Chapter 253: Chapter 248 – Ultimatum

Frode was flying towards Heaven's Gate with three of his men, barely able to escape the chase of the combined forces of Paoma and the Immortal Wonders Sect. In their previous fight, the rest of his people stayed back to buy them enough time to flee. He was still nervously looking back over his shoulder, expecting their pursuers to show up any time now.

"We should already be close to the city!" Frode said, gasping for air as they flew as fast as they could.

"We should be safe, no? They wouldn't dare come this close to a city under Lord Zelig's protection!" one of his men answered, exhausted, disheveled, and beaten but happy to be still alive.

"Yes…" Frode nodded, gulping, turning forward, somehow having a bad feeling, as if something was not right.

As they whizzed past the trees and roads below them, they soon saw the dark clouds above the stormy ocean in the distance. The huge city built on the Storm Coast, mixed with Heaven's Gate's white buildings, was slowly getting visible to their eyes. They almost cheered out, finally making it back, but for Frode, the feeling of something being out of place grew exponentially.

"Stop!" echoed a firm voice, flying up from the city but as soon as he came closer, he recognized Frode. "Oh? Elder Frode?" He asked, wearing Heaven's Gate's white and purple uniform.

"We are being pursued by cultivators from the Immortal Wonders Sect, probably even Aerthus himself; we need to warn the Sect Master!" The soldier behind Frode said with a panicked voice while his King looked at the men before him with an unexplainable fear in his heart.

"Yeah, sure!" The guard rolled his eyes, "And you could escape from someone like that if he wants you captured… please! We heard your 'exploits' and losing our men… hmf, come, the Sect Master surely has something to say about it!" turned his voice firmer, pouring cold water on them. By the time he finished, numerous others had appeared from the city, escorting them inside, landing on the main street.

Inside the city, everything seemed to be in order; people were going about their lives normally. The shops were open, boats were coming and going from the harbor, unloading their cargos, and it did not seem they were too bothered by what was happening in the outside world. As they were walking along the busy streets, Frode, once again, felt a tugging on his soul, feeling like something was not okay, but he could not point a finger as to what or why. Hundreds of kilometers away, Orsi slowly opened her eyes, sitting aboard the Skyshark, surrounded by others from the Sect and the Kingdoms.

"Something happened within the city…." She murmured, looking up at Aerthus. "I don't know what, but the people feel weird!"

"Weird? Isn't it because you try to feel them through Frode?" Paoma asked, needing help understanding her powers and style of cultivation. But she was not the only one, as, amongst the members of the Immortal Wonders Sect, only a handful of people understood Orsi's way.

"I tapped into his soul." she shook her head. "I can see through his eyes, feel what he feels and read his subconsciousness. He also feels that something is off."

"Maybe it's the fake memories," Keina suggested. "The technique is not perfect; it can leave brain damage behind."

"I know… I experienced it." Orsi smiled softly before continuing, "This is why I can feel it too. I feel it in Frode now, and I feel it inside the people in the city. They have been… touched."

"Touched?" Ludwigh raised his eyebrows.

"She means their minds." Reignar crouched down, gently rubbing Orsi's head. "She was mindwiped by a Naulin when she was a young girl. She almost died, but my sister-in-law saved her life. She knows what to look for if it is about the work of a violet pair of eyes." she looked up at Keina and the rest. "If she says the city's people have been touched, then their minds have been altered, one way or another! It does not matter if they were modified, a command implanted in them! They have been touched by Zelig's powers."

"The whole city?" everyone looked at each other, then turned towards Aerthus as he was the foremost person who had experience dealing with him.

"It is… a possibility." he opened his mouth after a little, watching Orsi's expression.

"Everyone Frode has walked past had that feeling radiating from their bodies." Orsi repeated her findings, "I am 100% sure." she said, looking straight into Aerthus's eyes.

“The whole city… something is not right…” The Sect Head crossed his arms. "Why would he do that?"

"Maybe he wants to use them to swarm us? As we would be hesitant to attack civilians? Destroying our morals and psyche to be forced to kill innocents?" Horthi said after everyone fell silent.

"Or it is a trap," Ludwigh suggested, and when he spoke, Seya suddenly exclaimed.

"It is! The same that was under Rozex!" She looked at Keina, seeing she came to the same conclusion, "He must have been making the same formation in the city, using his powers to make sure nobody notices or leaves! Or just simply cooperate!"

"The formation that trapped my daughter?" Xendar sighed, hearing her words.

"And it was designed to kill you." Keina nodded, directing her words toward Aerthus. "If we go in and he activates it… he may even succeed. Now he would be there, controlling it personally, sacrificing the population… This is bad. Really bad!"

"Not as bad as going in blind." Xendar shook his head, "Now we know what to plan for! Isn't your son a formation master?" He flashed a little smile, speaking to Aerthus. "Ask him to come here."

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Levictus was walking towards the golden ball that still did not move since landing in the middle of the city. Ariana was sitting above it with crossed legs, floating and meditating peacefully, not leaving for a moment. In the past months, the city has changed a lot. There was much more life to Rozex than ever before. In the place of the previous spires, parks were established while members of the High Council built new courtyards for themselves. The city was still rebuilding from the damage it suffered, and the serpentine leading up to the plateau was the first to be repaired. Now it was swarmed with caravans coming and going from the neighboring kingdoms, helping the city to rebuild itself, causing a massive bloom in trading, elevating multiple families from the rank of servants to well of families or even into newly wealthy clans as everyone had a chance to break out. They just had to act.

