Luiz didn’t know what was happening around him anymore. It seemed that even the strong had a breaking point. No—everyone had a breaking point.
But then, amidst the storm of his emotions, a sigh reached his ears. A single sigh that made his chest tighten, that made him feel everything at once—hurt, warmth, bitterness, fear, helplessness, longing, pain... and something more.
His head lifted, just enough to glimpse the man standing before him. Then, shame weighing heavy on his shoulders, he lowered it again.
"I’m sorry," he whispered, his voice hoarse, barely more than breath.
Hadn’t Azarel been a good father to him? No, not just good—the best. He had been patient, kind, unshakable. A pillar. A guide. A father in every way that mattered.
Why had he treated his own son differently?
Why had he refused to listen—to his father, to his uncle... to his wife?
A deep sigh pulled him from the spiral of his thoughts.
"Luiz," Azarel’s voice was steady, carrying neither anger nor reproach.
"Luiz," his father called again, gentler this time.
Hesitantly, he lifted his head, bracing himself for the disappointment, the disdain, the pity he knew he deserved. But when he met his father’s gaze...
None of that was there.
Instead, he saw something else. Something that made his breath catch, that sent a fresh wave of pain crashing through him.
Azarel still looked at him with the same quiet respect a father would have for his son.
Somehow that look made him hate himself even more. It made him want to rip himself apart, to tear through everything in sight, to drown the world in blood. It made him want to seek destruction—no, vengeance... No, both!
Azarel’s voice cut through the chaos in his mind like a blade.
Luiz forced himself to meet his father’s eyes again, this time without shrinking away.
"Find him," Azarel said simply, then vanished.
No more words were needed.
If he had said too much, if he had tried to console him, Luiz would have probably sought comfort instead of resolve. And right now, comfort was the last thing he needed.
Especially since his mind was riddled with a forced weight of failure.
Withstanding the aura of a Saint was no small thing. Their very Will shaped the world around them, forced it to reflect their truth.
And Ariel’s truth had been merciless. It hadn’t just been Ariel telling him he was a fool.
It had been the world itself. It had been Ares calling him a failure.
At the same time, it was crucial that Azarel said something.
In his current state of mind, if Luiz were left to act on his own, he would undoubtedly cause irreparable damage. As much as Azarel was a father, he was also a leader. Acting irrationally, driven purely by emotion, could destroy the Crimson family.
There needed to be a balance—something beyond guilt and failure to drive Luiz forward.
So Azarel gave him a path to redemption.
Luiz stood frozen, blankly staring for a moment. Then, without another word, he turned and left, his silhouette fading under the lonesome blue sun.
Even the sky seemed to sag under the weight of it all.
"Manipulating your son this much to cover your own incompetence is really hard, and wicked Azarel."
A soft chuckle echoed from a distance—not far, yet impossibly far—from where the confrontation had taken place. Silas smirked, watching the retreating figure.
"Well, I suppose that was the only way..." His lips curled upward.
"It’s a pity, Luiz. Despite all your talent and leadership qualities, you’re far too emotionally invested. Far too responsive. A man like that is easy to lead by the nose."
"Maybe because this family is not big enough, but the position of Patriarch shouldn’t be tied to one bloodline branch. We would be in better hands, when led by those who have shown good leadership, and are able to make sacrifices." He mused.
"That’s why I admire you Azarel, and somehow, I might have taken more after you, than my own father.
Sadly, Luiz is different, taking after my father instead. That does seem weird. If it wasn’t for the different bloodlines flowing within us, that would have been something worth investigating... Sounds fun"
He shook his head as though disappointed, yet amused.
Then, without a sound, he too turned to leave... unseen and undetected. No one, not even the Saints, had noticed him.
He had encroached a place where Saints had been, and left undetected!
Ariel and Azarel had deliberately chosen this location for a reason.
They had to direct Luiz on how to move on at this point, and this included conditioning and shaping his thoughts, his actions, his resolve.
But such matters were not meant to be known by others.
Well... outside the other Saints of the Crimson family.
Even if they weren’t present, they had seen and watched everything. They also had to ensure no unwelcome ears had listened in.
The position of Patriarch was not to be taken lightly. Even Saints who possessed greater authority and power had to respected it... at least outwardly, as that was the face of the family.
To openly disregard that title, would diminish its influence.
And influence was everything.
A Patriarch had to remain a strong, unshakable figure, while the true hands of power moved unseen behind the throne.
But the real question was — how had a mere 4th Ascension ascendant evaded the senses of Saints?
That was not a trivial matter.
It was something that, if discovered, would spark outrage.
Saints prided themselves on their nigh-omniscient perception, their ability to sense even the slightest anomalies in their surroundings.
For a Saint to be deceived especially by someone beneath them in rank, was an insult, a direct challenge to the natural order.
This was something that not even Will could challenge.
The primary aim of the Existential Compendium was to guide evolution through Ascension, not Will.
Therefore, if this secret ever got out; if words that there was a power that could challenge or overwrite this natural rule, it wouldn’t just be a scandal.
It was something that was big enough to throw the entirety of Ares into an uproar should it be known.