Chapter 191: It begins
Evening settled over Kaelos City like a suffocating shroud.
The three-day emergency lockdown had transformed the usually vibrant, bustling thoroughfares into ghost towns.
Shuttered shopfronts, locked windows, and eerie silence dominated the stone avenues, interrupted only by the occasional echo of armored boots as palace guards patrolled the perimeter.
Yet, walking leisurely down the center of the main boulevard was a solitary old man in sweeping, pale-gold robes embroidered with an ascending sun and silver lotus blossoms.
The Silver Lotus Elder walked with his hands casually tucked into his long sleeves, his posture immaculate and unbothered.
To a high-ranking Elder of the Glorious Mythical Sect, a mortal Mayor’s curfew was less than a mild suggestion; it was completely meaningless.
He moved through the city with the unshakeable arrogance of a god walking among insects.
Suddenly, the Elder came to a smooth halt in the middle of a deserted intersection.
He inhaled deeply, drawing the cool evening air into his lungs, a slight, amused smile touching his ancient lips.
"It is quite lonely out here... don’t you think?" the Silver Lotus Elder asked calmly, his voice echoing clearly against the empty stone buildings.
He didn’t turn his head, but his sharp, cloudy eyes flickered with a dangerous light. "I know you are there. Come out."
From the dark shadow of an arched stone entryway, slow, deliberate footsteps echoed across the cobblestones.
TAP. TAP. TAP.
A striking, ethereal beauty stepped out into the twilight glow.
Clad in a dark leather warrior’s tunic that emphasized her tall, athletic frame, she wore her long silver hair tied in a high ponytail.
A light, wicked smile rested upon her lips as she approached the old man.
She was currently maintaining her human form, hiding her true falcon-kin traits under a subtle veil of mana.
The Silver Lotus Elder turned to face her, his brows instantly knitting into a heavy, severe frown.
He was not mesmerized by her radiant, striking beauty, nor was he distracted by her graceful demeanor.
He frowned because his vast spiritual sense had instantly pierced her outer disguise, perceiving the terrifying, roaring ocean of energy residing within her chest.
She was a Martial General.
And not a novice who had recently broken through—she possessed a dense, terrifyingly powerful foundation that vibrated with primordial authority.
"A Martial General in this backwater border town?" the Silver Lotus Elder demanded, his voice dropping an octave as his eyes narrowed into cold slits.
"Who are you? And why are you standing in my path?"
Eurenia tilted her head, her silver hair fluttering lightly in the evening draft. Her smile widened, revealing sharp, white teeth.
"The answer to your first question is not something a dying man needs to know," Eurenia replied smoothly, her voice cool and melodic.
"As for your second question... I am here to kill you."
The Silver Lotus Elder drew in a slow, deep breath.
His hands remained inside his long sleeves, but the ambient air around them suddenly grew heavy, the temperature plummeting as his own Martial General aura began to bleed into the surroundings.
"Is there truly no chance this matter could be resolved through discussion?" the Elder asked, his tone dry and pragmatic. "The Glorious Mythical Sect has endless resources. Name your price, woman."
"No," Eurenia answered without a single second of hesitation.
SCHWING!
With a fluid, practiced motion, Eurenia unsheathed the massive longsword resting across her back.
The steel blade hissed as it cleared the scabbard, instantly igniting with a roaring, tempestuous shroud of silver-and-black wind mana that shattered the cobblestones beneath her boots.
"If I don’t take your head back to my Lord before his deadline..." Eurenia grinned, her emerald eyes flashing with wild, unbridled excitement, "...Master will be very pissed."
She pointed the tip of her roaring blade straight at the old man’s throat.
"So don’t get too angry, old fool," Eurenia stated coldly. "Your fate was sealed the very second you chose to remain in this godforsaken city."
The Silver Lotus Elder stared at her for a long second, then broke into a low, dry chuckle that quickly escalated into a rich, mocking laugh.
"Arrogant beast-loving tramp," the Elder smiled, his ancient face twisting into a cold mask of absolute disdain. "Many have threatened the life of a Silver Lotus Elder. All of them are now ash beneath my feet.
One of us will indeed die on these cobblestones this evening... but I assure you, it will not be me."
BOOM!
The Elder snapped his arms out from his sleeves, unleashing a violent wave of golden lotus flames that tore up the street.
Eurenia let out a fierce war cry, surging forward like a silver streak of lightning—and the two Martial Generals collided in a catastrophic explosion of mana that blew out every window within three blocks.
***
Meanwhile, just a few minutes before Eurenia’s clash erupted in the streets...
Deep within the inner sanctuary of the administrative palace, Mayor Henar was unraveling.
Inside his lavishly decorated master bedroom, the air was suffocating and thick with cold sweat.
Henar paced back and forth across the crimson carpet like a caged, rabid beast.
His hair was disheveled, his crimson robes hung loose over his trembling frame, and his bloodshot eyes darted wildly from shadow to shadow.
CRASH!
Driven by sheer, unadulterated panic, Henar hurled a heavy gold vase against the stone wall, shattering it into pieces.
He lunged forward, slamming his fists into his wooden wardrobe, splintering the polished oak into kindling.
He was seeing illusions.
Every time he closed his eyes, he saw the bloodied faces of the assassinated councillors staring back at him.
Every time the wind howled outside his window, he heard the cold, lethal voice of the Sect Elder threatening to erase his existence.
The absolute loss of control, the mysterious murders, and the suffocating pressure had driven the Mayor past the brink of sanity.
He was falling apart, losing his mind in the dark.
"DAMN THEM ALL! DAMN ACKHER! DAMN THE SECT!" Henar screamed, clutching his throbbing head as he staggered near his heavy stone balcony.
"How have you been, Mayor Henar?"
An unfamiliar, agonizingly smooth voice echoed from the dark corner of the bedroom.
Henar froze instantly.
Every hair on his body stood on end as his heart skipped a violent beat.
He spun around in sheer terror, his hand flying to the hilt of his broadsword.
Resting his back casually against the stone wall beside the balcony doors stood a tall, strikingly handsome young man.
He had long, waist-length golden hair that glowed like liquid sunlight in the dim room, and a pair of hypnotic golden-crimson eyes that burned with absolute, divine authority.
He was holding a thick, gold-embossed manual—one of the forbidden texts stolen from Henar’s private vault—casually flipping through its pages with one hand.
Roy slowly raised his eyes from the book, a calm, terrifyingly gentle smile gracing his handsome features as he looked at the trembling Mayor.
"You look rather tired, My Lord," Roy murmured softly.
"Shall we talk?"