Since Rem and I were last in line, the event wrapped up soon after. As the arena cleared, the Azdrians led us away, and a luxurious vehicle arrived to pick us up.
"Sorry," Virana said as we climbed in, "we weren't planning to make any offers today. So we're… a bit underprepared."
"Is that why there was no one else with you?" I asked.
"Exactly," she replied. "As you probably noticed, the other representatives brought entire entourages, but Azdria only sent the three of us. We weren't here to recruit. Actually, we were sent to…" She trailed off, uncertain.
"Oh, just say it," Ryoken said, cutting in. "He's one of us now."
She gave him an exasperated look. "Technically, not yet. But… alright." She turned back to us. "We were sent here on a mission to locate the Fated Sovereign. Our queen believes they're here, and she wanted us to find them before anyone else did. So, we've been searching for the past week—but we've come up with nothing."
I kept my face blank, but internally, questions hammered away. How could their queen have guessed I'd be here? If she suspected, could others have figured it out as well? And… should I tell them?
"Since the test is over," Virana continued, "we don't have a solid reason to linger here without drawing suspicion. We'll have to assume the Fated Sovereign slipped away to another world, though for now, it's safe to assume no one else found them either. Word would've spread fast if they had."
Rem looked on edge and quickly tried to change the topic. "So, you're not really representatives?"
Virana smiled slightly. "We are, but only for this mission. It's not our usual work."
Thalor, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke up, his gaze level and steady. "You don't look very surprised by all this, Ashborn. Are you sure you don't know anything about the whereabouts of the Fated Sovereign?"
"How would I know where he is?" I said, trying to sound casual. Inside, my thoughts spun. Did he already suspect me?
Thalor gave a slight nod, saying nothing more. I wasn't sure if he believed me, but at least he didn't push further.
We finally arrived at a two-story house, its design like a slice from anothet world dropped into the Worldtree—the house was surrounded by a sprawling garden blooming with intricate, jewel-toned flowers. The building itself had an unmistakable elegance, crafted from dark wood polished to a deep luster that stood out against the garden's bright colors. Its gently curved roof swept outward, almost like wings, capped with eaves that curled upward at the edges. Each corner was adorned with small, metal ornaments shaped like dragon heads, giving the impression of protective spirits watching over the place.
Large paper lanterns hung from the corners of the building, their warm glow casting soft light across the wooden walkways that lined the perimeter. The entrance was marked by a sliding door of rice paper and wood, decorated with delicate ink paintings of mountains and mist, creating a serene scene from the outside.
Ryoken gestured at the house.
"This is our residence while we're here," he said. "Built in the Azdrian style for officials on duty. We'll stay tonight and head out early tomorrow."
When we reached the door, two attendants greeted us and guided us to our rooms. It had all happened so fast I hadn't gotten a chance to ask the real questions swirling in my head.
I sighed, letting the day's events replay in my mind. One regret loomed larger than the others—I hadn't managed to ask why Azdria was so intent on finding the Fated Sovereign. My whole reason for choosing Azdria over Aurelia or the Golden Order, was that I believed they would protect me once my identity was revealed. But the question of the queen's true intent still remained. What did she plan to do if she found me, and how had she even guessed I'd be in the Fallen Worldtree?
The queen of Azdria was one of the Seven Colored Witches—and Mirella's sister. If Mirella suspected I was the Fated Sovereign, maybe she'd shared her suspicions with her sister. But that didn't quite fit. If they knew who I was and where to find me, why send representatives who seemed to have no clue what kind of person they were looking for?
No matter how they'd learned I was nearby, one thing was clear: I needed to understand their motives before revealing myself. Whether they'd become my allies or enemies depended on what they truly wanted with me.
Overthinking wasn't going to solve it tonight. I let myself drift off, only to be wrenched awake by a searing, pulsing pain from the mark on my back. It felt like molten metal branding me, as if someone were carving over the mark with burning blades. My breath came in shallow gasps as I fumbled out of the robe and armor, hoping to glimpse whatever was causing this.
In the mirror, I saw nothing unusual—no wound, no bruising—only the mark glowing faintly under my skin. The pain was relentless, blinding. Even when I tried channeling somnium to heal the area, there was no injury to heal, only agony that tore deeper the longer I looked.
Whatever this pain meant, it wasn't an ordinary wound.
A sharp knock sounded on the door, and I threw the armor back on and fixed my robe just as Thalor entered, his expression tense.
"We're leaving. Now. Get ready," he said briskly.
"What? Why?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice steady against the lingering pain.
"A Revenant level Nightmare has been spotted in the city. All available fighters are heading there now, but you and the guide are leaving immediately with Lord Ryoken."
The mark on my back throbbed, almost like it was reacting to the mention of nightmare.
