Pan-an’s POV

When we arrived at our empire, my father stepped out of the carriage and turned directly east from the direction we came. He looked bothered and concerned by something as he stared off into the distance.

“Is something wrong father? I was a bit worried.

Suddenly my father bit his finger and I froze as I saw his blood flow out into a ring around his fists and threw it to his far-left destroying a phoenix statue. I covered my eyes as the dust rose but had to jump upwards when I felt a burst of energy coming towards me. Then before I could react I got punched in the face sending me backwards rolling on the ground before slamming into the West Wing Wall. I grunted as the air got knocked out. My vision was hazy but I saw a flash of silver in the dust.

Once it cleared, I saw what was going on- someone was on the royal grounds without permission. I looked carefully and gasped as I saw it was Tsu’s friend- Eden I think? Father was doing most of the attacking while Eden was overwhelmed. He was blocked and gave very strong releases of power back but he couldn’t compare to my father’s battle experience. After a few blows, my father disappeared then reappeared right behind Eden taking his hand and stabbing it into his chest.

I grinned as he coughed up blood and slouched on my father’s arm. My father then threw him to the ground and then slowly descended to the ground quickly binding Eden. 

“Father, why not kill him?” I got up after regaining my strength.

“I did. But I didn’t,” he replied.

I was a bit confused for a moment as I looked at Eden's body realizing that somehow he was still breathing.

“How tough?” I questioned.

“Soul Magic: Protection Seal to be exact. In all honesty, only the empress is supposed to have that power so I don’t know how her eldest got the skills to do such a high-level spell.” He spoke.

“Protection Seal? Isn’t that where they seal the soul inside the body?” I asked.

Father nodded, “It seals the host’s soul away from the fatal wound, so the entire part of that specific part is shut down. Then while it’s sealed all the body’s energy is transferred to the wound to heal it. So technically he is dead but not in a way. That wound is gonna take days to heal. I will deal with him after we fix your brother’s mess.”

Father started walking forward and I gestured towards Rong’an to follow along while I dragged Eden’s body. We walked right to the Royal Prison and we walked to mom’s cell. When I observed her, she looked dead already and it had only been a couple of hours.  Her eyes were swollen which meant she might have been crying. She looked at us and started to fidget as if wanting to attack us but couldn’t. That only paused when she saw my hand- she started for a bit.

“He is none of your business so don’t even ask,” I said.

She groaned and opened her mouth to speak but only a scream came out and her face was covered in horror. I looked behind me to see that Rong’an had arrived with my brother. Tsu was bleeding all over, had swollen lips and cheeks and arms and was so pale he looked dead. He was breathing so that's a thing to know about his state. I walked over to the wall to my right-leaning Eden against it and cuffed his arms- not bothering to add a power seal to it he was going to be knocked out for a while. Tsubaki was laid in front of the ex-empress where he simply laid the only movement from his breathing.

“You monster, how could you do that to your child and the youngest no less.” she cried. “Tsubaki sweety I am so sorry that I didn’t take you with me.”

“Disgraceful and selfish woman. Anyway, this is the last time you will see your son so tell him goodbye.” my father stated.

“Wait, father, I thought we were just going to imprison him on the royal grounds and restrict his contact. What are you planning to do to him?” I questioned- Tsubaki was and is my brother whether I hate him for taking my powers or not after all.

“Not what I will do. When we transfer the powers from him to you, he will be too weak to live and die.`` Father spoke with no remorse.

I winced, “Wait, father, that wasn’t the plan, you promised that he would live after.” 

“Some promises are meant to be broken,” he responded.

“Not family, family is precious. Father, I can’t go through with this- I don’t want to lose a sibling of mine like that, it is just too inhumane.” I stated.

My father wasn’t happy about that, “It is for the betterment of the empire, so losing a soul isn’t anything.”

“But your child father, I may have gone along with the actions before but I can’t for this one.” I fully turned to him.

“You dare, disobey your father. Besides, it was inevitable, I knew that once the powers transfer from Tsu to you and then I give you the rest of mine then both I and him will perish from exhaustion and overexertion.`` Father finished off.

“Then I am sorry father but I don’t want my brother to die. I was prepared for your death but not my brother, especially the youngest. I am sorry father I-...” My father grabbed my mouth and I slowly felt my consciousness start to slip away.

“You will thank me later,” he said. My hands fell to my sides and when he released me- I couldn’t move it was as if I was no longer in control of my body.

Lord Lang’s POV

That idiot that stupid and hard-headed idiot. I cursed as I was thrown out of Eden’s body. I was both worried and angered; Eden almost got himself killed and if I didn’t activate the spell at the last minute he would have died instantly. I cursed as I tried to access his body again only to be shocked by the thin layer of magic wrapped around his head. Great now how was I supposed to continue with the plan if he is out of commission? I thought for a bit as I followed them to the prison cell where they would keep him- but I was then disturbed by the father’s actions. He shut down most of his son’s brain to be able to control him. It was sickening, to say the least. The father soon left dragging Tsubaki’s body and had his son slowly follow him. I then took this chance to force myself into the guard standing watch. When I completely took control of the guard’s body, I turned, opening the prison door and going to the woman who had her head hung.

