Chapter 175: Untitled
"So tell
what exactly happened."
The words were calm, almost conversational, yet they carried a weight that pressed against the air. Even the wind seed to quiet down as they were spoken.
To the side, the group had been separated with deliberate precision, each mber surrounded by two or three royal guards in polished armor. The sunlight caught on their breastplates, scattering sharp glints across the trampled earth.
Questions ca one after another, layered carefully, circling back in subtle ways ant to catch contradictions. Fortunately, they were not amateurs. Every answer was asured. Every pause calculated.
They spoke with the steady rhythm of those who had agreed on a story long before the interrogation began.
Still, so things refused to be buried.
The forest around them was scarred. Trees lay uprooted, soil churned into deep craters. In the distance, the massive Terra turtles continued their restless movents, their hulking shells rising and dipping against the horizon like wandering hills.
"I’m curious why the Terra turtles are currently moving without a single pattern."
Captain Vincent’s voice cut through the low murmurs. A smirk tugged at his lips as he stood before the two divine representatives, hands clasped loosely behind his back.
Unlike the others, he did not look strained.
He looked entertained.
His black uniform shimred faintly, embedded crystals catching the daylight with a restrained brilliance. The contrast between his dark hair and the polished elegance of his attire made him stand out sharply among the gold and silver clad royals.
"We will need to do further investigations. Can soone follow us to the royal city? Preferably soone without a status."
His gaze drifted lazily across the gathered figures before settling on Enzo and Zeke. Recognition flickered briefly in his eyes when they passed over Jake’s children.
But when his attention landed on the two outsiders, it sharpened.
There was calculation there.
"There’s no one here without a status. These two here are the representatives of the Black Ink God, Inkous."
Minister Fin spoke smoothly, stepping half a pace forward. His tone carried mild amusent, though his eyes remained cold and observant.
He understood what Vincent was doing.
A disaster of this scale demanded accountability. The court would not remain silent, and soone would have to shoulder the burden of public dissatisfaction.
Vincent was searching for a convenient absence. A naless presence.
A scapegoat.
But every person standing here possessed either influence, backing, or divine significance. No loose ends to pull without consequences.
"Well, I have to take soone."
Vincent shrugged lightly, though the ease of the gesture felt rehearsed. The destruction behind them was not small. Rumors were already spreading beyond the borders of the terfdom. Complaints would reach the capital within days.
The royal court would demand answers.
And perhaps blood.
"We were heading to the capital anyway."
Minister Fin smiled, a calm curve of the lips that did not reach his eyes. He gave a subtle nod toward the Count, a silent assurance that this was acceptable.
The Hunter Gas were approaching quickly. Two weeks at most before nobles, champions, and divine representatives flooded Coral City.
Their departure had only been delayed by circumstance.
Going now changed very little.
"Okay. I’ll have so guards follow you to the terf. They’ll retrieve your belongings and assist with the transition."
Vincent’s smile widened just slightly, enough to feel strange. Not hostile. Not friendly.
Just knowing.
The Black Ink God was a newly risen force within the fragile balance of the royal factions. A fresh variable in an already unstable equation.
Offending Minister Fin and his brothers was one matter.
Entangling oneself with a god whose influence was still undefined was another entirely.
These n were not pieces on a simple board.
They were complicated.
The tension between the two sides lingered a mont longer, subtle but heavy, like the air before a storm breaks. Then, with no further spectacle, the agreent settled into place.
Orders were given quietly.
Formations shifted.
And without much of a ss, the two parties began their departure from the terfdom, walking in tandem beneath a sky that felt far too watchful.
The royal capital Windhelm was not rely a city.
It was a presence.
A colossal crown of stone and crystal rising from the heart of Gaia, its spires piercing through drifting clouds, its foundations carved into the highest peak of the region. From afar it looked like a mountain that had decided to beco a kingdom.
White walls curved along the cliffs like the ribs of so ancient beast. Towers layered upon towers climbed into the sky, their banners snapping in the thin wind that howled endlessly at such heights.
Below it, the rest of the super world felt smaller.
Gaia itself was vast, untad, filled with sacred lands and roaming titans. Yet Windhelm stood over it like a silent guardian, watching, judging, enduring.
Getting onto Gaia was child’s play.
One only needed strength, connections, or enough coin.
Entering Windhelm was another matter entirely.
Massive gates forged from star iron blocked the primary entrance, etched with glowing runes that pulsed faintly against intruders. Lines of travelers stretched for hundreds of ters under the scrutiny of armored guards and scanning artifacts.
