FAMILY ABOVE ALL: BATTLING AGAINST GODS

When he saw the girl in danger, the young king swung in like a knight in shining armor and saved her from the grasp of the evil pursuers.

However, the young king greatly underestimated these foreigners and almost succumbed to death at their hands. Left with no choice, he escaped with the young girl successfully and could only hope that these invaders were oblivious to his true identity, as he feared he might put his family and people in danger.

Like this, he and the girl hid in a secret place known only to him.

Time slowly passed.

A man covered in a hooded cloak walked across the bustling city.

Even though the people who moved around him looked like humans, the wild aura around them revealed their true identities.

That is right!

This was a city occupied by magical beasts.

"It's been over a year, yet we haven't seen the king."

"That is right! The Queen has been the one handling all matters."

"Even when those invaders killed several of us, I can't believe the king didn't act personally."

"Thank goodness those people crossed the werewolves, if not I can't begin to imagine what might have happened to us."

The voices of the bystanders entered the man's ears as he walked to his destination.

After some time, the black-hooded man left the city with some provisions in hand.

After walking for some time, and making sure that nobody followed him, the man entered a secret cave.

The giggling sounds of a baby slowly drifted into his ears the further he walked into the spacious cave.

Suddenly, a beautiful voice pleasant to ear resounded from within, and if one paid careful attention, one would notice the caution hidden within it, "Joe, is that you?"

Removing the hood from his head, a handsome dark-haired man with green reptilian eyes spoke with a small smile on his face, "It is me!"

As if recognizing his voice, the giggling sound of the child increased in volume and frequency.

A moment later, a beautiful white-haired woman with matching eyes appeared before Joe. Unlike the snow-white hair which was unique to the vampires, her hair seemed more like an embodiment of light. In her arms, was a small child barely three months old giggling with a happy smile as he gazed in his direction.

"Hey, my little Joe!" putting the provisions in his hands down, King Joe took his little son, his fourth child from the woman's hair before he lifted him into the air and spun around.

"Ha..hehe..." young Joe giggled away. Not only did he inherit his father's hair, he also acquired his charm, as his cute little face would tug at the heart of any living being.

"Is everything alright?"

King Joe brought his little kid back down, before nestling him comfortably in his arms, "What do you mean?"

The white-haired woman gestured with her head at the provisions on the side "Why didn't you put them in your spatial ring?"

King Joe's eyes suddenly widened in realization, and soon after a wry smile graced his face, "I don't know why I forgot about something so basic?"

The white-haired woman's eyes shone with sadness but quickly hid them before her lover noticed.

She knew he was worried about his family. Aside from a message he sent to them to appease their worries about his well-being over a year ago, he hadn't contacted them again. He was worried after all, of the terrifying figures chasing after her.

When her thoughts arrived at this point, her mind warmed up once again. She never thought she would fall in love one day.

"Now I know why they haven't been killing people and haven't actively investigated my identity." King Joe's words pulled her out of her thoughts.

"What do you mean?" Her expression immediately became serious.

"Apparently, they stumbled upon some Elders of the werewolves, and their entire team was almost decimated. Since then, they haven't gone out of their way to kill recklessly again."

A look of understanding lit her face, but King Joe's next words caused her expression to change greatly the next second.

"Do-do you think I-we can go back to my family? I can assemble an army, and now that they are weakened, I don't think they could pose any threat."

The white-haired woman's eyes shook greatly. She knew how dangerous those men after her were, and she didn't believe just any elder of the werewolves could kill them. Sure, their sidemen could be killed, but not the major spearheads of their team.

Walking toward him, she caressed his cheek with a loving smile, and seeing him rub gently on her hand made her smile blossom the more.

"You can go back to your family. If it were not for you, I would be dead by now. But you have done enough and your family needs you. I and our son will remain in hiding, as I can't allow his existence to be revealed to them. That would just create a far greater mess for us."

King Joe's face became covered in shame when he heard her words. Thinking that she had hurt his heart, the woman quickly continued:

"I don't mean it like that. I genuinely feel gracious for this past year, and while I wish I could have you to myself, I also know that your family needs you..."

"You are my family!" The king cut her words in a deep voice. Carrying the now quiet Joe in one hand, he squeezed her hand which was still on his cheek gently.

"Besides not only can I not abandon you, I also can't abandon my son. He will experience tough times in his growth..."

The woman's expression became anxious upon hearing his words. She knew what her lover meant, as her son was the result of a union between a magical beast and a human. Since he inherited both of their genes, it meant that he was partly human, and partly a magical beast. This meant that, unlike others, he wouldn't be able to transform freely, as every transformation would come with an unbearable pain, due to his impure bloodline.

She was just about to voice her fear when her expression changed simultaneously with King Joe.

"To think you would notice our presence even with this stealth formation."

A foreign but familiar voice resounded in the now silent cave, and a second later, the space a few meters from King Joe distorted before four figures appeared.

King Joe's face became pale as the thought of leading his lover's enemies straight toward her and their only child made his heart clench tightly.

As if reading his thoughts, the white-haired woman smiled slightly as she tried to hide her panic, "They would have found us sooner than later. It isn't your fault. Instead, I feel this is an opportunity."

She shifted her eyes toward the four and King Joe mirrored her actions. He knew what she was trying to convey, as it was clear that the numbers of their pursuers had dwindled greatly. Over a year ago, they were up to thirty but now only the few before them remained.

But the problem was that these four were the most terrifying among the whole group, which meant that their situation had barely changed.

Steeling his heart, King Joe handed his son to her, "Go, I will meet up with you soon."

