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Chapter 154 - Truths Forgotten
Chapter 154Truths ForgottenValen could fly, the Prince realized. From Sylas’ back, it was as though he grew wings and they fluttered--and he took to the grand skies, slowly descending toward the sight that took his breath away. The one-eyed man stood rooted in place, the world round him dancing and flowing. And Valen was flying.He could not reconcile the feeling, and tears began to stream down h...
Chapter 153 - The Prince Foretold
Chapter 153The Prince ForetoldThe winds were blowing cold and harsh, their touch akin to a knife’s scrape against the skin. They were relentless, void of emotion, cutting through the world at their own pace. Valen had heard the winds often, but always from the comfort of the castle’s walls--especially recently. To him, the winds were a soothing melody deep at night that chased the demons away ...
Chapter 152 - Gifts of Blood
Chapter 152Gifts of BloodThe sky was always starless, Sylas reckoned, misted in thick, gray clouds. The feeling of looking at it from down below was suffocating, as though he was stuck within a framed cage that had no world beyond it. Rather than the sight, however, it was his thoughts that were drowning his lungs. Derrek's 'confessional' had illuminated a great deal of reality, and wo...
Chapter 151 - Of Godly Means and Prophecies
Chapter 151Of Godly Means and PropheciesSylas pulled back the bow and closed one of his eyes, his fingers itching to let loose, aiming toward a thing he couldn’t see. In front of him stood a stone wall, and beyond it a scarecrow-like target, and he wanted to pierce its head. Taking a deep breath, he stilled his heartbeat and quickly turned to unclench his fingers. The sound of an arrow wasn’t ...
Chapter 150 - Beneath the Armor
Chapter 150Beneath the ArmorSylas sat on a cold, rough rock, snow careening from the high sky and covering the surrounding landscape in thick layers of white. There was a gourd of ale in his hand, half-drank already, and innumerable thoughts swimming in his mind. Stories were weaving, and a myriad of scenarios was being concocted by his mind every second. So, oh-so-many possibilities existed... ye...
Chapter 149 - Exorcising the Demons
Chapter 149Exorcising the DemonsAs soon as the new loop started, well within the first hour of the tragedy, Sylas leftthe castle with hurried steps, deciding to train on the Way along the journey. Though he cleansed a good chunk of his anger, the side-effect of it was that the lid he'd put on it was lifted, and it all came pouring out. There was a frothing lake of rage raving within his soul, ...
Chapter 148 - Day Colored in Red
Chapter 148Day Colored in RedWhat followed Sylas' proclamation was violence. Pure, raw, unadulterated, primal violence that knew neither humanity nor empathy. It was a battle of no civility, no acceptance, no tolerance, no high-strung ideas that tied mankind into a loose group of like-minded souls. All Sylas saw were creatures that had to die, and all the others saw was a monster from their gr...
Chapter 147 - Vile, Evil, and Inhumane
Chapter 147Vile, Evil, and InhumaneA shadow moved swiftly and silently, creeping between the simplistic houses unheard and unseen. It was like a knife searing through the pounds of flesh effortlessly, gliding through the many soft throats and ending lives as unsuspectingly. There was something dastardly and bedeviled about Sylas as he shadowed life in the hidden mountains and made it undone. His f...
Chapter 146 - Hymns of Shadows
Chapter 146Hymns of ShadowSylas hardly fancied a blizzard that nigh buried him alive, but a blizzard that nigh buried him alive was what he got. Halfway through the night on top of the tiny protrusion he was using to rest, he was woken to the sounds of hissing winds that ripped through the mountainways, carrying with them snow adrift. The winds belted in the high hundreds, and soon snow began to f...
Chapter 145 - It Stood Hidden
Chapter 145It Stood HiddenTrek through the snow was fairly easy, but it was the night that made it difficult. Still, Sylas persisted, belting his boots into the snow and imprinting the path from the castle southward. The lonesome moon in the sky reflected his own being, as for the first time in a while, he was alone. A rugged, leather backpack hung over his shoulder, packed with essentials--more s...
