Chapter 176: A last chance
Chapter 176: A last chance
"F-father?" Perseus said while shivering as he did not trust his own father to spare his life under such circumstances.
Although they were a family, ever since they were children, both Sophia and Perseus realized the fact that they were merely assets in the Olympian cause and not actual family members.
Their mother was voiceless and only a breeding partner for their father because of her good genetics, while their father's love for them was conditional on their use to the family.
Because Perseus showed competence since young age and Sophia was chosen as the Champion Of Poseidon, Escanor showered the kids with a bit of his love and attention, however, this did not change his base feelings towards them.
For him, his children were no different than an important underling or a disposable asset, as at the end of their use-case Escanor was more than willing to discard them without any attachments.
As Perseus trembled uncontrollably, his loyal men present in the room closed their eyes as they silently prayed for him to receive a painless death.
*AGHHH*
*AGHHHH*
Walking up to him, Escanor placed a finger on his forehead and began circulating his own power through Perseus's body, as the pain from this process made Perseus scream out loud.
While everyone had expected the cold hearted Escanor to take the life of his own son, a minute later the spots on Perseus's body began to recede and fade off, as the treatment that the Olympian doctors could only administer to Perseus, slowly over the next month, Escanor administered in under a minute as he healed Perseus rather aggressively.
Perseus's skin sizzled from the sudden infusion of vitality as his mind felt on the edge of passing out, however, somewhere deep down he knew that he would die if he passed out and hence he struggled to stay conscious despite the pain.
"Good… at least you can take this much torture" Escanor said as he saw Perseus regaining his consciousness and clarity of thought as he walked back to his seat and sat down from across Perseus's bed.
"The family elders wanted to kill you and replace you with a more competent floor administrator from the Zeus bloodline, however, I intervened" Escanor said, as he spoke sharply and without emotion.
"It's me who has won floor 21, with my own two hands 300 years ago and hence it's me who has been given the privilege to dispense punishment for the humiliation we have suffered" Escanor continued, as Perseus gulped a mouthful of saliva when his father brought up the word 'Punishment'.
"If I'm impartial, for the humiliation that you have brought to the family, the correct punishment for you is death. As to stop a single man you have cost the death of hundreds of thousands of our loyal believers and have turned the floor into a mess" Escanor spoke with visible disgust as he seemed to be unwilling to refer to Perseus as his 'son'.
"However, many years ago, I had made your mother a promise that I would fulfill one of her wishes for giving birth to you and Sophia, and since she used that wish today to beg me to let you off the hook, I'm going to give you one last chance to make things right" Escanor said as Perseus felt his piercing gaze ripping apart his tender skin.
"As soon as your floor opens for another legal challenge, I expect the True Elites to expedite their schedule and try to raid you in 30 days time and I expect Rocky Yadav to be amongst those who raid this floor.
Bring me Rocky and redeem yourself as my son.
Fail, and I shall claim your head myself-" Escanor said coldly as he gave Perseus an ultimatum.
The Olympian Gods had signed a non aggression agreement with The Gemini Gods and The Dragon God, which prohibited all parties from using tier6 lesser gods or higher fighters in any attacks or floor defenses beneath floor40 of the tower.
This was the sole reason behind why Perseus despite only being a tier5 warrior was given the responsibility of running a floor and why a force like the True Elites which did not have a single lesser god amongst their mix could still hope to win it.
Without this agreement, it would have been Escanor himself who would have stayed back to fend off the raid from the true elites, however, because of the pact between the three big gods, he could not.
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( Meanwhile back at the university )
There was not a single student that did not shed a tear when Principal Liam's funeral was held at the university.
Although there was no body, the principal's old clothes were stuffed in a casket alongside some of his pulled out beard hair, as Maven decided to bury him in spirit although his body was not available.
Every student knew that the principal was a bit wack and by no means normal, however, despite his erratic nature, there was no one who could deny that he cared for them all deeply and hence everyone broke down in tears when his casket was being lowered into the ground below.
Rocky especially cried inconsolably as after his real father passed away, Liam was the closest thing to a positive male figure that he had in his life and his sudden death saddened him deeply.
Although there were many rumors going around the university regarding the circumstances of his death, Rocky had a feeling as to which rumor was right.
There was no doubt in his mind that Principal Liam had died because the wicked Olympians would not let him study in peace at the university and continuously sent assassin's to heckle him.
Liam, who could not accept such behavior being the loving teacher that he was, finally snapped and took this drastic step, which was why Rocky felt even worse than the other students as he considered himself partly responsible for the death of a beloved teacher.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the PS target, good job everyone. ///