Immortal Kingdoms

In the higher realms, saints fall and rise like the ashes of the mortal world. Most of them go unnoticed, while an abysmal fraction of them makes it long enough in life to cross the countless light years separating one Immortal Kingdom from the next.

Of course, a similar logic applies to divinities. Except, an abysmal faction of those divinities finds solace in the boundless ether in pursuit of abundant kingdom essence energy to merge their sub-dimension into the universe, establishing their fledgling Immortal Kingdom.

House Escanor is one of those houses established within the recent ten thousand years in light of the downfall of other Immortal Kingdoms. When an Immortal Kingdom falls under the oppression of war, chaos, or even a natural disaster; the essence it had accumulated over the years scatters into the vast universe for the fortunate few to find and establish new kingdoms on that ruined foundation.

These foundations are known to be protected by the will of the universe, much like how a mother would protect its adolescent child and observe their conducts throughout their natural growth cycle.

The heavens are always watching, and those condemned by it are ill fated for a bitter end.

In the past, the fortune of House Hestia was a scarlet red sky and earth. However, it seems that a few years of inactivity and the deliberate concealment of such fortune had led to the birth of some bold motherfuckers.

Or so Rosaline thought as she surveyed the flourishing galaxy of neumorus divine sub-dimensions in cohesive order within the domain of House Escanor's Immortal Kingdom.

This is a fledgling kingdom under the protection of the universe, people thought.

This is a safe haven, people also thought.

Soon we will have the qualifications to join the ranks of aristocracy among the Immortal Kingdoms, people also thought.

Alas, a particularly impatient lady thought otherwise.

"I may not have any bloodthirsty armament," Rosaline whispered under her breath as her aura began to soar, her bloodthirsty domain expanding in a speed inconceivable to envelop the entire fledgling kingdom and the sub-dimensions contained within.

She then stretched out her fair white hand as her hair and dress fluttered elegantly, her crimson eyes flaring like torches from the abyss while reflecting countless red dots across the galaxy-like scene ahead.

With a slight tug of her finger, millions of red dots burst like soap bubbles. Following that, millions upon billions of bloody streams shot through the sub-dimensions, breaking the space-time barrier, and joined together into a compressed one metre long arrow.

Within moments, the condensed blood and energy within said blood had intensified to a degree where space began to wrap around the arrow's tip.

It was also at this moment that hundreds of divine auras of rage exploded. However, Rosaline locked onto them almost instantly and lightly tapped the butt of the arrow, railing it down like a shooting star, piercing space-time.

Just what can a divinity do facing an immortal? Nothing but sit and wait for death.

By the time the house head of House Escanor exited his sub-dimension, hundreds of tentacles that were once the blood essence of hundreds of divinities twisted and twined around his four limbs, torso, and neck.

He could barely believe his eyes as not even the membrane created by the universe could block these attacks, and the answer to that conundrum is rather simple; the protection wouldn't block the blood essence of its residents from wreaking havoc.

In a sense of irony, Rosaline was akin to an adult using a child's hands to smack their own face. Even as an immortal, when facing the tendrils enhanced by billions of strings extracted from the blood essence of mortals, saints, and hundreds of divinities, he could do nothing but struggle in despair.

Escanor watched the genocide with pure hatred in his eyes, screaming in a hoarse voice.

"B-b-b-b-bloodthirsty Territory! House Hestia! WHY?!"

That's right.

Bloodthirsty Territory, much like the Bloodthirsty Armament, is the other bloodline inheritance of House Hestia. It is an ability inseparable from the bloodthirsty domain, as they complement one another.

As displayed by Rosaline, even though this inheritance is impotent and weak in singular combat, which was the main reason people forget about its existence, the bloodthirsty territory is a nightmare for large scale battles, especially a war between Immortal Kingdoms.

The more combatants you file into the battlefield, the more you'd contribute to the snowballing power level in the hands of a bloodthirsty territory inheritor.

"Because I felt like sending a message!" Came a calm response from the distant void, and that was all Escanor would remember on his journey to the afterlife as tendrils of blood tentacles burrowed into his eyes, ears, mouth, and heart as they sucked him dry of blood essence and ether, leaving behind nothing but a husky corpse that collapsed along with the Immortal Kingdom's connection to the universe.

