Duel Aftermath (2)

A/N: Laila's family name "Callestio" will be changed to "Celestina"

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An hour has passed since the end of our duel. In that short time, humans across the continent were in turmoil with the appearance of four outstanding genius, At every broadcasting station the news of the duel was displayed across the continent. Even other continents have caught wind of Rayford and Laila's duel.

While the turmoil grows by the minute, the cause of it is located in a special office room belonging to the Celestina family.

"So... tell me the truth, what are you?" (Kayne)

"..." (Laila)

"..." (Ray)

Right now, both I and Laila are interrogated by Kayne who is suspicious of our abnormal combat experience.

(Do you remember the story I prepared?) (Ray)

(Of course, I had it memorized, what do you think I am?) (Laila)

(Good, now we will start explaining) (Ray)

At my word, Laila nods her head and then faces Kayne.

"We are still ourselves, but I think what father is curious about are our fighting moves" (Laila)

"You are correct, your movements were not something that one could do without experience" (Kayne)

"It was something I saw and copied from the 'me' inside a dream" (Laila)

"What?" (Kayne)

"To explain what Laila said, we saw another 'us' in a dream, there we were much stronger than we are now. In the dream, our body was moving own, we can only watch what happened in the dream." (Ray)

"So we copy the 'us' in the dream, from how to fight, strategize, to managing mana and aura" (Laila)

This was a story created by Rayford after reading books about a special awakening in the library. One of the books mentioned that there are people who awaken with partial memories of their previous lives.

Usually, when a soul died it will go through a screening process, and the soul will be cleansed and lose all its memory and strength. After that, they will enter the route of reincarnation and be born with a new body.

But there are exceptions to this. When a soul has a certain amount of strength, it is possible to retain part of its power and memories, this was a very rare occurrence but was something that has happened throughout history.

Right now, we are trying to explain our behaviors with this theory.

"An inheritor..." (Sophia)

"How interesting... to think that you two are an inheritor" (Kayne)

Smiling inwardly at our successful plan, we fake ignorance making a flawless 'confused faces' and asked

"What do you mean by inheritor?" (Rayford)

Because of our perfect acting, Laila's parents didn't doubt our situation and moved to how we designed them.

"Inheritor is someone born with partial memory of their previous life" (Sophia)

"I see..." (Laila)

"When did you start having those dreams?" (Kayne)

As if trying to remember, we briefly exchange stares before answering Kayne's question.

"...I don't know, but I've been seeing those dreams for as long as I remembered" (Laila)

"Hmm..." (Kayne)

After thinking for a while, Kayne takes out a golden orb.

"You guys need to sleep for a while" (Kayne)

"Sleep?" (Laila)

"..." (Ray)

While Laila asks with genuine confusion, I stare at the orb in Kayne's hand. After identifying the orb, I silently manipulated the aura in Laila's and my body to control the orb's action for insurance. Because of my special bond with Laila, I could move <the aura of void> that is accumulated from the mana method.

As I completed my insurance, Kayne start to inject mana into the orb.

Infusing his mana into the golden orb, a bright shine filled the room. As the light touches us, we lost consciousness accompanied by the feeling as if sucked by gravity.

***

Seeing the two children suddenly fall asleep, Sophia turned her gaze to Kayne.

"What did you do?" (Sophia)

"I used the soul orb on them" (Kayne)

"Soul orb?" (Sophia)

Seeing his wife make a confused face, Kayne explained what he is trying to do.

"So... you want to peek at their memory?" (Sophia)

"Aside from that, I wanted to see what they were in their previous life" (Kayne)

Injecting mana into the golden orb, a projection made from mana appeared in mid-air. In the projection, Rayford and Laila can be seen. The projection was showing the memories of a certain battle that took place in a dark world.

In that dark desolate battlefield, a woman with pure silver hair shone brightly illuminating the dark battlefield like a goddess sent from heaven, on the other side stood a man with black hair emitting a subtle yet powerful energy. Unlike the silver-haired woman, the man's energy was calm and gentle like the night gently wrapping the woman's noble energy.

Facing them both, a giant being the size of a mountain was staring at them. The being had a very grotesque appearance, its body was dyed pitch black, and its energy caused the surrounding environment to rot.

As the being approached, the man shouted and rushed forward

"Laila synchronize with me!!" (Ray)

"Don't worry about its attack! I'll cover you, so just focus on attacking with all your strength!" (Laila)

the two moved in perfect sync as if they had one mind. Every attack of the being was perfectly blocked by Laila, while Rayford attacked with perfect technique. The role of attacking and defending was also constantly changing as the fight progresses.

Suddenly a powerful concentration of mana gathered around the being, sensing the intense energy Laila and Rayford likewise, gathered all of their energy.

Confident about winning, the two unleashed their strongest technique. In an instant the being was frozen and cut in half, the energy it condenses was released as a powerful explosion destroying everything in the surrounding.

At that moment...

-Crack, crack, crack

The orb cracked and shattered.

"It overloaded and broke..." (Kayne)

Kayne didn't expect that the orb would be destroyed, it was initially not something that could be broken easily. Seeing it overloaded Kayne was deeply surprised by the strength of his daughter and son-in-law's soul.

"Getting them to engage is the best decision in my life" (Kayne)

"Agreed..." (Sophia)

To Kayne's murmur, Sophia wholeheartedly agreed. This opinion grew stronger after seeing their memory. As if fate playing a trick, the two had the same name as their previous life and shared a bond of comradery.

Seeing the two five-year-old children sleeping on the sofa, the Celestina couple gently smiled.

"The Empire has a very bright future" (Sophia)

"For that future to happen, we need to do our part and protect them with all our might" (Kayne)

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A/N: I'm nearing my school examination period so the update might become more inconsistent, but I'll try to update in 1~3/ weeks as usual.