"It is not your decision." Keith smiled at the mother before looking at her husband and then at her sister-wife. "A life for a life."
As soon as his words fell, even Amira and Reina tensed up.
"I can save his life, but the price is your daughter." He said, and the white-haired woman subconsciously tightened her embrace around her baby.
"No..." She desperately shook her head.
"I know what she is." Keith shook his head. "Your husband hasn't told me everything, but I am sure you realise that you can't take her back home." He lightly said, and Jaun's body trembled at his words. "The Key of the Prison Realm has merged with her. She is the Key to the Prison Realm now, a Living Sacrifice. Your enemies won't take long to figure it out."
"How do you..." The woman looked at him in disbelief and then turned to look at her husband.
Perhaps, she thought that Jaun had told him the truth, but her Husband was just as much in disbelief as she was.
"Give her to me. And she will be safe." He gently said, and the woman's body trembled at his words.
"No... you will sacrifice her..."
"I won't." He chuckled and shook his head. "If I wanted to sacrifice her, I wouldn't have asked for you to give her to me. Do you think you can protect her or yourself if I try to snatch her away?"
His words were brutal, blunt, and hurtful, but the three of them could not deny that his words were true.
"What will you do with her?" Jaun asked, and his wife started crying, realising that the decision had been made.
"Our Gigi wants a little sister." Keith smiled at the little Qin, who surprisedly looked back at him. "She will be raised in my family as a part of it." He assured the mother, who was looking at her baby's face in great pain.
"Will I get to see her again?"
"It depends if you can live to see that day." He smiled. "12 years from now, when the Prison Realm is accessible again, I will bring her to Solaria."
"You said..."
"I won't sacrifice her." He shook his head. "I have my own ways of entering the Prison Realm."
The woman glanced at her sister-wife, who was keeping her head lowered as she stared at her son, and her heart ached some more.
"Save him." She finally said, and hearing her words, both Jaun and her sister-wife closed their eyes in shame.
It was a debt that they might never be able to repay.
Keith nodded to her, having already expected her to make this decision, and then approached the unconscious little boy.
"Do you know what is wrong with your son?" He curiously asked, and the woman, who had the same orange hair as her husband and child, shook her head. "He's born with a special treasure in his body."
"A treasure?" She nervously asked.
"Yes. Do you know what a Dao Bone is?" He asked as he cut through the child's shirt and bared his chest.
"He has a Dao Bone?" Jaun nervously asked, and his wives were deep in shock at the revelation.
"Yes." Keith smiled. "He has a Sword Bone, which means that he will become a great swordsman and will be able to create his own Sword Law. That is if he lives to see that day."
For the next several minutes, Keith treated the boy under the watchful eyes of his parents, the air thick with tension and the faint scent of blood from their injuries, and informed them exactly what was wrong with their child.
The Sword Bone had saved him from the poison, but as a result, it partially awakened ahead of its time and ruptured the Aura Node that the boy had managed to open.
Since the Aura Node was ruptured, the Sword Energy had no outlet, and it was digging into the Heart now and destroying the Aura Channels connected to that Aura Node.
As they listened to his explanation, they became even more nervous, but to their relief, they saw their child's complexion become much better.
"He's fine now." Keith suddenly said as he took away his hand. "I have sealed the Sword Bone, and the Aura Node has been fixed. It will take a few weeks for it to completely heal, and he will be able to cultivate again. Once he has reached the Completion of Foundation Profound Realm, the Seal will start wearing off, and by the time he reaches the Spirit Profound Realm, the Sword Bone will be completely free and can awaken at the right time."
"So fast?" The woman looked at him in surprise.
Did he really cure her son in just a few minutes?
"You are welcome to check." He shrugged and stood up, giving the family some time to verify the state of their child.
Jaun complicatedly looked his way, as if wanting to say or ask something, but in the end, he stayed quiet.
"Thank you!" The woman bowed to him, ignoring her injuries and pain, and Keith accepted her gratitude with a nod.
The boy woke up a few seconds later, and he panicked before starting to look around.
"Father!"
Tears pooled out of his eyes when he saw that Jaun was safe, and rushed right into his arms.
"We have to leave now. So, may I have her?" Keith received a reminder from the System and interjected.
The white-haired lady was clearly reluctant to give up her child, but she strangled her heart and stepped forward to hand her baby to him.
