Dad's story.

'Who would've thought?' Salas said to himself as he watched Sera ride on Shira and rush with her towards Ephilium's Forest. 'My most hated traitor is helping my beloved daughter...I guess my enemies aren't hers.'

Meanwhile at the Shira's Desert, Sera was riding the giant 10 meter snake that was slithering at incredible speeds.

"Why are you going to the north? Ephilium's Forest is at the northeast." Sera said to Shira as they were moving. Her speed was unbelievably monstrous, with an average speed of a 100 meters per second! That was 360 kilometers per hour!!

"The Hellish Lands are on the path. We can't go northeast, we can't go east directly then north because of the Unequal Warriors. They especially hate beasts." Shira said.

"Why do they hate beasts? I thought humans often made contracts with intelligent beasts." Sera inquired. This was the first time someone could answer her questions with no filter. If her dad would give her an unreasonable test like this, then the least he can do is be fair and not interrupt.

"Weeee....kind of fucked over your dad and started the torture in this World..." Shira said with an awkward tone.

"You did what?!" Sera was flabbergasted. Beasts started the torture? From what she'd seen, Ray was the most likely reason for the torture's start. "...could you please elaborate?"

Shira sighed, "Well, it all started when your father and his brother were abandoned by your grandfather in a beast infested forest. Your father was raised by beasts since he was 8 and his brother barely a year old. Salas was liked by many beasts, but not all liked him. A group of beasts lead by Ephilium was against letting this human stay in our lands. Ephilium had no influence at the time, so no one listened to him. After all, a World holder beast said he could stay, shutting Ephilium from speaking up publicly."

"How can a World holder be inside a World they haven't claimed?" Sera interrupted.

"This is a Tier-3 World, meaning it has 3 other Worlds inside it. Anyway, the beast's name was Luck. He was one of the two World holders at the time. The other was a human." Shira quickly explained. "Your father was chosen to be a spy for the beasts. Salas naturally agreed. The beasts treated him kindly while his own father left him to die. He took his brother and put him with Luck, then left for this area."

"This desert? This place was a human area?" Sera was intrigued. This place was so empty and barren, what could possibly bring humans here?

"This place used to be a land filled with life, plants, animals, humans and even beasts." Shira's scaly lips turned into a smile. "It used to be so beautiful, Sera...you should've seen it. It was lead by a human called Aris. He was the only other World holder. He was unbelievably powerful, and was expected to be the World Lord of this World. Salas was sent to gather information about him. If Luck knew what type of World Aris possessed, he could hold a huge advantage. After Salas was sent, Ephilium tried making Liam's life a living hell. He thought that if Salas saw his brother being mistreated, he would leave of his own accord."

Sera started to gather a hatred for Ephilium in her heart. This bastard not only want to kill her, but also made her family's already hard life, at the time, even harder! 'You might be stronger than us normally, but with Shira helping me, we can kill you.'

"Your father naturally didn't know about the mistreatment of his brother, so he was gladly spying for the beasts. He posed as a weak orphaned child, while he was actually trained by the beasts to fight. He didn't have any physical training at the time, but they did teach him strategic skills. He learned how to tail someone, how to manipulate his enemies, and how to extract information from people. He was a beast in human skin. So, he entered an academy where he worked at befriending high-end nobles. He scored top of the class after being taught how to use a weapon along with some hand-to-hand combat." Shira continued. "He made a quick trip to the beasts' forest to tell Luck about the information he gathered about humans in general. When he found his brother being mistreated by Ephilium and his group under the guise of 'teaching him how to fight', he immediately went to Luck for an explanation. Luck dismissed it as harmless bullying between children. Luck was a World holder, he could live for up to a thousand years with two hundred extra due to him being a beast. Why would he care what a bunch of brats who aren't even a hundred? Children will be children. Salas trie-"

"Why do beasts have a higher lifespan than humans?" Sera interjected. "That's not fair!"

"Well, neither is being born with no intelligence." Shira said with a laugh. "We might have a long lifespan, but what beast actually lives long enough to reach it?"

"You know what? Fair enough." Sera shut her mouth immediately.

"ANYWAY...as I was saying. Salas tried to talk some sense into Luck, but Luck just dismissed it. They came to an agreement that Liam would be moved to live with humans. Even though all he knew were beasts, he still hated it here. He was already 12 years old, he was no idiot when he saw how beasts discriminated against him and kept calling him a 'dirty human'. Liam was thrilled to leave. So, Salas took his brother and left him at a dormitory for the academy he graduated from, there he would learn and be among humans. Salas then continued his mission. He slid his way into the army, where he kept getting promoted until he reached all the way to Imperial Guard, as a 20 year old. He was a genius, and he was recognized as such. He was the human's hidden blade, yet they didn't know that the blade was within the beasts' hands already." Shira lamented. The human empire at the time was definitely something to marvel at. It was powerful, dignified and proud! Yet it fell due to one little boy dropped in the woods with his brother. "Your father made his way up to the position of Imperial Prince. He had married Aris's daughter and got closer to his father-in-law. He was waiting for the moment where Aris would slip...and he did. He figured out Aris's World's attribute! He rushed to the beasts' forest. It took him a long 30 years, from since he was 14 when he joined the academy, until he was Aris's son-in-law at 44! But he was shocked to find that when he had arrived, Luck was already dead. He was killed by Ephilium. Ephilium found the third World and decided to risk it, and it paid off. He gained control of a Tier-2 World in less than 30 years and killed Luck!" Shira's tone indicated her slight fear.

"Wait, why doesn't he just hide inside his World?" Sera was confused, then she turned fearful. "Also, how are we supposed to kill a World holder?!"

