Now usually, this would be the moment where the main character puts on a heroic display and shocks the audience with their hidden prowess. Unfortunately for Vairon, he is not the main character, and this is not one of those moments.
With a look of utter disinterest, Vaelor merely glanced at the fist coming toward his face, his expression a mask of boredom. Just as Vairon was inches from committing patricide, his momentum came to a screeching halt.
His body was suspended awkwardly in the air as his eyes widened in disbelief.
Vaelor walked around his frozen form, his face impassive, but the disappointment in his eyes wasn't at all concealed. Walking to his side, he stopped and stared down at Vairon, and for the first time since his abrupt appearance, spoke.
"You are… disappointing."
The words struck Vairon like a fiery branding iron, his body trembling with suppressed rage and humiliation as his eyes glared daggers toward his father.
The Aetherion Patriarch merely glanced back at his son's enraged expression without a hint of sympathy. Instead, as if not content with simply humiliating him, he continued.
"All these years away from home, and you still haven't taken the next step in your cultivation. Instead, you waste your time frolicking through useless ruins, digging in dirt, or fishing like some kind of invalid. You shame the blood within your veins."
As the last words left his lips, Vairon's aura exploded into a raging tempest. His eyes were bloodshot as veins snaked their way up his throat to his head, the trembling growing increasingly violent as his rage peaked.
"YOU—"
Just as Vairon seemed about to break free of the hold he was in, his vision swam as the world seemed to flip on its head. Before he could react, a force heavier than a star crashed down on his body, slamming him into the courtyard.
BOOMMM
Vairon's face was unceremoniously and rather abruptly acquainted with the ground on an intimate level, followed closely by the rest of his body. The force of the impact left a new crater within the already devastated ruins of the once-pristine section of the manor.
"ARGH!"
The pressure being applied to Vairon's body kept him pressed firmly into the ground. Under Vaelor's expressionless, yet admittedly secretly smug gaze, Vairon could only let out a grunt of pain as his body's strength betrayed him.
Ignoring the pathetic wannabe patricider, Vaelor's heavy gaze moved to the group of marginalized beauties. His eyes briefly flicked toward the majestic blue bird standing protectively behind them, a glimmer of interest within his dark eyes.
'A Blue Luan with a Sovereign-grade bloodline, interesting. It could serve as a decent warm-up when it matures further.'
The Blue Luan's feathers bristled in agitation as it noticed the terrifying gaze of the beast in human skin staring at it like a piece of meat.
As its soul was about to flee its body in fear, Aelshira's cold hand stroked its wings to comfort it, shooting a pointed glare at the overbearing patriarch.
"I would appreciate it if you wouldn't glare so wantonly at my beast companion, Patriarch Vaelor. She is still young, and your aura could harm her."
Then, with a smile that very clearly was anything but amused, she continued, "So either chill out and communicate like a normal human, or fuck off."
Sensing the threat and bubbling ferocious chill within the smiling lioness, Vaelor's expression didn't change in the slightest. In fact, his pressure seemed to increase slightly as the blood flowing within his body began to rumble with the promise of battle.
Aelshira's eyes lost their playful shine, replaced by a fierceness that promised a bloody battle. Karliah watched the exchange with a tinge of amusement and helplessness on her face, but even in the face of the clashing auras of two peak existences within the cultivation world, her posture was as relaxed as if she were sunbathing.
The rest of her group, on the other hand, all sported similarly pale faces, their features drained of blood as the oppression of the two monsters before them pressed down on them, even with them clearly holding back.
Kaelira was now standing, her expression slightly flustered.
"F-Father…"
The air instantly stilled. Vaelor's body went rigid at the sound of her voice. Meilan, now fully conscious from her despair, tensed audibly. But in the next second, she nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"MY BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER! YOUR FATHER HAS MISSED YOU, HAHAHA!"
In a flurry of movement, Kaelira was now being held up in a fierce embrace by her bipolar father-in-law.
The sudden shift in dynamic was so jarring that everyone nearly fell flat on their faces.
