Three Sages

The first day of the summit had arrived.

Sebastian spent the days before then doing more and more training. He used his loss against Gilbert as a driving force.

Though he could easily win if he used his other techniques, that was just an excuse. The fact of the matter was that he lost and he wanted to make up for that loss by training even harder than before.

Other than the minimal amount of time used to sleep and eat, Sebastian spent all his time swinging his spear and practicing unarmed combat with Bryan.

He already had his foundations, but he couldn't just improve overnight.

Sebastian sat on his seat in the middle of the House of Luna and Sol. His spear was strapped to his back. He tried his best to stop his aura from leaking out like when he had came back from the forest after experiencing near-death against the Adept beast but it was a bit difficult.

Damian and Gilbert should have already felt his bloodlust brush past them a few times.

"They're here."

Sebastian heard Markus' voice and turned to the entrance that they had entered from before. A man walked through surrounded by a few people, each of them radiated off the energy of a Caster.

"The Thousand Summoner, Odium."

The strongest summoner. Though his title made it seem like he could only summon a thousand, the truth was that he could summon nearly several thousand beasts at once.

While not all of them were strong, it took an enormous amount of mana to summon that many.

Sebastian took one glance at Odium and felt his breath start to become rough. His body began trembling. It wasn't just him, even Gilbert and Damian were unable to endure it and were reacting the same as Sebastian.

He quickly averted his gaze and saw Leon, the House of Leon's heir apparent. He was leisurely drinking a cup of tea.

"..."

He was able to resist the pressure from a Sage? Or could it be that he made some countermeasures?

Even among the major houses, the House of Leon shared only little information about themselves. Though Sebastian knew of their ability, he didn't know how powerful they actually were.

Odium took up an entire side of the area. There were many idle seats among them but none dared to speak up.

Soon, another man walked in. Contrary to Odium who walked in with grace and class, this one walked as if he had no respect for anything under the sun. His eyes were fierce, Sebastian did his best to avoid looking at him.

The pressure he felt was even more wild and unrestrained than Odium.

This was the Mad Dog, Erakles.

He didn't have too many people following him but each one was just about as strong as the ones that followed Odium—if not stronger.

They also all carried the same fierce air with them.

"Both the Mad Dog and Thousand Summoner are participating this year?"

There were many who were surprised.

Just as everyone began whispering amongst each other, they suddenly felt an intense pressure weigh down on the area.

Many collapsed and if not for Balanos, Sebastian would've too. Everyone under Caster had collapsed under the pressure that had struck the area.

Sebastian hadn't seen the man before, but he had heard tales about him.

'This is the Conqueror, Eucliff's ability…!'

It was said that wherever he stood, no other could. It wasn't an ability of an Inheritor, it was the power of a bloodlust that has killed thousands. He hadn't gained his title without reason. He had conquered many countries during his prime and though he had relinquished his hold on them and is now a hermit, he still stood at the apex of the Sages in terms of raw power.

It's just that… nobody really knew what Eucliff's ability was.

The house heads of the various kingdoms had finally regained their composure and released their energy to appease the bloodlust threatening to swallow them whole. Only then could Sebastian breathe properly and the ones that had fainted started to wake up.

Both Markus and Jonathan glanced at Sebastian. Though it was a surprise to them that he hadn't lost consciousness, it wasn't entirely expected seeing as how he was able to manifest Soul Armor.

The other house heads' attention was centered on him as well and Eucliff even cast a glance at him. Though many were able to withstand the bloodlust, none were below Caster but him.

"It appears the House of Luna raised quite a good seed."

One of the house heads from Tidas, neighboring Aurora commented.

"Actually, he's the second son of Jonathan."

"...hm?"

The house head that had just spoken raised his brow and glanced at Sebastian, then at Markus and Jonathan.

"I see…"

He decided not to get caught up in the mess. Even among the other countries, Jonathan and Markus were very infamous. One was a musclehead who would resort to violence at the slightest thing that irked him and the other was a calculative fox.

