Rivers of the Night - Chapter 672
Chapter 672: Ilzan
It sounded as though the Heavens were lamenting something, like it had put so much effort into a child only for it to come out a disappointment once more.
However, Theron knew that it was an illusion. This was the sigh of the Heavens; this was the sigh of an expert so in tune with the Heavens that it felt as though this might have been true.
Theron cut through it all, his blade not stopping for even the shortest of instances.
Blood spurted, and Melani hacked and wheezed. She subconsciously grabbed at her throat to stop the bleeding, her face becoming incredibly pale as her body drained of the lifeblood it had, for so long, relied upon.
She collapsed to the ground, her eyes wide. However, Theron didn’t follow up, despite knowing such a wound wasn’t enough to kill a Dome of Heaven expert. If he had taken her head off, it would be one thing. But that cut was too shallow, even if it had taken an artery with it.
His eyes had only sharpened even further, his pupils rapidly scanning the region until they landed on a man—the man he was sure had sighed just now.
Second Elder Ilzan.
The man stood there, seemingly not making a move to help the Matriarch, but also very obviously having been the reason his blade didn’t cut as deeply as it should have.
“I’m surprised, very surprised. You actually managed to continue unmoved.” His brow furrowed just the slightest bit before it relaxed.
BANG!
Ilzan had only just cooled off when Melani’s head exploded. In one moment she was writhing on the ground; in the next, she was a headless corpse, her body frozen in time.
Theron bent forward and unceremoniously took her body into a spatial ring.
Ilzan stood in silence for a long while. Maybe he didn’t know what to say, or maybe he was trying his best to control his emotions. Even from here, he didn’t know exactly how Theron had killed Melani.
Slowly, though, Theron was beginning to understand just what was so special about the Hall that Goddess Sacharro would give him three years. It seemed that she wasn’t just being “kind” after all.
Every layer he peeled back seemed to reveal three more. How many crouching tigers were in this Sect?
It certainly wasn’t a coincidence.
After a long while, Ilzan exhaled, and a shocking heat came from him, the ground melting away into pools of water that expanded beneath his feet. His eyes were replaced with dancing blue flames, his hair becoming the very same in kind.
Kempe seemed to have sensed something he recognized and hurried to look over, his eyes widening in shock.
“I’d prefer you not look at me.”
The words were simple, but Kempe immediately complied, looking away in a hurry. Beads of sweat rolled down his brow, and there was nothing he wanted more than to find a real hole to crawl into and vanish.
“I really don’t know where you came from, but you seem to have a good streak of ruining things. Patriarch Nightingale was a nice pawn, but now he’s gone. You’ve triggered the reawakening of a bloodline I didn’t think I’d ever have to deal with again. Now you’ve actually gone and killed one of my better soldiers in this corner.
“What am I going to do with you, exactly?”
Theron didn’t reply, observing the flames in Patriarch Nightingale’s eyes.
It was all so very… interesting.
The aura that Kempe’s disciples—or rather his in-name disciple brothers, though Theron just didn’t know this fact—had reminded him of something… extra.
When he saw Macie’s strength on full display, he was reminded of it again.
That hellish energy, so much like death and destruction wrapped into one.
And now, Ilzan was giving off the same aura, but on a level far deeper than even Macie had been. But this wasn’t because Macie’s talent was inferior or her bloodline was, but instead because this man had fully awakened it while Macie still needed to reach the Dome of Heaven Realm to do that.
Somehow, all of this… Darkness, Ice, Fire… was all connected.
How? Theron didn’t quite know, other than this mysterious, vague character of death and the afterlife that was carried through them all.
It was quite the oddity, and it seemed that the Hall, and maybe even potentially the Umbra Clan, was all involved in this.
Whoever this man was, he was powerful.
As far as Theron could tell, he should still be in the Lower Tier of the Dome of Heaven Realm, but his talent was far beyond that of the Matriarchs.
The truth was that Theron was correct. He was sent by the Umbra Clan, but not for any matter related to any of this. His job was actually to make sure that no one killed Lyrah. That was the task given to him by Patriarch Umbra.
As clueless as the Patriarch seemed, he wasn’t completely so.
But how could Ilzan have expected that he would run into so many things the Umbra Clan would most definitely be curious about?
The rise of the Nightingales’ Ancient Bloodline?
Well, that was very, very unacceptable, now wasn’t it?
While the Patriarch cared for Lyrah, his interests obviously rested with the Umbra Clan first and foremost. Why would he allow any of this?
Ilzan had wanted Matriarch Hall alive because she was the only one he could question about all of this, especially since he wanted to know why in the hell she was so loyal to the Nightingales. That would have certainly been an interesting question.
As for Kempe, Ilzan was very much aware of who he was; he just hadn’t said anything because that wasn’t his mission. He knew Kempe’s master. Though the two of them weren’t on the same level, Kempe’s master had no choice but to give him a great deal of respect because he came from the Umbra Clan.
Now, it seemed, though… Ilzan would have quite the opportunity.
How would the family reward him?