Chapter 61

When the world needed him the most, he came back.

Ashborn has ascended yet another relictomb with relative ease, despite having "slight" problems. He teleported back to the entrance of the relictomb, directly in the center of the massively guarded place. It didn't matter to him who was guarding the place; this time he hastily began exiting the building. Despite his presence in the building, he walked like a shadow, and the guards present were unable to see him.

'Cylrit has disappeared.'

A few days ago, the Shadow Monarch lost a connection to one of his soldiers. A very important shadow soldier at that, the one who monitored and protected his so-called spy. Just like any other, he was supposed to be an unkillable being, but Ashborn lost track of Cylrit, who vanished with no trace.

'I doubt it was the Asuras…'

No, it was something different. Obviously, Ashborn could understand that some outer threat had manifested on this planet. No matter what, the Shadow Soldiers were all the same; it was just a difference in strength. No matter how hard you beat them in physical combat, they will rise until their liege is standing.

'Cylrit vanished in an instant, leaving no trace of his mana...the Asuran magic? I doubt anyone, least of all the Asuras, was capable of erasing Cyrit...'

In the meantime, he had already exited the relictomb. He saw a few more soldiers guarding the place, but all of them, as expected, couldn't notice him. Yes, now he could keep his mana in check.

'I should try and find Seris.'

Cylrit was always in her shadow. If something happened to Cylrit, then the elegant woman would be the first one to actually witness it. Or so he thought. As the mana exploded out of his repaired Black Heart and swept through the continent of Alacrya in a matter of seconds, Ashborn couldn't locate the familiar mana of Seris.

'Even her mana disappeared, this could only indicate that she is dead.'

Not just dead, but literally erased, that is. There was a possibility of her being in another dimension, but Cylrit would not have let that happen. No, the case was entirely how Ash had concluded.

"I can't meddle with the future... but it's predictable."

He had already tried to view the upcoming events by looking into the future, but who would have thought that there wouldn't be anything else but darkness? Perhaps the so-called "ancient mages" were correct. The past, which is rife with bloodbaths and constant loss of life, The past of the world, which fell into darkness and became the epitome of devastation,

Ashborn was familiar with this; he experienced true hell at that time. His path was filled with only suffering. It wasn't something to get over easily. Maybe it's never meant for him to get over it.

"Hmm, so it's repeating?"

He wouldn't want it to repeat, but he can't stop it as someone else is already restraining him to do so. The individual with the power to pry the stream of existence… who could it be? Not an ordinary human, nor an Asura. No, it's someone with even greater force. Although it's trying to hide its presence, it's there and the Shadow Monarch can feel it well.

He was prepared for a clash between himself and that individual. He merely had to proceed with his plan.

"For now, let's search for the Vritras…" He still remembered them, as they were still first in line to repay the debt. Vritras might know the situation in Seris since there were quite a few of them working under Agrona.

There are thousands, if not tens of thousands, of Vritra-blooded Alacryans on this continent, so who should be paid first? If Ashborn remembered correctly, Seris had a student who was also Vritra blooded. It was decided he would visit her first and ask if she knew at least something else, but since he never left a soldier in her shadow, he'd have to search.

"Those not assigned, search for the Vritra blooded Alacryan, with the crimson eyes and blue hair."

The shadow under him expanded, and the hundreds of dark figures eagerly jumped out. Those silhouettes instantly hid in the nearby shadows and, like water in pipes, traveled through the shadows deeper into the continent. Although the command wasn't what they expected, they were still all in for it. They wanted to rip and tear the enemies of their liege, not to search for some teen. Anyway, the command was a command, and they had to accomplish it nonetheless.

Ashborn was already adapted to these fetishes of his soldiers; all of them were loyal af to him. If one country had soldiers with the same sense of loyalty as the shadow soldier. There would be no doubt that they would be dominating their realm.

"Those Vritra blooded though."

Just like the Chinese, with their faces alike, the Vritra-blooded Alacryans have the same mana presence. Also, the student of Seris was still growing and her mana-pool wasn't large enough so that Ashborn could differentiate her from others. He never ingrained her in his memory either, so now he had to search through various places to find her.

While the soldiers were looking for a girl, Ashborn could just check the Denoir mansion. Thus, he sank into his own shadow, disappearing from the site.

