Chapter 2

Elder Ena and the others watched Aeron with concern.

He had appeared at a moment like this. Was he here to beg Helena to stay? It seemed likely. Over the past two years, Aeron had treated her exceptionally well. Two years of effort were gone just like that. There was no way he would accept it so easily.

If he truly acted so shamelessly, the Black Zenith Order would lose all reputation. Even so, there was nothing they could do. Aeron was their "Young Lord." Whatever decision he made, they would support him.

Helena's expression showed open annoyance. "Aeron, I already made myself very clear. Our engagement is over. Stop clinging to me."

Fortunately, she had cut ties with him in time. With Aeron's clingy nature, he would only grow more irritating.

"You think you can call off the engagement whenever you want?" Aeron met her gaze coldly. "Even if the engagement is annulled, I will be the one to end it. Since when did you have that right?"

"Why you…" Helena's face darkened. She had not expected Aeron to suddenly grow a backbone.

"If you want to leave the Black Zenith Order, fine. But return every spirit herb you consumed here and every resource you used over the past two years." His tone was absolute and commanding.

Elder Ena and the others released quiet sighs of relief. As long as he was not trying to keep Helena, that was enough. At the same time, his forceful attitude surprised them. The Aeron they knew had always been gentle and refined. He rarely acted so overbearing.

The elders could not help but sigh inwardly. Love between a man and a woman was a strange thing. It could force a person to wake up and change in an instant.

"What did you just say?" Garrick's face darkened. "You want us to return every spirit herb she consumed over the past two years? Did I hear that correctly?"

The black serpent-drake suddenly lifted its head and released a deafening hiss. Across the mountains, demonic beasts answered with roars of their own.

The Black Zenith Order's mountain gate shook violently. The weaker acolytes turned pale and broke out in sweat under the pressure, yet they still gripped their weapons and held their ground.

"Are you certain this is what you want? You want my apprentice to repay every spirit herb she consumed over the past two years?" Garrick looked at Elder Ena and the others with a cold gaze. "Do his words represent the Black Zenith Order?"

Beneath him, the serpent-drake flicked its scarlet tongue, its eyes icy and vicious.

Elder Ena nodded. "Lord Stormvale's will is the will of the Black Zenith Order."

"What Lord Stormvale says stands."

"Helena must give both Lord Stormvale and the Black Zenith Order an answer!" the other elders declared.

At the same time, they began circulating their spirit energy, ready to act at any moment.

Garrick's expression turned grim. "I would like to see what the Black Zenith Order is capable of."

He snorted coldly as a terrifying aura burst from him. The black serpent-drake reared up. Its abyssal maw opened wide as it flicked its scarlet tongue, its venomous fangs gleaming with a murderous chill.

The eight Beast Envoys moved as well. The beast chiefs beneath them rumbled and snarled. Across the mountains, the demonic beasts surged forward, advancing on the Black Zenith Order.

Elder Ena and the others tensed. Even under Garrick's crushing aura, they did not retreat. They held his gaze without flinching.

"Strike the ninth beat of the Black Zenith Drum. Summon the High Ascendant out of seclusion!" Elder Ena shouted.

"Elder Ena, are we truly summoning the High Ascendant? Is that not too extreme?" Elder Dyo and the others asked, their expressions grave.

Nine beats of the Black Zenith Drum signaled the highest level of danger. The Black Zenith Order itself was under threat, and the secluded High Ascendant, Luceran Veyr, had to intervene.

Even the usually refined Elder Ena could not hold back his curse. "Their boots are already on our faces. They've humiliated our order and Lord Stormvale. Are we supposed to let them keep stomping on us? If they dare step on our faces, we'll break their damn legs."

"Strike the drum!"

"Now!"

"Anyone who humiliates the Black Zenith Order and Lord Stormvale will pay for it!"

"Summon the High Ascendant. Then we march on the Beastmaster Order together!"

The elders' eyes were bloodshot. A few of the more hot-tempered ones looked ready to charge at any moment, and only Elder Ena's restraint had kept them in line this long.

The ninth beat of the Black Zenith Drum rang out. The sound echoed through the entire complex, then slowly faded.

At the exact instant the final note vanished, thunder exploded within the Black Zenith Order. The blast was so violent that everyone's ears went numb. Even Garrick was deafened on the spot.

A crimson bolt of lightning tore through the air and struck the ground in front of Garrick. The earth shook as it blasted a crater into the ground. Stray arcs burst outward, shattering part of the serpent-drake's scales. It screamed in pain as blood spilled across its body.

