POV Sylphie Greyrat
It's been twenty days since I gave birth. Rudy named our son Sieghart, though everyone just calls him Sieg. He had a perfect mixture of my features and Rudy's, which made him look truly beautiful. But he also inherited something from me.
He had my green hair.
During the days when Rudy was gone with Eris and Roxy, I had dreams—dreams of a child who looked similar to me but had Rudy's face, being attacked by dark shadows. I tried to protect him, but in the end, I failed, and the child died. That dream deeply disturbed me and left a question echoing in my mind:
Would Rudy truly love this child?
That's stupid. Of course Rudy would love this child. But then… why have I been so anxious these days? That's when another question surfaced.
What if this child is Laplace's reincarnation?
Laplace, despite being sealed, is destined to be reborn in about 80 years and start another war against humanity. That's what Orsted told us. But he also said that, because of Rudy, many things have changed. I have something called the Laplace Factor. When I talked to Rudy about it, he seemed very nervous, which made me question: What if Laplace was reborn earlier? What if he reincarnated as Sieg?
Would Rudy still love and protect this child?
Perugius has a deep resentment—no, hatred—toward Laplace and toward the entire demon race. Orsted also mentioned that, for his plans to succeed, Laplace must be killed no matter what.
It was Orsted who ordered Rudy to go to every nation across the world and warn them about Laplace's rebirth—and how to defeat him. But what would happen if Laplace is reborn as Sieg? Just thinking about it twists my stomach into a knot.
And then there was also the problem about—
"White Mother, are you okay? Do you need something from me?"
"Oh, no, it's okay, Ryker. White Mother is just thinking about something."
Ryker… Perugius asked to see Sieg to confirm whether he is Laplace's reincarnation. But he also requested to see Ryker. I don't know exactly why, but the most probable reason is that he's interested in his power.
Since Ryker was born, he had been different from the rest of the kids in the house. He was observant—always analyzing everything and everyone around him. I hate comparisons, but compared to Ars or even to Lucy, Ryker was simply… different.
When he showed he could use magic at only one year old, he asked Roxy to teach him, and he learned at an incredible pace. Then I became the one teaching him, and I saw firsthand just how talented he was. In a single year, he managed to become a Water Saint.
And I realized that—just as Aisha used to say:
"Ryker is a genius!"
I was genuinely proud of him, but at the same time, I couldn't help feeling worried. Being a genius is amazing—useful, powerful, even awe-inspiring—but it comes with its own set of problems. Unwanted attention.
When Ryker became a Water Saint, no one in the house told a word of it to anyone. We kept it quiet. And yet somehow, Perugius still found out.
And now he wanted to see Ryker personally.
Just then, I heard the door of the room open. Ryker, who had been resting his head on my lap, turned toward the sound, alert for a moment—but he relaxed when he realized it was just Rudy.
"Hi, Sylphie. How are you feeling?"
He sounded nervous. I could hear it clearly in his voice. I haven't exactly been approachable these past few days, but Rudy always tried to stay close to me… and I appreciated that more than he knew.
I gently patted Ryker's head while holding Sieg with my other arm. Ryker seemed to understand immediately, and without a word, he stood up and left the room, giving Rudy and me some privacy.
"Sylphie, I think we should allow Perugius-sama to see Sieg," he said, gently stroking my hair as he spoke.
"I… I don't want to… why do we need to do it?" I probably sounded like a little girl, but I truly meant it.
"Because we need to show Perugius-sama that our son isn't Laplace." I lowered my head as I heard his answer.
"But what if he is Laplace? Then what?"
"Orsted said that Sieg isn't Laplace," he replied firmly.
"But Orsted has made mistakes before," I lifted my head to meet his gaze as I said that.
"And what about Ryker? What if Perugius wants to use him for his own purposes? Or what if he wants to hurt him?" I added. Rudy listened in silence for a moment, then spoke.
"Then I will protect Sieg and Ryker. Even if I have to bring down the entire floating fortress to do it."
I could see the fire of determination shining in his eyes. I lowered my head again to look at Sieg.
"Fine," I whispered in acceptance.
