Chapter 286: Equality

The five Elders immediately turned toward the two of them. Ravena stood there calmly, looking almost exactly the same as she had before the battle. There was no visible sign of exhaustion on her face, and her expression remained as calm as ever.

For a moment, the Elders simply stared at her.

Then Ravena suddenly threw something toward the ground.

The object fell heavily near the Elders’ legs, making all of them look down in surprise.

It was Ciaran.

He was still alive, but his entire body had been beaten so badly that it was difficult to recognize him. His physical body had suffered severe damage, and even his spirit was at the edge of destruction.

Ravena had almost killed him.

Ciaran was completely unconscious because of the damage he had received, and there was no sign that he would be waking up anytime soon.

All five Elders looked at Ravena with wide eyes.

None of them had expected this.

They knew Ciaran was the youngest and weakest among the five Immortals, but he was still an Immortal-rank Vampire. Ravena had only recently reached the Immortal rank herself, yet she had defeated him so badly that he could barely even remain conscious.

For a few moments, none of the Elders could say anything.

They simply looked between Ravena and Ciaran, trying to understand what had happened during that one hour.

But before any of them could think further about it, Ravena looked at them and spoke.

"Throw that stupid bat into the prison until I tell you to get him out of there. And for now, I am going to rest, so don’t disturb me. While I am resting, make a detailed report on everything that happened during the last decade while I was gone."

She paused for a moment before continuing.

"And also tell me what the casualties were among the humans and our own people after I was trapped."

Her tone was calm, almost as if she had just returned from a normal trip rather than a battle where she had nearly killed another Immortal.

After saying that, Ravena didn’t even wait for an answer from them.

She simply turned around and started walking toward the Dark Castle.

The Elders remained silent as they watched her leave.

Ravena’s figure slowly became smaller as she walked deeper into the castle, and soon, she disappeared from their sight.

The five Elders continued standing there for a moment.

None of them spoke.

Their attention then slowly shifted toward Ciaran, who was still lying unconscious on the ground.

After a brief silence, one of the Elders finally spoke.

"Don’t you think something is weird about her?"

The others looked at one another.

One of them nodded slowly before saying, "Yeah. She is too calm."

Another Elder crossed her arms and looked toward the direction where Ravena had disappeared.

"Demons are not supposed to be like that. Something has changed inside her."

The other Elders remained silent.

They had known Ravena for a very long time.

Even before she had disappeared to the Human Continent, she had always been a troublesome and unpredictable Vampire. But the Ravena who had returned was different.

She was still the same person.

At least, that was what they thought.

But there was something about her that felt different now.

....

Same day, 8:12 PM

Aetherium Academy, Cafeteria

Asher was silently eating his food alone, since Aria had not come today for some reason. She had not even come for lunch earlier, which was unusual enough for Asher to notice.

He continued eating without thinking too much about it, occasionally taking a sip of his juice while the cafeteria remained filled with the usual noise of students talking and eating around him.

And then, after some time, Aria finally arrived.

She walked toward Asher’s table, placed her food tray on the table, and sat across from him. She then looked directly at Asher, her face serious.

"For how long did you know?"

Asher looked at her with confusion.

"About what? Your family stalking you?"

"Yeah."

"For some months. Specifically, since we returned from the Elyndor Academy," Asher answered calmly before taking another bite of his food.

He had known about it since his first vessel reached the Master rank and he had become capable of reading people’s wills.

Aria looked at Asher with disbelief.

"So why didn’t you tell me this sooner?"

Asher calmly replied, "Because of peace. Don’t you know? The way to live peacefully is to not stick your nose into other people’s matters."

Aria stayed silent for a moment.

She looked at Asher, trying to understand whether he was actually serious or simply messing with her again.

"So why tell me today?"

Asher smiled and then replied with a smile on his face, "Oh, I was just feeling bored, so I thought it would be fun."

Asher then paused after saying this, continuing to eat as if he had not just revealed something important to her.

Aria stared at Asher for a moment.

And for the first time, she felt genuine anger toward him. At the same time, she finally understood how Mr. Useless felt whenever Asher kept ragebaiting him.

’So this is how it feels...’

She sighed internally.

But soon, Asher continued again.

"And since I was also feeling like I was being stalked, I told you so that maybe you could fix this. And it seems like it worked. At least now, no one is looking through your eyes."

Aria just sighed and stayed silent for a moment.

She then looked at Asher again before finally smiling. Her tone became casual as she said, "Asher, do you know, right now I really feel like punching you in the face."

Asher looked at Aria, calmly took another sip of his juice, and then said, "Nothing wrong with that. You are free to punch me if you really want to and can punch me, and also be ready to be punched too. Because you know, I am not sexist. I believe in equality."