Chapter 43: An unceasing wave

Adhrit's mind still was overwhelmed by anger and disgust, with what had occurred to the tavern owner slowly seeming justified. "Investigate the entire village, arrest anyone who resists." Adhrit ordered while sheathing his sword.

His words didn't receive the desired reaction. Adhrit was taken aback by the shadow member's hesitant eyes. "Young Master, apologies for disrespect, but this place isn't under the jurisdiction of Chandra Kingdom." The shadow member said while his knees crashed on the ground.

Adhrit gazed momentarily at the shadow member's bowed head. "So I can't do anything despite their deeds being as clear as day?" Adhrit asked in an apparent calm tone, but his clenched fists weren't unnoticed by the shadow member.

Concerned for the member in front of Adhrit, another man with a slightly smaller build stepped forward. Adhrit turned towards the man upon hearing his steps. "Young Master, unlike Chandra Kingdom, the elves aren't favored in the rest of the world." The man said as he kept moving forward. Adhrit silently watched as he knelt down as well. "You might already know, Chandra Kingdom is already under a lot of pressure due to the Paradise. And sir Drona is unable to come to our aid." The man continued.

Adhrit didn't speak for quite a while, which caused drops of sweat to stream down the twelve shadow members' faces around him. "So this is how Chandra Kingdom is now. Afraid of the slightest conflict and clinging on to others for support." Adhrit spoke with a smile, while his words held quite the contrast to it. "I don't necessarily blame you for this mentality. Master's death might've been a lot more devastating to you. And me?... You all see me as a failure of a prince who couldn't wield his family's strongest heritage."

The man who first spoke against Adhrit noticed his clenched fists slowly relaxing, until they completely opened. "We... weren't intending to-" Just as the man spoke, his peripheral vision caught the image of Adhrit's raised palm. He somewhat expected this as without a change in his composure, he slowly raised his head. Then a sudden expression of surprise dawned over his eyes the instant he saw Adhrit's expression.

"Chandra kingdom is miles away... am I correct?!" Adhrit asked with a pale face, his tone of voice clearly wishing his assessment to be wrong. "Wh-wh hap-happened?" The man stuttered. "Answer my question." Adhrit interrupted his already broken speech with a worsening expression of his own. "Yes, that would be correct..."

[WOOSH!]

Without any further explanation, Adhrit raised his right arm. A silver portal instantly appeared right beside him. "Take every single elf present here," Adhrit said his last sentence before stepping inside the portal. The eleven shadow members looked at each other with confused eyes, while the one who saw the other end of the portal had a concerned expression. "Six of you take the elves, the rest will follow the young master," he said while standing up.

***

Adhrit's feet felt slight vibrations the moment he stepped on the ground. Still praying for his suspicion to be false, he raised his head in the left direction. Adhrit's silver pupils expanded, reflecting a dozen yellow dots in the sky. The energy he sensed in the village miles away slowly began revealing its true strength. The sense of danger was elevated by a hundredfold the moment he saw the dots already past the main entrance of the Chandra Kingdom.

"The Agni Kingdom," Adhrit heard a familiar man speak. He turned back and found six shadow members standing beside the portal. The shadow member was surprised as Adhrit dragged his gaze away from him, stopping at something at his back. "I had ordered the soldiers to defend The Paradise… Why can't I see any?" Adhrit asked, his rage echoing in every word spoken. "I-I will investigate the matter," the shadow member answered, disappearing with a dark mist of energy the next instant.

Adhrit felt the air getting heavier. He turned back with wide eyes, finding the dots moving in a concerning direction. "DEFEND THE PARADISE!" Adhrit spoke, unsheathing his sword.

[WOOSH!]

Silver energy erupted from him and surrounded him. Adhrit swiftly moved his sword, passing a slash of silver energy through the unidentified dots in the sky. It appeared he had succeeded in his intention, as every movement from the dots halted. Adhrit did not allow any sense of relief to distract him as a strange uneasiness crept into his heart.

