
No matter what happened from then on, Lance had every intention of keeping his promise – even if it meant Milianna hating him in the future, but what neither he nor Ace could’ve foreseen was what happened next.
Like Ace’s, Milianna’s soul was a carbon copy of her with her eyes closed, but unlike Ace’s, her soul was shrouded in darkness with only a few specs of brightness but as Milianna watched Shamar raise his hand as if to pierce her son’s chest and rip out his soul, something changed – her soul manifestation opened its eyes!
As Milianna’s soul awoke, the few specs of brightness began to multiply, rapidly engulfing the veil of darkness that threatened to devour them.
“I SAID STOP!” Milianna ordered.
As soon as she opened her mouth, an all too familiar energy exploded out of her knocking Lance unconscious and causing him to fall to the ground.
Shamar’s fingers had just torn the skin around Ace’s chest; he was mere inches from being able to wrap his hand around the teen’s beating heart when Milianna’s [Conqueror’s Haki] crashed into him.
Shamar was currently going through an odd inner battle, the likes of which he had never experienced before, or at least not on this level.
He desperately wanted to finish ripping out Ace’s heart, but he couldn’t. The sound of that voice was simply inviolable!
In the end, all he could do was turn back around to face the voice, and as he did, he saw something he would never forget.
Till now, other than O’Brien, no one had seen the face of Milianna, who had had the hood of the shadow robe up the entire time. In fact, even now, it was still up, but floating elegantly in the skies behind her was an enormous phantom of whom Shamar could only describe as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Flawless milky white skin, piercing bronze eyes that looked almost golden under the sun’s glare, and long wavy brunette hair.
She wore a pristine white dress that showed little of her skin but still hugged her body enough to make just about anyone, man or woman, stare in awe.
And sat on her head was a thin silver tiara that only added to her regal and ethereal aura.
For the first time since O’Brien made his appearance, a genuinely warm smile appeared on Ace’s face.
He didn’t quite understand what was happening, as nothing like this had ever happened to him, but what he did know was that Milianna’s soul was healed.
For the most part, those with pure souls abhor violence; it’s why they don’t get very far in the martial world, with most choosing to lead a simple life of peace and kindness as mortals. But there are a few who, for one reason or another, are forced to come to terms with violence and are still able to retain their pure souls.
For those, as much as they still dislike violence, they also understand that by being kind to their enemies, they’re effectively being cruel to their loved ones.
As of that moment, Milianna is one of those few.
“All those who dare harm my son,” Milianna said softly, her voice resembling that of an angel, which only made the content of her words that much more frightening. “Deserve Death!”
As she said that, a wave of [Conqueror’s Haki] erupted from Milianna, or more specifically, the phantom she conjured. Hers was so powerful it somehow even dwarfed that of Ace’s.
Facing that, Shamar couldn’t even last a breath before his consciousness was snuffed out like a candle. His eyes rolled into the back of his head as his body seemed to stop breathing.
If one were to perform an autopsy on him, they would be left speechless as there would be no signs of foul play. It was as if his body simply lost the will to continue living.
Still, even as his body fell lifelessly to the floor, Milianna paid it no attention. All of her focus was on her son.
Her phantom quickly dispersed as she threw herself towards Ace, so she could catch him before he fell.
Previously, it was unknown how, but presumably because of her conjured phantom, Milianna was somehow able to float in mid-air, but now that it had vanished, as well as her still being too weak to use Geppo, she wasn’t able to levitate any longer.
In the end, because she was so worried about her son’s injuries, Milianna had to cradle Ace in her arms as she fell backwards, so she absorbed as much of the impact as possible.
A fall from that height was no small impact, even for those more powerful, let alone someone like Milianna, who was still only a rank three warrior.
All she could do was coat her back in [Armament Haki], but she was still forced to cough a mouthful of blood as her inner organs rattled. Still, she ignored all her injuries to focus on her son, who didn’t seem to care about his injuries as he looked up at her with the warmest of smiles.
“Your soul,” Ace murmured feebly. “It’s healed.”
“Shh,” Milianna said softly as she laid Ace down, holding her palms over his chest. “That’s not important right now.”
“Okay,” Ace smiled as he looked at the calm confidence his mother silently exuded as she began to heal him.
The aura she now radiated made him feel safe, like no matter what happened, she would take care of it.
‘So this is the real Milianna – my mother…’ Ace thought to himself as his eyes started to close. “Mom…”
“Yes, son?” Milianna replied gently.
“I’m tired,” Ace explained, his voice getting softer with each word. “I think I need to sleep for a bit…”
“That’s fine, you sleep,” Milianna’s replied, her angelic voice almost hypnotic as it put Ace to sleep. “Mommy will be right here when you wake up.”
Thousands of meters in the air above the mother and son pair, the mysterious ruler of the forest of darkness hovered, looking down at them with visible shock on his face.
“That woman… That was a divine ability… As a mortal… Just where did this family originate from?” He mused aloud, his thoughts moving at a million miles an hour as plans began to formulate in his mind. “If I bet on them, then maybe…
Looks like I’ll have to open the doors a little early this time!”
P.S. Support me on the Patreon listed below to read ahead - Release rate is at least 2x as many chapters every week! XD
Currently 135 chapters ahead
P.atreon.com/AceInCoilingDragon
Book 11: Part 16 – Suspected Betrayal
