For a good few seconds, every person, be it the Matriarch of the Velmourns, the Commander of the Watch, the Chief of the Stonefang Tribe, or the General of the Sky Kingdom Army—every single one of them—stared ahead, their mouths agape.
Because Kael had returned from his ’mission’.
And he didn’t co alone—
He had returned with the Chief of the Stormcaller Tribe. Her hands were tied, there was a collar on her neck—a collar that sealed her Sanctuary—
It was clear that the woman was captured.
This man...
He went to raid the enemy territory, alone, and had returned with one of the enemy leaders as his captive.
The four people watching this couldn’t comprehend it, not one bit.
Lavinia, on the other hand, did not care.
She already knew what happened and how everything went. She had sent her Spirits together with Kael, Spirits who reported everything back to her.
And honestly—
Lavinia did not care.
To her, Kael’s safety was more important.
So even before Igni landed, she had already rushed forward, waiting for Kael to co to her. Kael jumped down, and only when she hugged him tightly and closed her eyes—when she felt his heartbeat—did her own racing heart calm down, and she... she was relieved.
The other four stared at the Stormcaller Leader, who had jumped from Igni’s back even when her hands were tied.
Did she try to run?
In the middle of enemy territory without her Bonds?
She wasn’t a fool.
She had already given up on that idea.
She just stared at the people in front of her—Morvain, Korvath, and Gruumak. Those three she recognized. She knew who they were and expected them to be there.
The one she did not recognize was the fourth one.
The tall woman with that fearso, mysterious Aura.
A similar aura she felt from... those people.
She narrowed her eyes, then however, her frown deepened even further when she noticed that the woman she was looking at had the sa collar on her neck that she did.
Is she a captive too?
Zoraa wondered in her head, but if that was true, that only raised more questions.
Why would a captive be here? This clearly was the place where the leaders gathered. Why would the leaders keep a captive together with them?
Is it because she is that dangerous that no one else could take responsibility for her?
If that was the case, then why weren’t her limbs tied? There were far better ways to deal with a captive, were there not?
Just as she was thinking all that—
The captive she had been watching moved.
For a slight mont, Zoraa felt... relieved. Maybe the other captive had a plan, a plan she could benefit from.
But soon, she noticed sothing else.
No one around noticed her movents, as if her moving around like a free person was normal—and it didn’t co from arrogance.
Velmourns, she wasn’t sure, but she knew Stonefangs. They treat captives under a very close watch. If no one else reacted, Gruumak should have reacted to it.
If he didn’t, then this ant...
The other captive was with them.
And the mont she got close to the Flying Man and no one reacted, Zoraa realized her deduction was correct.
Her hopes were crushed.
She lowered her head, but even then, her eyes never left the other captive.
The other captive—or Aurelia—appeared in front of Kael. First, she looked at Igni. She still was having a difficult ti comprehending that she was actually in the presence of a Dragon. It made her heart feel the weight of everything that was at stake here.
Igni looked back at her with his amber eyes. He had already healed since he had been resting inside the Sanctuary for the past few days, so Aurelia or her subordinates did not heal him, but even then, the Dragon had watched how the Sky Kingdom General and her subordinates had earnestly helped his Father.
The General’s Bond had even healed his sister’s children, so for now, he didn’t feel any negative emotions when he stared at Aurelia.
The Sky Kingdom General could sense that too. She nodded at the mighty Dragon, almost like she was bowing to him, then she finally turned her gaze to Kael and—
"You are back."
Kael, with Lavinia still in his arms, looked at her and nodded with the sa expressionless look he had while attacking the Stormcallers.
The soft, gentle look that had appeared the mont he saw Lavinia disappeared the instant Aurelia appeared.
The Sky Kingdom General did not mind. She looked at Zoraa—the question she wanted to ask was written all over her face.
"One of the Stormcaller Chiefs."
Kael answered.
Aurelia nodded.
