FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

AN: This is the longest chapter in this book so far. I hope you enjoy it.

*****

'Where did it all go wrong?'

A golden-haired boy covered in blood knelt blankly on the ground as he stared at the corpses strewn around him like grasses on a field. Rivers of blood flowed on the ground dyeing the earth in its crimson color. The characteristic iron smell of blood filled the air, and if one took a deep breath, even its unique taste could be sensed.

The sky was overcast and gloomy. Dark clouds shrouded the path left by the moon, making the atmosphere hazy.

The night air that touched the skin felt damp and humid, making it feel like it would snow or rain at any moment.

And so it did...

Starting with a drop...

A few drops...

...and then a shower.

Despite being beaten by rain, the blood on Arlo remained, while the bloody river on the ground refused to be washed away.

'When?'

Arlo looked to his right...

There he saw a dark-haired boy lying on the ground a short distance away from him, with his hand stretched in his direction and no sign of life in his eyes. He could still remember how he had swooped in and saved his life. He could still remember the night before when he had visited him to express his gratitude.

But now?

'Dead.'

Like a robot, Arlo turned his neck stiffly. There, he saw a boy being hugged tightly by a girl, with blood pooling underneath them.

'Ah.'

He tried to scream but he couldn't.

He could still vividly remember how those siblings had wickedly treated him when he was brought into the northern territory. Yet they had reconciled and had gotten close together. He even requested them to be in their group, to ensure they survived.

But now?

'Dead.'

Arlo's breathing turned shallow, as he grasped his chest tightly. It was almost as if a hand was gripping his heart and squeezing with the intent to burst it.

But that wasn't all.

Shifting his head once more, he saw a headless figure, one that gave an aura that was similar to his, showing that he was human. As if being controlled like a marionette, he turned his neck and saw a head covered in red hair, a small distance from the body. Despite not being close to Khan, he had been treated kindly the first time they met. He had given him advice on how he could break through in his Ki cultivation and had even presented him with a pair of daggers, one that he hadn't had the opportunity to use.

But now, he was dead.

"Dead...they are all dead...dead..." Arlo's voice broke the silence, as he muttered blankly, with ragged breaths.

It was then...

He caught sight of something from the side of his eye, shaking his body to the core. No, he had long since noticed it, with the 360-degree vision granted to him by his dragon eyes, but had vehemently denied it.

But he couldn't reject it any longer...

Finally, the tears he had been holding back streamed down, as he clawed his way in the direction of the three bodies.

"Arianne...Joe...Ella..."

"No no, please...no..."

Incoherent words leaked from his mouth, as he slowly closed the distance to them.

It was then, it happened.

BOOM!

BOOM!

The blood-covered earth shook rhythmically, causing Arlo to stiffen. A foreboding feeling engulfed him causing his slowly beating heart to pick up speed.

Turning his head, he saw it. Through his eyes clouded in tears and through the rain that filled his vision.

An army of corrupted was marching ever so slowly, as they stepped without hesitation on the corpses of their members strewn on the ground.

Thousands?

The approaching army filled his vision from every direction making Arlo unable to estimate their numbers.

Suddenly, a shadow fell on him out of nowhere, causing Arlo to raise his head.

"You..."

Arlo's body trembled greatly.

"Hehehe..." An evil cackle reverberated within his ears. "Do you remember me?"

Arlo's clouded eyes shook in anger. How could he not remember the figure before him?

With his face twisted in hatred that didn't match his age, Arlo gritted his teeth in anger:

"...Razor."

BAM!

A hand slammed down on his head with enough force that Arlo thought his brain would explode. His head slammed into the ground, adding to the pool of blood already below him. As blood covered his hazy vision, Razor's voice entered Arlo's ears.

"That is Emperor Razor for you, you brat!"

"Oh!" He exclaimed suddenly as if remembering something.

"I have lost count of the number of ways I have devised to torture you, who ruined my work of almost a decade and made me fail my mission. But after thinking about it, I think the best way to start would be to give a present. Here."

Arlo whose head had been filled with ringing sound suddenly had his hair grabbed forcefully as he was pulled up from the ground.

"Look at this!"

Emperor Razor brought something to his face with his other hand.

'Huh?' Arlo couldn't make out the object before him easily, as his vision was obscured by the blood leaking down from his forehead.

