Rivers of the Night

The click of a blade into its sheath came with the vanishing of a subtle crystalline blue. There was something particularly smooth about Theron's actions, even though his body right now was covered in blood.

His own blood.

The shadow hadn't made Theron suffer even a single wound, but right now he looked as though he had practically been tortured to death. In fact, the only reason he wasn't dead right now was because he had such great control of Water Mana, especially his own. If not, he would have riddled himself with holes.

What he had done just now was the equivalent of unpinning a grenade in the palm of his hands and then stuffing it into his enemy's mouth.

Sure, the opponent lost his head, but he was right in the midst of the explosion too.

Using the peaks of the sound waves to store a great deal of energy within his [Shedding Water Skin], and then applying [Pressure Burst] on top of that made the latter technique easily more than ten times as powerful as usual.

Unfortunately, that increase in strength also pushed beyond what Theron's body was able to withstand at all.

The good news was that these were still mostly superficial wounds, not meeting bone or severing his muscles or tendons. The bad news was that there were so many of them that he was losing too much blood, and it was bound to affect his performance nonetheless.

Theron took a breath, slowing his heartbeat and trying to regain some stamina.

Now, he was down to just 20% of his Mana. He had grown used to having practically endless Mana reserves, but if he was going to be fighting Gold Mancers like this, he would inevitably run into walls that he couldn't manage at all.

But there was no choice but to press forward right now.

'I don't know if any one of those four individuals are here right now, if that shadow was one of them, or if this is just a probe on their part. But what I do know is that whatever the Alpha hound is after, it's very real. And the Runebound Core of a Quasi Gold Mana Beast… that's too intriguing to miss out on.'

Theron had long made his decision as he slowly pulled himself to the edge of the opening again, peering down toward the battle below.

Not much seemed to have changed other than the numbers. Whether it was the side of the Sangun Clan or the Lightning Blood Hounds, both had lost a substantial number of combatants.

In the middle, the Earth Mancer was still locked in a peculiar battle with the Alpha. If one didn't know the situation, one would think that he was choreographing this battle so that the largest number of his own men would die.

Though, even now, Theron couldn't outright dismiss that possibility. He wasn't sure why that shadow didn't try to protect Akkun from death, but what he did know was that the Sangun Empire was suffering from internal strife at the worst times.

Akkun might have been nothing in front of Theron, but having that strength at 13 or 14 years old was objectively impressive. Losing a talent like that was devastating. The Sangun Clan had probably already lost their minds and might very well be sending real powerhouses here.

'Maybe. This is still Nightingale Territory, after all. It's unlikely that they'll throw all caution to the wind.'

As though reading much of Theron's thoughts, the situation down below changed.

Yet another Sangun Clan member fell beneath the claws of a hound, and right then, Theron sensed a shift in the Earth Mancer's priorities. It was slight, but not only were Theron's senses sharp, but observing the battle from a bird's eye view gave him insight into things others couldn't catch…

Like the fact the Earth Mancer had used his heel to kick a rock in the direction of the Sangun Clan member that just died.

It was fast, subtle, and exceptionally controlled—as expected of a powerful and skilled Earth Mancer. The action was in the blind spots of everyone present but the dying Sangun Clan member. But to Theron, it was all right there to be observed.

'He really was waiting just to kill them. In fact, maybe he was even stalling so that the shadow would find a chance to kill that little prince too… Interesting…'

From the actions of them all, they seemed very confident in these tunnels to not let anyone else in. They didn't even have any other scouts out here.

But this was also a bad thing for Theron as well. If the Earth Mancer had killed everyone he wanted to, that meant that the Sangun Clan members remaining would all be of one mind. There'd be little to take advantage of.

'There's seven of them left. One Gold Mancer, three Quasi Gold Mancers, and three Ninth Silver Resonance Mancers… if the little prince's words are to be taken seriously, whatever is down below their feet could help the Alpha to reach Runebound. But the Alpha could also break into Gold Mancy whenever it wanted as well, triggering its tribulation and putting everyone in danger…'

'In that case, the best way to deal with this situation is to just kill the Alpha so swiftly it can't make that decision itself. But the Alpha is obviously smart enough to know this as well…'

The trouble was that a Manaborn Mana Beast at Quasi Gold wasn't necessarily weaker than a Gold Mancer. Even Imbued Mana Beasts were nightmares at their cultivation grade, let alone a Manaborn one.

The only reason the Alpha looked so weak was because it was suppressing its cultivation so that it didn't accidentally break through. But if the Earth Mancer pressed it, those chains and levers could snap with a thought, then they'd all be screwed.

It was a tricky situation. If Theron was going to deal with it, the obvious choice would be…

'He's doing it.'

The Earth Mancer stomped a foot and the ground shook.

At the same moment, the Alpha's crimson eyes seemed to grow even redder, its blood boiling to the point sparks of ruby lightning began to jet out around it.

That was right. Make the decision for the hound.

While it was taking its chance to break into Runebound, it would be the most vulnerable.

The Alpha pounced.