"I can help," I said.
He shook his head. "No. Our mission was to find the Fated Sovereign and bring them back to our queen. You're going now."
I froze. "Wait… you know?"
Thalor let out a small sigh. "You're surprised? First of all, you suck at hiding stuff. Your reaction to every mention of the Fated Sovereign was suspicious, and you referred to them as 'he' despite the fact that no one has a clue about their identity."
"Those could have been coincidences," I said, attempting to deflect.
"True. But they made me suspicious enough to use my skill, which confirms every lie told to me. You lied only once—that you didn't know where the Fated Sovereign was. And with everyone sensing that energy coming from your mark just now, well… you practically announced it yourself."
I sighed, letting go of the pretense. Just the fact he was still talking calmly was kind of a proof that they weren't searching for me to kill me. It was a relief not to hide. "I wasn't sure if I should reveal it."
Thalor shrugged. "I understand the caution. Still, it's a lucky twist of fate that the Fated Sovereign walked into our hands willingly." His tone softened. "Now go with Lord Ryoken. We'll handle the Revenant."
I wanted to help with the fight, but Thalor seemed oddly confident they could handle the nightmare. I didn't understand how. Kran had told me about Revenants—how even the weaker ones required a violet core fighter to even attempt taking down. The idea of Thalor and Virana beating one sounded unrealistic, but I decided to trust he had his reasons.
Nodding, I left to get Rem. I knocked on her door, and after a moment, she cracked it open, floating in a sleepy daze, still in her pajamas. Given that it was the middle of the night, I couldn't really blame her.
"The world better be ending, or I won't forgive you for waking me up at this hour."
"Well, it's close to that," I replied.
"...Tell me what happened on the way." She yawned, settling herself on my shoulder as I hurried back toward the entrance.
When we arrived, Ryoken and Virana were already waiting. Ryoken seemed unreasonably upbeat considering the situation, and Virana kept glancing between us, her surprise thinly veiled. I guessed that Thalor had already filled them in about my identity.
"Did you seriously enter a public event swarming with people who would want you dead?" Ryoken asked, looking both thrilled and impressed.
"Sorry for hiding it," I replied, "I wasn't sure who to trust yet."
"It's alright," Virana said, though she seemed as surprised as I'd expected.
Ryoken, meanwhile, seemed too delighted for his own good. "And I thought I couldn't get any luckier!"
Virana shot him a glare. "Perhaps save your glee for after the Revenant has stopped burning down the city?"
"Huh? They know? Wait—what Revenant?" Rem mumbled, still half-asleep on my shoulder.
Ryoken gave a shrug. "Well, there's never really a good time to be attacked by a Nightmare, but this is probably the best best time."
"The best time?" I asked, caught off guard.
"See for yourself." He slid the door open, and revealed the scene outside.
In the distance, the towering Nightmare loomed above the city—a gigantic, flaming figure that was half-human, half-stag, its reindeer skull crowned with blazing antlers that cast an ominous light over everything. Its body crackled with flame, while powerful lights from below—spells cast by every available mage, warrior, and whoever was there—hammered at it. Massive spell circles appeared around it, restricting its movements, but the creature fought back against the enchantments.
"We are still here, along with the tons of other visitors from First Plane," Ryoken explained. "This thing attacked at the only time when
A lot of unnaturally strong people would be gathered here. Virana and Thalor will help to end it quickly."
"It must be hard for it to keep its own body here, so we just have to stall for time."
Virana explained the plan.
I nodded, understanding at last. They weren't sending only Thalor and Virana into battle. And they only needed to stop it from destroying the city completely in meantime.
Ryoken turned to me. While Thalor and Virana left. "Come, we'll go another way."
As we moved, Ryoken explained. "There are two ways to reach the First Plane. There are some direct gates, but they're both dangerous and hard to reach. The other is through the 'return' rune. It allows the user to go to a place they've chosen as 'home,' regardless of where they are. I can mark both of you as Azdrians, setting your return points there."
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked.
Ryoken moved swiftly as he replied, "Making you citizens takes time, and you both need to learn to use the rune itself. We're heading to a place where I can do both out of sight."
With each step away from the battle, the burning pain on my back began to dull. My suspicion that the Primordial was somehow tied to the mark seemed correct.
Suddenly, Ryoken stopped, pressing his hand to the wall of the Worldtree, sending a pulse of somnium through the ancient bark. The faint outline of a dragon crest appeared, and the wall shifted, revealing a hidden doorway.
"Come on," he said, gesturing us inside. We stepped through, and the door closed behind us, leaving no trace it had ever been there.
"This is the Dragonlord altar of the Fallen Worldtree. As descendants of the Dragonlords, every Azdrian must be accepted before the altar to gain full citizenship," Ryoken explained, almost rolling his eyes at the ritual. "It's a little outdated, but I don't make the rules."
