From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

Chapter 234: Chapter 224 Bast Leone

A thousand years ago, the Ouden Continent was shrouded in darkness and chaos. At that time, every Extraordinary Exponent was a slave owner, and their battle groups fought each other wildly. City-states rose and fell, and almost all mortals were slaves.

It was not until a few hundred years ago that the Church re-established order, and only then did things take a turn for the better. Mortals, once akin to slaves, finally gained a meager and humble sense of dignity.

Because of the strict constraints imposed by the gods and the True Gods Church, the skirmishes among the nobles also became mild, and everyone understood that all souls would ultimately return to the gods. Violating the Church's edicts and killing another Extraordinary noble in life, without any doubt, was irresponsible to one's afterlife.

More than seventy years ago, it was an era when the Church and the gods silenced nations, and everything was still in order.

Even if many nobles waged war against each other, there were few real casualties among them. This low rate of noble fatalities was referred to as the mercy of the gods.

However, the commoners were not so lucky. Even among the gods, only the Lord of Salvation and the Silver Moon Lady cared for them. The other gods paid no heed to the existence of mortals.

At the time, the Lion clan was already a viscount family of the East Coast, one of the minor noble families that had migrated eastward following the Ten Great Families, and the original patriarch was a knight loyal to the Romann family.

Thanks to the grace of Duke Black Iron, he had gained enough resources to break through to high-level Transmutation. Of course, back then, it was still referred to as high-level Transmutation.

When the Cyart people migrated east to this place, they naturally encountered various conflicts with the locals, hence they adopted the most violent approach, slaughtering the East Coast Natives who did not worship the True Gods until they could no longer resist.

The external wars of that era's nobility were intense, and after decades of killing and madness, all those who reached the Monarch Level of the East Coast perished.

Their civilization was completely destroyed, and their ancient heritages were entirely eradicated by the Cyart people.

The remaining East Coast Natives either took to the sea or hid in the jungles, fleeing for their lives.

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The mother of Bast Leone was a woman from a knight clan who had married into the family. Plain in appearance, she was not an Extraordinary Exponent but a mortal with only low-level recessive bloodline powers.

The main wars of that age were about expelling the East Coast Natives and exterminating various mysterious creatures of the locale.

So, just like now, everyone greatly valued extraordinary power. Moreover, in that most feudal age, those without extraordinary power were inherently of extremely low status.

Even the offspring of nobles were no exception.

The old patriarch originally had a rather cold relationship with Bast's mother, and even after the birth of Bast Leone, he showed little affection towards this son.

Even though he was the eldest son, he did not receive any special treatment.

Because Bast Leone was a mortal.

Since bloodline power was not detected at birth, Bast was always treated as a useless mortal within the family during his childhood. Just like his mortal brothers and sisters, he became a dependant to the family's Extraordinary blood relatives.

Viscount Bast's eyes flashed with a hint of coldness, and his voice gradually turned chilly.

"Back then, I knew very well the beauty of power. All my brothers and sisters who had extraordinary power always got the best things. They could have whatever they wanted, and with just a casual command, we mortals had no choice but to obey."

"We were not really family, or as the scholars might put, in reality, whether one has extraordinary power or not, we were already fundamentally different species, hah."

Hearing this, Byrne frowned deeply, curious within, and finally couldn't help but ask, "But you clearly have bloodline power. What exactly happened?"

"A Magic Potion error," replied Viscount Bast.

"What?"

Byrne was stunned, finding it hard to believe, and after a pause, he continued, "Are you serious?"

Viscount Bast nodded earnestly, gazing into Byrne's eyes and said calmly,

"Indeed, a Magic Potion error. Hah, you wouldn't have thought, would you? The absurdity of the matter! That age was different from now. The Crystal Ball used to detect bloodline power was less reliable, with a high potential for detection error of several percentage points!"

Several percentage points.

After listening, Byrne fell into thought before asking again, "Then, didn't you go through the test again? I know that nowadays, the heirs of families are tested more than once."

"Yes! To avoid false results, every member of the Lion clan had a second chance to be tested!"

Bast nodded deeply, his lips involuntarily curling into a smile as he continued, "But I was that one-in-a-thousand unfortunate fellow!"

"Tested wrong twice!"

Byrne was astonished, never expecting the old man's life to be so magical, with such incredible events occurring.

He even couldn't help feeling that it was simply fate's cruel jest.

"Hahahahaha!"

As he spoke, Viscount Bast took another swig of wine, holding back his laughter no longer, as his smile grew more fervent, until he even started to cry with laughter.

"It's just too funny! A miserable decade and a half of my life, all because of a Magic Potion error! Hahaha! That's fate, right?"

"Indeed, quite amusing."

