"Wasn’t your face-changing mask destroyed?" Vyaghra asked, sprinting ahead of Taranis in the Senseless Dinsion.
"The face-changing mask is created by the crafters of the Flowerbane Sect. I simply asked for another one," Taranis replied, following closely behind him.
It was rare for Vyaghra to initiate a conversation, yet he was doing so to confirm that Taranis’s mind was still intact.
Inside the Senseless Dinsion, which could only be accessed through the Darkness Attribute, a person was stripped of all five senses. The only way Vyaghra and Taranis could communicate was by transmitting their thoughts into each other’s minds using Soulforce.
It was a simple yet useful technique that Mid-Tier cultivators learned to converse secretly with one another.
Since Taranis could still respond normally, it ant he was not significantly affected by the Senseless Dinsion.
It had been three hours since they had been moving through the darkness, and it was nothing short of astonishing for Vyaghra to witness how resilient Taranis’s willpower had beco at such a young age.
"What was that letter about?" Taranis asked, referring to the letter Vyaghra had been reading at the gate of Ironvale Fortress.
"I received it from Vyrion’s group," Vyaghra revealed. "The armies of each Duke, along with the empire’s main force comprising one million soldiers, have begun advancing toward Ironvale Fortress from every direction. They intend to block our passage on all sides. I sent the letter to Jambavan so he must have inford your army officials by now."
"One million? From what I knew, the empire had an army of one and a half million," Taranis said, his eyes narrowing. "Even if we assu they left so necessary soldiers in the capital, it still does not explain the missing five hundred thousand."
"I was about to get to that. The letter ntioned that the Emperor mobilized most of his forces."
"So you an the information that he had an army of one and a half million was false," Taranis murmured inwardly.
But the information had co from Tartaglia, so it had to be reliable. Sothing was not adding up. The information dated back to eighteen years ago, when the Banes had visited the empire to learn more about what had happened at the Sentinel Line.
"Eighteen years ago..." Taranis murmured as he realized sothing. "There are only two possible explanations for the discrepancy in the army count. Either Tartaglia made an error in his analysis, which is highly unlikely, or the Emperor was keeping five hundred thousand soldiers elsewhere and could not afford to mobilize them."
---
One day earlier, a few hours after Brandon and Erik discovered the frozen army of Ironvale:
"Adam, I only told you to send a threatening letter to the Banes’ army," Kharos muttered, seated on his throne. "What was the reason for placing a severed hand in the box?"
"Father, you are too lenient with Voltrex," Adam countered, displeasure evident in his voice. "They would not have taken us seriously if we had not sent them proof."
"I’m not lenient with Voltrex, I was worried about you, Adam!" Kharos shouted, his fiery eyes glaring down at him. "You were far too reckless with your thods. Do you understand how dangerous it is to torture the strongest cultivator of the Western Continent? It’s a miracle you walked out of there alive."
"Father, you are overestimating him," Adam retorted. "He is rely an old man with limited breaths left."
Before Kharos could say anything further, Adam strode out of the hall with heavy steps.
Kharos let out a weary sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose.
Turning to Rhaegar, the Kingguard and the Sword of the Empire, he ordered, "Is the army ready to deploy?"
"At your command, Your Highness," Rhaegar replied with a bow. He had only one arm, and half of his face was burned.
"Alright then, we depart imdiately."
---
"Main Quest: Save Nyria’s life.
Deadline: 22 days, 18 hours, 2 minutes."
The tir hovered before Taranis’s eyes, reminding him why he was pushing himself beyond his limits and why he could not afford even a mont’s rest.
At first, the tir did not stir any emotions within him when he left the dark world of Aruma, but as the deadline drew closer, it began to cool the raging inferno within him, if only slightly. However, the balance was fragile. If even one more incident fueled his rage, he might completely lose control.
"We are here," Vyaghra announced. The dark dinsion before them tore apart, revealing the bright light outside. The duo reached their destination in four hours, two hours earlier than expected, as they had not stopped even for a mont.
They stood at the edge of a cliff overlooking an endless ravine with no visible bottom.
Just like the pillar they stood upon, nurous other spear-like rocky pillars jutted out of the earth, their foundations unseen.
One pillar at the center stood out the most. It was wide enough to house an entire country upon its summit.
"Your father is being held inside that pillar, at the very bottom," Vyaghra inford, pointing toward the central pillar.
"The reason we stopped here must be the array surrounding the pillar," Taranis said, sensing the energy radiating from it.
Vyaghra nodded before explaining, "The array is above average. It would take an all-out assault from at least four late-stage Eternal Sages to break it."
After a brief pause, he continued, "I can destroy it if I transform into my original form, but you will need to put to sleep instantly, or—"
"You do not need to do that, Vyaghra," Taranis said, stepping forward. "The array is not on the level of the ancient arrays my ancestors cast on the Hundred Sky Mountains. If it was created by the empire’s dogs, I can disable it using my skills."
There were two reasons why Taranis stopped Vyaghra. First, forcefully breaking the array might alert the enemies. Knowing the Emperor, if anyone strong enough to destroy the array infiltrated this place, he would rather kill Voltrex than allow him to be rescued. Taranis needed to remain discreet.
Secondly, Taranis had witnessed with his own eyes what happened to Vyaghra the last ti he pushed himself. The Beast Gods had not revealed it, but Taranis was not a fool. Vyaghra’s sudden change in behavior toward Ruru, the ntion of Ruru’s seal upon him, and his darkness elent spiraling out of control in Forlorn City when he unleashed his full power all pointed to a hidden past that Vyaghra was concealing.
Taranis did not want to deal with another variable on top of saving his father.
Taking a deep breath, Taranis murmured,
"Vivi, activate Vyaghra’s blessing."
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