"His life force didn't wane and disappear. It suddenly winked out of existence so I couldn't find him. It is more probable that he became hidden from me. But I know he is still around here somewhere. Just keep going forward. You will find him soon."
Xigger nodded and clung to that hope.
"Expect a fight. I suspect that the white bitch is involved in this somehow. Only it can hide someone from me. And there's no way it will make this easy."
Xigger grunted and continued to fly forward. He wished he could pick up speed but it is as he said. He is already moving as fast as he can. He is already moving very fast at 40 times the speed of sound but he wants to be faster because he can't wait to meet his son again. He endured the constant worrying of his son and the pain that it caused him for years. But now he can't wait to protect his son and do his duty as a father.
He looked around his environment and considered the time that he had been flying for and he couldn't help but be impressed with how far Ragnarok had gone.
He asked the voice in his head, "How did he manage to cover this much distance? I have been flying for more than 2 days now and I haven't caught up to him yet."
"He flew non-stop for over 8 years straight. He didn't fly in a straight line either. He flew around in circles sometimes to lose trackers."
"That must have been difficult."
"I'm sure it was. He did well in escaping. It would be very difficult for ordinary people to find him. It is a pity that entities that are very much out of the ordinary are the ones after him."
Xigger felt sorrow well up deep within him. The thought of what the last surviving member of his family had to go through made him feel bad. He can only imagine the kind of dedication and pain that Ragnarok went through and the fear that pushed him to continue traveling for years without rest.
He promised himself. "I wish it never happened. But it did. So I will make sure that it doesn't happen again."
The voice in his head scoffed. "What he did is impressive. It shows that he can protect himself on his own without your help. He is not a child anymore. He is a mana entity soon to become a transcendent. He doesn't need you in his life. You don't think so and are willing to risk your safety again because you think he needs you."
Xigger sighed and said, "Okay. I know you don't like my son. I can tell that you don't care about him. That is all right. He is not your business but I want you to be patient with me until I secure him. Then I will conquer the plane and give it to you."
The voice grumbled for a while before speaking up. "Fine. I will hold you to that promise. But I will just say two things. One, you are also putting him in danger right now. The wood elves will become alert to his existence soon enough since you are leading them straight to him. If this fails, you would have risked your life and his life for nothing."
Xigger's eyes became cold immediately. "Then this won't fail. It mustn't fail. I won't let it fail. I will do anything to keep him safe."
"We'll see about that. As for the second thing, it is that you can have more children. You're an ancestral vampire so you can reproduce. Reproduction is a good alternative if you want someone to love and dote upon so badly."
Xigger refused. "Reproduction doesn't make one a father. It is the bearing of the responsibility of fatherhood that makes one a father. It is the act of protecting your loved ones that makes you a good father. My father was a good father to me so I will be a good father to my son."
The demon god tried to convince him one last time. "Whatever. I am sure people will understand if you ditched this boy. He did kill you once. Which kind of son kills his own father? I'll tell you, it is the kind of son that doesn't deserve to be loved. People will understand if you kill him in revenge for what he did to you?"
"I don't care about what others think. Their opinion doesn't matter. I am a father and I will do my duty as a father no matter the cost. That's what matters."
The voice grunted. "I hope so. I really hope all of this will not be a waste of time and energy because you are going to regret it if it happens to be so."
Xigger ignored the warning of the demon god. He doesn't think there's more to it than what he already fears. He too fears that he will be putting his son in danger by chasing after him and he doesn't want to regret it.
The voice said to him after a while, "Get ready. We are close to where he is hidden."
Xigger flew for a few hundred kilometers more and came up to the largest mountain that he has ever seen.
The voice in his head whistled appreciatively. "This is one tall mountain."
Xigger wasn't concerned about the mountain. He spread his divine sense around searching for Ragnarok but he couldn't find any trace of him.
"Where is my son?" He asked with a roar. "Where is Ragnarok?"
The demon god sighed. It too wants to find Ragnarok but it has the least powerful senses among the three of them fighting for control over the plane.
The fountain of life can see everything on the surface. That's how it knew where Xigger was heading. It alerted the wood elves who gave chase immediately. Its advantage of sight cannot be contested by the other two.