Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 219 - 218 - How?!

Three weeks.

It had been three spirits cursed weeks!

The nobles had become pale and sickly as the Relic continued to drain the World Stones as if they were water.  It meant the trial was still going!  How could a high Stone Tier possibly be going on for this long?!

Lewis looked like all the life had gone out of him.  The Regent was withering in front of everyone from what it seemed like to even the foreign powers.  Dan and the lioness had taken up residence nearby and no one dared to argue with them about it.

"What is the longest any heir lasted?"  The head of Ba House asked but he looked like he was simply speaking to fill the uncomfortable void of silence that had fallen on them in the last few days.

"The longest was 2 months but that is not the problem."  Nimon was sitting with a sour look on his face.  He had been the first of the nobles to try and bring the prince into his debt yet now he felt like he had wasted his life.

All looked at him in confusion but then the Regent looked up with a hapless smile on his very wrinkled face.

"Time is not the problem but the power of the Relic.  It is normally run at a quarter of its strength to not strain the treasury, but we set it up at full power.  Now, even if he dies, our treasury will be depleted or as close to it as it has ever been."  The nobles all felt depressed as they had all agreed to the plan.

They had all put up the few high grade and vast mid grade World Stones to power the Relic.  Now, they watched it all crumble to nothing as Lind Frey kept going far beyond any expectation.

"I see he has not changed."  A voice suddenly spoke as a massive warship appeared in the air over them.  The markings of Darkmoor Kingdom were clear and the powerful aura made all of the native powers kneel.

The Regent and the nobles quickly knelt down as Crown Prince Ryu floated down from the ship with a strikingly gorgeous demoness at his side.  Her lavender skin was very pale but her hair was dark violet and her eyes were a piercing silver.

The simple sword at her hip confirmed the rumors of her being the rare demon disciple of the Divine Sword Sect.  The aura around her was able to cut at a glance for all the people there.

"I expected him out a long time ago but he seems intent on always changing the world."  Ryu's words shook some present but many thought he was overestimating a high Stone Tier.  Ryu himself was nearing the peak of the Gold Tier.

"Brother Solon spoke highly of him and he helped Elder Bord freely."  Her voice was not the expected coldness of a warrior but a gentle breeze but it was a trap.  If a person let the voice beguile them, they would not know how they died.

The Whisper of Death was her title after all.

Ryu nodded but smiled at her before looking back imperiously at the crowd of nobles knelt on the stone ground of the ravine.  He had finally gotten permission but he could only observe and nothing else.  The honor of their family had to be preserved regardless of his personal feelings.

The issues with backwater powers were normally beneath him but even his mother expressed extreme distaste for Altair.

"Lord Regent, you do not seem well, is there a problem?"  Ryu did not have to be polite but he truly disliked that the man who had so brilliantly defeated him had been forced to deal with an issue his kingdom had forced on him.

"Your royal highness, I am most pleased to see you in my last days."  The Regent's health was clear for Ryu to see and he truly was dying.  Ryu could not see why he was dying but the fire of his life was low so it may simply be old age.

Ryu let the massive ship stop above the entrance to the ravine as he and his fiance jumped down to the rocky surface below.  Anyone watching could see the highly skilled flow of movement to the demoness compared to the more forthright strength flowing off of Ryu.

Between the 2, it was difficult to declare who was more powerful as a warrior but the style was a terrifying combination that made many swear at that moment to never cause issues to bring Darkmoor down onto them.

"Senior Daniel, it is a pleasure to meet you again."  Ryu smiled wide as he saw Dan off to the side.  Dan looked back in approval and nodded but kept an arm on the lioness.  A pair of silver eyes narrowed at the golden lioness.

Before anyone could move the demoness vanished from all their eyes and appeared in front of Dan and the mountain lion.  The golden eyes looked into silver.

Ryu sighed and simply stood back as he knew reining in his bride-to-be was impossible when she was like that.  Any further conversation was stalled as all wondered what the Stone Tier beast could possibly do to a peak Gold Tier demoness.

"You are injured."  Her gentle voice made them all mesmerized but the lioness roared as Dan tried to hold her back.  Ryu's crimson eyes focused on the lioness and slowly nodded that she was right but then all were shocked when the lioness strained hard against Dan's arms.

"Calm down, Lind Frey will be back soon!"  The golden eyes looked hard at the closed stone doors as she slowly calmed down.

"Callisto, what do you wish to do?"  Ryu revealed her name but the smile on her face made the dark green hairs on his scalp nearly stand on end.  He had seen that smile before far too many times.

