Pallez's smile froze, and realization hit him. In that moment, the old man, who had always held himself upright, seemed to slump, his imposing aura vanishing instantly.
At that moment, even Leonard could sense the weight of desolation and loneliness emanating from Pallez. The old man truly seemed like a solitary elder whose family had been torn apart.
"…I'm sorry," Pallez said suddenly, his voice low.
"You don't need to apologize. It's not your fault—it's Amon's," Evah said, shaking his head. Then, with a genuine smile, he added, "In fact, I heard about your deeds long ago, Ancestor, and I've always wanted to meet you. I believe my Lord saved me partly because of your existence. For that, I'm grateful to you as well."
"I know you're wary of me, Ancestor, but please believe me—at least when it comes to dealing with Amon, our goals align. If possible, I'd love to revive the Zoroast family someday. You and I are not enemies."
Winning over Pallez was a long-term project, and Evah had prepared accordingly. Shifting the blame for any anomalies onto his "patron" was the first step. The second was crafting a persona: a man burdened with a blood feud, admiring his legendary ancestor, determined to revive the Zoroast family, even at the cost of selling his soul to an evil god.
This wasn't entirely a lie. Evah had indeed been fascinated by Pallez while reading Lord of Mysteries. "Evah Zoroast" genuinely admired the legendary Pallez, and if he could max out Pallez's favorability, Evah wouldn't mind helping to restore the Zoroast family later.
After all, he was part of the Zoroast family too. Rounding up, it was like strengthening his own forces.
Pallez could tell Evah's words were heartfelt, which only made the old man fall silent.
After a long pause, Pallez finally spoke again. "What can you offer me?"
"My Lord still has angels walking the earth. If you have plans to deal with Amon or encounter difficulties, they can act on your behalf," Evah said earnestly, painting a grand picture. The angels might be fictional, but if he could build enough favorability, he'd have access to angel-level power anyway.
Pallez couldn't discern the truth of this claim, but he didn't need to. When the time came for action, an angel-level existence couldn't be faked.
Weighing his options, Pallez asked one final question: "Who is the Lord of Mysteries you support?"
This time, it was Evah's turn to pause. After a few seconds, he said, "I'm sorry, Ancestor, I can't answer that. I can only tell you that my Lord has high hopes for Mr. Door."
Pallez was genuinely taken aback.
He knew the situation with the Abraham family. While Mr. Door's character made him a strong contender for Lord of Mysteries, the Abraham family had been tainted by an Outer God's corruption since the Fourth Epoch. Mr. Door was still trapped in some subspace on Earth. Unless Evah's patron could summon Mr. Door back and cleanse the corruption, it was a pipe dream.
Considering Evah's limited rank, Pallez didn't press the topic further. After a few seconds of thought, he said, "I'm willing to cooperate with the entity you serve, but any actions against Amon should be arranged by my side."
"I'll inform my Lord of your decision and get back to you soon," Evah said, then flashed a smile. "Ancestor, now that business is settled, can we talk about personal matters? Honestly, one of the reasons I came to see you, besides facilitating my Lord's cooperation, was to reconnect with family."
Pallez froze, a question mark practically forming above his head. To his disbelief, the kid seemed to mean it.
The topic shift was so abrupt it caught Pallez off guard.
Evah pressed his advantage. "So, Ancestor, are you willing to accept this wayward descendant back into the family?"
Pallez didn't know what to say. He looked at Evah with mixed emotions, a wry smile forming. "Back into a family that's just me, an old man?"
The Zoroast family had long since fallen. Even Pallez wasn't sure how many members were still alive.
"But didn't the Zoroast family start with just one person?" Luo Lin said earnestly, his smile turning bittersweet. "Besides, you're the only family I have left, Ancestor. If even you won't accept me, I'll truly be an orphan."
Pallez looked at Evah. Despite his lingering doubts about this sudden descendant, he couldn't help but sigh. "As long as you don't mind an old man like me."
Evah's eyes lit up, and he immediately climbed the pole. "Can I call you Grandpa, then? I read in the records that's what people used to call you!"
"What kind of nonsense have you been reading…" Pallez muttered, exasperated. He was starting to see that this descendant of his had a mischievous streak.
Of course, for someone from the Marauder family, that was par for the course.
"So I can't call you that? I knew it—you said you'd accept me, but you were just humoring me…" Evah said, putting on a crestfallen expression, his acting flawless down to the smallest detail.
"Fine, fine, call me whatever you want. I'm used to it," Pallez said, shaking his head helplessly. Even if he suspected the expression was exaggerated, the old man couldn't bear to see his descendant like that.
"Thanks, Grandpa!" Evah said, beaming. This wasn't an act—he'd realized he could now borrow a sliver of Pallez's power.
It wasn't much, about Sequence 7, a mere fraction for a Sequence 1 like Pallez. It suggested Pallez's favorability, on a scale of 100, was only around ten or so. Compared to Azik, Pallez at his peak was stronger, with a higher favorability-to-power ratio.
Still, Evah was thrilled. The first step is always the hardest, especially with a hyper-vigilant figure like Pallez. Breaking through from zero to one was the real challenge.
Since Evah had cracked Pallez's wariness and earned this initial favorability, it proved his combo of descendant status, Amon scapegoating, family bonds, and family revival promises worked. If he kept at it, maxing out wasn't impossible.
Plus, the Marauder pathway was quite useful and didn't overlap with Mr. A's abilities. For a Sequence 9 weakling like Evah, it was more than welcome.
(End of Chapter)