Chapter 131: Don’t regret it
Not a single person spoke.
The sword line that had just cut across the plaza still lay there, stretching from beneath Marcus Vane’s feet through the barrier and vanishing where the naked eye could no longer reach. In the sky above, the thick cloud layer that the Twin Dragon Spears had pulled into a massive vortex had been cleaved apart to either side, revealing a strip of deep blue sky running straight down the middle. Looking up from below, it appeared as though the entire sky had just been split in two by an invisible blade.
Both black and white dragon silhouettes had vanished. The residual energy of the Twin Dragon Heaven Seal had been cut so cleanly that barely any fluctuation remained.
Marcus still held both longspears before him, but his eyes had changed completely. He understood better than anyone just how terrifying that sword strike had been. It hadn’t used greater force to overpower the Twin Dragon Heaven Seal, nor had it collided with his attack to produce a catastrophic explosion. The sword light had simply passed through, and then the entire mass of energy was split down the middle, as though the Elite-level ultimate technique he’d poured everything into was nothing more than a thin sheet of paper.
Even Ethan stood motionless for several seconds.
The pressure that had weighed on him like a mountain was completely gone. Ethan drew a deep breath, letting the bones and muscles that had been compressed to the point of aching slowly relax, but his gaze remained fixed on the direction the sword strike had come from.
A calm female voice rang out.
"This area falls under the United Council’s protection."
The voice wasn’t loud, nor did it carry any obvious anger, yet every Zone 7 soldier surrounding the plaza went rigid at the same time.
"If you continue causing trouble, next time I won’t only be cutting into the skill."
Marcus closed his eyes for a brief moment. When he opened them, he slowly lowered the Twin Dragon Spears. Both longspears still emitted a low, reluctant dragon song, but they quickly transformed into two streams of light and vanished from his hands.
"Stand down."
The moment the order rang out, over thirty soldiers behind him immediately complied. The energy barrier surrounding the plaza also began to fade. Xue Ji on the outside stepped forward at once, but Ethan had already spotted a figure slowly appearing at the far end of the plaza.
QingLian.
She still wore the predominantly white garments, a pale red outer robe draping down both sides, a jade-green sash cinching her waist. Her long black hair was partially pinned up with delicate metal hairpins, the rest falling down her back, barely disturbed at all by the sword strike moments ago. At nearly two meters tall, simply walking into the crowd was enough to make the surrounding soldiers unconsciously clear a path.
But what caught Ethan’s attention most were her hands.
Empty.
No sword.
He looked at QingLian, then looked again at the sword line that had torn across heaven and earth.
’She didn’t even need to carry a sword?’
QingLian offered no explanation. She simply stopped at the edge of the battlefield, her gaze sweeping past Laira and Ruo Yan and their injuries before finally settling on Ethan. Marcus also looked at her. After a moment, he drew a deep breath and spoke slowly: "Today’s events were my decision alone. After returning, I will personally submit an explanation to the Council."
QingLian replied calmly: "That’s a matter for later."
Marcus said nothing more to her. He knew continuing to fight had lost all meaning. Pierce through QingLian to kill Ethan, at least not today. But when he turned back to look at Ethan, the coldness in Marcus’s eyes hadn’t diminished at all.
"You win."
Ethan raised an eyebrow slightly. "I don’t recall just beating you."
"I don’t mean the fight." Marcus stepped forward once, but this time without any oppressive aura. "I can’t kill you today, so this ends here. But Ethan, you should think carefully before truly turning your back on Safe Zone 7."
Xue Ji, who had just crossed through the barrier, frowned immediately upon hearing that. Laira stood to Ethan’s right, one hand still resting on her injured arm, while Ruo Yan wiped the streak of blood from the corner of her mouth, her cold gaze fixed on Marcus.
Ethan simply watched him in silence.
Marcus spoke more slowly: "You were born there, grew up there. Aurora Academy taught you, the people you once knew, the people who once lived alongside you, they’re all still there. You may hate me, hate the Council, but they have nothing to do with what’s between us."
Ethan began to understand what Marcus was trying to do.
The corner of his mouth curved slightly, but there was no humor in his eyes.
"The power around you is growing more dangerous by the day." Marcus looked straight at Ethan. "If one day it truly spirals out of control, the first to die could be the very people who once called you a friend, who studied alongside you, who lived under the same dome as you."
"So?"
"Return to Zone 7." Marcus answered. "Submit to an examination, hand over the dangerous items for the Council to study, and let us confirm you’re truly safe. If you cooperate, I can guarantee no one will pursue what happened today."
Laira heard that and let out a cold laugh. The laugh wasn’t loud, but it was enough to make several soldiers behind Marcus unconsciously tighten their grip on their weapons. Ruo Yan didn’t laugh. She simply looked at Marcus as though looking at someone who had just said something so absurd it wasn’t even worth refuting.
Ethan, however, fell silent.
Not because he was persuaded.
He simply found himself remembering things from a very long time ago.
