Chapter 845: What is your true nature? 2

"I can see the gears turning in that little head of yours, Maya," Victor's words snapped Maya out of her stupor.

"Just as you thought... Tasha has reached her full potential... You're not wrong about that, but you haven't seen the bigger picture."

"The reason Tasha isn't progressing further isn't because of her; it's because the current state of things limits her. Volk limits her."

Victor looked at Maya, his eyes seeing every inch of her existence.

A look that made Maya very uncomfortable, as if no secret could be hidden from him.

"Tasha's situation is much like yours, Maya... So much wasted potential because it's being restricted... It's truly a pity."

"... Huh?" Maya couldn't accept this silently; this was a statement she couldn't swallow without protest.

"What do you mean? What's stopping me from getting stronger?"

Victor looked at her neutrally. "The same thing that limits me also limits you... But that's not a bad thing; I can work with it. After all, in the end, a limit is necessary for us not to become uncontrollable monsters. Unbridled power is just pointless violence."

"Stop speaking in riddles!"

Victor smiled coldly. "Your family limits you, Maya."

"....."

"Just as mine limits me. But, as I explained, that's not a bad thing. All I need to do to overcome this obstacle is to make everyone around me stronger... But you don't have that luxury. Because of that, you are confined to your own world."

"By caring for your family, you stopped training. By not finding suitable opponents, you stopped evolving. By not having a goal, your potential has stagnated. The Elizabeth bloodline, capable of fighting even G.o.ds, has not reached its full potential... What a shame."

Scathach and Metis looked at each other, instant understanding appearing on both their faces. What was his game? They knew he wouldn't speak these words without reason.

Even though Metis didn't know Victor as well as Scathach did, she at least knew that he would never think his family "limits" him in any way. Probably, he would see his own family as both his strength and his weakness.

"... Is that a bad thing?" Maya's eyes sparkled. "Is it so wrong to take care of your loved ones? I thought you, of all people, would understand that."

"I do understand. That's why I say it's a pity."

"... Stop beating around the bush and say what you want to say!" Maya growled.

Victor smiled, baring his sharp teeth, and floated towards her.

"Maya, you don't take care of your family."

Maya took a step back when she saw Victor approaching her.

Victor stepped on the ground, causing a small tremor due to his weight, and walked towards her.

"You pamper them."

Victor held Maya's arm and prevented her from moving back.

"If one of the members of the Lykos Clan causes serious trouble, do you know what they'll think? It's okay. The Matriarch will take care of it."

"...." Maya opened her eyes wide and looked at the members of her Clan to see how they reacted to these words. She was quite surprised when she saw them turning their heads and not looking into her eyes.

Even Bella and Conan were not exceptions to this.

"The same mentality is ingrained in your husbands."

She looked at the men, and they averted their gaze from her. Some looked at her but only with shame on their faces.

"You spoil them too much, you suffocate them, and you don't let them fend for themselves."

There's a difference between allowing someone to grow and holding their hand throughout the journey.

Look at Victor as an example. He only gets involved in his wives' problems when they ask for help or when he sees the situation becoming too dangerous.

Victor lets them grow even if it causes him personal pain, as in the case of the events in the Tower of Nightmares.

But Maya? She doesn't allow that; like a mother hen, she is always hovering over her family members, preventing them from doing something too risky. She doesn't let them make their own decisions, and consequently, she hinders their progress and her own. Instead of doing something more productive to improve herself, she is constantly watching over her family members like puppies.

It may seem similar, but it's not.

Honestly, Victor doesn't blame Maya much. In fact, he likes this aspect of her a lot. She is truly someone who takes care of her own. There's no way he couldn't like a person like that.

But... He also understands what excessive care leads to. Excessive care prevents others from developing their own strength and independence.

Everyone has their own path, and as the head of the family, he must be there to watch over and care for them when NECESSARY, not throughout the entire journey.

Because of this thought, Victor doesn't meddle in Ruby's personal affairs and those of his other wives, who are constantly making plans for the faction.

