Synopsis and Starting Chapter Chapter 1: The Light At The End Of The Tunnel
Chapter 2: The Encyclopedia Of Mana Manipulation
Chapter 3: Head Start
Chapter 4: My Life Now
Chapter 5: Let The Journey Begin
Chapter 6: Up The Mountain
Chapter 7: How I Wished
Chapter 8: Questions
Chapter 9: Ones Held Dear
Chapter 10: Road Ahead
Chapter 11: To And Fro
Chapter 12: Meeting
Chapter 13: Q & A
Chapter 14: What’S To Come
Chapter 15: The Other Side
Chapter 16: Next Step
Chapter 17: Companion
Chapter 18: Family
Chapter 19: Peaceful
Chapter 20: Proclamation
Chapter 21: Everybody Wins
Chapter 22: For Them
Chapter 23: Royalty
Chapter 24: Auction
Chapter 25: Aftermath
Chapter 26: Partners In Crime
Chapter 27: Worth Fighting For
Chapter 28: Examination
Chapter 29: Changes In Dicathen
Chapter 30: Sword And Body
Chapter 31: Last Leg
Chapter 32: Dire Tombs
Chapter 33: Dire Tombs Ii
Chapter 34: Dire Tombs Iii
Chapter 35: Rash Actions And Limits
Chapter 36: Precautions
Chapter 37: A Son, Brother, And Friend
Chapter 38: In The Meantime
Chapter 39: Introspection
Chapter 40: New Winds
Chapter 41: I’M Not That Nice
Chapter 42: A Ball
Chapter 43: A Ball Ii
Chapter 44: Xyrus Academy
Chapter 45: You Dare?
Chapter 46: Not Quite As Planned
Chapter 47: Wiser Than The Wise
Chapter 48: Attention
Chapter 49: Reminisce
Chapter 50: Disciplinary Committee
Chapter 51: Classes And Professors
Chapter 52: Classes And Professors Ii
Chapter 53: Classes And Professors Iii
Chapter 54: It’S A Pleasure
Chapter 55: Match Start
Chapter 56: This Is Going To Hurt
Chapter 57: Family Gathering
Chapter 58: Feelings And Old Memories
Chapter 59: First Day On The Job
Chapter 60: Confrontation
Chapter 61: Romantic Idiot
Chapter 62: My Team
Chapter 63: Baby Steps
Chapter 64: Field Trip
Chapter 65: Widow’S Crypt
Chapter 66: Widow’S Crypt Ii
Chapter 67: Widow’S Crypt Iii
Chapter 68: Widow’S Crypt Iv
Chapter 69: Widow’S Crypt V
Chapter 70: An Unfamiliar Burden
Chapter 71: Evolving
Chapter 72: A Confusing Day
Chapter 73: One Fallen
Chapter 74: A Will’S Last Breath
Chapter 75: Order Of Power
Chapter 76: Manifest Destinies
Chapter 77: Good To See You
Chapter 78: Allies?