Chapter 144 - Anger Unblemished
Chapter 144Anger UnblemishedWhat once was a central chamber that forked into numerous corridors and hallways of the castle was now a makeshift arena with stands framing it circularly. The usually silent walls were alight with cheers, and just outside the stands, in the room over, a massive feast was slowly being laid out onto countless tables. Soon, the first round of the tournament would end—af...
Chapter 143 - Two Stories
Chapter 143Two StoriesThe castle as a whole was afire with excitement, with everyone in a great rush to prepare for the impromptu tournament that the Prince was throwing. Most excited were those keen on participating, especially after learning about the rewards--every participant will get a full gourd of ale regardless if they win or not, and every winner will get one extra gourd for each victory....
Chapter 142 - King Wyvenul
Chapter 142King Wyvenul“Where to begin?” Valen mumbled, taking a sip of wine and having a hard think for a moment before continuing. “Truth be told, most of what I know of my father before my time are stories--legends and myths, even, that the servants and guards would whisper when they thought I wasn’t listening. How he fought off a herd of bandits all by himself, how he defeated an evil ...
Chapter 141 - Calm Between the Walls
Chapter 141Calm Between the WallsSylas slowly opened his eyes to the sound of the morning barks; it’s been a while, he realized, since he last had a good, uninterrupted night’s rest. Beyond that, he had no worries, no new things he had to do today, no plans for potentially dying to something insurmountable. It was an ordinary day, he realized, one where he could just relax and do nothing. As s...
Chapter 140 - Chasms of the Mind
Chapter 140Chasms of MindSylas was sitting in the wide-open plain, snow falling relentlessly on him, his legs hung off the ledge of the boulder he'd taken as his 'spot', gourds upon gourds of wine--over half already empty--strewn about. There was a dazed look on his face, his lips faintly parted, eyes misty and thoughtless. He was 'looking' at the sky, or at least something bey...
Chapter 139 - Cairn of Immortality
Chapter 139Cairn of ImmortalitySylas was told to follow--and the 'old man Lukas' as he'd gotten to call the man leading him left the room, took a sharp right, and began descending the stairs. That descent led into the hallway at the end of which another set of stairs leading downstairs existed. And another. Then they walked up for a bit, it felt, before, once again, descending further....
Chapter 138 - Winterwoven
Chapter 138WinterwovenStrange silence reigned over a spacious, round, and lavishly decorated room. Gold-woven drapes covered arched, stained glass windows, with the wall spilling into a blend of marble and rug-covered stone. Beautiful, hand-carved chairs with ornamental backs surrounded equally decorative tables, four of them, spaced evenly in a circle around the center of the room.The center itse...
Chapter 137 - Songs of the Capital
Chapter 137Songs of the CapitalFrayer had lived a long life--this was especially impressive considering he'd been entangled with the wrong side of the law from when he was a little boy thieving away around the Perfumed District. Most boys and men like him die very young or get caught and tossed into grunt work at mines and other camps, but he somehow managed to evade it all and grow from hollo...
Chapter 136 - The Wheels Turn
Chapter 136The Wheels TurnAsha and Sylas sat on a small wall gating a tall, thick tree. It resided in a park-like enclosure, surrounded by several fountains and garden-like flowery bushes. Both were still reeling from the shock of where they landed and what they'd discovered, Sylas actually more so than her.After all, the capital of the Kingdom was his ultimate goal--this place was where he wa...
Chapter 135 - Cathia
Chapter 135CathiaWhile Asha smiled excitedly and gestured with her hands and arms toward the sky, Sylas stood silenced, staring at the vortex that appeared out of nowhere. He’d witnessed many-a-strange thing in his life here on this world, and this one might be the strangest one yet. Wiping his eyes as though there was an audience watching, he sighed and glanced at Asha suddenly.“You said you ...
