The Lord Is Too Overbearing

"Maha Dmitra is only chosen once one of the 7 living Dmitra is dead. And no, the living Maha Dmitra can't choose a new Maha Dmitra; a new Dmitra is chosen by nature. The chosen person will experience an Awakening, which will naturally notify the existing Maha Dmitra."

Puffing her chest, Iliana continued. "I, however, was chosen when I was still a child, while all of the Maha Dmitra were alive. This is the reason why I am different—why I am special.

"How did you know that—"

"As you have already known, your mother was a Maha Dmitra. That is the reason why all of Maha Dmitra told my father and I to seek for your mother." Iliana smiled at Basil.

"The first Maha Dmitra told me and my father to find out whether your mother—whose status as a Maha Dmitra was unknown—was still alive to prove if I really was an 'abnormality,' and to seek guidance from your mother if she turned out to be still alive."

From the way Iliana had worded it, his mother had cut every ties the moment his mother had left the village—after she had married his father.

As something like Iliana's case had never happened before, surely the Clan believed that it was some kind of a sign. Therefore, finding his mother's whereabouts didn't only confirm her status as a Dmitra—whether she was still alive—but also Iliana's identity as an unprecedented talent.

This way however, another one of Iliana's lie was unveiled. Basil looked at her silently; although he had expected Iliana was lying, he didn't expect Iliana would expose herself this soon.

"My mother wasn't held hostage, was she? How could she nurture a Pacifer under the surveillance of the Church if she was?"

"Well... Isn't it too late to realize that?" Iliana looked away.

"With how long my mother could educate you until the Church caught her shows my mother's capability to hide herself; she could stay under the Church's radar for years ... It doesn't make sense. If she was that good at hiding, why did she never visit her son even once?"

Basil had no ties with his mother; he didn't have the chance to bond with her. In his mind, he can never lose something he has never had, but hearing Iliana's story about his mother made him slightly disappointed.

Although he was well aware that his mother could never reveal her identity, he wished, at least, his mother had showed up once in front of him and disguised herself as someone else just so she could spend a little bit of her time with him.

'If that had been the case, maybe, just maybe, I wouldn't have run around the world aimlessly thinking I was alone. If only...' Basil quickly stopped thinking about the matter as his thought reached to that point. He was driven by emotion, and he didn't like it.

Sighing lightly to himself, he asked, "What is this circumstance she talked about? Her duty as a Maha Dmitra to educate a new Dmitra?" Basil frowned right after saying his question; it came out unintentionally spiteful.

"Huuh... I knew something like this would happen." Iliana bit her lower lip delicately. "Listen, Sil. This is the reason why I lied about your mother's status as a hostage: I knew you would hate her for her decision to not meet you."

Basil quirked his eyebrow, and was ready to retort, when Iliana quickly added, "Hear me out first! Your mother loved you dearly; she didn't choose me, her disciple, over you, her son. The reason why she didn't meet you is for your safety.

Despite the lack of reaction from Basil, Iliana still put up her hand to prevent him from talking.

"This has something to do with your existence—your worth. To get what I mean, I will tell you about our clan's legend—a prophecy that has existed since the beginning of After Chaos Era—the story of the fated boy."

Even though Iliana hadn't said anything yet, Basil already cringed at the title of the story he was about to hear. No matter how weird the things he had been through, he still didn't want to believe something about fate—let alone a prophecy about him.

Of course, he was too intrigued with the story to mind that. Since he had heard about some things that Pacifer Clan had done in the past from Caesar, Basil wanted to hear how much believable the things the story contained.

"As I have told you already, Pacifer Clan is made up of women; none of the women in Pacifer Clan can give birth to a boy. One day, the first ever male was born in Pacifer Clan; he was the embodiment of genius, whose talent defied the heavens."

"The first ever male? Wasn't Pacifer Clan's founder a male?" Basil was referring to Matheus.

"No. Who told you that Pacifer Clan's founder was a male?" Iliana quirked her eyebrow. "Pacifer Clan was founded by the strongest female warrior and her subordinates in the Age of Chaos."

"Have you ever heard of someone named Matheus?"

"Matheus? No. As far as I'm concerned, there was no such person named Matheus." Looking at Basil seriously, Iliana asked, "Whom did you hear about this Matheus from?"

Waving his hand lightly, Basil casually answered, "Don't mind it. Keep telling me your story." Iliana looked at Basil for a couple of seconds in curiosity. Seeing that Basil didn't want to talk anymore however, she shrugged lightly afterward.

"The first ever male born in Pacifer Clan grew up to be a man whose prowess made him one of the feared warriors at that time. He could fight a horde of Monsters by himself, and his progress in Magic far exceeded everyone—he was a genius whose prowess was akin to a monster."

"So, this man was the backbone of Pacifer Clan?"

At Basil's question, Iliana nodded her head in confirmation. "Yes. He was the backbone of Pacifer Clan, and also its First Male Leader."

