Saat mengikuti Vox, Lex memeriksa karmanya pada orang tuanya. Bukan sekadar penasaran sembarangan, atau mungkin dia mengharapkan mereka telah menembus kesadarannya. Insting-instingnya memperingatkannya bahwa ada sesuatu yang tidak wajar dengan karma mereka.
Untuk peringatan ini muncul tepat pada saat ini, begitu tiba-tiba, memang tidak biasar. Lebih penting, sangatlah aneh bahwa instingnya memerhatikan anomali tertentu terkait karma, padahal dirinya sendiri bahkan tidak menyadari apa pun meskipun menggunakan Permata Karmanya. Untuk berjaga-jaga, ia memakai manik itu sekali lagi sebelum memeriksakan benang-benang karmanya.
Benang-benang itu masih terlihat mengisyaratkan sesuatu yang bergerak cepat, namun jauh. Di luar itu, ia tidak dapat membedakan apa pun yang signifikan. Lex mengerutkan kening, lalu membuang manik itu.
Masalahnya, tidak akan menjadi urusannya untuk mengkhawatirkan. Kini setelah bertemu dengan Boneka Surgawi, ia bersiap untuk meninggalkan Arch-Heaven secepatnya. Ia tak terlalu ingin kembali.
Tak terduga oleh Lex, dua tokoh berdiri berdampingan di atas atap rumah yang jauh, mengamati dirinya. Fakta mereka mengamati dari dekat sekaligus tidak membuka mata Lex untuk menyadari kehadiran mereka memang luar biasa. Namun, mungkin ini pula yang disebabkan oleh penekan Arch-Heaven. Setidaknya, instingnya setengah-setengah memperingatkannya.
"Garis darah Jorlam, Garis darah Naga, Fenrir atavik, mutasi fisik, pemisahan jiwa... Apa sih yang sudah kamu alami?" Serene berseru sambil menatap putranya dari kejauhan, cukup terkejut dan kagum dalam pandangannya.
Satu pandangan darinya sudah cukup untuk mengurai banyak rahasia Lex, namun hanya yang berkaitan dengan tubuhnya. Karena tubuhnya telah bersatu dengan jiwanya dan rohnya, penghayatannya pun sedikit demi sedikit menembus itu juga.
"Tubuhnya dipenuhi lendir niat pedang yang tidak biasuh," Leon berbisik sambil berdiri di sampingnya. "Baru-baru ini ia membunuh banyak orang dengan sebuah pedang yang tidak lazim."
Suasana berat turun di antara mereka setelah pernyataan itu.
"Persentasinya juga lumayan tinggi," ucap Leon beberapa menit kemudian, melihat Leon tersorot dalam pemikirannya. "11% dalam beberapa hari pertama tiba di Arch-Heaven? Itu pasti yang tercepat dalam sejarah."
"Bukan benar," kata Serene, terjaga dari lamunannya. "Jangan memandang rendah leluhur kita. Manusia sangatlah adaptif, termasuk kemampuan untuk beradaptasi dengan Arch-Heaven. Itulah sebabnya mereka menarget kami. Berbicara tentang leluhur, Lex sepertinya telah mendapat manfaat dari warisan Manusia yang hilang, namun aku tidak bisa menentukan yang mana. Mungkin sudah tersembunyi di balik suatu lapisan."
"Pertanyaannya sekarang adalah, apa yang kita lakukan?" tanya Leon. "Aku bisa merasakan melalui niat pedangnya. Ia tidak terlalu suka dengan kami, hampir menuju kebencian."
Serene memutar mata panasnya.
"Kenapa bertanya ketika sudah memutuskan?" tanyanya. "Kita perlu bertemu dengannya. Aku perlu melihat apa yang salah dengan tubuhnya."
Leon tidak berkata apa-apa setelah itu, dan hanya terus mengamati, meski pandangannya telah beralih dari Lex ke mereka yang ia temani.
"Apakah kamu mengenali ikan itu?" bertanya ia.
"Ikan Emas Abyssal," bisik Serene. "Hampir punah sejak jatuhnya Abyss di awal Era Pencerahan. Anaknya adalah Fenrir pure-blood, dan bola gemuk yang ditarik di sebelahnya adalah Destiny Devourer. Benar, putra kami pasti menyukai teman-teman yang berkelompok prestisius."
"Dan sekalipun masih terlibat dengan Vox. Aku pernah mendengar ia memiliki giliran kepala di balik keputusannya."
Kini gilirannya Serene yang terdiam. Apa sebabnya ia peduli dengan sekadar giliran kepala? Fokusnya tetap pada mendekripsikan masalah tubuh Lex, namun sesuatu terus mengganggu penglihatannya, mencegahnya melihat lebih jauh.
Akhirnya, ia menghela napas.
"Kami benar-benar perlu meningkatkan tingkat kultivasi kita. Sepertinya putra kami sudah melampaui kami."
Leon mendeguk napas.
"Itu kamu yang memaksa aku untuk melakukan hal-hal perlahan."
Kedua ini terus berbincang, namun tak ada satu pun dari mereka yang bergerak mendekat ke arah Lex. Ada keraguan yang mengisi keduanya, seolah-olah ini adalah konfrontasi yang ingin mereka hindari. Namun konfrontasi ini tetap tak terelakkan.
