Rivers of the Night
Chapter 442 - 442: Wake Up!

Aeryn felt an arm as light as a feather press down on his own. He looked down, startled to find that Malaya's eyes had barely fluttered open, a weak smile on her lips.

"It's alright, big brother. I'll try to hang on for as long as possible… I don't want you… to be alone… Don't be… angry… anymore…"

Aeryn's eyes turned stark red, practically flashing with blinding crimson lights of their own. Eventually, he just grit his teeth so hard that blood seeped down the line of his gums, staining what once were pearly whites.

He had never felt fury like this in his life before. It was overwhelming.

His sister was kind, far too kind. She didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve any of it.

Theron stood there for a moment before he turned away to leave.

"… Thank you… husband…"

The words were spoken so softly that Aeryn didn't even hear them over the sound of his own grinding teeth. Sigil certainly hadn't either; he was too far away. But despite being further away than even him, Theron had heard them.

His steps couldn't help but pause. It was just the briefest of moments before he vanished, the Alpha becoming a blur racing after him.

It was said that between husband and wife, there was no need for thank yous. But were they ever truly in such a union?

"Big brother…" Malaya said softly.

"Yes? Yes?" Aeryn snapped out of his state, realizing that he was being too selfish. These weren't his last moments at all; they were his sister's. The least he could do was be present. If he couldn't at least be as strong as she was being, what right did he have to be an elder brother at all?

"We have to… bury Father… he… deserves it…"

Aeryn clenched his jaw. "Yes, of course. Let's do that."

Gingerly, he stood to his feet, carrying his sister over to what remained of the battlefield. He cast one more glance toward where Theron had disappeared before throwing it to the back of his mind.

…

Theron stopped deep in the forest, pressing a hand against his chest. He heaved for breath, but there didn't seem to be nearly enough air. Everything that came in and out just felt like it was too much of a scorching heat, his lips, his tongue, his throat—all of it burning with a fury he couldn't describe in any way other than unadulterated pain.

He didn't know how long he spent there, how long his Mana raged about as though to force a balance between the chilling liquid running through his veins, but he knew that it was long enough that blisters appeared around his throat and jaw as though his skin was bubbling from beneath.

Haggard breaths came from him as the pain finally dulled the slightest bit.

The light in his eyes seemed dimmer, the rain that had begun to fall from above being the only thing that soothed him. The blisters filled with liquid as his body tried to heal itself, but the grotesque sight had marred his otherwise handsome features as though to permanently stain him.

Theron found his thoughts unfocused. He found it difficult to analyze what had just happened to him. He could only think that he had abused his chilling path too much and his body had to strike a balance somehow.

Maybe this was why both paths existed together to begin with. Maybe the idea of suppressing his heat for the opportune moment he wanted it to appear wasn't right… maybe that would kill him.

But somehow, he felt that the answer was incomplete, but the brain fog was too heavy.

His mind felt clear otherwise, but it was like he was trying to comprehend the Law of Balance again… like he had made a mistake at some point in his comprehension and now it was near impossible to backtrack.

He coughed, standing up to his full height.

It seemed that for the time being, he would have to rein in his chilling path a bit. With the power of Arcane Resonance, he didn't need to lean into his chilling path so much at all. The power of his Spells was already overwhelming.

What he really needed was a larger variety of Spells.

He had always been so focused on perfecting the exact Spells he had, so he limited them in number and used them again and again.

But right now, his general comprehension was such that limiting his pool of Spells was only weakening him, not strengthening him. He needed to expand his horizons.

In that case, while the last dregs of his plan took shape, he would go to the places with the highest concentrations of exactly what he wanted. In this Empire, there was already nobody capable of stopping him.

…

"You aren't going to stop him?"

Sadie didn't react to the voice as she stood high in the tree, a fair palm resting on the bark. Her expression was difficult to read, but it was clear enough that she didn't want to talk.

Unfortunately, the voice was relentless.

"You know what he is now. If you continue to let him grow, he'll only do so exponentially. At that point, you'll ruin everything that we've been building."

Sadie still didn't answer.

"Wake up!" the voice boomed. "He is not worth your sympathy. Why are you trying to weigh a single life as much as the whole of existence?! If you let him enter Gold Mancy, maybe even you won't be able to stop him anymore.

"We sent you here to deal with this. He cannot be allowed to escape this world. Do you understand what it would mean if he did?!"

Once again… Sadie still didn't answer. Her expression remained unreadable, but not even a single drop of the rain above touched her.

Why didn't she? Maybe she was hoping that he would figure it out at the last moment. Maybe… he would soon get the push he needed to be something other than the catalyst for the destruction of everything.