Infinite Paths: The Raging Phoenix

"I am going to rest for a bit, wake me up if anything happens," Rain said with his eyes bloodshot once he finished the reports.

When Rain found an empty room underground, he found some of the sea folk already up… it seemed that their recovery was going well. Still, they would need more time to recover completely.

When Rain woke up, he found the others looking after the sea folk and the kids. Still, they would have to find another solution since they couldn\'t keep everyone underground forever. However, once they let everyone leave, soon the news spread and eventually reached the capital.

"We should talk with everyone," Rain said when he met his parents. "We need to prepare for the future and fast. Joanis is too cunning, and he will use everything to make us fall."

"What do you have in mind for now? Aside from taking this part of the country from the hands of the king, of course," Roan said. "Did I mention that this doesn\'t couldn\'t sound more insane?"

"It will be fine. I will split the land by connecting the southern ocean and the northern one," Rain declared.

"Excuse me?" Roan asked. "Did I hear that correctly?"

"I won\'t be able to do that overnight, but I can do it with this spear," Rain explained. "In the meantime, I want you all to talk with the people around you and make them understand what is going to happen. If they want to leave, they can leave and return once this war is over. We won\'t ask anything out of them."

"Are you planning to ask the sea emperor to help in the fights?" Leiah asked.

"No, we will just not attack each other," Rain replied. "He will focus on his own interests, and that will only cause more problems for us, so we need to work by ourselves."

Rain\'s parents had come to fully comprehend the extent of their son\'s ambitions. He wasn\'t thinking small, nor was he leaving anything to chance. He intended to employ every available resource in his arsenal to ensure that neither the king nor his loyalists would pose a threat to his family\'s safety and well-being.

The living room served as the backdrop for an emotionally charged gathering. As the diverse group convened—comprising Rain\'s family, his sisters, his friends, and Sirenus and Coraline—the atmosphere was palpable tense. Each individual present felt the gravity of the decisions that lay ahead.

Rain\'s parents understood that Rain\'s commitment to safeguarding the family transcended ordinary familial bonds. It was an unbreakable promise forged in steel, a pledge to protect that which mattered most.

Rain\'s sisters comprehended the seriousness of the situation. They admired their older brother and were aware that they were now part of something far greater than themselves. Rain\'s friends, who had stood by him in good times and bad, were fully aligned with his vision. They trusted his leadership and were prepared to confront whatever challenges lay ahead.

Sirenus and Coraline grasped the high stakes and were prepared to help until the sea folk returned home.

"This is the time to bail out if you want to, I won\'t blame you," Rain declared. "I am just doing this because I can\'t see any other option when the king decides to make such moves. We already fought to defend the country for many years. I would gladly keep doing that, but I won\'t kill and see people around me die to boost his ego by creating his legacy through blood."

Rain waited for a moment, but no one did or said anything. His family didn\'t have much of an option in the matter. As survivors of the Lonard family who went into hiding, they knew that troublesome things would happen sooner or later.

As for Rain\'s friends, they also didn\'t want to betray his trust and fight and kill for a king who hid for decades and now wants to wage wars by being sponsored by a kidnapper like Joanis.

"What about you?" Rain asked while looking at Rhodes.

"... What are my options?" Rhodes asked.

"You betrayed Branden, but you were working for someone who is working for the king, apparently," Rain said. "You are a traitor of your benefactor but not of the human kingdom. You also helped when I was away, Branden is the one who has to decide your punishment. We can keep you underground and locked until Branden shows up again and avoid a lot of trouble.

Still, that wouldn\'t be the right thing to do after you helped us… even if you didn\'t have any other options. You also didn\'t do anything that put others in danger… you are free to go. I hope that you won\'t be foolish enough to do anything against us. Otherwise, you know the worst thing that could happen."

Rain and his group didn\'t need Rhodes\' assistance, and picking a fight with Rain, who displayed the ability to make a man sink into the ground effortlessly, was pure madness. Rhodes had no wish to face such a terrifying fate, nor did he want to become Rain\'s adversary, considering the immense power Rain possessed.

Rhodes had no illusions about the dire consequences of challenging someone as formidable as Rain, and he had absolutely no interest in testing the waters of such a dangerous encounter.

"Thank you…" Rhodes said and readily left the room.

For a while, the group watched him leave the area while trembling and imagining that Rain would kill him, but that never happened. At the same time, everyone around looked at Rain, wondering if that was the right thing to do.

"Are you sure about that?" Sirenus asked.

"It is fine. I have some plans for him…" Rain said.