It was just… crunchy…
Right in front of the “victims.”
Did you hear what this little thing just said?
Caverno, who thought he would finish everything peacefully and end his life, now had only one thing on his mind—I’m about to die, yet before I even pass, not only do I have to confess to a Crown Clan, my psychic holy chalice even gets gnawed on by this little Crown Clan cub????
Is this right?
Is this reasonable??
Can’t he at least go out whole?
He was going to break apart—
Oh, and physically, Caverno was about to shatter, too.
Cracks and bloody lines spread over his once-elegant features, his calm expression now replaced by horror. He forced himself to sit up, looking extremely battered.
“I…”
“My papa’s about to die, so HOW can you just bite my papa’s psychic holy chalice?!”
Derick, originally about to cry himself into a faint, stared wide-eyed in shock.
He cried even harder.
“Papa, you couldn’t even keep your body whole?”
The “not even whole” Caverno dazedly reached out with a trembling hand—
No, but actually, technically the psychic holy chalice wasn’t really part of his corpse, right?!
What a great son you are!!
Of course, such cries couldn’t touch the Crown Clan.
Their attention was entirely off the Holy Chalice Clan. Amos was hugging the cub, Anya steadying his little head, Feeney holding the cub’s mouth, forcing it open, nearly poking his own head inside to check.
“Mmmphh mmphh—awoo—”
Zao Zao really hadn’t swallowed!
With his parents physically holding him still, the cub couldn’t even get words out, his little hands searching blindly—until he grabbed a lock of hair.
The halo above his head flashed in warning.
“Beep—beep—beep—” the machines began to alarm.
The cub yanked the hair even harder, feverish and angry, letting out a muffled howl.
Feeney gasped, letting go to check the hair the cub had just grabbed.
Derick was still lost in sorrow over his dying father.
The medics standing around stretched out their hands in stunned confusion, not sure which issue to address first in this hectic scene.
But in any case—
“Um, Your Majesty! Clan Chief Caverno’s psychic collapse seems to have slowed—his vital signs are stabilizing, not dropping so fast anymore.”
A moment of silence.
Derick looked up in confusion—Is my papa dead?
Caverno smacked him: “Don’t say such things, you brat.”
Derick:—My dad’s alive.
Caverno, speechless with his great son, only then realized he’d actually managed to sit up, and his breathlessness was easing. The bloody cracks on his fingertips turned from red to tattoo-like black.
All this left Ayala staring in disbelief at Lien: “Just… what is going on?”
Lien, peering inside from the doorway: …
“I don’t know.”
How would he know what this cub could do?
“I only know he can repair crowns, and can bite psychic power—”
Lien hesitated.
His words, in the quiet, were unusually clear.
“Could it be he just chewed off the bad psychic power off the Holy Chalice and spat it out?”
And left the good parts?
Was that possible?
Everyone looked at Little Chu Zao.
The cub blinked blankly.
His little face was still flushed, whole body warm, snuggled in Amos’s arms.
Amos finally looked up, checking Chu Zao carefully.
The cub showed no obvious problems.
Amos looked between Caverno’s still-black-tinged psychic holy chalice and his own flushed little cub.
The little one, still pressed against Amos, glanced around, and then in a small voice asked, “It tasted bad, but it was crunchy, Baba, can Zao Zao nibble? Zao Zao spat it out.”
Compared to Crown Clan psychic weapons…it was a totally different texture!
Especially those blackened, just-about-to-break parts—crisp, sandy, shattered on contact, biting down was really satisfying.
Caverno’s life-support machine flashed a new alarm as he stared dazed at the holy chalice, now with several little teeth marks, confused.
Amos thought for a second, then hugged the cub over to Caverno’s psychic holy chalice.
Caverno: “Your Majesty Amos, just what is…going on?”
“Crunch—”
The now-familiar crunching sound. Caverno’s scalp tingled as he watched his holy chalice being gnawed, the blackened parts coming off in pieces, the cub spitting them out.
