Cleaver Of Sin

Chapter 142: Dethronement

Honestly, Asher was getting tired of all this mysterious nonsense. He had asked Malrik and Wuthenya about their elemental affinities before, and both had told him he would find out when he followed them into battle.

And now, these two, Xavienne and Xavian, were refusing to reveal what their father’s element was. Everyone was acting as if it were some great, unspoken secret, shrouded in layers of formality and enigma.

But he couldn’t complain, well, he could, but it wasn’t as if he could punch the truth out of them. Besides, Asher knew that even if they never told him, he could simply ask Lyra, or perhaps any maid within the Wargrave estate, and they would instantly tell him without hesitation.

The thing was, he hadn’t asked. It wasn’t like he truly cared all that much about it, at least, not enough to make it a priority. But for some reason, now felt like the right time to bring it up.

”But make no mistake, Youngest,” Xavienne said, her tone measured yet holding a subtle weight, as she continued the explanation she had been giving earlier.

”Just because everyone receives an invitation,” Xavian added seamlessly, picking up the sentence as though it were a relay baton passed between twins, ”doesn’t mean everyone is admitted. You would still have to prove yourself, through both battle and a test.”

”I already suspected as much...” Asher intoned, his voice calm.

”Oh? You already know this?” Xavienne’s brows lifted slightly, her lips curving into a faint, calm smile. ”I thought you said you didn’t know anything about the Star Academy.”

”I don’t,” Asher admitted. ”I just know there’s no way this supposed Principal would send a bunch of invitations without making the recipients earn their place.” His tone was even, almost analytical.

Xavienne and Xavian merely exchanged a knowing look, both smiling faintly at his words.

”Is there anything else I need to know?” Asher asked, his purple eyes shifting to gaze out the window.

”Nothing of great urgency. You will find out the rest once you arrive at the Star Academy...” Xavian said, his voice as calm as ever.

”Where’s the fun if we tell you everything now?” Xavienne added with a quiet chuckle. ”Wouldn’t that make it boring?”

Asher nodded slightly, then asked, ”What are brother Malrik’s and sister Wuthenya’s elemental affinities?”

Xavian’s brow furrowed slightly in confusion.

”You don’t know this?”

”Am I supposed to?” Asher replied, raising an eyebrow.

”Well, they are... unique,” Xavienne said, as though carefully choosing her words.

”Malrik awakened the Sun Element. It allows him to do a great many ridiculous things. He can even bend light to such an extent that he becomes completely invisible, meaning, for all you know, he could be sitting here right now and we wouldn’t even notice.”

”Indeed,” Xavian continued, picking up her sentence without missing a beat. ”He even managed to create a personalized healing ability by merging solar energy with human cells on the most microscopic biological level known to mankind.”

”It is said that brother Malrik can do a great deal more with his Sun Element,” Xavienne added with a sigh. ”But we’ve never actually seen him fight in earnest, nor does he show off his abilities. We don’t even know the extent of his katana techniques.”

’Why do they keep speaking one after the other like this?’ Asher thought, his mind briefly drifting. ’It’s as if they share the same brain, or perhaps even the same consciousness.’

His thoughts shifted to Malrik, recalling the man’s calm, knowing smile, and the way he carried himself as though he could see through everything and everyone.

’Such talent... Even in a world that isn’t technologically advanced, he merged biology with solar energy. And since the Sun is also a source of light, he’s able to bend it away from himself to render himself invisible. And those are just the abilities we know about. Well... not like I’d complain about having an overpowered older brother.’

”Then there’s Wuthenya,” Xavian said, drawing Asher from his thoughts. ”She awakened the Moon Element. She can create and manipulate lunar energy as she pleases, and she can traverse darkness itself. Father once said that if she truly reached her peak, she could even bring the moon crashing into Crymora, if she so wished.”

Asher sat stunned.

’One awakened the Sun, the other awakened the Moon... My lightning element doesn’t even compare to those two,’ he thought grimly.

Then another thought struck him. ’Wait... If these two possess such overwhelming affinities, then Father’s must be even more absurd, so much so that they don’t even want to mention it. Could it be Space? No... I wouldn’t rank Space above Sun and Moon, maybe on the same level, yes, but not above. Time, perhaps? Or maybe even the Star Affinity, given that he possesses golden hair and eyes...’

His guess made perfect sense to him. After all, there was no law stating that only one person could possess the Star Affinity. And even if such a law existed, it wouldn’t apply to him, he didn’t awaken his Star Affinity naturally, but rather gained it through the Star Core Fragment.

Asher exhaled slowly, feeling a strange mix of humility and determination. Compared to his father, his elder brother, and his elder sister, he seemed... lacking.

’Well... now I possess the Star Element,’ he thought, a faint smile touching his lips.

’Should I ask Commander Yevric about Father’s affinity to confirm it?’ His smile turned a shade sly at the idea.

He turned to the twins and asked, ”How long will it take us to get to the Star Academy?”

”Two hours at most,” Xavienne replied, closing her eyes as if to rest.

”But we won’t be going there directly,” Xavian added smoothly. ”We’ll be heading to another location, from which we’ll be teleported into the separate dimension where the Academy resides.”

”So...” Asher leaned forward slightly. ”Is it that no one actually knows where the Star Academy is located? Or what?”

A troubling thought crossed his mind. What if one day something happened inside that separate dimension, if people were being killed, and no one outside knew the location, how could reinforcements ever arrive in time?

”It is known,” Xavienne replied, opening one eye, ”but entry is strictly forbidden without the Principal’s personal permission, whether you are a Duke or an Emperor.”

Asher raised a brow. ”Even the Emperor?”

”Even the Emperor,” she affirmed.

”Power dictates everything,” Xavian said, his tone almost instructional. ”With enough strength, one can even ignore imperial orders if they so choose. The Emperor sits on his throne now only because he is powerful, and because none of the Dukes truly care about the throne enough to challenge him.”

”If Father were an ambitious man, or even Malrik,” Xavienne added casually, ”either of them could wage war against the Emperor and take the throne without much trouble.”

Her voice was so calm, so matter-of-fact, that it was almost unsettling. She might as well have been discussing the weather rather than casually suggesting the dethronement of the most powerful political figure in the Zarethorne Empire.