Most of the members of the Augusta Clan had no idea what happened; they could sense that there was some hidden animosity between their Patriarch and the heaven-defying intruder. They didn't know who the "her" Lumix mentioned was, but there were a few who did.
Augusta had close to 200 children, and each one of them had descendants of their own. Still, the vast majority of the descendants of the Augusta Clan had never met their Sovereign Ancestor – the vast majority of his children hadn't seen him more than a couple of times.
The only ones who got to see Augusta somewhat regularly were the strongest and most talented of his children, each of whom had comprehended the true law of Light to varying degrees – there were only seven of such experts in the Clan, including Lumix.
When Augusta returned with Amira, he called his seven most powerful children and introduced them to Amira.
When most of them saw her, they couldn't help but stare at her in awe of her beauty, especially the five men of the group.
Augusta indifferently explained that she was the daughter of Larkel and Cecila Vis. His words caused shock in all seven – they were all there when Larkel displayed his invincible might all those years ago, and as Augusta's most talented children, they were all well aware of their father's relationship with Amira's parents.
As his brothers and sisters were still reeling from their shock, Lumix stepped forward and introduced himself, but Amira, thanks to her [Observation Haki], could clearly sense the lust and desire the man was emitting. Her face remained indifferent as she calmly stated that she had a husband, drawing a clear line between the two.
Before Lumix could come to terms with Amira's words, Augusta added that for the foreseeable future, he would be creating a Divine Light of Plane to help Amira with her comprehension and that there was a chance that Amira's husband would come to their Augusta Clan's HQ. If he did, he wanted his children to set up a little test for him; as long Ace was able to display the power of an Invincible Commander at the Full God realm, then Lumix was to step down from his position as Lord Prefect and give Ace his seat.
Augusta's words caused another wave of shock in all those present – everyone knew that ordinarily, even when one had comprehended 99% of their chosen Law's six-way fusion, they still wouldn't be called an Invincible Commander.
Each Invincible Commander was able to face a genuine paragon, and even though they couldn't defeat one, they were still able to escape with their lives. Generally, only Apex Divine Beasts or two-way soul mutates who had begun comprehending their Law's six-way fusion could reach such a level, and even for them, they wouldn't be able to reach that level at the Full God realm, even if they followed the path of a Supreme Genius to its limits.
As far as they knew, the only people who had reached such a level were Amira's parents.
Still, the person who was most shaken by Augusta's words was none other than Lumix – he was suffering one attack after the next.
First was Amira's rejection – despite being the strongest and most talented of Augusta's children, Lumix had never shown any interest in another woman until Amira.
Second was his father's statement that he had to step down from his position as Lord Prefect should Ace pass the test Augusta wanted them to arrange for Ace. Although the other six of Augusta's children present saw their father somewhat regularly, they were all treated with complete indifference – although the treatment Lumix received couldn't be called loving nor particularly fatherly, it was as close as one should expect to get from Augusta, so from Augusta's words, it wasn't hard to see the position Ace held in Augusta's eyes.
Still, it was the final attack that pushed him over the edge. It had to be understood that although, for some reason, Lumix held the bloodline of a genuine angel and had comprehended 99% of *True Light*, he still couldn't be considered an Invincible Commander, not through ordinary means anyway – it was only with his Sovereign weapon and armour that Lumix would be able to barely resist and escape from a genuine Sovereign. For someone, he had already subconsciously begun to see as a love rival to have reached that level – as a Full God no less – how could he not be shocked beyond measure?
Augusta saw the visceral reaction of his son but didn't say or do anything about it; he simply took Amira away and continued with their business.
The other six also noticed Lumix's reaction and knew him well enough to guess how he was feeling. Still, they didn't bring it up directly; instead, they chose to discuss the matter of Ace's test should he appear. But before they could come to a conclusion, Lumix interjected – he told them that he would be the one to test Ace's power on his own – bringing the conversation to an end.
