Chapter 1059: Next Stop, Dark Continent
Thalen and Eli approached Northern after a couple of minutes. By this time, Northern was already preparing to start his journey to the Dark Continent.
Eli, with a languidness that suited his face, smiled at Northern.
"What are we going to do from here?"
Northern bowed respectfully to both of them.
"I have divided my people into three groups, and if it’s alright with you, I’d like everyone divided into these three teams. First, we’ll need all the Paragons to face the Origin. My subordinates will take on the Tyrant—anyone is free to join his team, but he’s quite insufferable and vicious..."
Northern glanced back at Revant.
"So I don’t advise it."
Eli looked at Revant, who stood alone in a corner, silent and unreadable.
"He does look passively hostile... and sort of resembles you. Or is it just me?"
He asked, looking at Thalen.
Instead of responding, Thalen faced Northern.
"What will the third team do?"
"Naturally, they’ll protect the Continent... and prepare for the worst."
A somber, tense silence fell before Northern’s hoarse voice cut through again.
"There are supposed to be five strong Paragons in the continent, if I remember correctly."
He looked at Eli.
"Headmaster of the Caelvyn Citadel, Patriarch of the Kageyama clan, Rughsbourgh—who is now a Luminary—Late Paragon Raizel... who is the fifth?"
Before Northern finished speaking, both their mouths dropped.
Thalen blinked, his expression stressed and dark.
"Rian, what do you mean Rughsbourgh is now a Luminary, and Late...? Raizel is dead?"
Northern fell silent.
’Right... many people don’t know yet.’
He sighed and nodded.
"I witnessed his final moment. He died fighting Lieutenant Dante, protecting the government, his unborn child, and wife."
Eli chuckled in disbelief.
"Sage Rian... this is..."
He stopped mid-sentence as Northern turned to him. His eyes slowly widened.
"Wait. Are you serious?"
"Yes... his passing was..."
Northern’s mouth trembled slightly.
"Now isn’t the time. We need to figure out how to save the continent."
Thalen rested his hands on his hips and sighed, looking down momentarily.
"Rian’s right... we have to find a way... the last Paragon you asked about..."
He paused and breathed again. This time, his breath carried tension.
"He is the Dusk Watcher, Sultan Malikrayn al-Saraj IV of the Qamarûn Kingdom."
Northern narrowed his eyes briefly.
’One of the four of the Old Tower Alliance... nothing is known about him. They’re an introverted nation with an introverted king.’
Thalen spoke.
"If this is happening across all nations, I suppose even a powerful nation like Qamarûn would be fending off monsters. It should be easy to get him to join us."
Northern shook his head.
"No. There isn’t enough time to ride from here to Qamarûn—that’s several more hours. I should be on my way to Stelia as quickly as possible."
He fixed his gaze on Thalen.
"You’re an Ascendant, and we both know you’re stronger than you let on. Would you come with us and put someone else in command of your citadel?"
Thalen looked at Northern, expressionless for a moment. Then he scoffed.
"Really, is there any need to ask?"
Northern moved closer and whispered.
"There’s also something I want to show you."
Thalen’s eyes widened softly, but as Northern withdrew, he composed his face and nodded before stepping away.
The next few minutes passed quickly. Eli bid farewell to his assistant while Thalen handled his affairs efficiently.
Soon they were heading toward the enormous airship that looked as if it were built from brown, sandy cement—if such a material existed.
The three of them, along with Bairan, Revant, and Raven, stood in front of the ship. Helena, Annette, and the others were also there—Abyss Tyrant and Nebulous Lord included.
Northern glanced at the two Paragons. Shard Creeper stood near Nebulous Lord’s legs, with Siegfried positioned behind him.
Northern had said everything he needed to Annette, so there wasn’t much left to discuss. However, as he was entering the ship, something suddenly struck him.
He turned back with a slight frown.
"Right, I’ve always wondered... what about Gilbert? I haven’t heard from him in a while—not even the twins."
Annette answered evenly.
"He was rejected at the academy. The principal had an altercation with him rooted in their shared history. He said he was returning to Verulania."
"I see..."
’But I don’t think he was in Verulania... I was there for a while and saw no sign of him. Besides, the Principal—was he not at the academy, or did he die? How did Professor Heimburger even escape... the rest of the instructors, the Librarian, for example—are they all dead?’
