Immortal Kingdoms

While the entire planet was shaking from the aftershocks of the battle in outer space, Leonardo stood on the peak of his imperial palace, his expression grave while observing the sky.

Aria sat on his shoulder, her expression without any hint or indication of her true thoughts. At this moment, Leonardo had already lifted the blockade of communications that prevented incoming and outgoing messages between Grace Imperial City and the rest of the world.

Everyone on the surface of Arcadia was like ants on a flat simmering pan, from the weakest of non-cultivators to people on the level of Queen Adeline.

Leonardo's communication bracelet kept flickering and buzzing, but he ignored it and simply stared off into space.

Actually, not everyone on the surface of Arcadia was freaking out.

For instance, the people from the hidden tribes were wholly oblivious to the chaos, their sky overcast by dense multicolored clouds. As the chunks of broken asteroids crashed into these clouds, they quickly disintegrated without a bit of chance to land.

Things got even worse the closer these objects got to the core of this landmass, directly evaporating into smoke, while otherwise they would be erased soundlessly and without a trace.

Another calm location was the settlement of convicts. More accurately, the ordinary underground space below that teetering building is on the edge of collapse.

Ever since the chaos started, the only notable difference to the group of six elders on the high altar was an extra line of words to their obscure long sutra, but the chanting never stopped, and the block of ice seemed to grow a bit denser.

…

"This is already beyond you, it's best if you just go back to the higher realms."

Aria suddenly said this, not wanting Leonardo to have any ridiculous hopes of interfering in a battle of this scale. Unlike Leonardo, she could clearly see the development in outer space.

Leonardo knew Aria could somehow keep track of what was going on out there, so he sighed with a bitter smile, "Is it that bad?"

"Didn't I already explain it clearly?! In the middle realms, the apex predators are the planets, not the so-called powerful cultivators. This is a battle between celestial bodies, even half-step divinities are nothing but ants with their rudimentary pockets dimensions."

As she was berating Leonardo, Aria's ears twitched slightly, snorting coldly.

"You have guests."

Space shuddered. Then, Queen Adeline and Valeria stepped out from behind Leonardo, their expressions ugly to the extreme.

Valeria didn't mince words.

"Can you help us?" She asked directly, a hint of pleading in her voice. As for Queen Adeline, she stood there quietly.

Leonardo didn't respond. Instead, it was Aria who spoke in a lazy voice, "This is a matter for your middle realms to handle, didn't you choose to keep neutral and let him handle his matters on his own? Why should he now get involved with this mess?"

Queen Adeline's face twitched, not knowing how to respond. Indeed, they decided not to support Leonardo when he needed it. Even if this world came to an end, he could always return to his higher realms without the slightest bit of concern or worry, why risk his life for them?

"For better or worse, you can be considered to have joined my Forest of Eternal Spring, are you going to take my daughter away and leave her mother, her family, and her people behind to perish as you do nothing?!" Valeria shouted angrily, her graceful image shattering to pieces.

With a thud, she fell to her knees and said resolutely, "I ask you not as the former High Elf Queen, but as the mother of a daughter, even if not for my sake, don't put my daughter through the pain of walking away from her family in need."

Then, she resolutely smashed her forehead on the hard ground, not even using a lick or energy to protect herself. As a result, her forehead was covered in dust, and a scar split open to spill her blood.

Leonardo was stunned, not having seen this coming. Then, he turned around to see that Juvis was already nearby as well, her eyes betraying the pain and conflicting emotions.

She also knelt just like the day back then, only this time, she wasn't naked. However, unlike last time when Leonardo was apathetic to her plight, he couldn't act the same now.

Juvia didn't say anything as words were meaningless at this point.

The mother and daughter pair simply kneeled there with their foreheads on the ground, causing Leonardo to sigh helplessly.

Aria's lazy voice sounded, "Aren't you going to kneel as well?"