"Joe..." the sides of her eyes became wet.

Smiling lightly, King Joe assured her, "Don't worry. Even if I can't kill them, I am sure I can escape with my life. I have done it before."

"Heh! Do you think we didn't come prepared this time?" one of the four men snickered.

Another one who had his brow tightened in a frown voiced out, "Thay child...don't tell me he is yours?"

The other three's expressions changed greatly before being replaced by a fierce look. "To think the priestess of the Luminox Family is a slut!" spat one of them angrily.

However, he barely finished his words when King Joe charged at him with fury burning within his eyes.

In a second, he appeared before the man who had just spoken and hurled his fist at his face. Green scales covered his fist, and before the man could react, his fist slammed into him.

"Bam!"

However, the situation he expected never turned out. His punch that could explode a mountain several tens of meters high merely caused his enemy to take a step back.

Though a bit surprised, King Joe didn't fret as he still accomplished one of his aims. Taking the opening where the other three unconsciously gazed at King Joe who charged into their circle, a blinding light exploded from the white-haired woman's body, and a fraction of a second later, her body turned into a white flash that arrived at the entrance of the cave.

*Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!*

Several booming sounds entered the ears of King Joe and the other four a moment later.

"I told you, we came prepared this time. A locking formation has been placed at the cave's entrance. Nobody is leaving here today!"

*Booom-booom-boooom-booom-booom!*

Hundreds of booming sounds continued to resound in the cave per second as a white flash collided with the barrier placed at the entrance.

No matter how the white flash tried, it couldn't escape.

A light of madness shone in King Joe's eyes, as he registered the dire situation they were placed in.

*Poison domain!*

The cave immediately became filled with a thick green mist that swallowed the four men in a mere instant.

However, the four were already conscious of his domain and were prepared to react immediately.

The green mist tried to invade their bodies and corrode their skin, but it couldn't bypass the unique essence fueled by the mana that covered their bodies.

Still, it made them actively divide their attention to prevent themselves from being poisoned.

A great fight erupted within the cave.

Even with four facing one, King Joe held on for a short moment, but soon after he was slowly pushed back by the four's momentum.

Thirty minutes passed like this, during which the intensity by which the booming sounds coming from the cave's entrance didn't reduce at all.

"Ah!" King Joe released his anger with a battle cry, and the stifling emotions filling his heart reduced greatly. He had tried blowing up the cave and the mountain they were in, something he could have accomplished easily, but under the effect of the still running formation, now proved difficult.

With his body covered in blood, and his enemies, in a far worse state than him, as one had lost an arm while another had a deep gash spanning his entire face, and the last two had their skin covered in green showing that they were poisoned, King Joe resolved his heart to die and take his enemies down with him.

However, there was a reason why he had been running from these pursuers for a long time. If they were so easy to kill, he wouldn't have stayed in hiding for an entire year.

In that split moment when he shouted, the four charged at him at the same time with no opening in their movements and no time for him to react.

With his immense battle prowess and experience, he was able to dodge three of the attacks, however he wasn't able to dodge the last one.

King Joe's reptilian eyes further contracted into a needle as he felt the aura of death about to swallow him whole.

However...

Just when the dark sword came in contact with his body and was about to pierce through him, a white light flashed before him, before a warm liquid burst onto his face.

With his eyes slowly widening in horror and his eyes pooling with tears, King Joe watched the face of his lover before him who flashed him the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. However, rather than warming his heart, the smile made his heart twist and his lungs choke.

"No!" the four men shouted in panic when they saw the person they had been trying to catch fatally wounded.

Time seemed to come to a crawl...

The four men were still shouting...

King Joe's tears were just about to fall...

The white-haired woman knew she didn't have much time as she could feel her life quickly sapping away from her body. But at the same time, she felt her bloodline churn like never before, causing a wry smile to hang on her lips.

"To think I would only explode with my full potential at the point of death," her sweet voice filled with melancholy could only fall on deaf ears.

Steeling her heart, she pulled her chest out from the blade that had punctured her heart, and as she felt her heartbeat slow down, she carried little Joe with one hand and held her lover's hand with her other hand.

The trio disappeared soon after in this stopped time.

Now moving at the speed of light, the white-haired woman pierced effortlessly through the barrier she couldn't escape through before, before crossing a distance of tens of kilometers.

Arriving at the gate of the city, she left the man she fell in love with a little over a year ago, and placed her child in his arms.

"I love you both!" she kissed her frozen lover on the cheek, before kissing little Joe.

"Ee-ah..." A soft but short cry broke the stiffening silence.

With widened eyes, the white-haired woman gazed at her child, and when she felt his gaze which seemed to have flickered on her for a moment, she couldn't hold back the tears any longer.

"My little pumpkin is a genius like his mother. No, you are even better than me."

Kissing his forehead one more time, she wiped a single tear that had formed at the side of Joe's eye away, "I want you to always remember the son of whom you are. The son of the sole priestess of the Luminox family, FIONA DES LUMINOX!"

Feeling that she had a few milliseconds left, she turned reluctantly before disappearing in the direction she had come from.

A second later, the King came to, and at the same time that his tears spilled uncontrollably down his face and little Joe's cries drifted into his ears, a brilliant light exploded far in the distance and a moment later, a resounding boom followed.

*Booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom!*

"No!" King Joe's shrill shriek filled with pain and unwillingness pierced the sky for a moment before being swallowed by the terrifying shockwaves that covered the entire continent.

The explosion caused by detonating the mana core of a high-class mage was just that terrifying.