Chapter 1043: Talent of the Continent
In a vast plain, marred by monster corpses and viscous crimson blood carving river paths along the dark terrain, stood a man.
The man exhaled softly, cold air streaming from his nostrils.
He carried silence like a weapon—sharp, deliberate, and always within reach. He was dressed in flowing black robes that rippled like ink in motion as he walked forward.
Every step he took carried the kind of stillness that made sound seem impolite. His hair, jet-black and carelessly tied into a loose topknot, betrayed the elegance of someone who didn’t seek attention—but couldn’t avoid it either.
Golden eyes flickered beneath his dark bangs, not with warmth, but with calculation. There was no rage in them, no mercy either—only awareness.
Barely five steps into motion, a lady materialized behind him. She stood like a cathedral cloaked in dusk—solemn, dignified, and quietly radiant.
Her skin, deep and warm like polished mahogany, contrasted beautifully with the long, silken veil of white hair that framed her face in disciplined strands. A single braid fell over her shoulder, immaculate and controlled, much like the expression she wore: composed, but laced with something unspoken.
She seemed to hesitate, but when she eventually spoke, her voice was like the sweetness of lilies if they could ever speak.
"Headmaster. We have completely eradicated all of them."
The young man tilted his head slightly, his eyes somewhat distant.
"Have we been able to establish communication with other branch citadels?"
"Teron has been working on it for two days now with no progress."
The young man slipped one hand into his robe.
"So it might not be a technology issue."
The lady nodded slightly.
"That’s what he said as well..."
The young man looked up at the golden light seeping through the sky. It was the dawn of the third day since the attack had begun in the Kingdom of Welster.
Welster was one of the nations with enough power to stand on its own and rebel against the Empire. It was one of the four nations of the Old Tower Alliance and was the nation where the strongest Citadel in the Central Plains had established its base.
Eli Caelvyn was the Headmaster of the Caelvyn Citadel and one of the existing Paragons of the Central Plains. Not the new, immature ones—the ones as strong as Raizel or the Kageyama clan patriarch.
"Nahia."
His voice was warm and smooth.
"Headmaster."
The lady responded with gentle urgency.
There was silence for a while as Eli continued to stare into the sky.
"There’s... a moving fortress in the sky."
Immediately Nahia raised her head. Her ash-toned eyes narrowed, and she clenched the hilt of the sword on her waist. Her long cape fluttered as she lowered herself into stance, ready to unleash a deadly onslaught—even the wind seemed to part.
"Should I tear it down?"
He continued to stare upward.
"I doubt you’ll be able to."
Nahia frowned.
Eli knew her abilities better than anyone. Even though she was only an Ascendant, she had just defeated six Ascendants on her own. Though they were military dogs with much to learn, she had nonetheless defeated six Ascendants single-handedly.
She would fare well, and she believed she could defeat the Paragons leading the Ascendants if only the Headmaster allowed her.
But Eli had handled those himself and allowed the Citadel Elites to take care of the others. He had also eliminated every Destroyer and Behemoth, assisted by three of the Elites. Nahia had been too late to join that side of the fray because she was busy with six Ascendants.
The point was she was lethal poison—forget her graceful curves and the gentleness that suggested the makings of a princess. She was a force of swift and intoxicating destruction on the battlefield.
Everyone knew this, so she trusted that if the Headmaster doubted her ability, then she really needed to be careful.
A wicked, endearing grin formed on her striking face, her silver lashes and ash eyes glinting.
"It seems I must exceed my limits today. Perhaps today is the day I become a Paragon."
Eli turned to her with a pale and blank expression.
She frowned.
"What?"
He shook his head.
"You are miles... miles away from that, Nahia."
Nahia glared at him with the light of resolve blazing in her eyes.
"I will become a Paragon very soon."
Meanwhile, as they argued, the flying fortress was descending.
Strangely, there was no violent displacement of air as the concrete vessel slowly descended to the ground.
On the rim of the airship sat a white-haired boy, cross-legged and staring down with a distant look in his blue eyes.
Eli’s eyes met his for a moment, and both seemed to silently gauge each other—one from above, one from below.
The ship was now closer to the ground than ever. Eli and the boy were still locked in their stare.
Nahia remained on high alert, her hand on her sword and her eyes fixed on the boy sitting on the edge of the ship’s bow.
She studied him for several seconds, observing and analyzing. But it was as though he was blank before her. Her eyes—razor-sharp at seeing the core of one’s soul—could not pierce into the boy’s soul core.
It was as though he had none. All she could see was a vast emptiness, something that terrified her and sent chills down her spine.
Her focus shattered when Eli released a small, nervous chuckle.
"Ah... ah ah... oh shoot."
She glanced at her Headmaster.
"Headmaster, is everything alright?"
Eli didn’t respond. He merely watched as the ship finally touched the ground and stilled.
Then the boy sitting on it descended softly, flowing down like the wind itself.
He looked to his subordinate and spoke to her with a firm tone as the boy approached.
"Nahia. Do not do anything rash or stupid. In fact, do not do anything at all, alright?"
Nahia hesitated.
"Yes... sir."
The Headmaster was usually composed, even in the face of any disaster, but she had been with him for over fifteen years—she knew when he wasn’t composed, when he was uncertain, when he felt fear.
There had been many such times when they were much younger, but since becoming a Sage, he had changed completely. Eli almost never got scared of anything or responded emotionally to anything.
Until today.
And that very fact alone made her deeply scared and wary of the person walking toward them.
Finally, the person reached them and bowed slightly. Behind him, other people were also descending.
And Nahia could even recognize someone among them.
"Isn’t that... Selis?"
Northern glanced back and responded.
"Oh, yes, she definitely is. And I am Rian. I hear they call me the Talent of the Continent..."