Kaelira's face burned with embarrassment as she struggled, unsuccessfully, to escape her father's arms.
"F-Father, let me go! I'm not a little girl anymore!"
"Nonsense! You are my beautiful little princess, and you always will be! Just looking at those bastard sons of mine for the past forty years has taken centuries off my lifespan. I need to recharge my daughter battery!"
Seeing her opponent completely ignore her existence, Aelshira's face spasmed. Scoffing lightly, she muttered, "This daughter-con old man. All that posturing for what?"
Vaelor paused his coddling of his red-faced captive and turned to stare at the disgruntled Palace Mistress with an expressionless face.
"We're the same age. Calling me old is just a roundabout way of insulting yourself, idiot."
Aelshira's hair bristled at his words, flaring up and sharpening like a lion's mane. Her eyes turned a piercing pale blue as her pupils shrank.
"The fuck did you just say, old man!?"
Vaelor snorted derisively before turning back to the red-faced Kaelira and ignoring her completely.
Seeing herself ignored again, Aelshira was about to erupt before a slender hand chopped down on the top of her head.
"Ugh! Why me!?"
Karliah shook her head at their antics. The relationship between this pair of Patriarch and Palace Mistress was like a bullying older brother and tsundere younger sister, neither ever admitting the respect they held for the other.
"Lord Vaelor, it is good to see you again. But may I ask you to release my nephew-in-law? He is about to die."
It was only at that moment that everyone seemed to remember the host of today's festivities. In unison, all eyes turned to the now-bloody figure still being suppressed into the ground.
Vairon's eyes had rolled into the back of his head, his mouth now foaming.
Kaelira's eyes blinked. Then a smug smile of vindication tore through her current embarrassment.
'Karma's a bitch, honey~'
—
Meilan knelt next to Vairon, tending to his injuries as he rested his aching body against a nearby tree. Every bone in his muscular frame felt as if it had been ground to powder.
His eyes carried a look of betrayal as he stared at his father and wife across from his sorry figure.
Kaelira was seated on the ground next to Vaelor, her face holding a smug expression that seemed to scream Serves you right! as she animatedly conversed with Vaelor about their experiences over the past few decades.
"…and then, one of the old family heads within the city rallied the other noble families to stage a coup! But I managed to kill the old bastard, and I nailed a spear straight up his ass! You should have been there, Dad. It was awesome!"
Seeing the excited look on her face as she described such a horrific scene, Vaelor was filled with a deep sense of pride.
"Excellent, my daughter! Truly worthy of being a woman of the Aetherion Clan! But what of the fate of those who conspired with him?"
Kaelira shrugged leisurely. "It was too much of a hassle to dig into who was involved or not, so I just killed them all and banished the elderly and children."
The others around them shivered uncontrollably. Everyone suddenly remembered how she got her moniker as the 'Blood-Crazed Beast.'
Her ever-supportive father, on the other hand, laughed joyfully as he ruffled her hair.
"Hahaha, that's my girl! You bring this father of yours great pride!"
Aelshira and Karliah watched on with deadpan expressions, seriously questioning if letting their disciple/martial niece marry into this family was the right thing.
Aelshira crossed her arms across her ample chest, her voice laced with barely concealed jealousy as she spoke.
"If we didn't know any better, we would all assume this stubborn old bastard was the one who raised you all these years."
Kaelira flinched as she flashed her sulking master an apologetic smile.
"Forgive me, Master. It has been so long since I have spoken to Dad that I got swept up in the flow of things."
All she received in response was a small snort. Aelshira clearly didn't believe her flimsy excuse.
Karliah sighed resignedly.
"Why can't we all be friends and just get along? Is it that hard to just speak normally?"
"""YES!"""
The three firm, instant replies brought a familiar pounding to her head.
Thankfully, the arrival of a modest flying boat saved her from a violent aneurysm.
Vairon's depressed figure was immediately filled with vitality again at the sight of the flying boat, as if seeing his savior.
The bold gold symbol of a crossed pair of swords, engraved on the artifact, exposed the identity of its owners.
The rest of the Aetherion main clan had arrived.