Ancient Imperial Calendar Year 1815
Swords clashed, shaking the Spirit Realm. A tremendous energy threw heaven and earth into chaos.
Ahamenna gathered her Light power into a sphere in her hand and threw a fierce punch at Ricardo.
"Ahhhh!"
Ricardo was flung meters back and slammed into the ground.
"Fuck!"
He stood up, wrapping his sword in Light power.
Ahamenna appeared before him instantly. Swords clashed again, the Light power on them causing a massive earthquake.
Ahamenna rose into the sky.
"Hmph!"
Ricardo was buried under the collapsing earth from the earthquake.
"What the hell is happening?!"
He used wind magic to hold the earth back, then used earth magic to shape the soil above him into spears, filled them with Light power, and hurled them at Ahamenna.
Ahamenna shattered the incoming spears with her sword.
The shattered earth spears created a dust cloud.
Ahamenna lost her sight briefly.
"This opportunity won't last!"
Ricardo lunged forward, intending to plunge his sword, filled with Light power, into Ahamenna's heart.
Ahamenna protected her heart by wrapping her left chest in Light power.
Ricardo plunged his sword in with all his might, violently.
"AAHHHH!"
Although the sword didn't reach Ahamenna's heart, it caused horrific pain.
"Damned dog!"
Ahamenna delivered a powerful kick to Ricardo's stomach.
Ricardo flew backward.
"That hurt!"
Ahamenna, enraged, recklessly released all her power.
"I've suffered enough pain because of you,Harloumen! You will die here today!"
Ricardo prepared himself with all his remaining strength against the incoming attack.
"You're right,Ahamenna. You suffered greatly because of me."
The two charged at high speed. Their intent to kill was felt throughout the Spirit Realm.
"HARLOUMEN!"
Ahamenna swung her sword furiously to decapitate Ricardo.
Ricardo swung his own sword to parry the incoming blade.
The clash of the two swords caused a massive explosion.
Ahamenna and Ricardo were flung kilometers away. The ground split, forming a huge crater.
Ricardo's body was covered in wounds. He looked at the destruction with admiration.
"Wow,I didn't even expect destruction on this scale."
Ahamenna struggled to her feet.
"I still have a bit of strength left."
She gathered her remaining Light power in her hand, targeted Ricardo, and unleashed all her power.
"DIE,HARLOUMEN!"
Ricardo noticed the attack coming at him and prepared himself wearily.
"Enough,Ahamenna!"
Ricardo gathered all his Light power and unleashed it towards Ahamenna.
The two beams of Light power followed a straight line and collided right in the middle of the crater.
The Light power of two different individuals transformed the already large and deep crater into a gigantic chasm—a pit so deep its bottom couldn't be seen.
Energy explosions continued, creating a canyon so long the naked eye couldn't see its end.
Ricardo watched the resulting chasm and canyon in detailed admiration.
"Wow,if this were on Earth instead of the Spirit Realm, it would become a tourist attraction the whole world would eagerly visit."
Ricardo enhanced his senses with the small amount of Light power he had left and saw Ahamenna, gravely wounded, waiting for death in a corner.
"There you are,Ahamenna."
Ricardo rose into the sky using wind magic and flew towards Ahamenna.
Ahamenna saw Ricardo approaching her.
Ricardo landed beside Ahamenna.
"Did you come to watch me die,Harloumen?"
Ricardo sat on the ground.
"Both yes and no."
"Do you regret not killing me a thousand years ago?"
Ricardo frowned, his veins bulging with anger.
"I regret it very much.If I could go back to that day, I would have cut off your head."
Ahamenna burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha!Seeing you like this... at least I can consider my revenge taken."
Ricardo grew even angrier. He wanted to crush Ahamenna's head with his hands but restrained himself.
"Tell me,go on."
Ahamenna stopped laughing.
"Tell you what?"
Ricardo got annoyed.
"Are you going to pretend you don't know,Ahamenna? What happened a thousand years ago? My daughter Areia, born from Aherlenna, how did she survive? How did her bloodline continue? What happened a thousand years ago? Tell me before you die. Please tell me. I want to know."
Seeing Ricardo's pitiful state, Ahamenna went mad with pleasure.
"Aaaaahhhh!Seeing you like this was worth everything! Alright, I'll tell you, Harloumen, but I don't have much time. I'll summarize."
