Rivers of the Night-Chapter 432: One Explanation

He was not living for himself.

It was a phrase Theron had said more than once, and one that he would always remind himself of no matter how much time passed. What decided how long it went on for would be purely how long it took him to get his revenge. Not a second more. Not a second less.

He never cared to seek out Aeryn for revenge for what he had done to him. He hadn’t thought about going back to the Thistles to snub his nose at their Patriarch’s incompetence. He didn’t even have anger in his heart for the Mandate Guild or Scholar McIntyre.

He didn’t care.

Those thoughts of revenge, those hopes for payback, were all selfish. He would never waste time on them.

Theron’s figure flashed and he appeared high on the walls of the Luminescent Moon Sect. With another step, he was already falling down the other side, his tattered robes fluttering before he landed with a soft bend of his knees.

Hardly taking a breath, he had already sprung back up, accelerating in the distance so fast he left blurs in his wake, his body shifting and moving through the forest.

Behind him, he could sense Aeryn running after him like some sort of madman, but the latter couldn’t even begin to keep up. Theron was too fast, his agility too high. Given the speed he was going at, one would think that the forest had a straight path for him to make use of.

A roar sounded behind Theron and he raised an eyebrow, casting his Third Eye behind him.

Aeryn had stepped onto the air, his feet smashing down in waves as he raced across the wind. As though his Flux Mana had become the purest of Wind Manas, he trudged forward, cradling his severely broken arm as he rushed after Theron without a single care for his personal safety.

’Flight?’

Theron raised an eyebrow. That could be very useful. Was that what he had gotten out of the Luminescent Tower?

As far as Theron knew, there were no easy ways to fly. At the very least, Gold Mancers couldn’t do it. If there was a cultivation Realm that could, it would likely be the Divine Realm, and probably only for short bursts.

The methods that did exist to fly were related to short-burst Spells or the clever usage of Mana Control. This, however, seemed to practically be pure physical exertion, and it came with quite the speed advantage at that.

Theron might practically look like he was ignoring obstacles, but he still had to divert his path and curve around trees. He was just efficient at it.

Though Aeryn wasn’t gaining on him, he wasn’t falling behind by much either.

It would be a different story if Theron actually had a straight lane to follow. But this only made him more intrigued.

Theron slowly came to a stop and then seemed to suddenly flicker and vanish.

Aeryn was charging with all his might, one step after another causing booms through the air as he closed in with all the speed he could muster.

Chi.

All the air in him was suddenly knocked out. Theron seemed to have appeared from nowhere, and the figure Aeryn had been following turned out to be little more than a [Water Clone].

Theron didn’t punch him—he only caught his neck, leaving Aeryn sprawling through the air, kicking and practically fighting for control. But Theron just let them fall, his senses sweeping over Aeryn’s until he found a ring.

Plucking it off of Aeryn’s finger, he looked through it, but as he already expected, what he wanted to find wasn’t there.

Patriarch Gian was very particular about those ancient booklets in the Luminescent Tower. Even Theron had to leave his own in there and could only study the others because he had proven himself to have strong comprehension abilities.

From what Theron had seen, comprehending the other booklets when you hadn’t been gifted them by the tower was next to impossible. But... back then, Theron hadn’t even awakened his Third Eye yet. Now, it had evolved several times over.

His belief in his ability to comprehend was on another level.

"Write down your technique and I will go and save your sister."

Aeryn was still fighting for his life as they fell from the air. He even went as far as to use his broken arm, but he only ended up with more shattered limbs.

If nothing else, his grit and determination were on a level all their own.

"I don’t believe you!" Aeryn snarled.

BOOM!

Theron had to take a moment to pause. The stupidity of the Vermouth Clan men was truly something else.

The thought process of injuring him before the procession had never made any sense. Chasing him right now when he barely survived throwing a punch Theron didn’t react to made even less sense. And now Theron was giving him a chance to save his sister—but he was doing all of this instead.

The two landed heavily on the ground and Theron let Aeryn go. The latter couldn’t even catch himself, his body spasming in pain. He had broken more bones trying to lash out against Theron than he could even count.

Theron raised a palm.

[Aqua Resonance].

A soothing energy washed over Aeryn’s body and he was shocked as his flesh and bone began to mend itself. One would have thought that it was a Light Mancer overseeing his healing rather than a Water Mancer. If he had known Theron was using a Bronze Resonance Spell, it would be a wonder how he would react.

Aeryn’s body was so much easier to heal than his own that even Theron was a bit surprised—but only for a moment.

"I will only explain this to you once," Theron said, as calm as icy glaciers. "I can kill you whenever I so choose. I do not care enough about your technique that I would wade through hell and high water for you. I simply do not see the Thistles as a threat, while your technique would make things a lot more convenient for me. Give it to me now, or die now and wait for your sister in the afterlife. Those are your choices."

The chill in Theron’s voice seemed to send a spike right through Aeryn’s spine.

Before he could answer, though, Theron’s eyes narrowed, his gaze lifting to see a streak of flames arching toward him. It wasn’t an attack, but rather instead a person.

Thessa Firewing.

He couldn’t help but wonder what she was doing. Of all the people who feared him the most, she would be number one. There was little to no chance that she was here for a fight.