With that, he began tracing intricate, glowing runes in the air. Rem and I waited, but the burning in my back suddenly surged, almost overwhelming.
"The nightmare is coming closer," I said, wincing.
Ryoken's eyes narrowed. "That armor is masking the mark's energy well enough to fool people, but apparently nightmares—especially stronger ones—are more sensitive to its pull." He doubled the speed of his rune work as the pain continued to climb.
"Almost done! Now we just need to set the return runes, and—" His words were interrupted by a sudden blast as the wall behind us exploded. The Revenant stood before us, filling the gap with its presence, the entire city behind it engulfed in fire.
"All those fighters… and they couldn't hold it off?" I murmured, feeling the weight of fear creeping in.
The creature's hollow, ember-like eyes locked onto me as it spoke, its voice crackling like wildfire. "Insects… daring to stand in the way of I, A servant of great Primordial Fear of Fire. The one marked by the Throne is mine to devour."
I stared back, trying to wrap my mind around this, and blurted, "It can talk?!"
Ryoken glanced at me, exasperated. "That's what you're focused on?!"
Just then, waves of flames surged toward us, twisting and swelling with unbearable heat. I gathered every ounce of energy and struck, aiming for its skull. The blast hit, but it only seemed to fuel its inferno. My own attack had backfired, feeding its fire.
"This is not a good match at all…"
"Just focusnon defending! We need to stall!" Ryoken shouted, shadow spreading from his figure to blanket the flames around us. The moment his shadows touched them, they extinguished with a sizzling hiss, but the Revenant only laughed, swatting at Ryoken's shadows with blasts of searing heat. It was hardly even trying to fight back, more entertained than anything.
Then, I felt it—a powerful presence rushing toward us at an insane speed. Ryoken noticed it too, and shouted, "Take cover!"
I threw myself and Rem behind a chunk of stone, bracing for impact. The Revenant's flaming skull tilted up as it sensed the oncoming threat—just as something crashed down on top of it with a deafening explosion. The Nightmare's body crumpled like brittle charcoal under the force, and the shockwave sent Ryoken and me skidding back across the ground.
When I looked up, someone was standing on top of the charred remains of the Nightmare. A dwarf, clad in thick, dented armor, with a mess of black hair and a long, scruffy beard. He looked down at us, seemingly oblivious to the chaos he'd caused.
"Finally! I made it down here! Uh… that guy wasn't your friend, was he? Really sorry if he was."
Ryoken's expression was a mix of shock and confusion. "No… that was actually a nightmare, a strong one at that."
"Really? Thank goodness. I thought I'd just squashed someone by mistake. Been stuck on top of one of those giant glowing mushrooms for two weeks… then remembered I could just jump down."
I was stunned, trying to make sense of everything. How had he crushed that thing like it was nothing? How did he even got up there? And why had it taken him two weeks to think of jumping down?
I glanced at Ryoken for answers, but he looked even more baffled than I was, his mouth still slightly open.
The dwarf, oblivious to our shock, scratched his head and continued. "Oh, anyway! I'm Bom. Have you seen a tall man with long silver-gray hair around here? Eyes like the sun, kind of glowy?"
I blinked. That was… me. Did he not realize that?
He squinted, inspecting me more closely, then nodded to himself. "Huh, you actually look like the guy I'm looking for. Must be a relative or something?"
Rem, floating groggily nearby, asked, "Why are you looking for this person?"
"Big guy said all sorts of fun stuff happens around him," Bom answered cheerfully. "So I figured, why not join him?"
"Big guy…?" Rem echoed.
"Big guy." Bom repeated without a hint of explanation, as if it was obvious.
Well, if he was that determined, I wasn't about to turn him away. I am not going to say no to the guy who accidentally crushed a nightmare of that scale, after all.
"I think I'm the one you're looking for," I said.
Bom inspected me again, realization finally dawning on his face. His eyes lit up, and he nodded. "Then can I come with you?"
"You don't even know where I'm going," I replied.
"Nope," he said happily. "But big guy said it'd be fun, and I trust big guy!"
Ryoken, still trying to process what had just happened, shook his head in disbelief, muttering, "This is unreal."
Just then, Virana and Thalor arrived, skidding to a stop, wide-eyed at the destruction. Virana looked around at the charred remains and asked, "What… what in the hell happened here? Where's the Revenant?"
Ryoken, still dazed, gestured toward the crushed ashes of the creature. "…I'm still not sure I believe what I just witnessed," he muttered.
Rem, now curling up again on my shoulder, mumbled sleepily, "This has to be the weirdest dream…"
I couldn't have put it better myself.