438 Three Devil Emperors (1/2)
Meanwhile, after kicking Elia out of the imperial city, while one body of his remained within his chambers to receive and indulge in this year's female tributes, Konrad crossed space to land within the empress' palace. Those weren't mere avatars, but Devil Bodies with separate but equal cultivation bases.
Like all other Transcendent beings, Konrad could start over and reach Embodiment in another Law. However, without another Transcendence, he couldn't pursue Embodiment in a third. To defeat that hurdle, Konrad used his Realm Will, Nascent Infiniteness Insight, Devil Bridge and Death Transcendence to create a new devil art similar to Regretless' Three Corpse Refining Incantation:
The Devil Refining Incantation.
With it, Konrad refined two new Devil Bodies to cultivate the Devil Path from scratch and Reach Truth and Fate Embodiment. The three bodies shared one consciousness and could borrow one another's abilities at all times, making them formidable boosts. Better, when the three united in one, they could unleash all abilities at the same time with nine times the might!
However, the Devil Refining Incantation remained a well-kept secret known only by a scant few such as Else, Verena, Yvonne and Gulistan.
And within the Empress' Palace, Yvonne, Else, and Verena awaited, the three sitting across an oak table with deadpan eyes betraying no emotion.
Almost. As she stared at the teacup lying before her, Verena's eyelids trembled, and unbeckoned to her, she clutched her thighs. If he saw it, and he probably did, Konrad made no comment and strode toward his seat by Yvonne's right. There, he sat, swept the ladies with a brief glance, and stated:
”Well, the time has come.”
The echo of those five words caused Verena to close her eyes, but no sound left her lips. At that time, Gulistan who returned from babying Elia appeared and took her seat.
”Eleven years ago, Verena calculated all the fate variations of our four brats. And to give further credibility to her findings, I examined them myself. The results, I need not mention.”
Konrad pursued. Within the Jade Dynasty, although Else, Yvonne and Gulistan all now reached Fate Wielding, only Verena and he achieved Fate Embodiments. Their Fate Calculations were therefore the most reliable. For them, losing the lottery was harder than making wrong Fate calculations.
Of course, there were some barriers. Events involving Fate Embodiments, Fate Transcendent experts and Supremes didn't appear in their calculations. When the children were born, Konrad didn't bother examining their fate. The reason? His belief that fate was only one variable among many. If fate was immutable, then regardless of how he struggled, he could never escape Regretless' Will.
If fate was immutable, man needn't do anything but await destiny's boons and calamities. If fate was immutable, cultivation was meaningless. No matter how low the chance, man's will could topple fate's plans. That was Konrad's belief. And for that reason, he rarely calculated Fate. And when he did, it was to crush it.
However, when on Ube's fifth birthday, Verena conveyed her findings, verifying them was a must. What he saw pleased him not.
”Tonight, if things go according to fate, Ube will attempt to destroy Helmut's cultivation path and shift the blame on Elia, relying on his bit of planning to avoid getting retraced. We shall not interfere in the event, and if he does go through with his plans, I will not spare him.”
Konrad reminded, and Verena aside, all nodded in approval.
”Is that…really necessary? We could prevent it from happening long before it did. Why allow something we know will occur? Why not just remove the possibility? With our current abilities, is there really a need to endure the petty strife of a common imperial family?”
Verena argued following a weighty silence of restlessness. But as Konrad's eyes shifted toward hers, even before he spoke, she knew the ”why.”
”True. With our current abilities, preventing such petty strife is simplicity incarnate. No need for me to get involved. Any one of you can flawlessly handle it. However, those are half-measures. If it's not today, it will be tomorrow. When the root lies in the heart, anything that doesn't affect it is pointless. Either you change it, or you stomp it.”
Konrad replied, and in that instant, the icy shade of his eyes only accentuated the coldness of his gaze.
”Within this Realm where I reign supreme, it may not matter. But in a matter of days we shall set out for the Higher Realms. There, though my Devil Bridge will keep us clouded, we're still within our enemies' reach. There, betrayal heralds severe consequences.