Christopher stood, his gaze sweeping over the faces in the room. "Alright, everyone, we just need to get ready for whatever’s ahead of us. When the last two beast kings join us, we will proceed with the planning."
The six in the room nodded in agreement.
At that exact moment, the door burst open. "Hey Son!!" Amara exclaimed, freezing as she took in the faces staring back at her. The present in her hands slipped, clattering to the floor. "This?" she muttered, her eyes wide. Christopher and the group were speechless.
"Where is my son?!" a voice boomed from the doorway. Ethan walked in, only to halt beside his wife, equally stunned. "What’s going on here?" he asked, recognizing everyone present.
Amara fixed a deep frown on her son, saying nothing.
Christopher exhaled, sinking back into his chair. "Mum... Dad... I think you should sit down." He knew it was finally time to tell them the truth. Anything he said now would only make the situation worse.
Ethan, ever the steady presence, placed a hand on Amara’s shoulder, picked up the fallen gift, and gently guided her to one of the chairs. He sat beside her, his gaze fixed on Christopher.
"Well..." Christopher began. "I already told everyone I’m the owner of C+, and this here is Mr. Michael, his daughter Chaya, and his sister, Mrs. Murphy." He gestured to them.
Michael and Murphy nodded, but Ethan and Amara’s eyes were riveted on Sunny, Xing, and Phoenix. Seeing their gazes, Christopher continued, "You already know that identity, but you don’t know my other identity."
His parents snapped their heads towards him. "Another identity?" Amara asked, confusion etched on her face.
"Yes, Mum, I am actually the leader of the Beast Kings." Christopher’s words hit Ethan and Amara like a physical blow, shocking them to the core.
"Impossible, I don’t believe you," Amara said flatly, shaking her head.
"Yes, Son! This is big news!" Ethan added, his voice a mix of disbelief and concern.
"Madam, Sir... The Boss is telling the truth," Sunny interjected, his tone calm and respectful.
Ethan stared at Sunny for a few seconds, then his gaze swept around the room. No matter what he thought, the people gathered here were real. "So you’re really the hidden master of two giants?" Ethan asked, still mildly confused. Christopher nodded. "That explains your Beasts and wealth—"
"—But it doesn’t explain your past behaviors," Amara cut him off, her voice sharp with disappointment. She stood abruptly and walked out of the room.
"Michael, if you’re done with your work, you can go... Same with all of you." Christopher quickly stood and followed his mother.
The moment the door closed, Michael retrieved a file from the bag he’d placed beside him on the floor and presented it to Ethan. "Mr. Ethan, Electronic Enterprises wants to sign a contract with you. You’ll choose whatever project you want to start, and we will wholeheartedly assist you. When the project is done, you’ll have 70% of the shares, more than all shareholders." He paused, then added, "There’s another file in there with ten listed companies, ranking in the top 20 to 30 worldwide. The Boss asked me to give them to you... Which means, the moment you place your hands on it, you will be the Boss of these companies."
Ethan was stunned. ’With all these, my family will be the top family in Cordelia. My son’s titles are already enough, and now this! What a good son I have,’ he thought, his hand trembling slightly as he took the file.
"Sir, we will take our leave," Sunny said, standing.
"I want to stay behind, can I?" Xing asked, a hint of plea in her voice.
"No... You have a job to do," Sunny answered flatly.
"Okay, Sir Sunny," Ethan nodded, still processing everything.
"Please... Sunny is fine. You are the Boss’s father, I should be the one who should be respectful," Sunny quickly corrected him.
"How did you guys know my son?" Ethan asked suddenly, his gaze sweeping over the remaining group.
Sunny stared at him for a second, then shifted his gaze to Phoenix, and finally to Xing.
"Master saved all of us, and personally trained each one of us. We owe him our lives," Xing finally answered, her voice firm.
"Yes," the other two nodded in agreement.
Ethan stared at them, lost in thought. ’My son saved them? In these past years, was he pretending to be scared of beasts and behaving like a brat?! Was it all for show? Or a cover-up?’ He sighed, then simply nodded his head at them. "Thank you all."
"No need to thank us, we haven’t done anything," Murphy said with a gentle smile, drawing Ethan’s attention to her.
’Oh! Why did I forget this woman,’ he thought, then asked, "How did you know my son?"
"We go way back," she said with a smirk, which caused Ethan to raise an eyebrow, intrigued.
