SON OF THE HERO KING

"You just have to put your hands on it and circulate your mana."

Taking a deep breath, Sol did as he was ordered.

The crystal ball immediately began to illuminate the surrounding with a deep golden light. The number continued to climb at a very large speed and finally,

Gasp!

Both Chloe and Camelia exclaimed in surprise.

Capacity was extremely important for any human.

As he looked at the numbers, Sol remembered his discussion with Edea

---

"What is the probability for one to be born with 10 points in capacity?"

"10%"

"What about being born with 100 points?"

"0,0001%"

---

Mars capacity was the highest known in history, reaching a startling 350. The moment this information was known, every kingdom exclaimed in surprise.

But if they were to know Sol capacity, they would surely stumble in shock.

500 CP!

A normal S class had a capacity of about 100 CP. Sol's mother, Blaze, as the direct daughter of Tiamat, the dragon of pride had 150 CP.

"Incredible !!"

Camelia screamed in joy as she jumped into Sol's arms.

She was in complete exhilaration. Thanks to the bet with the goddesses, Sol had a chance to obtain a Phoenix with a qualification in no way inferior to Blaze. What more, he would still have enough CP for more of the same kind.

Sol hugged back Camelia with an absent-minded expression. For the first time in his life, he had finally managed to surpass his father in something.

He didn't know what to think, should he be happy? Proud?

He sighed as he controlled his emotions.

His aunt could become a powerhouse even without CP. It just means that, even though he has a higher capacity than his father, he won't necessarily surpass him.

He couldn't let himself be controlled by some useless pride. This is just the starting point. He still had many things to learn.

But for now, ignoring Chloe's expression of shock, he bent down and kissed Camelia before sweeping her in a princess carry. From what Edea said, in a little more than 48 hours he would experience hell on earth. So he needed to finish things with Camelia.

After all, he still had some spanking to do.

***

While Sol and Camelia were enjoying themselves, Lilith was having a serious headache as she sat in the main seat of the conference room while facing four people.

For some weird reason -that she ignored- Mars had decided that the room where the court would happen and the greatest noble would discuss should have a round table.

It was truly outrageous since such a table made put the king at the same level as the other nobles seated, but Mars never really cared about the rules of nobility and the likes.

'Sigh, big brother really had many weird ideas.'

She thought idly while listening to the endless tyrad of a black-haired man. He was wearing a white and gold suit and his eyes were full of confidence.

"My Queen, as you must know, Yesterday during the night, an important ritual took place in the Castitas Church. From what happened the last time it was used, we already can already guess the nature of the ritual and its consequences. I think that it's necessary to negotiate with the church for the selection of a new Holy daughter. In the meantime, I ask that the supervision of church be given to Elsmere Gorfard."

"I object!"

The one who was speaking frowned before asking, "Pray tell, Duke Travers. Why do you object to my proposal? Elsmere is without a doubt the currently highest ranked of the church in the absence of the two daughters."

The one who interrupted was an overweight man with a rather cunning expression. With a large sunny smile, he faced Lilith as he said.

"*Ahem* Your majesty, as it stands now the most important is to reorganize the entire structure of the church. I recognize the good intentions in my dear friend Duke Gorfard, I also recognize the rank and authority of Elsmere, but she is in no way a good replacement for the previous Supreme daughter, even if temporary. What about… "

Lilith didn't intervene as she languidly observed Gorfard and Travers biker with each other. She wasn't wearing her usual stunner clothes, but rather a long red Qipao that highlighted her impressive curse.

No one was a fool here and they all understood why they were trying so hard. But she didn't particularly care and was patient enough to listen to this play.

"Enough. Do not show such an unsightly sight in front of her Majesty."

An old man with an eye patch wearing a long white coat racked lightly the table with his fingers. Despite his long silver hair and his obvious old age, his bulging muscles that were visible through his loose clothes made a rather impressive sight.

He was the Duke Highland. A man renowned through the kingdom for his numerous military exploits. He was also the oldest Duke, having obtained this title since Sol's grandfather's generation.

Gorfard and Travers humphed before stopping arguing. Truthfully, they did not particularly fear Lilith as a monarch even though they knew that she could kill them all without breaking a sweat.

The most important thing in this world for a king or a queen wasn't personal power but rather the blessing.

This was why the peaceful king could take over after Jupiter's death even though he was only 10. This is also why Mars's father, Neptune, stayed on the throne even though he was completely controlled by the nobles.