Unlike the Crown Clan, whose psychic weapons and traits can be created endlessly after one’s is set, the Holy Chalice has just this one for life.
Now—Caverno picked up what could no longer be called a holy chalice.
This was a psychic base.
“Papa?”
Derick looked over from the bedside.
Caverno looked at him.
“Where’s your psychic holy chalice?”
Caverno handed Derick’s holy chalice to the cub.
Crunch—the mere sound made Derick’s scalp tingle.
—Fuzzy, feverish Zao Zao tried everyone’s brains one by one.
The infected, blackened tip of Derick’s chalice got bitten off and spat away.
The holy chalice with a new tooth mark shone briefly.
And it couldn’t be restored.
Derick stared, dazed. He felt his discomfort easing, but that was secondary.
Holding his chalice, Derick was stunned—so now every time he uses it, he’ll see that tooth mark?
He looked at the cub, mouth wiped by Amos and promptly distracted with a psychic longsword to gnaw on, and finally at his father’s ex-holy-chalice.
Suddenly he felt better.
A tooth mark? So what?
His dad’s… looks like that!
“It stopped.”
The medic had been watching the monitors.
Anya glanced again at Caverno, eyes full of curiosity.
“Wasn’t every vision of the future supposed to cost one’s life? If Chief Caverno dies again now, can he get another glimpse?”
He really wanted to know what his second brother saw, to get him so rattled.
Caverno: …Are you people devils?
Sitting up, dazed, Caverno’s chalice base seemed stuck, flickering violently.
—If you want to see possibilities, then the cost is…
—Wait, I DON’T have to die?? You all got it for free?!
But all in all.
“Are we…saved?”
Caverno looked blankly at the Crown Clan cub in Amos’s arms.
Slowly, he got up.
“Papa?”
Derick tried to help.
Caverno brushed him off, bowed his head, and knelt.
“Your Majesty Amos—”
Since records began, no immortal has ever saluted another like this.
“The Holy Chalice, though not strong in battle, have never slacked in war-machine development. We hope to become an ally, even an appendage, to Holy Cas, to struggle for survival.”
It wasn’t just because of Zao Zao’s special nature.
They finally understood—constant retreat only means the enemy keeps advancing.
Amos, holding the cub in one arm, seemed to think, then tapped the table twice with his other hand.
“We’ll discuss the alliance later—for now, resolve your internal issues. After the beast attack, Holy Cas medical center will assist.”
He was clear.
His cub couldn’t help forever.
But this plague only affected the Holy Chalice—it spread fast, gave little response time, and was fatal. But if you could delay, just as the Hymn Organization developed this psychic plague, others could eventually find a cure.
But one thing was impossible: damage to these holy chalices could not be fixed.
Amos left Caverno, turning away with his still-hot little cub.
The cub looked woozy, still fevered, but his headache eased, mind still fuzzy. After nibbling on the psychic weapon, he lost interest and let go.
Amos packed away the weapon and left the infirmary, stroking the cub’s cheek.
Listening to the little milky voice, his soft face smushed against Amos’s palm, eyes misty as he looked up.
“Baba?”
“Fever’s better? Still have a headache?”
“Not so much anymore.”
The cub took a moment to answer seriously, wings patting softly.
Anya was handling cleanup, Feeney, rattled by Amos’s look earlier, was still quibbling inside and didn’t follow.
Amos carried the little one past Lien and Ayala.
Reaching Ayala, the cub shrank his head into Amos’s arms.
Ayala was still stunned—he’d thought it was just an ordinary cub like those seen on video, but the shock had been immense.
And after that shot, the little one clearly didn’t like him.
Amos was ready to take the cub for a nap.
There were still plenty of things to do.
Soon, they’d have to return to mining planet #78, check the traces left by that strange beast commander. He’d have to make some preparations.
In a few days, the cub’s birthday would have to be spent away from home.
It needed some thought.
Little Chu Zao lay quietly in Amos’s arms.
