The Ancient Genes

After an unknown amount of time had passed, Max suddenly started to hear some noises. It was evident that they were in a crowded place but the black cloth on the cage prevented Max from seeing anything.

Max concentrated on the voices. He had practically been to all the major places around the capital. He might be able to identify the place if he could get some hints.

"Hmmn?" Max could hear and clank, he was sure that it was from a hammer colliding into a piece of metal. He was very confident about it.

"Jerome, you here for meat again?" A voice was heard from the left.

"Yes, I had a lot of customers today." The man replied.

"Well, it's harvesting season. People are in the mood of celebration. Are you going to the celebration event tonight?" the voice asked.

"I will, if I find some free time, " the man replied.

"Oh, anyway, call me if you come. I will be at the Town's square." the voice said.

There were no more conversations and only the bustling around.

'The accent felt familiar. Where was it?" Max muttered under his breath. He couldn't seem to pinpoint it. As for the harvest event, it happened at quite a few places. Even though it would help him narrowing his search area for the man, it wasn't giving him the exact location.

…

After quite a while, Max finally heard the man's voice again.

"Take her, I am tired of it."

"Did she show any signs?" Another voice sounded.

Max recognised the voice. It belonged to that person, Valatrix.

"No, there was nothing that you asked for. She is just a normal kid," the man replied.

"What did you do by the way? I heard from a friend in the Black Market that you have become the most wanted person in the whole continent," the man asked in curiosity.

There wasn't any reply.

"Don't be like that, you must have done something interesting to have achieved that." The man further asked.

"You have done your job, just take the money and go away." Valatrix said with a calm voice.

"You have changed? Is it because of what happened to Aisha?" The man asked with a laugh.

"If you hadn't done me that favor once, you would be dead now. Today, I have spared you and repaid your favor." Valatrix's cold voice entered Max's ear.

"Gulp!"

Even though Max couldn't see what was happening, he could somewhat imagine the chill in Valatrix's eyes and the terrified expression on the man's face.

…

"Whoosh!"

The black piece of covering was finally pulled from the cage and light entered Max's eyes.

Max felt the surroundings to be unfamiliar. It looked like a city area as for whether Max had been here or not, it wasn't easy to find out. These were the events of the past, almost 13 years back.. Who knew how much the current structure had changed in the present? There was no way for Max to judge unless he could find something familiar.

"Rumble!"

Max looked above and observed dark clouds. The weather had turned bad and he could see the flashes of lightning.

The streets looked pretty empty. It was I unknow whether it was the weather or someone's action behind it.

Max looked at the guy who took out Lisa from the cage and gently placed her on the ground.

Max felt odd as he observed his actions, his touches were careful, he avoided the places which were bruised as if he didn't want to hurt her.

"I have done you wrong, I know it." Valatrix suddenly spoke as he looked at Lisa who seemed to have her eyes slightly open. She wasn't moving not showing any signs of life.

"Even though I know it, I will still have to put you through it. I have no way to repent for my sins. I know that gruesome end awaits me for harming such a tender soul. But in this world, there was only one person that mattered the most to me and now she is gone. If there is even a tiny chance of bringing her back, I will do it. I will become the villain, I will put you through that misery."

Valatrix's eyes suddenly dimmed as he raised his hand, "If this is what it takes, I will do it. I will abandon my humanity."

A black colored aura began to conjure in his hands. Max's eye's turned grim.

Demons.

To be accurate, it was a human who became a demon.

Max couldn't understand what was going on? Why were the demons after Mage King's daughter? Was he wrong in assuming that the Demons have only recently started to make a move?

Besides, what was this person murmuring about? Was he talking about bringing someone back from death? If yes, how was the crystal heart and becoming a demon related to it.

"Drip!"

"Drip!"

Drops of water began to fall from the sky and soon it turned into a heavy downpour.

Soon, a figure entered Max's eyes. She was walking through the rain drenched from head to toe. There was a terrifying expression on her face and each step of her crumbled the pavement. It was evident that she was controlling herself, if not, she might have blown the whole place up.

It was Lisa's mom.

"Give me my daughter back!" She said in a severe tone. The anger on her face was terrifying and the sight of Lisa almost made her lose control.

"Boom!"

The area behind the lady flattened and the structure crumbled into dust.

"I said give her back!" Lisa's mother said again. She was afraid to make any move as Lisa was still by Valatrix's side.

"I can't make up to you for what I did nor can I do for what I am about to do. But, I promise to let your daughter go if you succeed in putting a scratch on my body." Valatrix said with a calm demeanor.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Father treated you like a brother." The lady said in confusion and rage.

"Your daughter, she is my only hope." Valatrix said as he looked at Lisa, " Have you heard of the crystal heart?"

Max's eyes widened as he heard those words.

'Impossible! How is he aware of it? Can demons see the crystal heart?' Max thought, but shook his head.

Even though it made sense that Demons could see the crystal heart for possessing a higher grade energy, it was only if she had the crystal heart. If Max's theory was correct then Lisa should have awakened it at the age of 16.

The lady didn't say anything, the look on her face clearly told that she had no idea what was going around.

"There is a long history before us that the common people aren't aware of. There were once a people and a power that was said to be one of a kind in its era. I never thought of coming across it. But it seems that I did." Valatrix said with a calm voice.

"Your daughter has shown all the signs of a possessor of the power. But all my attempts of awakening her had failed. It seems that it isn't possible to awaken a power of that level in the current era." He further added.

"I don't care whether she has any power or not, she is just my daughter and I am taking her back with me." The lady replied as she took a step forward.

Valatrix moved as well and the next instant, both vanished.

"Boom!"

Max heard the huge explosion as he looked above in the sky.

'It seems that he is trying to trigger an awakening for Lisa by putting her through all of these…..but how did he come to know about it in the first place?' Max thought as a frown emerged on his face. This guy was a nasty one.

Are the Demons onto something? But it seemed that he was acting on personal motives and it seemed that the motive was something that pushed him to become a demon. Then who in the world could have known about this things from the past…..

When Max thought about it, there was only one answer left.

The Ancient Families

Aside from Demons, the Ancient Families were the only one to have made it from all the eras ever after the Primal Humans disappeared.

"Don't tell me…." Max mumbled as he looked above in the sky. He could see the battle raging in the sky. It was unclear who was winning and who was losing. But Max couldn't do anything, getting away from Lisa was not an option for him.

"Boom!"

Suddenly a person crashed into the pavement and at a shocking speed.

Max turned his head and his face darkened, it was Lisa's mom. There was a huge gaping hole by her side and a black mass of energy seemed to be leaking out of the wound. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were open as they gazed towards her daughter. It was what he was afraid of.

Valatrix landed on the ground the next moment. There was a small cut on his cheeks and a drop of blood trickled down his cheeks, "You were strong. But it ends here. I will let your daughter go."

He said as he walked towards Lisa and picked her up. He then brought her closer to the lady who was bleeding and had not much of life left in her.

Lisa watched her mother and her eyes slowly seemed to come back to life.

"Mom?" She said with a tinge of hope and happiness but the next moment, she saw her mother's hands gently touching her cheeks and she had a smile on her face as she said with difficulty, "Live well... my child...remember to study hard... eat the green vegetables as well.... make a lot of friends..... no dating....until 16.....find a good partner.....and don't blame….yourself…. Take care of your father….you know how...he is… And….mommy loves you…"