A few minutes later, on a floating island located somewhere within the vast lands of Aris.
The floating island remained suspended high in the sky, surrounded by drifting clouds that moved slowly with the wind. At its center stood an illustrious mansion, built with Architectural elegance that did not belong to this era. The structure was large and refined, its walls were decorated with intricate carvings that reflected an ancient architectural style.
Two figures appeared near the entrance of this mansion. Their arrival was sudden, but they were not hindered from entering the domain.
Without wasting any time, both of them walked forward and entered the mansion. Clearly, they were familiar with this place.
Inside, the atmosphere was calm and deeply focused. The entire space was filled with books, scrolls, and manuscripts. Tall shelves covered the walls from end to end, holding countless volumes of knowledge collected over many years. The air carried a faint scent of aged parchment and ink.
At the center of the room, an old man sat quietly in a study.
He remained completely focused on an old book placed in front of him. His attention did not waver even for a moment. Several ancient and powerful artifacts were placed around the table. Each artifact was in an active state, and its purpose was apparent in this situation. They were tools designed to assist in deciphering the complex texts written within the book.
The man seated there was Edmund Harrowgate.
He held the position of the second seat among the Primarchs. In a distant past, he had served as a strategist for an ancient empire that no longer existed.
His race was known as the Geyahna humans. They were considered a sister race to the Aurel humans, who are now the dominant human race in the current era within the Riverdale and Holy Sun Empire. The Geyahna humans had long gone extinct, leaving behind only traces of their existence in history.
In the present time, only two beings of that race remained alive.
One of them was Edmund himself.
The other was the Divine Seer of Riverdale. She carried both Geyahna and Aurel blood within her lineage.
The empire that Edmund had once served had disappeared completely, but he had survived its fall. His survival was not due to chance. It was the result of his careful decisions, his cautious nature, and his long-term ambition.
He held a mild but firm desire to become a God, the god of Wisdom, though he did not believe in or act in the madness other primarchs seemed to show.
His own research on psychology and genealogy had concluded that this condition was solely due to their racial traits and old recessive genes burdening them down. Anyway, he had remained quiet and followed the flow of fate; this is how he had survived eons. His caution was on an abnormal level.
The ambition to collect wisdom, combined with his tendency to avoid unnecessary risks, had allowed him to reach the peak of cultivation within Aris slowly and steadily.
Like the other Primarchs, his goal was to ascend to godhood. However, the path forward had remained unclear for a long time. Because of this, he had devoted himself entirely to research and study.
He had become deeply absorbed in knowledge to the point that he could be described as a bookworm in every sense.
The peaceful and focused environment that surrounded him was suddenly disturbed.
The two figures who had entered the mansion walked directly into the room without hesitation. Their sudden arrival broke the silence that had previously allowed Edmund to concentrate fully.
Edmund did not look pleased; he found it rude but chose not to express the fickle matters.
Though his expression showed clear annoyance as he lifted his gaze slightly from the book. His attention shifted toward the two individuals who had interrupted him.
The first of them was Victor Draxton, the Primarch who held the first seat. He was known as the Draconic Apotheosis. He had a talent that granted him insane regeneration.
The second was Elavnil Whitcombe, the Primarch who held the third seat. She was a vampire and the wielder of mysterious Blood Flame.
Their presence alone was enough to disrupt the calm atmosphere of the room.
Edmund spoke in a flat tone, clearly irritated. "What do you guys need?"
Elavnil stepped forward. Her expression remained calm and unaffected as she met Edmund’s gaze.
"Someone has appeared," she said. "This person has reached a level of cultivation similar to ours. We need to make sure that this individual is dealt with."
Edmund looked at her for a few seconds without responding immediately. His eyes remained steady as he processed her words.
"Who is it?" he asked.
Elavnil did not answer directly. Instead, she took out a crystal about the size of a fist and handed it over to him.
Edmund took the crystal and activated it. The recorded footage began to play, showing the events that had occurred in the colosseum. He watched the entire broadcast carefully, from the beginning until the moment it ended abruptly.
After the recording stopped, Elavnil spoke again.
"The situation has gone too far. The entire continent has already seen Aliastar’s arm being destroyed. If we do not take action, our authority as Primarchs will be questioned."
Edmund remained silent for a moment.