1020 Years Ago
The Ancient Imperial Calendar, Year 795
The last Ancient Emperor of the Ancient Empire, VIII Harloumen, had been killed in a duel with King Frank II of Fresfurt.
Upon their emperor's death, the army began to flee.
The Fresfurt soldiers slaughtered all the fleeing Imperial soldiers.
Frank II attacked Harloumenapolis, the center of the Ancient Empire, without even gathering the spoils.
A great massacre took place in the city. At that time, Harloumenapolis was the world's most populous city with three million inhabitants.
But that day, no one could escape the genocide by the Fresfurt soldiers. Not even the Imperial Family.
Frank II and his soldiers entered the palace, putting everyone they encountered to the sword.
They raped and killed the wives, concubines, daughters, and granddaughters of VIIII Harloumen.
They forced the men to watch all these rapes and then killed them.
The turn came to Areia, the daughter of Harloumen and Aherlenna, who was a young girl at the time.
About ten Fresfurt soldiers forced their way into Areia's room, killing the three guards trying to protect the princess. Just as they were about to lay hands on Areia, Aherlenna entered the room.
She killed the Fresfurt soldiers and saved Areia.
"Who are you?"asked Areia.
"I am your aunt,Aherlenna, niece."
Areia was stunned, but her only thought at that moment was her family.
"Please save my family too,Aunt! I beg you!"
Save her family? I would NEVER save Harloumen's bloodline!
I knocked Areia unconscious, opened a portal, took her first to the Spirit Realm, and then to Fyrkat, the most hidden village in the Northern Lands.
I brainwashed the villagers and made them all believe Areia was a girl born and raised in Fyrkat.
For years, I watched her from afar. Areia married at 18. A year later, she had a son.
Instinctively, perhaps, she gave him your name: Harloumen.
Later, the Payrist Dynasty was founded from the descendants of this male child.
Areia's bloodline didn't grow much; it usually continued through a single line.
A man named Arlek demonstrated courage in battle and founded the Payrist Dynasty.
As a twist of fate, a descendant of Arlek named Barmung married someone from the bloodline of Karlmen, your grandson from a past life.
Again, from their descendants, your mother, Seliarnevre, married your father, Orsman. It was as if everything was preparing for your reincarnation.
Ahamenna finished her story, coughing up blood.
"Cough, cough...Now you know everything, Harloumen. You won. I lost."
Ricardo fell to his knees.
"I truly loved Aherlenna.If she had told me that a Spirit Mother would die upon giving birth, I would never have had a child with her. You can believe me or not, Ahamenna."
Ahamenna interrupted Ricardo.
"I believe you."
Ricardo looked up in surprise.
"What?"
Ahamenna smiled.
"My sister told me everything.Your romantic moments, your nightly activities... she told me everything. There were no secrets between us."
Ahamenna burst into tears.
"She had started to love you even more.I was jealous of you. And one day, when my sister told me she was pregnant, I felt death on my heels for the first time. Was my sister going to die? Because of you? I hated you and your bloodline."
Ahamenna wiped her tears.
"My sister was determined to give birth to the child in her womb,regardless of her death. She asked me not to blame you and to protect her daughter if anything bad happened."
Ricardo was in shock; he could no longer think straight.
"Did she want to give birth to my child so much that she risked death?"
Ahamenna's eyes slowly began to close.
"Yes."
Seeing that Ahamenna was about to take her last breath, Ricardo asked a simple, short question.
"How did she know we would have a daughter?"
"Spirit Mothers know the gender of the spirit they will give birth to. Even if they are pregnant with a human hybrid, they know."
Ahamenna reached her hand out to Ricardo.
When Ricardo took Ahamenna's hand, he felt a curse being woven into him.
He pulled his hand back quickly. It didn't hurt, but he was in shock.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME,AHAMENNA?!"
"My first and last kindness to you, Harloumen. This curse will prevent you from marrying anyone from your bloodline. If you marry, the curse will kill you. This way, you will be free from your biggest problem."
Ricardo experienced a strange explosion of emotions: pain, sorrow, gratitude, regret... and a part of him hated this curse.
"Thank you,"he said, half-grateful and half-reluctant.
Ahamenna closed her eyes. Her body slowly faded away.
A portal opened, a gate to Kislathor. Ricardo left the Spirit Realm and Ahamenna's fading body behind, passing through the portal. He returned home burdened with all this knowledge.