Jane’s subordinates did as she asked. They went around and prepared the best mansion they could fine. Incidentally, there was someone already living there, but they were kicked out and given a different residence against their will.

“………”

When the girls saw the previous resident being forced to move, they felt strange. They knew that for that person to live in such a place, then they must have quite the background. Yet, they were kicked out like a mutt. It just made their curiosity towards the coin Jane was holding, increase.

“Your Majesty, is this place to your liking?”

Jane asked with a tone of servitude.

“Yeah, its perfect.”

Rory answered.

“Then Your Majesty….can I please get your name?”

“My name?”

“I’m sorry if I’m out of line, it’s just that we would like to celebrate the occasion of someone like yourself coming to visit! If I’m overstepping my boundaries, I deeply apologize.”

“It isn’t really a big deal.”

Rory answered.

“You can call me Aniket.”

The girls were puzzled because that was the first time they’ve ever heard that name.

“I see, Lord Aniket. Welcome to the Golden Breath Villa.”

Jane said.

“Thanks. Oh, you can keep that coin if you want.”

“R-Really?!”

Jane immediately became flustered when she heard that.

“Yeah, it’s not like it’s my only one.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Jane started bowing over and over again. Even the tiny snakes which made up her hair, bowed in gratitude. It was an amusing scene.

After talking and making a few more arrangements, Jane left with her subordinates leaving Rory and the girls.

“Now then…..”

Rory turned towards one of the couches and leaped onto it and immediately turned on the tv in front of him. He instantly switched from a regal man to a slob.

“Rory.”

The girls sat on seats, which were across from him.

“What is it, ReRe?”

“First off, stop calling me that. Second, what the hell just happened? How did we get the best mansion in a place like this without paying a single cent?”

“That’s incorrect, ReRe. I actually overpaid for this place. That’s why Jane and her workers will supply us with everything we need from now on. Money, food, clothing, entertainment. So there’s no need to hold back. You can pig out like me.”

“You’re pigging out too much if you ask me.”

Amelia retorted.

“What is that coin you gave to that woman? Who is this Holy Mother they spoke about?”

It was obvious that Jane’s behavior changed, the moment Rory showed her the coin with the lotus on it.

“Ah, that would be Guanyin. She’s the person I came to this continent to meet. I used her coin to shut that woman up.”

“Guanyin? Why does that name feel so familiar?”

Reina asked.

“Well, Amelia aside, you should’ve at least heard the name before.”

Rory smiled.

“After all, she’s the goddess of the Beast Race.”

“?!”

The two were shocked when they heard that.

“By goddess, do you mean like the Sacred God and Night God?!”

“Well, she’s not a True God like them. She’s a just a God by name.”

Rory answered while watching tv.

“The Goddess of mercy, the holy mother; that’s what everyone called her. She’s their source of faith.”

“So the Beastmen don’t worship the Sacred God? I didn’t even know that they were other religions still existing in this world.”

Said Amelia.

“Of course they are. I mean mortals will never stop creating objects of fear and admiration to escape from reality. It’s just that the Sacred Race eradicates them on a regular basis. You should know how the church feel about heretics by now.”

The girls nodded as they remembered the events of just over a month ago.

“Besides, the ones who worship the sacred god are mostly the sacred race and humans. Beastmen have their own sets of beliefs and morals that just don’t fit with those of the Sacred race. That’s why the Beastmen chose their own God.”

“And that’s Guanyin?”

Rory nodded.

“Guanyin was known for her merciful and holy demeanor. Many people came to love her and soon began to worship her. One thing led to another and she became the patron of the Beastmen. Well, she has the strength to back it up.”

“Then does she rule the beast race?”

“What?”

This time Reina was the one who was confused by Amelia’s question.

“That can’t be. The Beastmen have the Beast Emperors that rule them.”

“Beast Emperors? Never heard of them.”

Amelia answered.

“You know, I’m starting to think you’re feigning ignorance. There’s no way you don’t know about the Beast Emperors.”

“Don’t underestimate how isolated her country was.”

Rory said with a laugh. Amelia frowned when she heard that.

“Well, I never did actually explain how the world works, did I?”

He suddenly muttered.

“Elia, you believe that the Sacred Race is the sole ruler of the world right?”

“Well, isn’t that the case?”

Amelia asked a bit annoyed.

“Well, you’re right and you’re wrong.”

