Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 915 - 914 - Shadows in Rasker

A young man was writing up reports in a dimly lit office when his door swung open. He did not even glance up as he knew who it was.

"Rylie, most people knock in the polite world." He never looked up but a giggle told him he had guessed correctly at her presence.

She had curly brown hair swept behind her shoulders while her pale yellow robes marked her as a Sliver Tier healer.

The 2 children had benefited massively from the instruction of the Celestials and the Elementals.

"You work too hard, Hylan. Big Sister Kyren is engaged! Aren't you excited for the wedding?!" He gave a tired sigh before signing off the latest scroll.

His dark eyes looked up and smiled but looked tired.

She frowned at the bags under his eyes that were much harder for cultivators to accrue compared to mortals.

She then had her hand glow with gold and azure colors before pressing it to his forehead. A soothing feeling passed through him before a lot of the exhaustion lifted away.

"You need to cultivate. Tonight. No arguments." The light and teasing tone was gone and replaced by a stern look.

"I have too much to do. Those bastards did not just strut around but made changes when no one was looking." Rylie frowned deeply but made no objection. The Golden God Alchemy Sect had been terrifying how they tricked them all.

Alchemists were in high demand so an entire sect had been welcome, especially in Rasker. At first it had been fine but a mere 5 years later no one had noticed the sect had infiltrated their power structure at key points.

Suddenly new rules had come down to continue their relationship that culminated in them nearly overthrowing the whole city!

The speed and efficiency of the move was horrifying as it demonstrated they had done it many times before!

If not for Uncle Lind, they would have been doomed!

The lesson had been learned before irreparable harm had been done.

"What is going on?" She looked over the latest scroll and frowned the more she read.

"There are missing people that have not been found since those scum were defeated. I don't find any sign they died but I cannot find any trace of them at all. If they had simply been taken, there would have been signs but it was like they just vanished." She saw the issues clearly but did not understand what he was getting at.

Hylan massaged his temples before summoning a jade slip he gave her to examine.

Outside of Lady Kyren, Julia, and Sister Thea, he would not trust so easily anymore.

It only took a few moments for Rylie to grasp the true danger around them.

"Their agents are still here?" Her voice had lost all joy from before and he grasped her free hand in his own.

"They have to be. I took the lessons from the Frey Clan and did not assume we were safe. The farther back I go, the more I am certain they laid the groundwork with agents we did not even know worked for them." He had picked away at the threads at how quickly they were taken over and could only accept that reality.

Rasker was not so naive to fall that quickly no matter how expert the enemy was. Still, he had barely found traces and no sign of the missing people. It meant their agents were largely still there!

"What will they do?" She shivered as the short time they took over had not been pleasant for her. If not for Hylan 'claiming' her, she would have been taken to start her new support role far sooner than Lady Kyren.

"I do not know but the sect still exists in the Heaven Realm lands. Lord Frey set up some defenses around the ascension pools but they are already here and do not need to use the ones we know to get to us." He kept quiet on his true fear.

He felt like the rash actions of the Golden God Alchemy Sect showed they were not capable of the patience to set up something like he had begun to find.

The pair were among the strongest natives but they had been powerless when a group of Immortals swept through their city. The Celestials and Elementals had helped rebuild it but it was not their home.

They were friends but they made it clear they would mostly move on as their nature dictated.

Of the 2, the Celestials were likely to have a permanent foundation but the Elementals did not live anywhere. They were only passing through but per Lord Frey's request, they had been constantly helping as the foundation of Rasker was rebuilt.

It had dramatically helped and seemed to help Lord Frey achieve another goal. The Celestials were impossibly beautiful but very low in numbers. Even after the devastation of the Cataclysm, humans, demons, and aether children swarmed from the Heaven Realm lands.

Aether beasts spread like wildfire either natively or also from the same path.

Elementals always existed and currently trounced everyone on population alone but the vast majority were incorporeal.

The human and demon population had slowly risen but their structure was very shallow compared to other powers that rose up from the Heaven Realm lands.

If not for the support from the Frey Clan, Hylan truly believed the city would have been lost to time as some other power took over for their own purposes.

"Well, you need rest to recuperate. An exhausted mind does us no good." She looked down at him and he slowly nodded as he safely stored it all away.

They left his office and moved down the halls of the administration building. It was nothing ornate but like many of the buildings in Rasker, it had been designed to soothe minds. It helped cultivators focus on their tasks and not get distracted.

It also acted on visitors to clear their minds before meetings as there were times things became contentious.

The pair were walking amicably as they left and Hylan did feel his mind was still exhausted despite what Rylie did for him. His ash gray robes marked him as a high end administrator.

So the yellow and gray made them stand out as they walked out into the night. Rylie's quarters were not too far away but Hylan was a good hike outside of the central district.

He chose to live where his family once had but it was a very nice neighborhood even before he became an administrator.

The lights leant a gentle glow to the streets as people moved to their own activities but the pair just enjoyed the silence of the night.

Hylan was about to smile when the hairs on the back of his neck stood up!

He grabbed Rylie and slammed her to the ground. The air above them became superheated as a flaming blade swung through it!

They were under attack!

Figures in dark hoods seemed to blend seamlessly into the shadows but neither had time to even count them as more attacks struck at them.

The attacks were vicious but silent.

Hylan also found his attempts to shout useless as nothing came out when he screamed for help. He then knew what warned him.

The formation must have been put up and he was extremely sensitive after being around healers so much. Formations were their key tool and being aware of them was critical.

His thoughts were disrupted as the pavement was ripped open silently right in front of him! He rolled Rylie once more but pain arced across his back.

A warm feeling spread with the fire of pain. His back had been cut open!

He felt a firm grip on his chest and saw Rylie shouting but no sound came. The attacks were closing in. The space they could dodge was shrinking.

The world suddenly slowed for Hylan as his life flashed before his eyes. The fear and terror of waking up alone. The devastation of his home. Strangers were all around but 2 emerald eyes looked at him with kindness.

In those eyes, he felt the possibility of being safe again.

He looked at Rylie and wished with all his heart for such a moment again!

A loud crack was heard suddenly as the formation was shattered and a massive emerald dragon appeared in the sky!

The once hidden assassins were locked in place by powerful lances of Qi.

It was not only there, 3 more dragons appeared across the city!

"Shatter!" A voice cried out but the artifact used in Hylan's sight failed. He could feel the grade 7 aura and it broke like glass!

"Impossible!" Another voice called out but he was getting woozy at that point. The world was falling away until a new warm feeling filled his body.

"Don't die, please don't die." A voice was coming from somewhere close but he could not focus until a new voice boomed over all.

[You will all die!] He knew that voice and a smile crossed his face. Lord Frey had come.