Chapter 256: Elara’s Gamble
Chapter 256: Elara’s Gamble
Rhain’s brows furrowed.
He had watched Patriarch Thorian drag Godfrey and Elara away, preparing to flee to the Royal Capital to beg the Emperor for mercy.
By all logic, Elara should already be hundreds of miles away on the royal court.
Yet here she was, standing alone at his doorstep.
"Young master Rhain," Elara breathed heavily, her chest heaving as if she had run all the way to the academy. "We do not have much time. Please let me in."
Rhain looked at her breathless state, and narrowed his eyes slightly. He deactivated the barrier, allowing Elara to enter.
Elara quickly stepped into the courtyard.
Seris and Liana also turned their heads, their expressions filled with surprise.
"Lady Elara," Rhain asked, "What brings you here?"
Elara didn’t waste a single second on polite pleasantries. She pulled down the hood of her cloak, looking directly at Rhain.
"My father just sent a message from the Royal Capital," Elara stated, dropping a bombshell. "Emperor is furious over the death of the Crown Prince’s clone. To prove our Thunderwood Family’s innocence and unyielding loyalty to the throne, my father has been officially tasked by the Royal Court to capture you and bring you to justice."
Liana gasped, her face turning pale, while Seris’s delicate hands clenched into tight fists.
"My father is not far away from Stormveil City, and has ordered my brother to mobilize the entire Thunderwood military force within the city," Elara continued rapidly. "Within an hour, they will enact a complete, impenetrable lockdown of Stormveil City’s entire airspace to prevent your escape."
Rhain listened to the dire intelligence, his brows frowning.
The most powerful military apparatus in the Inner Province, backed by an imperial decree, was about to turn the entire city into a massive, inescapable cage.
He looked at the cloaked girl standing before him, his dark grey eyes piercing straight through her.
"And you came here to warn me," Rhain spoke, his voice chillingly calm. "Why? Why would you commit treason against your own family to warn a wanted fugitive?"
Elara met his cold gaze without flinching.
"Because my intuition has never failed me," Elara answered earnestly, "It might sound completely absurd but my intuition tells me that going against you will result in no good for my Thunderwood Noble Family."
"I have deliberately slipped away from my family guards. I wish to join your group in fleeing to Valdris City. If I am with you, I can at least ensure that my family’s military forces will hesitate to harm you. It doesn’t end the crisis, but it will mean one less immediate threat for you to face, and it ensures that my family stays out of the direct crossfire between you and the Royal Court."
Rhain looked at the stunningly intelligent young woman standing before him.
She was essentially making herself a voluntary hostage and a political safety net, betting her entire life on his future potential to survive this catastrophe, and emerge as a power that could rival the dynasty.
The corners of Rhain’s lips curled into an appreciative smile.
"I appreciate your thoughtful gesture, lady Elara," Rhain said, offering a slight nod. "You may join us."
"Thank you, Rhain," Elara exhaled softly, visibly relieved.
"Come," Rhain instructed, turning around. "We must inform the Dean immediately."
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A few minutes later, Rhain’s group arrived at the central platform of the Dean’s secluded island.
Carmilla, Myrielle, Seraphine, and Lyra were already waiting by the edge of the island, finalizing the preparations for the stealth skiff.
When they saw Rhain arriving with Elara Thunderwood in tow, the matriarchs were visibly surprised.
But when Rhain swiftly relayed Elara’s intelligence, detailing the Emperor’s decree and the impending military lockdown of the entire city—the atmosphere on the platform turned incredibly grim.
Carmilla and Seraphine exchanged solemn looks.
"If the Thunderwood military is mobilizing a full lockdown, they will deploy their highest-tier scanners across the entire airspace," Seraphine murmured, her sharp eyes narrowing.
"Our original plan is completely obsolete," Myrielle added, her sapphire eyes darkening, "A small, stealth-inscribed skiff might slip past standard patrols, but against a Noble Family’s entire military apparatus actively hunting for spiritual signatures? It is impossible. If a small skiff is intercepted in the air, we will be instantly swarmed and shot down."