Chapter 79: Meanwhile
Chapter 80: Meanwhile Ii
Chapter 81: Meanwhile Iii
Chapter 82: At Last
Chapter 83: Benefactor
Chapter 84: A Greater Scale
Chapter 85: Lineage
Chapter 86: Elven Kingdom
Chapter 87: Winding Down
Chapter 88: A Will’S Unwillingness
Chapter 89: A Stroll
Chapter 90: A Cursed Blessing
Chapter 91: The Start
Chapter 92: Collapse Of Xyrus
Chapter 92: Bird’S Cage
Chapter 93: Chosen Ones
Chapter 94: Arrival
Chapter 95: The Calm Before
Chapter 96: The Storm
Chapter 97: Outcome
Chapter 98
Chapter 99
Chapter 100
Chapter 101
Chapter 102
Chapter 103
Chapter 104
Chapter 105
Chapter 106
Chapter 107
Chapter 108
Chapter 109
Chapter 110
Chapter 111
Chapter 112
Chapter 113
Chapter 114
Chapter 115
Chapter 116
Chapter 117
Chapter 118
Chapter 119
Chapter 120
Chapter 121
Chapter 122
Chapter 123
Chapter 124
Chapter 125
Chapter 126
Chapter 127
Chapter 128
Chapter 129
Chapter 130
Chapter 131
Chapter 132
Chapter 133
Chapter 134
Chapter 135
Chapter 136
Chapter 137
Chapter 138
Chapter 139
Chapter 140
Chapter 141
Chapter 142
Chapter 143
Chapter 144
Chapter 145
Chapter 146
Chapter 147
Chapter 148
Chapter 149
Chapter 150
Chapter 151
Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Chapter 154
Chapter 155
Chapter 156
Chapter 157
Chapter 158
Chapter 159
Chapter 160
Chapter 161
Chapter 162
Chapter 163
Chapter 164
Chapter 165
Chapter 166
Chapter 167
Chapter 168
Chapter 169
Chapter 170
Chapter 171
Chapter 172
Chapter 173
Chapter 174
Chapter 175
Chapter 176
Chapter 177
Chapter 178
Chapter 179
Chapter 180
Chapter 181
Chapter 182
Chapter 183
Chapter 184
Chapter 185
Chapter 186
Chapter 187
Chapter 188
Chapter 189
Chapter 190
Chapter 191
Chapter 192
Chapter 193
Chapter 194
Chapter 195
Chapter 196
Chapter 197
Chapter 198
Chapter 199
Chapter 200
Chapter 201
Chapter 202
Chapter 203
Chapter 204
Chapter 205
Chapter 206
Chapter 207
Chapter 208
Chapter 209
Chapter 210
Chapter 211
Chapter 212
Chapter 213
Chapter 214
Chapter 215
Chapter 216
Chapter 217
Chapter 218
Chapter 219
Chapter 220
Chapter 221
Chapter 222
Chapter 223
Chapter 224
Chapter 225
Chapter 226
Chapter 227
Chapter 228
Chapter 229
Chapter 230
Chapter 231
Chapter 232
Chapter 233
Chapter 234
Chapter 235
Chapter 236
Chapter 237
Chapter 238
Chapter 239
Chapter 240
Chapter 241
Chapter 242
Chapter 243
Chapter 244
Chapter 245
Chapter 246
Chapter 247
Chapter 248
Chapter 249
Chapter 250
Chapter 251
Chapter 252
Chapter 253
Chapter 254
Chapter 255
Chapter 256
Chapter 257
Chapter 258
Chapter 259
Chapter 260
Chapter 261
Chapter 262
Chapter 263
Chapter 264
Chapter 265
Chapter 266
Chapter 267
Chapter 268
Chapter 269
Chapter 270
Chapter 271
Chapter 272
Chapter 273
Chapter 274
Chapter 275
Chapter 276
Chapter 277
Chapter 278
Chapter 279
Chapter 280
Chapter 281
Chapter 282
Chapter 283
Chapter 284
Chapter 285
Chapter 286
Chapter 287
Chapter 288
Chapter 289
Chapter 290
Chapter 291
Chapter 292
Chapter 293
Chapter 294
Chapter 295
Chapter 296
Chapter 297
Chapter 298
Chapter 299
Chapter 300
Chapter 301
Chapter 302
Chapter 303
Chapter 304
Chapter 305
Chapter 306
Chapter 307
Chapter 308
Chapter 309
Chapter 310
Chapter 311
Chapter 312
Chapter 313
Chapter 314
Chapter 315
Chapter 316
Chapter 317
Chapter 318
Chapter 319
Chapter 320
Chapter 321
Chapter 322: Echoes Of Accusations
Chapter 323
Chapter 324
Chapter 325 Painless
Chapter 326 Backlash
Chapter 327 Enough For Now
Chapter 328 Face To Face
Chapter 329: A Plea For Help
Chapter 330
Chapter 331: The Trial
Chapter 332: Broken Chains
Chapter 333: Attention
Chapter 334: Last Mercy
