The One King

After Azrael spared Alex's life, Miranda hurried to thank him before rushing over to her son to help him back onto his feet and examine his body, making sure that he had not suffered any serious injuries.

Valer and Lilian also breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Azrael for sparing Alex.

Valer gave Alex a stern look before taking his seat again. Then he turned his gaze toward Azrael and asked:

"Sir Azrael, may I ask about your cultivation level?"

Ever since Azrael had arrived at the Foyd family's residence, he had kept his aura tightly suppressed to avoid causing any trouble.

After all, the arrival of a cultivator from the Immortal Ascension Realm in another power's city without any apparent reason could easily cause a major disturbance. Because of this, Valer had been unable to determine Azrael's cultivation realm accurately.

That was why he wanted to know his true strength.

Azrael answered indifferently:

"I am at the fifth level of the Immortal Ascension Realm."

The moment Azrael said those words, it was as though an ancient existence had suddenly silenced the entire world.

Absolute silence descended upon the hall.

Every pair of eyes turned toward Azrael in astonishment, except for Gaya, who remained remarkably calm.

The silence lasted for several minutes before a trembling voice finally broke it.

"The Immortal Ascension Realm..."

The voice belonged to Alex.

He stared at Azrael as though he were looking at a terrifying monster, his entire body trembling.

The realization that he had provoked a cultivator of the Immortal Ascension Realm was enough to terrify him. He instinctively shrank behind his mother, Miranda, trembling uncontrollably.

As for Valer, he was genuinely shocked by Azrael's astonishing cultivation.

Azrael looked extremely young—so young that he appeared to be around the same age as his son, Leon, or his eldest daughter, Lunaria.

Valer was about to ask Azrael about his age, but his wife, Lilian, spoke first.

Her voice trembled with emotion.

"Azrael, how old are you this year?"

Azrael looked at Lilian for a long moment.

Under his gaze, Lilian's heart trembled.

For a moment, she felt as though he had realized something. She wanted to explain why she had asked, but Azrael's deep voice echoed through the hall first.

"I am twenty-one this year."

As soon as his words settled, silence descended upon the hall once again.

Everyone stared at him in disbelief, as though they were struggling to comprehend what they had just heard.

Then Selena broke the silence with an excited voice:

"A cultivator in the middle of the Immortal Ascension Realm at twenty-one years old? Oh my God, that's incredible! Even my elder sister, who is known as the greatest genius in the world, hadn't reached the Immortal Ascension Realm at twenty-one!"

When Gaya heard Selena's words, she was speechless for a moment.

If the geniuses of the world learned that Azrael had risen from the Spiritual Lord Realm to the Immortal Ascension Realm in only a few months, they might very well want to end their own lives out of sheer frustration.

Lilian, however, heard none of the words being spoken around her.

Her mind had become completely fixated on a single number.

Twenty-one.

The number repeated itself in her mind again and again.

Twenty-one...

Then she remembered the birthmark on Azrael's chest.

She remembered his age.

Twenty-one years old.

The same age as...

Leon, her son.

Her heart began pounding violently.

Old memories resurfaced in her mind one after another.

His age.

The birthmark.

And that strange sense of familiarity that had overwhelmed her heart from the very first moment she saw Azrael.

All the pieces were finally coming together.

At that moment, the last trace of doubt disappeared from Lilian's heart.

She was certain.

Azrael was that person.

The child whom a part of her heart had been searching for all these years.

Lilian's lips trembled before she whispered in a low voice, one that was nevertheless audible to everyone:

"Victor."

Everyone in the room heard her whisper.

None of them were ordinary humans. They were all cultivators whose senses far surpassed those of ordinary people.

When Azrael heard Lilian whisper that name, he felt an unfamiliar sensation in his chest.

It was as though a part of him had been missing his entire life...

And had suddenly returned to its rightful place.

Yet he could not understand what that missing piece was.

As for the others, when they heard Lilian whisper the name, they assumed that she had simply misspoken or accidentally uttered someone else's name, so they paid little attention to it.

But Miranda...

Her entire body trembled when she heard that name.

A past she had desperately tried to forget suddenly returned to her.

Memories she had buried deep within her mind for years resurfaced all at once.

Memories that filled her with an unbearable sense of guilt.

Yet after a few moments, she forced herself to cling to the belief she had held onto all these years:

What we did was necessary to protect the family.

But seeing Azrael standing before her now made that justification seem painfully fragile.

Then Miranda looked at her sister.

Lilian stood frozen in place, staring at Azrael with a deep longing in her eyes, as though she wanted to memorize every detail of his face forever.

Miranda's eyes widened as realization struck her.

Her sister knew.

She knew who Azrael was.

Miranda immediately stood up and grabbed Lilian by the hand.

Lilian snapped out of her daze when she felt her sister pulling her.

She tried to break free and return to Azrael.

"Wait..."

But Miranda's grip was firm, and Lilian could not escape.

She continued resisting, her eyes still fixed on Azrael.

But Miranda gave her no opportunity.

She continued pulling her toward the staircase.

Eventually, Lilian had no choice but to follow.

And so Miranda and Lilian ascended to the upper floor, while Lilian kept looking back every few steps, her eyes filled with longing and pain.

Azrael remained seated where he was.

He could not understand the strange sensation that had settled in his chest ever since he heard that name.

Victor.

The name continued echoing deep within his soul in a way he could not comprehend.

As though something he had lost long ago...

Had finally begun finding its way back to him.

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