Chapter 532 – A Father’s Confrontation

After I got some rest and made up for the sleep I lost earlier, it was time to get down to business. I woke up at roughly 6 PM, which definitely wasn’t healthy for my sleep schedule, but that was the smallest of my concerns right now.

I told Eve to contact my father, X, and she told me she would do it if I agreed to have sex with her again. With no other choice, I had to comply, since no one else could contact him and I had no idea where he was.

In any case, a meeting was schedule for half an hour from now, this time on top of an abandoned, empty rooftop within the Fortress. It was far away from any sign of life, and provided a nice, quiet, isolated environment to talk in.

Of course, due to the circumstances, I went alone, with Eve as my guide. None of the other girls were ready to meet my father, even though this wasn’t what the meeting was about, so…

… Anyway, with some teleporting and flying, we soon arrived at the destination. It was an extremely tall building, standing above all the rest in the District, and from above, I could see my father, the man named X, sitting in a plastic chair.

With his midnight black armor of dragonscales and dark, ominous figure, the normal chair seemed extremely out of place. He was far more fit to sit on a grand throne, and the table in front of him didn’t exactly fit either.

But to someone like me, who knew about his true identity, this wasn’t weird or absurd at all. Eve, after guiding me here, left us be, and returned to the beach. After all, she now knew about X’s identity as well, and wanted father and son to have some time to themselves.

Descending onto the roof, I bowed down slightly out of respect.

“… Greetings, father.”

“Haha, when have you learned to be so formal and polite?” The man before me gave a chuckle, and I frowned a bit.

“It’s not my fault your armor is so… overbearing.”

“… That is true,” my father replied, and removed his helmet, revealing his familiar face underneath. “Is this better?”

I nodded. “Much. Now, we can finally have a normal conversation.”

“Haha, yes… take a seat.”

He gestured towards the seat across from him, and I pulled the chair out before sitting down in it. 

“I’ve done as you told me,” I said, folding my arms. “Killed two, defeated one, and converted one onto my side. The Four Cardinals of the Midnight Syndicate… are no more.”

“Yes, I’ve heard from Nael,” my father replied. “He admires your strength quite a lot, it seems.”

“So?” I arched an eyebrow. “Have I passed your… test?”

“… No. Not yet.”

“… You’re kidding me, right?” I clenched my fists. “You told me if I took down the Four Cardinals, you would believe I have enough power to fight against the otherworldly powers that might be coming for me in the near future. So what’s this all about? You lying to me, again?”

“Then was then, now is now,” my father said, narrowing his eyes in seriousness. “They are coming, Xuan Kai. An alien species known as the Hex.”

That was familiar. The Hex—Sylvie had told me and the other Founders of the Library of Infinite Beginnings about this a few days ago, during my sleep, when they held a meeting. She had informed us of the impending Hex invasion, and how they were here to get revenge for their defeat at the hands of the Founders so many years ago.

But according to my father now… things were more complicated than that.

“The Hex…? Aren’t they coming for revenge?” I asked, confused.

At this, my father blinked.

“You… know of them?”

Oh, shit… I slipped my tongue…

Seeing my awkward silence, my father sighed.

“Never mind. I did not mean to put you on the spot like that. Regardless… yes, revenge is part of the reason why they are invading this planet once more, but more than that… they have discovered you, Kai Kai.”

“Discovered me…?”

“Yes. You see, the power of Chaos can be amplified by the amount of loyal allies surrounding you. Little by little, you have built yourself a family of loved ones around you, further increasing the strength and radiant essence of your Chaos. However, your understanding of the power has not yet reached a level where you can control it yet, so as a result, the signals of your power were traced down by the Hex. I am unsure why, but they seemed to value the Primordial Chaos very highly. They will take it, by force if necessary.”

Well… that’s a part to the story even Sylvie didn’t know about with her Terron Records. Interesting. I won’t question how my father knew this, though…

“I can stop their invasion,” I said. “I know the method.”

“… Oh?” This seemed to catch my father’s interest momentarily, but then, he sighed and shook his head. “It’s useless, Kai Kai. Even if you do manage to repel the Hex, they are only the first of many. If you think the galaxy and universe out there consists of only the Hex… you are very wrong. Even I do not know just how many hostile races there are who are searching for the Primordial Chaos, but… rather than all that trouble, why not just let me take this burden off your shoulders?”

His words were begging me, pleading. But as much as I wanted to grant my father his one and only request of his son… I could not.

“… I’m sorry, father. I can’t do that.”

My father stared at me for a moment that felt like an eternity, and it was impossible to see what those eyes held. Regret? Disappointment? Sadness? Pity? It felt like a culmination of all of those feelings, but eventually, at last, he turned away.

“… I see. You have your own difficulties too. You are a grown man now, Kai Kai. I understand. Nothing I say will change your mind.”

“… Yeah,” I said, remembering my conversation with Mei Gui days before, and just how valuable she was to me. “Thanks for understandi-“

“But just as you are a stubborn grown man now…” My father continued before I could finish my sentence, and placed his helmet back onto his head, changing his voice from a normal tone to a dark, deep one.

“… So am I.”

Suddenly, a galestorm appeared all around us, trapping the two of us in here within a tornado, and two large black wings sprouted from my father’s back. They were utterly huge, and powerful to match. Slowly, he ascended into the air, glowing red eyes on his helmet shining ominously as they contrasted with the midnight black armor covering the rest of his body.

So that was why he chose such an isolated location in the middle of nowhere to meet. He had already known I defeated the Four Cardinals, and was already prepared for things to go down like this. Not wanting to harm any innocents or destroy anything useful to someone else, he chose this place—an arena where both of us could give it our all, in a battle of life and death, father and son.

From above, thunder hailed and red lightning poured. Layers upon layers of blood rain stormed down in agony, as the fateful battle between father and son opened its curtains on the stage. The howls of the wind and roars of thunder were our audience, watching, waiting for the show to unfold.

“So… it’s come to this after all, huh?” I muttered under my breath, then turned up to look at my father in his combat stance, pointing a Chaos-forged greatsword towards me. He looked powerful—there was no doubt about that. Before now, I had never felt genuine fear when looking at an enemy. But him… his very presence made me tremble.

“Come, Kai Kai. Defeat me, and soar to even greater heights!”

But even so… I was not the weak child from back then. I had friends. I had allies. I had the girls whom I loved, I had Mei Gui. All of them inspired me and fueled me with the strength and couraged to not only challenge this extremely strong opponent in battle, but also my very own father.

Opening my palms, I summoned my Chaos katanas, and swung them around a bit to get the grip, then activated my own white, angelic wings, and rose to the air to the same altitude as him. Pointing one of my blades towards him, glowing red with Chaotic energy, I spoke.

“… Let’s do this, father.”

“Yes. No holding back. I will not!”

I nodded, and pulled my hood over my head, and my mask over my nose, showing nothing but my burning red eyes, shining like bloody rubies that matched my father’s amidst the dark storm.

The battle began, now.