Elara leapt into Sylas' arms like a growing koala bear. If she was any smaller, Sylas could imagine her having gleefully wrapped her entire body around his head, given the fact even now she had leapt up so high her legs were wrapping around his triceps instead of his waist.

Shaking his head, he caught her. This was about all he needed to see to know that his family was doing well.

Though, it was practically impossible for them to be doing anything but well.

After Sylas took over the Golden Grove, he had formed a connection between them and his father-in-law, along with the Memory Merchant and his own father.

The trio had been working in tandem on things, and the separation between Earth and the outside world wasn't so wide as it originally seemed before.

In truth, thanks to this, the Golden Grove had benefited a shocking amount as well. This was because under its evolutionary state, not to mention its Summoned World status, Earth had produced a lot of items that were of shocking value.

His father and father-in-law were smart enough to know what they should show and what they shouldn't. So they were able to give things over to the Golden Grove that were a step or two up from the quality they usually had, while not overwhelming them.

At the same time, the Golden Grove was under Sylas' thumb and obviously didn't dare to stab his family in the back, causing the relationship to be quite stable.

Plus, given the sheer amount of money Sylas had made them thanks to his bets, even without the efforts of his father and father-in-law, how could they possibly kill the goose that laid the golden egg for a single golden egg?

The Memory Merchant that Sylas had made a deal with back then, trapping him into a contract, was also of great benefit. Because of him, the number of Skills and Gene Skills their city had access to was overwhelming.

And none of this even mentioned Nathan and the legacy Archibald had left behind for him.

Because of Old Brama, the Golden Grove was already very much used to dealing with mechatronics and similar paths of Rune Mastery. Nathan was the absolute perfect partner for them.

Although Nathan was still in the F-tier, his Profession was granted by chance through Archibald, a man who had gone through the Split Realm and ranked only below Sylas himself. But for a long while, Archibald had been first place on a seemingly impossible Legendary Dungeon to complete.

Sylas didn't know exactly what that Profession Nathan gained was, but what he knew for sure was that it was a top-tier one, one important enough that Archibald deemed it necessary to pass on before he lost his life.

It could be said that while Old Brama could be exactly the mentor Nathan was looking for, the former could maybe benefit even more than the latter would.

Unfortunately, as steadily and perfectly as progress had been going, it seemed that everything would come to an end now.

"Alright, alright, Elara, let your brother go."

"No," Elara said without looking back.

Isolde looked a bit helpless. There were some greys in her hair now, but she had a radiant smile on her face that told of a life that was being lived quite peacefully.

It was just not the perfect life she wanted.

For as long as Sylas could remember, his parents had always put family over work and ambition. They did well for themselves, but they could have very well been another set of billionaires beside the heir candidates of the Grimblades if they had foregone certain things they refused to.

As peaceful as her life was, Isolde didn't like the fact she hadn't seen her son in so long. While she knew her son had to grow up and go off on his own eventually, she had grown a bit spoiled after having had him home every day even up until his 26th year of life.

Now that they spent so long apart, she couldn't help but feel a piece of her was missing. And who knew when her little girl would grow up enough to be out there as well?

Elara could have been a little carbon copy of Sylas if not for the fact she was far more cheerful and mischievous. But a mother knew her children best.

There was something deep within Sylas and Elara both that, when triggered… would leave them unsatiable.

Sylas had been bored for a long time before he found something that stimulated him enough to force him to chase after it.

Elara was a bit more insulated from that because she had Sylas as the umbrella over her. She loved her brother and felt no need to compete with him.

But what if that changed?

Sitting there in their all-too-lavish living room, living like royalty while most everyone else on Earth struggled to survive their day-to-day lives in this new dog-eat-dog world…

It felt to Isolde that her perfect little family could collapse at any moment.

Tears brimmed in her eyes as she watched her children hug each other, knowing deep inside that there was already no going back.

Cassarae slipped to Isolde's side and gave her a tight hug. The two women didn't say anything, but they seemed to have the very same understanding of Sylas.

"It will all be okay," Cassarae said softly. "He'll make it okay."

Isolde smiled, a hint of sadness in her eyes.

She didn't want her son to have to be the one to make it okay. She would have been more alright with it if it was her husband, but she didn't want that for him either.

Maybe it was selfish, but she just wanted the world and its dangers to leave them alone. Why couldn't they go back to how things were before?

But much the same, she knew exactly how Sylas would respond to that.

The world of peace they experienced before could only be enjoyed because their ancestors before them had fought for it.

Now it was their turn.

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