Chapter 335: Haunting Peace
Chapter 336: Protection
Chapter 337: Layers
Chapter 338 A Weapon Against Him
Chapter 339 The Central Dominion
Chapter 340 Burden And Stakes
Chapter 341 Ashes And Dust
Chapter 342 Duality
Chapter 343 Professor Princess
Chapter 344 Eyes Locked
Chapter 345 Socialite
Chapter 346 A Dim Spark
Chapter 347 A Stroll With Gods
Chapter 348 Melee Enhancement Tactics
Chapter 349: Hope And Lies
Chapter 350: Colleagues
Chapter 351: Minimally Catastrophic
Chapter 352: Relic, Revived
Chapter 353: Paradigm Shift
Chapter 354: Somewhat Teaching
Chapter 355: Just His Name
Chapter 356: Closure
Chapter 357: Blood Relic
Chapter 358
Chapter 359
Chapter 360
Chapter 361: The Second Ruin
Chapter 362: Fate Intertwined
Chapter 363
Chapter 364
Chapter 365
Chapter 366
Chapter 367
Chapter 368
Chapter 369
Chapter 370
Chapter 371
Chapter 372
Chapter 373
Chapter 374
Chapter 374.5
Chapter 375
Chapter 376
Chapter 377
Chapter 378
Chapter 379
Chapter 380
Chapter 381
Chapter 382
Chapter 383
Chapter 384
Chapter 385
Chapter 386
Chapter 387
Chapter 388
Chapter 389
Chapter 390
Chapter 391
Chapter 392
Chapter 393
Chapter 394
Chapter 395
Chapter 396
Chapter 397
Chapter 398
Chapter 399
Chapter 400
Chapter 401
Chapter 402
Chapter 403
Chapter 404
Chapter 405
Chapter 406
Chapter 407
Chapter 408
Chapter 409
Chapter 410
Chapter 411
Chapter 412
Chapter 413
Chapter 414
Chapter 415
Chapter 416
Chapter 417
Chapter 418
Chapter 419: One Of Mine
Chapter 420: Shackles
Chapter 421: Black Doors
Chapter 422: Black Doors Ii
Chapter 423: One Last Ruin
Chapter 424: Through The Djinn’S Eyes
Chapter 425: Unexpected Visitor
Chapter 426: Changing The Narrative
Chapter 427: Amends
Chapter 428: Hoping
Chapter 429: A Dream Yet To Happen
Chapter 430 Opposition
Chapter 431 Time
Chapter 432 Overdue
Chapter 433 Respect And Regards
Chapter 434 Fellowship Forged
Chapter 435 Entourage
Chapter 436 Obscured
Chapter 437 Scales Of Understanding
Chapter 438 A Broken Path
Chapter 439 Holding Ground
Chapter 440 A Loose Idea
Chapter 441 The Message
Chapter 442 A Snapped Thread
Chapter 443 Horns Of Exeges
Chapter 444 A Sword Struck
Chapter 445 The Truth Of Power
Chapter 446 Scarred
Chapter 447 A Certain State In Time
Chapter 448
Chapter 449
Chapter 450
Chapter 451
Chapter 452
Chapter 453
Chapter 454
Chapter 455
Chapter 456
Chapter 458
Chapter 457: Equivalent Exchange
Chapter 459
Chapter 460
Chapter 461
Chapter 462
Chapter 463
Chapter 464
Chapter 465
Chapter 466
Chapter 467
Chapter 468
Chapter 469
Chapter 470
Chapter 471
Chapter 472
Chapter 473
Chapter 474
Chapter 475
Chapter 476
Chapter 477
Chapter 478
Chapter 479
Chapter 480
Chapter 481
Chapter 482
Categories Genre: All, Fantasy, Martial, Ongoing Status: Ongoing ______
Total Chapters in book: 485
Estimated words: 1771831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 8859(@200wpm)___ 7087(@250wpm)___ 5906(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 1771831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 8859(@200wpm)___ 7087(@250wpm)___ 5906(@300wpm)
______
LIST OF LAST 10 CHAPTERS:
Page No. 485 Page No. 484 Page No. 483 Page No. 482 Page No. 481 Page No. 480 Page No. 479 Page No. 478 Page No. 477 Page No. 476 Page No. 475 Chapter 237
Chapter 237
Chapter 237: Expired Arrangement
ARTHUR LEYWIN
Long after the sun had set and night crept in, bringing a bitter chill along with it, I sat mindlessly by the fire. Above me, the stars that seemed the same in my previous world and this world glimmered like crystal dust across the horizon.
