"How daring of him." A voice, filled with a distinct note of amusement, reverberated through a chamber.

It was a chamber of inexplicable beauty. The walls were painted in an intense purple, sizzling faintly as if veins of lightning were coursing through them.

The ground was strange, unnatural. It was solid, but not because it was made of rock, or metal, or any other known natural solid material of the universe.

It was made of solidified purple lightning, fused together in such a way that they formed a brilliant tapestry, where each step crackled, burned your feet, make you curse the world.

At the far end of this unique room, there was a bed, equally forged from lightning, where a stunning woman sat at its edge.

Her slender right hand was holding a letter.

"Do you want to know what your lover asked me to do?" Mayari asked, shaking the letter slightly, as if not believing the words written on it.

She was speaking to Meris, who was sitting calmly at the desk in her mother's room, unbothered by all the crackling lightning around her.

Well, only now. She remembered all too vividly how many times she had been electrocuted by these very bolts when she was younger, her mother looking on with a mocking smirk.

Her mother thought she had forgotten.

But she hadn't.

She was only waiting to be strong enough to make her feel the same pain she had once endured.

Filiality? That word meant nothing to Meris.

Shaking her head to push back those rebellious thoughts, she raised her gaze to her mother.

"My Kaden? What did he say? Did he ask for me?" she asked, her voice brimming with obvious excitement.

Mayari's disdain deepened at her daughter's tone, but Meris ignored it.

She sighed. "Your Kaden asked me to cause some trouble for the Cerveau now that they have suffered such a violent attack."

"He wants me to keep them busy, it seems," she said, playing absently with the letter in her hand.

"Aren't we already in alliance with them? We can do it, right?" Meris asked, tilting her head.

"Since when are we in alliance?" Mayari scoffed. "I haven't seen a single thing he promised us."

"He will. My Kaden never lies. He just didn't have the time to think about it yet. Don't forget the difficulty of changing someone's mind," Meris defended, stubborn and firm.

"And I do not have the time to keep those arrogant bastards in check," Mayari said coldly.

"Doing so would mean attracting their ire. It's bothersome, daughter. When those people hate you, they don't mind sacrificing thousands just to hurt a single person."

"They have no morality. And fighting people without morality is the worst."

"Why is it the worst?" Meris asked, her voice suddenly colder than ice itself. The air around her froze.

Mayari lifted her head from the letter and saw Meris's silver eyes glowing with a merciless chill.

"They have no morality? Then why should we? If they are willing to kill thousands for one, then we will kill billions for one." Her words were merciless, a vow.

Who did these motherfuckers think they were?

Mayari fell silent, studying her daughter.

Meris didn't flinch. She met her gaze head-on.

Countless thoughts flashed across Mayari's mind. She clearly wanted to say something, but at the end, she only sighed ruefully.

"If I don't help him, would you do it yourself?" she asked.

"I will. For my Kaden."

Silence stretched.

Finally, Mayari spoke again. "Fine. We will attack some of them — those we might have a valid reason to target. The domain of Kastri, where we mine our metal for runesmiths, for example. They won't suspect anything… at the beginning."

Meris's cold aura melted instantly, replaced with her bubbly nature. She gave her mother a beaming smile.

"Perfect! Can I also—!"

"You won't participate."

"But mother—!"

"Shut it, Meris," Mayari cut her off coldly, lightning sizzling in the air.

Meris instantly raised her hands in surrender.

"Easy, big—!"

BOOM!!

"Damnit mother! I'll tell fa—!"

"You have no father to tell."

"Oh… right."

BOOOMMM!!

…

Darklore — Warborn's house

"Young master, Matriarch Mayari received your letter successfully," Sabine said, bowing her head calmly.

Kaden, standing in front of his window, nodded. "Thank you, Sabine."

She gave him a small smile before closing the door behind her.

Kaden remained alone, his eyes fixed on the rising yellow sun. He couldn't help but think of golden voice when seeing it.

'I wonder, did she already start working on how she would elevate the profession of singing?' He chuckled softly. He was eager to see how she would act, how her choices would ripple through the empire.

But thinking of Sora made him also think of another girl, one he often forgot.

Rea Thornspire.

"Where is that girl? Did she not return after becoming an Intermediate? Or is she still not there yet?"

Or maybe she had been as unlucky as him and spawned in a deadly situation. And died.

He winced at the thought.

He would feel guilty if she died without him ever explaining himself. Without him fulfilling his role as her fiancé.

He wouldn't be able to swallow that. It would become a thick, heavy cloud of guilt hanging over him, twisting light into darkness.

"Don't die, Rea. Don't die…"

She was a Legendary holder like him… she had to survive, right?

It was hypocritical. He was painfully aware of that.

He sighed and shook his head, forcing the thought away.

"Daela is still not back. I can't talk to my parents about my harem alone. Hell no. I need her to be there if ever I get beaten up. Besides, they need to agree to make the relationship with the Elamin official."

So many issues. So many damn issues.

Kaden's annoyance simmered, but he believed…he believed once he became a Master, these troubles would either vanish or diminish drastically.

And so, without lingering further—

Kaden disappeared from his chamber.

…

Kaden found himself in a new place. All around him, mountains loomed, thick as boulders and tall as skyscrapers.

The ground was a sea of jagged rocks, each step harsh, each echo sharp, the stones snapping beneath his feet like brittle glass.

There was not a speck of grass. Only rock. Rock. And more rock.

The mountains were rough, steep, daunting to climb.

But not for him.

He scaled them effortlessly, like a worthy mountain goat, and reached the summit in seconds. From there, he finally saw the expanse of the land.

He thought he might see something different, but no — there was only more rock, more mountains.

He tilted his head. "Where did Vae bring me?" he wondered.

He had asked Vaela for a dangerous place, one not far from Asterion. She had brought him here.

The Rocky Mountain, she had called it.

Pretty descriptive, honestly.

Trusting Vaela, Kaden closed his eyes briefly and reopened them to find panels floating before him.

[You have completed your quest.]

[Rewards – Death Coins: 10,000 | Stat Points: 150]

He smiled softly.

"With these, I'll be able to max out my remaining Strength stat. Then it will only be about surpassing those limits."

He looked around. He couldn't see anything yet, but he felt it…the lethal danger lurking.

His smile widened.

"Death… death… death…"

He stood up, and then…

"Let's die plenty today." he said with a giggle.

—End of chapter 230—

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