Chapter 162: [162] Meeting Family (1)

’Two transcendents?’ Ark thought. Standing in front of them felt... overwhelming to say the least.

They had not unleashed their aura, and he could not feel a hint of killing intent from them, and yet, Ark could tell... they were strong.

Not just strong, Ark was not sure about Hisako’s level, but just from being in Great’s presence, he could tell he was already on the same level as Tristan, even though he was likely much younger.

Ark had heard that the top guilds were filled with monsters, but to have two transcendents, which was just one step behind divine, was something else.

Were the other top guilds like this? If that was the case, then surpassing them may be more difficult than he had originally envisioned.

Soo-jin’s race had been praised in the academy as excellent, in the entirety of the institution, only she and Cain had awakened Blessed races after all. But now, even such a remarkable achievement felt dampened.

’A Titan huh...’

Titans were no ordinary race. They were not as strong as gods, but if there was a peak when it came to transcendent creatures, then it would be them.

Each Titan was an elemental herald, having near unchallenged authority over an element. Not even a dragon could easily wrestle a titan’s element from his grip.

From the streaks on his body, Ark could already tell what element he commanded, lightning.

Ark would have smiled if he could, but he settled on staring into the Titan’s malice filled golden eyes.

Still, he did not stare for too long, because although Great was a rather interesting specimen, there was someone who somehow managed to captivate him more...

Ark walked up to Hisako and offered her his hand. She placed her hand in his, and he brought it to his cheek. It was meant to be a kiss... but oh well.

"Oh? It looks like Soo-jin’s friend is well mannered, don’t you think so, Great?" Hisako smiled.

Great seemed on the verge of exploding. Hisako suddenly jabbed him in the ribs, causing him to gasp.

"Y-yeah... I guess..." he hurried muttered.

’Hisako...’

Ark held her hand for a little longer than necessary. He had done a lot of research on his sister, Cracker, trying to find any information about her.

Raising her had not been easy, especially since she was not human.

They worried for the longest time because there was no way to know if she was growing right, getting the right nutrition, or developing the right powers.

There was also the issue of who her parents truly were...

For so long, Ark had been trudging through darkness, completely oblivious about what was right or wrong in regards to her.

Information about Firebirds was hard to come by, so all he could do was hope that they were not making any mistakes.

But now, Ark had actually found another firebird!

It was a far bigger lead than anything he could have hoped for.

"You must be thinking about your sister?" Hisako smiled, surprising Ark.

But what had he expected? Of course Soo-jin had told her about another firebird.

"We can talk about that another time. After all this is the first time we are meeting, have a seat, Soo-jin has told us a lot about you."

"All good I hope?" Ark pulled out a chair and sat opposite them. Soo-jin was at his left, beside her sister, while Isabella and Satella sat at his right side.

"Well..." Hisako placed a finger on her lip, and then a glint appeared in her eyes as she spoke, one that reminded him of Soo-jin.

"She told us that you two are tied together by faith, you know, like eternal lovers."

Ark sighed. ’As expected.’ He could not even bring himself to act shocked. Now he knew why her brother looked like he wanted to strangle him.

God be with the boy Cracker would say she loved. Ark was sure he would wring his neck before he got the words out.

Hisako continued. "She also complained that you have been adventuring in Eden with two beautiful gir—"

Soo-jin immediately held her sister’s mouth closed and smiled as though nothing had happened.

She cleared her throat, then gave her sister a warning glare.

’It must have been the wind...’

Hisako smiled when she finally released her mouth. "Isn’t my life sad, Ark? Even my younger sister bullies me..." As she said this, the strand of hair on her head waved from side to side.

Ark knew enough about Cracker to know that Hisako was lying. If anything, it was likely the reverse—

"She told us about how you burned her back." Great suddenly spoke for the first time, interrupting Ark’s thoughts.

"..."

Now it was Ark who cleared his throat. "I see."

Well, that was one way to put it...

Once again, Hisako jabbed him in the ribs. "Stop being a tsundere Great, just tell the kid what you want to say. You’re only going to make him hate you more."

’He wants to tell me something?’ Ark mused. He had been under the impression that he wanted to strike him with divine lightning instead.

Great kept his arms crossed around his chest, his eyes hard as he held Ark’s gaze.

"Regardless of how I feel about you..." he began.

’Feel about me? We just met...’

And then out of nowhere, he suddenly bowed his head, shocking everyone on the table.

’Huh?’

"I apologize for not helping you out earlier, Ark. I feel ashamed of myself."

Ark stared at him in disbelief. He knew Soo-jin’s siblings were somewhere in the crowd, but he had definitely not expected them to come to his aid.

He was not affiliated with them in any way, and had even rejected Soo-jin’s offer to join their guild.

If anything, shouldn’t they have been apologising to Soo-jin?

"I apologize as well." Hisako said. "It was unbecoming of us to ignore you in that situation."

"Thank you." Ark said skeptically. But you were not obligated to help me right? What is the need for the apology?"

Hisako shook her head. "Soo-jin told us she would be bringing you, so from that moment, you automatically became our guests, you were under our protection." She explained.

"We have already apologized to Soo-jin for our blunder." Great added.

Now Ark was confused. "In that case... why didn’t you step in?"

An apology was good and all, but if there was no real reason, then the apology was just a shallow attempt to make peace with him.

Great and Hisako glanced at each other, and Ark could sense their discomfort. And it was not only them, Soo-jin, Isabella, Satella... all of them had grown quieter.

Great sighed. "We could not interfere because of our seventh sister, Soo-min."

’Soo-min?’

Just who was this Soo-min? And how powerful was she to be able to cause such a reaction from two transcendent players?