.

A man with a slim build was running through the lanes. He had a cover over his head, the way he ran, with caution, back and forth every second as if he was being chased down. From time to time, the hood of his cover would flip back, revealing the greenish hair of his, then he had to put the hood back on his head.

As he ran, the man encountered a person in front of him. The newly appeared person had a sword on his waist and wore a special uniform.

'Shit!'

Seeing the sword on the waist, he identified the person in front of him as a soldier. The special uniform was also another identification, so instantly the green-haired man chose to avoid confrontation by turning into a different corner. To his surprise, he heard a shout behind him, and the loud steps of a few more people were heard behind him as well.

"Catch that hooded guy!"

He feared to look back, but his ears could hear more people flooding the narrow lanes like zombies. Even on the rooftops, there was the sound of ceramic plates clacking under the steps of a group of soldiers. The situation for a green-haired man got only worse as the narrow lane reached its dead end.

'Dang it.'

There was no escape; the man turned around and faced the group of people chasing him. Still, the soldiers didn't halt and ran at him for the arrest.

"Don't come closer! Or… or I'll shoot a strong spell at you!" The hooded man turned around and shouted while aiming the ring in his hand at the group. The people in the first line raised their hands in a gesture to stop moving.

"You are suspected in the betrayal of Alacrya. Hands up and follow us peacefully! Or there will be consequences!"

"What betrayal?"

"Don't play like you don't know! We are well aware of your allegiance with the Scythe Seris, who supplied the enemy with information!"

For a moment, the green-haired man widened his eyes. Had the Scythe Seris betrayed their continent?

"We also know of your identity, Caera of the high blood Denoir! Your blood is currently detained if you cause problems they will be executed!"

The simple threat, but it did cause the man…no, the woman under disguise to be shaken. Denoir was just a name of blood, Caera was just adopted in that "family". She didn't have an affection for the Denoirs, but the execution? For what reason?

And what's the situation with her mentor? It was even more confusing, as she couldn't remember anything else she had done against Alacrya and its people. It was because of an allegiance she had with someone who did it.

'I knew it… I shouldn't have trusted anyone.'

"Remove your artifact and peacefully handle it, we won't harm you if you tell us your reasons and everything Scythe Seris had told you."

Whoever the soldier was, he was well aware of the girl's identity as well as her age. Caera was still a young girl, so the man acted out of pity and didn't pressure her. Caera, on the other hand, couldn't see any other options, so she carefully removed the artifact gifted to her by her mentor.

The soldiers could now see her, the blue-navy-haired girl with crimson eyes. She was definitely a cute girl; the nearby soldiers even whistled. They seriously attempted to harm her?

"Captain, have we made… a mistake or?"

"No, we've done our mission. She will be delivered to the court for judgment."

"But she is still a little girl." Many nodded with their heads at the comment. They may have been soldiers ready to kill an enemy... but not a kid who hasn't even seen a life. They still had a heart.

"Unfortunately, orders are orders."

The captain shook his head. He couldn't disobey the orders given to him by superiors. If he did disobey, he would be accused of betraying. He had his own family to feed and take care of, obviously, he wouldn't like the young girl to die… but at the same time, he can't risk his own life for an unknown.

"Sorry kiddo, I can't help you." The captain put special handcuffs on the girl's wrist, softly as possible not to harm her. He didn't blame her, so straightforwardly ignored the little scoff coming from here.

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Ashborn, fortunately, remembered where the Denoir mansion was, so he easily reached it with his teleportation prowess. But oh wow! It was surrounded by soldiers of all sorts, kind of like Dicathen's gendarmeries. With the special artifacts, they kept shouting threats to open fire at the Denoir mansion.

"The high blood of Denoir, stop the futile resistance and leave the building immediately!" Someone's voice traveled across the scene. However, the shout was responded to by something that was thrown out of the window.

"If you don't stop in ten seconds, we will breach your mansion and use force!"

The soldier kept counting, and as the countdown finished, he ordered the group of armed men to enter the building. The front door exploded, opening up a path for the soldiers who immediately with shields flooded the first floor.

'Everything happens while I'm gone…'

Meanwhile, a certain auburn-haired male's purple glowing eyes followed the soldiers. Ash was rather confused as to what the hell was going on, at least here. There weren't many people in the mansion, only a handful. Mainly, there wasn't a girl who Ashborn was searching for.

