Chapter 114: Phoenix

"...Was that your doing?"

An awkward silence filled the room.

"Do not be angry," the man coughed. "The more pitiful your defeat sounds, the more it proves they are irredeemable enemies of the Crown. Every imperial loyalist entering the ruins will try to execute them to earn the Prince’s favor."

Cassia snorted. "And if the loyalists fail?"

"I have deployed a contractor," the man assured her. "An ex-Syndicate Archon who defected to the Cult of the Devourer. He has successfully assassinated Peak Inner Scenery experts before. Once they enter the tomb, he is ninety percent certain to bury them."

Satisfied, Cassia pushed a chest of gold across the table.

...

Not long after, in a bustling camp at the base of the mountain.

A cross-eyed bard stood on a crate, strumming a lute. "Ah, the Aurora Empress! A beauty unmatched beneath the heavens! She fought two Inner Scenery experts single-handedly! Beside her, the Crown Prince’s envoy looked like a featherless chicken!"

Silver coins rained onto the stage.

A luxurious carriage rolled past the crowd.

"The gossip travels fast," Theo noted, nodding in approval. "But the bard possesses excellent taste."

The Aurora Empress was indeed unmatched; Theo could attest to that firsthand, considering her cool fingers were currently intertwined with his own.

"What are you looking at?" Theo asked, noticing Liana staring intently out the window.

Liana sighed.

Theo followed her gaze. Suspended in the sky above the Ashfall Peaks was a colossal, mirage-like projection of a floating, celestial sanctuary.

The architecture was bizarre, defying the natural laws of the Empire...

Liana’s silver eyes narrowed.

In her past life, she had claimed the Sky-Phoenix Domain, a sacred artifact that hovered over the capital.

This anomaly looked identical, but why was it here?

A moment later, the floating city dissolved into a flock of ethereal birds that scattered into the wind.

The crowd outside the carriage erupted.

"The miasma has dispersed!"

"The ancient tomb is open!"

Mercenaries and cultivators drew their weapons, surging toward the mountain trails.

Theo’s eyes gleamed. He immediately tapped into his suite.

Great Sage, analyze the energy.

[Affirmative. Scanning spectral residue... Complete. Supreme-grade Phoenix and Aurora bloodline signatures detected.]

Theo’s heart raced.

His Parasite class possessed the unrestricted authority to assimilate non-human bloodlines and extract their affinities.

If there was a primordial beast or a celestial inheritance inside that tomb, he could consume its core and perfectly integrate its power.

Furthermore, this was directly related to Liana’s path.

If he helped her secure the ruins, the System’s 10x reward multiplier would trigger.

The potential investment returns were staggering.

"Is this ruin related to your Phoenix lineage?" Theo asked.

"Yes," Liana nodded seriously. "I need to understand why it is here."

"Excellent," Theo grinned, his grip on her hand tightening. "Then we will claim everything inside."

Before Liana could formulate a tactical plan, Theo stood up, kicked the carriage door open, and stored the entire vehicle inside his spatial ring.

He wrapped his Abyssal aura around them and launched them directly into the sky.

The wind howled past them as they soared over the chaotic scramble of mercenaries below.

Liana tucked a stray strand of silver hair behind her ear. Her gaze drifted to Theo’s profile. It reminded her of nostalgic dreams where a young boy would eagerly drag her out of her icy isolation to explore the world.

It was a strangely warm feeling...

"Why are you staring at me?" Theo asked, glancing sideways.

"I am not," Liana replied, immediately looking straight ahead.

Hand in hand, the Sovereign and the Empress pierced through the clouds, descending toward the yawning abyss of the Ashfall Peaks.

Down in the camp, the cross-eyed bard watched them fly over.

He stopped strumming, dropped his lute into the dirt, and slowly removed his colorful robes.

...

The miasma shrouding the Ashfall Peaks finally dissolved.

Where a ruined plateau once stood, the earth had collapsed, revealing a circular entrance spanning a hundred feet across. The descent was so deep that the midday sun failed to pierce the gloom below.

While independent mercenaries were still scrambling up the mountain trails, several major factions had long since secured the vanguard positions.

Foremost among them was the Cult of the Devourer, standing brazenly at the crater’s edge.

"The spiritual seals have finally faded," Hierarch Malakor noted. "The Abyssal Sage’s predictions were flawless."

"Hierarch, is this not a bit too audacious?" a cross-eyed man asked, leaning on an executioner’s blade.

This was Gaius the Butcher.

Officially, he was a new recruit for the Cult. Unofficially, he was Tribune Cassia’s hired knife.

"We are claiming a celestial artifact tied to our ancestral deity while the Imperial army watches. Are we not overextending?" Gaius pressed.

"We have the direct protection of the Abyssal Sage," Kael, the Cult’s Beastmaster, sneered at Gaius. "He ordered us to report our findings regularly. That implies a guarantee of intervention if we face a fatal threat. You lack vision."

"I do not lack vision!" Gaius bristled, incredibly sensitive about his cross-eyes.

"You tried to assassinate a wooden training dummy yesterday because you thought it was a Royal Guard," Kael shot back.

"Enough," Malakor commanded. A spectral serpent manifested above him, his gaze locked onto the sky.

"Our enemies have arrived."

A golden-winged chariot descended from the clouds, casting a long shadow over the crater.

Crown Prince Aurelius stood at the prow, his golden, double-pupiled eyes sweeping over the Cultists with pure disdain.

Behind him stood a phalanx of silver-armored Praetorian Guards.

"Vermin of the shadows," Aurelius’s voice echoed like rolling thunder. "You dare present yourselves before the Crown?"

"Your Crown means nothing here," Malakor sneered back, clasping his hands behind his back.

Empowered by his unwavering faith in the mysterious Abyssal Sage, Malakor showed no fear against the Crown Prince who had once nearly eradicated his sect.

The standoff between the two factions reached a critical limit.

The surrounding mercenaries held their breath, praying the two titans would slaughter each other and thin the competition.

Before the first spell could be cast, a streak of karmic fire and icy moonlight pierced the sky.

Theo and Liana descended gracefully toward the crater.

They looked like a celestial couple descending to judge the mortal realm...

Or rather, Liana did.

"How is the Aurora Empress only ranked third on the Imperial Beauty Index?" a mercenary muttered in awe.

"She is young. She hasn’t fully matured yet," another replied.

"Rigged. The scribes must be blind," a third grumbled.

Theo would have agreed with them, but he was currently distracted by a far more pressing issue...