Leon felt his body stir as though it were slowly rousing from the depths of a long, suffocating dream. Each breath was heavy yet strangely cleansing, as if his lungs were relearning how to draw in life itself. His limbs tingled with a faint numbness, the sensation of a body that had lain dormant for far too long.
It was almost as if he was shedding the husk of a nightmare and being reborn anew. When his eyes finally fluttered open, they were met not by the harsh stone ceilings he was accustomed to, but by an unfamiliar sight: a high, arched ceiling painted in soft hues and adorned with delicate carvings.
The faint glow of lantern light spilt across smooth walls, bathing the chamber in a warmth that felt both foreign and comforting. Beneath him, the bed cradled his body with an unearthly softness, the silken sheets cool against his skin and far beyond the rough bedding he had ever known.
For a brief moment, Leon simply lay there, dazed, torn between disbelief and awe.
And then, like a tide crashing upon the shore, memory returned.
Thalassa. His parents. And finally, the mass absorption of his mana. Leon realised he had not simply woken from a sleep. He had clawed his way back from a coma that might have lasted days, weeks… perhaps longer.
Fortunately, there was a familiar face nearby to answer all of his burning questions.
"Leon! You're awake!"
An otherworldly beauty embraced Leon tightly, pushing his chest upwards and deeper into her clandestine neck. Engulfed by the familiar scent that blessed his childhood, Leon unconsciously let himself go and hugged the woman whom he had so sorely missed.
"M-Mom… Are you alright?"
"My dear child… How could you be worried about me?! You were the one in a coma!"
Aluria sobbed despite grinning from ear to ear. When Lucas and she decided to send Leon away, it tore her heart apart. Each second she was away from her precious son felt like an eternity, and she had dreamed of their reunion ever since.
When her soul was bound by Thalassa once more, Aluria had resigned herself to never seeing her son ever again. Luckily, fate had alternate plans for her.
Separating herself from Leon, she took a long look at the handsome boy's face. She grasped onto his cheek, as if he were the most precious treasure in the entire world.
"There's no need to worry about me… I'm doing far better than ever before!"
"What about you? How are you feeling?"
As Aluria's question lingered in the air, Leon turned his gaze inward, probing the depths of his own being. What he found left even him in awe. His body, already flawless before, had ascended into something that skirted the edge of divinity.
Every muscle fibre thrummed with power, honed far beyond mortal limits, while his veins and vessels had widened, reshaped to channel the torrential current of mana coursing through him.
Within his soulscape lay a vast, bottomless lake of crystalline hydro mana, its depths serene yet immeasurable. Above that boundless expanse floated thirty-six blazing suns, each revolving in perfect harmony, radiating a brilliance that seemed enough to ignite the heavens themselves.
The sheer immensity of his power pressed against his awareness, intoxicating in its promise. With mana of this magnitude, Leon felt untouchable, an invincible force walking the earth.
He could shatter a mountain with a single blow, and he knew, with chilling certainty, that even a careless exhale might unravel the world immediately around him.
"You've ascended, just as I did."
Aluria, now the Ocean Goddess, smiled and gently stroked her son's hair.
"You've inherited my blood and the bloodline of the Solaris House. It's safe to say that other than myself, you're the one closest to the divine."
Becoming stronger was always a welcome change, especially for Leon, who was fated to become this generation's hero.
"Then, where are we?"
"We've returned to Solfea," Aluria explained, knowing that her son was likely confused and was seeking explanations. Thɪs chapter is updated by n̷o̷v̷e̷l̷f̷i̷r̷e̷.net
"After we defeated the drowned god, you fainted and required time to absorb your newfound power. So, Lord Amon and Lady Yue brought us back to Solfea and nursed you back to health. But even so, you took a week to wake up, so you had us all worried."
"A week? I was in a coma for that long?"
"Your body just transcended its limits. It's natural that your soul hasn't adapted yet. But Lady Yue said that there were no signs of danger, so we waited patiently for you to wake up."
