Rivers of the Night

Chapter 807: Patience

Theron stumbled back, paling considerably. But he managed to stabilize himself with a breath as he broke the connection.

The distance was quite far from him. Connecting across Karma that far was fine. For example, he could have easily used it just to find the DiBarr heir’s position and had plenty of energy left over. But controlling Mana at that distance, even with the bridge of Karma to use, was ridiculous.

That said... the fact he was still standing as a mere King said everything that needed to be said.

He was on a completely different level.

But if he was going to play the part of Demon Duke, well... he needed to play the part of Demon Duke.

"Are you... alright?" Yonwei asked.

She had hardly gotten the question out when Theron had already become rosy-cheeked again. In another second, Theron was standing tall as though nothing had happened, his breathing even.

Yonwei couldn’t help but be surprised again. Just what level of Mana recovery did Theron have to have in order to return to his baseline so quickly? Was it even possible to tire someone like this out?

"Would you like me to prepare anything?" Yonwei finally settled on changing her question.

She had heard what Theron said as he had spoken it aloud here in order for it to be projected there, and a huge part of her just wanted to turn tail and run right now because of it.

But... where would she go?

The problem wasn’t her power, but instead that Chosen didn’t have the same freedom as others. While her position seemed prestigious, it was attached to her master. Now that Urong was dead, she was as good as someone without status at all.

It also meant that anyone who Urong had ever offended might want to deal with her, and those people weren’t the sorts she could deal with at all. Anyone who her master would offend would have to be at least as strong as him—or at the very least close—if they weren’t dead already.

However, even this wasn’t really the problem.

With her talent, she could always join under someone else. With her looks, she could probably get herself a decent position.

But it would lack the path forward that was here. She would always be known as the only one who survived the wreckage here.

And Theron... he had potential, a great amount of it.

He was a King with such power—what would happen when he became a Saint? If he could kill a Demon Duke now, would he be able to kill a Demon Prince then?

What would she gain by following him?

Fear wasn’t what dictated the actions of cultivators—at least not the real ones.

Weighing risk and potential return, though... that was a different matter entirely.

"Nope," Theron said with a smile. Then, he turned and left, entering the palace seamlessly. "I’m going to go and take a nap. Let me know if anyone arrives."

The last thing she heard was Theron yawn.

...

Theron woke up a few days later with no news at all.

It had been quite a while since he was able to rest like this. Out in the wilderness, he always had to be on alert. But for the first time, both he and Alpha were able to take their time to recover.

There was a surge as he stood, and he looked around to find that his room was a little bit of a mess.

Oh. I broke through.

Theron chuckled. He had progressed to the Fourth Resonance of the King Realm. That wasn’t too much of a surprise; he had been stuck at the Third for a bit.

Well, "a bit" was more like a month or so. But that was a significant amount of time to him.

If others knew his thoughts, maybe they’d have the right to try and murder him this time.

This DiBarr Clan is very patient. I wonder, though. Is it the heir that is so patient, or is it the father?

The letter Theron received didn’t have the aura of a Demon Prince on it; it was clearly someone beneath that. They were a Quasi Transcendent as far as Theron could tell.

A Quasi Transcendent was different from a Half-Step Transcendent. The former was someone on the verge of triggering their Primordial Tribulation, while the latter was someone who had taken it already, failed, and was now unable to progress any longer.

The latter tended to be far more powerful than the former for obvious reasons. But the fact Demon Prince DiBarr was willing to send his son should mean that he was quite powerful amongst Quasi Transcendents.

And probably quite intelligent as well, considering he wasn’t here just yet.

Whenever he did come, it would surely be with a clear plan and goal. But their delay had given Theron enough time to rest and relax—that might be a mistake in itself.

His Mana replenished quickly, but his soul struggled to do the same. In fact, the Primordial Earth was a great burden to it. Rest was probably the last thing you should give him.

Theron took a breath and exhaled. Alpha came over, nearly tackling him over.

"You’re bored already, aren’t you?" Theron asked with a laugh.

Alpha snorted as though to deny it, but he continued to look at Theron out of the corner of his eye as though to ask when they were going out to play.

Theron understood Alpha all too well. He had had the pressure of being a leader of his pack for so long, and he found it nice to have someone to rely on. It let his playful side out a lot more.

Unfortunately, Theron didn’t have such a person to rely on.

"I have a feeling that we’ll have some fun very soon. You want the first go at him? Or should I?"

Alpha furiously shook his head. It was his turn for some fun. Apparently, nearly dying in a Tribulation wasn’t enough.

"Well, it seems we have good timing, and there’s more than one of them." Theron looked off into the distance. "Ai, those sick bastards. They actually brought my wife along with them."

Trailing at the back of a group in the far, far-off distance, Theron saw Ayame.