Rory noticed her irritation, but still continued.

“The Sacred Race, or more specifically, the Sacred Family that rules them are the strongest faction in the world. That’s without a doubt. But they aren’t the only faction. After all, the world’s a pretty big place. Only a god could have full control for thousands of years.”

“And the Beast Emperors are one.”

He nodded.

“There are four factions that collectively rule the world.”

He started listing them with his fingers.

“The Sacred Family, The Night Family, The Beast Emperors, and The Human Sovereign.”

“One for each race.”

Reina added.

“This goes without saying, but the Sacred King and Night King heads their respective factions while the Sacred Family and Night Family is like the royal family of their race.”

“Hm, wait didn’t you say the names of the Sacred and Night king back during the tournament at Marigold? What were they called? Noctis and Licht?”

Amelia asked.

“That’s right. Those are their titles, not their names though. They mean Night and Light respectively. Pretty straight forward right?”

Rory said with a laugh.

“So the Sacred King stands at the top of the world right?”

“For the time being.”

“I can understand the Night King since he’s most likely a descendent of a god and is probably on par with the Sacred King, but what about the Beast Emperors and the the Human Sovereign? How are they able to compete with the previous two?”

“How? With pure power that’s how.”

Rory answered.

“Then you’re saying that they are people outside of the night king who can rival the Sacred King?”

“Not just the Sacred King, they rival the entire Sacred and Night Race by themselves.”

“?!”

Amelia was shocked to hear this. She couldn’t believe that they were people who could hold an entire race at bay.

“Tell me about them.”

She eagerly wanted to know as much about those beings as she could.

“Alright, I guess I should start with the Beast Emperors since that’s what led to this.”

Rory replied.

“You see, when both the Sacred god and the night god was in the world their kin suppressed the other races, and even enslaved them at one point. The other races couldn’t do anything, because they didn’t have the backing of a god. However, everything changed when the two gods simultaneously disappeared. Their kins waged a battle to see who would claim the world which the Night kin lost, because the Sacred God tried to wipe them out before he disappeared, leaving them weakened.”

This was the first not only Amelia, but Reina has heard of this story.

“After claiming the world, the Sacred Kin continued suppressing the other races and continued to do so for thousands of years, but one day a beastman appeared who they couldn’t suppress. Someone that they couldn’t control no matter how they tried. Eventually, this beastman went on to fight the then Sacred King and walked away alive. He also fought the Night King who wanted to recruit him, and survived. That beastman then went on to free the Beast races from the Sacred kin grasp, and ruled over them as their emperor. That was the first Beast Emperor.”

Amelia couldn’t imagine how powerful that beastman was, and how domineering he was.

“His life was however short lived and he died young, leaving the Beast races vulnerable. Or that was suppose to be case. Apparently, the time of peace that beastman gained them was enough for the Beastmen to produce two more persons of similar strength. They went on and did the same thing as the first Beast Emperor and fought the Sacred and Night Kings to prove their strength. Even killing them both.”

“The ruler of the world was killed?!”

Both girls were shocked.

“Well, yeah. Throughout history several Sacred and Night Kings have been slain by a Beast Emperor or Human Sovereign. But it’s also vice versa.”

Rory answered calmly.

“Anyway, despite the death of those oppressing them, the Beast races didn’t have long to rejoice because both the Sacred and Night Kings were replaced with successors stronger than the previous ones. As you can guess, the situation got bad. The two new Beast Emperors quickly found out that they couldn’t sacrifice everything to protect the Beast Races like their predecessor, so they made a decision. Instead of protecting all Beastmen, they’ll only protect their own races.”

“So they left everyone else for themselves?”

“That’s pretty cruel, don’t you think?”

The girls said.

“You think so? I think that they were only facing reality. They couldn’t protect everyone, so they chose to protect those close them. It’s not that uncommon.”

Rory replied.

“Besides, even though the other races were abandoned, other races started producing their own Beast Emperors over time. These Beast Emperors like the others, chose to protect their race alone. After a while, Beast Emperors became common? No, common isn’t the right word. Frequent would be better. Anyway, it soon became common sense for a Beast Emperor to protect their own race. It even reached the point where an agreement that each Emperor would respect each other boundaries and stick to their own, was created.”

“So a Beast Emperor is like the king of a race?”

Amelia asked.

“That’s right.”