Seeing Lumix sent flying so easily, each of the other six who knew the truth about Ace's identity sighed – that last attack spoke volumes about Ace's ability. Although it hadn't quite reached the level of an Invincible Commander, it had reached the top level of power an ordinary commander could achieve without becoming a paragon.
Had it not been for the fact that Lumix was wearing Sovereign-grade armour, it was very possible that he would've been seriously injured.
Still, the reason behind their sighs was that they knew things were far from over. For starters, as Ace still hadn't displayed the power of an Invincible Commander, technically, the test wasn't over, but more importantly, they could see from Lumix's face that he truly had every intention of killing Ace now.
In that moment, each of them decided that no matter what happened, they wouldn't allow Ace to die.
It wasn't that they didn't think that Ace was a peerless talent – just from that last attack, they could tell that if he had been a High God, with the boost of his bloodline abilities, he would be more than powerful enough to be called an Invincible Commander, but doing so as a Full God was too difficult.
Ace had no idea what they were thinking, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. Still, all his attention right then was on Lumix.
Before most could react, Lumix and Ace disappeared from their previous positions. The next thing they knew, devastating shockwaves erupted each time the two met.
Understanding there was no stopping Ace and Lumix now, the other six top descendants of the Augusta Clan had everyone vacate the area so as not to be affected by the battle.
Looking back at the battle, those powerful enough to barely keep up with what was going on were shocked to find that Lumix was being completely and utterly suppressed. Whether it was speed, power, or skill, Ace completely dominated the current Patriarch of their Augusta Clan.
Most couldn't help but sigh in admiration at Ace's skill with the glaive – it had reached a level that surpassed anything any of them had ever seen. What was even more impressive was that Ace actually seemed to still be constantly improving as the fight continued.
Ace's [Blazing Glaive Art] had already reached the seven-star level before he left the Yulan Plane, but now, with Lumix acting as a live training dummy, Ace was able to make steady strides to the commander level.
Still, although he was suppressed, thanks to his Sovereign-grade armour, Lumix still hadn't suffered any injuries – a fact that only served to enrage him further.
Unfortunately, after an hour, Ace's rapid progress slowed to a halt. One of the six other children of Augusta was about to step forward and bring the fight to an end. Although Ace had shown incredible skill, he wasn't quite powerful enough to pass Augusta's test, but before he could, a change happened.
Lumix was sent flying for what may as well have been the hundredth time, but this time, instead of jumping straight back to his feet like before, he rose to his knees, only to cough a mouthful of blood.
Knowing he was wearing a Sovereign artefact for armour, Ace shouldn't be able to do him any harm, but somehow he had.
They were just wondering what happened when Armundel – the eldest of Augusta's children – explained that although Ace's power hadn't reached anywhere near the level where he could destroy Sovereign Artefacts, he didn't need to. As long as Ace's power was enough to surpass the load-bearing capabilities of the armour, Lumix's body would be forced to withstand the rest.
Although not to the same level as a true Invincible Commander, the might of Ace's material attacks had barely surpassed the loadbearing capabilities of Lumix's armour, and as Ace had skilfully been attacking the same point over and over again, the damage slowly begun to add up. Although Lumix's body had reached the level of that of an ordinary Divine Beast thanks to his angel bloodline, it still had its limits; it just took longer to reach than it would for an ordinary High God wearing a Sovereign armour.
As he finished explaining, Armundel couldn't help but marvel at Ace's ability – not only was he heaven-defyingly powerful, but his battle IQ had also reached an astonishing level. It was no wonder Augusta had such high expectations for him. Unfortunately, Ace was still a little shy of Augusta's requirements.
Armundel was just about to step forward and bring an end to the fight when Ace appeared by Lumix's dishevelled body. Grabbing the Augusta Clan Patriarch by his neck and lifting him up, Ace announced that the punishment for daring to covet his wife was death.
It was then that Ace used another of his more recently created techniques, "[Spiritual Sun Pulse!]"
Suddenly, a terrifying and overwhelmingly powerful spiritual essence erupted from Ace. Armundel and the others all watched in shock as Lumix's soul was instantly incinerated.
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