Mira had told the truth. The recording had existed. He had waited for a rescue team, had believed that as long as the truth came out, at the very least the people of Zone 7 would hear him out.
And the result?
A recording declared corrupted.
Testimony twisted beyond recognition.
A decision made in a room he had no right to enter.
Then he was left behind.
Ethan raised his head. "General, do you know what the biggest problem with everything you just said is?"
Marcus frowned.
"You want me to trust you people." Ethan’s voice was very calm. And precisely because of that, every word landed even harder. "But when I needed you people to trust me, what did you do?"
Marcus said nothing.
"Someone told you the truth. You didn’t believe it. There was evidence, and you let it become something ’unusable.’ When I was still out there, you could have continued the rescue but decided I wasn’t worth spending any more resources on."
Ethan looked straight into Marcus’s eyes. "Now I survived, grew stronger, and the things on me are starting to scare you. So you want me to come back, hand over my power, and trust that you’ll treat me fairly?"
Marcus lowered his voice: "The situation was different back then."
"Of course it was different." Ethan nodded. "Back then I was weak."
Marcus’s hand slowly clenched.
Ethan didn’t let him cut in. "You may truly want to protect Zone 7. I believe that. Maybe you also truly think killing me today would eliminate a threat to millions. But if your way of keeping the peace is killing anyone who might become a danger in the future, then one day you won’t even know who you’re protecting anymore."
The vice-commander standing behind Marcus lowered his eyes slightly.
"As for the families, friends, or innocent people in Zone 7, I’ve never once said I would harm them." Ethan continued. "So don’t use their lives as a leash around my neck and call it responsibility."
The air around them went completely still.
Marcus looked at Ethan for a long time. His face remained hard, but his eyes no longer held the same coldness as when he’d raised the Twin Dragon Spears.
"You truly won’t come back?"
"No."
"You won’t reconsider?"
Ethan laughed, but there was no trace of joy in it. "You were trying to kill me a few minutes ago."
Marcus couldn’t answer that.
A long while later, he gave a slight nod. "Fine."
He turned around. "I hope you still remember today’s choice in the future."
Ethan watched his retreating back. "Same to you."
Marcus paused mid-step, but in the end didn’t turn around.
"Don’t regret it, Ethan."
He led every Zone 7 soldier out of the plaza. Nobody stopped them. QingLian didn’t add anything either, only watching Ethan for a moment before saying softly: "After you’ve treated your wounds, come see me."
Ethan was slightly surprised. "Me?"
"Yes."
"What for?"
"We’ll talk when you get there."
QingLian turned and left. Everyone standing in her path stepped aside of their own accord. Nobody dared ask what that sword strike had been, and certainly nobody was foolish enough to stand in her way.
Xue Ji was the one who finally walked up to Ethan. She raised her hand and gave his right shoulder a light punch.
"I really didn’t misjudge you."
Ethan immediately looked at her. "You just watched me nearly get killed."
"Which is exactly why I’m saying you’re still alive and well." Xue Ji smiled, but the smile faded quickly. Her gaze swept past Laira’s injuries, then to Ruo Yan, and finally returned to Ethan. "I’m sorry."
Ethan paused slightly.
"You came here representing Silver Moon City." Xue Ji’s voice dropped lower. "The moment you stepped out of the Trial Gate, someone had already set up a barrier and ambushed you right in front of me, and I was locked outside. This is my failure to protect my own people."
Her fist slowly tightened.
Ethan looked at her for a few seconds, then shook his head. "Don’t take on blame that isn’t yours. Marcus prepared in advance, and he’s stronger than you. You got here fast enough."
Xue Ji frowned. "You’re really bad at comforting people."
"I’m telling the truth."
"It still sounds unpleasant."
"Should I take it back then?"
"Shut up."
The corner of Ethan’s mouth curved slightly. Xue Ji also laughed, and the atmosphere finally eased a little.
Laira had walked over by now, one hand resting on Ethan’s shoulder as if to confirm he truly wasn’t seriously hurt. Ruo Yan stood on the other side, her complexion still a bit pale but at least showing no signs of danger.
Ethan turned to the two of them. "QingLian wants to see me."
Laira frowned immediately. "I heard."
"I’ll be gone for a bit."
"I’m going with you."
"It seems like she only wants to see me."
Laira grew even more displeased. Ruo Yan looked at her expression, then said evenly: "First, you should let us treat our wounds. If there’s truly a problem, with her level of power, adding the two of us wouldn’t change anything."
Laira turned to her.
Ruo Yan continued: "She swung one sword, and Marcus stopped fighting."
Laira fell silent. The logic was too clear.
In the end, she just leaned down close to Ethan and straightened his collar with her hand. "Go quick, come back quick."
"Yeah."
"Don’t let her hug you."
Ethan: "..."
Ruo Yan added flatly: "Kissing is also off limits."
Ethan looked at the two of them. "I’m just going to talk."
Laira nodded. "Even better."
Xue Ji stood nearby watching the entire exchange, and finally couldn’t help but laugh. "Let’s go. I’ll take you there before these two add more rules."