Kael kept his eyes forward, waiting for the corruption magic to become in sight ahead of them. But it had been half an hour of riding through the depths of the forest without catching a single sense of the dark magic spreading. Something was not right. They should’ve seen it already several minutes ago.“Are you certain it’s accurately taking us to the source?” Kael said as they trotted through the woods. “It appears we are not heading towards the center of the forest.”“The compass is not taking us towards the source,” Lucas replied. “It’s taking us to Janshai. He may have been taken in a different location … far from the corruption.”Kael muttered a curse. That would take a longer time for them to locate the source of the dark magic. They had to find Janshai the soonest as possible.The White Forest was the largest in Glacia, making it the home for high-class beasts. But Kael had not found a single beast on their way. They must’ve fled from the forest, or perhaps died from the corru

Clear blue skies flashed as Tristan opened his eyes, gasping as if he had lost air, but he could now breathe the cool, fresh breeze that brushed against his face. No clouds hid the heavens. Tristan had no clue of why he was panting, his lungs thirsting for air. Had he been dead? This must be heaven, or so it seemed. Memories from that night flashed back in his mind. He recalled Bow shoving him out of the edge of the ship, with a heavy anchor chained to his ankles. He remembered falling until he hit the waters, descending into the depths of the ocean, helpless. It was as if hell pulling him. Air slowly escaped his lungs out of his screaming mouth, then replaced by the ocean waters. Tristan was drowning … and drowning … but what happened after he could not remember.Tristan held his chest, his heartbeat pounding fast. What the hell happened to him? How did he arrive in this … empty but serene place? He looked around, finding nothing but the vast horizon where the skies touched the calm

“You are my ancestor?” Arth said with his eyes wide open. No wonder he had found the cold aura of the demon somewhat familiar. His ancestor … Lord Ander … was the first Aragon who defeated a Demon Lord. He could never believe what he was hearing. But … how the hell did it happen? How did the first of their blood become a demon?“My eyes had once been like yours,” Lord Ander replied. “Once bright-ocean blue, but now darkness had devoured its color.”Arth hesitated, lowering his eyes before he asked, “What happened after you defeated the Demon Lord?”“Hmm …” Lord Ander mumbled. “It was a sacrifice I had to make to save our people. I was wise enough to submit myself to becoming a demon, just so they wouldn’t harm my family … and my kingdom. Because I’ve known that if I refused, then there would be grave consequences.”“What consequences?”“Eternal chaos …” Lord Ander’s dark eyes turned to Arth. “I had to seal them all into the Underworld. I used my blood to close the portal before I was

The White Forest was darker than a moonless night, but Kael’s light ball had shown the path through the silent trees. He kept his head low, his eyes stealing glances at Luna’s boots beside him as they walked. They had become wordless ever since they separated from Lucas and Robert. Even now, he still had anxieties and fear that he had just made a huge mistake, considering how dangerous it was to let Lucas freely walk around with no one but a young swordsman to watch him over.Kael swallowed in his throat, wondering how he would begin a conversation with her. Should he ask how she had been? No … Luna had reported what had happened to her. Perhaps he should ask if she had already eaten. Would that be too weird?Kael took a deep breath before he opened his mouth to speak—“How have you been?”Luna’s voice froze Kael’s jaws as he raised his head. He found her looking confused, her eyes blinking under her furrowed brows. “Why do you look shocked?”Kael realized he still had his mouth open,

Though broken and destroyed, the ruins were magnificent. Tristan stood on the wide balcony, taking the view of the entire city with the cool wind blowing against his face, sending his silver hair into a flail. He glimpsed the shattered structures and walls, all made of white stones, with the bones like mountains on every corner of the street. Then his eyes traveled towards the group of dragon hunters right below him, each equipped with a leather vest and a white cape.Tristan caught his father, speaking a command to the group. Seeing him had made his heart remember all the memories he had with his father, all the good and bad ones, but the good memories had caused more pain that tightened his chest. He wouldn’t dare recall every one of them. Those had been buried already in his past, as every time he tried to remember, the scene of his family’s death had kept on stopping him, drawing his full attention to the pain that it had caused.Tristan decided to take a stroll around the ruined