Virion, like a feeble infant, had fallen back asleep after crying. His body was in a severely weakened state and his mana core had been on the cusp of shattering. Bairon still hadn’t woken up, his injuries from the scythe much more severe than I had originally expected.
Hours must’ve passed since I last moved from my seat as my whirling vortex of thoughts digressed into an empty void. After the anger had fizzled out, the plans to save my family and Tess—the plans for revenge and justice—had all faded.
So I sat on the ground, running my fingers idly through the soft dirt beneath me, no idea where to go from here. The Alacryans now had control over the Castle and with it, the controls to the teleportation gates throughout the continent. It didn’t take a genius to guess that they would plan on taking Xyrus City next before slowly wiping away the forces of Dicathen.
With Virion in the state he was in right now, our side didn’t even have a leader. The lances were scattered and it was only a matter of time before they would be picked off one at a time until Dicathen had no hope of ever retaliating.
The crunch of leaves drew my attention behind me. Sylvie had come out from the earthen shelter I had conjured, but one glance was all it took for me to realize that my bond wasn’t who she appeared to be.
“Let’s take a walk, shall we?” she said, and her voice was the same, but the cadence and pitch were all off.
My heart quickened and I found myself trembling with rage but I wordlessly followed. For five minutes we walked, accompanied only by the snapping of twigs and the crush of foliage under our feet. A flurry of emotions passed through me as I stared at the back of the one responsible for all of the deaths and misery our people had to endure.
My mind raced to think of something to say, to think of something to do.
“Whew!” Sylvie breathed, taking a seat on a fallen log. “Controlling this body even for simple things like walking is hard work.”
I stared at the leader of the Vritra Clan and ruler of Alacrya and fell to my knees in front of him.
Agrona furrowed ‘his’ brows, contorting Sylvie’s face into an expression of surprise and frustration before he quickly relaxed.
“My, what an unexpected turn of events,” he said as I lowered my gaze to the ground beneath him. “Has the hero, and once mighty king, admitted defeat?”
“Agrona,” I said through gritted teeth. “You’ve made your point. Please, let Tessia and my family go.”
“Why?”
I dug my fingers into the dirt. “Because... I accept your deal. I’ll remove myself from this war.”
A chortle made me look up, only to see Sylvie cackling while covering her mouth. “You think our deal still stands, Grey? You were the only unpredictable variable that had even the slightest chance in hindering me, but as you said so yourself, I’ve made my point. Even you—with all of your inherent gifts and advantages—only amounted to this much.”
Sylvie’s eyes, laced in displeasure, stared down at me. “The very fact that you haven’t even told your bond that I’m able to possess her body tells me that even from the very beginning, you were always expecting to lose.”
“Then what... what do you want?” I demanded. “Why did you appear in front of me again?”
“Again, asking questions I have no obligation to answer.” Despite his casual words, his expression was knitted in what seemed like worry. “I don’t expect to have the pleasure of meeting like this again, so... goodbye.”
I scrambled to my feet. “W-Wait, what about my—”
And like that, Sylvie slumped back, unconscious.
Screaming in resentment, I slammed a mana-clad fist into the ground, waking the forest and its inhabitants.