Sebastian laughed awkwardly and glanced at Jonathan. He didn't seem to have much of a reaction which caused Sebastian to sigh in relief.

"Well, let's not dawdle."

A woman wearing a thick dress stepped up from her seat and stood at the center.

"She is Typhonia's Luthian House's head."

Bryan could see Sebastian's confusion and whispered in his ear.

"The Luthian House…"

It was a family that served to guard the royal family of Typhonia, the Luthers. They even adopted a name close to the royal family as a form of submission.

It was said that the Luthian House's head was a woman who surpassed the limits of common sense. While not a Sage herself, it was said that she was able to contend against the Conqueror when he was at his prime.

'Shouldn't she be older?'

It was the question floating through Sebastian's head. The woman at the center was youthful but the Conqueror in his prime was over forty years ago. That would mean the woman was at the very least, sixty years old.

"You're probably thinking about her age now, aren't you?"

Bryan chuckled.

"She's well over seventy already but she still looks like she's in her early-twenties, what a mystery."

It appeared that even Bryan didn't know the secret behind her youth.

"Fabaceae Luthian, for those who don't know of my identity." She said while glancing at the faces that hadn't been present in the previous summits. "Of course, I, myself know that my name is a mouthful. You may call me Fae or by my last name as there is no other Luthian present than I."

As the oldest of the house heads and the strongest at that, she was the one who hosted the summits every time. Though she knew that three Sages participating in a summit at the same time had never happened before, it didn't faze her.

Not even the presence of the Conqueror and Mad Dog glaring daggers behind her could move her.

"Last time, we had spoken of Typhonia's matters first. Now, we will leave it for last. We will start with the country who had spoken of their situation last."

Fae raised her hands and turned her body in the direction of Tidas' king. Her movements were smooth, like she was going to dance at a ball.

"Your Majesty, King Deidrich, may you take the lead?"

Though there were many kings present, in front of her and the Sages, they were just empty titles in front of her. However, she still treated them with respect.

"Gladly."

King Deidrich stood up.

'So this is the one who's after Sana…'

Sebastian glanced at the king while trying to conceal his anger. However, the king still seemed to have noticed him and glared at him. It looks like he knew about Sana being adopted by Sebastian as well.

Fae cast Sebastian a curious glance for a moment but turned her attention back to the king.

King Deidrich began speaking about the various projects that they had done for the kingdom for the past few years and also any potential troubles that might arise. There weren't any serious problems so Fae simply nodded and gestured for him to sit down.

"Do the house heads of Tidas have anything to report?"

"We do not."

"Oh, but don't you? I heard that Inheritors were trying to assassinate people in public more often now."

Markus chimed in as one of the house heads of Tidas spoke.

Fae frowned.

"I would like to know more about this."

Nearly everyone here knew her personality well. While she didn't exactly forbid Inheritors from being assassins as they were free to do whatever occupation they wanted, to actually try and kill people in public, wasn't that shaming them all?

"Gladly."

Markus was the one who planned to inform Fae. If the one who tried to inform her was from Tidas, then they would conceal the information.

"You see, my son-in-law here had gone to Tidas as a form of exchange between schools. He was accompanied by my daughter. Due to their kindness, they decided to adopt a child that was begging on the streets. However, following that event, my son-in-law was targeted, twice at that."

Markus' aura turned fierce. If Sebastian didn't know of his true personality, he might've thought that Markus was genuinely worried about his well-being.

Still, this was all a part of his calculation. While Sebastian didn't know, Markus did. Fae was very fond of children as she never had her own because her husband had died early. Pointing out that adopting a child was the cause for the assassins and the delay in response from the kingdom was sure to strum the chords in her heart.

"Both times, not only were Inheritors from the kingdom unable to help him, even the knights were slow to respond. Luckily, he managed to fend them off. Though, if not for the miraculous healing that the child they adopted had suddenly manifested, he would be dead and my daughter would be grieving right now.

"I'd like to ask, how would the royal family and the house heads of Tidas explain this to us?"