Chapter 467: Who are you?
Elion looked up at the red sun with a deep frown on his face.
Even the sky and clouds had become bloody red at some point, painting Grimholt in an ominous light that made the flying city feel like it had drifted into another world entirely.
Was some sort of disaster really about to befall them? "Repent and seek the Goddess’s mercy!"
A loud voice rang from the street ahead.
"All those who seek to survive the coming apocalypse, seek the Goddess of Light’s mercy, and ye shall be granted salvation!"
"Fuck," Elion cursed under his breath.
These fanatics were really starting to annoy him.
He had just walked Aria home, and after the brutal reprimand from her father for failing to bring her back last night, his mood was already far from pleasant.
The priests and fanatics from the local Church of the Goddess of Light were not helping. Not even a little.
"Tch." Elion clicked his tongue and picked up his pace.
He had planned to take Isla out for a date today. He had already woken up late, and after taking Aria back to the inn, it was now late in the afternoon.
And then this happened: A blood-red sun, panic in the streets, and fanatics screaming about salvation.
"Fucking hell," Elion muttered, irritation clear in his voice. "What is going on?" However, just as he took another normal step, the world around him changed.
The cobbled street vanished, the noise disappeared, and the red sky was gone.
Elion found himself standing inside a strange house of sorts, with a towering man standing before him.
The space was frozen; he could tell because of how the dust particles in the air were still.
Despite the fact that he had been standing beneath a crimson sky only a moment ago, no red light shone through the windows of this place. In fact, the world beyond the windows looked frozen, as though time itself had stopped outside.
Elion’s heart skipped a beat, and his guard went up instantly.
"Who are you?" he asked in a calm voice. "What do you want?"
The towering man before him had bronzed skin, a powerful frame, and an oppressive presence that filled the room without effort.
He looked Elion up and down.
"I never thought I would see the day when a wanted man would walk so carelessly with no concern for who might be pursuing him," the man said. "Tell me, boy, is it foolishness or confidence that makes you act with such disregard for your own safety?"
Elion frowned.
Was this someone Dawncrest had sent? If so, then he might actually be in trouble.
This person did not look weak; he did not look simple either. Just looking into his eyes unsettled Elion deeply.
This was not some ordinary noble’s dog: This man was very dangerous.
Just as Elion had that thought, the frozen space around him suddenly cracked.
The sound was sharp and unnatural, like glass breaking inside his skull. The towering man’s eyes widened.
A blurry figure shot through the fracture in the space, moving so quickly that even Dorian was momentarily stunned.
The figure stopped directly in front of Elion.
Zenith appeared there with a deep frown on her face.
Without a word, she cupped Elion’s cheeks with both hands, her eyes scanning him from head to toe with open concern.
"Are you okay?" she asked quickly. "I am sorry I took so long."
Elion blinked and smiled. "I am fine." Zenith had really come quickly.
It had barely been fifteen or so seconds since he appeared in this strange place, and she was already here.
He didn’t know where it was he had been taken; maybe they were already quite far from Grimholt, but he was already aware that distance meant nothing to Zenith now.
Elion placed a hand lightly over hers. "You were fast coming here."
Behind her, Dorian remained silent for a moment. His gaze moved from the cracked frozen space to Zenith, then from Zenith to Elion.
Dorian’s expression, which had been calm and somewhat disdainful before, slowly became wary.
Just the fact that this woman had somehow managed to break through his spatial lock spell told him one thing: She had to be at his level of strength, or perhaps even higher.
But there was only one fact that made his brows furrow gravely.
"A demon," he said.
Zenith finally turned her head toward him. Her eyes were cold, entirely different from the warm, worried gaze she had given Elion.
"Who are you?" she asked softly, "and why did you take my husband?"
Dorian’s brow twitched. "Husband?" His eyes narrowed.
The room darkened slightly as his aura began to rise. "I see." Just the fact that a demon was calling Elion husband told Dorian one thing.
The accusation that the boy had formed a contract with a demon might not have been entirely false after all.
His expression darkened as Zenith’s overpowering presence began to press down on his own aura.
"You still have not answered my question," Elion said as he stepped forward to stand beside Zenith. "Who are you?"
Dorian’s mind spun. ’What to do?’
This woman was absurdly powerful. The brief clash of their auras was all he needed to understand that she was far stronger than him.
That meant she was a Saint.
A Saint-level demon, which was shocking, to say the least. So he could not simply grab the boy and run.
In fact, he had already tried to use his spatial ability to pull Elion away from the demon, but it was almost as though a higher authority was blocking him.
That unsettled him even more.
The thought that a Saint-level demon had just called this boy husband was already shocking enough.
However, Dorian was also stunned to find that his senses were telling him something else. Elion Nova was a High Mage.
Was he not supposed to be an Adept Mage?
That was certainly what Dorian’s information had said.
The boy who had vanished for a few weeks had returned not only with a Saint-level demon woman calling him husband, but with a core rank far beyond what he should have possessed.
This situation was becoming more absurd by the second.
’How should I play this?’ Dorian thought quietly. In the end, he decided to play it safe.
The most important thing was to find out how the boy had entangled himself with a Saint-level demon, and then determine how that relationship would affect Celeste and, in turn, the vampire clan.
After all, if the clan tied itself to a man standing so close to a demonic existence, there would be consequences.
Dorian let his aura recede slightly. "Let me introduce myself." He gave the pair a light dip of the head.
"I am Dorian Silverfang, one of the three Grand Elders of the Vampire Clan, and sworn brother to Lucius Chronos."
Elion’s eyes immediately sharpened at the mention of the Chronos family name.
And the fact that this man was a vampire was all he needed to know about his identity and possible purpose for trying to abduct him: Well, abduct was a strong word.
But Elion was not particularly fond of being teleported away without his permission or knowledge.
"Celeste’s family?" Elion asked, giving Dorian a thorough look.
Other than his sharp canines and the faint bloody aura clinging to him, there was nothing obvious about Dorian that screamed vampire, but Elion had no reason to doubt him.
Dorian nodded.
"You catch on quickly." His gaze moved briefly toward Zenith, then back to Elion. "So you must know why I came looking for you."