One of the dozen dots in the sky slowly began descending in front of Adhrit, appearing more human as it got closer. Within a few moments, a young man stood in front of him, floating a few feet above the ground. The man had his hands placed on his back in a dignified manner, with his amber hair waving in the wind. His raised eyebrows held a contrast to Adhrit's expectations. While what truly caught Adhrit's attention was the faint flames around him.

"You... might be?" the man asked, his eyes curiously scanning Adhrit, without any hint of hostility.

"I am Adhrit, the prince of Chandra Kingdom. I demand to know your identity and the reason behind this apparent invasion," Adhrit asked while tightening his grip on the sword.

"A prince... huh..." the man spoke with a doubtful tone, while his eyes were fixed on the soil covering Adhrit's shoes. Upon realizing this, Adhrit's eyebrows flinched for a split second. "You didn't answer my question," Adhrit said.

"I am Tejash, the prince of the Agni kingdom. And I must correct you on the assumption of this being an invasion." The man answered while his feet softly landed on the ground, with the faint yellow flames immediately disappearing. Adhrit's brows expanded, he completely disregarded the gesture of respect from the young man and kept his sword raised at him. "Entering a kingdom's border without permission is considered an invasion." Adhrit said in a cold tone, while the memories of the dark dimension kept racing in his mind.

Tejash's previous curious expression slowly transitioned into a serious one. "Your complexion is more disrespectful than it is threatening. I am quite surprised a prince can be this insolent and oblivious to reality." The yellow flames slowly began reappearing around the man, no longer being faint. Adhrit's own energy began rising with his silver eyes gazing coldly at Tejash's yellow-glowing eyes.

[BLAZE!]

Tejash swiftly stretched his arm forward, unleashing a stream of flames heading directly at Adhrit. Adhrit moved his sword away from the trajectory of the flames and stretched his open palm towards the incoming attack. The yellow flames began dissipating the moment they made contact with Adhrit's silver energy. "I want you to remember, you were the one who began this," Adhrit spoke in a calm tone, while the silver blade of his sword rang with the immense pressure of his silver energy.

Adhrit moved his sword towards Tejash, releasing a silver slash of energy heading rapidly in his direction. Tejash sensed the immense threat the energy slash had, he created a small burst of yellow energy right under his feet that propelled him towards the sky.

Adhrit showed no reaction to Tejash dodging his attack. Almost expecting this outcome, he had his sword already condensed silver energy and prepared to attack.

"STOP!" A woman's voice halted both Adhrit and Tejash's movement. They both looked in the direction of the voice, Adhrit found a woman wearing tangerine clothes slowly descending from the sky. Her long dark amber waved elegantly in the wind, while her smooth white skin perfectly reflected the sunlight falling on her. Tejash's lips stretched due to a smile, seemingly impressed by her beauty.

While at the same instance, Adhrit's eyes contracted upon sensing a similar energy from the woman as Tejash. "Prince Adhrit, we don't have any hostility towards the Chandra kingdom." She spoke while stopping her descent right beside Tejash. Just as she stopped, she slowly and elegantly bowed in front of Adhrit. "We are here just for the elves." She continued with a bright smile.

Adhrit turned his gaze away from her, as he could no longer bear the overly revealing condition of her by bowing. "Hmm?!" A cheeky smile appeared on the woman's lips as she saw Adhrit's reaction.

"The elves are considered no less than humans in this kingdom." Adhrit responded while keeping his gaze away from her.

"Pfft..HAHAHAHA!. I am quite surprised!..Truly surprised! Humans of Chandra kingdom are worth just a small amount of gold?" The woman laughed loudly while raising her head. Adhrit caught her movement in his peripheral vision and turned his head back at her. "A small amount of gold?" Adhrit asked, while the answer was already present in his mind. Horror shivered his eyes, while rage made his blood boil. The wave of emotions shook Adhrit's complexion and left him shaking in front of the two. Adhrit forced his head to turn back, his eyes widened with a vulnerable paradise appearing. Just in his peripheral vision, Adhrit saw the twelve shadows standing. Confusion contracted his face as instead of alarmed, the shadows had a relaxed demeanor, their swords that should've been defending the Paradise at the moment, were shamelessly sheathed and attached to their waists.