Honestly, it's extremely difficult to balance this situation. Victor understands that his words can also be hypocritical. After all, he knows that somewhere in the subconscious of his wives, they think that nothing will happen to them because Victor will be present.

And that's not a bad thing; it just shows their confidence in him. But at the same time, they think this way, they only turn to him if the situation is out of their control or irreversible. They always try to solve their own problems.

Something that happens in this Clan due to Maya's existence.

"Everything in this world needs balance; excess of anything is not good. This situation also applies to this thought. As the head of the family, you must take care of them but also let them walk their own path. As the Alpha among Alphas, you observe, a.s.sess, and protect... But you don't interfere with their path."

"Everyone has their own story to tell, and if you don't let them live that story, you're just limiting them... Just as you limit yourself by being stuck in this situation."

"..."

Victor released Maya's arm and floated just a few inches from the ground.

"... You..." Maya sighed and didn't continue her words. Somewhere in her mind, she knew Victor was right in this observation. She had thought about it in the past but had never acted on it because she thought it was fine the way it was.

"You still haven't told me what limits me... I mean, I get what you said, and honestly, I've thought about it myself in the past, but you haven't specified what limits me."

"... Isn't the answer obvious?" Victor spoke incredulously.

"Huh?"

"You're fighting against yourself, Maya."

A confused look appeared on her face, and a few seconds later, her eyes opened wide. "... My instincts."

"Elizabeth didn't fight against her instincts; she embraced them and mastered them."

"... You speak as if you know her."

"I don't know her... But..." Victor looked at Maya again, specifically at a woman next to Maya, a trace of the Akas.h.i.+c Record written in the soul of her descendants.

"I see her."

"... Huh?" Maya didn't understand.

Victor didn't clarify it for her yet and just turned around and slowly flew toward the sky. Looking at the distant battle that was turning the city into rubble, he snapped his fingers.

At that moment, a screen appeared in front of Maya, a screen that only Maya could see. A woman with long white hair was fighting several monsters in a wild and very similar way to Maya.

Her attacks were wild, her smile predatory, and her eyes shone with a celestial blue.

She was in complete fury... But even in that fury, a rationality could be seen.

"This... This... H-How?"

"She's just a child! How can she access this form so early in life?" Maya couldn't understand what she was seeing; she couldn't even access this form so early in her life.

"No creature should deny its own nature." Like a dragon, Victor could clearly understand that now, which is why he no longer reproached Anna for her desires. The "human" morality he had evaporated the moment he saw the "world" and the "truth."

These words were deeply engraved in Maya's heart; she just didn't know it yet.

Victor looked at Maya again, and with his gaze that could see through everything, he asked a question that put Maya into contemplation.

"Maya Elizabeth Lykos, what is your true desire?"

Only when she answers this question for herself will she be able to progress. This mutual understanding happened without Victor needing to say anything more.

Metis said something in Draconic language, and soon, an invisible dome of silence formed around her and Scathach.

"I pity those men... My Fath - Mast - Progenitor is just too flashy," Metis said as she changed the way she referred to Victor several times.

Scathach watched in amus.e.m.e.nt as this dragon G.o.ddess was still confused about her position in the current scheme of things and commented, "Are you still unsure how to address him?"

"... I mean, he's my father, I was raised under the influence of his soul... But it's strange to call him 'Father' with my memories... He's not my master because I'm his companion, ugh. This is confusing."

"Just call him husband, indecisive woman. I know that eventually it will happen." Scathach rolled her eyes, seeing no reason to overthink it.

"... In that case, why haven't you called him husband yet?" Metis asked shrewdly.

This question made Scathach fall silent for a few seconds before she said, "He hasn't defeated me yet." She huffed and crossed her arms, clearly not wanting to hear any more about this subject.

Now it was Metis's turn to roll her eyes. 'And you call me an indecisive woman.' She thought internally, looking at Scathach from the corner of her eye. Metis understood something.

'Maybe that's the charm in her that my father likes so much?' Metis thought while grumbling internally about calling him 'father' in her thoughts.