She lightly frowned. "Success naturally invites envy; every other existing clans started to fear Pacifer Clan for this one man's existence. One day, each leader of the clan who felt threatened by the First Male Leader worked together and made a plan to kill him."

In exception of the man's role, so far, the story really resembled the story of the 'Lord' that Caesar had served in the past—the master of Pacifer Clan. Basil wondered whether it was actually referring to him or someone else.

"The clan leaders proposed that they should finish the First Male Leader in the battlefield, and the others quickly agreed. The plan was carried out, and the First Male Leader ended up 'dying in the battlefield.'"

"Weren't there eyewitnesses? What about his subordinates?"

"According to the story, the four clan leaders who betrayed Pacifer Clan's First Male Leader invited him to help them and their subordinates in the battlefield. Due to his prowess, of course, the First Male Leader was confident in being able to help them by himself. That's why there was not a single eyewitness."

"What about—"

"Of course, there was some suspicion. Due to the magnitude of the damage the First Male Leader had done to the four clan leaders and their subordinates however, everyone believed in their lie: the First Male Leader was subdued by a strong Monster."

Basil snorted coldly in disdain. "Foolish. He, who hath power but no mind, is no different than a pawn. Although I have expected it, I am still slightly disappointed."

"Calm down, boy. It's just a story." Iliana waved her hand in a placating manner. "There is not even an actual proof of this man's existence; the story just conveniently lined up with our clan's downfall, making many of us believe in this story. Besides, it's more epic this way, don't you think?"

"So, what is the correlation of this story with the prophecy?"

At Basil's straightforwardness, Iliana lightly sighed. "As I said, this story lined up with our clan's downfall. After the First Male Leader's death, our clan started to lose its powerhouses in the battlefield one by one, until only the 7 Maha Dmitra remained alive."

Upon reaching to this point, the story was already different than the one Caesar had told him about his 'Lord.' Though he didn't expect the 'Lord' to be the same person as Pacifer Clan's First Male Leader, he still couldn't shake off the feeling that there was a correlation between the two stories.

"At this point, our previously mighty clan had gained so many enemies that every Pacifer was practically hunted. Before the 7 Maha Dmitra ran away to safety the first Maha Dmitra, who was about to be killed at that time, declared to the world that when Pacifer Clan got another boy, this very boy would bring Pacifer Clan back to its glory, and avenge his ancestors."

Looking at Basil neutrally, Iliana continued, "Only a Maha Dmitra can give birth to this boy, and that's what makes a Maha Dmitra special. Everyone, who knew of the prowess the First Male Leader had possessed, were terrified of this declaration. That's why—"

"Pacifer Clan was, and still is, hunted, especially Maha Dmitra. Now that I am already born..." Basil quirked his eyebrow at Iliana, and she nodded in confirmation. "You said it was everyone, but how come only the Church that are hot on our tails?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that the four clan leaders who had killed the First Male Leader disappeared a few days after his death. Their clan that they left behind decided to merge themselves, while some of the crazy bunch decided to make a cult; that's the history of the Church."

Basil slightly frowned not at at the oversimplified history of the Church, but the striking similarity of the story with the one Basil had heard from Caesar. The 'Lord' Caesar had mentioned had been also betrayed by four people—the Four Heroes.

'While it is normal for a legend to resemble history, it usually doesn't overlap this much. It is as if... The story is purposefully modified to prevent the public from knowing the real event.'

Upon having that thought, Basil quickly shook his head; he knew not to hypothesize everything in his mind, when he had an informant in front of him. Thus, he opted to stay silent, and kept listening to Iliana's story.

"The new leader of the merged four clans was the First Human Emperor. Though this new clan—the Empire—is not as crazy as the Church concerning Pacifer Clan, once they confirm about your authenticity as a Pacifer, you'll be doomed, Sil."

Putting her finger in front of her lips, Iliana coldly said, "You can keep your name, but make sure to not show any Pacifer Clan's trait. They will hate to know that the 'fated boy' does exist."

Quirking her eyebrow, Iliana crossed her hands. "Your mother didn't visit you to prevent them from confirming your identity as a Pacifer—her son. She knew she would be caught one day."

"I see..."

Although he hadn't heard about everything from Iliana yet, he could make sure of many things.

First, Pacifer Clan still existed and they were hunted, thus further fortifying his grudge against the Church. Second, he was in a very great danger due to his name; once he was really proven to be a Pacifer, that would be the end of his stay in Human Empire.

Upon knowing of the things he didn't get to know in his past life, he changed his course of plans once again. Different from his past life, he wasn't clueless this time.

"Tell me, what is the trait of a Pacifer?"

Although there were still some things he knew Iliana still lied about, he didn't really need the true story yet; he only needed some basic and fundamental knowledge from her.

In an instant, his mind simulated another yet a different scenario—a better scenario.