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POV Ryker Greyrat
Chaos Breaker. That's the name of the floating fortress where Perugius-sama lives. Today, we'll travel there. Our group is Father, Red Mother, White Mother, Sieg, a friend of my father, and my father's boss. I think it's a strong group—if things get complicated, we'll survive.
Right now, we're standing in front of what seems to be a runic circle. Apparently, Perugius is like the god of Summoning Magic, and he managed to develop a type of teleportation magic that will allow us to go directly to his fortress.
"Ryker, say hi to my friend Zanoba," Father ordered while pointing at a tall man.
"Umm… hi, my name is Ryker Greyrat," I said awkwardly.
"Mm? Oh, hello. My name is Zanoba Shirone," the man said, extending his hand to shake mine.
I could feel White Mother's lethal gaze on me for not greeting properly. It's not that I didn't want to greet someone else. It's just… this man really scares the shit out of me. While I shook his hand, I honestly thought he might break it. His grip was incredibly strong! I instinctively pulled my hand away because of the pain. The man—no, Zanoba—adjusted the glasses he was wearing while staring at me.
"Your son is really interesting, Master." He said at my father.
I couldn't even focus on his words. I was too busy staring at his oval-shaped face. The bowl-cut hairstyle he had did nothing but make me wonder… how does my father call this man his friend?
"Ryker, behave yourself." As soon as I heard those words, I felt White Mother pinching my cheeks.
"Ouch! Ouch, Mom! I get it!" But before she could keep scolding me, a chill ran down my spine. I started to sweat, and breathing suddenly became a difficult task. I turned around and saw an immense figure—no, actually, what was immense wasn't his silhouette… it was his mana. It felt as if a massive vortex of darkness was about to consume everything in its path.
"Ryker, this is Lord Orsted, the Dragon God." My father placed his hand on my shoulder, as if to reassure me he was right there to protect me.
"He has a curse that makes everyone feel fear or hatred toward him." While my father spoke, I could feel Orsted's eyes staring at me from behind the black helmet he wore.
"My apologies for that," Orsted said, his hands still tucked inside the white coat he was wearing.
"Oh, it's nothing. I don't feel any hate toward you. It's just… your mana scared me," I managed to say awkwardly.
This time, White Mother didn't seem angry at my discourtesy. She actually looked very reserved, holding Sieg even tighter in her arms.
I regained my composure and spoke again. "My name is Ryker Greyrat. It's an honor to meet the Dragon God." I extended my hand to greet him. I didn't know exactly who the Dragon God was, but if he carried the title 'God', then he had to be an important person—and with that amount of mana, he was certainly a powerful one.
Orsted shook my hand and stared at me for a moment. "You can see my mana without a Demon Eye?" His deep voice made my ears ring.
"I don't know what a Demon Eye is, but more than seeing it, I can feel your mana. It's like multiple dark points and strings around you." Of course, that was just a simple explanation. In reality, I was seeing a black hole of mana surrounding him.
"That is unusual." That was the last thing he said before turning toward the magic circle.
"Well, let's get going," Father said, but before I could walk to the circle, Red Mother grabbed me by the shoulder.
"Next time, speak with your head held high and don't stutter." I nodded firmly at her words. I was about to meet true gods—if I wanted to survive, I had to make myself respected, or at the very least, avoid looking pathetic.
When we were all standing inside the magic circle, Father crouched down and poured mana into it.
"Don't throw up, Ryker."
That was the last thing I heard from him before a white light enveloped us.
Multiple lights flashed around me, and I felt myself flying at high speed. It wasn't an awful experience—actually, it was kind of fun.
Suddenly, something grabbed my foot, and everything froze. The flying sensation vanished, replaced by… stillness. Then I was violently dragged and pushed down.
I opened my eyes, dazed. I smelled… nothing. I heard… nothing. In front of me was a white room—more like a white, empty void.
"Hey there."
I turned around to face whoever was speaking. What I saw was a white figure with no face, its body constantly shifting like a moving mosaic.
"It's good to finally meet you, Ryker Greyrat."
The smile it gave me was the kind that could give nightmares even to a grown man.