Perseus Adoldia had always been a fierce boy.
Or, in his sister's words, he had always been stupid.
Born with the Laplace Factor, Perseus possessed tremendous strength from a very young age. Even in childhood, he displayed the same kind of aggressive, bestial behavior his mother, Ghislaine, had when she was a child.
But there was a small difference between them.
In Ghislaine's time, the lack of understanding about the feral nature of the Beast Race led her tribe to ostracize her. She was treated like a beast who didn't know how to live in society and was too dangerous to be around.
With Perseus, it was different.
As soon as Rygar noticed his son's nature, he "educated" him in other ways.
Having gone through a similar situation, and with Ghislaine sharing the same experience, both were able to deal with Perseus and control, to some extent, his impulse.
He was disciplined more harshly and directly, learning limits by force when necessary.
He was taught, by force, to read and write—something he never showed real interest in, but which he ended up learning.
Moreover, Perseus managed to learn the Howling Magic of the Doldia tribe, a form of magic that perfectly suited his nature. Other types of magic, however, were simply unthinkable for him at that time.
Still, even if his nature could be controlled and guided to some extent, it could not be changed.
Perseus remained a rebellious and aggressive boy, often behaving like a small beast.
Among all his siblings, each had their own peculiarities, talents, and flaws. But none had been born as aggressive as he had.
This, obviously, generated conflicts.
Especially among those who belonged to the same generation as Perseus.
And, among them all, his main rival and opponent was Aurora.
The little elf, despite not acting like a beast, was as troublesome as he was — or perhaps even more so.
Mischievous and proud, Aurora would not tolerate the impetuous actions of her older brother. This had been the case since they were infants.
Aurora could teleport and use magic from a very early age. Perseus, on the other hand, had more brute strength and was clearly more talented in physical combat.
That difference fueled the rivalry between them.
Over time, that rivalry ended up creating a kind of faction among the children.
Diana, who cared little for anything, ended up siding with her twin brother, Perseus.
Taes's second son, Molik, began to follow Perseus after recognizing his strength.
Beside Aurora, Iris, who admired her magic deeply, frequently took her sister's side.
And Jino's eldest son, Nel, liked Iris — and so he ended up being pulled to the same side.
Since childhood, Aurora called Perseus stupid whenever he didn't understand something.
Nel would occasionally do the same.
At first, Perseus didn't even understand the meaning of the word. But he felt the tone of contempt in it. Over time, he came to hate that word deeply.
Rygar didn't pay much attention to these conflicts at first.
He observed them constantly, but he did not intend to interrupt every children's quarrel. Doing so would be excessively controlling and limiting. Conflicts were part of growing up.
That changed when Perseus began to learn fencing and Aurora began to learn magic.
The fights between them started to get more serious and more dangerous.
Aurora possessed an unprecedented amount of mana. Some months earlier, she had accumulated so much mana that she probably would have destroyed a large part of the Great Forest if Rygar hadn't been present to intervene.
It turns out raising super-human children was a Herculean task.
In any case, Perseus, despite being forced to learn many things and no longer being just a little beast, remained notoriously known for his simple mind.
It was difficult to reason with him using logic. That only irritated him.
Whenever possible, he resorted to violence.
More than that, he had learned to find excuses to use violence.
It was a tactic to avoid his father's and his red mother's beatings. He only needed to present any basic justification, and most punishments would be avoided.
This time, the children had been given the mission to hunt down the false leader of a fanatic organization.
Perseus was good at that.
So when they were told it was already over, he simply invented any excuse and kept attacking.
Extraordinarily, his simple mind was exactly what Lothair did not know how to deal with.
If it was possible to reason, then it was possible to deceive.
But faced with that little uncontrolled beast…
Lothair could only run and survive the best he could.
Nel, who had already been convinced by Lothair, brought his hand to his forehead in frustration.
"This guy…"
Without hesitating any longer, he drew his sword and rushed forward to help the priest.
But his advance was interrupted.
A girl appeared in his path and silently blocked his way.
The moment he saw her, Nel flinched.
Physically, she looked a lot like Perseus: dark-skinned, red eyes, and silver hair. But unlike him, that girl was excessively calm.
Her expression was completely disinterested and bored; she didn't even seem to be looking directly at Nel.
She wore swordsman clothes, simple and practical.
One of her hands rested on the hilt of a small blade.
Waiting patiently.
Aurora shouted, irritated:
"Hey, Diana! That guy's one of Dad's subordinates! Are you going to let that stupid guy kill him?!"
Iris, frightened by how things were unfolding, stayed behind Aurora, holding her staff tightly.
Diana looked at Aurora.
Her expression was inscrutable.
Then she spoke in a tired tone:
"Well… he's not wrong…"
"Hah?! What do you mean?!"
Diana made a face at the shouting and murmured:
"Noisy…"
She sighed before continuing:
"I meant that Perseus isn't really wrong. If he's truly one of Dad's subordinates, he won't die in such a foolish way. Besides, it's fair to presume that Dad is watching everything that happens anyway."
Despite showing interest in practically nothing besides food, Diana was, unquestionably, the most intelligent among Rygar's children.
Nel quickly retorted:
"But we left without permission! What if this is all outside his plans? Either way, it's better to capture him instead of killing him!"
Diana sighed deeply and her face paled slightly.
She had reached her limit of social interaction, and her mind was starting to short-circuit.
It was at that instant that Nel thought:
'Chance!'
He advanced, trying to break through Diana's blockade.
