Chapter 581: Erdania

Chapter 581: Erdania

History Repeats



Erdania disembarked from the airship, the sun shining from high above. A knot of anxiety tightened in her stomach as she followed behind Zacharia, Nahamassa and Bera. A small group of people from the Dragon Heart Sect stood waiting, their faces a mixture of curiosity and apprehension.

“Welcome to the Dragon’s Peak,” a drake with scales of obsidian metal and wings like sheets of molded steel rumbled. His eyes flickered towards Erdania with an intensity that made her pause.

“Peak Commander Ikris,” Zacharia greeted the man back. “It’s been a while.”

The drake inclined his head, the movement stiff and formal. “It has. I’ve been told of your arrival, I’m to escort you to the gathering.”

Erdania felt a growing sense of dread. The closer they got to Ryun, the more she felt the turmoil within him through their bond. It was like a storm raging just beyond the horizon, threatening to engulf everything in its path. She tried to reach out to him, to offer comfort, but his mental barriers were firmly in place, a wall of iron and ice. Selia’s worry echoed through their connection, amplifying Erdania’s own fears.

She tuned out the conversation around her and followed blindly behind the others as they were let into the city.

They understood his anger, the raw, visceral fury that burned within him. The attack, the near loss... It had shaken them all. But this self-imposed isolation, this chilling silence, was more terrifying than any outburst. And it was not how they did things.

Hopefully, she would be able to talk with Ryun soon, and clear things up.

They were halfway to the gathering hall, navigating the winding streets carved into the mountainside, when the world seemed to shudder. A wave of power, immense and suffocating, washed over them. Ryun’s presence, like a monstrous leviathan rising from the depths, filled the very world around them.

“Ryun?” She tried to reach him through the bond, her voice a desperate plea in the sudden stillness. His barriers shattered, and a torrent of emotions flooded her senses. Wrath, so intense it threatened to consume her, mingled with a bone-chilling fear that made her blood run cold.

“You were supposed to stay with Selia, keep her safe,” his voice echoed in Erdania’s head, angry at her.

“I’ve never seen him like this before,” Erdania whispered, both out-loud and in her mind to Selia.

“I have,” Zacharia said grimly, his eyes fixed on the wolf. Essence flared around Bera, and her voice, amplified by her power, rang out across the city, urging everyone to stand down.

Erdania remembered that the woman had some powerful perks, she’d seen them in action during the attack on the tournament.

“You have?” Erdania asked, her gaze snapping to Zacharia. She often forgot that Ryun and he had a history that stretched before their arrival to the Infinite Realm.

Zacharia nodded, his face a mask. “When Melody died.”

“Oh,” Selia’s said in Erdania’s head, and she mirrored the sentiment. Understanding dawned on Erdania. They had forgotten that loss, the gaping wound that had never truly healed. Now, with the attack, the near loss of Selia and Erdania, that old wound had been ripped open, leaving him raw and vulnerable.

“You need to talk to him,” Zacharia said urgently. “He can’t do what he did before. I won’t allow it.”

“They attacked us,” Erdania countered, her eyes narrowing.

Zacharia turned, his gaze intense. “And those who are guilty, who are in charge, responsible, should and will answer. I do not dispute that. But last time... last time, Ryun didn’t make any distinction between the guilty and the innocent. He killed everyone Erdania. The old, the young, those who had no choice in the matter at all. I understand his anger, I am angry as well, but the world is not a perfect place, it is not black and white. There are people in the Exalted Empire who only follow because they have no other choice, because they were born and never knew another way. Because they were never offered a second chance.”

Erdania didn’t answer. She didn’t disagree with Ryun’s sentiment, she only cared about his emotional state. In that at least Zacharia was right. Ryun, consumed by his emotions was not acting as his usual self, and that she didn’t like.

“I’ll talk with him,” she said with a firm voice. She had to reach him, to remind him that he wasn’t alone, that she and Selia were still there, safe. As for the Exalted Empire... They would pay, they had to be taught a lesson that they would never forget.

Zacharia looked at her for a few seconds, then sighed and shook his head. He walked away, heading to where Bera was still communicating with everyone in the city. Erdania could hear her voice too, instructing everyone to stand down and not attack Ryun. It was a smart thing to do.

With a powerful leap, she launched herself into the air, soaring towards the giant wolf that was her partner in all things. He needed her, and she wouldn’t fail him.