The Fawkes in the factory were stunned into silence.

The irony of it all was that Leonel might be incredibly talented in using King's Might, but his understanding of the overall Lineage Factor was limited. He didn't know how he stacked up against the other Fawkes. He just happened to feel that he was likely the very best.

If there was anyone who could stand up to him in this regard, it would be his grandfather. And honestly, at this point, Leonel felt that even Gervaise might be inferior.

Of course, he had no way to confirm for sure.

However... the rest of the Fawkes family wasn't as in the dark as he was. They instead felt as though they were witnessing a complete and utter miracle.

The truth of the matter was that most Fawkes could only forcefully summon those beneath them in cultivation. Only a very few could do it for those at their Dimension, and they were already considered to be the cream of the crop and incredibly rare at that.

By comparison, not only had Leonel targeted someone a Dimension above him, he had bypassed protections left by someone who had presumably already formed a Dharma at the very least, and as though that wasn't shocking enough, it was a Pluto.

Sure, anyone could target someone from a weak Race and claim a soul higher than them in Realm. Well, theoretically speaking. But what good would that do?

The fact it was a Pluto left them all in abject shock.

And soon after the shock came the horror.

Just what did it mean for a Pluto to be blasphemed like this? They didn't even want to think about it.

The sacredness of the Pluto was something that was told in legend. The first time Leonel met El'Rion, despite him having lost an arm, he only bled a single drop of blood.

That single drop of blood from a mere Fifth Dimensional existence tore through the body of a ship forged by the corpse of a Void Beast. And not only that, but when he regained control of his body, that singular drop of blood returned to his body as though even the loss of an arm wasn't worthy of making him shed blood.

This had been something Leonel found to be shocking at the time, but he wasn't really in the mental state back then to actually care all that much. He didn't particularly care how powerful El'Rion was or how enigmatic his Race, the only thing he cared about. back then was finding a way to revive his father.

Although he hadn't forgotten about that matter, it was such a far-off recollection that he didn't recall it... until he saw the state of this Pluto's body.

There was a hole blasted right through his chest, a hole that had been formed with nothing more than pure physical power. There was no Force, and certainly no Fire Force involved. Logically speaking, he could be bleeding...

But he wasn't.

And everyone here seemed to know why but Leonel.

The history written in the Life Tablets only accounted for what occurred before and during the reign of the God Beasts of Creation.

Although the Pluto's time overlapped with this somewhat, they had yet to reach their peak, obviously. As such, the legends that, well, made them legends, were unknown to Leonel.

And by extension, the reason they would owe a family like the Fawkes a favor was likewise baffling.

However, this truth was something the upper echelon of the Fawkes did know. And that number happened to include all those with the standing to even come to ask Leonel to complete a Craft for them in the first place.

And, maybe by happenstance, or maybe because this was the only way that things could ever be, the current legend that was the Pluto was inextricably linked to the Fawkes.

What many people outside of the Fawkes didn't know was that the Pluto weren't always the Gods of Time. Before, they had been known as something else....

The Gods of Death.

Of course, back then, they could hardly be considered Gods either. They were instead more accurately known as Demi-Gods. However, they were extremely powerful even back then nonetheless.

Unfortunately for them, with the existence of the Fawkes, it was impossible for them to transcend from Demi-Gods of Death to Gods of Death. How could they have more control over death than the family who could literally bring the dead back to life?

Becoming a God Race wasn't a simple matter. There was a reason why some Mortal Race and Demi-God Race geniuses could become True Gods, and yet the station of their Races never changed.

Not only did you need a proper foundation to become a God Race, a prerequisite level of talent, but you also needed something akin to a Constellation, a comprehension the entire Race shared to elevate them all to another level.

One would think that the Human Race's, back when they could be considered Gods as

Race's was built on something quite special, but it also piggybacked off of the God Beasts of Creation as this was who granted their power. As such, they weren't truly of their own making.

However, despite this, the presence of the Fawkes was such that even though the Human Race didn't have a special carve out of their own, the Pluto were unable to take the final step.

At that point in time, the Fawkes were still having trouble solidifying their rule and having powerful subordinate forces would be a great boon to them. So, they chose to

help.

Providing aid in such a situation wasn't exactly straightforward. It wasn't as though the Fawkes could just speak to the Northern Star and say they were fine with the Pluto encroaching on their territory.

However, the help that the Fawkes did provide resulted in a mutation more shocking than anyone could have guessed.

The birth of the first Race of Time...

The Pluto.