'I'll ask someone else…'

Silently, Ash again sank into his shadow and, through other ones, slipped onto the second floor of the mansion. Just then, the soldiers outside shot the fire spells, which set the upper floors ablaze. This reduced the oxygen in shut-in environments, so the resistance ceased.

"They are running away." Every person in the mansion ran in one direction, and that was the very center of the entire building. It seemed that Denoirs had some kind of backup plan, and it worked well. The soldiers on the first floor restrained themselves from going upwards. They were waiting for people to faint, and only later would they apprehend them.

Ash followed one of the Denoirs, the last one left in the entire mansion. Obviously, they were escaping through the secret passageway. It was even protected by a large metal door with some runes engraved on it. This would work for a time, but eventually, it would be breached.

Oh well…

*Scrape*

Ashborn's hand dug into metal like jelly. He simply pulled it back once he had a good grip on it, and the entire door came off the socket. As he entered the hallway, he threw the hefty metallic door away, breaking some walls along the way.

"What the-?!" The same man who shut the door previously turned around to see the scarily menacing purple eyes of an auburn-haired guy.

"Caera Denoir, where is she?"

In addition to the scary face on him, the man had to hear the oddly low-pitched voice of the teenage boy. The inner self of a man wasn't prepared for this, as he stumbled back down the staircase and lost a foothold. He began falling back and prepared to hit his face on a rock-hard staircase, but when he opened his eyes, he was just a centimeter above it.

"Do you not know it?" By some mysterious force, the distance between the man's face and the sharp-edged stair increased. He floated up and stood on his feet again. The man had to swallow saliva when he saw that Ashborn was pointing his palm at him and a purple hue surrounded it.

'He…he's just standing there…menacingly!' The man sweated buckets from the sheer menace he was witnessing.

"Maybe, he doesn't know." The male was just shrugged off by the auburn-haired. The purple color around his palm vanished once he moved down the stairwell.

"I know! I'm concerned as to who are you?"

"Hm, you know. Good, do tell me her location."

"Why should I?"

"Do you want to die?" The man shut himself right after, his attempt to show his sacredness failed. His face paled instantly, the person in front of him could really kill him…

"Lady Caera, she was in the academy, but I fear she was already captured by the soldiers… just what got into them now?"

"Why are you being chased down?"

"I don't know, it has to do with the betrayal of Scythe."

"Seris?"

Denoir looked up to Ashborn, "Yes, Scythe Seris Vritra. She was accused of betrayal after the disappearance. Now they are hunting down everyone associated with her…including us."

Ash remained silent. He put a hand on his chin and thought about the whole situation once more. The Alacryan continent was aware of the Scythe's disappearance, and they accused her of betrayal.

"Have you seen Seris in the last few months?"

"Scythe Seris visited Lady Caera before she went back to the academy."

"Alright, you'll be coming with me." Ash 'politely' grabbed onto the man's back collar and lifted him up. Using the ruler's authority, he also closed the hallway with the nearby rumbles.

"Can you guide me where Caera might be?"

"Yes, of course. But what about the rest of my blood?"

"They are safe, for the time being, unless you do something stupid." Ashborn assured and threatened the man at the same time. He had already sent a few shadow soldiers to follow the remaining Denoirs.

.

Back to Caera, who was currently facing a judge in the court. She sat on the metallic chair, with her ankles and wrists chained by cold chains. The court was actually a grand hall, and many people were present here, a lot of them high-blooded people who held grudges against Denoirs. The young girl knew it well, those expressions on their faces that showed satisfaction...

"From the information, we have received, the Highblood of Denoir resisted. Thus, the trial will be halted until their apprehension." The man at the central desk, with an imposing figure, spoke loudly for everyone.

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Another large delay, cuz Wattpad... it's just hell. Still can't release a chapter there. Apparently some errors with connection. I don't understand that thin at all, so here we go I'll release at least on Webnovel. I'll try again there soon.

The next chapter will come out much sooner, cuz I'm already done with it. Also, I began publishing my next ff on my discord server. It's still in progress, but oh... at least people won't be accusing me of slacking off.

Discord: https://discord.gg/r2VSvS5kaH

Anyway, cya!