Rivers of the Night-Chapter 277: Chaos

Chapter 277: Chaos

Manifestation.

It was none other than a stage of Echo Control that Theron had alluded to before—a state beyond the Ninth Silver Resonance, where an Echo could take true shape and form.

Theron had reached that state seamlessly long ago. But he never brought out his Echoes in full force, always keeping his cards close to his chest. Why reveal things he didn’t have to? He had yet to be in a battle that had pushed him that far.

In fact, it could be said that ever since he stepped out of the Luminescent Moon Sect’s Secret Realm, he had yet to be pushed very far at all.

It might be the case, though… that this time would finally show him something different.

The arrival of the Sangun Clan occurred days later. Three, to be exact.

They weren’t late, but it could be said that their actions this time were very blatant—almost to the point that the atmosphere in the city felt heavier than ever before.

How could the Sangun be late when they were in their territory to begin with?

But that was when a rapid-fire series of events sent the Sangun Capital ablaze.

Right after the Sangun Clan appeared, a genius of the Gold Clan died. It was a bloody affair, taking place right in a public city square. There was no hiding it—no remorse.

A genius of the Sangun who called themselves Chopra took a bloodied head with them, leaving the headless corpse oozing out onto the streets as though nothing at all had happened.

This was something that obviously made Crown Prince Marcel Gold absolutely furious, but he was unable to take action directly. He had already entered the ranks of Gold Mancy, and not only were there unwritten rules related to this, but even if there weren’t, it would be an enormous loss of face if he had to take part in something like this personally.

Without a choice, the Gold Clan could only swallow the insult for the time being—especially since they were in Sangun territory. But the tension in the city only multiplied after this point.

If this had been the only change, then maybe things would have still blown over, even though the Sangun would have become enemies of the Gold Clan following this matter. But this was far from the only thing that occurred.

After the Gold Clan lost a genius, the Auran Clan, which had been relatively lowkey until now, suddenly issued a challenge to the Firewing Clan.

The Auran Clan was a clan of Spirit Mancers, and they were quite well known for their mental abilities. Their Auran Bloodline was adept at suppressing others, ripping control of Mana, dispelling spells, and things of the like.

The Firewings were the closest thing to Spirit Mancers that the Provinces still had, but it was no small insult to do this—because the only Spirit Mancer among the Firewing participants was Thessa herself.

A small-time genius of a normal noble Clan was essentially laying a challenge at the feet of a Crown Princess. Not only a Crown Princess, but one promised to the Crown Prince of yet another Empire.

Thessa never replied to the challenge, but this caused a stirring of rumors from the side of the Aurans—rumors that told of the cowardice of the Firewings and how none of them dared to act.

The Fourth Year of the Auran Imperial Academy’s academic stream, Jiji Lasco, appeared the next day at a tea poetry session the Sangun held, speaking eloquently about the power of collaboration and how the loss of ambition could cripple the growth of an Empire.

~”A blade that not only loses its edge, but becomes covered in rust and the dents of complacency cannot be used to even spread butter on toast.”~

Those simple words seemed to make their way through the Imperial Capital, drilling into the great insecurities of the Firewing Clan.

It was a clear dig at not only their cowardice in ignoring the challenge, but also the fact they were marrying their strongest talent to the Nightingales. A chance for them to rise up again had actually been pawned off to another Empire.

That much would have been enough, but Jiji Lasco got quite publicly drunk the following day, only to speak out words that were even harsher and all the more grating on the ears.

~”Imagine, a princess of the Firewings will spread her legs to strive for the seed of darkness rather than to soar to the light of the skies. Icarus would roll in his grave!”~

Words spoken so eloquently, and yet carrying the most ignoble of sentiments.

Jiji wasn’t an Auran, but it was obvious that he was speaking on behalf of them.

The words stirred the fury of the Firewings, and Jiji was found beaten in the streets the following day. Yet, his tongue only became sharper as a result.

~”The Firewings turned down a challenge of nobility, only to fight on the stage of back-alley rats. I am a scholar, not a soldier, but I have the heart of a general. I will see the Firewings on my battlefield, and I will slay you all with the sword of my tongue and the blade of my heart. You will rue this day!”~

…

The chaos only grew day by day, battles breaking out among the geniuses of the five provinces every day. Maybe because of Chopra’s actions on the first day of the Sangun’s arrival, people were a lot more cautious, and there were no more deaths—but that didn’t stop blood from flying.

Whether it was real blades or figurative ones, the clashes of the Imperial Clans reached a fever pitch. But the one person who never appeared was Theron.

Seemingly having lost their patience, it was another member of the Sangun who spoke out, demanding the Nightingale’s so-called genius step forward… their genius of the First Years, Faustin Sangun.

But Theron directly ignored it. Or rather, he didn’t hear of it at all… because he was focused on something else.

‘Yes. This should probably be the location of this Province’s Daggers of the Night.’

Theron nodded to himself. After several days, he had finally found it.