Adhrit's rage-filled gaze almost tore through the shadow members' skin. The shadow member on the very left of their sequence couldn't stay still, he turned into a dark energy mist and appeared a small distance away from him. Adhrit's gaze was riddled with questions louder than any words. The shadow member slowly lowered his gaze, "We couldn't complete your last order." His desperate yet regretful tone surprised Adhrit more than angering him. Adhrit's mind slowly began forming a picture of the situation, along with a strange fear shaking him to his core. The shadow member was about to speak, but upon noticing Adhrit's situation, his lips were sealed with hesitation. Adhrit took a deep breath. "Speak," he said. The shadow member slightly nodded. "The King has regretfully passed away." A silence ensued as the final words escaped the member's lips. Adhrit closed his eyes, not willing to reveal his vulnerable state. He slowly raised his head towards the sky as if trying to negate the abyss covering his heart by the light filtering through his eyelids.

Adhrit's mind went blank. Regret and sadness brought an unending darkness to the boy's mind, along with his most hated feeling slowly sinking his soul. 'I couldn't protect him… I'm sorry, Grandfather… for being a grandson worth nothing.' With these thoughts, the small amount of will to resist Adhrit held shattered as the final pillar holding his strength fell.

The shadow member's complexion couldn't withstand Adhrit's reaction. His eyes shivered with tears, leaving a trail on the black cloth covering his face. His heart screamed at him not to continue, but the sense of duty still held a superior place. "T-the nobles now hold authority of the kingdom."

The final sentence from the shadow member sent chills down Adhrit's spine. Adhrit collected every iota of strength he held and spoke, "Did the nobles make this deal?" Adhrit asked in a heavy voice. The shadow member stayed silent, unable to answer his question.

"You don't have enough authority to know that." The woman spoke from behind Adhrit, "A prince without an Astra can't be passed a royal title, making you worth nothing more than a commoner." She added the final words intentionally to mock Adhrit's situation.

Adhrit clearly heard the mockery in her tone of speaking, but his heart made him turn towards her for confirmation. She had covered her face with her palm, but her stretched eyes couldn't hide her laugh. While Tejash had a blank expression with a strange pity for Adhrit's situation. "Enough.." He said while turning towards the woman, stopping her laugh immediately. "I will complete my goal." Tejash said as he began flying up towards the sky. His trajectory of flight suddenly changed in the direction of the Paradise, followed by the woman.

The strength in Adhrit's grip holding the sword's hilt almost disappeared, then suddenly, "Did you forget? You owe me a dance in the middle of Paradise, and there is no Paradise without the elves." A familiar voice ringed clearly in Adhrit's head, he quickly turned back and found Ambu sitting under the shade of a tree, while her white eyes stared at the yellow dots in the sky moving towards Paradise. Her simple words had quite an impact on Adhrit, his strength was once again fueled with purpose.

[WOOSH!]

The silver energy once again appeared out of Adhrit, making his feet slightly sink in the rapidly cracking ground due to the sheer strength the energy held. Adhrit's eyes contracted as he saw Tejash forming a huge energy net in the sky. His intention to capture the elves as mere animals became as clear as the day. The horrified elves exclaimed while desperately attempting to enter their houses. All the while their cries of help made Adhrit's energy rage even more furiously.

[SLASH!]

A huge silver energy slash suddenly destroyed every inch of the energy net. Tejash's brows expanded while the woman's eyes shivered with concern and horror, this swift destruction of the energy net clearly wasn't expected or desired. Tejash turned back with yellow flames raging with incredible pressure building in the atmosphere. But even his rage-filled eyes were forced to widen with surprise, as Adhrit's silver energy reached meters high above the ground with the radiating strength making his flames distort.

[Chapter 43:END]