Chapter 44: The Return of the Sovereign and the Kings' Reunion

All the kings knelt before Azrael in reverence, their heads bowed until Azrael's calm voice finally echoed through the hall:

“Rise.”

Their heads lifted at once.

Azrael then waved his hand, granting them permission to return to their thrones.

One by one, the ancient kings settled upon their seats, while Gaya remained standing beside Azrael, still struggling to comprehend the scene before her.

The thirteen thrones surrounding the hall radiated an indescribable majesty. Each one belonged to an ancient existence whose true age was beyond anything Gaya could possibly imagine.

Silence descended upon the hall.

But it was unlike any silence Gaya had ever experienced.

She was not standing in an ordinary chamber.

This was a place where beings who had existed since primordial eras had gathered—beings whose very names were enough to make the mightiest cultivators tremble.

At last, the Golden King, Dikako, broke the silence.

“I wonder... how many eras have passed since we were sealed?”

Azrael looked toward him.

“Even I do not know. I returned to this world roughly a year ago.”

The hall fell silent once more.

Then Chronos, the King of Time and Space, moved his eyes.

His pupils resembled golden energy, within which black rings slowly revolved.

Suddenly, they transformed into two ancient clocks, their hands spinning at an astonishing speed.

Chronos silently observed the flow of time for several moments.

Then he released a long sigh.

“Three billion years.”

The hands within his eyes stopped.

“Three billion years have passed since the end of the Eternal War.”

The instant those words fell, the mysterious figures of the kings rippled slightly.

Even Azrael's expression changed.

But Gaya's reaction was the most obvious.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“Three... three billion years?”

Her voice escaped before she could restrain it.

The moment she spoke, the atmosphere changed.

It was as though thirteen vast oceans of divine consciousness had simultaneously awakened.

Thirteen immense divine senses descended upon Gaya, each carrying the laws of its respective master.

Gaya froze.

She felt countless ancient wills examining her from every direction, penetrating her body, her soul, her cultivation, and even the deepest secrets within her.

They were not hostile.

Yet their presence was terrifying.

Compared to these ancient beings, she was merely a Spiritual Emperor standing before existences who had transcended the limits of her understanding long ago.

At last, Agnes, Queen of Hellfire, spoke.

“Sovereign...”

She paused before asking:

“Who is this woman?”

Every king's gaze turned toward Gaya.

Agnes continued:

“And how did she enter the Sovereign Hall?”

Gaya tensed.

She did not know how to answer.

She knew how insignificant her strength was compared to these kings. She was not even originally a member of the Supreme Council Clan.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered whether they would consider her presence an insult to the dignity of this sacred hall.

But Azrael did not allow her anxiety to linger.

He looked at her meaningfully, then waved his hand.

A mysterious energy emerged from his body and surrounded Gaya, gently lifting her until she stood beside his throne.

Azrael looked toward the kings.

“She is my wife.”

He paused briefly.

Then added:

“And the Empress of the Supreme Council Clan.”

His words struck the hall like thunder.

Even Gaya herself froze.

The kings fell silent.

Then their divine senses swept over Gaya once again, this time with even greater precision.

They examined her thoroughly.

The title Empress carried a weight that could not be ignored.

As for Gaya, she simply stared at Azrael.

She had never expected him to acknowledge her in such a manner.

Back at the Foyd family, she had openly declared that she and Azrael were husband and wife, thereby revealing her feelings to everyone.

Yet Azrael had shown no reaction at the time.

She had assumed that he did not wish to acknowledge their relationship, and that he had simply refrained from denying it to avoid embarrassing her.

But now...

He had declared before the kings of his clan that she was his wife and his Empress.

Warmth spread through Gaya's heart.

A gentle smile appeared on her face before she could suppress it.

But an ancient, amused voice suddenly broke the moment.

It belonged to the King of Kings, Baran.

“Hmm...”

Silence returned for a brief moment.

Then Baran spoke with a faintly mischievous tone:

“Empress Beatrice is not going to be pleased when she learns that you have taken another wife, Sovereign.”

Azrael's eyes shifted slightly.

The mere mention of Beatrice's name brought back distant memories.

Memories of a woman who had once held an extraordinary place in his life.

A faint smile appeared on his lips.

“Although Beatrice can be rather domineering...”

He paused before continuing.

“She respects me. She would never say anything that would truly upset me.”

The kings exchanged glances.

It was obvious that they knew Beatrice well.

Indeed, merely hearing her name was enough to make several of them sigh.

Gaya, however, understood none of it.

She looked from Azrael to Baran before finally asking hesitantly:

“Wait... what?”

Azrael turned toward her.

Gaya spoke more clearly this time.

“You have a first wife?”

Azrael raised an eyebrow slightly.

Then he answered in a calm voice, though there was something strangely meaningful in his tone.

“Actually...”

He paused.

“I have two wives before you.”

Silence.

Absolute silence.

Even Gaya did not know what to say.

She stared at him for several seconds, blinking repeatedly as though trying to make certain she had heard correctly.

The kings, however, reacted very differently.

Barbatos, the King of Earth, burst into deep laughter.

“Hahaha! Just as I remember you, Sovereign!”

He slapped the armrest of his throne.

“You return after three billion years, and the first thing we discover is that you now have three Empresses!”

Dikako laughed as well.

“Three wives? It seems the Sovereign has not abandoned some of his old habits.”

The three queens, however—Agnes, Iris, and Brontia—reacted quite differently.

Agnes glanced at Gaya with a strange expression.

“Three wives...”

Iris, the Queen of Frost and Winter, slowly shifted her gaze toward Azrael.

“Apparently, some things have not changed despite the passage of three billion years.”

Brontia, the Queen of Storms, added teasingly:

“If anything, some things seem to have become worse.”

The three queens then looked toward Gaya.

A strange shiver ran down her spine.

She could not decide whether she should feel embarrassed or worried.

The remaining kings stayed calm, merely observing the exchange without interfering.

Then Baran's voice echoed through the hall once more.

“But I have another question, Sovereign.”

Azrael looked toward him.

Baran asked:

“Where is the second Empress?”

He paused, then added in an enigmatic tone:

“And why have you never mentioned her before?”

The question fell heavily upon the hall.

This time, none of the others laughed.

Azrael stared at Baran for several moments.

Then he answered:

“She is in Hell.”

Several kings' expressions changed.

Azrael continued:

“One of the three dimensions of the world of Banjaya.”

Then he added simply:

“Her name is Lilith.”

Silence once again descended upon the hall.

Gaya remained standing beside Azrael, slowly absorbing the sheer scale of the world she had entered.

Three billion years.

A mysterious clan.

Kings who had lived since the Eternal War.

A wife named Beatrice.

Another wife named Lilith.

And all of this was merely a fragment of the past of the man standing beside her.

For the first time, Gaya truly understood that Azrael's return to this continent was not simply the return of a man to his home.

The Sovereign had returned.

And now, one secret after another from his ancient past was beginning to emerge.