Chapter 555: His mere Presence.
Meanwhile, inside the Governor’s Mansion, far away from the chaos surrounding the Abyss Gateway.
The atmosphere was unusually quiet, with only the faint ticking of an expensive mechanical clock breaking the silence of the spacious office.
Behind a large wooden table sat the Governor. Dressed in expensive wool clothes that carried an understated elegance.
Her expression was calm and dignified as she reviewed several documents placed before her. She had barely finished reading the report in her hand when the door opened.
Her personal assistant hurried inside.
"Your Excellence..."
The Governor asked without raising her head.
"What is it?"
The assistant stopped several steps away from the table before taking a deep breath.
"Thoren Starfall has returned."
The Governor’s hand paused above the document.
"Thoren Starfall?"
"Yes."
The assistant nodded quickly.
"He has already arrived inside the city."
A faint surprise flashed through the Governor’s eyes before disappearing beneath her composed expression.
"How long?"
"He came out of the Abyss not long ago."
The Governor’s brows furrowed slightly.
"And his condition?"
"He appears to be completely unharmed."
The assistant hesitated before continuing.
"More importantly, Your Excellence, he brought several powerful undead with him."
"Several?"
The Governor looked up. "How powerful?"
The assistant swallowed. "According to the soldiers stationed at the army base, his undead servants were capable of tearing through the beast tide with almost no resistance."
The Governor’s eyes narrowed.
"How many?"
"We don’t have an exact number yet, but the soldiers reported that four undead servants alone managed to kill a large number of beasts while the young master simply walked toward the defense line."
For the first time, a faint ripple appeared in the Governor’s otherwise calm expression.
"Four undead?"
"Yes."
"And you’re certain of this?"
"The soldiers recognized his silver hair and confirmed his identity."
The Governor remained silent for several seconds.
"Anything else?"
"The General personally received him."
The assistant paused.
"And Young Master Thoren also provided healing potions to the wounded."
The Governor’s eyes flickered.
"He did?"
"Yes."
"Anything more?"
The assistant shook her head. "That’s all for now."
The Governor leaned back against her chair. "Very well."
She waved her hand. "You can leave."
The assistant bowed.
"Yes, Your Excellence."
She turned and walked toward the door, closing it gently behind her. The moment the door shut, the Governor’s calm facade finally began to crack.
She slowly lowered the document in her hand.
"Thoren Starfall..." She whispered the name.
Although his return from the first floor had already caused a huge sensation throughout the city, nobody had expected him to return from the second floor so quickly.
The first floor was already dangerous. But the second floor was an entirely different world.
A far more brutal place.
Even the strongest awakeners could enter and never return.
Those who managed to survive long enough to find a way back to the surface often spent months or years inside the Abyss before making their return.
There were even powerful individuals who had disappeared for decades without anyone knowing whether they were still alive.
Yet Thoren Starfall had entered the second floor and returned in little more than a month.
The Governor slowly turned her chair toward the window.
From her office, she could see part of the distant city, where smoke still rose into the sky from the aftermath of the beast tide.
Slowly, her expression became increasingly solemn. For the past couple of days, Suncrest City had been anything but peaceful.
Strange people had emerged from the Abyss, and the beast tide had erupted without warning while also, people had disappeared without leaving traces.
And now Thoren had returned.
The timing was simply too troublesome.
She placed her hand against her forehead and released a quiet sigh.
"Hope his return would not turn the city upside down."
...
...
In another location, at the top of one of the tallest skyscrapers in Suncrest City, the situation was similarly tense.
The entire conference room was surrounded by enormous glass windows, giving those inside an unobstructed view of the city below.
Two middle-aged men sat at opposite sides of a long conference table but neither spoke for several seconds.
Finally, one of them slammed his palm against the table.
"How is this possible?" His voice was filled with shock.
"He only entered the second floor a little over a month ago!"
The second man remained calm, although the deep frown between his brows revealed that he was equally troubled by the news.
"This is not the moment to wonder how he managed to return to the surface so quickly." He said calmly.
The first man stared at him. "Then what are we supposed to do?"
The second man slowly leaned back. "We need to think."
"Think?" The first man’s expression became ugly.
"The man has already returned, and judging from the reports, he’s stronger than before." He clenched his fist.
The first man slowly leaned forward. "Then we need to find a way to stop him."
The second man shook his head. "Stop him?"
"Yes."
"We don’t even know his current strength."
Listening to this, the first man fell silent. As for the second man, his gaze shifted toward the enormous glass window.
"Trying to fight someone whose strength we cannot measure is foolish."
"Then what?"
The second man slowly narrowed his eyes.
"We bring him to our side."
The first man stared at him.
"You think he’ll agree?"
"I don’t know."
At those words, the first man’s expression changed. Once again, the conference was thrown into still silence, each lost in their thoughts.
Thoren’s return from the abyss had seriously disturbed their plan and they needed to find a solution right away.
Thoren had returned from the Abyss. Which meant he had seen things they could only imagine.
The second man looked toward the distant Abyss Gateway.
"We need to know what he wants."
He slowly folded his hands together.
"Then we’ll give him a reason to stand with us."
Listening to this, the first man nodded. "Everyone needs something. As long as we provide him with that thing, I don’t believe he won’t join us."
****