Chapter 1372: A Weapon Against Forever
Ethan hadn’t seen everything that happened, but the others had.
Just before the energy sphere exploded, white light swallowed Valric’s lower body and most of his torso. When the center of the blast cleared slightly, only half his head and the arm holding his sword remained.
Even then, Valric never released his weapon.
Another burst of white light flared beside him, enveloping what remained of his body. When it faded, Valric was gone.
A second wave of white light swept across the main battlefield immediately afterward.
Every Immortal Kingdom soldier vanished within it. All they left behind were scattered footprints, marks from clashing weapons, and yellow sand darkened by blood.
The battlefield fell silent.
The doors throughout the village finally cracked open.
Villagers cautiously poked their heads outside. Only after checking several times to make sure the army was gone did they dare leave their homes.
The old man who had first warned Ethan was the boldest of them.
He crossed the sand, stopped in front of Ethan, and dropped to both knees without a word.
The other villagers hurried over and knelt before Ethan and his companions as well.
"Our savior!"
"Our savior!"
The calls came one after another.
Ethan had no idea what was happening.
Their savior?
Hadn’t that been their own country’s army?
Why were they thanking him for driving the soldiers away?
"Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?"
Ethan hurried toward the old man to help him up.
"I’m not your savior. I only—"
Before he could finish, the old man slammed his forehead against the ground.
The other villagers followed his example.
A whole row of heads struck the ground in unison.
Ethan froze.
Why were they bowing even harder now that he had spoken?
Behind him, the others burst out laughing at his anxious, helpless expression.
Andona stepped out of the group and came to his side.
Her enormous golden wings spread behind her. Each feather gave off a gentle glow, shedding flecks of golden light that drifted down onto the villagers’ faces.
Auri caught on quickly and raised both hands.
Fairy energy flowed from her fingers into the ground.
Green shoots soon emerged from the dry sand. They grew into branches, and flowers bloomed from their tips. Grass, flowers, and trees spread rapidly through the area, covering the desolate village entrance in fresh, living color.
Andona stepped in front of Ethan and raised a hand.
Gentle golden energy settled over the kneeling villagers, supporting their foreheads so they could no longer bow all the way to the ground.
At first, the villagers looked confused.
Then they noticed the golden wings and the flowers blooming around them. The reverence on their faces only deepened.
After considerable persuasion—and an impressive display of power—the villagers finally stopped kowtowing every time they looked at the group.
Still, they couldn’t immediately break the habit of trying to kneel whenever they wanted to express their gratitude.
The old man approached Ethan respectfully and began recounting what had happened.
This village was only a tiny settlement within the Immortal Kingdom. Under normal circumstances, no one would have paid much attention to it.
Then a mine appeared nearby.
A very unusual mine.
The old man had heard that somewhere inside it lay a secret weapon capable of truly killing the Immortal Kingdom’s people. Later, someone obtained that weapon from the mine and used it to kill large numbers of Immortal Kingdom soldiers.
As a result, King Eldran issued an important order.
Universal conscription.
He needed more soldiers to fill the gaps on the battlefield.
But the Immortal Kingdom had never had a large population, and its people were spread across vast distances. The only way to gather enough troops quickly was to send the army into the outlying regions and conscript able-bodied villagers from every settlement.
The mine happened to be near this village.
The old man raised a hand and pointed out the direction.
After saying goodbye to the villagers, the group climbed back onto Seraphina’s dragon form and flew toward the legendary Bingling Mine.
Everyone else discussed what might be hidden inside the mine.
Only Ethan sat quietly on Seraphina’s back, replaying his recent battle.
He was growing more and more curious about Lord Commander Valric, the man who had never died.
The Immortal Kingdom’s ruler, King Eldran, was equally worth watching.
Meanwhile, inside a majestic palace, Eldran sat upon his throne and looked down at Valric, who knelt on one knee before him.
The hall was silent.
A long time passed before Eldran finally spoke.
"Valric..."
He sighed.
Valric kept his head bowed and offered no excuses for his defeat.
If he had acted more decisively, many of those problems could have been avoided. Yet whenever a truly critical moment arrived, that tiny flicker of hesitation always returned.
"I understand what Your Majesty means."
Valric raised his head, his eyes firm.
"I promise I will not make the same mistake again!"
He rose and looked directly at Eldran on the throne.
Eldran had already grown impatient with hearing this.
He waved a hand, and golden light rose from beneath the throne, enveloping both him and Valric.
When the light disappeared, so did they.
Elsewhere, Ethan’s group followed the old man’s directions and successfully reached the Bingling Mine.
From above, there was nothing particularly remarkable about it.
The mine consisted of tiered rock walls descending into the earth, with countless crystals scattered around its edges. Sunlight refracted through them in brilliant colors, surrounding the desolate mine with a cold, iridescent sheen.
Seraphina descended and returned to human form as she neared the ground.
The others controlled their descent and landed gently at the edge of the mine.
Ethan crouched and picked up a crystal beside his foot.
It was cold to the touch.
He had assumed it was an ordinary chunk of ice, but after wiping the dust from its surface, it did not melt. Clear refraction patterns were visible within it.
This wasn’t ice.
It was some kind of crystal.