Return of the Mythic Bloodline-Chapter 322: A way to enter the Main Land

"My name... my true name is Taranis El Thunderbane," I revealed in a low voice.

Ume’s eyes widened at my revelation, shock clearly written across her face.

"Y-you have recovered your memories?" she asked, raising her head.

"How did you know that I had lost my memory?" I asked, lifting an eyebrow in suspicion.

She flinched for a moment before replying in a low, guilt-filled voice, "Sister Nym told me about it in the Forest of Gumiho."

She must have expected me to lash out at her for hiding something so important. Her grip tightening on the chair made it clear that she was bracing herself to be scolded. However, to her surprise, none of that happened.

"What did she tell you?" I asked, my voice still calm as I began braiding her hair.

My unexpected composure caught her off guard for a moment. After a brief pause, she began explaining the conversation she and Nymeria had shared on the night she gave me the Ring of Engagement.

---

"Lady Gumiho, now that you are his fiancée, I believe you deserve to know this," Nymeria said in a low voice as she spread the bedsheet inside the tree house.

Ume, who was helping her prepare the bedding from the other side, raised an eyebrow in curiosity and asked, "What is it, sister?"

Nymeria’s usual cold visage slowly shifted, turning into one filled with agony and longing as she revealed, "His name is not Raj. H-he is Taranis El Thunderbane, my promised husband who died in the Ultimate War fifteen years ago."

"D-died?" Ume asked, confused by what Nymeria was implying.

Nymeria sat at the corner of the bedsheet and began recounting how she and Taranis had met, the promise of marriage they had made, and how he had gone to war against the demons.

Throughout the tale, a sorrowful smile lingered on Nymeria’s face as her most precious memories were recalled and revealed one by one.

However, tears slowly began to fall from her eyes as she reached the end of her story.

"I... I saw life fading from his body with my own eyes. I don’t know how he survived or how he ended up here."

Ume moved closer to Nymeria and gently held her hand to comfort her. Once Nymeria had calmed down, Ume asked, "You claim that the Thunderbanes were the strongest warriors of the Western Continent, so how could all of them die at the hands of demons?"

In a low voice, Nymeria murmured, "The demons launched a surprise attack when the Thunderbanes were weakened."

That statement was all Nymeria offered. She neither said more nor less, even when Ume tried to probe further about how the massacre of the Thunderbanes had occurred.

"Forgive me, sister," Ume said softly, holding Nymeria’s hand. "If I had known he was promised to you, I would not have given him the ring."

"You do not need to ask for forgiveness, Lady Gumiho," Nymeria replied. "I no longer intend to marry him. The only reason I revealed this to you was to prevent him from making any rash decisions once he regains his memories."

Holding Ume’s hand between her own, Nymeria continued, "Please do not ask for the reason behind my decision, and do not reveal anything about this conversation to Taranis until he regains his memories. Please give me your word, Lady Gumiho."

Faced with Nymeria’s desperate request, Ume had no choice but to agree to her terms. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

---

"Raj... I mean Taranis, I apologize for hiding this from you," Ume murmured, seeing me standing still and unreadable behind her. "You may scold or blame me, but I just couldn’t break the trust Sister Nym placed in me."

After a brief pause, I finished the end of her braid and said,

"I’m not angry at you, Ume. I’m just confused."

"Confused?"

Giving a slight nod, I revealed, "Nymeria didn’t tell you the whole truth. My family, my relatives, and I did not die at the hands of the demons."

My golden eyes began to glow sharply. Unknowingly, lightning flickered around my clenched fist as I tightened it until my knuckles turned white. Boiling with restrained fury, I muttered,

"We were betrayed by the Emperor of the Azure Sun Empire. That bastard orchestrated the massacre of the Thunderbanes."

Ume’s lips parted as her eyes widened in shock. She rose from her chair, grasped my hand, and murmured, "T-Taranis..."

Taking a deep breath, I calmed my anger, restrained my Soulforce, and explained everything that had happened on that ominous night.

"I can’t understand why Nymeria chose to hide the truth, but I can feel how much she has suffered all these years," I muttered, clenching my fists.

As I barely restrained my fury while recalling that night, Ume’s expression completely darkened.

"H-how dare they?" she muttered, her hair glowing a violent pink and fluttering despite the absence of wind.

"I... I will destroy them!"

The first time I had seen Ume wear such an expression was when I was ambushed by Nyx and her subordinates. Ume never told me what she had done to Nyx, but I knew one thing for certain. Nyx’s end was not a pleasant one.

And now, she wore that same expression again after learning of the Empire’s betrayal. One could only imagine what she would do to Kharos.

"Ume, I’m truly grateful that you are angry on my behalf," I said, patting her head. "But you do not need to stain your hands for me. Besides, I want to destroy Kharos with my own hands."

My pats gradually calmed her anger. After a brief pause, she murmured as her hair returned to normal, "I... I understand."

"Would you like to come with me to the Hundred Sky Mountains?"

"I will go wherever you go," Ume said, stepping closer and hugging me tightly. "Now that you have claimed me, be responsible and do not risk your life. It is no longer yours alone."

The intent behind her words was clear. She must have sensed the raw, restrained fury boiling within me. She did not want me to become blinded by my thirst for revenge and repeat what I had done at the Sentinel Line.

"Don’t worry, Ume," I said, returning her embrace. "I intend to live a long life with you and Nymeria."

"I am only accepting another woman beside you because it is Sister Nym," Ume warned, lifting her head and locking her sharp gaze onto mine as her hand moved lower toward my crotch. "If you dare mingle with any woman besides her, I will destroy these precious ’family jewels’ of yours."

She grabbed my balls tightly, sending jolts of pain and shivers through my body.

"I... I understand, I understand!" I blurted out as my heels lifted off the floor in pain.

"Hmph!" Ume retorted, releasing her grip.

She then grabbed her space ring from the table beside the dressing room and pulled out a pair of red heeled sandals, the very pair Nymeria and I had chosen for her during our shopping trip.

Meanwhile, I retrieved the face-changing mask from my inventory and put it on, turning my hair and eyes crimson while concealing the slit mark on my forehead.

"Ume, is the teleportation array still functioning?" I asked.

She nodded before asking, "Where are you going?"

"To Dreadspire City, more precisely to the border of the Mainland," I replied. "I need to find a way to enter the Mainland."

A smug smile appeared on Ume’s face as she declared, "I have already found a way."

Before I could respond, she waved her hand, summoning a spiral of plum blossoms around us.

Once the petals vanished, Ume and I found ourselves inside a dark basement. A single glance was enough for me to recognize the place.

It was the same basement beneath the castle where I had once been imprisoned as the Sacrifice.

At the center of the basement sat an old man tied to a chair. One of his eyes was swollen shut, and countless wounds covered his body.

"Wh-who is he?" I asked.

"He is the man mentioned in Nyx’s diary," Ume replied. "The one who extorted exorbitant amounts of Soul Stones from El Dorado in exchange for allowing them access to the Mainland. He is also the one who provided Nyx with the teleportation array and the high-tier Soul Stone she used to destroy the barrier of Forlorn City."