Rivers of the Night-Chapter 425: Mental State

Theron took a step, the balls of his feet flexing against the smooth silvery surface of the Luminescent Moon Sect’s outer surface.

BANG!

His figure flashed, and in an instant, he was over the other side, the Alpha nowhere in sight.

He landed deftly, his movement careful, though he didn’t seem particularly focused on hiding himself. He knew that it would be impossible, so he hadn’t put much effort into it.

It had been a long time now since he had gotten a chance to be an assassin. Well, a long time relatively speaking. All things considered, the last time was barely a month ago in the Sangun Empire. But unfortunately, his stealth skills weren’t superior enough to get away with something like this, not when there was a Divine Realm expert who wanted nothing more than to find him.

Looking out onto the Sect he hadn’t been in for a while, Theron felt an odd bit of nostalgia that belied his young age. Then with a step, he fell down the steep side before landing on the ground.

He began to walk, his gait controlled, his aura restrained. He breathed in and out, the Sect that had once been so unfamiliar to him he had to ask for directions now akin to a map on the back of his hand.

It didn’t take long before he was standing in the very same square that he had entered the Secret Realm from.

Standing alone, wearing white robes that billowed in the air along with his long, almost stringy, pointed beard, wasn’t Patriarch Gian, but instead someone else that Theron was somewhat familiar with.

Grand Elder Acer.

This had been the man to introduce them all to the realm they were entering back then. To the Theron of so long ago, a Gold Mancer was a Gold Mancer, so he hadn’t been able to feel the nuances to Grand Elder Acer’s strength at all. So, he hadn’t thought much about the man since.

But seeing him standing there now, Theron realized that Ironvale was certainly not the Sect’s only trump card. Over the years, who knew how many Ironvales Patriarch Gian had built up?

With how meticulous Gian was, this wasn’t a surprise to Theron at all. The man had managed to build a Sect with so much sense of loyalty and camaraderie even in this sick and twisted world.

If not for the dark heart Gian almost certainly kept hidden within him, Theron would actually have quite some respect for him.

But as far as Theron was concerned, Patriarch Gian was just like the rest. He, too, was after Theron for what value he could bring.

Even now, Theron didn’t quite understand what the people of this world wanted so badly from him. He would be a fool not to understand that he was special in some way or form by now. But accepting that meant an implication that was far too great.

It meant accepting that maybe if he hadn’t been so interested in books as a youth, he would have already had the strength to protect his family back then.

It meant accepting that the world held a kernel of irony to it, that it could joke around even with the lives of people on the line.

It meant accepting that in all likelihood, the Seijin would have taken him away had they realized who he was back then. So, it really had been nothing more than a meaningless act of cruelty that day.

The mix of chaotic feelings and twisted thoughts made it impossible to decide who to blame and who was at fault.

"Patriarch Gian sent me with a message, young Theron," Grand Elder Acer said calmly.

Theron’s eyes narrowed just the slightest bit. He had been on high alert all along, but he didn’t respond, instead choosing the route of silence, his Mana slowly circulating.

"He knows that since you’ve chosen to appear here, you have the confidence to enter even if we try to stop you." frёewebnoѵel.ƈo๓

Theron didn’t respond, but the words themselves were surprisingly... civil.

No, this was just Patriarch Gian, a man capable of planning and calmly laying things out even so far in advance. If this was a kind man, he would have never given Theron the Black Limbo Tortoise Beast Core without even a word of warning.

"However, he thought that he should warn you about two things. The first is the storm you’re brewing up right now. He’s sure that it makes you feel good, but there are certain things you still don’t understand and likely still won’t even after you step out of that world. You should tread lightly, or else you’ll end up losing even more.

"And second, you’ll be making a choice by entering the realm this time. Should you choose to enter and not leave, you’ll be effectively putting Malaya to death."

Theron’s expression didn’t change. Why would—?

"The Patriarch also told me to tell you that he’s been here since before your father was even born. His experience is unlike anything you understand. While you may have outmaneuvered him once, he underestimated you. That will not happen again.

"After adjusting his views of you, much of what you’ve kept hidden has become quite obvious to him. He knows that you deem to use Malaya as nothing more than a shield and that you think this death will have nothing to do with you.

"But your mother, she was a kind woman, was she not?"

At that moment, Grand Elder Acer’s monotone expression seemed to gain some life, almost as though he went from someone being puppeteered and only speaking on behalf of another to an autonomous being of his own.

"Cultivation is a tricky thing, you know. The mental state, one’s emotions, one’s heart... they’re all so very important, and they all need to be guarded. Maybe you’ve already tasted some of that. The chilling aura, the violent heat...

"I wonder what your mother would think about you leaving your wife to die? I wonder what sort of Heart Demon that would forge for you?

"Would you even be capable of stepping into Gold Mancy at that point?"

Grand Elder Acer smiled, and it almost felt like his face had changed to that of Gian’s own.

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