Within the Lockward Family, there were different halls, each corresponding to a family branch led by a God.
Louis' family branch was led by his father, who was also the leader of the Lockward Family Gods—the Thunder family branch.
It was led by the God of Thunder and 12 other Elders of Thunder. Two of them are Gods, while the rest are monarchs with their respective awakened powers, most of which are related to thunder, Lightning, Rain, or Electricity.
This Hall of Thunder was close to his room, so Louis didn't have to run far to get there.
When he arrived, the guards at the door allowed him to enter.
"Come in, Young Master. The Leader God and the 12 Elders are waiting for you."
Louis nodded and entered.
'Did the 12 Elders come? I'm curious now about what they want to tell me. Although this will be the first time I've seen them, could they have realized that I'm not really Louis anymore?'
He felt his body tremble. If they had realized... Wouldn't they kill him?
His body wanted to feel fear, but he quickly suppressed it.
'I can't feel fear. That System said I had to face it without flinching. Besides, flinching would reveal information to those people.' He took a deep breath.
Soon, he entered the Hall of Thunder, which was behind a large wooden door refined and enriched with powerful minerals.
Then... on the other side, he could see a large hall built in the shape of an auditorium, but rounded.
There were steps and rows of seats stacked on top of each other like a staircase, as if it were a courtroom. In the middle of the room, just below a raised platform, there was a large rectangular table with 14 seats.
Six on each side and one at each end.
Right now, 13 of those seats are occupied.
'Father... and the 12 Elders.'
The 14th seat was empty.
'None of my siblings are here... Is it for me?' he thought.
That seat is usually used by one of Louis' siblings. Either the eldest, the second, or the younger sister. He had never used it because he hadn't awakened, but now that he had... Would he finally be given the privilege of sitting there?
Louis walked toward them with a smile on his face and stopped just across the table from the empty seat.
"Father. Elders." He greeted them respectfully with a slight bow. Then he placed his hand on the chair and pulled it out to sit down.
But then a bolt of lightning flew across the table and struck his hand, burning part of the top of his hand. The pain was terrible and made him pull his hand away quickly.
In shock, he looked at his father.
The God of Thunder seemed to be mocking him.
"When were you allowed to sit on a Sacred Chair? On your knees, five meters from the table."
Louis was in shock, but seeing his father so angry made him take several steps back. 'What the hell is happening?' he thought.
Without thinking too much about it, he accepted his father's edict and knelt down. 'Maybe I should have knelt first?' he thought.
He didn't know because his memories were fragmented, and there wasn't much information about these ceremonies. At most, there was information about the Hall of Thunder, the Elders, and a little about the rest of his family.
The God of Thunder looked to his right and nodded to the man closest to him.
This was a God, and he stood up. He walked calmly toward Louis.
"Louis."
Louis looked up when he was called and smiled. "Uncle..." He was about to greet him respectfully, but suddenly he was kicked hard in the stomach, sending him writhing on the ground.
"God said 5 meters. How dare you disobey? Or is it that you can't even count anymore?!" his uncle growled, looking angry and contemptuous.
Louis writhed in pain, feeling that some of his ribs had broken. 'Shit... even though he held back, he still broke several of my ribs, that bastard!' Louis felt anger rising in his heart, but he calmed himself down.
He was facing the gods, not just any ordinary person.
That's why, even though he was in pain, he struggled to his feet and looked him straight in the eye. "I apologize," he said with difficulty, and took a step back five meters.
Then he knelt down with a cold expression. He had come here thinking he would be treated like a normal human being, but it seemed he had been brought here... to be humiliated.
So there was no reason to show a gentle or submissive attitude.
He might not have been the best, but he had always treated those who wanted to humiliate him with coldness.
Finally, his uncle turned around and sat back down.
Then silence reigned for five long minutes, until the God of Thunder made a move, pulling a scroll from his inventory.
"Louis Lockward. You may rise," he said.
Louis then stood up, holding back the pain of broken ribs inside him with all his strength. It was a terrible pain, but that blow from his uncle reminded him of what the family would do to those who dared to interrupt, in any way, a man who was called by this name.
So he simply stared ahead expressionlessly, even though his body was roaring with pain.
"The family has decided for you," his father said.
Louis nodded.
"What plans does the family have for me?" he asked directly.
The Elders seemed surprised and looked at him strangely. 'Can he speak and act so harshly despite that?' They even looked at the man who had just hit him to see if he had been too gentle a moment ago.
But he was just as surprised.
His father didn't care. He threw the scroll into Louis's hand.
"Read it aloud. Without interruption."
Louis frowned and opened the scroll, then frowned even more.
His mind went blank for a brief moment, but a strange, cold breeze blew through his hair, causing him to react again.
He clenched his teeth, feeling as if he were becoming sentimental. 'Is it because I'm in a different body? This guy loved his family. This is... very cruel.' He forced himself to raise his voice and read.
"Louis Lockward, recognized as the useless son of the Lockward Family, from this day forward shall no longer be allowed to use the Lockward surname and shall be banished from the Ancestral Lands for having awakened the most useless and mundane Class that exists, thus violating the ancestral commandments." The more he read, the tighter Louis' heart grew.
"The Lockward Family will not be held responsible for anything concerning him, and his life or death will be of no concern to anyone in the family. By this Divine Mandate, signed by..." Then came 14 names, one after another, with their respective ranks within the family.
They were the names of his father, the 12 elders, and... his older brother.
'Even my older brother...' Louis suddenly began to feel disappointed. Somehow, this hit him just as hard as when he saw his girlfriend in the arms of that bastard.
Disappointment flooded his soul, but so did pain. 'Damn it, how can something that has nothing to do with me hurt so much? It's the other Louis Lockward, damn it!' He roared inside, but he didn't stop reading.
"...Louis Lockward, now Louis, will be banished to the distant Lands of the Sun Red Empire and will never again set foot on the Ancestral Lands. If he ever does, he will be exterminated by the signatories of this Divine Mandate!"
"Sincerely... The God of Thunder... London Lockward." With that, the scroll seemed to come to an end.
But there was something else.
An oath.
This was what bothered Louis the most, but he felt the powers of 13 incredibly powerful people closing in on him, and it made him tremble to his core, his ribs shaking.
He was forced to read it.
"I... Louis, accept the Divine Mandate in an oath by my blood... I will never set foot on the Ancestral Lands again..." Then he bit his tongue and spat blood on the designated spot.
Finally, the God of Thunder smiled and stood up.
"Don't blame us, Louis. The useless have no place in our Family. Be content with ruling a small garbage dump; it will be worthy of your title as God of Money." He sneered and disappeared from where he stood with a bolt of lightning.
Then, twelve more bolts disappeared with disdain. The scroll he held in his hand vanished.
And in less than 10 minutes, it spread throughout the Region of the Gods.
For the first time in history, one of the sons of a God had been banished from the Ancestral Lands, with nothing, not even his surname.
Louis remained motionless in the Hall of Thunder.
The only thing in front of him was a system window congratulating him on completing the mission.
[Congratulations. You have completed the mission.]
[100 System Coins have been credited]
[You have received 10 Stat Points]
While he appeared to be in a daze, several guards came and carried him away, throwing him into his room.
"They'll be coming for you shortly. Gather your belongings and don't dirty our clan any further with your filthy feet." The guards who had previously treated him with respect now treated him with contempt and muttered under their breath.
Louis said nothing to them. He couldn't; he no longer belonged to the family, and they did, besides being many times more powerful than he was.
Any one of them could kill him right now.