[ Host, it seems that mist is still following us.]
The system informed about the sudden mist, which had been keeping an eye on them from the moment they left the middle town.
‘It could be that woman,’ Ryuk contemplated the possibility that the mist could be connected to the woman whose jade pendant Esme obtained after her death, specifically the young lady from the Wei family whom Ryuk had spoken to.
“What are we going to do with three horses?” Esme asked as she stepped onto the ship’s deck, her eyes drawn to the clouds. As she glanced towards him, she found his gaze focused ahead, oblivious to her presence, while the clouds danced around them, illuminated by the morning rays that mirrored the hue of her eyes mixed with his—a yellowish-orange view.
“It’s a gift,” Ryuk informed her in a calm tone while standing with both hands folded behind him. He turned towards the woman before moving to the edge of the ship, arriving there as he glanced down toward the cloud, through which a large number of mountain ranges were visible, each having a separate large state at their peaks.
The view from above made those states or counties appear like small villages, yet they were large enough to be considered small towns filled with individuals, all leading towards one large mountain peak, which appeared to belong to one of the 18 major families.
From a geographical point of view, it was clear that the upper town was designed according to hierarchy, with a major family having its main palace and center at the largest peak, surrounded by smaller ranges holding the citizens and affluent individuals of that family and their branches.
‘System, how many shots will it take from battleships to evaporate a peak?’ Out of curiosity, Ryuk inquired, as he wasn’t inclined to commit mindless massacre, but just wanted to know the density of these places and that of the battleships, which were measured based on the density of Ardoros. He wanted to know if those ships would be able to destroy at least one peak or two.
[Analyzing….]
[There are several variables, but if measured through raw strength, then 5 battleships will be enough to evaporate the whole upper town.]
‘Keep scanning the geography and energy signatures of the people beneath.’ As Ryuk gave his command, he turned to the ship that was moving toward the Wei family. In line with his orders, the system had been tracking and documenting everything from the moment they arrived in the Jade Dominion. It was now prioritizing the collection of data in the upper town, actively searching for insights into the strongest individuals who were hiding behind facades in these mountainous areas.
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Far from the upper town existing at the highest mountain peak was the Celestial Phoenix Auror’s main branch, which stretched throughout the miles, revealing the broad pattern range of the mountain peak where it was situated. With the morning rays already bathing the whole place in a warm glow, it made its way inside one of the main palace rooms.
‘What would I do if he somehow survived?’ Sitting inside a room, a woman in a robe seemed to bite her nail while feeling anxious about the possibility of her plan failing with the dread feeling surrounding her mind if that man somehow entered her state.
‘My head hurts,’ Jenny rubbed her forehead as she felt the slight pain caused by memories of both lives resurfacing about all the moments she had spent with that man.
In her previous life, she had done everything possible to carry out her revenge on that man. Yet, by some twist of fate, he survived and ultimately took her life.
Unlike her, who received a second chance from fate, he evaded the consequences of his actions and came haunting her again. Her existence felt like torment rooted in the depths of hell. She acknowledged that he had treated her with kindness in that past life, contrasting sharply with the inhumane behavior she experienced at the hands of Baroness Carlien in this life.
However, in the end, it was his own selfish ambitions that drove him to manipulate and control her, presenting a façade of care that was little more than a guise for him to satisfy his own ego.
‘Why is he still after me?’ Jenny wasn’t able to understand why, even though they hadn’t met many times except a few when she was a slave under Baroness Talion in the Silvius Kingdom. Yet she felt confused about why Ryuk had arrived here and even threatened her like that.
‘Am I missing something here?’ She di Idn’t know how she had offended him in this life, where most of what she could remember were small interactions, but hearing his words, it appeared as if he had known her beforehand.
‘Is that possible?!’
‘No, right?’ For that particular moment, despair shrouded her mind as she tried to neglect and bury the haunting feeling that he had his past life memories, knowing well that if he had those memories, it wasn’t possible for her to even survive after meeting him like that.
She couldn’t understand that if he had the upper hand in this life, shouldn’t he simply kill him due to all the things she had done to him in the previous life?
But slowly that dread feeling turned into horror, which led both her hands to be placed on her hair, her mind processing that maybe he wasn’t just satisfied with killing her.
‘N-no, was he acting?’ Suddenly a realization hit her as she remembered that she did not see any signs of him possessing past life memories during her childhood, prompting her to think that maybe he was acting at that time to get back at her in the present.
“He has past life memories too,” Finally, after contemplating all the things and pulling pieces together, Jenny realized that indeed, he had his previous life memories intact. Either he was acting at that time, or maybe he awakened his memories after going through death once.
Knock knock
Suddenly, a knock on the door pulled her out of her thoughts as she turned her attention towards the door, “Come in.”
With those words, the doors swung open, revealing a middle-aged man who came forward while wearing light makeup, revealing his irony of being an eunuch. Before he slightly bowed and added, “Young miss, you need to evacuate this place.”
“What!? Why!” Hearing the eunuch’s words, she felt perplexed, as it was the first time someone had told her to leave her own home. And what confused her even more was him referring to evacuate her.
Were they under attack?
“As per the order of my master, I went to get further information about Ryuk Devereaux and found out that he possesses a whole army, which would most likely be hard for us to go against. That’s why, at the order of my master, you need to leave this place and accompany me somewhere safe.” Mahila bowed, revealing all the information he had gathered from several sources about Ryuk Devereaux, who had gone to Titanora before arriving in the Jade Dominion while accompanying a whole battalion belonging to the first-grade frontline soldiers of the Devereaux family. Each of them was far strong enough to go against an elder and still win.