“So what qualifies you to be recognize as a Beast Emperor?”

“You have to be recognized as being on par with the current Sacred and Night king. As to how you prove that, the quickest way is to fight both of them head on and survive. Another way is to accomplish a feat that only a Beast Emperor could do.”

“Like?”

“Killing another Beast Emperor.”

“That’s quite the requirements.”

“Of course. Beast Emperors are members of the beast races who stands at the pinnacle of specific races, and are acknowledged by both their race and other races as the supreme ruler of their individual race. To defy one, is similar to going against their entire race. You need to do at least that much to be recognized as one.”

Rory said.

Amelia was silent for a bit and suddenly asked a question.

“What if they are two persons from the same race with such qualifications?”

“They can only be one emperor per race. This is to prevent confusion. As such, those two persons would have to fight to declare who’s stronger.”

“That’s insane.”

“You didn’t know? The strongest people in any world are always insane.”

Rory said with a laugh.

“Then does every race has an Emperor?”

“Nope. There are countless types of Beastmen, but the amount that actually produced an Emperor can be counted on both hands. The others have to find asylum elsewhere. And that’s where Guanyin comes in. She’s so influential that she convinced the other races to not and try and suppress the Beastmen again.”

“Is she an Emperor?”

Rory laughed when heard that.

“Nope. She’s a monster, but she isn’t at an Emperor’s level. If anything, she’s on Serket level.”

“Wait, then an emperor is stronger than Serket?”

“They’re miles apart.”

The more she heard about them, the harder it became for her to imagine how strong an Emperor was.

“Speaking of the queen, I just remembered something. Didn’t she say that the one who defeated Pandemonium singlehandedly was Emperor Zahak?”

Reina asked. Amelia noticed that when she spoke the name Zahak, she trembled a little.

“That bag of bones has a big mouth.”

Rory responded.

“Then it was really Zahak?!”

“Who is Zahak?”

Amelia asked

“He’s the Emperor of the Dragon Kin! He’s said to be the most violent and destructive of the current Emperor’s. I heard he once marched into the home of the Sacred King and challenged him to a duel, which ended in his defeat. However, the Sacred King was unable to kill him no matter how he tried.”

“That sounds like him.”

Rory said.

“Why did you guys pick a fight with an Emperor?”

“We didn’t pick a fight. We were actually on good terms when we first met, it’s just that he and I had an argument about something stupid, and our egos clashed. Even then, it didn’t need to escalate that far, it’s just that Zahak wanted to prove his strength to the world.”

“Prove his strength? Wasn’t he already an Emperor?”

“No. He was an unknown brat at the time. He became famous after destroying us. You can say that we were his first stepping stone to becoming an Emperor. When I heard that he killed the previous Emperor of his race, I wasn’t surprised in the least.”

The girls noticed that talking about Zahak was starting to annoy Rory so they changed the topic.

“Then what about the Human Sovereign? I’ve heard people mention that title a couple times at the Marigold Kingdom. The Sacred Church members even called Serket the comrade of the Human Sovereign.”

“The Human Sovereign is the strongest human who is seen as the guardian of the human race. Their like the Beast Emperors, someone who can rival the Sacred and Night King. Their history is pretty much the same as the first Beast Emperor. Only thing, it’s the human race who elects their next Sovereign from a list of qualified candidates. They can’t afford for strong members of their race killing each other after all.”

Rory explained.

“Then they’re Serket’s comrade?”

“They’re best friends, who grew up with each other. The only difference is that this generation Human Sovereign was a monster even for that bag of bones to keep up with.”

“Meaning?”

“This generation Sovereign is the strongest in history.”

“What? Are you sure?”

Rory nodded.

“It’s without a doubt. After all, they fought the current Emperors, Sacred King and Night King, multiple times and was able to walk away every time. There were even times when they fought several of them at once.”

Rory then smiled and said.

“Just so you know, this generation’s Sacred and Night King along with the current emperors are the strongest in history as well. Not even the generation before or during the disappearance of the two gods could compare.”

That’s when the girls remembered what Rory said about this generation.

“This generation is by far the most gifted of all the previous ones after the gods’ disappearance. The chances of a god being born in this generation are almost certain. The battle for Godhood could happen any day now.”

After hearing what Rory said, his words seemed to be a foreshadowing of something terrifying.

The battle for godhood!