"Is your family made up of failures?" Strax questioned this time. "No," Albert replied. Strax looked at him and said, "Then you're turning a blind eye to your family. It's already full of failures." Strax said.
"Are you questioning how I manage the family?" He said seriously, and Strax responded, "Yes, you're a terrible patriarch for allowing two despicable beings like these two to have any bond greater than slaves, tarnishing the Vorah name." He said, and everyone looked at Strax in disbelief at what they had just heard.
Everyone couldn't take their eyes off Strax... did he just challenge the patriarch and insult the entire family? No one could really believe what was happening.
"Are you going mad?" Virgil murmured, and Strax turned to him. "Madness is relative; I just know my position," Strax replied. Again, he seemed like another person, as if they had never known him.
"Knowing your position?! You're the failure!" Dominic retorted. "And the failure, after insulting the entire family, stands intact in front of the Sword God of Thalassia, perhaps the strongest human," Strax said, and everyone trembled. "There is something you lack: a sense of reality. Right now, Albert can't do anything to me, no matter how much I speak.
At this moment, in my current position, I am not a person," Strax said and started walking around the table towards Virgil, who still had his face dirty from the explosion. He looked into his eyes and said, "Due to the Rules, I am untouchable," he revealed.
"What an... interesting man," Diana thought, watching how he was establishing his position while everyone looked at him with even more contempt than they should have. "How are you so sure of that?" Hinna asked. Strax smiled at her macabrely, "I am not a person; I am a reward," he replied, leaving everyone in silence.
He then started to walk, about to continue his monologue while Albert smiled slightly, enjoying the situation.
"He did as he pleased, spoke as he wished, and challenged me without running any risk," Albert thought, and Diana saw that smile. She thought Albert was enjoying what was happening. It had been a while since she had seen that, so she decided to join in his game.
To them, the strongest, people like Strax were just insignificant worms, and therefore, this humiliation barely made sense; after all, it didn't matter.
"Are you saying nothing would happen to you?" Diana smiled, her red eyes gleaming. Strax looked at her with a mischievous smile and replied, "And would you risk breaking a Vorah Law? Something that hasn't happened since the Patriarch died? Please, Diana," Strax said and turned to his siblings. "You are too much of failures; even though you are stronger, you can't do anything.
Your strength is fictitious. Weak people are clever, they are cunning; you are trash, relying on physical strength and combat skills, not on mentality. That's why you can't do anything."
Strax provoked so much that Dominic, who had healed his hand, quickly stood up, brandishing his sword and charging ferociously at Strax. It was a sudden, strong, and fast charge. "Fool," Strax said before the blade got close to him.
BOOM
Dominic's body was slammed into the ground by a punch from Diana before he got close to Strax. His body was completely destroyed with just one blow. "I warned you, until Xenovia arrives, I am untouchable," he said with a macabre smile that made his two sisters tremble with fear, and Virgil felt... like garbage.
"HA HA HA HA," Albert laughed loudly, making everyone surprised. After all, he was not a man who showed much of his emotions or laughed; he was quite serious, actually. He continued to speak, "This was an excellent lesson," he said, clapping his hands.
He breathed for a minute, recomposing himself, and spoke loudly, "It seems you were right..." Albert said as a black flame opened the doors, forming a woman.
From the black flames, a woman emerged. She was slender and rigid, with purple eyes and hair as white as snow, looking like a figure from a fairy tale, wearing a black battle dress that reached the floor. Her long hair caught the light and became almost translucent.
"Xenovia..." Strax murmured, for with her arrival, his invincibility had ended. Xenovia didn't look directly at him; instead, she went to her brother lying on the ground. "Take him to the dungeon," she said, and a subordinate emerged from her shadows and swallowed the unconscious man.
"First, Dominic will be imprisoned for directly attempting to take the life of one of the heirs without context or dispute. The act of attack will be considered attempted murder, and he will spend three months in the dungeon," Xenovia proclaimed. As the Justice of Vorah, she had the power to pronounce punishments.
"As for Virgil, he hired the Assassin Queen's guild and gave them false information about Strax. As a result, we have lost part of the communication with one of the best assassin guilds. Therefore, his title will be revoked for a month, and his sword will be returned to the Garden without the right to reclaim it," Xenovia said, then looked at her father.
"Any objections, Patriarch?" She asked seriously. Albert shook his head, stood up slowly from his chair, and said to her, "It's in your hands," as he threw the cape of his robust suit behind him. "This will be really interesting," he commented as he walked past Strax.
Strax felt... was that really his father? The same person who, six years ago, barely looked at his face and considered him a failure? Had he misunderstood something? His mind was a bit muddled at the moment, but the important thing was... Xenovia had her back to him as she picked up Virgil's sword, a katana.
Meanwhile, Diana began to leave to follow Albert and walked past Strax, whispering, "I look forward to more interesting encounters like this, my dear stepson." Strax quickly replied, "Stop trying to please an old man like him; you're too beautiful to be wasted in the hands of an incompetent." He whispered just to her, leaving Diana completely perplexed, but she didn't stop to listen any further and walked out.
"W-What was that?!" She thought, quickly heading outside, feeling... a bit embarrassed.
While Strax was lost in thought, he heard, "We have a lot to discuss," coming from behind him.
Strax snapped out of his reverie when he saw the woman approaching, beautiful as a work of art. He hadn't known women as beautiful as she, and to think that in just six years, she had changed so much. "It's good to see you again, sister. It's been a few years, hasn't it?" Strax bowed in reverence, while being hit by the woman's cold, lifeless gaze.
Well, she had always been like that; he was expecting something similar.
"Yes, it's been a long time. You've grown a lot," she said and then added, "Come on, you'll stay at my mansion. It's not safe here." Strax had no choice but to agree, after all, he probably didn't even have a room. He just followed the woman in silence, not that he wanted to talk much, but there was no room for conversation; Xenovia was very serious.
They began to walk calmly, Strax remaining silent until they left the main mansion and entered the smaller connections on the property. When he turned to look, he saw a strange scene. "Jesus, what happened here?" He asked, seeing some mages reconstructing the landscape with magic.
He was really surprised by the destruction; he hadn't seen this before and hadn't felt any impacts since he arrived, meaning, "When did this happen?" He asked. "Less than a week ago," Xenovia said while stopping and her black sword started to float.
"Xyn," Strax said, clearly still remembering the sword that gave Xenovia her name, the sword... that his mother once used. A phoenix appeared, flying and burning the debris that needed to be discarded. "It's good to see you're in good health, little bird," the black phoenix said as it perched on his shoulder, shrinking its body size.
"Have you been well? Has Xenovia not taken good care of the sword? I'm sorry for not being able to wield it; I was very weak back then," Strax commented. He never had the opportunity to speak to the sword, despite knowing his mother was one of its users. "Don't worry, despite this woman's temper, she is still better than that idiot of a father you have, can you believe?
He wanted to wield me," she said. Strax swore she was pouting at him. "What a strange combination..." Strax thought, seeing these two women, yes women, despite not having a fixed gender, Xyn had a female voice.
"Can you stop talking as if I'm not here?" Xenovia turned, speaking with a serious face that made Strax tremble slightly for a few seconds, but he quickly regained control of himself and nodded. "Come, let's go inside," Xenovia said, and Strax looked ahead, seeing a smaller mansion that seemed quite luxurious despite its simplicity. "You've renovated this place..." he thought, after all...
that place brought him many memories, which he didn't even know if he could categorize as good