GUARDIAN OF THE END

While these incidents had been taking place inside the Bloodthorn mansion, Zilan had already appeared in the royal capital of Vancouver kingdom, Troy.

Zilan was currently standing in front of the royal palace. He felt nervous about talking to his brother, Julian Caesar Vancouver, the king of the Vancouver kingdom.

'Now that I am here, I've no idea what I am going to say to him.' Zilan sighed internally.

He was currently making his way to the royal palace since he had directly appeared in the mansion he owned in the city.

The surprising thing was that none of the royal family was allowed to live in the royal palace. The only time they met was if Julian called them to discuss something important.

If they wanted to meet him separately, they had to take an appointment just like every other noble. The entirety of the royal family followed this rule except Zilan.

Zilan and Julian were biological brothers, the latter being two years old. Both of them had grown side by side inside the royal palace and had a very good childhood.

'Except he changed after getting the crown…' Zilan sighed again. He had made it to the palace entrance.

The palace was simply surrounded by a plain four feet wall and wasn't anything grand. The only thing which made the building look attractive were the red gemstones used to build the upper half of the palace.

Zilan walked right inside the palace while casually greeting the guards along the way. All of them had their head bowed in respect and responded to Zilan's greeting in this way.

The prime minister directly made his way to the king's brother since Julian had requested to see him there.

'I wonder what goes through brother's head these days.' Zilan silently wondered. 'Once he hears about what I witnessed during the Crystal ceremony, he will have no choice but to agree with me.'

Zilan's plan was to get his brother to send Nero back to the demon continent willingly. The plan sounded a bit stupid and cowardly but Zilan knew that it was the most effective plan he had.

If the demon king got one of his commanders back without facing any problems, Zilan would be able to avert a war.

'I wish I was sitting on that throne and brother was dealing with my job. Its hard to do your job of keeping the people safe and healthy when your big brother is about to instigate a war.'

Zilan finally reached his brother's chambers. He didn't bother to knock or talk to the maids standing outside the chambers and strolled inside.

Zilan stepped into a lavish bedroom lingering with the fragrance of roses. Sitting on an extremely huge bed capable of withholding two grown giants was Zilan's brother, Julian.

The king of the Vancouver kingdom was calmly lying on the bed with a drowsy expression.

His hair, the same curly blond as Zilan, stood up in curls and gave him a bedhead look. His clothes didn't looked ironed either.

No one could've guessed that this lazy human lying on the bed was actually the king of a major kingdom.

"Greetings, big brother," Zilan smiled. He walked towards the bed and took a seat in front of the king.

The two of them looked at each other for a split second as Julian's lips curled up into a smile. Chills ran down Zilan's back when he saw that smile.

'Its that same aura again…' he clenched his teeth. 'He has activated the divinity.'

,m Zilan could feel an invisible pressure dropping on his shoulders. Julian's divinity subconsciously made everyone at a lower rank feel inferior to him.

'If only he had gotten another patron on his twentieth birthday.' Zilan clenched his teeth before taking a deep breath.

"So, why did only the demon commander come here?" Julian asked innocently.

"Its because Kerwin was taken away by the Syrward family." Zilan replied with what Issac had told him.

"Oh? Is that so?" Julian looked surprised which gave Zilan a bit of hope. However, his brother soon smiled maliciously. "I guess that would mean that the plan you all formed in the room behind the pavilion was fake."

Zilan didn't react at first since he knew that Julian could be lying. His brother had an amazing ability to predict things that others deemed as unpredictable.

"Who lied to you this time?" Zilan asked with a surprised look. "You should really get better spies."

The pressure on Zilan's shoulders lessened a bit. He didn't dare sigh in relief because he knew that his brother was still far from convinced.

"Someone did lie to me," Julian mused. "The question is… Was it you or was it my patron?"

Julian stood up from the bed, his eyes fixed on[ his little brother's face. The humorless smile on his face would've definitely landed him a ticket in a mental hospital had he been present on Earth.

Zilan too stood up and looked directly into his brother's eyes. His plan had crumbled away and had instead been replaced by an emergency plan.

'I need to get out of here…' Zilan silently thought.

"Zilan, what do you know about my patron?" Julian asked curiously. He sat down on a comfortable chair so that he could look directly into Zilan's eyes.

"I know he used to be the emperor of a famous dynasty and ruled for quite a long period of time. His divinity allowed you to make others below your rank feel inferior."

"That's a pretty good answer. But there's one thing I kept hidden all these years," Julian replied. "I can tell when someone is telling the truth or whether they are lying."

'Forget about leaving. I would be lucky to leave this room.' Zilan sighed exasperatedly. If what Zilan said was the truth, everything was going to be fine.

Julian could tell the shift of mood in Zilan's behavior. The smile finally slipped down his face and was replaced with a cold look.

The divinity inside him became even more active as Zilan slowly knelt on the floor.

"So tell me, Zilan, who do you think was lying?"