NOVPUB
Chapter 207: Return to Ilyon Town
Hearing his mother’s question, Aldrian pondered for a moment before answering.
"I don’t have a plan to meet Father yet. I haven’t found the right time to meet him directly. Even now, if there hadn’t been a war, I might not have been able to see you like this, Mother. Maybe, when the opportunity arises, I’ll meet Father."
Irene nodded, understanding that Aldrian needed to plan thoroughly to avoid any setbacks. After they finished inspecting the entire fortress, Irene decided it was time for them to return. In truth, she simply wanted to spend more time with her son and had created an excuse to walk around the fortress. She genuinely wished to stay longer with Aldrian, but she knew she couldn’t leave her family unaware of her situation. She didn’t want to risk causing unforeseen trouble because of her absence.
After returning to the Rivas Grand Duchy, they wouldn’t be able to openly display their bond as mother and son. Irene could only hope that a time would come soon when they could interact freely, like a normal mother and son.
"Let’s go back. I need to inform my father about the situation. I can already guess he’s been stressed, unable to determine my status or whereabouts," Irene said.
"Yes, Mother. I’ll send you to Ilyon, where there are many people. There are even members of the Rivas family there," Aldrian said. However, Irene responded with a puzzled expression.
"Send me? What do you—" Before she could finish her question, Irene suddenly vanished, leaving Aldrian alone. He simply smiled and moments later, he summoned someone else—a figure in a pathetic condition, naked, with his manhood shattered. Who else could it be but the successor of the Lust Devil?
It seemed the man had already died while Aldrian had left him for some time. The combination of his severed manhood and relentless torture had caused his soul to collapse not long after. Despite Aldrian having administered ’first aid,’ the man couldn’t endure the overwhelming pain.
He had wanted to humiliate him before his death, but it seemed the man had already died. Aldrian merely shrugged. Even in death, his message would still be conveyed to the devils, their fate would be the same if they crossed paths with him. He then crucified the body and placed it atop the fortress wall facing the deeper part of the devil territory. The devils would constantly see this grim reminder—a high-ranking devil under the banner of the Seven Deadly Sins was not safe from him. If even they could fall, no devil was truly safe from him.
If he could, he would have done the same with the bodies of the other members of the Seven Deadly Sins he had killed, but their bodies were always destroyed.
After he finished, he disappeared, leaving the deserted Sazim Fortress behind. Even without his presence, he doubted the devils could breach the formation he had set up around the fortress. The formation was so powerful that even peak Emperor stage cultivators would have to avoid it. Unless they could break or decipher the formation, they could forget about reclaiming the fortress.
And even if they managed to deal with the formation, once they entered the fortress, they would find an environment no longer suitable for them, devoid of the thick negative energy that once filled it.
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In Ilyon Town, the reconstruction work was still ongoing, but suddenly, one of the people there spotted the unexpected appearance of a woman atop the town wall. When he saw her, he was struck with shock, recognizing who she was. Without hesitation, he quickly informed his friend and the people of the Rivas family.
Irene that stunned by the sudden change in her surroundings, could only remain speechless at her son’s ability. She didn’t know how he did it. She looked around but couldn’t find him, thinking that he had already gone somewhere.
They had already made a plan for how she would handle things after returning here: to hide Aldrian’s location from the Rivas family for some time. Irene would tell the truth—that she had been saved by someone, and that person was him, or more specifically, him in disguise. By then, he would already be gone, somewhere with his group. This would create a mysterious impression until he could return here in the future.
Aldrian needed to gather more achievements and connections within the Doria Empire, which could serve as his help when the time came. He appeared in a part of the town where he sensed fewer presences and then walked toward his group, blending in like an ordinary person. From his position, he could see his mother surrounded by many people from the Rivas family. He smiled at the sight and then walked in a different direction.
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Sylphia and the others, while still helping those in need around the town, heard a commotion and asked someone about it. They were stunned to learn that Irene Rivas had already returned, safe and sound. If his mother was already here, then didn’t that mean Aldrian was here as well?
