Return of the Mythic Bloodline

Chapter 564: The Soul Oath

"Vivi, have you seen my sword? Where are the scrolls about the arrays? Oh right, I should also pack some Soul Stones just in case," Maximilian blurted as he hurried around his room, stuffing his storage pouch with necessities.

Meanwhile, Evangeline sat at the edge of the bed, her eyes lowered as she fidgeted with her fingers. Realizing she wasn’t responding, Maximilian halted his packing and walked over to her.

He gently lifted her chin with his fingers, meeting her pearl-like blue eyes as he asked, "Why the gloomy face?"

She lowered her gaze again, as if she didn’t deserve to look him in the face. "It is all because of me. The injuries you have suffered, your exile, and even the threat to your eligibility for the throne. If only I didn’t exist..."

"Then Father would have used someone else as a scapegoat," Maximilian finished for her in a calm tone. "If we start pointing fingers over the current situation, then those pieces of trash who treated the lives of other races as their playthings, I, who lost my composure and beat them without mercy instead of arresting them and reporting them to the Sovereign, and my dear father, who refuses to abolish slavery just to preserve this fragile relationship with the other clans, are all at fault as well. Considering all that, you are the one least to blame, Vivi."

He released a sigh before continuing, "Stop blaming yourself. You are smarter than that."

Her lips began trembling, her grip tightening on her robe as she revealed, "When the Sovereign gave me two choices, I chose the second one so that I could at least live and be with you after serving five years as a slave. B-but... wh-when I actually ch-chose it... I-I desperately wished for you to stop me..." She finally raised her head, her tear-filled blue eyes meeting Maximilian’s golden ones.

She broke into tears as she continued, "I-I was so scared, My Lord. Ev-even though I made that choice, I would have killed myself before any of those fiends touched me. Th-thank you, My Lord... thank you for saving me."

Her quiet tears stabbed Maximilian’s heart like daggers. She had always been the incredible woman in his eyes, the one he respected the most and had always looked up to. To him, she was the embodiment of elegance and unwavering strength. Seeing that same woman now completely broken into tears shook him to his very core.

He lowered himself onto his knees before her and pulled her into his embrace, one hand protectively cradling the back of her head.

"I’m sorry, Vivi. You had to go through this." His voice was low, every syllable laced with suppressed fury and grief.

He held her even tighter as she continued crying in his embrace. He had been trying to brush aside the events of the day as nothing more than a nightmare so Evangeline would not worry. But now, after realizing how deeply those events had scarred her, the sclera of his eyes gradually turned crimson from the rage boiling within him.

"With the Heavens as my witness..." he muttered, a tear trickling down the corner of his eye. "I swear this Soul Oath. For the disrespect you suffered... I will obliterate the Dragon Empire from the history of Vyoman."

KRAKABOOM!!!

The moment he made the declaration, thunderous lightning roared across the heavens, bathing the world in blinding light.

Evangeline’s eyes widened in shock as she realized what Maximilian had just done.

"M-My Lord..."

Before she could say anything, Maximilian continued,

"None shall remember the legacy of the sinful dragons of this era."

KRAKABOOM!!!

Another deafening roar echoed through the heavens.

"No prayers shall be recited in the name of the Divine Dragons. They shall vanish as though they never existed."

KRAKABOOM!!!

"The era they lived in shall be known as the Forgotten Era!"

KRAKABOOM!!!

Although the major figures of the Two Realms had already stepped outside, searching for the cause behind the heavens’ sudden fury that shook both realms, Maximilian could feel it.

The Heavens were not angry.

It was as though they were proclaiming Maximilian’s oath to the entirety of Vyoman, urging him to bring an end to the legacy of the dragons that had caused nothing but the suffering to the weaker and helpless beings.

"M-my Lord, what have you done?" Evangeline finally spoke as the thunderous roars outside gradually subsided. Her face had turned pale, her lips parted in shock. "You are the one destined to rule the dragons. How could you take such a Soul Oath?"

He grabbed Evangeline by the shoulders and asked in a serious tone, "My declaration was not made in the heat of the moment. Think carefully, Vivi. Do the dragons truly deserve to rule this world?"

A brief silence followed. She thought she could answer immediately, yet no words escaped her lips, not when the events of the previous night replayed vividly in her mind. The atrocities committed by the young dragons who would one day rule parts of the world for the next thousand years, and the current Sovereign, who had ruled for millennia, turning a blind eye to their crimes.

Her jaw tightened as she muttered, "This world is better off without the dragons."

"Well said," Maximilian chuckled, gently patting her head. Despite the fury raging within him, he needed to remain calm before her. The last thing he wanted was for her to worry any further after everything she had endured.

"My Lord, your sword is in the third drawer of the cabinet. The scrolls on arrays are kept in the fifth drawer," she said, wiping away her tears. "Also, have you packed your undergarments?"

"O-oh no, I completely forgot about them," Maximilian gasped.

He was about to move when Evangeline tugged at his sleeve.

"Give me the storage pouch," she said softly. "I’ll do the packing."

"You don’t need to, Vivi," Maximilian replied. "Just sit back and relax. You are no longer bound by your duty as my guardian."

She still rose from the bed and gently pulled the pouch from his waist.

"Yes, but I am bound by a far greater duty now, My Husband."