Vol. 6 Ch. 123

"The High Priest of the Golden Thunder Clan… made a deal with the Void Realm?!"

That revelation might not have been as explosively shocking as Leon’s true origin just now, but it still left Rosvisser genuinely stunned.

After all, the Golden Thunder Clan had always claimed to be direct descendants of Zeus, his absolute and loyal followers.

And Zeus himself had once been one of the Primordial Gods who sealed the Void Gate. So why—why would his supposed descendants collaborate with the very enemy he had fought?

Leon let out a low “mm,” then began to explain.

"Do you remember, back when we first visited the Golden Thunder Clan, the kind of tea Dimo served us?"

Rosvisser thought for a moment, then nodded.

"I remember. What about it?"

"Dimo said it was a specialty of their clan—not available anywhere else. But… when Safina, Elusa, and I were in the Tree-Stone Sea, Safina pulled out a pouch of the exact same tea."

Leon continued, "She said Carl gave it to her. And judging from her behavior during that whole trip—she clearly didn’t know who Dimo was. So the only explanation is...

Dimo is in contact with Carl. And it’s not even on equal terms. He’s the one taking the lower position. Otherwise, why would he offer such rare tea as a gift?"

Rosvisser's thoughts stirred at this, and she quickly followed up with another question.

"Couldn’t it be a mistake? There are so many kinds of tea—it’s not impossible that they just look similar."

Leon shook his head.

"I’m not mistaken. I don’t know much about teas, but the surface details of the leaves, the color once steeped, and the taste—I remember them clearly."

Leon had always lived by the principle that “the simplest truths are the sharpest.” He didn’t know anything about tea culture, aromas, or tasting notes, but that just meant he paid closer attention to the things that were easiest to see and verify.

"And the reason Safina’s tea matched the Golden Thunder Clan’s exactly… is because it really was from there."

Now that Leon had laid out the basis for his speculation, Rosvisser naturally trusted his judgment.

"So… thirty years ago, Hera stole the Thunder Spirit Core to stop Dimo from handing it over to the Void?"

"That’s what I think."

Leon said, "But what exactly was Dimo’s motivation? As a clansman and a descendant of Zeus, what could he possibly gain from the Void?"

Rosvisser had no answer to that. "That’s something we’ll have to ask the High Priest himself."

She turned to Leon. "Then what do you plan to do now? Go back and confront him directly?"

"No. That would just alert him and make him hide everything."

Leon paused to think, then spoke in a calm, deep voice.

"I need to figure out why he’s doing this. What his plan is."

He stopped again, his expression growing darker.

"And judging from Hera’s memory fragments, and what Anie told us back in the clan when she explained their culture—it’s clear the Golden Thunder people have been completely deceived by Dimo."

"To them, Hera is just a traitor."

He looked down at his open palm, feeling the flow of magic through his circuits.

"I can’t stand the thought of a guardian who fulfilled her duty being scorned by the world, while the liar lives on, honored by all.

I’m going to expose Dimo’s lies.

Let the entire Golden Thunder Clan see—he’s the traitor."

Rosvisser stood in silence, watching him.

She had rarely told Leon this outright, but in her eyes, Leon was at his most attractive when he had a clear goal.

Because once he set his sights on something, he would pour in everything he had to achieve it.

And in this case, clearing Hera’s name wasn’t just about justice.

Rosvisser believed there was another, deeper reason: to Leon, Hera was—essentially—his creator.

That was the part of their conversation they had both carefully avoided just moments ago—the word creator.

The cave walls inside the Ancient Tree Ruins hadn’t responded to the Thunder Spirit Core—they had responded to Hera’s power.

Because it was Hera who hid the crystal there. And when she set the seals, she must have known: someone might try to create fakes or replicas of the core to get in.

But her own power was unique. Only she—and someone who had received her power—could break the seal and uncover the truth buried for over thirty years.

Back then, Hera had exhausted all her magical power to activate the transmutation spell and convert the Thunder Spirit Core into a human being.

That human… was Leon—the same Leon who would, more than twenty years later, save this world over and over again.

Which meant that part of Hera’s magic existed in Leon’s very essence. And that was why...

He could open the cave walls. Why the moment he touched the crystal, Hera’s memories awakened inside him.

That god-blooded descendant who risked everything to protect her ancestors’ legacy—she gave her all to Leon.

Entrusted him with everything. Hoped he would walk the right path. Hoped he would change the world.

And most of all—she gave Leon life. A human life.

Which brought everything back to the words Leon had spoken earlier:

"The only people who can be called Dad or—Mama."

“Creator” was a cold word.

Even so, both Leon and Rosvisser had instinctively avoided it just now.

Because they both understood—no matter how undeniable that truth was, neither of them—or rather, Leon—was ready to face it.

He didn’t know how to respond to Hera’s expectations. Didn’t know what it would take to not disappoint her.

When it came to that, Leon was just like a helpless child—lost and unsure what to do.

…How strange.

He had wanted the truth so badly. But now that he had it, Leon was shaken.

Even Rosvisser, who always knew just how to comfort him, didn’t know what to say.

Maybe this was Leon’s greatest flaw—when it came to emotions that truly mattered, he always had to think long and hard before making any decision.

Still, even if he didn’t know how to face Hera, Leon was very sure about how to face the ones who framed her.

Just as he’d said to Rosvisser moments ago.

He was going to shatter Dimo’s lies. Clear Hera’s name, a name dragged through the mud for thirty years.

After a long silence, Rosvisser finally spoke in a quiet voice.

"Then, Leon…"

"Yeah?"

"In your heart… do you think of yourself as Zeus’s Core? Or… as a human?"

Leon had always taken pride in being human.

So even if they didn’t tackle the deeper question of his connection to Hera, she wanted to at least know how he saw himself now.

In response to her concern, Leon only smiled faintly.

"Of course I think I’m..."

…

"I think my dad’s a human!!"

Aurora spoke with absolute seriousness.

"Big sis, believe me. You’ve got to believe me! I’m not joking!"