"Her name is Thea Solaris. Her Father is Jaun Solaris, and her Mother is Zala Orayen."
He smiled at the little girl who was sound asleep and already had a mix of orange and white hair on her head.
Zala had left a pendant with her baby girl, and she cried as she placed one last kiss on her forehead.
Jaun, who had been silent, stepped forward and took a look at his daughter's face.
He regretted being so weak that he could not protect his child from being taken away, but now that things had come to this, there was nothing he could do about it.
He summoned the injured Yellow Tiger out, and then took off his Beast Ring, handing it over to Keith.
"Baal. You will protect my daughter from this day onwards." He ordered the Tiger, who lowered its head in sadness, having sensed that he would be parting ways with his Master today. "Please. I promise you that Baal will not disturb you."
"It's fine. My name is Argus, and I hope you will not take my name carelessly in front of people." Keith did not mind this arrangement and recalled the Beast inside its Storage Ring. "Goodbye, Mister Solaris."
As soon as he said his goodbye, Keith teleported away with the girls, leaving the family of now four, searching and looking all around them.
Zala dropped to the ground and sobbed in pain at losing her child, the sound echoing in the quiet clearing, and seeing her in that state, Jaun felt even more pathetic.
"I am sorry, Zala." He apologised to her and did not hold back his tears as he hugged her.
"Father... they took Thea away..." The little boy's anxious voice broke their hearts even more.
"We will see her again," Jaun promised his son, and his wife, who was utterly distraught right now, but then vigilantly stood up, looking at the sky, the wind carrying a faint chill.
His wives had sensed the powerful presence as well, and both of them wiped away their tears and protectively covered Alex.
"How curious..."
They heard a whisper, and the next second, they found a tall man in scholarly robes and a white beard, standing in front of them.
"Are you the ones responsible for the dead bodies outside my caves?" The man asked, and Jaun tensed up at his words.
"We were ambushed." He honestly answered, knowing well that he could not afford to offend this old monster.
"Is that so?" The man smiled at him and glanced at his family, settling his eyes on the little boy. "But none of you seem capable enough of doing all that. You are not even a Swordsman." He smiled when he looked back at Jaun.
"Someone helped us."
"Who?"
"A Stranger."
"Is that so?" The man scrutinised him, and Jaun nodded his head. "Did he give you a name?"
The three of them frowned at the question, and it was Zala who shook her head.
"No, he did not."
"Oh." The man sighed in disappointment, and just when they relaxed, he disappeared from his position and returned there, carrying Alex in his arms. "Your parents are lying to me, Boy. I will kill them if they don't tell me the name of the man who saved them."
His words were light, very light, but they were terrifying enough to make the little boy cry.
"His name is Argus. He took my sister away."
"Alex!" His mother reprimanded him, but it was already too late.
"Argus?" The man thoughtfully narrowed his eyes. "I have never heard of a Swordsman with that name. Why did he take away your daughter?" He raised his brow at them, and Jaun lowered his head in shame.
"A life for a life. He saved our lives and marked my daughter as the price."
"Is your daughter beautiful?" He curiously asked.
"She's only a year old." Zala furrowed her brows and answered. "The man just wanted to give his daughter a little sister, so he took away my daughter."
"Interesting." The man laughed. "I am going to take away your son now. You wouldn't stop me, would you?"
Hearing his words, all three of them froze, and Jaun clenched his fists tightly.
"Please, no."
"You are too weak to refuse me, Boy." He laughed again. "And it is an honour for you that I have taken a liking to your child's talent. I want to take him as my disciple."
Jaun, before he could speak again, was thrown a token, which he caught and looked at.
By his side, his wives' eyes widened in shock, but he furrowed his brows.
"The Sword Gate. You are..."
"The Sword Doctor." The man smiled and put down the child. "Bring him to the Sword Tower the day he turns nine years old." He said and then threw them a storage ring, which the man caught. "There are things inside for him and you. If you fail to come in the next four years, I will come to see you and your father." He warned before he looked around and disappeared from his spot.
Jaun tightened his hold on the token angrily but stopped himself before it could shatter.
"He knows Father?" Zala frowned and confusedly asked.
"He is the man who took away his arm." He sighed and then picked up his son. "Let's go. We have to reach the Crystal City as soon as possible."