The group crossed the route very fast. With what he had done, no one dared to stop them in their path.
With all members of the organisation on this route removed, there was no need for them to hide their identity or slow down.
Aditya and Athena agreed that at this point, there was no use in hiding their identities. With Aditya and Athena, the overall strength of the entire group had taken a significant leap.
If there were any other members of the organisation out there that would block their path, then they wouldn’t mind killing them.
After crossing the route and leaving the Pine zone behind, the group immediately isolated themselves from any other travellers and completely vanished from anyone’s sight.
"I understand that Brightmor City is very safe. But we would be wasting time travelling there."
"Well, we will waste at least one day going back and forth from that city." Athena had a point that made him stop and seriously consider.
Till now, they hadn’t decided what they would do from here on.
Right now, the most important thing was to find a Safe and remote place where Athena could peacefully and safely merge with her other soul.
"Alright, let’s find a remote place where you two could merge."
The group then came to the very edge of the Saint Mirage Desert. This part of the desert was extremely remote. Even after travelling for 20 km, they had not seen anyone in this area.
After sensing that there was no one in the area, they found a big border about the size of a small castle.
There were large cracks and a cave-like opening on all sides. The group chose the biggest cave while Alfred created an earth wall a few meters away from the cave for more privacy.
"Athena, if you two merge back. What will happen to Laura?" Aditya asked in a concerned tone.
Athena faintly smiled. She was touched by how much this man cared for Laura.
"Relax! Once she merges back with me, I’ll be complete. I will gain access to her memories, and she will gain access to my memories."
"Once we merge, we cannot separate for a period of 24 hours. Before, the cool-down period used to be around 7 days. But as our cultivation increased, now it should take only 24 hours." If they don’t wait 24 hours, trying to separate will cause their soul to suffer damage. Even after merging back, it takes around 12 to 20 hours for the two parts of the soul that have been separated for decades to bond and fully become one again.
Athena was sure that as long as they regularly merged, bonded, and then separated, this cooldown time would lessen. Athena believed that in the future, it would be possible to merge and separate whenever they want without needing to wait many hours.
Hearing this, Aditya and Laura felt very relieved. Aditya did not want to lose Laura.
While Laura did not want to separate from Aditya, she had finally found her joy through him. She wanted to live this life. She considered herself an individual entity, not a part of Athena’s soul.
And since a young age, Athena and her family also viewed Laura as Athena’s twin sister, not an extension of Athena or a clone of Athena. Athena had no plans to restrict the freedom of her twin sister.
"At the same time, my powers will slightly increase as I will inherit her cultivation. Now, if I want, I can fully integrate this cultivation energy into my own cultivation and slightly raise my cultivation level, or keep it aside so that the next time we separate, I can give her cultivation back."
"Does that mean you can share your cultivation with Laura?" Aditya couldn’t help but ask. If this were possible, then Laura could easily break through Peak 5th-order.
Athena shook her head.
"Among us, I have the majority of the soul percentage. So I am considered the original root of the soul. So I cannot share my powers with my other half. I can only accept her cultivation." The most that she can do is share their knowledge with each other.
"Alright! Let’s get started." Athena and Laura walked inside the cave while others waited at the entrance, behind the wall that Alfred created.
"To you, it might feel like we are doing this for the first time. But trust me, this isn’t the case. We have merged and separated countless times in the past. So leave everything to me and don’t resist." Athena said with a kind smile.
Laura felt relieved. She was nervous about the process, but Athena’s words calmed her down.
Athena stepped closer and held Laura’s palms.
"Now close your eyes and let our energies connect. We will aim to create what I call Resonance."
"Only after reaching Resonance, it is possible for our souls to merge."
Meanwhile, Aditya and others watched the scene from a distance of 10 to 15 meters away.
"Your Highness, we need you to come back to the Celestial Dragon Empire and take your rightful place as the Emperor." Aflred sounded very urgent.
He knew that Aditya had every reason not come back. He had found his own place without any support. Frankly, there was no motive for the exiled Crown Prince to come back. Alfred wouldn’t be surprised if he found out that his highness hates his parents.
But the situation was too critical. Ren was a tyrant who must be stopped at any cost for the sake of the Celestial Dragon Empire’s Future and the prosperity of its people.
"Your Highness, you are the rightful heir to the Throne. Not even your cousin Ren can take your place."
They were trying their best to convince Aditya to come back and take his place as the rightful Emperor. But they also knew that this task would be far from easy.
Seeing Aditya silently, they started to fear that Aditya wouldn’t change his mind.
But his words caught them off gaurd.
"My cousin Ren came to the Dwarf Tribe, who live and rule the Sand Mirage Desert." Hearing this, the trio of Butler Alfred, Bree, and Mateo were all stunned. They all knew that there was a time when the Dwarf Tribe and the Celestial Dragon Empire used to be really close allies. Within the Capital, several streets and squares were named after the Great Ancestor of the Dwarf Tribe, who was a really close friend of the founder of the Celestial Dragon Empire.
"But why would he come here?" Bree and Mateo couldn’t understand.
"Your Highness, you don’t mean...!!" But the butler who had served the Royal Family for centuries instantly understood why a man like Ren would come here. Ren wasn’t here to look for allies.
"Yes!" Aditya seriously nodded his head.
"After reaching a high level within the Trial and revealing my identity to the dwarf tribe leader, I was able to meet the Dwarf Tribe Leader and have a long discussion with him."
"I learned that Ren wanted them to remove the limitations placed on the Royal Throne and the Crown."
"But why?" Bree couldn’t understand.
But Mateo hurriedly pulled her aside and told her. "That would only mean that the Royal Throne and the Crown had not recognised him as the rightful Emperor of the Celestial Dragon Empire."
"This means, Ren cannot sit on the Royal Throne or wear the Crown."
"Even the current generation of the Dwarf Tribe isn’t powerful or skilful enough to remove the limitations. And even if they could, the Tribe would never agree to do such a thing. So Ren’s men left their Tribe with a number of warnings and threats. So now they have no choice but to take a stance."
"I harbour hatred towards some people for kicking me out. This is something that I cannot let you."
"But I also care about my birthplace, and I want to protect it." Also, Aditya was sure that his cousin would come after him sooner or later. Ren wants Aditya dead, and before that,t he must find a way to sever the soul-binding contract binding him and the seven goddesses.
Either way, Aditya will need to fight Ren.
Might as well make preparations early on.
"I had decided to fight. I had taken this decision while being in the trial when I met the soul remnant of the Dwarf Ancestor."
"The Dwarf Tribe have promised to give me their support in this conquest."
Hearing this, Alfred, Bree, and Mateo were really happy.
"But we don’t move now. First, I want to go back to the Istarin Empire and handle some affairs there." Aditya only meant to stay here for 2 weeks, and that time was almost up. Also, in his absence, the Organisation had managed to take his Dragonians and bring them here.
Aditya felt there were issues that he needed to urgently address.
Also, he wanted to prepare His Empire for the upcoming battle.
"For now, I want to go back and make plans there. We will need allies from within the Celestial Dragon Empire and outside." Aditya knew he alone could not do this.
"Then we will accompany His Highness to the Istarin Empire." Aflred’s words made Bree and Mateo happy. In the Six Continents, they will be protected and safe from any danger. And they were really curious about the Empire that His Highness built while being in exile for such a short time.
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Really, thank you very much to all those who sent support with valuable golden tickets and gifts. I hope we can keep it up!!!
The next Chapter will end the Volume. And there will be two more short and quick volumes left for this novel. It will still be almost 200 Chapters, as I don’t want to give a rushed ending to everyone.