Reter and the 2nd eunuch frowned at that moment. The 2nd eunuch suddenly jumped into the flames. As he did so, he took a locket out of his pocket and gave it to the 1st eunuch. Mais could not understand what was happening, but the 3rd eunuch's face turned sour at the gesture. The little boy watched in amazement as the Protector jumped into the flames.
"What is he doing?! Doesn't he know it's not that easy to let go of this medallion?" the young eunuch shouted, but the old eunuch took his own medallion from his hand and gave it to Reter. Reter was shocked, but he saw the expression on the old man's face. With a determined look, he realized that the two eunuchs understood more than he did. They understood the seriousness of the situation and trusted that they had the only prince with them.
Maybe he was small and maybe he could not grow, but it would take more than that to survive. Prince Mais certainly had the mental ability to survive in the wild.
They trusted him.
"They came for the 3rd prince, Reter. Someone must have gone for the 2nd Prince Leon. The Emperor has gone to fight the enemies, but I can still feel the aura blasts in the sky. I can hear the sounds of battle coming from the capital. We're running out of time. Get the 3rd prince out of here. Keep him alive so that our empire lives, so that our people live.
Reter looked into the eyes of the 1st Eunuch. He understood what the old man meant. Because of the 2nd Prince's uncertain condition and the sudden disappearance of the palace elders, there was a huge gap in security. The 1st prince's old concubine, Vera, had been shedding blood in the palace and killing other concubines with her own experts. Reter understood the intensity of the battle.
He was back. They had to run.
Suddenly, Reter scooped Mais up in his arms and, with unbelievable speed, rushed with his feet off the ground into the inner palace. Over his shoulder, Mais saw the old man's back. He remembered the 1st Eunuch's gaze, full of power in the face of the flames. This seemingly old man had stopped a force with his Cold Tao that he himself had not even been able to perceive.
This was power. He had transferred the deep understanding of the Tao to the outside, using his body in the way he wanted. This was the next step. A step Mais could not take.
'Cool'
In the chaos, young Mais couldn't help but think that the 1st Eunuch was cool.
The 1st Eunuch stepped into the flames. He was strong. With each step, he pushed back the flames, but he did not run away from them.
'Could it really be that this is all your doing?'
The 1st Eunuch knew that thinking about this possibility would keep him awake at night. No, in fact, he found it hard to concentrate on the battle at all, but that was the source of his pain. How could he ignore it?
Inside the inner palace, Reter ran away with Mais. He moved through the palace like a light. He felt something coming from behind him. No matter how hard he tried to hide the trace of an aura, he could not escape Reter's perception. Someone had managed to follow him into this battle.
"Where are we going?!"
Mais shouted for Reter to hear at their current speed, but Reter did not answer the prince, even though he knew it was a crime. The worried expression on his face was clear.
Mais followed the paths. He knew they led to the treasure room.
"Why there?"
He asked quietly, but he did not expect Reter to answer. He understood that they were at war, but he didn't even know who they were fighting. He was not qualified to make decisions here. Not even if he was a prince.
At that moment, Reter frustrated Mais' expectations.
"You have to run. From pirates and maybe worse. Go somewhere where no one can find you."
The treasure door was in front of them. Suddenly, Reter threw all 3 medallions at the huge golden door, tens of meters wide. The medallions began to ripple with their own auras. Together, the medallions hit the gate and were absorbed by it. Immediately, a divine aura began to emanate from the gate. Although Reter protected Mais with his own aura, Mais could not help but be shocked by this incredible display of power. White light filled his field of vision, illuminating the corridor to its most deserted parts.
Mais was weak, and no matter how hard he tried, he could not distinguish the effect of the medallions on the door from magic. However, at that moment, he realized that the light from the 3 medallions merging with the door felt like the Fountain of Tao. His head began to hurt. This aura forced him to think.
To see a trace of something...
Maybe more than something...
