100X Returns System: I Dominate the Age of Gods

Chapter 418: 418. Nervous Aurelius - 1

"What the heck?" Kara asked with a strange expression on her face as she looked at Kevin. "So they just assumed that it was an indication of a divine physique?"

Kevin immediately shook his head in denial.

"No, it wasn’t an assumption. The possibility was confirmed multiple times by experienced seers, and there were also historical records that supported the conclusion. Every piece of evidence pointed toward the potential awakening of a divine physique. On top of that, Galeion’s talent has only strengthened that belief."

He paused for a moment before continuing.

"Although I don’t know every detail, his talent is really absurd. It allows him to become an exceptional warrior in almost every aspect. His talent is ranked SSS, just like you guys, and that alone would make him extraordinary. However, that isn’t even the most ridiculous part."

The surrounding students unconsciously leaned forward as Kevin continued speaking.

"Galeion is one of the very few people in the academy who is naturally ambidextrous. Not only that, but he has mastered nearly every weapon that has ever been placed in his hands. When I say every weapon, I genuinely mean it."

Kara chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.

"That’s hard to believe. I’ve only ever seen him running around with those ridiculously heavy gauntlets."

Kevin laughed at her comment.

"That’s simply his preferred weapon since he likes smashing things a lot; he has damaged so much of the academy infrastructure at this point that we have to start fining him with penalties. But just because he likes using gauntlets doesn’t mean he can’t use everything else. The scary thing about Galeion isn’t what he can do right now. It’s what he’ll become after his divine physique awakens. Once that happens, he’s going to shake the entire world."

The students exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. None of them doubted Kevin’s words. Anyone who had spent enough time around Galeion knew that there was something abnormal about him.

The intensity he displayed whenever combat was involved bordered on obsession. If someone told them that he would eventually become a terrifying battle maniac capable of overwhelming entire armies by himself, most of them would find it surprisingly believable.

Meanwhile, William had completely drifted away from the conversation.

His thoughts were focused on something entirely different.

At this point, he possessed two divine physiques, one related to a lunar element and one related to a solar element. Unfortunately, he had been unconscious during the awakening of both physiques, which meant he had never personally witnessed any of the phenomena that accompanied them.

According to Anastasia, during the time he was passed out and still in the process of reviving from the dead, there had been quite a heavy phenomenon that had shaken everyone who witnessed it.

She had told him that during the awakening of his lunar physique, the moon had manifested in the sky with overwhelming brilliance during the day; it had almost started competing with the sun. At one point, both celestial bodies had supposedly occupied the sky simultaneously while William remained suspended between them.

Anastasia had even given the phenomenon a grand name.

The Sun-Moon Heavenly Confrontation.

William had been somewhat skeptical when he first heard it. The name sounded unnecessarily dramatic to him, but Anastasia clearly disagreed. In fact, she had become so fascinated by the event that she personally requested Andrea to paint the entire scene.

Andrea, being an artistic personality, showed quite a bit of enthusiasm towards the proposal, and since she had apparently witnessed the phenomenon with her own eyes, she had accepted the project with enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, her definition of enthusiasm involved spending months obsessing over every tiny detail.

According to Andrea, she intended for the painting to become the greatest masterpiece she had ever created. Because of that, she refused to rush the process. Even now, the enormous canvas remained unfinished in her secret office as she continued refining every stroke with almost frightening dedication.

As for the lunar physique, William could at least understand why such a phenomenon might have occurred.

The solar physique, however, remained a mystery.

He vaguely remembered Old Lady Su mentioning something about the sun appearing in the middle of the night, but he had dismissed the story at the time. He had simply assumed that old age was finally catching up with her.

[Yeah, that was probably the phenomenon.]

William blinked.

"Hmm? Really? Then why didn’t you tell me?"

[I don’t usually waste my precious computational power discussing things that aren’t significant.]

William’s eyelid twitched.

"Fool! You spend half your time talking nonsense. What are you even talking about? Can’t you just admit your mistakes? You’re literally a pussy."