Byrne said lightly, shaking his head slightly. Looking into the old man's eyes, he remarked, "Many a time, the truth of things is indeed absurd, a mere unfortunate coincidence capable of ruining so much."

"Yes, that was when I realized what destiny truly is," he said. "It turns out that most people in the world are just pawns of fate, pathetically toyed with."

Self-mockery was plastered all over Bast's face, yet there was a certain strong ambition glinting in his eyes.

"However, I am different now, and even fate has become a plaything in my hands!"

Bast paused for a moment, the passion in his eyes fading as he continued, "My power was discovered by chance, on an insignificant night, when the few remaining Transmutation Extraordinary Exponents among the East Coast Natives slaughtered their way in."

"They set Fein City ablaze, no, it was still just Fein Town back then, with a massive fire."

He said, reflectively, "That fire was so tremendous, and since the main forces of various families were busy exterminating the nearby native tribes and were not in the town, the fire caused a horrendous number of casualties."

The flicker of flames still seemed present in Bast's eyes, the past never easily faded but lived within the memories of the survivors.

That night was like a bizarre fantasy under a colossal cloak of raging flames, with the fire casting its light upon each falling house, as if pushed over by a merciless demonic hand.

Dense smoke enveloped the area, blasts resounded unceasingly, and screams intertwined with the roar of flames to form a tragic and terrifying symphony; the fierce blaze danced in the night, like an uncontrollable demon indulging in its wrath and destruction.

The people inside the town seemed so small and fragile in the face of the relentless flames.

"I managed to escape at the first sign of danger, but then, shocking realization dawned upon me—my sick mother was still trapped in the flames! No one had helped her escape from her room!"

Viscount Bast's hand trembled slightly as his goblet shattered, the wine spilling over his withered palm.

"At that moment, I felt ashamed, angry, and anxious, and I rushed into the inferno, trying to save her..."

"But it was all too late!"

Bast took a deep breath, fell silent for a long while, his gaze seemed to look afar, as though recalling the various events of the past.

The fire back then was like a fierce beast, baring its fangs and claws, devouring everything into ashes, consuming the lives on the land.

Amidst the dancing flames, the sky was filled with dense smoke and ash, as if the end of darkness was quietly descending.

The boy walked out of the sea of fire, holding a burning body in his arms.

Under the horrified gazes of everyone around, he roared to the sky!

Viscount Bast's gaze drifted as he slowly said, "I should have died in the fire, yet I emerged severely injured, displaying physical abilities beyond those of a mere mortal."

"That's when my family realized there was something different about me."

Byrne had heard of the rare individuals who could reach the Beginning Level without taking a Magic Potion; from this perspective, Bast could also be considered one of the lucky ones.

"When that old man returned, the family conducted a third bloodline test on me, and finally, my power of Bloodline was discovered, to the astonishment of the whole family!"

He smiled as he took hold of Byrne's hand, his voice subtle as he said,

"You haven't experienced that feeling, being utterly despised by others and then later pursued by them. I want to tell you, it's the most marvelous experience in the world!"

Byrne had some understanding of a similar feeling, but he also knew that it definitely wasn't as intense as what Bast had experienced.

"From that moment on, I knew that becoming strong and excellent was the only foundation of everything!"

"Even if it's affection—even apart from my mother's love—all other love is conditional. If you are of no value, you can't attract love at all!"

His tone became increasingly passionate as he spoke louder,

"After that, I've been constantly striving to become stronger, seizing every opportunity to grow! Eventually, I became the head of the Leone family. Because my power is strong enough, I am the king of the Lion clan, the big picture in their hearts. Those weaklings are even willing to die for me!"

Viscount Bast said this with an unstoppable sneer, his eyes filled with intense mockery.

"Abel, Renzo, they had no respect for me decades ago, but now, everything is completely different."

Byrne sank into deep thought, as he had always been wondering who the arrogant siblings Bast mentioned could be, whether it was Abel and Renzo or not.

So it was indeed them.

Now he finally understood why Viscount Bast had always been so cold-blooded towards his kin; this man simply didn't believe in the connections brought about by blood ties.

Perhaps he himself couldn't trust him either...

Just then, Viscount Bast suddenly changed the subject.

"I've never told anyone else about this, Byrne, I'm telling only you, and that is during my attempt to break through to the Monarch, the Stars Embrace Order is very likely to come."

Byrne was slightly startled, seemingly in disbelief as he asked, "The Stars Embrace Order?"

Viscount Bast nodded slightly, saying, "Yes, I once cooperated with them, and they hold leverage over me, just as I hold leverage over them."

"We used to be able to check each other, but everything will be completely different once I reach the Monarch Level. Therefore, those heretics definitely do not wish for me to succeed in breaking through!"