Several holes tore through Garrick's robe as well. If he had not taken cover behind the serpent-drake in time, he would already have been injured.

Helena's expression changed. She had never imagined that the Black Zenith Order still possessed such a terrifying High Ascendant.

'Why did Aeron never tell me?' she wondered. 'So he never truly trusted me…'

Aeron had not even told her something as important as the existence of the Black Zenith Order's High Ascendant. It was a good thing she had cut ties with him in time. Otherwise, she would have been the one to suffer the loss later.

Garrick gritted his teeth. "What is this? Are you planning to bully others with your strength?"

"Lord Stormvale, how do you wish to settle this?" The High Ascendant's voice carried overwhelming authority. "Whatever choice you make, everyone in the Black Zenith Order will support you with their full strength."

"Just as I said before. Make Helena return every spirit herb she consumed during her time in the Black Zenith Order over the past two years," Aeron stated.

"Understood." The High Ascendant answered once, then his voice rang directly in Garrick's ears. "You heard Lord Stormvale. Compensate us or fight."

"That's right. Compensate us or fight!"

"The Black Zenith Order stands ready. We can strike at any time!"

Garrick's face twitched repeatedly. Under the crushing pressure of the High Ascendant's aura, he knew that he would be the one to lose if this continued.

Besides, he had already taken Helena in as his apprentice. It was not a total loss.

"I don't have that much on me. I will compensate for part of it now. The rest will be repaid later," Garrick said in a low voice.

"Lord Stormvale, what do you think?" the High Ascendant asked.

"That works. Let him repay part of it now. I will personally collect the rest later," Aeron said.

Garrick snorted inwardly. If Aeron dared to come to the Beastmaster Order, then neither he nor even the High Ascendant would make it back alive.

Garrick took out the spirit herbs he carried with him, hating every moment of it. The herbs were all of high quality, and he had spent more than a year stockpiling them. Handing them over to the Black Zenith Order left a sharp ache in his chest.

Elder Ena collected the herbs.

"We're leaving!" Garrick cast a cold glance at the members of the Black Zenith Order, then departed with Helena and the eight Beast Envoys. The beast chiefs withdrew with them.

From beginning to end, Helena did not spare Aeron a single glance.

There was no point. From that moment on, they no longer belonged to the same world. She would rise quickly within the Beastmaster Order. In time, she might become one of the top young talents in Southern Greenhaven, then continue climbing until she stood among the elite realmstriders of her generation.

As for Aeron, he would only be able to look up at her.

As they watched her leave, quite a few elders burned with anger. The Black Zenith Order had finally nurtured a future top-tier talent, only to have the Beastmaster Order take her away just like that.

"It's better that she left," Elder Ena said. "If she had stayed, then with that kind of character, she would only have brought greater trouble to our order later."

The elders all knew he was trying to console himself, but there was nothing else to be done.

Elder Ena approached Aeron. "Lord Stormvale, don't dwell on it. Take it as bad luck. You simply misjudged her."

"Thank you, Elder Ena. And thank you, elders, for standing with me," Aeron said.

"We're family. There's no need to thank us."

"You are Lord Aeron Stormvale of the Black Zenith Order. Of course we will support you."

The elders did not know how else to comfort him, so that was all they could offer.

"Take these." Elder Ena handed him the spirit herbs they had just received as compensation.

"No need. I can't use them. You should keep them," Aeron said, shaking his head.

"How could you not use them? Take them and train properly. Lord Stormvale, I believe that you will make the world see you differently one day." Elder Ena pressed the herbs into Aeron's hands.

'Make the world see me differently?' Aeron recalled Helena's words and the look in her eyes when she left, filled with thick contempt and disdain. She had never thought highly of him because his talent was mediocre and his future seemed bleak.

He looked at Elder Ena and the others, and the scene from moments ago surfaced in his mind. If the High Ascendant had not intervened, the Black Zenith Order might already have run red with blood.

And why had the High Ascendant forced Garrick to bow his head and pay compensation? Strength.

This was a world where the strong ruled. Without strength, no one respected you. Without it, you had no dignity.

If the Black Zenith Order had not sheltered him all this time, could he have lived so easily? And how long could they continue to protect him? A few years? A few decades? A lifetime?

Aeron did not know the answer, but he knew one thing: he could not continue living like this.

He returned to his residence, opened the secret chamber, and told the breathtaking woman inside, "I have made my decision. I am willing to absorb the All-Devouring Vein."