Even nobles were questioned.
Even divine envoys were recorded.
Today, however, the gates parted with far less resistance.
The royal guards escorting them spoke a few curt words. Seals were shown. A pathway opened.
They walked through without obstruction.
It should have felt like privilege.
Instead, it felt like being escorted into a cage.
Unfortunately they were not entering as honored guests or normal denizens returning ho.
They were entering as suspects.
Eyes followed them.
So curious.
So wary.
So already whispering.
"Don’t leave the city without letting the royal guard know."
Captain Vincent’s voice was casual as he stopped in the middle of a wide stone street paved with polished marble. People moved around them in steady streams, rchants shouting, carriages rattling, divine beasts pulling noble transports.
He looked at them once more, expression unreadable.
Then he turned.
Without hesitation, without ceremony, he walked away, his black uniform blending into the controlled chaos of the capital.
Just like that, they were alone.
"Well that’s ."
Liana was the first to react.
She shifted awkwardly, brushing dust from her sleeve as her eyes scanned the towering structures around them. There was sothing distant in her gaze.
She had no family waiting here.
No brother to shield her.
He had been left behind.
Still, she carried her pride.
Her na was still etched on the Ice Wall ranking, a feat few in the capital could ignore. That ranking alone ant allies, acquaintances, invitations.
She would not be wandering alone for long.
Before Enzo could say anything, she stepped back into the moving crowd.
The city swallowed her easily.
Within seconds, her figure vanished among silk robes, armored knights, and floating carriages drifting through the air lanes above.
"So, you guys. I kind of ssed up."
Minister Fin spoke suddenly.
His smile stretched across his face, but it lacked warmth. It felt thin, brittle at the edges.
Up close, the exhaustion showed.
Faint shadows rested under his eyes. The usual playful sharpness in his expression was dulled slightly, replaced with sothing heavier.
He looked like a man who had just added another weight to an already fragile scale.
A second passed.
Then the sky tore open with sound.
"Fin! You bloody bastard, you dare co back here? I’ll fucking kill you!"
The voice thundered across the capital.
Windows rattled.
Birds scattered from rooftops.
A figure burst through the city sky, descending like a blazing cot. Air rippled violently around him as he tore through the invisible aerial lanes ant for divine transport.
Citizens scread and ducked.
Guards looked up in alarm.
The newcor’s aura burned hot and furious, crackling against the high altitude winds as he locked onto one person below.
Fin.
The minister exhaled slowly.
The tiredness in his eyes deepened.
"Well," he muttered softly, almost to himself.
"This is what I ant."
He had offended more than a handful of people in Windhelm.
And not the harmless kind.
In the royal capital, power gathered like storm clouds. Ancient families, divine contractors, commanders of sacred legions. So of them stood on the sa height as Minister Fin, so perhaps even higher.
Fin had a talent for stepping on every single one of their nerves.
"Get sowhere to stay. I’ll et you there this night."
He flashed them an awkward smile, the kind a man gives right before running into a battlefield he personally created.
Then he vanished.
No flash of light. No ripple of mana.
One mont he stood there beneath the towering spires of Windhelm, the next there was only empty air where he had been.
Above, the furious figure did not hesitate.
The sky split again as he surged forward, cutting through the clouds like a predator that had finally caught the scent of blood. His aura flared violently, scattering the thin highland winds and bending the aerial traffic lanes out of shape.
He followed Fin’s traces hungrily.
The chase streaked across the capital’s skyline, weaving between floating platforms and sacred towers.
"This guy."
Enzo sighed deeply, watching the two shrinking figures disappear into the distance. The sound of their clash echoed faintly through the upper districts.
Minister Fin was many things.
Clever.
Dangerous.
Politically sharp.
Reliable was not one of them.
Whenever they arrived sowhere new, he had an uncanny habit of throwing them into the deep end and calling it growth. He would smile, say sothing reassuring, then vanish the mont trouble surfaced.
Worst guide imaginable.
"Let’s get out of here before soone relates him to us."
Zeke’s voice cut through Enzo’s thoughts. He grabbed Enzo’s sleeve and pulled him forward before more eyes could linger on them.
People were already pointing at the sky.
Whispers spread quickly in a place like this.
The last thing they needed was to be associated with a public aerial pursuit involving a royal minister and an enraged powerhouse.
They moved with the crowd.
Windhelm swallowed them the sa way it had swallowed Liana.
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