Chapter 1425
Cross-Realm rchant
Aldwyn was the last surviving mber of the Eight Great Knights.
He had already pledged his sword to Ava, but his family had remained in the southern human kingdoms. So ti ago, he had set out to retrieve them, intending to relocate his household to Soaring Bird City.
But the sudden celestial upheaval had forced Ava to abandon Soaring Bird City.
Aldwyn had rushed back only to find the city empty of its leadership, forcing his daughter to witness a place festering with unchecked vice and lawlessness. He needed to get them out of there. His destination was the Stoneheart Horde; he intended to continue following the Princess's path. The thought of leaving his wife and child in this forsaken city for even a mont longer was unbearable.
"Can we trust those rcenaries?"
Compared to their daughter, Aldwyn's wife was far more anxious about the journey ahead. The road here had been brutal; they had encountered nurous magical beasts and the encroaching insect plagues. If not for Aldwyn's martial prowess, mother and daughter would have long since beco food for so beast.
"I'll keep an eye on them," Aldwyn assured her. "Since we're traveling far, they should be smart enough to know that there's safety in numbers. A larger group deters the beasts."
Aldwyn added a few logs to the fireplace before him. The abandonnt of Soaring Bird City wasn't entirely without rit; at least they had easily found an intact, uninhabited house to shelter in. As long as Aldwyn held the main door, his wife and daughter could get a sound night's sleep.
However, in the dead of night, a fitful Aldwyn was jolted awake by a faint, rhythmic chittering.
He slled death.
"What is that?"
He had barricaded the door with debris, so he was forced to peer through the cracks in the boarded-up window. The night was pitch black, and with the city nearly depopulated, there was no ambient light. He couldn't see a thing.
Then, the City Lord's manor erupted in flas.
Energy blasts and magical explosions lit up the sky. By the erratic flickering of the firelight, Aldwyn saw them: crawlers. Insectoids covered more than half the city.
Aldwyn's family was lucky; the swarm had breached from the opposite side of Soaring Bird City.
"Dammit!"
"Run! Now!"
The explosions jolted his wife and daughter awake. Aldwyn didn't waste a second explaining. Channeling energy into his hand, he shattered the boards sealing the window with a single punch. He grabbed his family and vaulted out of the room, landing directly onto the saddle of his beast-blood mount tethered outside.
Aldwyn was a knight, and his mount was no ordinary beast; carrying the family of three was effortlessly within its power. At its master's command, the beast-blood mount cleared the courtyard wall in a single bound, galloping straight for the city gates.
Aldwyn wasn't the only one with survival instincts.
On the road out, he saw rcenary bands fleeing in panic and bandits scrambling to escape. So were desperate enough to try and hijack Aldwyn's mount, weapon in hand, but he cut them down efficiently with his lance.
With the speed of his mount, Aldwyn quickly cleared the periter of Soaring Bird City.
By then, the sounds of battle and the screams of the dying had grown dense and horrifying. The fires roared higher, consuming the skyline.
Safely at a distance, Aldwyn couldn't resist glancing back. His pupils dilated in shock.
It was an Insectoid.
Standing atop the walls of Soaring Bird City, the creature let out a piercing screech while relentlessly hurling tridents, skewering the refugees fleeing beneath the ramparts.
"Hyah!"
An Insectoid warrior. A calamity.
Witnessing this, Aldwyn didn't dare linger a second longer. He spurred his mount, putting as much distance between them and the city as possible.
The insect plague had fallen upon Soaring Bird City.
Stoneheart Horde, Stoneheart City
Thanks to the ever-active teleportation arrays, many had chosen not to return to Stoneheart City imdiately after the bonfire festival. Lilith, however, buried in administrative duties, had returned early.
Currently, in a hall within the castle, Lilith picked up an intelligence report, her eyes narrowing.
"Tristan Greymount. Suspected Awakened?"
Awakened. Lilith didn't fully grasp the term; she had learned it from Orion.
For so ti, the Stoneheart Horde's intelligence departnt had been hunting for individuals fitting this description. The most direct manifestation of an Awakened was superior intellect and precognition—the ability to make the most brilliant decisions at critical monts.
And this Tristan, who had arrived in the Stoneheart Horde only recently, fit the profile.
"Guards. Capture this Tristan. Quietly."
After a long mont of consideration, Lilith made the call.
Two days later, Lilith returned to the northern stronghold of Blackstone City.
In the main hall of the Horde Hall, Orion sat high upon his throne, looking down at the unconscious form of Tristan.
"According to our intel, the rise of the Greymount family is heavily engaging with this man's guidance," Lilith explained, sitting comfortably in Orion's lap. "He is the mastermind behind the Greymount family. He was the one who instructed them to hoard Stoneheart coins from the very beginning."
She was intensely curious about this "Awakened" concept Orion spoke of.
Orion remained silent. He extended his divine power, invading Tristan's sea of consciousness.
After a long silence, Orion sighed, a hint of disappointnt in his breath.
"He isn't the type I'm looking for."
"However," Orion added, "his arrival benefits the Stoneheart Horde."
Tristan's true identity was that of a Traveling rchant.
In this context, a Traveling rchant wasn't a re peddler. It referred to those rare individuals capable of cross-realm trade. They were singular existences who could travel to other worlds to buy and sell, recognized as neutral parties by many major powers.
More accurately, a neutral organization specializing in cross-realm trade stood behind Tristan.
Tristan was rely one agent. His presence in the Stoneheart Horde signified that the Horde's goods and civilization had finally caught the eye of that neutral organization.
"I will wake him. I have plans for him, but you will handle the negotiations."
Lilith nodded. She was still intrigued by the man.
A mont later, under the influence of Orion's divine power, Tristan roused from his slumber.
His head throbbed as if it had been struck by a warhamr. Despite the pain, his instincts kicked in, and he imdiately scanned his surroundings. When his eyes landed on Orion and Lilith upon the throne, his heart leapt into his throat, and the headache vanished instantly.
"Tristan. mber of the Silent Coin Trading Alliance. Welco to the Stoneheart Horde."
Before Tristan could speak, Orion's voice—deep, resonant, and imperious—filled the hall.
There was no overt pressure exerted, yet a sense of worship welled up involuntarily in Tristan's heart. He knew that feeling. It was the instinctual reaction to facing an entity so powerful they were invincible.
As a cross-realm rchant, he knew exactly what that ant.
"I am Tristan Greymount. I am honored to et the great Giant King. Your glory shines upon the entire continent!" Tristan bowed low. "As a traveler from afar, I am fortunate to receive your shelter. Tristan is willing to offer his devout faith."
He was a young man who could read the room and knew the hierarchy. In Orion's eyes, Tristan's value rose visibly.
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