"Wow! Look at this. I never imagined that the Sacred Treasure Palace could shrink like this."
At that moment, a quiet female voice assaulted his ears. Mais was a small child who did not understand the seriousness of the situation. Of course, he was not that scared. Unlike him, Reter was not too surprised, as he had guessed everything. Both of them looked at the white-masked pirate with two bandanna-covered eyes a few meters away with calm expressions. One out of ignorance, the other out of wisdom.
"Mais, it's time for you to go."
A different aura than before began to emanate from Reter's body. Mais looked around and noticed that the walls and floor around them had begun to shift. Matter was moving in and out of each other. There was another force countering the power Reter had unleashed.
That force was the palace! Reter's destructive power collided with the palace!
The blind pirate frowned. She threw herself forward, and waves of the Tao of Space erupted from her body with unstable power, but Reter brought his index and middle fingers together, extended them forward, and drew a circle. The power of another Tao began to drive away the power of the masked man's uncontrolled Tao. At that moment, Reter turned and looked into Mais's eyes, the lightest shade of brown. Those innocent eyes.
He may not have had the riches of cultivation, but he had the seeds of wisdom. Seeds that were fertile for cultivation.
Reter bit his lip. He did not want Mais's fate to become even more bitter.
He made a difficult decision.
"Anyone can ask you, a child, to revive the Empire. They will ask you to be a savior. But don't do it. Go and live in peace. You don't have to take responsibility for what happens here. You don't have to live the way anybody wants you to live."
He didn't want to be a butler or a eunuch. He knew his duty. He had to advise this boy to rebuild the empire. Or take back the empire, but he would not do that. He knew Mais, and he knew humanity well. He might be smart, but without talent he would not be good enough. Mais should never have tried to achieve the impossible.
The limbs of Mais' body began to disappear. Reter had already given him the Treasure Palace in his arms. The power of the Space Tao erased his presence from the palace. The palace would have stopped the destructive power, but the power that erased Mais' presence was not destructive.
It was protective.
The blind pirate tried her best to use the unstable waves to break Reter's control, but there was a certain control difference between the two. It was useless to attack physically. When Reter collided with the palace, the power of the palace came out and caused violent waves in space. Waves that the blind pirate did not want to jump into.
Mais looked into Reter's eyes. At that moment, the boy understood that Reter had sacrificed himself. He would be crushed under the power of the palace. He did what the 1st head eunuch had said. Reter's control of the Tao of Space was strong enough to drive away only one person. He himself could not escape. He was born in this palace and he would die in this palace. He was ready to give his life and his manhood in the depths of loyalty.
And yet he did not want this child to live out his life in pain for this empire. Mais was incapable. If he wanted revenge, he would suffer. He would suffer more than anyone. Reter did not want that. For him, the life of this kind-hearted prince was more important than the whole empire.
After what happened between the first head eunuch and the first prince, the emperor advised the head eunuchs not to love the prince too much, not to be too attached to him. He was right. But neither he nor the second head eunuch could do that. To them, the princes were the children they could not have.
When they were told as children that they would live their lives for the empire, before they knew it, they lost their manhood, their pleasures, they had to commit to something for their lives. Their loyalty to the Empire, to this country, to these people, for whom they sacrificed everything, was of course precious. But they were human. They tended to submit to love, not to authority and power.
"Just live in peace, Mais!"
From the place where the blind pirate had been, a wave of Tao swept everything away. Mais could feel a light rising from there. He could also feel the presence of a terrible power.
"NO!!!"
Mais stretched out his hand. Unfortunately, his arm was already gone. His body was gone, his hair, his mouth, his cheeks. His eyes filled with tears and he last saw Reter's smile before this light. One hand behind his back blocked the Tao waves that refracted the light, the other hand reached out to him and made him disappear.
Mais finally saw only the light that filled the entire corridor.
Then he disappeared. He left behind a tear that fell to the ground.