Chapter 263: Monarch
Chapter 263: Monarch
Guided by the elite defense forces, the battered but unyielding group from Stormveil City was hurriedly escorted into the grand central hall of the Valdris Royal Academy.
The architecture of the hall was simply breathtaking, lined with towering statues of past Deans.
Sitting atop the highest, elevated seat at the far end of the hall was a dignified, middle-aged man with sharp, authoritative features.
The pressure radiating from his composed figure was overwhelming—the aura of a Peak Domain Master Realm expert, just half a step from the legendary Monarch Realm.
This was Dean Qaylus, the current Dean of the Valdris Royal Academy.
The moment the grand doors opened and the Stormveil group stepped inside, Dean Qaylus’s sharp eyes swept over them.
When his gaze landed on the pale, weakened form of Carmilla being supported by Myrielle and Seraphine, he shot up from his seat.
"Carmilla! Seraphine!"
Qaylus immediately descended the stairs in a blur of motion. He rushed forward, his eyes filled with worry as he took in their blood-stained robes and severe injuries.
"Senior Brother Qaylus," Seraphine greeted, offering a respectful bow despite her exhaustion.
In their youth, Qaylus had been the senior brother to both Carmilla and Seraphine, all three having studied under the same lineage at this very Academy decades ago.
Rhain raised a subtle eyebrow, noting the familiarity.
"There is no time for catching up, Senior Brother," Myrielle said, her sapphire eyes filled with urgency. "We were ambushed by Imperial assassins. The Royal Court dispatched ten Domain Masters to slaughter us at the borders of Stormveil City."
"So it’s royal court..." Qaylus murmured, his gaze briefly brushing past Rhain with a nod.
It was clear that Qaylus was not entirely oblivious to whatever had happened in the Stormveil City.
Murdering Crown Prince was no small matter, and the news had obviously also reached to the Valdris City.
Seraphine stepped forward. Unlike the others, she wasted no time on reunions or pleasantries.
"Senior brother," Seraphine requested, "Please take us to meet Old Dean."
Qaylus understood the severity of the situation instantly.
"Follow me," Qaylus said gravely. "All of you. And keep your voices low once we arrive. Master does not appreciate noise."
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Guided by Dean Qaylus, Rhain, and the battered group moved through a series of ascending corridors, climbing higher and higher through the Academy’s inner structures.
But the deeper they went, the stranger the environment became.
There were no guards.
No glowing arrays. No elite Domain Master sentries standing watch.
The magnificent white stone and luminous gold architecture was gradually left behind, they were now walking on plain wooden pathways which had been walked upon for centuries.
Eventually, they arrived before a deeply secluded, serene bamboo grove.
Rhain’s dark grey eyes swept across the surroundings.
It exuded a profound, natural tranquility that made one feel entirely detached from the bloody chaos of the mortal world.
Qaylus stopped at the edge of the path and lowered his head.
"Master," he called softly. "Forgive the intrusion."
Near the center of the grove, beside a perfectly calm pond reflecting the azure sky, sat a figure on a simple wooden stump.
Rhain’s gaze locked onto him.
And for a moment, he was genuinely stunned.
That person didn’t look like a god as one would imagine for a Monarch.
An existence whose mere presence would force Domain Masters to their knees.
But the man sitting by the pond was thin.
He looked like a frail old man.
His white hair was thin, and his back was slightly hunched.
There was no overwhelming pressure rolling off his body.
He simply looked like an ordinary mortal whose life could flicker out at any moment with a strong gust of wind.
But then, the old man slowly turned his eyes.
In that moment, Rhain felt as if looking at the old man was like looking at the sky itself.
Every single person present, including the Domain Masters Seraphine and Carmilla, instinctively lowered their eyes, entirely unable to meet that gaze.
’So this is a Monarch Realm powerhouse,’ Rhain thought, his dark grey eyes narrowing slightly.
For a long moment, the only sound in the grove was the rustling of tall bamboos.
Then the old man sighed.
"I already know why you are here."
His voice was quiet, yet it resonated directly within their minds, carrying the profound vicissitudes of a changing world.
The Old Dean looked at the blood-stained youth standing among the group.
"The chaos in Stormveil City has already reached my ears," the Old Dean continued, his ancient eyes unreadable. "You killed Crown Prince Lucius’s clone. A bold, and incredibly foolish act."
Every person in the grove stiffened.
"Shielding him means risking the direct wrath of the Emperor. It is a political disaster that I would naturally wish to avoid."
Hearing those words, Seraphine didn’t hesitate for even a single second.
She stepped forward and bowed deeply, bending at a perfect ninety-degree angle.
"Old Dean," Seraphine spoke, her voice resolute and unyielding. "Decades ago, my husband bestowed a life-saving grace upon you. You swore a vow to honor that debt if the day ever came."
She raised her head and pointed directly at Rhain.
"He is my son-in-law."
She turned around, and bowed again.
"I am formally invoking that favor today. I plead with you to save his life from the Solathane Royal Court."
A heavy silence descended over the bamboo grove.
Qaylus frowned slightly but remained silent, looking toward his master.
Carmilla and Myrielle held their breath. Seris clasped her hands tightly together, her pale purple eyes filled with desperate hope.
Old Dean stared silently at Rhain for a long moment.