"Father called; I'll be leaving the city," Levictus explained as he arrived before Ariana, looking up at her.

"Seya called me too and told me everything." she opened her eyes, landing before him with a serious look. "You all need to be careful!"

"I learned a lot about the formation by now. I can come up with multiple countermeasures."

"Don't forget, he has the seal to control it! He will be there in person, and we don't know if it can transform more than once!" She warned him cautiously.

"Then we are going to need to improvise. But yes, I am aware." he nodded calmly, diverting his eyes onto the golden sphere. "I am sorry I can't help break her out sooner."

"No, you don't need to. I don't think Master would even like that!" Ariana smiled at him, tilting her head. "Plus, I can feel she is going to emerge soon!"

"What happened?" he moved his eyes from the shining cocoon back onto Ariana.

"Nothing, but I can feel it! I can't explain it with words!" she shook her head in response.

"Women's intuition. A strange thing." he shook his head before cupping his hands and leaving.

"It is more than that…." Ariana whispered, touching the prison of Ren, and she was unsure if what she felt was even there. Still, she could swear there was a tiny energy fluctuation around it every hour by now. It started around every second day... then every day. It was becoming increasingly frequent as time went on.

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Frode was nervously sitting inside an empty hall of Heaven's Gate's main building. The sun ducked below the horizon long ago, and the dark clouds quickly sneaked in, replacing the night sky above the city. They were showering Heaven's Gate with a downpour of rain, and a constant lighting show was flashing outside, illuminating the poorly lit hall almost every five seconds.

"What is going on…?" he moaned, holding his chest, feeling like a prisoner made to stand before the gallows for hours before being led up to it by the executioner. Zelig was nowhere to be found, not even when the other members of the Sect called him; there was no response, so they just made him wait here for excruciatingly long feeling hours by now. As the minutes passed, feeling like years, he wanted nothing more than to just die, to get it over with it. If death is what was awaiting him, just finish it already! Anything to end this constant fear, this nauseating terror, gripping his heart and soul.

"Frode." called a voice for him, and he immediately recognized it, turning towards Zelig, who appeared from nowhere, soaked in rainwater. His expression was plain, calm, and devoid of emotions as he looked at him.

"Sect Master!" He gulped, opening and closing his mouth multiple times, failing to form words from his thoughts. Zelig looked into his eyes, and although he did not utilize his powers, Frode could not tear his gaze away. When he wanted to blink, his own eyelids refused to obey, making his eyes well up with tears.

"Listen well," Zelig spoke, but it was immediately evident to Frode that he was not talking to him. "You have a week. Come and settle this once and for all. If you refuse, I'll wipe out the city and disappear. But know this!" He walked closer, raising Frode by the neck, still looking into his eyes yet speaking to Aerthus. He knew that on the other side, he was listening in. The moment he returned, he knew Frode's memories were tampered with and felt something weird radiating from his body. He knew not what it was, but he was sure they were using him to spy on him and on the city. "I won't disappear forever. I'll be back! Periodically… and every return of mine will cost you a city's worth of lives! Your choice! Make it fast, old friend!" He flashed a smile, in the end, grabbing Frode's head with his other hand, tearing it off from his neck with a loud pop, like a kid dismantling his own toy. "And you…" He watched the distorted look on Frode's head that was still trying to mimic a terrified expression, moving the muscles, being gripped by Zelig's fingers. Frode's body was quickly let go, standing still before wobbling a little, showering the floor with blood, pumping it out from where his head was sitting before finally collapsing. "You are going to be my new toilet!" He grinned, slowly undressing, making it the last image Frode's brain recognized as his consciousness finally faded away.

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On the other side, Orsi quickly told everything she saw Aerthus, gasping for air after rushing over to make a report. She was still feeling like she was the one who had her own head torn off and used as a urinal.

"Sssh… it is okay…" Reignar whispered, hugging her, looking at his ancestor who was sitting in the main cabin of the Skyshark with crossed arms. "What are you going to do now?"

"Go in, of course!" He answered immediately, "I'll wait for Levictus to come and brief me; then, I'll go in and face him."

"You do know it is a trap! That is too dangerous!" Reignar sighed as, for now, they were the only ones in the know.

"Yes! And?" Aerthus leaned forward while asking. "I won't let almost a million innocent souls be a pointless sacrifice! Neither will I let him escape! Not like this! His personality never was the example to be followed, but he was a talented and genius-level cultivator! I expected that he would change through the past 2000 years but not in this direction! I knew he would resurface when I did; I knew he would mimic me! I was hoping he would! He should have been the grindstone for my people! Without competition, there is no advancement! The Sect needed someone to compete against; that is what brings innovation! It is the main component in unearthing geniuses and talented people's gifts! But the way he constantly demonstrated his warped personality, he can no longer remain! I hate that I need to weaken our side of the continent, but it is a must! This needs to end now before it causes the future to be affected and turn into something really fucked up!" he explained with a serious tone. "I order you two to be silent about this. If I can't fight it off and die with him… our side will still have an ally with the same level of strength as me! We can't lose all of our powerhouses at once!"

"But…" Orsi tried to speak, but Aerthus just waved his hand.

"This was an order. Not a request. Now go and rest… leave this to your Sect Head! From now on, this is only my responsibility." he smiled at them. After they left, he just leaned back on his chair, closing his eyes, remembering the days from long ago when he was only an ambitious warlord, trying to unify the surrounding small kingdoms, forming his own empire, not even thinking about how it would affect the future of millions of lives.

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