At the door, someone hurried after them.
Crying and gasping, Derick clenched his hand and called out from behind, tears still streaming, “Crown Clan little highness…”
He looked at the child cradled in Amos’s arms, bowing deeply.
“I really thought… I’d lost my home… thank you.”
The cub stared dully for a moment.
To him, he hadn’t really done anything amazing.
But as a little Crown Clan picked up by Amos, the cub felt he had something to say.
He propped himself up, very serious, just like when he learned; in combat and every other skill, he always tried his best.
“No need to thank me—work hard to grow strong, and let every family member protect home together.”
Amos looked at the soft, rounded face in his arms, faint outlines of the slender, battered, beautiful youth he’d seen in the visions.
Little Chu Zao stretched out his small hand, already with the Crown Clan’s pride.
“This is what Baba taught Zao Zao.”
—Work hard, let everyone in the family protect home, Baba taught Zao Zao.
—‘I, Zao Zao… have no home to go back to.’
The scene that had shaken Amos before was shattered, rebuilt into this eager, waiting-for-praise cub.
A shimmer played over the cub’s crown.
Amos clapped one-handed, saying good job, and, holding his cub, thought—It’s alright. He didn’t know what moment caused the change, but now, everything was completely different.
*
On Starnet live.
A giant beast commander was cleaved apart.
Amid the blood mist, a tall figure stood on the corpse.
A silver-black blade pressed to his palm, Frey’s cheek smeared with blood he didn’t bother to wipe off as he pushed back his cap.
He looked down at the updates.
—Zao Zao is fine, just a mild fever, not fit for travel, they’d return soon to Mining Planet #78 for a few days to research traces from the beast commander, and because Zao Zao’s birthday was coming, they’d finish work and regroup.
Frey confirmed the info, checked on Feiman, Meilun, Kaman, and the other Crown Clan, and looked aside.
Blood-spattered Holy Cas soldiers strode to Frey.
“Prince Frey! We’ve tracked another beast army’s escape path!”
Frey flicked the blood from his blade.
“Pursue.”
He ordered coldly.
“Holy Cas—full counterattack.”
“Yes!”
All this was broadcast live; millions of Holy Cas citizens, or not, watched.
The front-line feed was only this one—others only had pictures. Other planets had their own streams before the commanders were killed and they stopped, so now only scattered images circulated. Many feared for their own worlds.
But for Holy Cas, there was little to worry about.
The Crown Clan’s emperor and princes were the strongest—Holy Cas folk believed it, threw themselves into whatever tasks they could, and never once did the Crown Clan let them down.
Most Crown Clan found most things troublesome, but someone needed to compile a front-line summary and calm the citizens eager for battle.
In the end, only the coldest, who handled so many affairs for Holy Cas—the emperor’s elder brother, Prince Frey—was patient enough to manage it all.
The live feed showed the grim, strong Crown Clan standing atop the enemy beast, coolly declaring—Holy Cas’s full counteroffensive!
The feed exploded.
‘Ahhhhhh, Prince Frey!!!’
‘Full counterattack! Full counterattack!! Kill these beasts!!’
‘Leave them no survivors!!’
‘Long live Holy Cas! Long live the Sacred Crown!!!’
‘Holy Cas people are insane.’
‘I already saw a lot of Holy Cas starships preparing to launch, even trying to join the fight—are the people really this militant?’
‘Honestly, if I were Holy Cas, and the Crown Clan once again stood ahead of us, I’d be crazier than them—A beast army commander was just killed like that? Has anyone seen the Crown Clan’s power in years?’
‘Really too reliable—no wonder they’re the mythic immortals of the cosmos, it makes my blood boil.’
‘I heard the main battle is elsewhere, with His Majesty Amos, and if this is what it’s like here, who can imagine Amos’s field?’
Holy Cas Capital.
Holy Cas First Military Academy.
Senior section, first-year classroom.
When Frey called full counterattack, the entire class cheered, shouting.
