With the preparations finalized, the vanguard of the guild assembled outside the towering main gates, awaiting their master's decree.
"Fairy Queen. Fairy King."
"We hear you, Guild Leader," they chimed.
"The Sect is in your hands until I return."
"Rest easy," the Fairy Queen assured him, her wings shimmering with sincerity. "We shall defend these walls with our lives."
Her loyalty was absolute. The Fairy King, however, was a different matter entirely. The tiny monarch was glaring toward the Celestial Cow's pasture, a vindictive, scheming grin plastered across his face. Though the ancient Forest Spirit was standing guard, Raiking knew better than to leave a bruised ego unattended.
"Fairy King."
The tiny monarch snapped to attention. "Yes, Guild Leader?"
"I trust you harbor no vengeful intent toward the beast that consumed your Moon-Weave Orchid."
"M-me? Never, my liege."
"Excellent," Raiking replied, his tone carrying the weight of a divine promise. "When our path takes us through Imoar, I shall return with a bounty of the finest elven seeds."
"Truly?!" The Fairy King gasped, his petty vengeance instantly forgotten.
Raiking offered a single nod.
Taking her cue, Libinea stepped forward. She dissolved into a pillar of searing crimson heat, shooting upward before detonating across the sky. When the ash cleared, her true Phoenix form was revealed. She was a titan of living, divine flame, so majestic and terrifyingly vast that she blotted out the sun, leaving the mortals of Dawnfall to stare up at the heavens in trembling awe.
It was an apocalyptic sight. Beings from the Skyward Region rarely cast their shadows over the mortal realms.
"Are we ready?" Libinea's telepathic voice resonated in their souls.
Space warped, and Raiking, holding Faye alongside Ezmelral, materialized safely atop the Phoenix's back, setting their sights on the western horizon.
---
[Journey to the Skyward Region]
Just an hour into their journey, the biting winds of the high altitudes howled around them, adding an icy edge to Libinea's recounting of the Skyward Region's bitter past, steeped in envy and tragedy.
"So, the King of the Dragon Clan fell for the Ancestral Phoenix?" Ezmelral shouted, battling the gusts to confirm the ancient legend. "And when he found out she loved a mortal, he cursed her entire tribe to guard the border for eternity?"
"In essence, yes," Libinea's voice resonated in their minds as if carried by the wind itself.
"What a petty move," Ezmelral scoffed, casting a glance at Raiking, who was skillfully shielding Faye from the relentless wind with a shimmering magical barrier. "Master, how far would you go for the woman you love—"
Her question trailed into silence. She knew it was naive. She had witnessed Raiking delve into the Goddess's memories; she knew the depths of his devotion.
While the Dragon King had destroyed a tribe out of spite, Raiking had sacrificed his very being out of love.
Their actions lay worlds apart, yet the root cause was identical.
"I understand," Ezmelral murmured, watching Raiking as he carefully adjusted the baby's blanket.
"What do you understand?" Raiking asked, his attention still on the task.
"That even the Gods are slaves to love."
Raiking remained silent, not because he lacked a response, but because Ezmelral had a knack for making statements that compelled deep reflection.
Before Libinea could express her thoughts, the atmosphere abruptly shifted.
A wave of lethal intent swept across the sky, sharp as a dagger and chilling to the bone. Everyone felt it immediately. Even little Faye, despite being just an infant, had the divine sense to detect the malice directed straight at her father.
Her tiny lip quivered, her eyes filled with heavy tears. She drew in a deep breath, the precursor to a potentially world-shattering wail.
Not again.
The memory of countless sleepless nights flashed through the minds of the immortals. Libinea, driven by desperation to silence the impending auditory assault, reacted without hesitation.
"Pause."
The world flipped into a monochrome stillness. The wind hushed, and drifting clouds became frozen statues.
Twelve masked figures in dark cloaks, who had teleported around the Phoenix to launch an ambush, hung suspended in mid-air. Their weapons were drawn, their murderous intent etched onto their faces.
Ezmelral needed no cue. She was already on the move.
Her blade flashed, transforming her into a silver phantom slicing through the frozen timeline. She wove between the immobilized assassins, her sword delivering swift, precise justice.
In the blink of an eye, twelve throats were cut.
In one fluid motion, she returned to Raiking's side, her blade slipping smoothly into its scabbard.
Libinea released the temporal hold. The wind roared back to life.
Crimson blood sprayed from the assassins as their lifeless bodies plunged into the turbulent sea below. Yet, the apex predators of Dawnfall ignored the falling corpses, their gaze locked in terror on Faye.
The infant blinked, puzzled by the sudden disappearance of hostility. She sniffled once, then, seeing Raiking's calm, reassuring presence, her tears vanished, replaced by a bright smile.