“Don’t touch me. You despicable person, following a man that only cares for himself,” she screamed, kicking me in the gut.

“Woman please calm down. I am here to ask for your help.” I spoke up but she continued.

I grabbed her legs and pinned them to the ground, which made her start trying to bite me. This is going to take a while.

“Please, I require your assistance ma’am. I will free you and I need you to heal that boy over on that wall. I need him in my plans.” I asked her.

“And why should I believe you, I think you are just trying to get me in trouble,” she claimed.

I sighed, this was expected, “Please ma’am, this isn’t my body and I never had a physical body. I am a god from the Wolf Empire Lord Lang. I require your aid to make sure this empire doesn’t either fall into the wrong hands or be destroyed.”

“Yeah right, Lord Lang. Last time I checked a God can only be summoned by Monks, Emperors, Empresses and Blessed Ones. And last time I checked neither of those people were here.” she screamed.

“I can look into your memories and prove that I am Lord Lang?”

“Many can do that sir.”

“Then how about you ask me something and I will look into your soul to tell you the answer.”

“Ok then, Lord Lang. What is my youngest child’s name?”

I paused for a bit, “The same child that was sent away earlier?”

She nodded her head, I realized why she asked me this question. Looking through the guard’s memory- the guard was never told of the child’s name just to take them to the fields. So that was a good question since she thought I was the same guard. I decided to link my mind to hers- which she flinched at when we connected. Once I found the answer, I told her which left her baffled.

“Guo-Hun Zian. He was given both your wedded empire’s name and the family name of his father. The father died because of war four years ago and you have had to jump empires to keep him safe. The last thing you told your son before coming here was to not be scared and always remember his background.” I gave her extra information just to make sure I sealed the deal.

She cried a bit before nodding, “Ok I believe you, Lord Lang, I will help you.”

I smiled as I uncuffed her hands from the wall, easing back as I saw her rub her wrists. I looked over at her and she had soft and fragile features- cherry lips with round cheeks that were sunk in maybe because of the starvation I can sense from her. She also had strangely bright hazel eyes that stared at you with fierceness. 

“You need me to heal that child over there? He looks dead?” she asked.

“He is just temporarily in a coma, he will be fine once he is healed,” I responded.

“But I am low on magic, also not to mention I am not good at healing.”

I gently placed my hand over her forehead and my magic flowed from me to her, almost immediately her face began to become more healthy looking and the bags under her eyes started to fade. She gasped when I was finished, looking at her body to see that even her wounds were healed.

“But all that, so quickly! How?” She looked at me.

“A simple spell all gods and goddesses should know. It is a spell used to not only heal a human physically but spiritually too. I also gave you some extra powers to heal Eden for me.”

She immediately got the work, removing the cuffs from his arms- then gently laying him on the ground and began healing him.

“What are you going to do now?” she questioned.

“I need to prevent two things: one your god needs to calm down and second, two children are getting hurt in the process, I need to help.”

“I know what you can do,” she spoke up.

“Really? Please tell me.” I encouraged her.

“Well I don’t know if it’s true but if you are looking for a transfer of powers there are going to be three bodies involved. The God or Goddess, the Monks and the Royal Main Family present. If one of the bodies isn’t present then the god will force them to be there.”

“If there is one body that isn’t fully there but some are there, is that counted?”

“They have to have a very good reason for not being present. Also, it is voted on by everyone with the God or Goddess as the ultimate decider- for their words go.”

“So you mean to tell me, I need the main family to be present at that ceremony tonight which is in like 3 hours?” 

“Including myself, yes. But there is a trick to it, according to the book it said that one has to have a valid reason to switch the powers from one person to another.”

“And if that isn’t met?”

“It never said. All I know is that my son Tsubaki is being tortured to say he doesn’t want the powers my goddess is bestowing on him. It hurts to see my children like that.”

“Don’t worry ma’am, I am here to help. But I need you to do something for me.”

“Yes?”

“Once you are done healing Eden, please go to the ceremonial grounds and try to stall until I return with the main family.”

“Sure.”

“Oh and another thing, who are the other members of the main family? I only know Tsubaki and Pan-an.”

“There is the Lingjiang, Peru and Ruoqiu and according to their whereabouts- I only know that Peru is still in his tower and Ruoqiu is in a district outside the royal grounds. I think Lingjiang is outside the empire walls.”

“Thank you, this information is very much appreciated. I shall bless you for your cooperation later after this mess is cleared over.”

She nodded and I began to leave, only to stop and look back.

“Please make sure Eden is safe, he is next to the throne after this. And a very good friend to our son Tsubaki. Eden almost gave his life today trying to save him. He is a good kid, try to get to know him when this is over.”

With that, I left her in her frozen state, maybe shocked that Tsubaki made friends outside the palace grounds. Or for the fact that she missed out on most of Tsubaki’s childhood to know much about his social life. Either way, I realized the new passion that burned in her eyes and the flare of her magic. She and Eden could distract them til I return but for now- it is a race against time.