Nyxaria was the beast companion of the Third patriarch of the Ebonhart House.
She was the oldest being in the duchy and had seen generations go by. She was one of the few beings in Eldoria who had reached the divine realm, and even among divine realm powerhouses, her strength was unparalleled.
She wasn't like the rest of the old folks in the divine realm, who lived in solitude and could only be spoken to in times of distress.
Nyxaria loved moving around; she would always be seen on the roof overlooking the initiates' training ground, assessing the potential of the Ebonhart's younger generation.
Unlike other high-level beasts who, after their breakthroughs into the law comprehension realm, predominantly stay in their human forms, Nyxaria didn't. She was always seen in a mini version of her beast form, where she looked like a little black fox with golden eyes and a few patches of red fur.
This made her popular among the female initiates who fell in love with her cute appearance. They play and even groom the fox, unaware that they are playing with an entity who as the strength to vaporize them a thousand times over.
She even followed them on missions, acting like a silent guardian shielding the initiates from any life-threatening danger.
This was one of the reasons why news of her passing had filled the Ebonhart house with sadness.
Nyxaria was a nine-tailed Abyssal Emberfox. Abyssal Emberfoxes were extremely powerful beasts who were innately connected to the laws of darkness and fire.
They were one of the five Beast God clans who stood on the same level as the dragon and phoenix clans.
And even among members of her clan, Nyxaria was considered special.
Nyxaria was a rare variant in the Abyssal Emberfox clan known as the Ember of Fate.
These variants, in addition to their connection to their to the laws of darkness and fire, also had a connection to the supreme law of Fate. Due to their connection to the laws of fate, they were known as oracles.
After the millennial war, the five Beast God clans vanished; nobody knows if they were eradicated or if they went into hiding.
The Third patriarch found her when she was just a cub in the wilderness and brought her back. And since then, she has been considered a member of the Ebonhart house.
The third patriarch ascended a long time ago, but Nyxaria couldn't accompany him because, according to her, she couldn't break her final bloodline shackle and ascend together with him.
In Eldoria, no one can escape the erosion of time, including individuals in the Divine realm.
Nyxaria fell to the same; she had lived for two thousand years and had come to the end of her lifespan, so although the news of her passing was sad, it wasn't unexpected.
But now hearing that Nyxaria's soul currently resided inside a weird blob made from an extremely rare metal, which was intended as a weapon, and the said weapon was supposed to be a gift to the family's newest genius.
"You cannot be serious," Mircalla said. When she was still an initiate, she had fawned over the little, cute fox. News of her death filled her with sadness, but this new information gave her mixed feelings. On one hand, it was the only method to keep her alive, but on the other hand, it felt disrespectful to use the soul of a guardian as the stabilizing component for a weapon.
As they were talking, Valdis, who was looking at the blob of metal in the box, felt something calling out to him. As time passed, the feeling grew stronger and stronger. It got to the point that he couldn't hold back anymore and started walking towards the box.
The closer he got, the more intense the feeling became.
His actions went unnoticed by the crowd as they were still fixated on whether using Nyxaria's soul as a forging material was a good thing or not.
"Well, now we know that the soul in the weapon won't kill the owner, but is giving a weapon of such power to a child, a wise decision, that is, if that thing is actually a weapon," Grand Elder Arkan said
The First Ancestor and the rest of the Grand Elders knew of Arkan's concerns. Although Grand Elder Arkan didn't look like it, he cares a lot about his family.
When he heard about the events that occurred in the secret realm, he was instantly enraged, and without warning, he charged towards the royal palace, demanding answers.
He was determined to seek justice for his grandson and all the Ebonhart juniors murdered in the secret realm.
That day was intense and chaotic.
The rule in the royal capital is that no one below the saint level can fly above the capital, and even those at the saint realm, when flying above the capital city, are not allowed to release the full extent of their auras because it could potentially harm the citizens in the capital.
Also, if someone wanted to enter the royal palace, they had to go through a lot of formalities before they would be granted access to the royal palace. Except you were in the divine realm, and then you could enter as you wished because the guards won't notice your entry, and even if they did, what could they do about it?
But that day, Grand Elder Arkan couldn't care less about all the rules, he rushed towards the imperial capital with his aura fully unleashed. As he arrived at the imperial capital, he directly flew over the city without retracting his aura, scaring everyone in the capital as his aura felt horrendous.
Some guards appeared to block his advance, but he made light work of them, killing them on the spot, without reducing his momentum.
As he reached the royal palace, he didn't stop his advance, directly killing anyone who dared block his path. It was at that point saint realm powerhouses appeared to stop his reckless behavior.
But, they underestimated him and overestimated themselves. Grand Elder Arkan was quickly surrounded by twelve peak saints who thought that they could contain him using their numerical advantage. How wrong they were.
After a few minutes of intense clashes, everything quickly settled, and what was left of the battlefield were destroyed buildings and twelve dead bodies.
Arkan Ebonhart was a typical Ebonhart, who were battle-hungry maniacs, whose bloodline granted them immense strength and versatility. Beating an Ebonhart, one-on-one, in a fight was exceedingly difficult if you both had similar strengths, and if the Ebonhart you wanted to battle was a genius, then the odds of you winning were next to nothing.
And Arkan Ebonhart was known as a genius among geniuses in the Ebonhart House.
The battle quickly escalated, and individuals at the early stages of the immortal ascension realm appeared, but Arkan didn't relent; he continued fighting, killing two individuals at that stage before he was overwhelmed by the sheer number and power of the reinforcements.
Luckily, he was saved by one of the guardians before things really got out of hand.
His actions that day shook the entire kingdom to its core, and it reminded the noble houses of the terror the Ebonhart House could unleash if angered.
Valdis, on the other hand, had already reached the edge of the box.
Malrik, who was engrossed in their talks, felt his body suddenly shake as a faint red light flashed past his eyes. It was at that moment that he noticed that Valdis had arrived, reached the box, and stretched his hand towards it.
Just as he was about to warn him to stay clear of the thing in the box, the blob seemed to notice and reacted swiftly; it quickly reached out and pierced Valdis's palm.
"No!!!" Malrik screamed as he quickly dashed towards Valdis in an attempt to stop whatever was going on, but he was a step too late as the blob quickly entered Valdis body using the hole in his palm.
As soon as it entered, Valdis felt the room going dark as his body suddenly felt exceedingly weak.
His body fell backwards, but before it could hit the ground, Malrik arrived and caught him. The first thing Malrik grabbed was his palm and looked at the spot where the blob had entered from, only to discover that the hole it created in his palm had vanished, and not a trace of blood was left behind.
His scream and actions quickly drew the attention of everyone else in the room.
They turned only to find Malrik in front of the box, holding Valdis, who seemed to have passed out. Everyone then looked inside the box to find the blob missing.
But before they could ask Malrik what happened. A worried and slightly frightened voice rang out.
"Malrik, what happened to your brother?"