Rivers of the Night

The entire forest went up in flames.

Exsaa didn't hold back in the slightest, triggering her Fire puppet and Earth puppet to explode soon afterward.

The real reason she had sent them out like this was because Vellan knew that her strongest puppets had a coordination-of-the-four-elements battle formation they could use. Those four were best, and together, she could crush even the weaker mid-tier Gold Mancers in this region of the continent.

Of the four of them, when given time to prepare, Exsaa wasn't just the strongest by a small margin—she was undoubtedly the strongest by vast measures, so much so that even Vellan wouldn't dare to cross her.

When Vellan saw her bring out those four puppets, he logically thought that she wanted him to become the fourth cog in her wheel and coordinate in the battle along with the three other puppets, something to which he obliged.

He was familiar with the formation, having seen it in action many times, and he knew what role he had to take on, so he stepped forward to complete the encirclement.

This would lure Theron into a sense of safety about the situation. She had already used [Corpse Explosion] once, and someone as intelligent as Theron would certainly be ready for it.

But he wouldn't know two things.

First, that she could trigger it even in a living being.

And second, that she wouldn't care about Vellan's life to do it.

Although they couldn't be together, she had loved Wren with every fiber of her being. Their teasing and love-hate relationship had only been triggered because her body simply wasn't her own to control.

As a vassal of a young heir like their Young Master, even if Exsaa hadn't been the prettiest of women, it would only take one fleeting moment of desire for her to become his plaything, even for a single night… let alone the fact that Exsaa was quite the tempting beauty herself.

Their love never stood a chance even though they had both grown together.

Even if Wren was alright with it, there were certain lines they could never cross because once the Young Master's woman… always the Young Master's woman.

As much as Exsaa could joke around about finding other men, or even sleeping with those she cared little about, she would never put Wren in harm's way like that.

If the Young Master found out about those other men, the worst that could happen is that men she didn't care about would die while she lost her own life.

But if it was Wren… then wouldn't she have to watch her heart be ripped out of her chest for a second time?

And yet, that was exactly what had happened this time, at the hands of an inconsequential little boy she hadn't even cared enough about to take seriously in the first place.

That thought filled her with so much rage she didn't even know what to do with it.

She managed to bottle it up, to control it, to store it up on the inside right until this very moment…

And then she let it all go.

"Die! Die! Die!"

Her shrieks were buried by the sounds of the explosions, the wave of heat and power so powerful that even at the distance she stood in, her own hair was blown back as well.

But she stood her ground…

For only a moment before her head whipped back violently, a whip appearing in her hands so fast that it looked like it had always been there as she lashed it out.

Theron was already streaking toward her, his gaze placid and unmoved. A new dagger had appeared in his hands, and he was rushing forward so low to the ground that a single flick upward sent it soaring over his head.

He closed in the distance, a long river of blue, pinks, and violets forming to his back. But it wasn't just his hair—it was also his short sword.

It had changed, the same streaming colors coming out from it as well.

Mists of the very same pale and beautiful colors soared around them, piling up and increasing their concentration until it felt like the entire region had formed into a domain of flickering Water Runes.

Exsaa's eyes opened wide.

Impossible!

She couldn't understand how Theron was here, but she understood even less what his treasure was doing. How—?!

She struck out with a palm, flicking her whip-wielding hand to reel it back. Her Mana surged within her as her bracelet jiggled and danced beneath the momentum of her attack.

Just as it seemed Theron would meet her palm with his sword, a behemoth of a man suddenly appeared right in front of him, manifesting from Exsaa's bracelet out of thin air.

Flux Mana churned within him, and the aura of a Gold Mancer descended in an avalanche of power and menace.

The timing was perfect, and even caught off guard, it could be said that Exsaa's control over a battlefield had never faltered a single time.

Unfortunately, her opponent was Theron. He had noticed the bracelet the first time he scanned her, and he had been watching her through his Third Eye this entire time. How could he not know that her puppets came from it?

The moment he saw it dance—Exsaa using the movement of her palm to overshadow the Mana she was pouring into it to activate its abilities—he knew she would summon a puppet.

Which was why the Theron before her was little more than a [Water Clone].

Chi.

Exsaa's eyes opened wide as her head soared into the air, blood spurting as her puppet blasted into a screen of water, blowing the fake Theron to smithereens.

Theron stood behind Exsaa's body, his sword half-raised and body aching.

In the distance, Vellan's charred corpse lay in a pile of scraps. Behind him, Exsaa's headless corpse plopped to the ground. And then there was just him and him alone… for only the briefest of moments.

A rustling could be heard even in the midst of Theron's heavy breathing—the sound of someone that wasn't hiding themselves because they had no need to.

Theron looked to the side through the heavy mist of rainbow colors, his Mana waxing and waning.

Elder Kelyne Black.