Within the matter of moments, an entire Immortal Kingdom collapsed into ruin.

Rosaline was truly helpless as it seemed that everyone and their mother forgot about how dangerous the women of House Hestia are.

The house is named after a woman for god's sake, why can't those motherfuckers take a hint for once?

Yes, the first ancestor of House Hestia was a man, but that's only because Mother Hestia couldn't win him in a one on one battle. However, on the battlefield of conquest for the Kingdom Essence to establish an Immortal Kingdom, it was the bloodthirsty territory that planted fear and reverence in the hearts of the people, not the bloodthirsty armament.

However, when Rosaline thought back to the scene brought about by the desolation domain, she shuddered at the thought that Leonardo might be an exception to that balance.

Fucking broken! Rosaline cursed her luck before leaving the site of devastation and making her way back to House Hestia's Immortal Kingdom.

Hopefully, her message would resound loud and clear for those blind fools and they won't push her buttons too far.

Only her mutters lingered in the void for no one to hear, "Now, when Little Leo grows up, I can find the kingdom's essence for him to merge into the sub-dimension!"

Unfortunately, the plans against House Hestia have already been set in motion, at least that was the case in the middle realms.

Only time can tell what her reaction would be when encountering the infiltrators on planet Arcadia.

…

By the time Rosaline returned her focus to the sliver of will within the divine marionette, the little fox was lying quietly on a soft bed in a stone room. Off to the side, a wooden door leading to the bathing chambers remained shut as hot steam rolled out from underneath.

The sound of running water stopped, meaning that Leonardo just finished with his shower. Aria watched with interest as the young man exited the bathing chambers with his nude figure on full display, a white towel scrubbing at his silver locks of hair.

She never got tired of this scene.

It was approaching nighttime and Leonardo felt like spending the night in meditation instead of dual cultivating with the girls. As for the girls, Juvia was imparting her knowledge to Miko while guiding him, and Pandora was watching over Leona and Kieran as they explored the border fortress under the instructions of Leonardo.

This was another way of training Leona's martial intent. By exposing her to people and the way they interact, or more precisely lie and deceive, she would come to understand that not everyone has the luxury of being honest and upfront about their feelings.

More importantly, she must learn to mask her feelings instead of putting them on her sleeves and face for everyone to see. For now, her task wasn't exposing the liars, but learning how to conceal her intentions just as good as they do, and even more than that.

"Oh, you're not going out with Leona today?" Leonardo looked at Aria and began drying himself up, much to the entertainment of the intellectual little fox.

Like hell she would waste this golden opportunity just to spend time with a bunch of children, Aria thought. Within moments, Leonardo was dressed in a casual white outfit.

However, this time, discrete crimson patterns were embroidered into the fabric of the white trench coat that Leonardo donned over his casual wear. He didn't know why, but there was this growing interest in the colour red in his heart.

Clearing his mind, Leonardo sat in the lotus position on the soft bed and closed his eyes. The moment he did, Aria quickly jumped to his lap and got comfortable lying there, not planning to budge an inch for as long as this meditation session lasted.

Recently, Leonardo encountered a problem with his cultivation ever since the so-called ravine of demise battle. It seems that the will of Arcadia had marked him, locking his cultivation base to the first cycle of sainthood.

And no, dual cultivation doesn't increase his cultivation base, but the energy accumulated from those sessions is redirected into improving the constitution of both Juvia and Pandora, reconstructing their meridian channels to handle the transfer of worldly energy, energy essence, and quintessential energy.

Therefore, regardless of how many cultivation sessions they had, it was irrelevant to the progress of their cultivation speed. Now, with the will of Arcadia constantly suppressing his desolate intent, any further advancement is practically impossible.

He could only assume that the will of the planet is afraid of his potential growth, and the catastrophe it might rain down its inhabitants.

Thus, his only option is to raise the level of his bloodthirsty intent to a realm where even second cycle or third cycle saints must fear him.

In a sense, slaughter is the only method left to improve his battle prowess, and luckily he doesn't lack punching bags on this planet.

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