Chapter 448: Power of the Twelve Suns
"Lie!" Elliot yelled. "That's a lie. Lance— he's Lance!"
"He's our emperor's child, the Prince of Terra, and the one who is the rightful heir to the Eastern throne," Xing said. "And you cannot change that fact."
"Fine," Elliot lowered his weapon and sighed. "He's the One Sun's son, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still our friend!"
Elliot pierced his sword through the ground. The soil cracked as his blade swiftly went past it. The boy closed his eyes shut as he concentrated his magic into a connection of a thousand miles.
"Can you hear me?" Elliot asked from the void.
He saw himself in the middle of a dark and empty space. There was nothing around him but a small black orb. The orb was the size of a barrel and it resembled a black pearl by how shiny and smooth it was.
"Hello?" Elliot called out again. "I know you're there somewhere, please tell me something. Anything."
"I know you'd call."
The black pearl glowed with a bright white color. Suddenly, the darkness had been lifted and Elliot was now in the middle of a field of flowers. He was standing on top of a wooden platform that had an arch on one of the sides.
The arch was connected to a stone path that lead to the other parts of the field. The breeze was cold, yet warm, and the sun was bright but not hot.
Standing in the middle of the platform was a man whom Elliot hadn't seen for a while. The one who was feared long ago by many, including his peers.
"I really need your help, Irus," Elliot said.
The demon smirked and shrugged, "I'll help you, but that would depend on how much I can help you and how much you behave."
"W-What?" Elliot scoffed. "Come on. Don't play with me. I need your help, immediately. Any time we spend talking is a waste."
"We're inside your thoughts," Irus said. "You used a hefty amount of your mana into forging a connection between you and me. I'm actually not in Avancia right now– I'm not even in Terra. You must have used so much power."
"I did," Elliot said. "And that's the reason why I can't keep this up. Any second now, my body would give up and– can we just please talk about my request? We need to move as quick as we can."
"Space and time travels differently in this place," Irus said. "Also, since I noticed the depletion of your mana, I swapped the source so I'm the one providing this connection now. We can talk as long as we want."
"But we need to hurry!" Elliot argued. "I told you–"
"Your body is still piercing his sword through the ground at this moment. And everyone had just turned their eyes over to your direction to see what was going on. Don't be too panicked, Elliot," Irus said. "We have all the time in the world. And so far, I can only see the current events. I don't know the full context."
"Lance was taken by three people, two of which could wipe out all the elite members of the Adventurers that were dispatched to the East," Elliot said without stopping. "And the other one didn't even flinched as she basically stopped Zeus's very strong and very thick lightning strike."
"Wow," Irus said. "That is quite an interesting scenario. But I don't think I can go agains these guys."
"And why not? You were the most feared person in your era," Elliot said. "How come you fear these humans?"
This made Irus laugh loudly. "These humans? You think these people are humans? They are monsters. I can sense twelve different people inside one of them. That's not something you see everyday, and that's something that is normal."
"What do you mean twelve… peope?" Elliot asked. "Irus, why is this low-key scaring me? Tell me everything right now."
"You're not low-key scared," Irus said. "I can see you trembling clearly. You were actually shaken up after I said those words."
"I am," Elliot chuckled. "Now tell me, what did you mean when you spoke those words?"
"I meant what I said," Irus said. "These two have twelve different aura of different people on them. If you still don't understand what I mean, then let me—"
"I understand clearly what you mean," Elliot said. "But then can you know who these people are? Maybe this can help us into defeating them."
"I know too well who they are," Irus said. "And I know that they are powerful. Six of them can match my power, and there're twelve of them, so basically I'm outnumbered."
"But I thought you were the strongest?" Elliot asked. "Even your siblings were afraid of your power. You basically wiped out an entire civilization."
"And you have to understand that there are still more people that's more ancient than me," Irus said. "I was at the time when the Five Kings were at their peak, but what happened before them?"
"Before the Five Kings…" Elliot muttered under his breath. "Wait, you couldn't mean that–"
"Qing and Xing have the powers of the Twelve Suns," Irus said. "I can clearly feel the aura of the twelve suns flowing through each and every one of their veins."
"That's–" Elliot paused. "You mean they have the powers of the Twelve Suns in them?"
"I'm certain of that," Irus said. Out of nowhere, there was a metal table and chair that appeared. It was one of those that was usually found in gardens from rich people. Irus sat in one of the chairs cross legged while sipping a tea that he conjured from nowhere.
"We don't have time for that, Irus," Elliot said. "Let's just go back and help me."
"I'm trying to condition my mind, you know?" Irus said. "I can't just randomly help you. I still need to think about a plan that–"
Suddenly, there was a rip in space. A giant hand pulled Irus and Qing and Xing's face appeared. "Got you."