Chapter 569: Worthless Without Power.
While everyone was busy getting drunk in the brothel house that Erlina still owned, Rasmus stayed in the mansion with Aris, Rullein, Erlina, Carrion, Yur, Anastasha, Javi, and Daryus. They were personally asked to stay by Rasmus because he wanted to know everything about East Neva, something that he had been neglecting due to his focus on other important things.
Rasmus held his notebook and wrote everything that Yur explained about Celestial Beasts, or Great Spirits that existed in East Neva. The Celestial Beasts bestowed blessings on humans in East Neva, including superhuman strength, ability, and even a long lifespan. For half-breeds, they could live up to two hundred years, and they were superior compared to the ones who got blessed by Great Spirits.
The Immortal Mountain, the highest mountain in Neva where the Heavenly Martial Alliance lived, a population of either the blessed ones or had the Celestial Beast’s blood running through their veins lived. Those who lived in the Immortal Mountain were all martial arts masters and their disciples. Yur knew about the Immortal Mountain and Yur knew there were so many Great Spirits that lived there that were as powerful or even stronger than Yur.
Aris had never heard of this before and it surprised Rasmus. Aris revealed that she didn’t have any desire to know anything about humans back then. She only knew what she wanted to know or what she was taught about the history of the Orthias.
"The Immortal Mountain is one of the three five pillars in East Neva," Anastasha pointed out as she raised her left hand and pointed at the fingers. "The Khan Empire, the nation that covered half of East Neva, was the origin of martial arts. The Heavenly Martial Alliance, who’s also a part of the Khan Empire, but they live above most of the law, only the Emperor’s decrees that they choose to obey. My family, the Asghar family, who lives in a land that belongs to us, no nations no rulers, just a piece of independent land. The last two pillars are the sultans and their empire, the Ashborne Empire and the Mansor Empire."
"All of them are either blessed or half-breed?" Rasmus asked with his arms crossed since he already knew much about those nations. "Based on history, the dynasties in East Neva didn’t last long. At least for the empires before Khan," he pointed out.
"Yes, they are. Everyone that holds power, they’re either blessed, half-breed, or even have Celestial Beasts protecting them," Anastasia nodded. "It’s impossible to rise in power without the blessing of Celestial Beasts because the strong will be hunted, killed, and removed the moment they hold power," she added.
"The Celestial Beasts, what do they look like? Do they look like normal beasts? Like wyverns, wyrms, drakes, or dragons?" Rasmus asked and looked at Yur.
"No, they manifested their appearance based on what the people believed. A very long time ago before religions, people worshiped deities, similar to Gods. They saw how beasts looked like, and they thought how do such ferocious and dangerous beasts exist? So they thought something more powerful should exist, the ones that created those beasts, and they imagined how they looked like based on the beasts they saw, but made them look more terrifying or more beautiful," Yur answered as Yur floated around the table.
Rasmus hummed and it was similar to what happened back on Earth that human’s imagination created a God that they worshiped because they believed there was or were beings that created them. What intrigued him and made him suspicious were the fact East Neva were similar to the east region on Earth, the Middle-eastern and eastern histories. He didn’t know why it bothered him more than it should, and he didn’t want to believe that it was a coincidence at all.
"When you admitted that you’re a snake both literally and figuritively, does that mean your Celestial Beast is a Snake-shaped Great Spirit?" Rasmus furrowed his brows and looked at Anastasha.
"From my bloodline, yes," Anastasha nodded.
"Your bloodline? You mean you’re different from the rest of your brothers?" Rasmus raised his brows. "You only share half of your blood with your siblings? You’re a child from your father’s other wife?" He added with his eyes narrowed.
"Not just me, all my siblings are. We are the children from different wives of our father," Anastasha answered and nodded. "That’s why, the family tradition leads to hunt and kill each other to see which is the strongest bloodline from all of them," she revealed and grabbed her tea cup. "It’s interesting, isn’t it? You’d be surprised that it happened not just to my family, but to all powerful families. At least not as blatant and as extreme as my family," she chuckled and took a sip of her tea.
"Ah..." Anastasha paused to put the tea cup down. "Before you ask the question, yes, I believe my siblings have different Celestial Beasts that run in their blood," she smiled at Rasmus, the smile that didn’t reach her eyes.
Rasmus wasn’t surprised by that because it was almost identical to the history of the eastern region on Earth. He had experienced every side of the world back then on Earth, but he never experienced the brutality and the chaos of Earth back when dynasties still existed. Based on what Anastasha said, he could see that chaos, betrayal, schemes, death, and life worth almost nothing without power were the norms in East Neva.
"What else do you want to know? You have wrote a dozen page on your note," Anastasha chuckled softly as she crossed her arms and legs.
"How powerful a half-breed can become?" Rasmus asked Yur.
"If they awakened their bloodlines, it’s similar to yours. They can become as powerful as the Great Spirit they came from. They can become immortal, and I believe I have seen some before. However, they end up dead because they killed each other. The cycle keeps repeating itself," Yur answered as Yur refilled Anastasha’s cup with tea that came out of Yur’s tiny finger.
Rasmus nodded with understanding as he wrote it down to review what he had just learned later when he was alone. He closed the notebook in his hands, signaling his desire to know had been satiated. One thing that he was intrigued with was the half-breeds because Sanya warned him about them. However, that also gave him an understanding of why Satan’s followers, the Fallen Watchers that she sent to East Neva hadn’t made a move at all. He realized that even Fallen Watchers struggled to influence the eastern region.
"Do you think your raven has arrived by now, Javi?" Rasmus looked over his shoulder at Javi, who was standing in the corner against the wall.
"It should be," Javi nodded with confidence.
"Good, I wonder how she will react to it," Rasmus muttered.
Everyone looked at Rasmus with their brows raised, wondering what he was talking about and who he was talking about.
(At the same time, at Brithia Kingdom capital city)
Satan was staring at the cathedral that was being built by the people of the palace when suddenly a raven landed at the window, croaking at her. She tilted her head and raised her brows since she could understand the animal’s minds and thoughts. She took the scroll that was attached to the raven’s leg and slowly opened it, already knowing it was Rasmus.
Satan’s expression turned a bit darker and colder when she read information related to the Angels using a power that could alter memories. However, her lips turned into a smirk as she gently caressed the raven’s head.
"Isn’t that a bit unfair?" Satan asked as she stared at the sky, her expression stoic without any sign of emotion in it.