"I want to have her as my companion."  The Regent nearly fell over.  What was going on?!  Everyone had that same thought but Ryu merely rolled his eyes and pointed at the Relic.

"My love, you have to wait as she clearly is connected to my brother in arms."  Those words were like thunderbolts from heaven to all present.  Even Dan, a tier 1 Sky Realm, felt shock as that meant another major power was officially backing Lind Frey on top of all the others.

"Crown Prince Ryu, what do you mean by calling Master Frey your brother in arms?"  All turned to stare at the idiot that asked such a question but Ryu smiled ear to ear instead.  He began to regale the relatively well known story of how Lind Frey had summoned the lightning from Heaven when he was only a Soul Realm.

A few noticed Callisto's hand twitched to her sword and felt their sweat break out instantly on their backs.  Any doubt of compatibility vanished in their minds as clearly both of these demons were battle maniacs!

"How much longer–"  Ryu was about to ask the question for the deadline on the Relic's operation when the Qi suddenly disappeared in the ravine.  If they were not already on the ground, many cultivators had to land quickly as their artifacts lost all ability to stay afloat.

The Sky Realms had long since landed so they were unaffected but Ryu frowned as the pressure from the Relic had increased immensely.  He was exposed to Diamond Tiers on a regular basis as part of making connections for his future role of ruling Darkmoor Kingdom.

It was getting closer every day now but the pressure from the Relic was far above even his own mother who was considered one of the most powerful demons in the lower world.  She was very close to the Sky Realm but she was solidifying her foundation before she tries to break through.

Lind Frey had done so much for the lower realms that Ryu's mother wanted to rope him back in, but Ryu simply wanted a chance to fight him once more!  He wanted to see what Lind had become, but now he truly worried if this Relic would be his real grave.

"HOW?!"  The Regent stumbled and seemed on the brink of death.  Callisto also looked grave but Ryu looked towards the nobles of Altair for an explanation but saw all of them staring at one area of the Relic.

He followed their eyeline and noticed an area full of dust near array slots for Qi stones.  Ryu crossed the meters in between in a single step and felt the residue of mid grade World Stones but now he understood.

The Relic was one of those that needed Qi stones to power it but now it was pulling hard on the Qi in the very world itself for some reason which should not have been possible.  Ryu was not a formation expert but he knew enough to see they were working perfectly.

"Furen!  Come here!"  Another demon appeared from the large artifact they flew here but the awkward man had gray hair and was clearly an old World Realm at the low Diamond Tier.  He stroked his short beard as he joined his prince near the Relic and quickly examined it.

A sparkle came to his dark amber eyes as he began to giggle as he moved his wiry body along the outside of the Relic.

"Wonderful, truly wonderful Little Ryu!"  The shock of the Relic made most just glance off what Ryu had just been called but Callisto smirked at her fiance which irked Ryu more than the title.  The Divine Sword Sect had ruined a demoness in his opinion due to her sense of humor!

"Wonderful how, Foren?"  The old man looked up and mumbled for a bit but the demonic Qi was sucked in the same as the rest and Ryu felt a deep chill suddenly.  The Relic was not restricted to just one kind of Qi!

"This was clearly part of an Immortal Inheritance like so many Ruins we have found.  It is close to fulfilling its purpose so a higher function has taken over."  Ryu looked confused as Foren pointed at a few of the arrays before he whipped out a stack of Sky Stones!

Before anyone could stop him, the demon dropped several kingdoms' worth of treasuries as if they were copper for the Relic to thrum with power even more than before.

"STOP!  Please stop it!  It can't be allowed to continue!"  Ryu slowly turned to find the young human that resembled the Regent.  Ryu looked coldly at the boy with his dark crimson eyes and the pale amber could not keep looking at him.

"This is now beyond all our power to stop.  Assuming the boy lives, he should get something amazing out of this experience once more!"  Foren was now laughing like a mad man but Ryu was used to that.  Foren was a pure researcher and seeing a Relic perform its function was like candy to the old man.

"May the spirits watch over you, Lind.  Do not leave me waiting any longer."  Ryu sent up a prayer and stepped back to Callisto as they all now stared at the Relic as it became more and more powerful before their eyes as Foren's Qi Stones began to crumble after only a day.

They all kept wondering how much longer it could go on but then arrays began to light up and Ryu knew the climax was arriving.  His beloved's hands itched to fight as the tension rose but they both waited to see the outcome.

Lind would live or he would die.  They waited to see which would become true.