257 The End of Winter (1/2)

Then, he immediately jumped away from the emperor standing behind him. Since the wound in his chest was only shallow, he just used his ice to cover it and stop the bleeding. He was already used to doing that.

”Just so you know, I purposely missed your heart,” Emperor Aku said. Unlike his usual attire, he wore black clothing from head to toe right now. His outfit even came with his infamous black gloves. Infamous because everyone in the empire knew that His Majesty would only wear black gloves when he was about to join a war, or kill someone. ”What took you so long to come back, my dear heir?”

He just glared at the emperor.

”Don't be surprised that we know that you've already snapped out of Nia's mind control,” His Majesty said while wiping the blood off the staff with a white handkerchief. Now that he was calm, he noticed that instead of a sword, the emperor was actually wielding a scepter. It was a beautiful scepter that gave off a divine aura that was hard to explain. ”The High Priest saw you infiltrate the temple months ago. According to him, you disappeared. He had a feeling that you went and met the spirit of the Red Phoenix in his mystery praying room.”

”That sounds like Winchell,” the Moon God said. He was now sitting on the sofa again while pouring himself another glass of red wine. ”Even in the past, he put a spell on his chamber. Only people with his permission could find and enter his room.”

”If you had already met up with the Red Phoenix, I figured he would have already told you about the past,” His Majesty said. ”And it seems like I'm correct.”

He remained quiet while he was assessing the situation.

Even though he trained hard under Lord Denver, he still wasn't confident that he could take down both the emperor and the Moon God. But he had no choice but to do his best.

”I apologize but you can't rely on Lord Denver and the witch that you came with,” the emperor said with a fake sympathetic smile on his face. ”Nia and Lahara are already taking care of your allies.”

”I'm not worried about them. I know that Lord Denver and Miss Luna can take care of themselves,” Winter said. Now that he was calm, he managed to gather his flame once again. ”You should worry about yourself, Your Majesty.”

”Why?” His Majesty said, then he tilted his head at one side and gave him an ”innocent” look. ”The fight is already over, Winter.”

He was supposed to ask if the emperor had gone crazy.

But all of a sudden, his heart thumped loud and fast against his chest. Then, just like what happened a while ago, his flame vanished as if they were suddenly nullified. But this time, it seemed like even his life force was being taken away.

What's happening to me?

”Winter, do you know that there's a child who appeared six months ago and claimed that he was your father's son?”

What?

He didn't have to look up at the emperor because His Majesty already squatted down beside him while watching his reaction. The strange scepter was still in the emperor's hand.

”I took him in,” Emperor Aku said. ”You know why? Because the High Priest saw something incredible inside that child.” He gently touched the staff of the scepter. ”With the help of Nia, we were able to give this thing a new ”host” by using the body of a special tree. Do you know what kind of scepter is this?”

His brows furrowed in confusion.

And then, he remembered that the emperor once mentioned that the sleeping saint's scepter could be a useful item to him.

His Majesty, who seemed to have read his facial expression, smiled. ”Yes, Winter. What you're thinking is correct. This Holy Scepter was hidden inside your sibling.”

”I don't have a sibling,” he snarled even though it talking back already took a lot of his remaining energy.

”You should confront Kiho about it,” His Majesty said with a laugh. ”Not that you could talk to him anymore.”

He took in a deep breath before he asked. ”Where is the child that you're talking about?”

To be honest, he had to stall time so he decided to entertain the emperor for the meantime.

It was a shame that he wasn't able to use the fire techniques that he had painstakingly learned from Lord Denver for the past half a year.

But it wasn't like he had lost all hope. After all, there was still the thing that Uncle Wixx taught him. According to his uncle, there was still a small amount of Black Flame inside his own heart. And if he used the Black Flame to ignite the heart of the Red Phoenix…

”Lady Morganna seems to be obsessed with the child for some reason,” His Majesty said casually. ”Well, I don't think the child will survive since he has been in a vegetative state ever since the Holy Scepter was taken out of his body. Why are you asking though?” He snapped his fingers and laughed aloud. ”Ah, I know. You're stalling time.”

Ah, this bastard emperor was really sharp.