Christopher called out, walking down the stairs towards Amara, who sat on the couch in the sitting room, her back to him.
"You deceived us! You deceived... Me," she said in a low voice, her gaze fixed on the opposite wall.
Christopher stopped before her and exhaled slowly. "I... No matter what I say or do, it won’t change that I lied to you. I know I am a bad son for making you go through all these... But Mum! As the Master of the Beast Kings, I’ve made countless enemies along the way." He sighed. "So, by pretending to be a powerless young master who knows nothing but to waste money was the only idea. I knew that with that identity, they would never suspect anything."
Amara turned to him, her face a mix of surprise and doubt.
Christopher dropped to his knees. "I promise you today!! I will never hide anything from you ever again!!!" he declared, then kowtowed, bowing his head deeply.
Amara stared at him for a few seconds, lost in thought. ’What am I doing?! I also hid my identity for the safety of my family...’ A small smile touched her lips. ’Just as the saying goes, a leaf doesn’t fall far from the tree.’
She stood and walked towards Christopher, bending down to help him up. "Hush now, my dear." She caressed his cheek. "You’ve done a lot for us, and we don’t even know it. Thank you... Of course, I was angry with you for lying to me, but after hearing your reason, I actually feel bad."
"You don’t have to, Mum," Christopher said, taking her hand, a small smile gracing his lips. "I promise, no one will hurt our family."
Amara smiled. "I... I should tell you something too." She paused, then added, "My powers, I’m planning on passing them on to Leyla, what do you think?"
"Leyla?" Christopher was confused. "What power?"
Amara smiled, turned around, and walked back to the couch, sitting down. "I have an ancient spirit in me, known as the Light Spirit."
Christopher and Tiamat, who was in his consciousness, were stunned speechless, staring at Amara as if she had grown two heads.
"Come again?" Christopher muttered, barely audible.
"You know I won’t repeat myself, son," Amara said with a wider smile. "With your reaction, you know about this spirit... That’s nice, saves me time to explain."
Christopher stared at her, completely speechless. ’Who would have thought the Light Spirit is my own mother, from the very beginning! And now, she’s planning on giving this power to Leyla, why not Katherine?’
As if hearing his thoughts, Amara opened her mouth. "You would be wondering why I’m giving this power to Leyla, rather than your siblings, right?"
Christopher could only nod his head. She continued, "Katherine and Adonis are doing incredibly well... But their body can’t take the Light Spirit... Only Leyla’s can."
"Does Leyla know about this?" Christopher asked.
"Yes... I told her the moment I made her my disciple. Her sole purpose is to protect you."
"So that’s why she’s always there to get me out of trouble, because she’s been keeping an eye on me ever since," he nodded with a thoughtful look. He then asked, "When did she start... I mean, start protecting me?"
"When she turned twelve," Amara answered, then asked her own question, "What were you guys discussing before we entered?"
"Well..." Christopher rubbed the back of his neck. "We have two monsters that want to destroy our world, starting with Cordelia."
"Two monsters? You mean the two beasts, right?" Amara asked, her brow furrowing.
"No." Christopher shook his head, a grave expression on his face.
"Then what monsters?" she pressed.
"The Darkness Spirit and Origin of Darkness... We don’t know their names yet, so we gave them that," he explained.
"Darkness Spirit and Origin of Darkness? Aren’t these two the same thing?" Amara asked, her tone now serious.
"Two actually. The Origin of Darkness sent that crocodile." Christopher walked towards her and sat down. "That just shows how powerful he, she, or it is... While the Darkness Spirit is dealing with undead. Whoever they are, they have the power to raise the dead and use them as soldiers."
Amara was stunned, staring at Christopher with a bewildered look. "And you plan to face all these alone?" she asked again, disbelief lacing her voice.
"No... I have my Beast Kings, and Beast Army," he replied, a hint of confidence in his voice.
"The Beast Army is strong, but they are still humans," Amara pointed out, still processing the enormity of what he was saying.
"Oh! I also have these." Christopher rubbed his ring, and four lights flew out, taking the forms of Lazarus, Lucas, Grim, and Reaper, all in their non-combat forms.
Amara stared at the Beasts standing on the table before them, utterly dumbfounded. "You! You have three Sky Stage Beasts?!!" she asked in mild horror, while Christopher nodded his head with a small, proud smile on his face.