Lex, sementara itu, tak sadar sedang diintip, mengikuti Vox ke istana kepunyaannya. Rasa masuk ke Minor Realm memukulnya, dan Vox akhirnya relatif rileks begitu sampai.
While he followed Vox, Lex checked up on his parents’ karma. He wasn’t randomly curious, or maybe hoping that they had reached him. His instincts were warning him that there was something amiss about their karma.
For this warning to come now, so suddenly, was unusual. More importantly, it was really strange that his instincts had picked up on some anomaly related to karma, yet he himself had not noticed anything even while using the Karmic Bead. Just to be sure, he used the bead again before checking on those strings.
They still seemed to point at something moving quickly, but far away. Beyond that, he could not discern anything of note. Lex frowned, but dismissed the bead.
Whatever the issue was, it wouldn’t be his problem to care about. Now that he’d met the Heavens Puppet, he was going to leave Arch-Heaven as soon as possible. He was not so eager to come back.
Unbeknownst to Lex, two figures stood side by side atop a distant house, looking at him. The fact that they were observing him from such close proximity, yet that in itself did not automatically alert Lex of their presence, was incredibly unusual. But then again, perhaps this too was a result of Arch-Heavens suppression. At least his instincts had somewhat warned him.
"Jorlam bloodline, Dragon bloodline, Phoenix atavism, Fenrir bonding, physique mutation, soul splitting... what the hell have you been through?" Serene murmured as she watched her son from afar, shock and awe in her gaze.
A mere glance from her was enough to unravel many of Lex’s secrets, but only the ones related to his body. Since his body was fused to his soul and spirit, her insight extended somewhat to that too.
"His body is covered in an unusual sword intent residue," Leon murmured right beside her. "He recently killed a lot of people with a relatively unorthodox sword."
A heavy silence fell between them after that.
"His percentage is also pretty high," Leon said after a few minutes, seeing his wife get lost in thought. "11% in just a few days of coming into Arch-Heaven? That has to be the fastest rise in history."
"Not really," Serene said, waking from her stupor. "Don’t underestimate our ancestors. Humans are extremely adaptable, and that includes being able to adapt to the Arch-Heaven. That’s why we were targeted. Speaking of ancestors, Lex seems to have benefited from some lost Human legacy, but I can’t tell which one. It’s probably shrouded in some veil."
"The question right now is what are we going to do?" Leon asked. "I can sense it in his sword intent. He is not exactly fond of us, bordering on hostility."
Serene rolled her eyes.
"Why are you asking when you’ve already decided?" she asked. "We need to meet with him. I need to see what’s wrong with his body."
Leon said nothing afterwards, and just continued to observe, though his gaze had shifted from Lex to those he was accompanying.
"Do you recognize the fish?" he asked.
"Abyssal Gold Fish," Serene muttered. "Nearly extinct since the fall of the Abyss early in the Enlightenment Age. The pup is a pure blooded Fenrir, and the fat ball being pulled along is a Destiny Devourer. Our son sure does keep prestigious company."
"And yet he is mixed up with Vox. I’ve heard he has a bounty on his head."
Now, it was Serene’s turn to remain quiet. Why would she care about a mere bounty? Her focus was on deciphering the issues with Lex’s body, but something kept interfering with her vision, preventing her from seeing more.
Eventually, she sighed.
"We really need to improve our cultivation level. It seems our son has already surpassed us."
Leon grunted.
"You’re the one forcing me to take things slow."
The two continued to talk, yet neither of them made a move to head towards Lex. There was a hesitation that filled both of them, as if this was a confrontation they wanted to avoid. Yet this was also a confrontation that was inevitable.
Lex, meanwhile, entirely unaware that he was being spied on, followed Vox to his mansion once more. The feeling of entering a Minor realm hit him, and Vox finally relaxed visibly once there.
"Sorry for the drama, but there’s been a few unusual characters in the fort. I didn’t want to risk talking out in the open," explained Vox as they returned to his study and he threw himself on a sofa, as if he was utterly exhausted.
"It’s not a problem. Can we talk about the puppet. What’s wrong with him?" Lex asked, unconcerned.
"There is nothing wrong with him," Vox explained. "He’s a puppet. He’s exactly as he should be. These guys are specially designed to accommodate certain laws, and act under their instruction. Think of a Heavens Puppet as a sword - except that instead of being used by people, they are used by the laws. You happened to see one in your tribulation, but they’re equally as likely to appear under the control of other laws as well."
Lex frowned. Although it was fairly obvious, since it was in the name, this wasn’t what Lex had been expecting at all. He’d never had a guest before who was... well, empty.
But, if it worked, it worked.
"So can I take him with me?" Lex asked, unsure of how this would work.
"Now that is totally up to you," Vox said, looking at Lex with interest. "This guy obeyed me because I happen to have some authority over him. Otherwise, these puppets can only be controlled by the laws themselves. If you can get him to follow you, you can do with him as you wish. Heck, you can stand him up on a trolley and push him out of here for all I care, but the moment my authority on him drops, he will continue to obey the instructions of the laws, like he was before."
Lex scratched his head, unsure of how to resolve this issue. It took him all of five seconds to come up with a solution.
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