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Chapter 188: Depart to Ilyon Town
Commander Krul widened his eyes.
"What?"
"Yes, the Lust Devil appeared in the attack on Ilyon Town, leading to its fall," Aldrian said.
"How is that possible? Our sources reported no members of the Seven Deadly Sins in this region and the only one spotted within the Rivas Grand Duchy was the Wrath Devil."
"Is your information source reliable?" Aldrian asked.
"Yes," Commander Krul replied, but Aldrian could sense the hesitation in his voice.
"Are you sure?"
"..."
"That’s all. I hope this new information helps the Rivas Grand Duchy and the empire as a whole. I’ll return to the town wall now." With that, Aldrian disappeared, leaving Commander Krul alone amidst the corpses of devils. He sighed, looking around at the tens of thousands of bodies of the devils.
"What a strange man," he thought. Then, suddenly remembering something, he facepalmed.
"I forgot to ask his name!"
Back on top of the town wall, Aldrian reappeared beside his group. Pac, still in a daze, was stunned by Aldrian’s sudden arrival. The man he had thought to be an arrogant young master had shown a strength beyond anything he’d ever witnessed—to kill tens of thousands of troops with a single slash? Was he actually an Emperor-stage cultivator? No wonder his words seemed arrogant; he had the power to back them up.
He now looked at Aldrian in a new light, his eyes full of reverence. Although some of the Rivas family’s troops felt frustrated or even resentful toward Aldrian, most shared Pac’s sentiment. Many even saw Aldrian as the hero of the battle—thanks to him, the fight had ended quickly, leading them to victory.
Aldrian ignored their reverent gazes and looked at Xin Haotian and the others.
"I have to go north—my mother needs help," he sent through a voice transmission.
"Do you need someone to accompany you?" Sylphia asked.
"No, I don’t need it. This time it’s quite tricky, and I don’t want to put any of you in danger. You all can stay here—Xin Haotian can protect you," Aldrian said. However, he noticed Sylphia’s hands trembling slightly. He reached out, gently took her hand, and channeled his energy into her body. He could sense what she was feeling. This was her first time seeing a real war zone; the massive army advancing toward them and the many casualties had left her shaken and a bit traumatized.
Although she was an adventurer, she was still a princess at heart. She had seen terrible things before, but this was her first experience with something as devastating as war. Her mind raced, imagining what might have happened if Aldrian and the others hadn’t been there. What would have been the fate of this town and its people? With the appearance of that giant beast, there was no way the town’s forces could have held out even for a minute—they would have been slaughtered.
Sylphia felt warmth as Aldrian’s golden energy soothed her, and her trembling hand finally stopped as she regained control over her emotions. However, there was one person watching Aldrian hold Sylphia’s hand so intently—Baek Ji-Min. For the first time, she felt an unexpected pang of jealousy. Of course, she didn’t need comforting for what she had just witnessed. She was a demonic cultivator after all, and had witnessed many cruel scenes during her time within the sect.
As for Sylphia, she smiled at Aldrian, who was still holding her hand, while he looked at Xin Haotian.
"Like I said, you will stay here. Please guard this place, as I’m not sure if the devils have another trick up their sleeves. Even though I’ve already read the memories of the commander of this attacking force, I still don’t feel assured."
"Is something bothering you in the information you gathered?" Xin Haotian asked.
"The Lust Devil was in Ilyon Town before its fall, and I don’t know the situation with my mother, even after reading the memories of that devil. Now, with the appearance of the Lust Devil, I have to go there as fast as possible. That’s why I need to go alone, that’s also why I need you to stay here. The devils’ movements are unpredictable, so you’ll need to protect this place to ensure its safety."
The four of them widened their eyes, not expecting the Lust Devil to make an appearance. No wonder Aldrian wanted to go alone; with the danger involved and the urgency of reaching Ilyon Town as quickly as possible, bringing them along would only be a burden. Aldrian then looked at Eleine.
"Eleine, rest assured, I will save my mother if she needs help. I will make sure she comes back here," he said reassuringly. He could feel the worry she had for his mother. She had been with his mother the longest here and was one of her closest confidantes, so her worry was not exaggerated.
Eleine simply nodded. "Just be careful, young master. Although I’m worried about Lady Irene’s situation, please don’t forsake your own safety."
Aldrian nodded in return and looked at Pac, who was watching him. He knew they were communicating via voice transmission, so he waited for them.
"Pac, I will be heading north to Ilyon Town. I hope you can help look after my group while they stay here," Aldrian said to him.
"Oh yes, yes, it would be my honor to help you and your group," Pac replied. He no longer thought Aldrian’s decision to go to Ilyon Town was suicidal. With his power, Aldrian had more than enough qualifications to go there alone.
Aldrian then released his hand from Sylphia and smiled at her.
"I’ll be back." Before he disappeared, leaving many people in awe of him. Sylphia simply smiled at his vanishing figure, confident that whatever he did would succeed. Although Xin Haotian and the others had anticipated it, this moment marked the beginning of Aldrian’s figure becoming known to others. His legend would spread far and wide because of this battle.
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The devils who managed to escape the carnage on wyverns numbered in the hundreds. When they saw how their entire force was swept away by the slash, they decided to retreat without waiting for their leader’s order. This was the first time they had witnessed something so devastating and absurd from an orthodox cultivator. Heavenly lightning? A sword strike powerful enough to sweep the entire battlefield?
Heck, they could still see the trail of the slash, even though they were already quite far from Vicanti Town. Large parts of the ground’s surface were slashed. From the hills and small mountains to the trees, there were traces of the slash everywhere, making their scalps go numb. The most important thing now was to report that there was someone so powerful they could handle the entire invading force alone. A new strategy would be needed to face this region.
They had been flying at full speed on their wyverns, but they still couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.
"Where do you think you’re going, hm?" True to their fears, a voice that didn’t belong to any of the devils suddenly echoed from one of the wyverns’ backs. The devil rider on it had already been killed by this intruder.
Aldrian, using his repeated teleportation, quickly caught up with the group of devils riding wyverns at full speed. The moment they saw a man they dreaded, their faces turned pale. Without hesitation, they scattered in an attempt to confuse him so he couldn’t catch all of them. However, they only saw him glance at them before they suddenly plummeted from the sky.
They couldn’t control the wyverns as they continued to fall, eventually dropping to the ground like raindrops. Many didn’t have time to reinforce themselves with defensive techniques, so when their bodies hit the surface, they were instantly destroyed along with the wyverns. They died on impact.
For the lucky ones, they were still alive, but their bodies felt heavy and they couldn’t move. They didn’t know what had happened, but they still tried to escape. Aldrian simply glanced at them while floating in the air, then teleported to each survivor one by one. What he did next was read their memories before killing them. He wanted to gather as much information as possible about the devils in Ilyon Town first.
However, perhaps because they were mere ’cannon fodder,’ Aldrian couldn’t gather any useful information from them. With nothing of value to learn, he quickly resumed his journey toward Ilyon that still hundreds of kilometers away from his current position. 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
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After half an hour of continuous teleportation, he finally saw smoke rising in the distance. At that moment, he was atop a tree in the forest near Ilyon, just before the town itself came into view. From his vantage point, he could see multiple plumes of smoke rising into the sky, and though the buildings were unclear, he could make them out. Without hesitation, he teleported again, to reach the place where his mother had last been seen!
