Rivers of the Night-Chapter 320: Two Things

Chapter 320: Two Things freēwēbnovel.com

Theron appeared beneath the night sky, his robes fluttering in the wind. The white and violet of the Nightingale Imperial Academy uniforms seemed quite pristine on his body despite the hardship they should have just gone through.

He could almost smell it in the air. The bloodlust, the rage, the ire that was aimed toward him.

It was quite a curious thing. Or maybe it would have been had he not likely planned for this.

The trouble with killing people with backgrounds you didn’t understand, like he just had, was that the trouble that could come after the fact had practically an endless range of possibilities.

For someone like Theron, who liked to be prepared and well-informed about everything, this was almost certainly not a kill that he would usually take on.

But this was a kill that he had to have no matter what.

What remained, and the Aurans and Sangun stumbled out of the portal, not quite able to gather themselves.

“YOU KILLED! YOU KILLED!”

Jiji seemed to have completely lost his mind. From the young man who had all the confidence in the world to call the princess of the Firewings a whore, he had broken down.

He had thought all of this was a game, that he could just say what he wanted and the weight of the rules and the Empire behind him would keep him safe.

Even when the Gold Clan Fourth Year died, he didn’t think it had anything to do with him. He was just a scholar, like he said. But first he almost died at Thessa’s hands, and that really left him shaken, only for another madman in Theron to suddenly appear not long later.

“Madman! You’re a madman! Someone kill him! Kill him quick before he kills anyon—”

A scythe of blue took Jiji’s head off. His mouth still seemed to be moving as it spun through the air, the echo of his voice falling on deaf ears.

Theron didn’t even seem to move, but the Water Mana that hung in the air responded to his call as though he was their long-lost master.

The head toppled to the ground, blood pooling and gushing out in rivers.

He knew.

These were the words that everyone watching Theron thought at once. These weren’t the actions of a young man that thought he was still well within the rules. Theron was too intelligent; they had all seen it personally. Whether it was the first round or the third, and even the second by several measures, he had proven himself to be far above and beyond anyone here.

It wasn’t just his talent, but it was his mind—the way it worked, how flexible it was.

He was under no illusions about what was going on here, and if that was the case, why not kill someone that had been such a complete annoyance to him?

And then there was his reaction to it all. So cold, so indifferent, having such a careless disregard for the life of another.

Theron’s gaze tilted up to the skyboxes. None of them were remaining. Whether it was Elder Kelyne Black, the Crown Princes, or the mysterious figures, none of them were there.

Were they scattered? Were they forming a net around him? Were they already right before him and he just didn’t know it?

Did it matter?

No, not really.

The howl of a wolf shook the stadium, a flash of red coming from the depths.

In a blink, the Alpha had appeared before Theron, his crimson fur bristling as it could seem to feel some excitement in the air.

From the very start, the Alpha had been following Theron around. No one could sense its Mancy Path, so it was easily mistaken for a feral beast without cultivation at all.

While Theron wasn’t allowed to bring it into the actual competition area, doing as much as leaving it nearby in the waiting lobby of the arena was easy.

When the competition began, the Alpha was already intelligent enough to know that it should be nearby and prepared. But when it sensed Theron this time, despite its excitement, it couldn’t help but lower its head.

Theron had grown more powerful once again, and now the oppression it felt from him was even more devastating than before. If before the Alpha had felt that Theron had more potential than it, but was still far weaker, now…

It wasn’t so sure anymore.

Theron gave his teammates a glance and then hopped on the Alpha’s back.

“Theron, you…” Aliza’s mouth opened, and she started to speak. But honestly speaking, she wasn’t even sure of what to say.

She was the sharpest of them, setting Theron himself aside, and she could feel that there was something wrong with the atmosphere already. But she also didn’t know what to do.

Theron gave her a glance, and then his stoic indifference gave way to a gentle smile.

“Theron Galethunder. Your Crown Prince summons you.”

Aetherion’s commanding voice came from the shadows. With the night having fallen, Dark Mana seemed to be highly concentrated in the air. It was difficult to tell just where he was coming from.

Theron wasn’t joking at all when he had the thought that they might be right in front of him already. It was just that if they were there…

He would have definitely sensed them long ago.

Theron ignored the voice, speaking as though Aliza alone was the only one that could hear him.

“Remember what I said.”

Aliza frowned. “And what is that?”

“Two things. When an Emperor is foolish enough, it doesn’t matter how great his people are.”

Aliza’s eyes narrowed, her lips slightly parting, but the words still escaped her.

“And the other…” Theron said lightly, the gentle cadence of his voice being carried by the wind. “I can stand here by my own merit. I don’t need to rely on others.”

BADUM.

There was the echo of a heartbeat and the Alpha’s body suddenly vibrated.

BANG!

A javelin of darkness ran right through Theron and the Alpha, only for the world to realize it was little more than an afterimage.