Unholy Player

Chapter 456: Invitation

Even though Zephan was announcing it as if he was sure the ritual was successful and they were now free of the curse, he was not deceiving his people. He was speaking out of hope, and it was simply a matter of choosing to believe or not.

As the ruler of the Lunari race, he chose to believe in this miracle and he was guiding his people to believe in it as well.

"Let me introduce you to the friend, the hero, and the savior of our race, the one who made this liberation possible." Zephan turned to Adyr and pointed at him. "Carve this face into the deepest parts of your memory and hearts, and make your children and your grandchildren remember it for the hundreds of thousands of years to come. I, as the ruler of the Lunari race and as Silverlight Zephan, will never forget this great benefactor of ours, and neither will our people for as long as the Lunari endure."

The sudden introduction caught Adyr slightly off guard. He had not expected to be put under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of people at once, countless eyes turning to him like a single, focused tide.

He handled it well, however, simply offering a calm smile and meeting their stares without flinching.

He understood very well what Zephan was doing. As a ruler and a king, this was the best way he could repay a debt, turning gratitude into something that would echo through bloodlines and history.

Declaring Adyr publicly as the benefactor of their race meant that even if thousands of years passed and Adyr himself was gone, as long as the Lunari survived, both he and even his future children’s children would be welcomed with deep respect and affection in this kingdom, not only by Zephan’s line but by the entire Lunari people.

It was probably the greatest gift Zephan could have given him, a special privilege that would not fade for as long as the Lunari continued to stand, like a vow branded into their collective memory.

I think I just gained a loyal vassal for my future empire, Adyr thought quietly, genuinely appreciating both the gesture and the unexpected reward, already filing it away as a long-term investment.

He watched the crowd, seeing confusion in their eyes at first, then relief and a kind of affection, and finally a quiet reverence as they carved every detail of his face into their memories: his eyes, his expression, and the way he stood beside their king.

Even the Lunari who had been calling him a coward in the sparring arena a short while ago, and the crazy priest who had wanted to kill him, were now among the crowd. Their emotions were equally clear: their faces were tense, their gazes fixed on him with a mix of fear and reverence, their earlier anger and arrogance drowned out by the weight of what they had just witnessed.

It would surely become a strange story they would tell their future children and grandsons: how they had once mocked and challenged the man who would later be named the greatest benefactor of their race, and how this same benefactor spared their lives even though they had treated him badly and greeted him with hostility, letting them live to tell the tale.

"Let’s go then. I have a tasty wine I want you to taste." After watching his people already start their celebrations, Zephan turned to Adyr and made his offer.

"Sure..." Adyr was about to accept the offer, but a sudden vibration coming from the pocket of his uniform stopped him.

His expression tightened slightly as he took from his pocket a small, fingertip-sized device with a yellow light flashing on top of it.

"Is something wrong?" Zephan, seeing his frown and the strange device he could not understand, asked with curious seriousness, his relaxed mood shifting back into the alertness of a ruler.

Adyr kept his eyes on the flashing light for a moment, watching the steady rhythm, then pressed the button underneath, turning it off as he said, "It’s a signal from my people. Looks like there is something urgent where my presence is needed."

The device was something researchers had produced to use in the Beyond for communication, a small piece of Earth’s technology adapted to this alien world.

Though they were still not able to produce long-range radios capable of transmitting sound or images, they had developed this method of light and flash communication quite well, turning simple signals into a silent language.

If the flash was red, it meant a severe danger, the kind where Shelter City was under attack or something close to the end of the world.

The level below that was yellow, not as severe as red, but still indicating a very important matter, something that could not be ignored.

There was also Morse code embedded in those flashes, but it was not very stable, and Adyr had only been able to read one word from the message: "family."

Why did they not contact my Earth body but send a yellow signal here? Adyr thought quickly, realizing there was some kind of mind game behind this signal, someone choosing this route on purpose instead of the easier one.

Even though his Earth body was still in the radiation zone, hunting the first-generation mutants, the means of communication were still more stable there.

"Then you shouldn’t make them wait. We can enjoy the wine at a later time." Zephan, understanding the urgency, spoke seriously, the celebration fading into the background for him. "Do you want us to come along?"

Adyr still did not fully understand what the yellow signal meant, but he could guess a few possibilities. After a brief moment of planning in his mind, he looked at Zephan and the other 2 Rank 4 Practitioners and smiled sincerely.

"I don’t believe it’s as serious as it seems, but I would still like you to join me. I want to show you our new city and let you try our delicious food."

The invitation that had come from the Lunari a while ago was now reversed, ending with Adyr inviting them to his own kingdom.

"As long as everything is alright, we would like to be your guests." Zephan answered with delight, as this was also something he had wanted to do for a while.

Though many Lunari had visited the city so far, mostly for trade purposes or to help humans in their construction processes, Zephan had never given them a formal visit, simply waiting for the right time when they finished establishing their kingdom.

To see what kind of culture and system an Elder Race like humans had was something he would have paid a high price for, even just to catch a glimpse, but now it was being offered to him free of charge, something he would definitely not decline.

Adyr also appeared pleased with their acceptance; he was fairly certain that the yellow signal was sent in response to his ongoing killings of humans on Earth and that they were planning something to make him stop, possibly an attempt to pressure or confront him.

By inviting Zephan and the others and returning with them instead of going back alone, he intended to ruin whatever they were planning, make them remember who was still the one setting the rules, and calmly but clearly remind them where the real control lay.