“A-Arthur?” Sylvie called, weary and disoriented. “What’s going on?”
I let the mental barrier—that I had grown increasingly better at fortifying—fall, allowing my bond to read my thoughts and memories unabated.
Still, I made it a point to tell her the truth verbally. “Ever since you broke the seal that Sylvia had placed on you, Agrona was able to take over your consciousness for short periods of time.”
I watched as Sylvie’s skin paled and her expression distorted into disgust. Her mouth opened, as if to ask me a question, then closed because she had found the answer in my mind.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you.”
Sylvie walked up to me, her thoughts and emotions blocked, and slapped me across the cheek. My head whipped to the side at the force strong enough to break a normal person’s neck.
“There. We’re even now,” she muttered before wrapping her arms around my waist and burying her head in my chest.
The tears that hadn’t even fallen while Virion mourned for his family spilled down my cheeks as my body trembled. I gripped my bond back tightly, afraid to lose her as well.
I had not only lost, but I had also begged to my enemy on bent knees. Sylvie knew the anger, guilt, sorrow, and humiliation tearing apart my insides and the very fact that she knew and accepted them was enough for me to move on.
Biting my lip until I could taste a warm metallic bitterness, I cried silently, the crystal dust above us shaky and blurred.
Sylvie and I had eventually returned to our camp later that night. The two of us stayed together outside, guarding the shelter that Bairon and Virion were sleeping in.
At one point, I must’ve fallen asleep because Sylvie sent a sharp mental probe, telling me to wake up. My eyes snapped open and I got up, only to see Virion and Bairon having a heated argument while Sylvie put herself between them.
“We have to go back! Our troops need us, Commander!” Bairon growled, struggling to stay up on his own two feet.
“And do what? It’s too late,” Virion snapped, leaning against the earthen tent for support. His eyes turned towards me, noticing that I was awake. “Good, Arthur, we should get ready to leave.”
“Leave? Where?” I asked, confused.
“Our Commander says that the war is lost,” Bairon retorted. “Most likely, the injury from fighting the scythe had rendered him incapable of leading.”
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Virion cast a harsh look at the lance before speaking. “The war is lost. With the Castle in their hands, they have access to all the teleportation gates throughout the continent. It’s only a matter of time before they’re able to figure out how to fully control it.”
“So what did you have in mind?” I asked Virion.
Virion’s knees buckled, toppling forward until Sylvie caught him.
“Thank you,” he said to my bond before turning to me. “Camus, Buhnd, Hester, and I, along with a few other trusted friends constructed a shelter to take refuge, just in case disaster fell—although no one would’ve expected an outcome like this.”
The thought of Elder Buhnd sent a sharp pain through my chest but I swallowed it. “Where is it?”
“You can’t be serious,” Bairon interrupted. “You are a lance. We have a duty to uphold for our people. Are we going to abandon them and leave them all to die by the Alacryans?”
“We’re not abandoning anyone!” Virion snarled, his patience wearing thin. “But going back into battle and risking the death of myself and any of you three would leave no hope for the future!”
“The future...” my bond echoed.
“Yes! The future. We need to recoup if we ever want a chance to take back Dicathen,” Virion continued.
Bairon’s shoulder slumped and for the first time, the lance seemed fragile and vulnerable. “So... there’s nothing we can do right now to win this war?”
“Our best chance is for us to stay alive and gather the lances,” Virion replied, looking sincerely pained.
‘What do you think we should do?’ Sylvie asked, knowing that my thoughts were still filled with Tessia and my family.
I let out a sigh before staring at the two of them with a hardened gaze. “Sylvie and I will take the two of you to wherever this secret shelter is but after that we’re going to look for my mom, my sister, and Tess.”
“Arthur... “ There was a tangible distance in Virion’s voice as he said my name, a hollow and almost pained sound.
I shook my head, holding up my hand. On my middle finger was a plain silver ring that Vincent had given me and my mom. “This is an artifact connected with a ring that my mother has. It’s my only hope and I can’t leave her knowing that there’s still a chance she’s alive.”