He placed the crystal down on the table and folded his arms. One of his hands moved to his chin as he began to think carefully about everything he had just seen.
His expression remained calm, but his mind was clearly active.
"Are you coming or not?" Elavnil asked.
Edmund shook his head slowly. "I am not needed."
Victor, who had been standing quietly until now, turned his attention toward Edmund.
"Why do you think that?" he asked. "What if this unknown entity is dangerous enough to threaten all three of us? What if we require your support?"
Edmund responded with a faint smile.
"There are two possibilities," he said. "In both of them, my presence is unnecessary."
He raised his index finger as he began to explain.
"In the first scenario, this entity is equal in strength to us. He likely aimed for Aliastar’s head, but Aliastar reacted in time and avoided a fatal strike. As a result, only his arm was destroyed."
"In that case, the entity’s strength is comparable to Aliastar’s. He relied on the element of surprise to gain an advantage. After that, William ended the broadcast to conceal the rest of the battle and hide the true extent of this entity’s power, specifically from other primarchs."
He continued without pause.
"This would force you to remain cautious and prevent you from entering the battlefield immediately so that he can fulfill his own objectives."
"If this assumption is correct, then the two of you are sufficient to handle someone of that level."
He then raised a second finger.
"The second possibility is that the entity is far stronger than all of us. He deliberately avoided killing Aliastar to create a false impression. He wants us to believe the first scenario and walk directly into a death trap."
His tone remained calm as he finished his explanation.
"If that is the case, then my presence will not change anything. That entity alone would be capable of eliminating all of us."
Edmund leaned back slightly in his seat after finishing his reasoning. His expression remained relaxed as he looked at both of them.
"In either case, there is no benefit in my going with you guys."
Victor listened carefully, then spoke again.
"What if neither of your assumptions is correct? What if this entity is strong, but still requires all four of us to handle him together?"
Edmund smiled faintly at that question. "If that were true, the broadcast would have ended much earlier," he replied. "He would have approached and targeted us one at a time instead of revealing himself in such a manner."
Elavnil responded immediately. "I still believe that Edmund’s first scenario is correct. There are no beings above the peak of godhood on Aris. The heavens do not allow such existence."
She continued speaking. "Victor possesses near-immortal regeneration. I can transform into Blood Flame, and Aliastar is a phoenix. The only one at real risk of dying here is you, since you are a human, unfortunately."
She looked directly at Edmund with a smile, "That is why you are being overly cautious and refuse to join us."
Victor nodded in agreement. "Even if that entity has hidden abilities, the fact that he did not act sixteen years ago to help Rudra Solaris suggests that he only recently reached this level."
Both of them dismissed Edmund’s reasoning with their own conclusions.
Victor then gave a light chuckle. "Do not worry, Edmund. We understand that you prefer not to take risks. We will not force you to come with us."
He then turned toward Elavnil. "Let’s go."
Without waiting further, both of them left the room. Once they were gone, the room returned to silence.
After a brief pause, Edmund called out.
"Delvis."
A man entered the room almost immediately. He carried a strong aura, but his appearance was that of a formal butler. He bowed respectfully.
"My lord."
Edmund raised his eyes and met Delvis’s gaze. "Prepare three wreaths of white chrysanthemums."
Delvis froze for a moment, clearly surprised by the instruction.
"My lord," he said carefully, "those are used for funerals."
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[A/N: If anyone is wondering, why do some characters use gold winged eagles to send letters. When devices like communication crystals, recording crystals, and broadcasting crystals exist in this world.
- There are several reasons for that. All these crystal devices work on the same principle, which will be explored later in the story. The main crux for now is that these devices come in all sizes and the rarity of these crystal devices increases as their size decreases. And the mana required to use it is more for larger crystals and less for smaller ones.
- there is no established supply chains or merchants for selling these crystals and most of the time these devices are custom made at a high price, so not everyone keeps such comodity with them specially when communication requires both sender and reciever to have similar crystals.
- Empires generally place huge crystal devices in every city for emergency communication. Remember the crystal from Opera Town - something similar to that.
- Similarly, such huge crystals are placed in plazas and central hubs to broadcast events; the cost is borne by the organizer, which is quite high since even big crystals are an expensive commodity and need higher amounts of mana to run. However, they have an upside in that they provide a large view.
- Of course, primarchs would carry the most premium and rare type of these devices, which are the size of a fist.