Lilith, for all her power, wasn't blessed and as such could never have complete control of the power of the kingdom. The only reason she could even act as a queen was because she swore to give back the throne to Sol once he matures. Otherwise, she would have literally been killed by a divine punishment.

One of the greatest reliance for the stability of Lilith power was Camelia and her absolute control over the church. But now–

"Duchess Milaris, what do you think of the present situation?"

Gorfard asked with slight trepidation. He could scorn Lilith despite her power because she was sane. Sane people didn't act recklessly and observed the situation first.

The duchess was anything but sane. She was fucking crazy and no one knew how far she could go and when she could snap.

Today once again, the duchess was entirely clad in black. Black heel, black robes, black veil. When you added her black hair and eyes, anyone looking at her would have the uncomfortable feeling of being swallowed by darkness itself.

Since the day Mars died, the duchess rarely, if never, wore any color other than black. She never explained why but everyone understood even without explanation.

Despite having her name called, the duchess didn't answer for a long while before finally turning a gaze filled with ridicule to Gorfard,

"Do you really think that simply by losing her blessing, Camelia's authority is something you lot can discuss and share so easily? Tell me Gorfard, did those years of peace make you lose your cunning? Or were you just always that stupid?"

All the people present and even Lilith winced at those words while Gorfard face reddened in furry,

"You!"

A large amount of mana began to leak out of his body, increasing the pressure in the room. But,

"Me, what?"

"Ugh!"

Compared to the overwhelming pressure Milaris suddenly released, Gorfard seemed simply like a silly child.

The atmosphere in the room immediately chilled as the usually dark eyes of the duchess changed to a deep scarlet,

"Hey, do you want war?"

She asked in the most monotonous way possible as if she asks about the weather. But,

'That crazy bitch is having another fit.'

None of them doubted that if Gorfard spoke out of way again she would immediately leave this room and declare war on him.

Gorfard was sweating buckets, his pride and his reason warring against each other. He looked at the other people present, hoping that one of them would act. But he was obviously disappointed. Duke Travers was gloating, Duke Highland was impassive and Lilith was still languidly seated with a bored expression as if everything that was happening wasn't of any importance to her.

The pressure continued to slowly increase and when it seemed that the duchess was finally about to explode and the Duke, understanding how useless pride was, was about to concede as he bowed his head in defeat.

"Enough."

All the pressure was immediately shattered by this voice.

If the Duke was like a child in front of the Duchess, then the duchess was like a kid facing a giant when this new pressure was added.

Everyone turned their attention to the only one powerful enough to create such a result.

Lilith.

The war maiden. The Saint of the sword. The demon of the battlefield.

"You guys are like children fighting for useless reasons when we should pay attention to the truly important things."

The scarlet color receded from the duchess and the other three straightened in their seats.

They might not take Lilith seriously as a queen. But, they all recognized that she was without a doubt, one of the most powerful beings in this kingdom.

No, since for them Camelia lost her blessing, Lilith was now the strongest being in this kingdom if the witches weren't added.

Lilith though didn't care about all that,

"Duke Highland, the fact that Camelia lost her blessing should have already reached all the other kingdoms by now. This wouldn't be a problem normally since we are in a time of peace. But, there's one problem."

Waving her hand, a large amount of mana gathered before taking the forms of a map. The same way Edea did when discussing with Sol.

The only difference with this map was that all the points were green except two.

One, the largest, was Gluttony Foss. The country of Echidna. The other was–

–The Wratharis Republic.

The others weren't idiots. They immediately understood the meaning behind this map.

"So the wolf king is finally going to bare his fangs."

Lilith nodded to the murmur of the Duke of Highland.

"The current wolf king is different from the previous pacifist one. He is a warmonger and now that we have lost an important war asset, he will not miss this chance."

A somber mood filled the room. What was the use of fighting for power when they were about to lose all of it?

"How long?" Duchess Milaris asked calmly. Her territory was the nearest one to Wratharis and once war happened she would be the first line of defense.

"Winter is about to come. Even for the beast-kin, it's impossible to fight under such weather. What more, the supreme daughter of Patienta will not let him act as he wishes. As such, from the estimates, six months at earliest, eight at the latest."

Lilith was eerily calm as she answered back. Though behind this calm, a certain fire was brewing. A certain madness that dwarfed even that of the Duchess Milaris.

It has been too long since she set foot on a battlefield or even simply fought. It seemed that her sword was about to drink blood again.