Rivers of the Night-Chapter 424: Little Bastard

When Theron finally reached the Nightingale Empire’s borders once more, his eyes couldn’t help but narrow. He smelled something odd and heavy in the air.

The power of the Divine Realm was a half-step beyond what was even allowed to appear in this world. When they fought, it spread over a large area and infected even the skies themselves.

Theron had felt something like this before on a much smaller scale. Wasn’t it the day he had set up the old assassin, the old woman, and the Patriarch of the Luminescent Moon Sect to fight?

’What happened... Could it be?’

Theron’s first thought was the matters he set in motion. But was his scheme really so effective that it would already reach here?

’It seems that I was correct... if the platform is truly so special, the Daggers of the Night branch that would be targeted would indeed be this one. What I didn’t expect is that they would find it so fast. If the Mandate Guild had the capability to find the old assassin’s resting place so easily, why didn’t they do it before?’ freewebnøvel.coɱ

This question nagged at Theron. Scholar McIntyre had had to follow Theron to find the Sangun branch. And the only reason Theron had been able to find it himself was because he could quite literally cheat. He had methods only the assassins of the guilds had.

However, this didn’t seem like a normal battle at all. It felt like the entire Empire had been embroiled.

Theron’s gaze flickered as several possibilities came to mind.

’The Nightingale Clan?’

Theron had felt something the day he fought their Crown Prince. But he didn’t even need to feel that to know that something was off about them. The existence of Sadie alone was enough. Even now, he wasn’t sure that he could see all the way through her at all.

If Theron was going to rank the likelihood of those that might come to help the old man, he would rank the Nightingales number one even though there were too many questions of how they would even manage it.

But there was a second...

’The Bell Clan?’

The Harmon Clan had already targeted him, but what was curious about the Bell Clan was that, according to Sadie, they were a pure Sound Mancy Clan...

Just like the old man.

The old assassin’s daughter and her ties to another assassin’s guild seemed to be all too coincidental as well, especially since she was targeting something that was so well tied to Theron’s bloodline.

Wouldn’t it make perfect sense that Aliza would be looking for things related to the Galethunders if she was a descendant of them as well? Wouldn’t everything just make sense if her full name was Aliza Bell?

Puzzle pieces that had been fuzzy and hard to grasp were slowly slotting into place. But even so, no matter how hard Theron tried, he couldn’t seem to find the proper place for the Nightingales to fit into all of this.

’Maybe... they don’t.’

Theron looked toward the distance, his eyes locking onto the horizon that should have held the Nightingale Palace. He was much too far away from it right now to actually see it, and his vantage from atop the Alpha wasn’t nearly enough.

But he could still feel it.

Somehow, Theron felt that if there was going to be someone that could answer the questions he had about himself and where his bloodline originated... it was going to be the Nightingales.

He had no evidence of this, and even Sadie’s words seemed to suggest that she had no idea.

But the last pieces of the puzzle just might very well be there.

For now...

The Luminescent Moon Sect.

\*\*

Theron laid eyes on those tall silver walls. He hadn’t spent much time here, but it was probably responsible for the bulk of his growth—if he could even say such a thing considering how little time he had actually spent cultivating.

Since then... it hadn’t even been a year yet. Even his 15th birthday was still on an approaching horizon. And yet, he still felt like it had been far too long.

’Soon.’

Theron closed his eyes slowly before opening them again.

...

Patriarch Gian’s eyes snapped open. A hint of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth under the abrupt change in his aura.

His injuries still hadn’t fully healed. And due to certain reasons, he had no choice but to go out to battle again just a few days ago. But this... was simply far too unexpected.

’The little bastard actually returned? Isn’t he the one that—’

Patriarch Gian paused for a moment before starting to laugh so uproariously the entire tower shook.

Everyone who knew Gian knew him to be a refined man. Calling a child a ’little bastard’ was something he would never do. But this brat had truly pushed him to the brink.

And now it seemed he had done it again.

Patriarch Gian was among the most intelligent figures on the entire continent. He had felt something was fishy about the actions of the Mandate Guild, and the fact it was related to a Water Mana Mandate Plaque made his antennas go all the way up.

Whether it was the old assassin, the old woman, or Patriarch Gian, all three had speculated whether Theron was the one or not. It was just that Gian was the most hesitant.

Theron had entered the Secret Realm that should have confirmed everything. But Theron had let nothing slip, and according to the reports he received, Theron had been too busy barely protecting his life.

When could Theron have had a chance to do anything?

But now Gian realized that he had been being played by this boy from the very start. Even before Theron knew what he should have been hiding, he had already done it—if for no other reason than to be extremely cautious.

What he didn’t know was that his hiding himself and pushing Thessa to the forefront to avoid accountability for Ironvale’s death had actually protected him in far more ways than one. Otherwise, Gian may have never let him leave the Sect in the first place.

And now he was back.

But that also confirmed to Gian the one thing he wanted to know the most.

There was only one reason Theron would return to this lion’s den.

It really was him.

A violent flash erupted in the normally calm Patriarch Gian’s gaze.

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