But as his blood-filled eyes concentrated, and as the rain fell on his face and helped to improve his sight, Arlo could finally see what was before him a bit more clearly

Arlo's eyes widened slowly, with a stunned look on his face.

'M-master?'

"Hahahaha!" Emperor Razor erupted into laughter when he saw Arlo's reaction. He dangled the head Arlo was gazing dumbly at, and started spouting words that Arlo couldn't hear any longer.

As he gazed at the face of the person who had treated him so dearly since he entered the Darkblood academy, Arlo's young mind finally broke down and he lost consciousness.

"Oi oi," Razor dropped the head in his right hand and started smacking Arlo around. With each of his movements, blood flew into the air, but no matter what he did, the young boy in his hand refused to wake up.

"Hey! Are you kidding me?" Razor twisted one of Arlo's arms, causing his bone to pierce out of his skin, yet he didn't receive any reaction from Arlo.

No matter what he did, no matter the pain he inflicted, Arlo refused to wake up.

He didn't know it, but his revealing Evangeline's state was the final nail that broke the coffin.

The army of undead stood orderly a short distance away as they watched their commander continue to torture the human boy to no avail.

The shower of rain that fell seemed to increase in intensity, giving off the feeling that the world was weeping.

As Razor's angry scream continued to resound in the area, a deep elderly voice that seemed to come out of nowhere suddenly shook the whole world.

<<Finally...>>

Emperor Razor seized all movement as he gazed at the saber marks at the back of the twisted hands of the boy in his grasp.

"What the h..."

Before he could finish his words, that deep voice shook his mind once again.

<<It is time!>>

Emperor Razor who had been stunned belatedly realized that the rain had stopped falling at some point.

He unconsciously raised his head, with his army of corrupted mirroring his action, but when they looked at the sky, what they saw made them swallow their spit in fear.

At the same time, within Arlo's mind.

"Why?" A young boy sitting with his head lowered and his hands curled around his knees continued to mumble the same question, again and again.

As if noticing something, the boy stopped speaking before raising his head.

There, he saw a wizened old man with a head full of white hair and a matching beard hanging down to his chest and fluttering even in the absence of air.

<<My child, It is time!>>

As if he didn't hear what the old man said, the young boy repeated the same question.

"Why?"

The old man sensed he wouldn't be able to get to the boy no matter what he said or did, so he sighed before snapping his fingers.

<< Let me show you what happened.>>

A screen the boy was already familiar with appeared before him before many scenes started flashing on it.

.....

The group was a few minutes from their destination, only for an unknown man to block their path.

The man who seemed able to control shadows wasn't in a hurry to capture them and instead continued to obstruct their path with a studying look on his face. The situation remained the same no matter what they did until...

His second shadow, Kira intervened.

After entering the shadow realm, the situation completely changed.

This wasn't the first time Arlo had been at the receiving end of a chase. When he first entered the secret realm, he had been chased by slave traders...

In the secret realm, he had been chased by the red ants and the magical beast team...

But the situation this time was a bit different.

After entering the shadow realm, and with the help of Kira, Joe was like a sea serpent swimming within the ocean.

No matter how much the enemy chased after them, he couldn't bridge the distance and instead was only slowed down by Kira who wrung the control of shadows away from his hand within the shadow realm and continuously obstructed his path by creating dark objects.

Together with Arlo who still retained his senses within the shadow realm and was able to direct the blind Joe, the group soon arrived at the building housing the teleportation formation.

Joe quickly reverted to his human form but soon collapsed from weakness. Continuously travelling at his fastest speed for several hours, while still carrying many figures on his back had completely drained him.

Without any choice, Arlo carried him as the group quickly entered the building. Khan hurriedly started the formation as he sent his mana into it, with one member after the other arriving safely beside him.

Arlo who was carrying Joe was the last to enter the formation but before he could step into it, the shadows moved and blood flew into the air.

The two of them stumbled on the ground, and as his vision grew hazy, the last thing he remembered was Arianne opening her mouth wide. And then, darkness covered his vision.

....

In Arlo's mind sea.

The wizened old man stood at the boy's side silently as he watched him clench his hands in pain as scenes continued to flash on the screen he had conjured.

Despite already knowing what happened, the old man shifted his eyes to the screen and observed what happened after the young boy lost consciousness.