Then he saw her draw her sword.
In the next instant, he saw the entire barn spin 360 degrees.
And he fell on his back to the ground, with Diana's foot pressing firmly on his neck.
Nooooot again!
He gritted his teeth, frustrated, and dropped his sword.
Only then did Diana loosen her grip.
Aurora watched the scene tensely.
Not that she couldn't defeat her sister.
But, the first time she had struck Diana with magic and defeated her, on that very night, Diana had almost suffocated her to death while she slept.
Aurora had only been saved because her elven mother had intervened in time.
That had traumatized her deeply.
Since then, she never dared to attack her older sister at full force.
Moreover, Diana was Advanced in the Water God Style.
Beating her physically was impossible, just like Perseus.
With that in mind, Aurora made her decision.
She snorted:
"Hmph! Then I hope you're right! Now release Nel, you're going to make Iris cry!"
As mentioned, Iris was confused watching the siblings fight. Her eyes were watery, about to cry.
Diana looked at her.
Her grip softened. And then she released Nel.
The boy got up awkwardly, straightening his clothes to save the little dignity he had left.
After that, everyone returned their attention to Perseus and Lothair.
Seeing the children start to fight among themselves, instead of rushing to help him, Lothair realized he was lost.
At that moment, he completely abandoned his gentle-priest posture. What emerged in his place was the expression of a warrior. He was no longer trying to escape or buy time.
He was fighting to kill.
After all… Rygar's firstborns, Diana and Perseus, were only seven years old. How powerful could they really be?
Lothair advanced first.
He swung his blade in a quick arc—a feint technique of the North God Style. Perseus, who fought using only his own claws, reacted instinctively, throwing his head back at the last second.
The blade grazed dangerously past his nose and his silver hair.
Taking advantage of the movement, Perseus shifted his center of gravity and delivered a violent kick to the old man's ribs, hurling him away toward one of the pillars.
Perseus laughed.
"Hehehe! Hey, you're actually pretty good at this, old man!" he taunted. "What else do you have to show?"
Lothair wiped the blood running from his mouth with the back of his hand, while analyzing the boy's scornful attitude in front of him.
His eyes calculated, searching for a way to use that disdainful attitude to his advantage.
In an instant, he drew a scroll and opened it, shouting:
"Water Cannon!"
Perseus prepared to charge through the spell head-on. However, instead of water, what struck him was a huge flaming wave.
He sneered.
"Hahaha! Cunning old man!"
Perseus was nearly caught.
But then he activated the famous technique of the Beast God Style, Wild Dash. Although he wasn't yet a Beast Saint, he could use it roughly.
His body vanished from its original position.
In the next instant, he reappeared on Lothair's left flank, kicking his knee. The old man managed to protect himself by retreating instantly—but it was a feint.
He didn't have time to dodge when Perseus's claws tore through his stomach.
Blood gushed out.
Without giving him time to breathe, Perseus continued. The priest expected further claw attacks and tried to defend himself, but the boy leaped and delivered a knee strike directly to his chin.
It was as if Perseus knew exactly what his next moves would be.
That was Lothair's last thought before his consciousness dimmed, as he was thrown away once more.
Aurora commented, looking at Diana:
"Oh, you're not going to do anything, sister? He's going to kill him like that."
Diana replied without any interest:
"That mark on his arm is fake. He's an impostor."
The other three looked at the priest's exposed arm, shocked. None of them knew how to recognize a fake Beast God mark.
How could Diana? Had she known that from the start?
Those questions passed through their minds as Lothair struggled to rise, half conscious, half unconscious.
His guts were falling out, his entrails exposed, while he tried to hold them in with one hand.
He coughed up blood as he saw Perseus approaching slowly, smiling.
"How did you know it was me…?" he murmured.
Lothair knew when to give up; his trumps were gone, he was going to fall here.
Still, he wanted to understand.
With all his disguises… how had some children managed to find him?
Perseus stopped for a moment.
"Ah? What do you mean?"
Lothair forced his voice:
"How did you… children… manage to find me? The one true Leader of the True Order… did someone reveal my position? How was I found, after all?"
It was the only question on his mind.
He had been careful, had taken countless precautions. Even preparing several contingency plans, he had still been found.
The True Order would continue to exist, but without him to lead it, the hidden religion would suffer a severe blow. To maintain secrecy, he alone knew many of the operations.
Aurora began to laugh a lot.
"Hahahaha!"
Nel and Iris displayed strange expressions, while Diana remained completely impassive.
Perseus, for his part, did not seem to understand the question — nor its implications.
Nel then spoke oddly, looking at Lothair:
"Let me see if I understood… you are the true leader of the True Order?"
He paused briefly.
"We thought you were just one of the puppets of the real leader. In fact, that's why they sent us on this mission. The Iron Legion hadn't actually located you…"
Nel cast him a look with a trace of pity, while Aurora lay on the floor laughing.
Lothair's mind went blank.
A coincidence…?
It can't be.
I was caught by children… by accident…?
He looked at the girl who was laughing, then at Perseus, who clearly didn't understand any of that.
Perseus said, impatient:
"Look, I don't care who you are, old man! Go preach your fanatic teachings to hell!"
He swiped his claws across Lothair's throat.
The last thing Lothair saw were the children.
Aurora was laughing.
Diana was indifferent, staring at the sky.
Nel and Iris were surprised.
And Perseus was the one who killed him, as if slaughtering cattle.
His last thought was simple.
Is this… fate?
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