Legendary Architect of Apocalypse

"The reason you are at this academy, the influence, the power that you hold over others, and even your life, it is all because you are my son. It is all because you carry this last name."

Silas stopped before Elias, who could barely raise his head under the suppressing to watch the silhouette of his father.

"I knew that he was a cold person. Still, to talk to his son like this..." Astralious was at a loss of words.

Even though he was scared that he might be detected by Silas, he still couldn't hold back talking to Elias.

"I don't think you shouldn't provoke him anymore. He might truly kill you, forgetting that you share his blood. Return that child to him! Nothing is more important than your life!"

"Are you going to return Dreke to me?" Silas asked, his eyes not holding even the slightest of warmth towards his son. It was like he was looking at a complete stranger, and not his son.

"I will not return him to you. If you want to take my life in return, then you are free to do so," Elias said, only for the pressure on him to suddenly grow multiple times stronger.

He punched the ground, and forced himself to not fall flat on the ground. The pressure grew so strong that Elias felt the bones of his arms slowly crack, just to support him.

Blood trickled out of his nose, but he didn't lower his head. "I stand by what I said. Even if you kill me right this instant, I will not return Dreke. You will never find him."

Silas didn't say anything for quite some time. He only watched Elias, like a god of death. In his eyes, the child looked no different than an ant, trying to resist the weight of a mountain.

He hadn't even released one percent of his energy pressure, but the child was already bleeding. If he increased his pressure a little more, he was certain that Elias was going to die.

He didn't think that Elias was naive enough to not know such things. Despite that, he was still defiant. Was it courage? No, it was foolishness.

"Do you not fear death?" he asked. "As far as I remember, Dreke hasn't done anything to you. So why do you go so far to hurt him?"

He knew that Elias wasn't treated the best at home. He knew many things, but he always turned a blind eye to it. Still, things weren't bad to the point that he would want to kill Dreke at the cost of his own life.

Why was he resisting so much? Was it truly because he wanted to hurt Dreke? Or was it because he wanted to hurt him through Dreke?

If he really wanted to kill Dreke, then he had plenty of time to do it already.

Dreke's soul lamp was still lit, which meant he wasn't dead. So the enmity certainly didn't seem extreme. Silas was slightly curious about Elias's intentions.

"I will give you ten days to think about it. If you Release Dreke within ten days, I will forget that it ever happened. You won't be punished. But if you didn't release him in ten days, or if you killed him..."

Silas's killing intent was so sharp that Elias couldn't even breathe under it. Fortunately, it only lasted for a fraction of a second, before it disappeared as if it was never there.

Elias heard the sound of footsteps growing distant, until they completely went silent. Silus stepped into the void, and disappeared.

Only when he was gone, the pressure disappeared and Elias was free from the suppression.

"Are you alright?" Astralious materialized before Elias, not even trying to hide his concerns.

"I am still breathing," Elias's body was covered in cold sweat, and his hands were still trembling in weakness.

He forced his body up, that was still traumatized by that pressure. He stumbled across the hall, and reached the bedroom. His first priority was to check if his Soul Beast was actually fine, or if his father did something to her.

"She is fine. She seems to be sleeping peacefully, even after all this," Astralious mumbled. "Good thing she isn't hurt, or you would have grown even weaker."

Elias fell on the large bed in exhaustion. He didn't say anything to Astralious, and simply closed his eyes.

Astralious also stopped speaking, thinking that the child fell asleep because he went through so much, and was tired. He remained unaware that Elias had simply closed his eyes, but he didn't fall asleep.

His mind was filled with a lot of questions, especially after seeing the frightening strength of Silas. Even if he used everything that he had, he couldn't harm even a single nail of that person.

Silas wasn't even the strongest entity in this universe, and there were probably many more people who were comparable to him.

Elias felt frustrated. He was upset at his own foolishness. Just because he was able to surpass a few children at the Academy, he really thought that he was growing stronger.

In the end, he was still insignificant in the grand scheme of things. He was still a human, in a world filled with gods.

Silas's words were true. He wasn't alive simply because of his own abilities. He was alive because of his last name. If he didn't have this last name, would he still be alive after kidnapping Dreke?

If he didn't have this last name, would he still be alive after he killed the descendant of the Esterin Family?

Even the Professors would have neatly decorated him on a table to be slaughtered, before inviting the Esterin Family representatives to eliminate him.

If he didn't have the last name of an Ashborn, he wouldn't be targeted by the Professor in the Land of Frost. But it was also true, that if he didn't have this name, he would've been executed after hurting the Professor.