She was obviously talking to Queen Adeline, catching both the woman and Leonardo off guard, as this indicated that Aria at least had the means to deal with this catastrophe.

After struggling inwardly with her pride, Queen Adeline bit her bottom lip and knelt down as well, her forehead on the ground. However, her heart wasn't as peaceful inside as the mother and daughter pair.

Valeria knelt with her identity as a mother to one of Leonardo's women.

Juvia knelt with her identity as a woman, a follower, and a servant.

As for Queen Adeline, she represented House Sylvia and the will of the Human Domain. Thus, she obviously wasn't reconciled with kneeling like this, but she had no other choice.

Leonardo gave Aria a puzzled look, but she simply gave him the side eye. "You still have one more guest waiting for you, let's go meet him."

Another guest? Leonardo was even more confused. However, he didn't doubt this unfathomable little fox and stepped out, disappearing from the scene and heading into the depths of the palace.

Leonardo's expression was a bit strange when he noticed their destination. Then, he could hear the tinkling laughter of his adorable Leona echoing in the room.

When he got in, he saw a middle-aged man dressed in black, had deep brown eyes, short black hair, and a funny mask on his face.

At this moment, this man was playing dead while Nagi and Leona were practicing medicine on his body. When Leonardo stepped into the room, Leona was the first to notice and jump to her feet.

"Godfather!" She exclaimed in pleasant surprise. Then, she rushed over to cling to his leg, "This homeless uncle said that he came to visit you, but you were busy and he got lost looking around!"

It didn't take long for Leona to revert back to her cheerful temperament after countless sessions of cultivation. Thus, she was now the same girl with her heart on her sleeves, though only in front of her close family.

Since she was acting like this in the presence of this man, Leonardo instantly figured out that he must have long since earned Leona's trust.

Leonardo smiled lightly and bent over to kiss Leona's forehead, saying gently, "Alright, now since I'm free, let me talk to this uncle for a bit, okay?"

Leona nodded her head vigorously. Then, as though she recalled something, she glared at the homeless uncle and spoke in a solemn yet unquestionably adoring voice, " Don't forget to behave!"

This was the exact expression she made whenever that homeless uncle began to use foul language, hinting at him not to speak foul in front of her Godfather without explicitly exposing him. Then, she dragged the dazed Nagi who had her mind blown blank ever since Leonardo entered the room, leaving.

The playing dead uncle chuckled lightly and sat up, removing his mask for Leonardo to get a clear look. Then, Leonardo's expression went from stunned shock to sudden comprehension.

"You're worried about their safety after all!" Leonardo commented lightly, his expression mellowing a bit.

"Yo!" The man made a friendly gesture with his hand, "Of course, I'd be worried about my own children, what kind of a question is that?"

The man laughed lightly.

"Well, this place is most likely done for if nothing unexpected happens. I came here today to remove the limiter on those brats, they should awaken their immortal constitutions when exposed to the higher realms, don't mistreat them."

Leonardo and Aria were stunned. In fact, not even Aria had noticed that Leona and Kieran had such a limiter on their bodies, hence her greater shock.

"Don't be surprised. Although the aura on your body is abysmally faint for some reason, I could tell that we both come from similar origins, otherwise, I wouldn't have allowed you to walk away with my children like that." The man smiled amicably at Leonardo.

Although Leonardo was confused, Aria's mind buzzed with one word.

Planeswalker!

While Aria's thoughts drifted, Leonardo's confused expression spiked a hint of curiosity in the man's eyes. "What? You don't seem to be aware of your own identity, huh? Well, I could think of many reasons as to why."

After he muttered silently to himself for a bit, he asked, "What is the name of your house?"

Although confused, Leonardo still answered, "House Hestia?"

The man waved his hand, "Not that backwater house from the higher realms of this Stellar World, the house of your original parents, what is it?"

Leonardo laughed bitterly, if even a house from the higher realms was considered a backwater, what of his house on planet Earth?