The Exalted One changed his wave to a pulling gesture, lifting the male survivor off the ground and drawing him towards himself without any effort.

He brought the young man's floating body right up close until he could see his face carefully.

"State your name." The Exalted One ordered.

"Florian," the young man replied without a hint of fear. One could even see traces of a smile on his face as he looked rather intrigued with the spell that held him floating in the air.

The Exalted One tilted a brow slightly, but simply stared at Florian without speaking.

His behavior was uncanny. There really was no fear in his eyes at all. This was not normal, because even though the Exalted One wasn't releasing any aura, there was still a silent oppression that would influence anyone close to a Lawbearer by default.

And he wasn't just any Lawbearer. He was the Exalted One.

He could tell the young man wasn't faking it too, unlike some that would try to impress him by putting up an unfazed front when they were in his presence.

Even his son—Arcadius—was the same. Even though Arcadius was brave and generally unfazed for his age, there was still a subconscious fear and veneration whenever he was in his presence.

Maybe this was what made the Exalted One ask a further probing question rather than dismembering him of a limb or two on the spot because of his casual attitude. "—Your full name. Who were your parents?"

Florian's attention was drawn back to the Exalted One, and his gaze became slightly serious.

"Crestwood. Florian De'vera Crestwood." He replied in his soft, feminine voice.

The Exalted One, and even Cipher on the ground, narrowed their eyes in surprise.

"De'vera?" the Exalted One frowned. "Did you know your mother?"

"No. Only my father."

The Exalted One turned his attention to Cipher, who was standing at the side respectfully. "Who is this… Crestwood?"

"They are a long-standing family in Freehold, Oh Exalted One. They had just risen to power in recent years, building a school of their own and expanding their power," he said. "Their family head was cleanly captured by a minor Invariant Matrix Prison," he gestured to one of the elders—his aides—behind him quickly, urging them to step forward.

They shuffled forward quickly, bowing low to pay respect to the Exalted One, who watched with a blank look.

One of them set the Invariant Matrix Prison that held the Old Crestwood on the floor and Cipher himself stepped forward to take over, weaving a few symbols into the air as he slowly unlocked the small cube.

Immediately Crestwood was let loose, he unleashed a flurry of advanced attack spells straight at Cipher without missing a beat.

But it was stopped in the air with just a look from the Exalted One. Various spells meant to shred Cipher into pieces floated in the air, mere inches away from his face, but he hadn't even flinched or raised up a barrier to defend himself. His trust in the Exalted One was that great.

"You are Crestwood," the Exalted One pulled Crestwood's body towards himself the exact same way he had with Florian.

A look of astonishment that turned into one of wariness, and then fear, colored Crestwood's face as he first lost control of his body, unable to move even a limb, and was then lifted up and turned until he faced the Exalted One squarely.

The might of his aura pressed on Crestwood, turning his expression grim. "The Exalted One…" he whispered in realization even though he'd never met the man brimming with power.

"Who birthed the boy?" The Exalted One nodded at Florian, making Crestwood clench his jaws tightly. He had noticed Florian floating before the Exalted One while he was being brought forward, and had already known what this would be about.

Crestwood looked at Florian, who stared at him plainly, with a conflicted gaze before a resigned look crossed his face.

"He is exactly who you think he is…" Crestwood sighed. "His mother was truly De'Vera the Exalted."

The Exalted One snorted, lifting his hand and clenching lightly in the direction of Crestwood.

The old man's face contorted in pain as he felt a force press on him from every angle, squeezing him like he was a very malleable object.

The Exalted One held the squeezing motion for a while before releasing it, allowing Crestwood reprieve.

The old man gasped, with blood spurting out from his orifices like a fountain. His whole body system was messed up. Liquid in his body that had been previously compressed came back recoiling with force, causing the constant flow from his orifices.

Surprisingly, the Exalted One seemed to have been so skillful with it that Crestwood's brain was still very intact. Everything that was required for him to have coherent logic and speech were still intact, but the rest of his body was wrecked, twitching continuously.

"You expect me to believe a person who had died for more than a hundred years would have a child this young?" the Exalted One said with a bit of a bite to his voice. It seemed this subject affected him more than he let on.

Crestwood shuddered, violently, gasping as he tried to stabilize his body.

"Huff… Huff."

"He—He truly is her child…" Crestwood croaked out with a sputter. "She—she devised a method—a method to remove and preserve what made children—"

The Exalted One frowned, drawing Crestwood to himself and grabbing him by the neck. "You mean to tell me my sister was so sympathetic about your cause that she was willing to give up her eggs?!" the Exalted One whispered harshly.

"She did—" Crestwood struggled for breath, squirming in the air.

The Exalted One allowed him to breathe again, loosening his hold on his neck.

"She did—" Crestwood swallowed breaths in mouthfuls. "Before she died, she gave us her eggs and the method to fertilize them with seeds from talented men in Freehold."

The Exalted One turned his gaze to Cipher, who looked just as shocked at the information he was hearing.

"Oh Exalted One! This is the first I am hearing of this!!" he dropped back down to his knees.

"It was a Crestwood… Her contact in Freehold… was through a Crestwood…" Crestwood huffed out.

A/N:

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