For a moment, complete silence filled the system space.

Then Orion suddenly froze.

[Wait a minute. How did you know?]

Inside the system space, Orion’s fluffy cat body immediately began running around in circles. He started searching every corner of the backend as though he expected to discover some hidden surveillance mechanism.

His tail puffed up while he frantically inspected everything around him.

William watched the spectacle with complete disdain.

"Shameless."

After delivering the verdict, he completely ignored Orion and shifted his attention toward Seraphine.

Far away, inside the Eternal Sun Empire, an entirely different conversation was taking place.

The atmosphere inside Anne’s study was noticeably tense.

A man sat across from her with a serious expression on his face. Deep lines had formed between his brows as he listened carefully to every word she spoke.

It was Aurelius, the emperor of Riverdale; he was listening to anesthesia with a frown on his face.

"...It turns out that Nevin Kaiser was the son of the old Kaiser couple. When William learned the truth, he was furious. He traveled all the way to the Holy Sun Empire with the sole intention of cutting off the Pope’s head along with his son’s."

Anne slowly shook her head. Her tone sounded unnatural.

The talent known as Voice of the Moon was active.

"Can you imagine how much rage he was carrying at the time, Aurelius?"

Aurelius remained silent.

Anne smiled, though it carried no warmth whatsoever.

"Do you know how William discovered the existence of his elder brother?" she asked.

Without waiting for a response, she produced a folded parchment from her storage artifact.

She carefully unfolded it before placing it on the table and pushing it toward Aurelius.

"The answer is quite interesting."

Aurelius lowered his gaze toward the document. Then his expression changed.

"The document he found was classified," Anne continued. "And the most amusing part is that it carries your official seal."

Aurelius immediately felt his stomach tighten. "Turns out the most just and fair emperor in Riverdale’s history was hiding something rather important from the public."

Anne’s eyes remained fixed on him. Under that gaze, Aurelius found himself sweating despite his efforts to remain composed.

He simply could not understand how William had obtained such information.

The people responsible for guarding those secrets were bound by heavenly oaths. Betrayal should have been impossible.

After a brief silence, Aurelius finally spoke.

"Miss Anne, are you admitting that your son infiltrated the most critical and secure areas of the Riverdale Imperial Palace and stole classified documents?"

Anne laughed. Her confidence never wavered for even a moment.

"Oh, Aurelius," she said. "You’re still the same little boy I remember; you are unaware of something so important."

The corner of Aurelius’s mouth twitched. The comment irritated him far more than he wanted to admit.

Unfortunately, there was little he could do about it. He was no longer a prince.

He was an emperor. Allowing himself to lose composure over a simple remark would only make him look foolish. Anne seemed to notice his effort and found it amusing.

"Unfortunately for you," she continued, "it wasn’t my son who took the document."

Aurelius frowned. "Then who was it?"

Anne’s smile widened. "Your childhood sweetheart, Klaus."

For a brief moment, Aurelius genuinely felt as though his soul had left his body, ignoring the snarky comment of Anne; the fact that Klaus had betrayed him like this was worrying and shocking at the same time.

His face turned pale. If shame and disbelief could physically injure someone, he was certain he would have started coughing blood.

The revelation hit him like a hammer. The reason he had come here today was already difficult enough.

He wanted the Eternal Sun Empire and the Riverdale Empire to negotiate an exchange of territories.

Specifically, he wanted Aurelia Province returned to Riverdale. The province had been seized by the Church during its rise to power; before that, Aurelia Province was a territory of Riverdale.

In exchange, Aurelius was prepared to offer another province to the Eternal Sun Empire, one that was considerably larger in terms of land area.

To outsiders, the proposal might seem strange. From a purely strategic perspective, it was not the most profitable trade.

However, Aurelia Province possessed significance that could not be measured through maps or resources.

There was a reason the emperor himself carried the name Aurelius.

The province was deeply connected to his identity and the history of his bloodline.

No matter how much time passed, it was a land he could never truly abandon.