.....

Iro stepped out of the shadows immediately after arriving within the building. He couldn't help but release a breath in relief when he saw he wasn't late. He had almost failed his mission due to his overconfidence.

Now that he had learned his lesson, he decided to take things seriously.

It seemed the human boy had lost consciousness, which was normal. His mind must have shut down from the pain of having his lower limbs severed.

'Now, it remains the vampire princess.' Iro thought as he shifted his eyes to the group already in the formation.

'Shit.' That was the only thing he could come up with when he saw the vampire princess abruptly transform into a three-meter monster with only a wide horizontal crack on her head. As the crack widened to reveal a set of jagged teeth that sent chills down his spine, he instinctively knew what was about to come. Alas, it was too late for him to react.

"ROOOOOAAAAR!"

A roar containing a myriad of emotions shook his eardrums. He could feel the pain, anguish, anger, and many more emotions hidden within this deafening roar.

As his mind slowly blanked out, he noticed the other vampires within the group collapsing on the ground, as if knocked out by the monster's roar, before he felt his senses completely cut off from the world.

Arianne didn't seem to have any intention of stopping as her roar continued unabated, with her spiritual energy spreading out.

First, it was her grandmother.

Then, her brother...

And now, Arlo...

She released all her stifling emotions with this roar.

"Now!"

Ella who belatedly came to, shouted as purple lightning gathered on her body. Aside from her and Arianne, the only person who was still conscious in their team was Khan.

The red-haired elder didn't hesitate to send his mana into the teleportation formation again, as purple lightning flashed beside him before returning a second later with Arlo and Joe.

The ground beneath them covered in runic patterns lit up with a bright silver light, causing Khan to breathe in relief.

"Where do you think you are going!?" Iro who had been standing blankly suddenly roared in anger, having lost his calm.

The shadows around him abruptly congregated to form a dark spear that was launched instantly, piercing the widened jaws of the still-roaring Arianne.

With a bam, her head exploded into pieces, covering the stunned Khan in blood.

Only three seconds! From the time that Arianne roared to her head exploding, only three seconds had passed.

'If only we had two more seconds, we could have escaped.' Khan sighed, a look of regret contorting his old face.

Iro had already arrived before them, his hand stretched out to grab the headless Arianne and the unconscious Arlo.

Just as Khan was wallowing in despair, another change occurred at that moment.

A thick pool of darkness emerged behind Iro, and before the latter could react, a figure covered in a hooded robe appeared from the darkness before pulling him by the neck and yanking him out of the formation.

'Grim?' Khan thought as he gazed at the hooded figure.

"No!"

Khan heard Iro's scream before he was covered by an intense silver light and his surroundings changed.

"Ah!" he released the breath he had been holding only for his eyes to widen once again. He had lost count of the number of times he had been surprised within the same minute.

They had already appeared outside the minor world and should have appeared in the wide plains the formation was located in.

Instead, an unknown man was standing before him with an evil smile on his face. Just when Khan felt like the man shared some resemblance to the beast boy, Joe, he saw something flash before him, and soon after, the world seemed to turn around him.

As his already widened eyes widened further, he realized that the world wasn't turning around him, his thought confirmed by the headless body standing in his position.

'No...' That was the last thought he had before his life was snuffed out.

.....

The young boy watched the situation playing out on the screen before him with a lost look on his face.

He couldn't believe that after all their struggle, what awaited them at the end was their inevitable death.

He watched as the pale Ella stood in front of the collapsed group, with a determined look on her face.

Razor merely cackled at her display of bravery, as he gestured at the army of corrupted surrounding them. But as he was still talking, a dark streak abruptly descended from the sky, causing him to shrink back in fear.

But when he saw the appearance of the new arrival, an evil smile found its way back to his face.

'Master...'

Arlo whispered as bloody tears fell slowly from the side of his eyes.

Evangeline who appeared had long lost her intimidating aura. Despite not having a single wound on her body, her face was paper-white and her body was drenched in sweat. Her breaths were ragged, and even though she stood straight, she couldn't mask the look of tiredness on her face.

The scared Razor suddenly laughed mockingly as he commanded his army to attack.

