Chapter 175: Temple Of Shinra
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Every continent had its own local superpowers.
In the past, the superpowers of the 'Old World' were, indisputably, the 'Ancient Families'. With time, however, that status had slowly been lost to the royalties of various kingdoms and empires, especially after ready access to Timaeus Vault was no longer a possibility for the ancient families.
As for the ancient academy, while it was definitely not below their level, it was too passive in nature for inspire any fear in the masses.
In the 'New World', however, there had only been one single hegemon that no one dared to defy for thousands of years, and that was the Fairfax family. This wasn't because the family itself was strong, but because it was related to the Ocean Throne - Gwendolyn Fairfax.
With her influence, they were able to grow from being nothing but a minor, insignificant force to what it was today. Perhaps even if all the 'superpowers' of the old world united, they wouldn't be able to contend against the Fairfax family. And that was if Gwendolyn herself didn't interfere.
Needless to say, every movement of this titanic force was closely observed by the world with much trepidation, and this was especially so for the Temple of Shinra, which dedicated most of its intelligence network to monitoring the Fairfax family and its descendants.
When the news of the Fairfax ancestor leaving for the 'Old World' arrived at the temple, all hell broke loose.
Perhaps the power dynamic of the world was finally going to change after thousands of years.
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After talking to her descendant, Gwendolyn erased her presence and continued staring at the open seas with a smile. "I really am a terrible person… to be happy today."
Every once in a while, she received the spirit eggs from various people around the world who had agreed to pay a certain price to the Fairfax family, and elevated them to the next rank, greatly enhancing the physique of the child to be born.
The batch she received around a decade ago, however, gave her far more than she ever expected.
Gwendolyn had always had the thirst to make up for her past mistakes somehow, and to once again meet the Lotus Throne.
That wasn't why she wanted to do such a thing, however. After all, the chances of a spirit egg that was capable of turning into a throne just turning up at her doorstep were abysmal at best.
This had proven to be true, as she had done this for thousands of years, and never once had it ever happened before.
Instead, the practice of blessing the spirit eggs started more as a countermeasure against the 'Temple of Shinra'.
Who knew, however, that one day she really would get such a pleasant surprise. Even when she had held that pink veined egg in her hands, Gwendolyn had still partially been in disbelief.
Eventually, though, she realized that it wasn't just her hallucination. More than ten thousand years later… her successor was finally born.
She couldn't tell much aside from the fact that not only was her soul value was astonishingly high, but her other stats far exceeded that of an unborn child as well.
In fact, just the power contained in the spirit egg made her worry that someone else would also discover the same thing. That is, until she realized that the shell couldn't be seen through by spirit power at all, and only those who could deploy chaos essence had the ability to see through it.
With a sigh of relief, Gwendolyn had finally given it her blessings, though she knew it was far from enough.
For a moment, her mind wavered.
Why not keep her by her side?
Gwendolyn still felt a chill run up her spine as she recalled how her hands had shivered. At that time, she wanted to control the child completely. Raise her as her own, and make all her dreams come true.
After all, the world was a dark and cruel place. Wouldn't she be safer with herself?
Gwendolyn chuckled. "Hehehe… if she knew what I did to her predecessor, she'll realize that being by my side is probably the most dangerous of all. Wouldn't she hate me then?"
Besides… she was, ultimately, the child of someone else.
Of course, although her descendants worshipped her as if she was a goddess, a goddess she was not. Gwendolyn couldn't care less of robbing someone's child, but what she couldn't bear was robbing the Lotus Throne's successor of her real parents.
After taking everything away from the previous throne, how could she bear to wrong her successor?
The path of a throne couldn't be as smooth sailing, however, and Gwendolyn knew it better than anyone else.
It was no longer the same era as that of the previous lotus throne, who had grown so innocent and charming. No, this was an era where the Temple of Shinra controlled everything that she didn't vie with them for, and continuously increased their influence and strength.
A newborn throne would be like a delicious feast that had already been served to those beasts.
Gwendolyn sighed. "I hope that girl managed to train her well so far."
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Meanwhile, back at the academy, Aurora couldn't help but smile as she listened to Evelyn describing all kinds of shenanigans that Vivian had pulled on Amber, subtly feeling that her gloomy mood all this while was completely gone.
Evelyn smiled. "Well, that's that. Teacher… remember your promise to me, okay?"
Of course, the pink haired girl wasn't talking about how Aurora promised to protect her, but something else.
The platinum blonde nodded. "As long as there's a situation I can't handle, I will let you know. Even if I think it's way beyond what you're capable of. But—!"
Evelyn pouted. "You promised, no buts!"
Aurora shook her head with a smile. "How can you be so tyrannical against your teacher? Won't you at least listen first?"
The pink haired girl coughed in embarrassment. "Well, teacher… you speak, I'm listening."
Aurora hummed. "Well, although I promised to let you know if there is such a situation, you still have to follow teacher's instructions. Understand?"
The main reason she had promised to let the girl know was just so she could rest assured, after all. Aurora didn't want such worries to cloud her mind needlessly, slowing down her growth and preventing her from focusing on her training with one mind.
It didn't mean that she agreed with letting her student put herself at risk, at all. If needed, she was even willing to resort to using force to keep her away from a conflict if she deemed it was hopeless for her student to get involved.
This girl's life was more precious than anyone else, after all.
Evelyn frowned. "You can't say that, teacher! I'll definitely be obedient, but only if it makes sense. I won't make that promise. We'll discuss it on a case-by-case basis!"
Aurora blinked, wondering if it would be worth it to argue with her, but in the end she decided she might as well give up. In the end, she would just have to use force, anyway.
This girl wouldn't listen to her in such a situation even if she promised her, after all. Aurora already knew how naughty and disobedient she could be.
Seeing her teacher nod, Evelyn grinned. "Good! Thank you, teacher!"
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Meanwhile, in a distant grand temple, a golden haired man hummed in thought after hearing the priest's report.
Cold sweat dripped down the aged man's forehead as he continued kneeling piously, hands shivering from both nervousness and excitement. On one hand, he was facing the lord, but on the other, he came as the bearer of bad news.
He didn't even dare look up at the splendor of the man he was facing. "W-We confirmed that the ancestor of the Fairfax family was also on the vessel that left for the old world."
The priest knew that their lord wouldn't be happy hearing such a thing. However, that was all the more reason why he didn't dare conceal.
After a short, oppressive silence, the golden haired man waved his hand in a clear dismissal, and the kneeling priest was unceremoniously flung out of the hall before he could even gasp.
The man sighed once he was left alone. "… with such timing, it can't be a coincidence. This confirms that the report earlier was true… heh. Gwendolyn, oh Gwendolyn… you really dare go against me time and time again, huh? You think I don't dare fight? Unfortunately for you... I am no longer the same as before, and the same goes for you!"
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