Aluria explained patiently while showing signs of deference to the two youngsters who saved their lives. Although she was the newly crowned Ocean Goddess, her soul was still bound to Yue's after they made their contract. Furthermore, she wasn't able to fully absorb all of Thalassa's divinity, making her the weakest divine in the world's history.
Despite that, Aluria was still multiple times more powerful than the average magician. No, it's safe to say she was the most powerful water magician alive, making her a potent asset in the fight against the Prophet and the Demon Cult.
Aluria frowned at Leon's question. She fell into deep thought for a moment before revealing the truth.
"Your father is currently held under house arrest."
"While he did it for the greater good, Lucas did abandon his post as a Solaris Knight while he decided to go AWOL and live with me. As you are aware, the Solaris House doesn't look all that fondly upon traitors to the house."
Leon remembered with bitterness how, upon his return, everyone shunned him for being Lucas's son. If not for Ascalon choosing him and Amon standing behind him, he would have been cast aside entirely, unacknowledged as a Solaris within his own House.
"After we returned, the higher-ups within the Solaris House held a hearing to decide what to do with your father. Usually, the punishment for a sin as serious as his would be crippling his core and being imprisoned for the rest of his life."
Leon wished to retort, but his words were stuck in his mouth. Because he knew better than anyone else that his father was the one who broke the ironclad law first. If it were any other person, the punishment would have been meted out already.
"Of course, Lord Amon interceded for him, and because of your status within the Solaris House, the Elders were forced to look the other way. So as punishment, he will be under house arrest for a year. But, while they call it a house arrest, we're free to visit him any time. Once you're feeling better, I'll bring you to him."
Leon pressed a hand against his chest, his heart heavy with relief as he once again offered silent thanks to Amon. Without him, Leon couldn't imagine what reckless choice he might have made had Lucas been condemned to the harshest punishment.
What Leon failed to realise, however, was that the matter had already been decided long before the Elders had raised their voices in protest. No matter how vehemently they opposed Lucas's return, their hands were shackled by reality.
Lucas was not only a former Commander-level Knight but also the husband of the Ocean Goddess, a divine figure never seen before in human history. And then there was Leon himself, the rising hero of Solaris. Though he had refused to bear the Solaris name as a gesture of respect for his father, his deeds had already bound that legacy to him.
On top of that came the weight of the "Fantasy Couple."
Amon, whom many whispered would one day inherit the Solaris House after even Alrock himself had once floated his name as successor. And Yue, whose quiet authority made her the de facto leader of the Elune House, the Solaris's closest ally and one of the most powerful magician Houses in the Hyades Republic.
Together, their presence exerted pressure that no Elder could withstand. In the end, the Elder Council had no choice but to reinstate Lucas, even if he had hypothetically slaughtered every one of their kin.
Still, to uphold the illusion of impartiality and preserve the dignity of Solaris law, they were compelled to deliver some semblance of punishment.
Thus was born the compromise of "house arrest"—a sentence in name only, but one that allowed the Elders to save face.
"As long as dad's safe, that's all that matters."
"Then what about Amon? Where is he now?"
Aluria let out a wry smile and scratched the bottom of her cheek. She spoke shakily: "Lord Amon and Lady Yue went to Zephys."
"Zephys? The Capital? Why?"
Zephys was the capital of the Hyades Republic, the biggest city in the entire world—a haven for culture and the best that humanity can offer. Most people would love to travel to the capital, but for Knights in the Solaris House, Zephys was a den of vultures and snakes.
Political backstabbing were commonplace, and for the mighty Solaris House, which resolved everything with overwhelming strength, it was a suffocating place to be in, particularly for people like Amon and Alrock. They loathed visiting the capital and would avoid it at any cost.
"Well… it seems like Eldorin, your Knight Order, is going to present itself to the public. So, Lord Amon will be there to present them."
Unbeknownst to Leon, a strong wind was blowing them to a new set of troubles, one that would make their previous altercations look small in comparison.