Chapter 108: Fickle Weather

Shaye Valen sat inside the main hall of Blackthorn Fortress, clinging to her usual aristocratic composure.

She took a slow sip from her teacup, her golden eyes deep in thought. To her, It was simple: a small castle, three Morveth of the Fallen rank, against a supposed goddess and her pampered lord, who had swallowed the bait of the Grand Covenant out of sheer pride.

She was certain that the seventy-two hours would not end without him kneeling before her, begging for her knights to intervene.

BOOOOOOOM!

The hall shook violently.

The wooden table trembled, the candle flames flickered wildly, and a shockwave slammed into the fortress walls, sending dust raining down from the ceiling.

Shaye’s hand froze mid-air, her eyes narrowing.

This was no ordinary skirmish.

An immense surge of mana swept through the fortress, weighing down the air for a brief moment.

Jace leaped to his feet, his fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword as he stared toward the northern window.

"My Lady... something big is happening."

Shaye did not answer him.

Setting her cup aside, she stood up and headed swiftly toward the fortress ramparts.

When her feet stepped onto the observation platform, the knights and guards were rubbing their eyes in disbelief, staring at the horizon of the northern forest.

A few kilometers away, the dark forest was transforming into a realm of utter destruction.

The trees burst into dense green flames, spreading between the trunks like a sea of poisonous fire.

A suffocating green aura rose from it, filling the air with a pungent stench that made breathing itself feel hazardous.

And above it, a harsh, blue cold was creeping through the area. Water droplets froze in the air before falling, and frost accumulated on the trees and rocks, while breaths turned into white clouds in an instant.

Then—

BOOOOOOOM!

The explosion echoed through the forest, its resonance reaching the fortress, causing the ramparts to tremble and the knights upon them to grow tense.

BOOOOOOOM!

The green fire continued to fill a vast stretch of the forest, while ice spears plunged from the sky, shattering the earth and leaving behind plumes of steam and frozen shards.

Roughly a minute of continuous explosions passed.

Then the green fire began to weaken.

Its tongues receded gradually, its glare fading from the forest edges, before a suffocating blue aura—stronger than before—swept through the area. It spread rapidly across the ground and trees, frost coating everything in its path.

The blue aura surged across the plains until it collided violently with a dense, suffocating grey aura encircling the battlefield, warping the air between the two forces under the shear pressure of the impact.

Shaye witnessed with her own eyes a vast expanse of trees disintegrating into dust in a fraction of a second.

Colossal shockwaves scoured the earth, giant ice spears plummeted from the heavens to shatter the ground, while razor-sharp grey slashes tore through reality and green fire in straight, deadly lines.

"What in the hell is happening?"

Shaye lost her usual calm composure, her voice—once overflowing with aristocratic poise—turning into a hushed cry. She turned to her attendant with a sharp glare: "Jace... which faction does that power belong to?"

Jace stammered, his hand gripping the hilt of his sword so tightly that his knuckles turned white: "I... I don’t know, My Lady. The colliding auras out there belong to powerful Fallen... No local sect or faction in this region possesses combat capacity of this magnitude!"

"They are certainly an external force, not belonging to Blackthorn."

"Goodness, the weather is rather dreadful today, isn’t it?"

The voice came from behind them, calm and casual, as though he were commenting on an unpleasant breeze rather than the chaos unfolding beyond the fortress.

Shaye and Jace turned around sharply.

Malrik stood upright and steady by the stone wall, his hair swaying in the cold wind blowing from the burning forest.

Right beside him stood Lilith, her dark purple hair framing her face as her eyes gleamed with a dark, mocking amusement. Beside them stood Eliza in her neat maid attire, her presence calm and unshakeable.

Eliza stepped forward with smooth, silent steps, extending her hands to offer Malrik a warm, steaming cup. "Your drink is ready, Young Master."

He took the cup and offered a faint smile. "Thank you, Eliza. The air has grown rather chilly lately."

He then turned toward Lilith with a wry, mocking smile. "What do you think, Lily? Do you think it will rain soon?"

Lilith adjusted a strand of her hair and smiled with mischievous delight. "Perhaps, Master... though I doubt the rain will be the worst of it."

Shaye froze in place, her golden eyes wide in utter disbelief. She pointed a trembling hand toward the burning hell in the forest, where shattered tree trunks flew and ice spears detonated in the sky: "You... do you not see what is happening out there?! There is a vicious battle between Fallen-rank beings taking place just a kilometer from your fortress!"

Malrik took a slow, deliberate sip from the cup, gazing toward the burning horizon with feigned curiosity.

"Ah, that?" he murmured carelessly. "It seems the Morveth are having a bad day together. A family misunderstanding, perhaps? Nature is full of peculiar ways of expressing itself, Miss Shaye."

Shaye took a sharp step toward Malrik, her eyes narrowing with a voice dripping with suspicion and threat: "Malrik... do you have anything to do with this madness? Did you secretly summon external forces?"

Malrik stopped drinking and looked at her with a cold, sharp glare that sent a shiver down her spine, before a mocking smile carved itself onto his lips.

"First... I don’t remember us being close enough for you to address me by my first name, Miss Shaye."

"Second... Me? Requesting external assistance?" He shook his head with feigned regret. "How could you doubt my integrity like this? The Covenant between us is perfectly clear, Miss Shaye... and I am a man who strictly honors his oaths. I haven’t requested a single soldier since we signed."

He leaned toward her slightly and gave a cold wink. "It’s simply that I am enjoying the view. Nature is taking care of itself... and I am mentally preparing how to spend your 150 High-Grade Soul Stones."

Before Shaye could utter a word, a second, far more violent explosion erupted from the eastern edge of the forest, violently shaking the fortress.

BOOOOOOOM!

It was no ordinary explosion.

The earth split open violently, and massive plumes of magma and molten lava burst forth from the depths, surging into the sky and showering burning rocks in every direction, as if a volcano had suddenly detonated in the heart of the Morveth army.

A wave of intense heat swept across the battlefield, its scorching breath reaching the fortress despite the distance, brushing against the faces of the knights standing atop the walls.

Jace stepped back, raising his arm in front of his face before pointing toward the burning horizon.

"My Lady! There’s more—please, stand behind me!"

Shaye’s pupils dilated in genuine shock, losing whatever remained of her composure as she watched the magma carve through the sky in a blinding, fiery orange.

Malrik cast a calm glance at the rising magma, then looked down at the warm cup in his hand.

"It seems the real show has just begun."

Malrik shook his head with a faint smile, handing the cup back to Eliza.

"The weather here is quite fickle," Malrik remarked, giving the fiery horizon a passing glance.

"Eliza, fetch me a cold drink and some snacks, please. This looks like it’s going to take a while."

Lilith didn’t even turn away from the fiery explosion. "Oh, bring me popcorn too. Extra butter, if you have it. Some chocolate sweets, and something cold to drink. Make it enough for the whole show—I don’t want to get up mid-scene."

Eliza bowed respectfully to Malrik. "Right away, Young Master."

She then turned toward Lilith, her expression flattening into absolute deadpan. "As for you... get it yourself. I don’t work for you."

The two women locked eyes in a tense, silent standoff, sparks practically flying between them before Lilith scoffed and rolled her eyes.

Jace stood rigid, his hand resting firmly on the hilt of his sword, while Shaye stared at Malrik and the two women standing behind him, utterly speechless.