"Calm down." Shira rolled her eyes. "Your father is a Tier-3 World holder, and he probably has at least one more World. He's more than capable of holding off Ephilium. Also, your father took his World, so he can't even summon it or hide in it."

"You can steal a World??" Sera was flabbergasted. "What's the point of World if you can't even hide in it?"

"Well, your father has a Tier-3 World, while Ephilium has a Tier-2 World. Salas also has one more World, which could also be a Tier-3 World or even higher. The difference is insane." Shira elaborated. "Anyway, where were we?"

"Ephilium got his World and killed Luck." Sera recalled precisely. She was very interested in her father's backstory.

"Ah, yes. Ephilium killed Luck. So, Salas got to the forest and found that Ephilium killed Luck. He was naturally enraged. This was the equivalent of his father. He had raised him, taught him and scolded him. He swore to take revenge, to which Ephilium laughed at. He had one of his followers enter Luck's World to claim its core, he couldn't risk dying in there. Ephilium was a World holder, all he needed to do was find the World core, pass the challenges and then he'd have full control over this World." Shira continued. "He didn't have time for your weak father back then. A bunch of beasts left with Ephilium's new control, me being one of them. I headed west, towards the human's lands. The humans always wanted beasts who were reasonable enough to join them. After all, beasts were usually mistreated by their superiors, causing hate when they grew intelligent. I found your father there and proposed that he takes me as a 'pet' for his little brother. Salas reluctantly agreed. He turned his back on the beasts and fully joined the humans. He told his father-in-law about it, about everything. Salas really liked his father-in-law. He had grown to actually love his wife and father-in-law. They, along with his brother, were the only family he had left. While he was going to tell Luck about Aris's World's Attribute, he was probably extremely guilty. That's just how Salas is. Aris was furious. He almost killed Salas where he stood, but Alisa, Salas's wife at the time, begged her father. His energy core was destroyed and he was crippled. Salas took it gracefully, he thanked Aris for being merciful. Liam, on the other hand, was livid. He declared war against all, humans and beasts alike. He gathered a small group. Ray the alchemist, Mira the swordswoman, Alex the shieldmaster, Wrath the berserker, and I. Us six alone killed close to a million person each. Salas kept asking his brother to stop, but Liam just wouldn't listen."

"Wow, Uncle really was a badass, huh? He really had a 6 vs All with the entire World. So, it was him, Aunty, General Alex, you, that guy Ray and...Wrath...where have I heard that before?" Sera pondered. "I don't remember."

"So, about ten years after Liam started to go on a killing spree, Ephilium called for a meeting with Aris. Aris agreed, Liam had to be put to a stop." Shira laughed. "Salas warned Aris of Ephilium's dirty tactics, telling him it's a trap, but Aris was confident in being able to run away. Aris entered the forest alone, he was immediately attacked, just like Salas predicted. He was chased all the way into human-territory. Salas rushed to his father-in-law, he wasn't able to fight anymore, but he had great strategic abilities. He took an imperial squad and rushed there. Ephilium was overwhelmed in a few moments, but his dumbass luck saved him. The subordinate he sent into Luck's World got out and helped kill Aris. Everyone was wiped out on that day, except for your father who apparently jumped into Aris's World to avoid his death. He claimed the World, then killed the beast who had Luck's World. Salas was a monster in his own right. He got a new body from the World he claimed and he joined us in wreaking havoc everywhere. The World was supposed to be given to Liam, but I stole it and ran."

"Bitch!" Sera exclaimed as she looked at Shira with an open jaw.

"Hey, look. I didn't think it through, Ephilium reached out and got in my head." Shira was extremely defensive. "I managed to claim the core and when I got out, Salas had become the World Lord and laid some rules. If you offended him or wronged him in the past, you and your descendants will suffer a lot of pain, almost the same as being constantly killed then revived then killed in a cycle. If you didn't help him, the same would happen, but with less pain. If you ignored him, you get the pain equivalent to having a sore body for the rest of your life. If you helped him on the other hand, you get the ability to free one person at a time of their suffering. If you were one of his close friends, you got to be king in the other World he claimed. Ephilium and I got a special treatment."

"Wait, so you're not getting tortured?" Sera had a hard time wrapping her head around that one.

"Oh no, we are. I'm in a hell of a pain right now. Imagine thousands and thousands of razors going against your skin, peeling it back, then add on top of that the feeling of chugging boiling water and eating shit." Shira said with a smile. "Our special treatment was actually something different. The first to get two Worlds gets to be let out. So, now the entire World isn't in a state of humans vs beasts anymore. It's Ephilium vs Shira. Whoever won got to take out as many people as they want. He effectively put the whole World in a state of nonstop war. My followers are killing his followers and so on."

"Then?" Sera looked at Shira expectantly.

"What do you mean?" Shira was confused.

"What happened afterwards?" Sera said.

"Nothing." Shira said calmly. "It's been like that for many many years. We're close to the end of our lifespans, so we're kinda desperate at this point."

"But what happened to Dad's wife, Alisa? Why does Dad hate Ray? Where does Mom come in?" Shira was bombarded with questions.

Shira stopped moving, turned her head to Sera and said, "I'm not omnipotent, I don't fucking know!"

Sera was stunned, but she quickly calmed down and whispered under her breath, "You don't have to be such a bitch about it..."

Shira threw her of her back, looked at the freaked out Sera and coldly said, "Why don't you say that against my face, you little bitch!"

THE TITANS ARE INVAD- AHEM...sorry. 😂

"Can we just go?" Sera looked to the ground. She then looked to the sky, "How long will it take? It's already nighttime."

"We should be there in about 3 days." Shira quickly calculated. "You've been here for about a full day, so you should have about 3 days left by the time we arrive."