Finally, bound by karma and the unbreakable honor of his word, the Old Dean slowly nodded.
"Karma must be repaid," the Old Dean murmured. "I made a promise to that man, and I shall honor the debt."
A collective, massive exhale of relief washed over Seris, Liana, Myrielle, and Carmilla.
"I will guarantee your safety from the Royal Court," the Old Dean declared, his gaze locking onto Rhain. "Emperor will not touch you. However, I have one rigid condition."
His gaze sharpened by an infinitesimal degree.
"This protection is only as long as you remain inside the walls of the Valdris Royal Academy. If you step a single foot outside this territory, my protection ends, and your life belongs to the Emperor. Do you understand?"
Seris’s pale purple eyes lit up with sheer joy, and her delicate hands tightly gripped Rhain’s arm.
He was safe! As long as they stayed here, the nightmare was finally over!
While the others breathed sighs of relief, Rhain’s expression did not change in the slightest.
He remained extremely calm.
"Senior," Rhain spoke, offering a respectful bow. "I am truly grateful for your grace."
But as he straightened his posture, his expression remained serious.
"However, Old Dean, I have a request," Rhain continued. "I have people outside this academy, located far away in the Outer Frontier. Lucuis is a ruthless man. If I simply hide behind your walls, Lucius will undoubtedly target my sect, my friends, or my family in the Outer Frontier to lure me out."
He looked directly at the Monarch.
"I ask that you send a few of your top experts to the Outer Frontier to protect them and bring them here safely. If you grant me this, I promise that I will remember this favor forever, and repay it tenfold in the future."
"No!"
The harsh rejection didn’t come from the Old Dean.
Qaylus immediately stepped forward, his sharp features revealing a frown of flat refusal.
He strictly rebuked Rhain.
"Do you not understand the magnitude of what has already been granted to you?" Qaylus stated coldly. "To shelter the man who struck at the Crown Prince is to spit in the Emperor’s face. That alone will cost Valdris decades of goodwill, political capital that took generations to accumulate. That is already the limit of what can be given."
His voice hardened.
"We will not stretch our military forces to the Outer Frontier and actively provoke the Imperial family on foreign soil! You should focus solely on protecting your own life, and stop caring about the lives of others when you lack the strength to even defend yourself."
Qaylus then let out a scoff, his eyes sweeping over Rhain’s cultivation.
"And as for your ’promise to remember this favor forever’? Let me be brutally honest with you. You are a genius, yes. But you are still merely at the Spirit Manifestation Realm. A future promise from someone of your level holds absolutely zero value to a Monarch faction. And seeing how reckless you are, you might not even live long enough to reach the Domain Master Realm."
It was a ruthless, face-smashing rejection.
The Old Dean sitting on the stump did not interject.
He simply nodded quietly in agreement with Qaylus’s words.
The debt of karma was paid by securing the boy’s life. Anything beyond that was a poor investment.
Seraphine and Carmilla frowned, finding the words overly harsh, but they couldn’t argue.
Qaylus was speaking the objective truth of the strong eating the weak.
However, contrary to their expectations,
Rhain did not show a single trace of anger or humiliation at the cold rejection.
His dark grey eyes remained perfectly placid.
’He is right,’ Rhain thought calmly. ’In this world, potential is just potential. Until it translates into tangible power or profit, no one will bet their lives on empty promises.’
Rhain gave a calm, understanding nod.
"You are correct, Dean Qaylus," Rhain acknowledged evenly. "My current martial strength is indeed too weak to offer you anything of immediate value."
His demeanor shifted slightly.
"However, let us change the subject for a moment."
Rhain looked at Qaylus, a faint, unreadable smile touching the corner of his lips as he asked.
"Have you heard of the Celestial Elixir Pavilion in Stormveil City? And its backer, Grandmaster Korryn?"
Qaylus frowned deeply, clearly annoyed by the sudden, seemingly irrelevant tangent.
But he still gave a curt nod.
"Everyone in the dynasty has heard of it," Qaylus admitted, his tone turning slightly more respectful at the mention of the name. "The flawless pills produced by that Pavilion have shaken the entire alchemical foundation of our kingdom."
Qaylus’s eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he continued.
"In fact, our Valdris Royal Academy recently purchased a small batch of those Epic-Grade pills through our proxy channels. Our top alchemists verified their authenticity. One hundred percent purity. Zero impurities. We strongly suspect that this Grandmaster Korryn is not just a Grandmaster, but a hidden Alchemy Emperor."
Qaylus looked back at Rhain with a sharp, impatient gaze.
"Why do you bring this up? What does an exalted Alchemy Emperor have to do with your situation?"
Rhain didn’t answer immediately to Qalyus’s question.
He looked at Qaylus’s impatient frown, at the Old Dean’s tranquil gaze, at Seraphine’s calculating stare, Liana’s suspicious eyes, Lyra’s resentful glare, Elara’s curious face, and then finally at the preceptors, Carmilla and Myrielle’s bewildered expressions.
Then, Rhain raised his head slightly.
"Truth is..." Rhain spoke, his dark grey eyes leisurely scanning the faces of everyone present, "... I am Korryn."
Author’s bla bla :- Hope the line above doesn’t sound cringe. I just couldn’t stop myself from writing that legendary line. You can send your images, and gifs, I will be waiting. Hope you are enjoying it.❤️