"Gaga!"
The sound was like a siren of salvation for the trio, a relief that surpassed even the triumph over a demon emperor.
"That was way too close," Ezmelral muttered, releasing a long-held breath.
"Who were those guys?" Libinea's voice resonated in their minds like a lingering echo.
"Beats me," Raiking replied, his attention momentarily diverted as he checked Faye's diaper, ensuring no further disasters loomed.
"..."
A heavy silence ensued. Curiosity was a luxury they couldn't afford. Having narrowly averted the cataclysmic fallout of a baby's tears, these legendary figures had neither time nor energy to ponder the identities of a few fallen assassins.
---
[Northern Demon Region - The Silent Blade Clan]
In the moments leading up to the guild's unforeseen attack, a foreboding green light flickered within the shadowy depths of a stone-walled cultivation chamber. This eerie glow came from thousands of Soul Lamps, each flame a testament to the life force and unparalleled strength of the clan's elite warriors.
At the heart of this dim sanctuary hovered Grandmaster Vex, the enigmatic Clan Leader. His expression concealed behind a mask, he adeptly wielded Qi, his consciousness entwined with the minds of the twelve elite operatives dispatched to intercept the Phoenix.
A surge of confidence coursed through him as he observed the intense blaze of their flames.
Then, in a heartbeat, all twelve lamps shattered with a suddenness that defied comprehension.
"AAAARGH!" Vex bellowed, clutching his chest as he crumpled to the cold stone floor, dark blood spewing from his lips.
The psychic backlash struck with a vicious intensity, more than just the sting of their deaths—it was the brutal manner in which they were extinguished. The severance of their connection was so abrupt and precise that Vex's mind reeled, struggling to grasp the catastrophic obliteration.
In one moment, they had been an indomitable force. In the next, they were erased from existence.
"Grandmaster!"
A voice pierced through the air, sharp and urgent, as the massive stone doors creaked open, revealing the chamber within.
Thamriel, known among the elite as The Tower of Gaze, stormed into the room. As a key member of the revered group "The Six," he exuded an aura of authority, holding a small, hovering pagoda in one hand. He swiftly knelt, extending his other hand to aid the Grandmaster in rising.
"What transpired?" Thamriel's voice resonated through the stone chamber, a mix of concern and determination.
"The Soul Lamps... they all shattered simultaneously."
Vex struggled to steady his hands, wiping dark blood off his mask. His breath came in ragged pants, and his Qi was still chaotic from the backlash.
"They were obliterated," Vex rasped, his voice barely a whisper. "Instantaneously."
"Impossible!" Thamriel's eyes widened beneath his helmet. "There were at least three Divine Stage experts among them. Even a Great General of the Human Armies would require time to dismantle such a powerful formation!"
"The Dawnfall King misled us," Vex growled, clutching the edge of his meditation mat in frustration. "Our intelligence was flawed."
He recalled the clandestine message that came with the Human King's token, warning of a Storm Dragon at the Divine Stage that had annihilated 10,000 soldiers during the Sect siege. The reports mentioned only the Dragon, leading the Assassination Clan to underestimate the Sect Master, believing him to be, at most, at the peak of the Divine Stage—a target they deemed manageable with a standard elite squad.
They had been disastrously, fatally mistaken.
"This target is not what we anticipated..." the Grandmaster murmured, replaying the final vision sent by his fallen warriors.
"What do you mean?"
"The Phoenix accompanying him," Vex whispered. "Its feathers... they weren't merely crimson. I saw streaks of Royal Blue near the crest."
Thamriel froze, the floating pagoda in his hand ceasing its rotation. "Blue stripes?" he stammered. "But that signifies..."
"A Queen," Vex confirmed, his voice laced with gravity.
"A Phoenix Queen?!" Thamriel exclaimed, struggling to maintain his composure. "That's a legendary creature! Who could possibly control the proud Phoenix Clan as a mere mount? Even the ancient Dragon Kings failed to subdue them!"
An oppressive silence descended upon the room, the weight of their realization pressing down on them. They hadn't just disturbed a sleeping tiger; they had ventured straight into the maw of a leviathan.
"I'm not entirely sure who he is," Vex admitted, pushing himself up with effort. "But this mission is far more perilous than the Dawnfall King led us to believe."
He turned toward the wall lined with shattered lamps, his eyes cold and calculating. "Cancel the second wave. We won't send more to their deaths."
"So, do we abandon the mission?" Thamriel asked.
"No," Vex replied, a sinister glint flickering in his eyes. "We escalate. We'll wait for Morgal. She returns from the Void Lands tomorrow."
Thamriel shuddered at the mention of her name. "You would send her?"
"She will lead the next operation herself," Vex declared. "If he rides a Queen, then we must send a Calamity to face him."