It seemed obvious that they had somehow perished beneath the academy, but it felt too easy, too clean.
Northern’s intuition wouldn’t let him accept such a simple explanation. Something was happening—he was missing something.
But for now, he would focus on fighting the Origin.
Thalen, Eli, Revant, Raven, and Bairan had boarded the ship, leaving Northern as the last person.
As he climbed aboard, the stairs retracted and folded into the ship. A low mechanical growl rumbled from the vessel as it slowly began lifting off the ground—silently, with no wind dispersal.
Moments later, the ship was airborne, vanishing into the clear clouds.
Everyone in the citadel stared upward. Many knew what the ship had gone to do, what purpose it served; others had only a vague sense.
One couldn’t help but feel something after the apocalyptic war Drywall had just endured—and worse, they had nearly been eradicated with no chance to defend themselves.
The airship represented salvation to them. The fact that it was departing whispered into their hearts:
"They are going to fight the source of this destruction."
"They are going to protect the world from ruin."
"They are going to save humanity from doom."
***
Northern controlled the Tower of Trammel at full speed.
He stood at the ship’s bow, gazing forward as wind whipped past them violently. The airship’s arrowhead design cut through the air with ferocious power and speed, causing the violent currents to fall away to either side rather than buffeting anyone on deck.
He silently piloted the airship with his mind.
After a few moments, Thalen approached him, observing the vessel.
"Since we boarded, I haven’t seen you touch this airship’s wheel."
Northern stared forward.
"I don’t need to."
Thalen fell silent for a while.
"That’s a unique ship... I never knew you had a power relic like this. Did you get it from a rift?"
"No, actually... it was in the Dark Continent, but my guess is that it came from a rift, since many rifts opened there."
Thalen nodded.
"Hmm, I’m not surprised. I’ve been inside. The design is intricate, and it’s easy to tell it’s not from this era."
Northern’s tone remained even.
"It’s not... it’s perhaps the one thing I have connected to the Chaos Prince."
He frowned lightly and glanced at Thalen.
"Say... you’re well-versed with the Chaos Prince, right?"
Thalen shrugged.
"Not entirely, but I know just as much as you do. The Chaos Prince was a demented rare breed obsessed with containing the void in his body. The Origins called it madness, and because the Void was something they understood best... I’m not sure about this part, but I think the Origins once had to battle the Void. The fact that the Chaos Prince was pursuing it could have enraged them, especially the Origin of the Sun."
Northern blinked, causing Thalen to raise his brows carefully.
"What?"
"I mean... you said you don’t know as much as I do—that’s a bold lie."
"You may think so... but it really isn’t. The rifts we challenged were tied more to the Chaos Prince than to any Origin or Tyrant. Everywhere was filled with consequences of his actions. But we’ve never encountered something as powerful and valuable as this."
Eli touched the railing of the ship’s bow.
Northern turned to look at him.
"Ah, I see... if you both care anyway, now might be a good moment for all the lore you know, especially if it concerns the void."
Both turned toward him with interest, simultaneously.
Thalen spoke with a straight face.
"What do you want to know?"
Northern looked up momentarily.
"I’ve always been curious... why is it called a day star and not a sun? At first I thought it was terminology, but ’sun’ was used freely in the rift language and historical depictions, especially with the Origin of the Sun. He’s the Origin of the Sun, not the Origin of the Day Star. That would mean a sun does exist, right?"
Thalen folded his arms, diving deep into his thoughts.
"You’re neither wrong nor right. According to the history I know... Tra-el once had a sun too... but when the world shattered in two, some things couldn’t shatter with it."
Northern furrowed his brows suspiciously.
"So... the sun is in the underworld?"
"Yup, happy and thriving."
Northern chuckled—he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
"This is nearly the most absurd thing I’ve heard. How was the sun even moved? What cut the world?"
Eli shook his head.
"You can only imagine what the world felt like when the Tyrants and Origins were still alive. Mind you, they’re not the only race—just the deadliest. And some humans followed them to the other half. Can you imagine how strong they’d be... humans growing up in a society of beings that can move the sun?"
Northern lowered his head momentarily.
Just when he felt like he was growing strong... he was beginning to remember that he was still miles away from the strength needed to stand at the world’s peak.
’Well, no shit... the underworld is going to be one hell of a place.’