At the back, a few youths sat together.
They were also watching the Starnet feed.
“The emperor and princes, really… really strong—”
“Yeah, amazing. Hard to believe we even tried to compete with little highness—we assume little highness is a powerful Crown Clan too?”
“Hard to say, not much info on him, but he’ll be at the academy soon; guess he’ll start from lower level?”
“Lin-ge, where are you going?”
One fifteen-year-old stood up, heard the question.
Teng Kelinn turned back to them.
“If we can’t do frontline practice, can’t I at least go train? Fired up here.”
Fair enough—
Everyone here was top class.
They’d all recently joined the Holy Cas Future Program.
All instructed to always keep pushing forward, ambitious, competitive—but overnight, the program collapsed.
“Lin-ge, if when the little highness comes to First Military, you’re still so competitive, you’ll annoy people.”
Someone grinned.
“…None of your business.”
Teng Kelinn muttered, heading out.
“Little highness is strong, I know, but I’m no slouch—same for Ling Yao—”
He’d never met Chu Zao, only seen video, and was waiting for the day little highness would put him in his place.
But truth be told, those special class kids were lucky—to have backed the right side so early.
*
A whole day passed.
The Holy Chalice situation was mostly handled.
Chief Caverno’s psychic chalice was half-devoured by the cub, sinking his spirit into decline—once the clan’s strongest power, now continually waning.
Just as the medics concluded, it was irreversible.
But at least he survived.
Now, the Holy Chalice were working out clan issues and cooperating with Holy Cas.
Meanwhile, the starship drifted toward Mining Planet #78.
It had arrived, but the cub was still feverish and hadn’t woken, so the ship circled instead of landing.
Anya and Lien were handling follow-up.
Ayala had gone to negotiate with the Holy Chalice under Amos’s orders.
Amos, after confirming the flight path, was off ahead to scout the dead beast commander’s trail.
By the time the cub groggily woke up, his golden crown lit up with a flash, then stayed bright.
All was dark and still, quiet.
Collecting himself, fever still clouding his mind, the cub rubbed his big eyes.
The blanket slipped off, his little ghost bear lay nearby.
Tiny wings spread at his back, obviously uncomfortable, dark curls wild.
“Baba?”
Still half-asleep, the cub searched around for Amos.
Little face wrinkled, still red.
The fever was better, but his wings ached, and he looked super aggrieved.
Where was Zao Zao’s Baba?
The lights came on.
“Awake?”
Feeney poked his head in—
He was supposed to be with Ayala handling Holy Chalice business.
But Feeney was often lazy about such things, shamelessly dumping work on Ayala’s head and wandering off to the cub’s side.
Just as the cub woke up.
Feeney was about to greet him, only to notice the little crumpled face—
Feeney: Wait—Zao Zao looks about to cry??
Second brother’s been eyeing him strangely these past days, and now… Feeney sucked in a breath and reflexively looked for the surveillance—he had to clear his name.
If he was to blame, oh well, but he wouldn’t be the scapegoat!
The cub, little face crumpled, hugged his ghost bear, then clambered down, toddling to Feeney and looking up.
Something about him seemed a bit different today…?
Feeney considered, examining carefully.
Oh!
Zao Zao’s wings hadn’t moved, always stuck up!
The wings were sitting on his back like fakes—
Feeney couldn’t help but smile, teasing like always—after having taught the cub so much, he was used to him.
“Zao Zao, did you sleep on your wings and make them numb? Third uncle will rub them for you?”
The aggrieved cub, toddling up, looked blankly at Feeney, hair and wings both a messy fluffball.
“Zao Zao’s wings hurt, head hurts, third uncle laughs at Zao Zao—bad third uncle.”
Brave Zao Zao had been holding back tears, but Feeney’s smile finally set him off to cry.
Feeney panicked, at a loss before the tiny, soft figure: …
“No, no, wait, Zao Zao, don’t cry… What hurts about your wings? Come on, uncle will carry you to the infirmary.”