Vol. 6 Ch. 57

The blinding lightning dissipated, and the ice wall collapsed, revealing a massive trench over a hundred meters long before Leon.

At the end of that trench lay Talos, nearly half his body blown apart.

His flesh was scorched, and he knelt on the ground, propping himself up with his scythe. Leon slowly sheathed the Thundercloud Blade and murmured,

"So you managed to escape at the last second through a spatial rift."

Talos remained on one knee, gasping heavily.

Just before Leon’s Azure Thunder Lion’s Heart Slash descended, he had barely managed to open a spatial rift.

But the sheer intensity of Leon’s magic wave was overwhelming. It had directly suppressed Talos’s ability, making the rift unnaturally small.

Because of that, he wasted a few milliseconds escaping.

And in those brief milliseconds, he lost an arm and sustained severe injuries.

"Not bad."

Leon casually ran his palm along the blade of the Thundercloud, a flicker of electricity crackling along its edge.

He lowered his gaze to the sleek surface of the weapon and murmured,

"I just wonder—if we do this again, will you still be so lucky?"

Talos struggled to stand, but the moment he tried, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His trembling fingers gripped the black great scythe, his remaining eye locked onto Leon with unyielding hatred.

"My master… will never let you go!"

Carl rushed forward immediately, not even sparing a moment to be shocked by his companion’s grievous wounds.

"We need to retreat, Talos! You can’t throw your life away here!"

Talos gritted his teeth. No matter how much resentment he harbored toward the man standing before him, he had no choice.

He tore his gaze away, swung his scythe, and opened another rift into that eerie, violet-hued dimension.

Supported by Carl, he took slow, unsteady steps backward.

"If we survive… make sure nothing happens to the crown."

With those final words, the three figures vanished into the rift.

Leon moved to pursue, but just as he reached for his blade, Talos closed the rift in time.

"Their presence… completely disappeared."

Leon surveyed the surroundings. Aside from the ruins of the icy mountains and the destroyed Yuen streets, there was nothing left.

"Leon!"

Rosvisser’s voice rang out from behind.

Leon turned and quickly strode toward her.

She was still weakened, and after just a few steps, she nearly stumbled.

Fortunately, Leon was fast. He caught her before she could fall.

"Did they… leave?" Rosvisser asked.

Leon nodded. "Yeah. That guy who can create spatial rifts seems only capable of opening connections to isolated, distant locations. I caught a glimpse just before they left—it looked strange. Something I’ve never seen before."

"Yes, when I was fighting them earlier, I was also suppressed by the power of that bizarre space," Rosvisser said. "Your description is accurate… It was definitely an eerie place."

"Envoy! Envoy!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Chief Yachi, who rushed over, panting heavily.

"Envoy, we have taken care of—"

"Envoy… is there still danger? Is the threat not fully resolved?" Yachi wheezed, barely able to catch his breath.

"It looks like those two troublemakers have been driven off. But…"

Leon glanced around at the battlefield.

The shattered ice houses and streets, the ruins of the collapsed mountain—

"But we caused your people quite a bit of damage. I sincerely apologize."

"Not at all, not at all! I've already heard from the others—if not for the three envoys’ intervention, those two would have slaughtered our entire tribe."

Yachi's expression was one of relief and gratitude. "Houses can always be rebuilt, but if lives are lost, then nothing else matters. Envoy, you have truly saved our people."

At that moment, Leon leaned in toward Rosvisser, his breath warm against her ear.

Rosvisser thought he was about to discuss something serious.

But—

"That’s great. We don’t have to pay for the damages."

Rosvisser rubbed her forehead in exasperation. "…Could you be serious for more than three seconds?"

"Come on! Prepare a livable ice house and make sure the envoys are properly rewarded!"

"Yes, Chief!"

.....

Late at night, Leon, Rosvisser, Aju, and Xiaoxue lay together on the snow-covered ground, gazing up at the aurora that only the Far North could offer.

The deep night sky was illuminated by the northern lights, flowing like the hem of a goddess’s dress—graceful, endless, and dazzling.

"So, the ones who killed Xiaoxue’s parents and her people were those two?"

"Hmm… Based on what Xiaoxue described to me, it should be them."

Rosvisser turned to the white-haired girl beside her. Lying in the thick snow, her golden eyes reflected the aurora, glowing like polished gemstones.

"Talos’s scythe helped her recover a small portion of her memory—or rather, fragmented images rather than coherent recollections."

Rosvisser shifted her gaze to Leon on the other side and continued,

"She doesn’t have the best way with words, but that’s the general idea."

Leon nodded thoughtfully.

"In those fragments of memory, was there anything about where those two came from?"

"No."

Rosvisser shook her head. "We don’t even know why they’re hunting Xiaoxue in the first place."

Leon sat up slowly, lost in thought. Then, he mused,

"If Xiaoxue really is what they call ‘Kronos’s Key’, then maybe we should investigate this god of time. There’s a chance we’ll uncover something useful."

Rosvisser blinked, pondered for a moment, then shook her head.

"Records about primordial gods like Kronos are extremely rare and often abstract, never specific. As far as I remember, no historical texts ever mention anything about a ‘key.’"

"…"

Leon frowned slightly.

The two of them sat in silence, both thinking of how to uncover Xiaoxue’s origins and the reason Talos and Carl were after her.

Then suddenly, a lightbulb went off in Leon’s head.

He clapped his hands together.

"Ah! Doesn’t Xiaoguang know that memory-retracing magic? We could try using it on Xiaoxue—maybe we’ll get some answers that way!"

Rosvisser’s eyes lit up. "That’s a great idea!"

But almost immediately, her expression darkened a little. She hesitated, glancing at the girl beside her.

Sensing Rosvisser’s gaze, Xiaoxue also snapped out of her trance and turned to look at her.

"What’s wrong, Rosvisser… Auntie?"

"Xiaoxue, do you remember the question I asked you earlier today?"

Xiaoxue blinked her striking golden eyes, thought for a moment, and then spoke with slight excitement,

"Oh! Auntie, you mean… when you asked if I wanted to go live with you?"

Rosvisser lightly pressed her lips together and nodded, looking somewhat conflicted.

Truthfully, she was a little afraid Xiaoxue would reject her.

But at the same time, she really wanted to spend more time with this child.

Aside from what Leon had just mentioned—using Xiaoguang’s memory-retracing magic to uncover Xiaoxue’s past—Rosvisser also felt some sympathy for her and simply wanted her to have a better life.

The Yuen tribe, though small, represented the survival of an entire people.

From the standpoint of balance, Rosvisser had to consider their well-being. If they ever encountered enemies like Carl and Talos again, they might not be able to protect Xiaoxue.

All of this was why Rosvisser wanted to bring Xiaoxue to the Silver Dragon Sanctuary.

Leon watched his wife from the side.

Although he had already guessed that Rosvisser wanted to ‘abduct’ Xiaoxue back home, did she really need to be this nervous?

It wasn’t hard to see that the kid also wanted to stay with Rosvisser.

"Yep, there really is a difference between having a child yourself and adopting one," General Leon thought to himself.

"I—"

Xiaoxue parted her lips.

Rosvisser’s heart nearly leaped into her throat.

"I want to live with Rosvisser Auntie and Leon Uncle."