Rivers of the Night

Theron slipped on his robes, pulling his hood over his head until nothing could be seen in the shadows but the icy cold blue of his eyes.

He slipped out of the inn's room seamlessly.

…

The city had been in complete chaos since the Sangun decided to finally show up, and it wasn't lost on Theron why this was happening. The only reason the Sangun would be so blatant in their snubbing of the Black Clan's noses was definitely because of those four individuals he learned of while he was interrogating their prince.

No one could guess that this was all Theron's fault.

Not only were those four figures here for him, but the fact the Sangun were cooperating so eagerly was likely due to the death of their young prince.

Theron couldn't confirm this with 100% certainty, but while the Sangun would have to accommodate these four individuals, going as far as humiliating and ignoring the laws of the Black Clan had to come from a much deeper place.

The real surprise, though, was the Auran Clan. However, the antagonism of the Auran seemed very pointed, focused almost entirely on the Firewing. It only spilled over to the Nightingales because of their marriage alliance.

Logically speaking though, there had to be a reason the Firewings had gone as far as to set up a marriage alliance like this one. It was the first of its kind.

Although Imperial Clans had intermarried before, it was usually for non-heirs. Whether it was Aetherion or Thessa, they were both the best of their families.

It was fine for Aetherion since he was the man and would be having Thessa marry into the Nightingales. But the decision on the part of the Firewings had always been peculiar.

The fact they hadn't rescinded after Thessa gained a second Fire Spirit was even more peculiar.

Now it seemed the Aurans might be related to why they were making such decisions.

Of course, all of these matters were just casually slipped into Theron's rolodex of information. For now, it had little to do with him.

…

'Here…'

Theron stood beneath the moonlight. Ahead, there was the stone remains of what must have been an ancient relic or meeting place of some sort. It was in complete ruins, and even the archway that formed the center of it all was only half complete.

Just as Theron was about to take a step, his eyes sharpened.

His body swayed and he seemed to become a mirage, a blade passing through right where he had just been standing.

'Space Mancer?'

Theron's heart skipped a beat. If not for the sharpness of his Third Eye now, he would have missed it entirely. But more shocking than that, how could there be a second Space Mancer?

The rarity of Space Mancers was that they could only appear from random mutations in other lineages. The odds of two Space Mancers coming together and starting a Clan was next to nil because maybe only one would appear every few generations.

'No, not a Space Mancer. A formation.'

Theron was caught off guard by this. He didn't expect that there would be protections here.

While this confirmed that this was a Daggers of the Night branch, he couldn't help but raise an internal eyebrow as he dodged another blade from the shadows of space itself.

The problem was that Daggers of the Night would never protect its hideout like this. If everyone that came to these ruins suddenly died, it would only be reason for more people to investigate.

Daggers of the Night was adept at hiding things in plain sight. Even the entrance for Theron's own branch was in the dirty mirror of a random inn prostitutes frequented.

A part of Theron wondered if he had been set up by the old man as he dodged again. But he dismissed the thought.

Like he had thought previously, if not for the improvement to his Third Eye, he would have certainly suffered an injury already. This was likely beyond the sort of challenge the old man would expect him to be able to complete if he had been aware of it.

'In that case, this is likely a protection that the Space Mancer left behind to trigger upon her death. But what could she be so adamant about protecting even in death like this? And does that mean all the other assassins are trapped within, unable to get out?'

Theron's frown deepened.

He was sent here to stabilize the situation, but the only way to stabilize it would be to destroy this formation. But he had no method of destroying a formation he couldn't even reach.

The danger of this method was that the mechanisms, nodes, and runes that formed it were hidden in spatial folds. Theron had several ideas on how to deal with them, but none of them could be executed by him, at least not right now.

'That method would probably be the easiest, but I'll have to gather some materials… troublesome…'

Theron shook his head. Before he dealt with the formation, he'd have to at least check the situation on the inside first.

Rather than continuing to casually dodge, his body flashed. Swaying with the wind and moving with the fluidity of water, he slipped deeper into the ruins until he stood in a location he sensed no danger in at all.

At this point, his Third Eye was sharper than the vast majority of Gold Mancers, and it showed.

Theron's Water Resonance activated, and he mimicked the Soul Brand of Daggers of the Night once again, the sliver that remained within him churning and activating to his touch.

Then, he slipped inside seamlessly.

…

Theron appeared in a dark hallway, ready for anything. But as he expected, no danger came.

There had been several entry points, and he picked the most difficult of them, assuming that it would be the one that the Space Mancer would be most likely to use.

He turned out to be correct and he appeared in her private quarters.