****(POV)

"Sectmaster! Sectmaster! Something big happened! It's urgent there are…"

*Sigh* How hard is it to remain in closed-door training?! I did tell the lot of them to take care of the Light Citadel in the meantime. Actually, no. They wouldn't disturb me without a good reason.

Are we getting attacked by some evil sect?

Is there some heretic trying to corrupt our people?

I've been training for a while already. I can feel the barrier to reach rank 5. So close yet so far! It is like the world itself is trying to impeach my breakthrough. As if reaching such power was condemned by the heavens!

Of course, I know. The chances of me succeeding are almost nil. Still, I will keep pushing nonetheless.

Should I succeed, I would be the most powerful there is, but most importantly I would be able to protect him. We of the Light Citadel never cower before evil. We either win or die fighting, there is no in-between.

I still remember the vow I made to her. I promised her that I would raise a strong son that would be able to take care of himself. One that would be the most brilliant. One that would make her proud.

Well, that was before she left us, but I have been true to my vow. Unsurprisingly he showed incredible prowess. He was born with incredible talent, but he had her quiet strength too: the very reason why someone of my status got together with her in the first place.

Yes, whatever the issue is I will resolve it quickly and go back to training. All for that off-chance that I succeed even if it is but a pipe dream.

I exit the room protected by many golden glowing seals. Outside await me all the elders of the Light Citadel. Their expressions are extremely somber. It seems the problem is huge.

"Talk, who are our enemies?"

"M-my lord, the Gu Meadow!"

The Gu Meadow is it? They usually shouldn't be that big an issue. Sure they are strong but the climate around our sect isn't suitable to their bases.

Let's just say climate influences people but people influence the climate too. When you have plenty of Hellios believers in one spot it generates a lot of Yang energy that counters them. Because of that, they steer clear of us most of the time.

"So, what have these losers been up to? Did they attack one of our strategical bases?"

"N-no, m-my Lord…They killed Young Master Sun."

"WHAT?!"

No! No! There is no way!

This isn't possible! He was supposed to be training like me! Were they able to infiltrate our headquarters? No, that's impossible!

Tell me it's a lie! Tell me it's…. but they are serious. Deadly serious. How?! Why?! I can't help but remember his confident and cool appearance as he trained. He is extremely strong for his age. There is no way he could have kicked the bucket that easily!

"I don't believe it! What happened?!"

An elder comes forward.

"M-my lord, Young Master Sun insisted on participating in a punishing expedition. One that was meant to destroy one of their outposts. But then he told our soldiers to let him go alone. The village was in fact destroyed but then came their chosen. There are eyewitnesses that saw them fighting but Young Master never came back and…"

This seems like a ludicrous tale. I know how strong he is. There is something weird about it for sure. That's my instinct speaking!

"Enough! Bring me there, right now! Also which idiot allowed him to leave?!"

They glance uncomfortably at each other guiltily. "All of us, Young Master Sun was really insistent on leaving…"

It's too early to despair! I need to figure it out by myself first. More often than not, rumors are fake. For all we know, he could have been kidnapped! There may still be a chance!

Thus we depart, in a gloomy atmosphere. All of us are riding sun elks, a monster that is truly suited to our faction. On the way, we make plenty of heads turn. This is the first time in eons that we go out with such a lineup.

Our current strength is enough to sneak attack most of the sects on this continent. The atmosphere is gloomy, I should be despairing too, but I won't. For now, what's important is finding him at all costs.

For the first time in my life, I am afraid. I can feel my muscles tensing and my heartbeat going faster. I fear what I will find, but there is no running away from this.

We pass through the demolished village, there are a few men trying to low-key retrieve some of the Gus contained here. We slaughter them all. Whether they belong to an evil sect or not doesn't matter. We make sure to burn everything. Then we keep going.

Before long we reach caves. It is dark, the yin energy is ever so present, but mixed in there are remnants of very strong yang energy. This is the place! This is where they fought!

We head inside and there is a scene of destruction. There was a fight to the death her for sure. Part of the cave has collapsed. There are traces of poison in the air. Many many Gus fought and died here.

We can all feel something else. We can feel the mark that we give all of our core members. This spell is meant to mark their killers. Now, one has clearly expired here, recently at that. Everything points to his death. Yet, there is no corpse.

This can't be. This just can't be! Why did I work so hard for?! Wait no, there is still one thing we can do. We can do a complex ritual to ask Hellios himself. He will know for sure! We ride back home.

It will take a while to prepare the ritual. I'll need to make sure…That's when I notice something. As we enter our citadel there is a weird atmosphere going on.

As I'm confused a youngster comes closer. This one is the number two of the younger generation. He used to be a candidate to be a chosen a while back, but Hellios picked Sun in the end.

"Sectmaster! I have something to report! I just became the chosen of the Sun God!"

He just became ….no, this is not possible. There is only one way for a chosen to change. That is for the current chosen to die.

I become choked for air, for once I feel this position of mine weighing so heavily on my shoulders. I difficultly let out a small "Serve the Sun god well from now on." But then I run back to my private quarters.

I get the strongest alcohol I own. It finally dawns on me. My son is dead. Our son is dead. "This is a toast to you, Sun!" Tonight I'll get drunk, tomorrow I'll hunt his killer. What about taking care of the Light Citadel? Screw the Light Citadel!