“Augustus’ Inheritance? You’re telling me that the leader of the Church that’s trying to denounce Augustus’ wife is his Inheritance? Bullshit.”

Aeon pointed at Gaius.

“Besides, I thought Augustus’ Inheritance was a place or an item? It can’t be a person.”

“Why? And who said I was on that woman’s side? My contract is with Octavian and no one else.”

“Contract?”

Aeon looked at her again.

“What are you?”

“Does it matter? Your goal is to kill me here anyway.”

Her body flickered and popped up in front of Aeon. She thrust her Halbred at his head. Her strike pierced through his head, but his body faded away. Gaius spun around and swung the Halbred like an axe. A chain wrapped around her weapon from behind her and stopped it inches away from Aeon’s body. With two sickle-shaped swords in his hands, he slashed an X across her torso.

“Yeah. We’re indeed here to kill you.”

Aeon twisted his body out of the way to avoid a kick.

“Well, if that’s what you’re trying to do…”

Gaius pulled her weapon and the chain ripped out of the hands of its user.

“You’ll need to try harder.”

A humming sound came from her halberd as she held it in her right hand. She thrust her arm forward and it disappeared along with her weapon.

“Octavian Halbred Art: Blood Seeker!”

Aeon snapped his fingers and three Mamushi members appeared in front of him. They thrust their spears out. An explosive sound resounded. Cracks ran through the ground as the air trembled.

(They canceled out my attack?)

Gaius’ eyes were widened.

(To block or evade is one thing but to cancel it out you need to perfectly replicate the attack itself and its piercing force.)

The rest of Mamushi rushed towards her from all sides. She twirled her weapon.

“Octavian Halbred Arts: Red Storm!”

She thrust her arm and as if multiplying, hundreds of halbred rushed towards Mamushi. They thrust out their various weapons. With a bang, the storm of Halbreds dispersed.

“Again?”

Mamushi came at Gaius from every direction. She was caught in a storm of attacks reminiscing of her own attack earlier. An explosion erupted and the church collapsed with everyone in it. Aeon stood on the rubble with Mamushi scattered around the area.

“Well, this was unexpected.”

A portion of rubble disintegrated and Gaius appeared dusting off her clothes.

“I never thought that you’ll be able to duplicate the Octavian arts after experiencing it once. Duplicating it is just the beginning. You completely dissect it and figured out how to defeat it. Octavian would be proud of such a genius in his family.”

She shook her head.

“You’re no genius, Aeon. You’re just incredibly crafty. Let me guess, you used your abilities to record your battle with Rogan, created copies of him, had your subordinates fight those copies without rest until they understood everything about the technique.”

She clapped her hands together.

“I applauded your tenacity and dedication to do such a thing. You’ve made the Octavian Halbred Arts useless against you.”

Her Halbred disappeared into the earth. She stretched her hands out and clenched her fists. The sleeves of her cleric robes disintegrated and revealed a pair of well-toned arms. She slammed her fists together and a pair of plated-gloves appeared on them.

“Since Halbred won’t work how about a taste of Octavian’s Martial Arts?”

Meanwhile, Rihan was floating in the air with his arms crossed. In front of him was a heavily breathing Rogan. He held a Halbred in his hands and was covered in cuts.

“What the hell is this?”

“What are you referring to? The fact that you can’t hit me with any of your attacks or the gap between us?”

“You…You know all of my attacks, even attacks I didn’t use against your son?”

“Oh, that. It’s obviously because I can use them myself.”

“What?”

“I’ve mastered the five Octavian Arts, so of course I can use them.”

“….How? Only Gaius, Krow, and I should know and use them.”

“You’re wrong about two things.”

Rihan lifted a finger.

“Krow knows the arts but he doesn’t use them for the same reason Augustus stopped using them. They’re incomplete.”

He lifted another finger.

“There are others who know the arts, for example, me and the being who taught me.”

“The Being who taught you?... What the hell are you talking about? Who are you?”

“The Devil’s Joker.”

Rihan showed off a broad smile.

“Anyway, now that you know I think you should forget using it against me. That goes for the revised versions too. I might not know them but I’ve fought far more battles than you have so they won’t do much.”

“You don’t know how much I’ve fought, what I’ve been through.”

Rihan nodded.

“That was indeed the case until I met Gaius. Since I know that she’s with you most of my questions regarding you have been answered.”

“You know about Gaius? Impossible. She’s been sealed for thousands of years. No one should remember her name unless they were with Augustus back then.”

“For someone aiming to overthrow us your way of thinking is shallow.”

“What?”

“Listen, Boy. Believing that something is impossible only put restrictions on yourself and prevents you from seeing the whole picture.”

Rihan spread his arms.

“The world is a boundless place with endless possibilities. Anything and everything can happen.”

He brought his arms to his sides.

“For example, me knowing that Gaius is the last survivor of a primal race.”

“?!”

Rihan’s smile grew while Rogan’s confusion increased. The Halbred in his hands disappeared and his shoulders slumped.

“I guess you know everything.”

A smile crawled on his face.

“But even you can be caught off guard.”

“Hm?”

A golden light covered Rihan’s body. A symbol of a Phoenix appeared on his chest.

“This is…”

Rogan stretched his hand out and clenched his fist.

“Conqueror Arts: Oppression!”

Golden chains burst out of the mark and wrapped around him. They fastened squeezing his body and restricting his limbs.

“My strength is fading away….”

Rihan’s eyes widened a bit.

“You can use Augustus’ complete techniques?”

“From the look on your face, I take it that you can’t.”

A golden sword appeared in Rogan’s hand. He recognized the weapon.

