Journey Of A Legend

"..."

The moment Joe said those words, it was like time itself froze up.

Neither Greg nor Nick wanted to believe what he just did.

An Ancestry Badge was like a once-in-a-lifetime treasure to all the eldest son or daughter inside their own family.

Once one decides to throw it away or destroy it, then that means they discard the legal right to become the family's head in the future. 

If that happens, then no matter what happens in the future, one no longer can be the head of the Family.

And naturally, Nick knew this fact too and that is why he looked incredibly shocked.

However, he knew what this also meant. When the Soul Association formed a pack with the Dia Family, they were told to bring back the Dia Family's heritor to Nexus City.

But now that Joe was no longer the heritor, it meant the contract they made now became even more complicated.

The Soul Association had a rule, which stated that until one was not associated with the matter, until then any form of violence against them should be ignored.

Meaning, now that Joe was no longer the inheritor of the Dia Family, if Nick decided to use violence against him, Joe had the right to freely resist and even kill him.

If Joe decides to kill Nick and ends up doing it, the Soul Association has no right to punish Joe no matter what. This was their own rule, to begin with.

Until now, while Joe didn't throw his badge away, Nick could have killed him if he wanted to because until this moment Joe was the inheritor of the Dia Family, meaning he was connected with the whole matter.

However, he was told not to kill him, so he didn't, but it seems now he not only won't be able to kill him but also won't be able to capture him.

The whole matter became extremely complicated. Joe was related to the deal between the Dia Family and the Soul Association, but at the same time not.

Individually, he was the one who should be brought back to Nexus City, but at the same time not, because he was no longer a part of the Dia Family.

Staying silent for quite a while, Nick lowered his hand and sighed.

"I see. If this is what you choose, then you are free to leave."

Nick knew that now that things turned out like this if he decided to fight against Joe and Greg at the same time, he would sure to die.

Joe alone could surpass him, while Greg dominated two God rank fighters, so he had no choice at all, but to retreat.

As for what will happen from this point onward, it will be a complete question. 

When Joe heard this he nodded and looked at Greg in silence.

Knowing what he wanted, Greg sighed and waved his hand.

*Swish!*

Instantly, the shadow below the two expanded, and under a single second, they have vanished completely.

Leaving Nick there alone, Nick sighed and undid his power too.

"Wha-, huh? What happened?"

Looking around with shock and confusion, Scott, Henry, and several Dia Family members glanced at each other, not knowing how to react.

Seeing that Henry and Scott were searching Joe's and Greg's figure, he shook his head and said calmly.

"They are no longer here. I let them away."

"!?"

When the two experts heard this they looked extremely stunned and glanced at Nick instantly.

"What should this mean Nick? We were told to take them back no matter what! Now we won't be ab-."

*Swish!*

Just before Henry could have finished his sentence, he noticed that Nick threw something toward him, so without hesitation h,e grabbed it.

However, the moment he opened his palm to see what it was, Henry's eyes widened while his face paled with fear.

"This... Don't tell me...", started to ask Henry, but after raising his head to look at Nick, he I instantly knew that it was real.

Shaking his head in silence, Nick could just sigh helplessly and say, "Let's go. I think we should report this matter back as soon as we can."

***

Next to a small lake in the close proximity of Mythbreak, Greg and Joe slowly emerged from a tree's shadow and looked around.

Seeing that no one was in their proximity, Greg unsummoned his mask and looked at Joe.

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes."

"But why?"

Glancing at Greg who was confused and worried at him at the same time, Joe just shook his head and said, "Because I have decided like this."

"Decided like this? I wouldn't say something like this as a decision. It's pure foolishness!"

"Foolishness? Maybe. But in my opinion, this was the best choice I could do. Both to avoid the useless killing and to avoid to be a slave."

"..."

When Greg heard this, he kind of understood Joe's feelings. After the things he said what his father was doing secretly behind everyone's back, he understood.

But still... Throwing away a chance to become one of the Great Family's head in the future? It was still a question for Greg if it was the right choice to do.

After thinking for a while, Greg could just simply sighed and as he crouched down to put his hand into the water before him, he asked, "So? What is your plan from now on? Hideaway from your father until things don't make a better turn? "

"No. I am not such a person who hides when things turn to the worst."

When Greg heard this he flinched slightly but decided to let it go. He felt like that sentence was directed toward him, but it was just a waste of time to argue about that now.

Instead, he put his hand into the lake, and before taking a small sip, he asked from Joe, "Then what?"

Raising his head to look at the crystal clear lake before him, Joe started to think and a small while later he said, "I will create my own family and destroy my father's once and for all."

*PPFFFTTT!!!*

Greg who was trying to drink from his hand, the moment he heard Joe's reply, he instantly spit the water out.

"Cough... Cough... Say... Cough... Say that again?", asked Greg as he coughed uncomfortably.

"I will make my own family or clan and destroy my father. Even if it will take me months or years, I will definitely make him to apologize. Not only to me but to everyone else who he used as a piece of trash."

When Greg heard this, he turned instantly silent and looked at Joe.

At that very moment, Greg realized that the Joe he thought he knew so far, now was full of mysteries. His current expression, behavior, and the way he was talking, everything was way too foreign to him. He never saw him like this.

It was like the years he has spent with him could be thrown right into the trash can, because everything up until now was all a lie.

Seeing this, Greg turned silent and after a small, while later he looked up at Joe and said calmly, "I feel like I have known you more than anyone, but now I feel like I was wrong."

After he said that, Greg stood up and after he looked deep into Joe's eyes he said, "So right now, tell me everything that happened in the past. If you want me to help, you need to tell me the truth."

"..."

Glancing at Greg, who was looking at him with a serious expression, Joe sighed and started to talk.

"I didn't want to tell you about this matter in the past, because I never would have thought that we get into such a situation, but it seems now I don't have a choice."

After sitting down and putting his back against the tree, Joe looked at the lake and continued to talk.

"My father was always a greedy man. He always wanted things that other people had and made everything to obtain them. Let it be violence or bargain until he gets his hands on what he needed he didn't care about the process at all."

Feeling that the story was going to be long, Greg decided to sit down and started to listen to Joe's story in silence.

Time passed by slowly, and Greg knew a lot of things about Joe's family and about the past he never told him.

He found out that Joe's father was not as innocent as he thought he would be, while Joe's childhood was not as easygoing as he believed.

From the moment he was born, he was used as a tool to make his father achieve things that he wouldn't be able to do alone.

He almost made Joe to marry a wealthy person's daughter at the age of 11, while doing the same thing with his daughter too. 

However, just before the marriages could have been done, the Dia Family received a letter which informed about terrifying news.

On the very same day, Joe's fiancee and his sister's fiancé got murdered alongside their family, while the Dia family mysteriously gained strength and became one of the Great Family in the Federation.

The news shock the whole Federation, but just as anything else, this matter vanished alongside the past too.

Everyone believed that the two family's death was because the Dia Family attacked one of the Great Family in the past, but Joe knew this was not the case at all.

His father slaughtered both families, stole their resources, and used them to become one of the Great Family in the Federation.

Just alone this fact made Joe feel insane hatred toward his own father.

When Greg heard the whole story, he was angry too and wanted to say something, but suddenly Joe continued to talk.

"But this is not the only reason why I hate him.", said Joe calmly, and suddenly his face darkened.

"Alongside several innocent people, he killed my mother too."

"!"