Rivers of the Night - Chapter 160

Chapter 160: No Proof
Dorian’s gaze sharpened.

This trembling… Theron succeeded?

There was a very palpable shock in Dorian’s eyes. Although he had waited for so long just in case such a thing would happen, he still hadn’t expected the outcome.

This was also its own problem; with just three Bloomstones, the rampage of the beast might not last long enough for them to accomplish what they needed to.

He began to wonder if Ali was right. Maybe he shouldn’t have given Theron anything at all. But the trouble with that was that he would have had a hard time convincing Theron to go.

At the very least, even if he wanted to target Theron, he couldn’t do it so openly. That would give the others vying for position with his Valebane Clan a chance to deal with him in turn.

No matter how lowly Theron was, he was still the son-in-law of the Vermouths. And if Aeryn awakened with his full array of skills, or even part of them, there would definitely be hell to pay for making his sister a widow.

Who didn’t know how insane the Vermouths were?

So, he chose to compromise a bit. But now, Theron had done the impossible, putting him in a bind.

Should he go? Or should he try to accelerate the pace of the plans instead?

Most of the Resonate Bloomstones he had in his possession were extras. Three Bloomstones might be enough to last long enough, but he would have felt far more comfortable with four.

Right now, he had five left, which was why he had given Theron three. In the end, he should be able to keep one for himself. But now…

“Execute on the plan now. Jodie, we have sights on Ironvale already, right? Give the signal. Vaeilina, you know what to do.”

Jodie pulled something out of his pocket and Vaeilina was ready to dash into the distance when Dorian’s expression changed.

“Shit! RETREAT FIRST! RETREAT!”

Dorian’s heart shook. What the hell was happening here? Why was the Fire Mana so oppressive?!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

One geyser after another erupted, peeling into the skies and causing a rain of soot, ash, and superheated water vapor.

Screams began to echo as the Mancers hurried to pull up their protective coverings, rushing into the distance.

This region wasn’t like this because of the Lava Mancy beast; that was impossible. At Silver Mancy, while far more powerful than what Bronze Mancers were capable of, it wasn’t to the point that they could change the landscape.

It was more accurate to say that the Lava Imbued Beast had chosen this region because it was like this, rather than the other way around. This was why Dorian and the others hadn’t retreated after the change. It didn’t make sense for a landscape warp like this one to trigger in the first place.

By the time they realized that this was far beyond their scope of abilities to handle with ease, many of them had already suffered severe burns.

“Am I still sending the message?!” Jodie roared out over the noise.

“YES!” Dorian barked.

Now there was no choice. Press forward. Regardless, this commotion would bring over a large number of people whether they liked it or not.

Luckily, this was still within their plans. They should still have just enough time to—.

Dorian froze, his head snapping toward a certain direction as he sensed other fluctuations on the way.

There was no way. Were they so unlucky?

No, that’s impossible. They hadn’t gathered everyone they could. Most of their members were still dispersed through the disciples, and from time to time, he would get reports on both Ironvale and Thessa’s locations.

From the last report, Thessa should still be several dozen kilometers away. At full tilt, getting here should take just shy of two dozen minutes or so.

This was also only considering a situation where she abandoned everything and came here with everything she had, even disregarding fatigue and the like.

But since the change triggered, it had barely been ten minutes or so. On top of that, they didn’t even send out their messages to bring in the net yet.

How could they be caught with their pants down like this? And why would Thessa come here as though her life depended on it?

While this region was dense with fire, everyone knew that it came with Eruption Bloomstones. For a Soul Mancer following a unique Fire Mancy path like Thessa, this was the most useless as it was designed for Flux Mancers.

Plus, because she had cleared the tower, Thessa had her own Forbidden Spell to gather Bloomstones for.

There was no explanation for it.

Dorian almost immediately realized that Thessa’s increase in speed should be because she reached Silver Mancy. But this wasn’t enough. This was far from…

Subconsciously, Dorian looked toward where Theron disappeared.

He had no proof, no way to know for certain, and yet he did. It had to be that boy, it could only be that boy. It was all his doing.

He didn’t know how Theron had done it, but he most certainly had.

Dorian dodged out of the way of a flying, flaming rock as he clenched his fists. There was no time.

“FORMATION!”

The string of curses filled Dorian’s mind. There was no doubt that Ironvale would come here now. He had legitimately just told Jodie to send the message, and now the die was cast. There was no coming back.

Even if he hadn’t, this commotion was too large. It was on a larger scale than even Theron’s from earlier.

“What about—?!”

Ali was cut off again.

“I SAID FORMATION! FORM UP! NOW!”

Their shoulders began to press together as they faced off against the world, retreating further and further from the depths below.

They needed more distance, but they couldn’t retreat wildly or they would suffer for it. Dorian had no choice but to take the slower approach instead of risking losing so many of his men before the penultimate battle.

‘They’re here.’ Dorian thought with gritted teeth.