Chapter 284: The Encounter with Edriac
Iron smoothly extended his right hand forward and triggered an anti-phase interference.
The protective dome of Kront melted into the air without noise, flashes, or resistance.
Elyria and Noah instantly bolted downward. Iron froze for a split second, engaging his scanner. Light and energy sensors pierced through the castle's tiers, searching for familiar mana patterns. A moment later, the scanner picked up a dense cluster of energy, virtually identical to Valdes's signature.
Collapsing space, Iron materialized in the center of a massive hall. High columns of white marble extended all the way to the ceiling, the floor of polished concrete mirrored the light, and on a dais ahead stood a massive staircase, above which hung a giant bronze bell.
In the middle of this hall stood a group of armed guards led by a young man.
Iron froze for a moment, then grimaced in annoyance and muttered through his teeth:
"What the hell is going on...?"
At that exact same moment in the depths of Kront, directly beneath the royal castle, dozens of engineers and professors in protective robes bustled frantically around a giant central generator inside an underground technological complex. They ran from one monitor to another, checking graphs on scanners and trying to figure out why the dome had suddenly dropped.
The heavy armored doors to the compartment burst open with a crash. A winded liaison appeared on the threshold:
"Direct intrusion into the kingdom detected!"
The chief engineer spun around sharply, his eyes bulging:
"What?! An intrusion?!"
"Correct!" the messenger reported quickly. "Most likely, it was external interference that caused the instant shutdown of the dome!"
The engineer shook his head in astonishment:
"Even if so... who is even capable of disabling the dome?!" He immediately shook his head frantically, chasing away extraneous thoughts, and asked sharply: "And what about His Majesty?!"
"He's in deep shock," the liaison answered. "But physically unharmed, he's fine."
"...I see," the chief engineer exhaled, wiping sweat from his forehead.
Suddenly, one of the professors on duty right by the generator recoiled in fear. A thick, stinking blue smoke broke through the top of the unit, accompanied by a rising crackle.
"Everyone back! Get back immediately!" the professor screamed frantically, retreating toward the wall.
The engineers backed away from the instruments in panic. The chief engineer rushed up to the professor who had run over:
"What's happening?!"
"The generator is broken!" the latter cut him off.
"What?! But that's impossible!" The engineer rushed toward the generator, but the professor instantly grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back:
"Are you crazy?! You know better than to get near it right now! Who knows, it might explode!"
The engineer froze in place, staring helplessly at the billowing smoke, and muttered under his breath:
"Damn it..."
Meanwhile, Iron silently shifted his gaze from the frozen guard to the young man. The guards drew their swords immediately, waiting for their master's order.
Iron demonstratively raised his open palms upward:
"I came in peace."
The young man slowly turned toward him. There was no fear or panic in his eyes—only coldness and calculation:
"Who are you?"
"I am Iron Everfall," the engineer introduced himself calmly, and then said: "And you, I take it, are Valdes's son, right?"
The young man raised an eyebrow in slight surprise:
"Correct. You may simply call me Noir."
Iron slowly lowered his hands, keeping his eyes fixed on the young man:
"Alright, Noir. Tell me, where is Valdes?"
Noir said calmly and carelessly:
"He's dead."
Iron grunted, smirking barely perceptibly:
"Dead? Seriously? Coincidences like that don't happen. Are you absolutely sure he's dead?"
Noir merely lifted his chin slightly and stated firmly:
"I swear on my honor, he is dead."
Iron took a couple of unhurried steps toward the nearest marble column, examining the veins in the stone, and then continued:
"So I take it you don't care that your father is dead?"
"Why, should I care?" Noir interrupted him.
The image of the browbeaten and terrified Ardolf immediately surfaced in Iron's mind, and he asked with light irony:
"Well, yeah. Usually, a normal person mourns someone they lost."
"Does it look like he was someone dear to me?" Noir narrowed his eyes, a cold fury flaring within them. "The fact that the old man got killed is all the better for me! He was long overdue for retirement. Fate itself is pointing at me: I must rule this kingdom."
Iron peered intently at the guy, then asked dryly:
"Are names like Olgerd familiar to you?"
"No," Noir shook his head.
"How about Edriac?"
Noir hesitated for a second, wrinkling his forehead as if fishing out memories, and then said:
"Yes, I've heard that name. Father talked about him a lot."
"And what exactly did he say?" Iron inquired.