Lyra crossed her arms, her crimson eyes flashing with a competitive, battle-hungry light. "So sneaking out is impossible. What do we do? Surrender?"
Carmilla fell silent for a long moment.
"If we cannot slip out quietly," Carmilla declared, a dangerous light flashing in her eyes, "then we will simply crush our way and leave."
Carmilla immediately raised her hand, sending a flurry of golden transmission talismans shooting out of the pavilion.
"I am mobilizing all High Preceptors," Carmilla announced to the stunned group. "All five Domain Master High Preceptors will march with us to Valdris City."
Lyra’s crimson eyes widened in sheer disbelief.
Five Domain Masters! Plus Carmilla, Myrielle, and her own mother, Seraphine!
That was an unprecedented concentration of power!
"Furthermore," Carmilla continued, her eyes blazing, "I am mobilizing nearly all of the Half-Step Domain Master Preceptors Only a skeleton crew of trusted elders, like Preceptor Fabian, will remain behind to keep the Academy’s foundational arrays active."
Within seconds, streaks of light shot upward from the various divisions of the Stormveil Academy, converging rapidly on the Dean’s island.
The sheer concentration of power that landed on the platform was staggering.
High Preceptor Aldren, head of the Array Division.
High Preceptor Octavius, head of the Battle Arts Division.
High Preceptor Mordecai, head of the Beast Division.
Alongside them landed two more immensely powerful figures: a scholarly elderly man radiating an ocean of mental energy, and a woman carrying the profound scent of countless elixirs.
High Preceptor Erasmus, head of the Grand Library.
High Preceptor Amarantha, head of the Alchemy Divison.
Five Domain Master Realm powerhouses, including Vice Dean Myrielle, stood at attention before Carmilla.
And right behind them descended more than a dozen Half-Step Domain Masters.
Carmilla looked at the gathered force of the academy.
"We march to Valdris City," She announced, "And we will escort our future Dean with the full might of the Stormveil Academy."
"Sister, to transport a force of that magnitude safely..." Myrielle breathed.
"Yes," Carmilla nodded firmly.
She stomped her foot against the stone platform.
RUMBLE—!!!
The entire academy shook violently.
The massive central lake, situated directly beneath the floating islands, began to boil and part.
From the depths of the waters, a colossal structure emerged, rising into the sky and blotting out the sun.
Everyone looked up with awe.
It was an ancient, gargantuan war-skiff, easily over a thousand feet long, forged from an unknown golden metal, and every single inch of its massive surface was covered in glowing, overlapping Mystic-Grade defensive arrays.
"The Academy’s greatest War-Skiff, Dawn-Breaker," Aldren muttered, his eyes shining with awe. "It hasn’t been unsealed in three hundred years."
This colossal vessel was the greatest artifact in the Academy’s possession.
Powered by a massive, central array core, it could travel at the maximum flight speed of a true Domain Master.
More importantly, its Mystic-Grade defensive barriers were so outrageously durable that it could easily withstand the sustained, full-power bombardments of multiple Domain Master powerhouses.
The colossal skiff hovered alongside the central platform.
"Everyone, board!" Carmilla commanded.
Rhain, holding Seris’s hand, walked up the ramp.
Liana and Elara followed closely behind.
Seraphine and Lyra also followed soon after.
Myrielle, Carmilla, the five High Preceptors, and the army of Half-Step Domain Master Preceptors marched onto the deck, turning the war-skiff into the single most concentrated gathering of destructive power in the entire Inner Province.
As soon as everyone was securely on deck, Carmilla raised her hand.
"Ignite the core!"
BOOM—!!!
A blinding eruption of pure blue light exploded from the rear of the colossal war-skiff.
The sheer force of the propulsion generated a small hurricane, sending waves crashing across the central lake.
With a deafening sonic boom that rattled the windows of every building in Stormveil City, the ancient war-skiff tore through the sky, surging forward like an unstoppable leviathan, heading straight toward the eastern horizon and the distant sanctuary of Valdris City.