“Augustus’s sword, Vastator?”

“That’s right. The sword that will end your life.”

The sword shone a radiant light reminiscent of the sun. Golden light reflected in Rihan’s eyes as Rogan swung the sword. A golden Phoenix rushed from the sword and bathe the world in its magnificence before cutting Rihan in half. With his torso separated from his body, he witnessed the Phoenix circling back and cut his severed upper body down the middle. No blood came from his wounds, only flames. Golden flames engulfed his cut-up body and reduced it to ashes that disappeared in the wind.

“Hahaha! Go to hell, Rihan! I bet you didn’t see that coming!”

Rogan burst out laughing hysterically.

“Oh, so you’re surprisingly the arrogant type.”

“?!”

A voice echoed in Rogan’s head.

“To think you’re that type of villain. The foolish type who’s so full of themselves that they’re simple-minded.”

Dust gathered together and formed into Rihan.

“Looks like you still have a lot to learn.”

“How? I sealed your power and cut you down with Vastator…You should at least be severely hurt!”

“Hmm? Ah, that would’ve happened normally but not with me.”

Rihan smirked.

“After all, that’s what I was waiting for.”

Rihan snapped his fingers and the world distorted around them. Eyes and mouths appeared in the sky and surrounded Rogan.

“This can’t be…I’m trapped in an illusion? Since when?”

“The moment I spread my arms.”

Rogan remembered Rihan spreading his arms earlier while making a speech.

“The world is a boundless place with endless possibilities. Anything and everything can happen.”

“It was a warning?”

Rihan nodded.

“You failed to see that you had already lost and now have revealed vital information about yourself.”

He pointed at Rogan.

“You possess Ruler’s Contract, a power passed down in the Dragna clan that allows you to copy the abilities of anyone you’ve made an agreement with. And I mean anyone, even gods and proxies.”

“……..”

“Your silence doesn’t fix your situation, you know. You used Augustus’ techniques and weapons not because you made an agreement with him, I mean you don’t even know where to find him. No, you made an agreement with Krow who possessed both. It also makes sense why Krow chose you. After all, while Ruler’s Contract is in the Dragna DNA via Augustus, it’s extremely rare for it to awaken. You possess a godly power that goes against the laws of the universe and possesses great ambition, so it would be a waste not to groom you. There’s a chance that you might become a second him after all.”

“………”

“What’s wrong? You look pale. Maybe it’s because you’re the type who doesn’t like it when they’re in the palm of someone else’s hand?”

“….How do you know so much? Krow went through a lot of trouble to make sure that I never stood out. I was under the radar for all of my life.”

“You were a sleeper agent, right?”

Rihan showed a bright smile.

“I know because Krow and I have a lot in common. We’re friends in a way. But it’s not like he told me anything. I merely thought about all the reasons why he invested in you when he hated the majority of the clan and figured that it had to be Ruler’s Contract. If I had found you first I would've done the same thing.”

Rogan’s eyes widened.

“Wait…Are you implying…”

“Oh, I didn’t tell you?”

Rihan’s smile became sinister.

“I too have Ruler’s Contract.”

At the site where the Church of Augustus once stood. The surroundings were reduced to burning rubble.

“……..”

Aeon Dragna was laid out on the ground. His clothes were torn and his body was covered in blood and wounds.

“Ugh!”

He groaned as a foot pressed down on his chest causing his broken ribs to poke his organs.

“You guys put up quite a fight.”

Gaius smirked at Aeon. Her robes were torn apart revealing a sports bra and joggers underneath and a well-toned body that had a few cuts on it. Her plated gloves were stained in blood. Around her, members of Mamushi laid out groaning in puddles of blood.

“I have a lot of Octavian’s techniques and items stored in me so you should be honored, you kinda fought a far inferior version of a young Augustus.”

Aeon silently glared at her, cursing her in his mind.

“Don’t worry. I said it earlier, I can’t kill you because of my contract with Octavian. So you’ll stay alive, I guess.”

*Bam!*

An explosive sound came from behind her causing her to turn around. Rihan appeared at her blindside and hit her with his backhand. She flew and crashed into some burning rubble. She quickly got up but fell to her knees after losing strength in her body.

“What just happened?”

She looked at Rihan who had gathered Aeon and the members of Mamushi. Rihan shot a glare at her which caused her to retreat on reflex. His image was overlapped with one that she couldn’t forget. An enraged Augustus.

“I’ll leave you with that alone. It would be boring if he didn’t have anyone to pick him back up after his first real defeat.”

She looked over to her right and saw a bloodied Rogan laying in a crater with his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

“Rogan?!”

She crawled towards him until she could stand up again before running up to him.

“I came here to destroy you all, but after seeing the mass potential that boy has I change my mind. He’s a little rough around the edges but he’ll become a great asset to the empire in the future if he finds the right master to serve.”

“Master?”

Gaius glared at him.

“Are you talking about yourself?”

Rihan burst out laughing.

“I’m already grooming a couple of brats including my son. I don’t have time for that. Besides, he’s not the type to bow down to others. It’ll take a special type of person to change his ambition a bit.”

“Change? Not break it?”

Rihan shook his head.

“Ambition is a great fuel for growth. Breaking it would be a waste. His goal is to create the best empire in the world right? Then he’s lucky to be born in this era. There are those who he can relate to. I’ll leave them to deal with him.”

He turned his back to her.

“Your previous guidance and current power are lacking. I suggest you contact your main body and have her transfer more power and knowledge for the Augustine Regime to become more of a threat.”

“….What kind of game are you playing here?”

Rihan looked over his shoulder with a devilish smile.

“The Devil’s Game.”