One Auranveil remained.The last one.The one that had stood at the edge of the clearing from the very beginning, the first to detect Lein from afar, the one that had watched its three companions fall one after another, and now stood with its wings half-folded, its legs no longer completely steady, and golden eyes that no longer held anything resembling hunger or rage.Lein looked at it and asked calmly, “Do you still want to continue?”The Auranveil did not move.“If you still want to live, you may leave.”Lein had sensed it from the moment he first stepped into the depths of Vrethkaar. In this part of the forest, far beyond the reach of ordinary humans, the number of Auranveil could be counted on one hand. Not because they were weak, but because creatures this powerful did not reproduce quickly, and every death was a loss that could not be replaced in a short time.Three were enough, especially considering one had already been a corpse before he arrived.Four were more than enough.

The spiritual energy from the stone began to flow into him.Lein had absorbed more than a hundred spirit stones since arriving in Xollos, from the lowest grade to the highest, and through that experience, he had become intimately familiar with the sensation.He knew how the energy entered through his meridians, like water finding a channel and flowing along paths that already existed, filling the narrowest passages before spreading into the widest, calm and predictable.But this one was different.It did not feel like flowing water.It felt like crashing waves.The first surge of energy from the Auranveil's spirit stone slammed into his primary meridian with such force that every energy channel within his body instantly tensed—not because they were being damaged, but because they were suddenly forced to contain a volume they had never been designed to hold.Like a river that suddenly receives the combined flood of ten other rivers at once, and within seconds must decide whether to ove

In the eastern wing of Vaelthorn Royal Palace, Carath sat alone.His chamber was silent in exactly the way he preferred. No servants, no officials, no reports waiting to be read. Just him, his chair, and the window overlooking the palace courtyard below.There was a smile at the corner of his lips.Small, the kind of smile worn by someone who had already calculated the entire game board and found that every piece was exactly where it was supposed to be.More than six thousand people.Fifteen Sky Realm cultivators. Four hundred and eighty Star Realm cultivators. Five thousand six hundred Spirit Realm cultivators. The entire military force he had gathered, trained, and entrusted with a single purpose was now moving through Vrethkaar Forest, sealing off every possible escape route for an adventurer who thought he could provoke Carath simply by announcing himself throughout the palace.Provoke me?Carath almost laughed at the thought.The adventurer was clever, that much could not be deni

In the western wing of Vaelthorn Royal Palace, Bravan sat at his desk.Before him were three stacks of documents, each arranged according to an order he had determined himself: reports from territories that had already pledged their allegiance, drafts of agreements that had yet to be fully negotiated, and a thinner file than the others that had nevertheless been read more than everything else on his desk. It contained the names and positions of those who had yet to choose a side and could still be influenced before the line between too late and not too late disappeared.Bravan read the way a man did not merely read words, but everything hidden behind them—the implications, the intentions, the gaps between what was written and what was meant.Then came a knock at the door.Bravan did not immediately raise his head. The way the door was knocked was enough for him to read it: faster than usual, with an uneven rhythm, the kind of knock made by someone who needed to enter but also needed o

Lein descended.Not like someone landing after a long flight. There was no moment of adjustment, no step needed to find his balance. His feet touched the ground of the courtyard in front of Lyris's wing the same way someone would step down from one stair to the next.Behind him, the four Auranveil corpses descended at the same time, one after another leaving the sky until all four were arranged neatly across the courtyard.Two spiritual stones floated between them, their light still shifting within their surfaces, gold and rainbow hues constantly changing.The door to Lyris's wing opened.Lyris came out first, followed by Miran, then the three officials, then the soldiers and servants, with Ryn and Sael among them. They all emerged in a manner that showed they had seen the four silhouettes from inside long before Lein landed and had already prepared themselves for the worst possible outcome.What they found, however, was not the worst possible outcome.But it was not something easier