Kael had already told her his objectives before going to the raid, and although she didn’t believe him, sowhere in her heart, she had hope.
After all, the horrifying image of the dead Sky Kingdom Soldiers who went against Kael was still clear in her mind. If anyone could pull it off, it was Kael.
But...
According to Kael’s words, he was supposed to bring two people with him.
"Where’s the other?"
Aurelia couldn’t help but ask, and Kael’s expression hardened.
"Disappeared the mont I attacked their Holy Sign."
Aurelia’s face hardened too—
"Teleportation Crystal."
Kael nodded, and Aurelia... her face turned solemn.
To use a Teleportation Crystal so decisively...
Not even she could do that—not after trade with Xenthalor had completely stopped after that stunt they pulled in Drakthar related to the Corruption and the possibility of them colliding with the Twilight.
After the trade restrictions, Teleportation Crystals have beco even rarer. It wasn’t that other Kingdoms couldn’t produce them—Drakthar Mages had the capability—but Drakthar too, considering the newfound rarity, had been keeping the crystals to themselves.
Of course, one could still buy the Crystals from the Grand Council of Gold at higher prices, and that was what the Sky Kingdom was doing, but the fact was—
It was unknown when Teleportation Crystals would run out of the market. The Sky Kingdom, predicting that situation, had been very careful in using the crystals.
After all, just like every other force, they too could sense it. The pressure was building. Twilight still hadn’t stopped what they had been doing, and the Sky Kingdom was safe because it was difficult to even enter, let alone attack.
But the other forces?
Not so much.
Weakly protected Towns were still being attacked by hordes of corrupted beasts, more and more people with corrupted Bonds were being found, even the Church was having a difficult ti.
And they...
They still did not know anything about the Twilight.
All this together with the possibility of Xenthalor working together with Twilight...
The situation was... tense.
So tense that almost every major force expected this tension to be released—
In the form of... War.
The centuries of peace that had kept Nerathis intact—it was about to break, and the mont it did—
It would beco sothing far, far worse.
That was what the Sky Kingdom, and all other forces were preparing for. That was why the resources were being used scarcely and weapons were being stockpiled.
But in this tense situation—
For those cloaked beings to use a Teleportation Crystal so decisively...
That either ant they had an ample amount of Teleportation Crystals—enough to not worry about it.
Or that they were blissfully unaware of the storm that was upcoming.
And for so odd reason, Aurelia had a peculiar feeling that... it wasn’t the latter.
This was... sothing far bigger and more complicated than she initially expected.
Thinking about it, Aurelia glanced at Kael again, then, after so hesitation, she asked another question—
"Did you sense any... corrupted beasts?"
She asked directly.
She rembered how it was Kael who first sensed Xenthalor’s corrupted beasts. Now when she thought back, it was clear that it was the Dragon who sensed the corruption.
And since Kael took his Dragon with him, if there were... any signs of corruption... the Dragon should have sensed it.
The mont she asked that question—
Silence.
Complete silence fell over the place.
Kael’s and Lavinia’s expressions changed, Korvath and Morvain were no different either; only Gruumak and Zoraa seed confused by the sudden change. After all, even now, they still didn’t understand the outsiders’ language, and even if they did, they still wouldn’t know since none of them knew about corruption.
"What are you trying to say...?"
Lavinia narrowed her eyes suspiciously.
Kael seed a little taken aback as well.
Aurelia, on the other hand, stayed firm. She didn’t know why—she had no proof either—it was just... a strong gut feeling that sohow, sowhere, Twilight was involved.
But then—
"You are wrong, Human."
Igni spoke in his deep voice, looking right at Aurelia.
"I did not sll that rot."
Aurelia looked at the Dragon an—
"I understand.
Then I must be thinking too much, I apologize."
She bowed a little.
"You do not have to apologize.
One must consider every possibility.
And just because I did not sll that rot does not an that lot wasn’t involved. The chances that they were hiding are high.
I cannot catch them, not unless they use that rotting power."
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