Arlo watched as thousands of weapons appeared around Evangeline, a far cry from the number she had summoned when she faced Lord Cromwell. Dark hands grabbed the weapons before they commenced a massacre. Evangeline started a deadly dance with Razor who was soon assisted by another figure who seemed as strong as him. The new figure controlled the earth, blocking off Evangeline's attack whenever she almost reaped Razor's life. Despite feeling annoyed, Evangeline remained steadfast and protected the fallen group behind her. A wall of dark hands had long surrounded Arlo's group and killed any corrupted that dared to come close.

Time slowly passed, but the wide plains were quickly strewn with corpses.

Unbeknown to anybody, the teleportation formation lit up, as two new figures arrived on the battlefield.

Before Evangeline could react, she was caught in a sneak attack by the two arrivals.

Arlo's body trembled as he watched his master sigh before looking at the skies.

A massive red wyvern who seemed no less strong as Razor had appeared in the sky, while the deep shadows shifted before a figure Arlo had come to hate stepped out from their embrace calmly.

Surrounded by enemies and having lost an arm that could no longer heal to the sneak attack, Evangeline sighed in defeat before secretly sending out a message.

"Run!"

The army of corrupted had since fallen but Evangeline had also finished her reserve of energy and could no longer control the dark hands.

Still, Arlo's group remained unscathed, with only Ella conscious to watch the unfolding fight.

The usual sleepy Ella shed silent tears as she received Evangeline's message.

"Take only Arlo and Arianne and run. Be fast."

Though Ella hesitated for a moment, she still quickly approached Arianne and Arlo, before carrying them.

Her movement didn't escape the senses of Razor and the others.

"No! Stop her!" Razor roared out in anger.

However, before he or the three others could move, Evangeline blocked their path as she gave her final stand.

"You bitch..." Razor grumbled in anger as he glared at the one-arm enemy who was still able to restrain the four of them, albeit for a moment.

Evangeline's eyes remained indifferent as she dodged their attacks and launched hers whenever they wanted to move past her. But her indifferent emotion soon cracked when she saw Razor flash an evil smile.

"Hey, boy, enough with the acting. There is no better time to expose yourself!"

Evangeline who did not understand what was happening but had a foreboding feeling suddenly heard a painful groan behind her.

Turning back quickly, Evangeline's mind shook greatly when she saw a sword stabbed into the back of Ella who was charging her lightning.

....

Arlo stood stiffly as if struck by lightning.

'Roy?'

He looked at the figure standing behind Ella with his sword pierced into her heart.

The scenes continued to flash before him on the screen, but Arlo was no longer paying attention to it.

He couldn't help but remember the many times when his dragon senses tingled greatly whenever he was with Roy but he hadn't paid it any attention.

After all, the essence Roy released was that of darkness and he had felt it himself.

A suffocating feeling of betrayal welled up within him as he focused his eyes back on the screen.

Ella had fallen, and Roy had walked to Razor's side. The group of five didn't seem to be in a hurry as they mocked the lonely Evangeline, with victorious smiles on their faces.

Razor wrapped his arm around Roy's shoulder, "You see this boy isn't real."

As if he could sense the feeling of confusion in Evangeline's eyes, he continued, "He is merely a clone created by my last born, who is actually a god-tier genius just like you. In fact, I dare say he is a bit more special, as he has a second affinity to a never-before-seen abstruse law. Hahaha, the best decision I have made is not corrupting that boy."

Evangeline slowly closed her eyes in defeat while Razor continued to rant about the plans he had hatched.

That was why they couldn't react when Evangeline's body suddenly ballooned and exploded.

The screen before them turned dark.

Tap.

The wizened old man grabbed the young boy by the shoulder gently.

"She decided to commit suicide and take her enemies down with her."

Arlo lowered his head as he didn't need to hear more. He already knew the rest of the story.

Roy was dead and considering he only saw Razor when he woke up, the three others must have died too.

'Master...'

Tears fell into the darkness below him.

The hand on his shoulder suddenly tightened as the old man spoke:

"Boy, I can't hold on any longer. It is time for you to awaken."

It was then that Arlo was struck by a realization.

A new day had already arrived, and this day just happened to be his birthday; his eighth birthday.

*****

AN: This chapter is actually two in one. I will be traveling on Thursday night so I need time to prepare. This means the next chapter will be on Sunday. Till then, and thanks for reading.✌️