"I'm under no obligation to tell you what my father said," Noir snapped. "And I don't have to talk to you at all."
Iron had already made a movement, intending to compress space and teleport straight to him, but Noir threw up his hand instantly, continuing:
"Though... if you tell me what purpose brought you here, maybe I'll tell you."
"You first," Iron cut him off.
"Oh, no. You go first," Noir smirked, noticing Iron frown. "Don't worry, I swear to you that I'll tell you the truth."
Iron exhaled shortly:
"I came here to kill Valdes. But according to you—if you're to be believed, of course—he's already dead. That's the whole truth."
Noir nodded with satisfaction and began to speak:
"Father said Edriac was helpless. He kept insisting he was afraid of everything and failed to do what his ally asked, blindly obeying a man named Lucius."
"Who is this Lucius?" Iron asked instantly.
Noir merely shrugged indifferently:
"No idea."
Iron was already preparing to teleport, but shot out one last question:
"Do you know who killed your father?"
"No, I don't know," Noir answered calmly.
In that exact same second, Iron vanished.
Meanwhile, inside the castle, corridors and halls were literally ripped apart from within. Massive roots wove along the walls, the floor was covered in the thick blood of guards and mages, and severed arms, legs, and heads lay chaotically on the stone slabs.
Space distorted again, and in the next moment, Iron, Elyria, and Noah were hovering high in the sky above the expanses of the Avers Kingdom.
Suddenly, without making a sound, Noah simply began to plunge downward rapidly.
Elyria spun around sharply to face Iron, throwing her hands up:
"Here we go again! Again! You have to warn us, Iron!"
Iron merely replied lazily:
"You should be thanking me that I brought you along at all."
"Thank you?!" Elyria sputtered in indignation. "I've already said thank you to Eliza!"
Iron exhaled heavily, rolled his eyes, and pointed downward:
"Are you going to catch him already?"
Elyria followed his finger, saw Noah's falling figure, and perked up at once:
"Oh, oops, right!"
Magic caught Noah instantly, abruptly breaking his fall and pulling him back up smoothly. After a short while, he leveled with them and shot a furious glare at the spirit:
"Have you completely lost your mind?"
"Well, sorry, I..." Elyria started to make excuses, but immediately straightened up in indignation, shifting the blame: "It's all Iron's fault! Why did he teleport us here so suddenly?!"
At that moment, Iron had already completely zeroed out the dome of Avers with his right hand, and it dissolved silently in the air.
"Time's up," Iron said coldly.
Elyria only managed an astonished gasp:
"Huh?" as space collapsed around them once more.
In the next moment, Elyria and Noah materialized right inside the castle of Avers, coming face to face with a group of stunned guards. The guards drew their weapons instantly, but Elyria and Noah, exchanging glances with predatory smirks, charged straight at them.
Iron, meanwhile, appeared in an elegant open gallery passage.
It was a semi-open peristyle gallery. The floor here was laid with smooth, light marble that softly reflected the light. The ceiling was supported by a neat row of delicate, slender columns, and instead of walls, there were wide arched openings without doors. The passages and bases of the slender supports were entwined with thick green vines and trailing shoots of living flowers, while the openings offered a direct view of a lavish inner garden with bushes and flower beds.
At that moment, Edriac was walking along the marble floor of the gallery accompanied by several guards.
The figure suddenly appearing right in front of them made them freeze in their tracks. The guards sprang into action instantly, drawing their swords and shielding their ruler with their backs. Edriac himself recoiled in surprise, staring at Iron with fear and disbelief.
The engineer stood relaxed in the middle of the flower-draped gallery. His lips stretched into a wide, cold smile, and he said quietly:
"Well hello, Edriac."
Edriac swallowed hard, staring at the creepy figure with the hidden face, and screamed at the top of his lungs:
"Kill him! Kill him immediately!"
Far from here, deep inside a winding dungeon, semi-darkness reigned, broken only by the steady light of wall torches. Lucius walked unhurriedly down the dark stone corridor. His footsteps echoed hollowly off the damp cavern vaults.
Suddenly right in front of him—slightly to the right in mid-air—a shimmering translucent hologram unfolded with a quiet hum, broadcasting what was happening straight from the castle of Avers.
On the spatial projector, the peristyle gallery was displayed in minute detail: the terrified Edriac, the guards ready to pounce, and Iron.
Lucius stopped abruptly. A satisfied smirk spread across his lips, and after that, he said:
"Well, well, well."