Rivers of the Night

Chapter 823: Tests

Theron’s face had such a gentle, soothing air to it. And yet his words were painted by something completely different.

At the moment, he looked like a general who had seen thousands of battlefields, fought hundreds of wars, one that had lost count of the number of individual battles he had been caught in, the number of people he had slayed.

He spoke to a Timeless Fairy as though he really didn’t know who she was. But whether he did or not hardly mattered... not when he had announced such a thing.

Theron’s words were like a jolt through Lyra, and she immediately turned to face off against Daisy as though she was the one who was going to protect him.

Daisy was in a state of shock due to Theron’s words, but when she saw this she couldn’t help but sputter.

"Little girl, hasn’t anyone ever told you it’s best to mind your own business sometimes? You should be more like this one here." Daisy pointed toward Ayame, but Ayame hadn’t moved either.

Lyra frowned. "Theron is my business."

Daisy was stunned for a moment before releasing a very unladylike belly laugh.

She vanished, and Lyra couldn’t even react. By the time Lyra spun around, Daisy was practically nose to nose with Theron, but the latter hadn’t even flinched.

"You must have broken quite a few hearts in your day. Not even a flinch when such a beauty is so close to you."

"I can’t feel much for beauties past their prime, unfortunately."

A flash of rage danced in Daisy’s eyes before she suppressed it.

"What?" Theron asked, blinking innocently. "You can’t want to kill me, do you? Do I need to remind you why I killed members of the Chron Clan?"

"Your reason is irrelevant," Daisy said coolly.

"If it was irrelevant, you wouldn’t be standing here speaking with me instead of killing first and not bothering to ask questions later. Your standing certainly is high enough.

"But I suspect that for someone like General Ameridia, a huge part of the reason her legion works like such a well-oiled engine isn’t because she rules with an iron fist but because she has the respect of her soldiers.

"I’d imagine that such a respected individual having a brother who steals women to add to his harem, and then punishing the individual who put such scum in their place wouldn’t look good. Now would it?"

"The sins of Ameridia’s family should be dealt with by her much like the sins of every family should be an internal matter."

"Is that so?" Theron’s smile widened, and he leaned forward until his nose touched Daisy’s. He took a small sniff. "You do smell good. So why does so much bullshit come from your mouth?"

BOOM.

A slap stopped an inch from Theron’s face, a blast of wind distorting his cheeks and sending his hair flying to a side. But as quickly as it happened, it all came to a stop. Daisy’s palm didn’t land as though she had managed to restrain herself at the last moment.

Slowly lowering her hand, Daisy took a step back and smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. She turned toward the walls of the city and bowed.

"My apologies."

There was just the slightest shimmer of silver and a woman dressed in sleek white armor appeared.

At first it looked like she was standing on the wall, but Theron’s eyes narrowed when he noticed that she wasn’t on the wall either. Instead, her feet were balanced on a floating spear.

If she had been a Soul Mancer, this would be an easy matter to understand. However, despite the fact her face was obscured by an odd veil, Theron knew exactly who this woman was.

General Ameridia.

The veil wasn’t physical. Fluctuating Space Mana sparkled like twinkling stars around her, obscuring her visage.

Theron was fairly certain that there were only two reasons for this. Either this woman was exceptionally ugly, or so beautiful that it hurt. And something told Theron that it was certainly the latter.

He could practically feel Ameridia through her Mana and Profound Truth. This woman wasn’t superficial. If she was ugly, she wouldn’t care.

She obscured her face not for her sake, but for the sake of everyone around her.

All that could be seen from her face was a pair of sharp eyes that practically looked like they were floating in place.

She swept a gaze over the surroundings. She didn’t spend any more time looking at Theron compared to anyone else.

"Welcome." A voice that sounded like a spring breeze blew overhead. "This is a sensitive time for the Resistance Army. As such, there will be added security measures this time. I understand if these measures seem too far to many of you, and I will not stop you from leaving after you hear of them.

"Usually, to join the Resistance Army, you only need a brief family tree history and Resonance Talent test. After this, however, it is up to the discretion of the acting commander.

"From today onward, we will need the addition of a Soul Lamp, a Bloodline Sample, and Soul Mirror Test."

Theron inwardly raised an eyebrow. He knew what a Soul Lamp was, it was one of the only reasons he was so entangled with Lyra in the first place.

However, he had never heard of a Bloodline Sample or a Soul Mirror Test.

Unfortunately, the library still only gave Theron information about the raw science of the worlds he stepped into. He didn’t have any true information about cultivation itself.

What many people didn’t know was that a lot of Theron’s cultivation was just him stumbling around and figuring things out himself. Though, after his eyes evolved and he gained the Angel and Demon Doctrines, this had become countless times easier.

He could see through secrets of the universe with a holistic, whole approach he hadn’t been able to before.

But things like this...

Theron looked over as he felt Ayame have a much more violent reaction than usual.