CHAPTER 557: CHAPTER 557: IN LOVING MEMORY

There is a saying that one may not value what they have until they no longer have it.

Kael remembered that saying from his past life.

It was also well said among the lions and other advanced creatures.

Actually, any elite civilization with intelligent races and a working cognitive ability would eventually realize this.

The pain of a loss was usually amplified by the realization that the dead could never ever come back again.

Never.

And for long-lived powerful creatures that knew about the existence of the soul, the probability of reincarnation brought them relief.

Although it was just a small probability, it was something to look forward to, a little bit of light at the end of a long winding tunnel.

But what happens when the soul is destroyed?

What level of grief could such an event cause?

It had been three days since the lion kings who went to retrieve the gauntlet made a daring gamble and escaped from the cold grasp of Ibadon.

Alas, their success would have been nothing if not for the sacrifice of King Exalon.

For the participants of the battle that day, the memory was still fresh in their minds.

They still remembered how Exalon had stood before the mighty Exalon and blocked the Cosmic Annihilation from reaching the lions.

Grief.

Lions hardly cried, but they were not emotionless monsters. They still felt grief and sorrow.

Especially for those who died sacrificing their lives for the sake of the civilization, those like Noel.

Those kinds of martyrs held special places in the hearts of the kings.

And for someone like Exalon, a leader to many, and a friend to many more, the pang felt from his absence was much.

A section of the Leonine Heavenly Realm mourned in silence.

///

The Massive Black Pyramid.

At the very top of the pyramid, inside the throne hall, a white-robed man stood at the edge, looking out at the vast, multicolored void through the wide hole in the wall.

The man was seven feet tall, and the wall was two feet taller. The white robe did little to hide his muscular appearance.

He had a head full of blonde hair that was combed back neatly and his beard was trimmed very well.

He looked elegant and noble, unlike the ruthless tyrant that everyone described him as.

Those pair of beautiful golden eyes gave him away to be Kael, the All-King.

Kael no longer had the anti-lion tail wrapped around his neck.

Instead, he held the tail in a coiled bundle in his hand, squeezed it in between his fingers and his palm.

Kael had to make sure that his mind and intent were in check, if not, he might give in to his rage and crush the tail to dust.

Now that his emotions were mostly replaced with intent, he had to be careful and be mindful not to reverse the process of embodiment.

*Sigh!*

Kael exhaled, sighing as though it would relieve him of his burden.

But it didn’t.

He had sighed many times, but the heaviness in his chest didn’t get lighter.

Kael shouldn’t be feeling this, he knew he shouldn’t be feeling anything.

He tried to forget about it, he was trying to distance himself to see Exalon’s demise as the well-placed sacrifice of a pawn.

Unfortunately, Kael couldn’t bring himself to think of it like that, and it infuriated him.

He hated how he felt sad right now, he hated Exalon for dying and indirectly causing him this mental turmoil, and he hated Ibadon the most.

That heaviness that burdened Kael’s chest. It wasn’t grief, sadness, or something else along that line.

It was a deep, sizzling, burning hot, desire for revenge.

The desire for revenge was so strong that Kael felt that if he didn’t kill Ibadon with his bare hands, he wouldn’t be able to rest in peace.

And somehow, Kael knew that perhaps, killing Ibadon, if he ever could, may not satisfy his hunger for vengeance.

He might extend this burden to the whole dragon race...

It was like a cycle of vengeance and vendetta, passed from one host to another.

Thankfully, Kael refused to be consumed by it. He still had a purpose and he won’t let this revenge become his new purpose.

Although, he made sure to keep note of this grievance that must be solved later in the future.

*Sigh!*

Kael sighed again, his shoulders slumped.

Just a few hours ago, he had spoken to the grieving consorts of the late Exalon. It was easy for him to keep a straight face through all their crying.

He wasn’t cold, but he wasn’t warm either, just uncomfortably calm.

All he could tell the clan members of King Exalon was sorry. What else could he do?

He remembered that as he walked with them, he inadvertently remembered Exalon and all the times he had spent with him.

Kael and Exalon have not been physically close to each other for a long time. Most of the time Kael knew Exalon, they had talked through the chat system.

When he first saw Exalon, it had been an accident. Alora had opened a heavenly gate on Eridoria and Exalon happened to be close by.

The curious war lion, coincidentally in a gigantic form back then, put his paw through the heavenly gate and swung downward, assuming that there was nothing but emptiness.

Now that Kael thought about it, that scene was somehow funny. He had just been tier 4 back then. The destruction caused by that casual paw slam had amazed him.

Ever since then, he had chatted with Exalon.

Exalon had been his number one supporter from the start, no questions asked.

The most reliable also, as seen by his sacrifice.

Exalon played a major role in the spread of the lion system. If not for Exalon, it would have taken much longer for Kael to achieve some of his goals.

He might not have even achieved them at all.

Kael might have died if he hadn’t been fortunate enough to meet Exalon at the right time.

Exalon took Kael’s mission as his own. And the first time Ibadon showed up at Void Spill Galaxy, Exalon had participated in fighting Ma’abu then too.

All Exalon wanted was to see the lion civilization reach its former heights and glory it had during the prime times of Silax, Jin, and Noel.

He also wished for Kael to surpass his predecessors and lead the civilization of kings to conquer the universe.

Too bad, he wouldn’t be able to see it happen.

Kael would have never admitted it before but Exalon had been the closest thing to a true friend Kael had in this new life.

Every other person was just a follower or a foe, not a friend.

How unfortunate.

How pitiful.

’You really don’t value it until you lose it,’ Kael thought, squeezing the tail in his hand tighter.

As for how he had finally been able to remove the rail from his neck? It turns out that even Anti-lions needed an energy source to neutralise the powers of other lions.

After one hour of Kael maintaining his grip, the anti-lion tail naturally lost power and Kael was able to easily remove it.

This tail was now completely void of all the energy it had, turning into an ordinary slightly more durable lion tail.

Kael had use for the tail, so he kept it.

"All-King," A deep voice resounded from the throne hall behind Kael.

Kael turned around to see a tall humanoid. He resembled Exalon a lot. Unlike his father, this one wasn’t bald, he had full brown hair and no mustache.

He was also smaller than Exalon, even smaller than Kael by a few centimetres.

"Fidel," Kael acknowledged and nodded.

This was Exalon’s most promising son and the next in line to the throne.

"All-King, Memphis suggested I meet you for the matter of the heavenly beacon," Fidel said, bowing his head slightly so as not to make eye contact.

"Oh," Kael nodded, "This throne rightfully belongs to you, and all that he left behind..." He said.

Fidel was silent, his thoughts buried deep.

"Has anyone challenged you yet?" Kael asked.

It was customary for challengers to come up again this time to try to become lion kings themselves.

Fidel nodded, "Yes, All-King. I have disposed of them all."

Kael smiled, "That’s good.

The Heavenly Beacon. Don’t sweat too much over the particular beacon your father had, we will retrieve it soon enough.

For now, you will use the spare heavenly beacon that we’re going to get after killing Ma’abu.

Is that fine with you?" Kael asked.

He was being so considerate as it was the last favor and respect he could give Exalon.

It was hard to believe that he was gone forever, but it wasn’t hard to show a bit of decency.

When Fidel heard Kael’s last words, a sickening smile formed on his calm and handsome face before he quickly hid it.

"I’ll take that as an affirmation, Fidel.

Don’t be shy, we all need to drown ourselves in the suffering of our enemies to ease our minds.

Come come, let’s talk some more while we make our way to his prison,"