I had kept it off during the war, but through the connection between the two rings and the fact that she and my sister both had the Phoenix Wyrm pendant, it was possible. And that the ring hadn’t activated because she was still alive... not because she had taken it off.
“I’ll direct Dicathians that I meet back to the shelter during my search, but I need to do this,” I finished.
“I understand,” Virion whispered, closing his eyes.
Quietly, I got to work, destroying the earthen shelter and erasing all signs that we had ever stopped here to rest.
“So... where is this shelter, Commander Virion?” Bairon asked.
Virion used a nearby twig to draw a rough map of Dicathen, indicating our position with a circle. “The refuge that we had found is near the southern coast of the Kingdom of Darv, just along the Grand Mountains—”
“Found?” I cut in. “I thought you said you and the elders had built it.”
“Most of what seemed like a man-made cave already existed. We just built on top of it and hid it more thoroughly,” he added.
“Well, how are we going to traverse the near-thousand miles it’ll take to reach this shelter? We can’t fly; it’s too dangerous,” Bairon noted.
“You’re right. And it’ll be just as risky to try and take a teleportation gate to a city within Darv. Should we wait until nightfall?”
“How about this,” I suggested, drawing a jagged line running through Sapin. “We’re about an hour hike away from the Sehz River that flows all the way down through Darv and into the ocean. We’ll take the river down until nightfall and travel the rest by sky.”
“There are cities built along the Sehz though,” Sylvie countered. “Won’t we be a bit noticeable traveling on the water?”
“Who said anything about on the water?”
***
“This is... fascinating,” Virion marveled as we watched various aquatic animals and mana beasts pass by from the top of Sylvie’s back. We surged through the water, away from discerning eyes, while I concentrated on the multiple layers of spells I had to continually manage in order to make all of this possible.
I had to create two pockets of air, one over Sylvie’s back to allow Virion, Bairon, and I to breath and stay dry, and another encompassing Sylvie’s large draconic head. While we weren’t submerged deep enough to have to worry too much about the water pressure, it did mean that keeping the air pockets stable was quite a bit harder.
With the aid of water magic to push us faster and a fin made of mana that Sylvie had fashioned at the end of her tail, we were making great distance.
Virion was able to take this new mode of transportation in stride, but the same couldn’t be said for Bairon. The poor lance had latched himself so tightly onto Sylvie’s back that, even through her tough scales, she complained to me about the pain.
“How did you even think of such an idea as traveling underwater?” Virion asked, twisting left and right to see all around him. For a moment I was able to see the old Virion that I had grown up with back when I had first shown up in Elenoir with Tessia.
“Did you forget that I’m pretty smart?” I asked, avoiding his question.
We stayed fairly deep in the water except for the times that we had to replenish our air pockets. After the initial amazement had worn off, the four of us traveled in silence, brooding in our own minds with little desire to converse. Sylvie and I still conversed telepathically but even those conversations dwindled as each of us succumbed to our own thoughts of the bleak future.
The water around us began to darken as the sun fell, indicating to us that we’d be able to resurface soon.
Without taking a break, the four of us launched out of the lake and into the purple and deep blue sky.
Will you be okay flying with them on your back? I asked Sylvie, jumping off of her back. Virion and Bairon were both still barely able to use mana after their fight against the scythe.
‘I’ll manage,’ she replied, beating her powerful wings to accelerate.
I followed alongside them, flying on my own to lessen her burden. I watched as the land below us began turning into the desert as we crossed the border into Darv. I took one last look back, trying not to think about the battles going on and the chaos spreading for our troops as they were left without their commander.
Total Chapters in book: 485
Estimated words: 1771831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 8859(@200wpm)___ 7087(@250wpm)___ 5906(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 1771831 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 8859(@200wpm)___ 7087(@250wpm)___ 5906(@300wpm)
______