"Thank you for waiting. Now we can leave this place," Aldrian suddenly appeared beside Sylphia, Baek Ji Min, and Eleine. They were shocked, but it seemed they had already gotten used to Aldrian’s ability to appear and disappear without any warning. He looked at their relieved expressions and smiled. As for Xin Haotian, he was stationed in another part of the town, acting as a guard.
Aldrian then looked at Eleine, who also seemed relieved to see him and his mother in good condition.
"Eleine, I’m sorry, but can you stay with me again? I know you want to talk to my mother, but she and I have plans for our future, and I need someone who knows this empire well. You’re the perfect guide to help me navigate here," Aldrian said to Eleine through voice transmission.
Without hesitation, Eleine nodded in agreement.
"I will do my best, young master. I will follow your arrangements. It’s good that you finally met Lady Irene and spoke with her. She must be relieved and happy to see you," Eleine replied.
Aldrian nodded and then looked at Sylphia.
"Is everything already taken care of?" Sylphia asked him with a smile.
"Yes, now for the rest, I only need to do something for the future, and it will be quite some time before we can return to the western region," he replied, while looking around at his surroundings. As expected, most of the people here, who were the ones he had saved from Sazim, instantly recognized him and began to kneel.
"Savior, you’re back! Thank you for saving us," one of them said.
The people nearby also looked in Aldrian’s direction, puzzled by who he was. Was he really the one they said had saved them? As the situation became noisier, Sylphia and the others simply followed Aldrian and teleported to Xin Haotian’s location.
When Xin Haotian saw Aldrian appear, he didn’t even have a chance to ask anything before Aldrian and the others had already disappeared.
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Eleine, who had already met with the people of her family, was now being escorted back by the Rivas family’s guards to the tent that had been set up on the flat land between the rubble of the buildings. However, just before she could approach the tent, she suddenly felt a hug around her. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
She couldn’t react quickly enough to the sudden embrace, but she smiled, realizing her father must have been truly worried about her condition. She simply returned the hug.
"Thank heavens. It’s a relief to know you’re safe," Grand Duke Rivas said, his tone filled with relief.
"I’m home, Father," she replied with a smile.
"Come, come, let’s get inside. You must be tired after such an experience. I want to know what happened to you, as there has been no news since the fall of Ilyon," Grand Duke Rivas said. She also greeted some of the elders of her family before entering the tent. Inside, her father gave her a hot drink before sitting face to face with her.
"I nearly went crazy when I heard you were lost after the fall of Ilyon. Where were you? Why didn’t you contact the family?" Grand Duke Rivas asked.
"Sigh... the situation was dire, Father. I had to face the Lust Devil, so I had no choice but to escape with all my might. I didn’t even have time to contact the family."
Hearing Irene’s answer, Grand Duke Rivas gritted his teeth, his eyes turning cold.
"I heard from Commander Faris that the Lust Devil was in the Ilyon region, and it seems that information was true. We were lacking intelligence, which allowed the Lust Devil to slip into that area and endanger you. I’m sorry, my dear. Had I known the Lust Devil was there, I would never have sent you," Grand Duke Rivas said, regret evident in his voice.
However, Irene smiled at her father. "No, Father, thank you for sending me there. Because of that, I was able to meet Aldrian," she thought but answered him,
"No, Father. If I hadn’t arrived at that time, Ilyon Town would have fallen even faster, and there would have been more casualties than there are now. So, your decision back then was the right one."
Grand Duke Rivas could only sigh as he looked at his daughter. She was a strong character, and he knew she would never allow those people to be slaughtered by the devils. If not for the appearance of the Lust Devil, she would have held the line in Ilyon to the best of her ability.
"So now, tell me—how did you manage to escape from that crazy bastard? It must have been a terrifying experience. I know how obsessed he is with you, and he would pursue you even with all the escape talismans you have," Grand Duke Rivas said, his voice filled with concern.
However, he was confused when Irene smiled instead and began recounting her experience.
