173 Unmoving [Top 10 in Golden Tickets Bonus]
The sound of battle echoed in Theron’s ears as he walked away from it. One would have thought that it had nothing at all to do with him. Everything had been under his control from start to finish, and this would be no different.
Jodie and the masked figure were stuck in a battle of life and death, trying to fend off the group of disciples that Ironvale had called forward. In fact, they had probably been blamed for all of his assassinations as well.
A true shame for them.
But they wouldn’t be the last to suffer because of this.
**
Thessa suddenly gasped like a fish out of water.
Her aura began to skyrocket, from the First Silver Resonance to the second, and then from the second to the third, and then fourth.
It was such a violent, and yet controlled breakthrough that only started to slow when she reached the Seventh Silver Resonance.
She sat there in complete shock, both basking in the feeling and wondering how things had ended up like this. Theron really let her succeed? Did he make a mistake and underestimate how fast she could finish?
Her confusion wasn’t cleared, but she knew that she had no choice but to rush her way out. No matter what Theron’s reason for this mistake, she would be foolish not to take advantage of it. Maybe this meant that Theron was in some sort of trouble and she could take advantage. Maybe Selena was even still alive.
‘Please still be alive…’
Thessa jumped, leaping into the hole in the ceiling as jets of fire flickered beneath her feet. She barely made it, grabbing hold of the ledge and pulling herself up.
Then she began to crawl. From this location, she knew the direction out.
However, in the back of her mind, the uneasy feeling was only increasing. She had remembered Theron feeling out this region before… just what had he planned? And was all of this actually exactly what he wanted?
Thessa clenched her fists. Regardless, this changed everything. It should have taken her half a decade, if not more, to reach this stage. Her being this strong now… would throw a wrench in a lot of people’s plans.
Once she gained control of this new power, the gap between her and the crown prince would infinitely shrink. She would see if he still dared to control her with such impunity in the future.
Strength.
Her knuckles turned white beneath the strain, the highly resistant earth crawling beneath her sinking and melting with every clawing motion she made to pull herself forward.
And that was when it dawned on her.
Was that exactly what Theron wanted?
The thoughts consumed Thessa until she made it to the surface, only for the sound of battle to overwhelm her.
“Another one!” A roar came.
“Get her!”
“Kill her!”
Thessa’s eyes widened. What the hell was going on?
Suddenly, she was surrounded from all sides by a sea of disciples.
Wasn’t the Secret Realm supposed to be highly limited in entry? Where had all these people come from? Was this the true trump card of the Luminescent Moon Sect?
She grit her teeth as she understood something.
Theron didn’t just want to use her to occupy the Nightingales and the crown prince, he also wanted her to deal with these people for him too.
As for where he had gone? Probably to calmly collect his treasures.
Thessa should have been enraged beyond the point of reason, but surprisingly, she exhaled a calm breath.
‘Thank you.’
She closed off all her other thoughts. She had been used all her life; what was the problem with being used one more time? The difference was that this time… she had been granted true power.
She could only hope for Theron’s sake that he didn’t regret this in the future, because very soon… she would be making quite a lot of people regret things.
In this sea of disciples, they might have quantity on their side, but there wasn’t a single existence above Sixth Resonance here.
Wasn’t this the perfect opportunity to get used to her new strength?
**
As Theron walked, he held the black iron sword in one hand and the Verdant Bloomstone in the other.
He rotated the black iron sword in his hand, but… he found nothing special about it.
‘Just like father’s sword…’
Theron wasn’t a fool. He knew that there was no way Raiden took his father’s sword just for the sake of it. As far as Raiden was concerned, he had crippled Theron back then, so what good was it to take a useless sword if he didn’t need it?
‘There must be a reason the Lightning Mancer could sense the difference and I couldn’t… but also, I’ve used father’s sword in front of many Silver Mancers before, especially during the assassin trials. Why did only he figure it out? There must have been a special circumstance.’
Theron swung the sword, trying to get used to its balance and his new hand at the same time.
As expected, swallowing Vital Bloomstone had healed him. But unfortunately, it seemed it would take a bit of time before his severed hand was back up to its previous strength.
The good news, though, was that his body wasn’t focused on its strength as he wasn’t a Flux Mancer. The gap he had to make up was much smaller. Even better than that, his Immortal Jellyfish Echo was working wonders, he just needed to get out of here and move to a region with Water Mana he could actually take advantage of.
He would need to top up his Core before he took the next step.
With everything handled… he was sure that he wouldn’t be disturbed as he calmly took what everyone was going after for himself.
Whatever secrets this Secret Realm had would be his.
**
Patriarch Gian sat in silence, staring at a soul lamp that had extinguished what felt like moments ago, but had already been several hours.
From time to time, a vein would throb on his forehead before it returned to a state of calm. His eyes, though, were as unmoving as the night sky.