Published at 20th of June 2024 6:30 am

Chapter 1729 Chaos [8]

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August obviously didn't fly the entire way.

He merely left the area that way so as to not give the enemy any information. The artifacts he had on his person were incredibly powerful, and allowing people to lust over them was obviously something August refused to do.

When he was far enough away to be out of their perception range, he teleported to the Shadow Lounge and exited into the fort.

Even this place was different from the way he left it. The atmosphere had changed to the point where he almost couldn't see the bustling society that used to exist here anymore.

The streets were empty. If they didn't have the power to fight, then they stayed at home and refused to leave.

Those who had even a bit of ability were all within the fort's combat regions and walls, helping defend it from the forces beyond.

August's eyes narrowed as he scanned the city.

'The population decreased.'

Immediately, he found that there was only around half as much life aura as there was before the third stage. Such a monumental change could only mean that civilians died in droves.

"Haa…"

Once again, he was forced to sigh.

'Maybe if you didn't lay your hands on innocents, things could be different.'

It wasn't as if their cause itself was the problem. The Holy Clans had slighted the entirety of the dragon species. The people who had been killed in this place, the people who were being killed elsewhere, all of them were victims just like the forsaken dragon clan.

They did not deserve to die. Killing them immediately invalidated any sort of just cause that the invaders thought they were acting upon.

'Still, from the way that woman spoke, it doesn't seem like they're killing willingly.'

Didn't it sound more like they were being forced to kill by the insanity that polluted their bloodline?

'If I can find a way to cure them…'

August shook his head wryly.

It was just wishful thinking, and they wouldn't be absolved of their sins because of their circumstances. August just hoped that there was a way to end this conflict without spilling too much blood.

He was only able to hold such thoughts because he had not experienced the past seven days.

August rushed to the outer walls where he felt a familiar presence. She was on the opposite side of the water, which meant she was far away from his current location, but he couldn't find Valerie.

Melania wasn't particularly in the middle of anything. A wave of attacks had just ended and the troops were taking care of their losses and other matters to prepare for the next wave. Melania had some status after her short yet impactful stint in the heir wars, so she had been given a more exclusive position.

For the past week, she had been forced to put her everything into protecting this city. She didn't have time to think about anything else, not even her own inexperience in real battle. Her first time killing someone didn't even register in her mind, because the second, third, and fourth came just seconds later.

The war thus far had been brutal. Some were framing the ongoing events as a rebellion, but why rebel against the people? The noble clans and Holy Clans had only recently shown their faces and started suffering losses. Only those who were weak and oppressed were being slaughtered on both sides.

Melania came from the same circumstances. If it wasn't for the Shadow Lounge, her mother and siblings likely would have died to the forsaken dragon clans already.

If she wanted to protect her people, then she had no choice but to fight.

That thought wasn't far apart from her feelings towards training, but the difference in environment dulled her a little.

In the end, this was the life of a practitioner. One where killing became commonplace and lives lost all of their meaning.

She was just contemplating it. The same way she did after every wave, she looked down at the battlefield from atop the walls and watched the corpses of those who died as they were recovered.

She looked at the corpses of her enemies as they were burned and wondered just why they'd commit such cruelties and force her into such a position.

It was a depressing train of thought, and one that she didn't expect to be broken in the way it was.

With her hands and face still stained with blood, she turned around to sense a surprising aura approaching.

He arrived before she could question it in a flash of blue.

"August?!" Melania exclaimed in surprise.

She immediately forgot about everything else.

"What happened to you? Are you okay? How did you escape?"

She rushed to him and hit him with a barrage of questions. Both she and Valerie fled from the third stage, but they didn't take their eyes off of it until much later. They saw the deliberation of the Holy Dragons and watched as August was thrown into Eternal Darkness.

It was relieving to see that he was still alive, but with his fate unknown, both of the girls were incredibly troubled until the moment they were forced to push their extraneous feelings aside to deal with conflict.

The fact that he was standing here was preposterous almost. He was imprisoned by a Holy Dragon, for crying out loud! It didn't make sense for him to be running around.

Melania scanned his body and made sure there was nothing wrong with him as she continued to question him. August couldn't help but crack a smile as warmth filled his body, but Melania's appearance was definitely cause for concern.

Nevertheless, before he could ask her about it, he had some things to explain.

Melania gave notice to a few nearby soldiers that she would be absent for a bit and took August to an isolated room inside the fortress walls where they could talk.

There, August told the story from the start. He told Melania the truth about his lineage and the story of his ancestor before leading into his childhood in Damien's care and the mission he'd gained from his ancestral memories.

Finally, he told of his experience in the Eternal Darkness.

"I'm pretty sure my dad broke me out, but he didn't say anything to me."

Melania nodded.

She was more familiar with Damien's power than anyone. It was the sole cause of her rapid growth. Still, while she expected August to be more than just a commoner, she didn't expect his origins to be so wild. August's personal story was something he had to tell her, but, in the end, it was not the main purpose of their current conversation. Melania was absolutely willing to support him in his path to becoming Emperor. However, that could only happen when Arulion was once again safe.

"Since you've been trapped for the past week, I guess you don't know what's been happening," Melania said with a sad smile.

August nodded heavily.

"I came directly to you when I sensed your aura so that I can find out."

"Huu…"

Melania took a deep breath.

"If I had to describe it in one word, it would be 'atrocity.'"

That was how she started her explanation.

Of the past week, of the killings that had taken place…

August was about to hear a story that completely contrasted the one he heard from the forsaken dragon clan woman from before.

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