[Bonus chapter thanks to TheCodedProf :) (6/6)]

By now, El'Rion was quite aware that he had been used. Well... used was either a term that either far too well-meaning, or far too severe depending on how you looked at it. On a spectrum, it was either Leonel had led him by the nose like a bumbling fool, or he had given him an opportunity.

There was no doubt that this mess could only be catalyzed by Leonel because of the Plutos involvement. If not for this, the Gods wouldn't give a damn.

As much disdain as other Mortal Races had for humans, Demi-Gods held even more so toward the Mortal Races, and the Gods above them disdained their ilk even more.

This was the way of the world, and they couldn't be bothered to care about ants.

The Pluto Race, however... That was a different matter entirely.

The troubling matter was that El'Rion had quite literally just told Leonel that the Plutos couldn't afford to get thrust into such a storm... but he also couldn't be mad either, because whatever ire their enemies brought down upon this world would be entirely concentrated on these lesser Races. If anything, they would divert their attention away from the real plans of the Pluto.

And that was why it was so bitter sweet. On the one hand, Leonel was helping him. And on the other, he was manipulating him.

At that moment, El'Rion stood at a crossroads that most of Leonel's brothers had stood on in the past.

Down one path, there was acceptance that Leonel did things differently than others did, and that if you were going to be close to him, it was likely that more than once in your life, you would find yourself being manipulated by him. Of course, it would be to your benefit, but it would be a form of manipulation nonetheless.

And on the other path... there was the choice to sever relationships with him entirely.

Those that could even realize they were standing at such a fork were few and far between. To even notice that you were being manipulated to begin was a huge matter. But when you did...

El'Rion held the piece of flesh in his hands for a moment before tossing it aside.

He was a Pluto. Minerva sat on her throne, feeling agitated. More than two days had passed now, and there was still no sign of Leonel anywhere. It was suffocating.

She had even led the search personally, but her interference changed nothing at all.

To make matters worse, she had been getting harassed by her elders and Ancestors about the ongoings of this matter.

Those bastards had wanted nothing to do with it originally, but now all of a sudden, now that the Life Tablet was involved, they wanted to stick their noses into her business.

Had they been present, would the Celestial Ember have dared to leave so easily? This was all their fault to begin with?

BOOM!

Minerva shot to her feet almost at the behest of the sudden cacophonous boom. Her heart shook and a worry she had tried to bury deep suddenly came roaring forward.

Before she could do anything, she was sent flying from her Throne and barely managed to spin in the air in time to catch her balance.

When her gaze landed on the Throne, her heart shook once again and she hurriedly bowed her head so low that her inner organs twisted and bent, not out of a lack of flexibility, but because her pride was akin to a knife writhing in her gut at the moment.

But how could she not bow? She didn't dare not to.

Because before her... A Void Race Elder stood. It was a man that had appeared once before, a man who Leonel had sent flying away with a few words and a careless wave... and that was precisely why it stung so much...

Because Leonel dared to do something that she did not.

Drae'Von stood in silence for a moment, his eyes closed. In that moment, his presence covered the whole of the Bubble World, not leaving even a single stone unturned.

Then, he came back and focused on Minerva.

"The Life Tablet. Where is it?"

Minerva's heart skipped a beat before she grit her teeth. She took a breath and slowly exhaled, still not looking up.

"The Life Tablet is not with me. It has been taken by a member of the Celestial Ember Race against my wishes. Unfortunately, I do not have the backing of my entire Race, and-"

"That's enough," Drae'Von said coolly. "Call the Celestial Ember here."

"I... yes, yes I will do so."

Minerva made her attempts, but unfortunately, the result was as expected. Let alone trying to convince the Ancestor, her attempts at communication didn't even make it through.

Drae'Von stood there in silence for a long while as Minerva became paler and paler.

"Good... good..." Drae'Von said slowly.

This was what he had expected.

Before, he had no plans to force the Owlans to hand the Life Tablet over. The Gods knew far more about it, and he knew it would be useless in his hands even if he got it. In addition, even though he was the head of the Void Race's Dream Pavilion, much like Minerva, he didn't have the full backing of his Race. They didn't give a damn about any of this.

But now... things were very different. Not only had the Life Tablet appeared, but the Plutos were involved and now it had fallen into the hands of fallen God Beasts?

That was something that his Void Race could not allow.

The rise of the God Beasts? The rise of the Owlans? The rise of them together?

That was entirely unacceptable.

It suddenly hit Minerva right then. She was stuck so far in the weeds that she hadn't been able to see the whole picture.

In her mind, it was she alone who was trying to get the Owlans to rise again, while her entire Race seemed to want to pull her down.

But what did outsiders see?

They saw a Race using a useless Dream Pavilion Head as a sacrificial lamb so that they could return to the olden days...

A day where God Beasts were the de facto rulers and the closest to rekindling their light were the Minervas.

Minerva fell to her knees, tears of blood flowing from her eyes out of sheer fury.