Ethan looked at the people standing before him.
His eyes moved slowly across their faces, lingering on each one as if trying to burn their images into his soul. Elina. Anna. Jack. Albert. Erina. Faces he had carved into the deepest layers of his existence long before he had ever touched the laws of creation.
His chest tightened.
It was not a taphorical ache. It was physical. Sharp and Heavy. As if sothing long dormant inside him had suddenly awakened and refused to be ignored.
He had not felt this pain since the mont he had ascended beyond mortality, maybe a little after seeing Rose in pain.
Ethan did not suppress it.
For once, he allowed it to surface.
The warmth in his gaze, the longing buried behind his pupils, even the subtle tremble in his fingers as they rested at his side. He let it all show.
He was staring at his world.
His reason.
Everything he had ever built, destroyed, or rewritten had been for these people.
They stood inches away, close enough to touch, yet separated from him by an invisible wall of stolen mories and sealed fate.
The family mbers stared back at him in silence.
They did not recognize his face, yet none of them could look away.
There was a strange pull in their hearts, a quiet gravity that drew them toward this dark hooded stranger. It felt intimate and familiar, like standing at the entrance of a childhood ho that no longer existed on any map.
They searched his features for answers.
Their minds, however, were blank.
Whatever power had erased him from their mories had done its job perfectly. There were no cracks. No echoes. Only an empty space where sothing precious should have been.
"This must be your family, Lady Rose?" Ethan said.
His voice was calm, but thick with emotion he could not fully conceal.
"What a lovely family," he continued softly. "I... I wish I had a family like this."
The words carried a quiet sadness that cut through the noise of the banquet.
The smile that followed was gentle, wistful, and painfully sincere.
It pierced straight through Rose’s chest.
A sharp pain blood in her heart, sudden and unprovoked. Seeing that smile triggered sothing instinctive within her, like a reflex older than thought itself.
Her breath caught.
For a brief mont, she almost reached out.
She wanted to tell him that he did not have to be alone. That there was space beside them. That he could sit at their table, share their laughter, and belong.
The intensity of that urge startled her.
Rose bit her tongue, confusion flooding her expression.
Why did she feel this way?
Why did this man, whose na she barely knew, make her heart ache?
"Sir, you are always welco to visit us!"
Zara’s cheerful voice broke the heavy silence.
She stepped forward slightly, her eyes bright with sincerity and excitent.
"We would be very happy to have you!"
The shift in Ethan was instant.
The sadness vanished like mist under sunlight.
A genuine, radiant smile spread across his face, so warm that it seed to brighten the space around him.
"Thank you, Lady Zara," he said warmly. "I will surely rember that invitation. I might just hold you to it."
Then his gaze drifted outward.
He noticed the shimring blue wall encasing the family.
A soft, amused chuckle escaped him.
"By the way," he added lightly, "why are you all wrapped in a bubble? Are you planning on floating away?"
The atmosphere snapped.
lida froze.
A wave of embarrassnt crashed into her as the realization hit. She had been feeling proud of herself for protecting them, but hearing it pointed out so casually made the barrier feel ridiculous.
The family mbers looked around at the translucent wall.
Then at each other.
Suddenly, it felt less like protection and more like being displayed inside a giant fishbowl.
Even Lady lida felt her cheeks warm.
Yet beneath the embarrassnt, her heart was quietly bubbling with joy.
Ethan was speaking to her student and her family with gentleness. With humor. With warmth.
This was not the cold demon they had t in that tower.
This was soone who valued human connection.
She made a ntal note to imdiately upgrade the luxury of their living quarters.
Staying on Ethan’s good side had just beco a top priority.
Around them, the banquet had completely frozen.
Hundreds of dragon nobles, elders, and kings stood as if turned to stone.
They had sched, plotted, and waited for hours just to catch a glimpse of the Demon of the Tower.
And now here he was.
Casually chatting with a group of low grade humans.
Their worldviews shattered quietly.
Ethan turned back to Zara.
"Would you introduce your family to , Lady Zara?"
"Of course!" Zara said brightly.
She went through them one by one, her voice full of pride.
When she reached Erina, she lingered a little longer, emphasizing how kind and hardworking she was. The hint was not subtle in the slightest.
Erina, far shyer than Zara, lowered her head.
Her face turned pink as Ethan’s gaze rested on her.
Ethan laughed.
It was deep, honest, and unrestrained.
"It is an honor to et all of you," he said sincerely. "I would love to visit more often."
He paused, then added with a playful tone, "To be honest, I am getting a bit tired of restaurant food. I really like homade als."
His gaze shifted.
It landed on Elina and Anna.
The mont he looked at them, his composure wavered.
His eyes grew misty.
He blinked rapidly, struggling to maintain control.
"Son," Elina said suddenly.
The word slipped out before thought could stop it.
Anna nodded instinctively beside her.
"You can co see us anyti you want," she added. "We would love to cook for you."
Silence fell.
Both won froze.
Their eyes widened in horror as they realized what they had just said.
They had just called one of the most influential person in the city "Son."
"Umm! We are so sorry, sir!" Anna stamred, bowing deeply. "We did not an to be disrespectful. Please forgive us!"
Ethan’s voice softened.
"Please, don’t be," he said quietly. "I like the way you talk."
He swallowed.
"It... it makes feel at ho."
He snapped his fingers.
Inside Zara’s purse, the Supre Card humd violently.
Its golden glow deepened, then transford into a pulsing violet.
"I have upgraded Lady Zara’s personal card into a Family Card," Ethan announced.
"From now on, any mber of this family may use its benefits at my company, with Zara’s permission."
"Consider it a gift," he added gently, "for the invitation."
As he basked in the warmth of their smiles, sothing profound occurred far away.
Deep within the Space Cube, where Ethan’s true body resided, a violent epiphany struck.
It was like divine lightning tearing through his consciousness.
"Finally," the main body whispered. "Finally, I have it."
For this whole ti, Ethan had attempted to design a clone more powerful than himself.
He had always been missing one elent.
Now he understood.
Emotional Anchoring.
To create an Oga level clone, he would have to sacrifice a fragnt of his soul. Anchor a specific emotion and a specific bloodline into a new body.
The cost was absolute.
Once anchored, that emotion would vanish from his main body completely.
Until the day they rged again.
He observed the banquet through the clone’s eyes.
The laughter.
The warmth.
The family.
"I choose Happiness," Ethan decided.
He would create seven clones.
Each would embody one core emotion.
This first clone, the Clone of Happiness, would remain with the family, as the tower master Ethan.
It would eat their food.
Hear their stories.
Protect them with a smile.
His main body would beco a being of pure logic and creation after that.
Cold.
Neutral.
Unburdened.
To beco a true god who could create a law, he would have to sacrifice those emotions.
Only after reaching the pinnacle of existence would he reclaim what he had sacrificed.
Only then would Ethan beco whole again.
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