Chapter 134 - Bolts Strike in Twos
Chapter 134Bolts Strike in TwosSylas exhaled a rancid breath and shuddered for a moment as he opened his eyes. He sat topless by the lake, basking in the faintly lukewarm rays of the sun, sweat dripping down off of him. Scooping up a handful of water from the lake, he washed his face before drinking a few mouthfuls to wet his parched throat. He’d been hard at training for half a day now, but the...
Chapter 133 - Ruins of H'vel
Chapter 133Ruins of H’velSylas sat by one of the ruins--one of the better-preserved ones, with one wall even standing almost whole, etched in it a squared hole where a window used to be. He’d cleaned up most of the interior, removing the far-reaching vines and grass that had taken over it, revealing beneath a very simple decor--if it could even be called that.From what he could tell, there wer...
Chapter 132 - Heaven's Hung in Silver
Chapter 132Heaven’s Hung in SilverThe town, city, settlement, whatever it used to be, circled the lake in a crescent, sticking mostly to the flatland, with only a few shoddy-looking, building-like formations protruding on the steep mountain ‘paths’. Agnes and Sylas did a quick run-through of the entire place without looking too deeply into it, wanting to have a whole picture before the night...
Chapter 131 - Buried in the Sands of Time
Chapter 131Buried in the Sands of TimeSylas fell out of it for but a moment before coming to. Agnes, however, continued to stare, her jaw slacked, forcing Sylas to grab her by the arm and pull her away and behind one of the jagged spires protruding from the mountain’s summit, hiding behind the cover. Though she yelped in shock for a brief breath, she came to immediately after, realizing the weig...
Chapter 130 - Past the Summit Untouched
Chapter 130Past the Summit UntouchedThey moved slowly, their pace strikingly decrepit. For every ten minutes that they walked, they spent hours huddled in a shelter waiting for the weather to get better--namely for the wind to slow down to the ‘barely not blown off the side of the mountain’ speed. Still, though snail-like, the progress was there--even if it wasn’t particularly evident. After...
Chapter 129 - Heralding the Unconquerable
Chapter 129Heralding the UnconquerableUnder the cover of a remarkably dark night, one where the moon elected to hide behind the thick clouds and the sky decided to be starless, Agnes and Sylas snuck out of the castle and headed westward. Both knew that leaving during the day would likely elicit the kind of sendoff that neither was particularly comfortable with, so they decided to simply... go, as ...
Chapter 128 - Everyone Changed
Chapter 128Everyone ChangedRyne hummed a low beat while slowly going through everything Sylas and Agnes brought forward in the preparation period for the creation of talismans. Even though Sylas wasn’t shabby either, it has been quite some time, years even for him, since he last crafted a talisman. He was rusty and decided to just observe for the time being before jumping in himself. Agnes, on t...
Chapter 127 - Buried in the Mountains
Chapter 127Buried in the Mountains“Yeah, this was a shit idea,” Sylas mumbled and closed his eyes. Soon after, darkness descended and the boiling burn won.You have died.Save point ‘Death’ has been initialized.“AAAAGGHHHHH!!!”Sylas was looming over a table--specifically, a leather map laid out on the said table, his eyes laser-focused on the rugged and mountainous west. There were no in...
Chapter 126 - Hills To Climb, Mountains To Conquer
Chapter 126Hills To Climb, Mountains To ConquerIt was a first, Sylas realized--they were cold. In fact, even hiding in a makeshift cave, as close to the fire as they could get without getting burnt... the chill still lingered. Though it made sense for him since, in the end, he simply had greater resistance to cold, it was far stranger for Agnes to feel the cold. And yet... she did.She was clutchin...
Chapter 125 - No Truth To Beckon
Chapter 125No Truth To BeckonSylas slashed his blade horizontally, easily cutting through yet another Ghoul. Within just fifteen minutes that he had been back, he'd already killed over thirty Ghouls, saving nearly a dozen people in the process. Agnes followed behind, strictly when he cleared the area, though, as they made their way toward the castle's center.Unfortunately, they didn’t en...
