CHAPTER 135— CLAIM III
"Go on then. Hide if you want."
Vale's voice carried lightly, almost bored, as he turned away from the fallen logs and finally faced the clearing. No one understood what he meant. Several cultivators followed his gaze, scanning the direction he had been looking, their senses stretching outward, but they found nothing.
No presence. No movement. Nothing. For a moment, uncertainty spread through the group before Varian stepped forward.
He moved carefully, posture straight, expression composed, though the tension beneath it was visible. He dipped his head in greeting, something deeper than a nod, not quite a bow. "Young Master Vale," he said, voice controlled, respectful.
"It's unexpected to see you this far out. This is hardly a place worthy of your attention."
Vale walked past him without slowing, without responding, without even glancing at him. Varian's words dissolved into nothing, and something tightened briefly in his chest before he forced it down.
Vale stopped a few steps ahead and looked back. Varian said nothing. Whatever he had been about to say died before it formed. Aleen watched quietly from the side, her eyes narrowing as she noticed the truth of it. Vale had not acknowledged Varian at all. Not even enough to dismiss him. To him, Varian simply did not exist.
"How bold," Vale said, shifting his gaze to her. "Your house still sends its young into territory that does not belong to them."
Aleen's jaw tightened, but she did not respond. One of the cultivators behind her stepped forward instead, unable to hold back.
"The young mistress is a direct member of a noble house. She has every right to..
Her head exploded. The interruption ended before it began. Vale had not even looked at her. The body dropped, and silence swallowed the clearing. No one moved. No one spoke.
Leylin's voice cut through Séraphine's mind, sharp and immediate. What is this? There was no answer. Séraphine had not reacted to the death or to Vale himself. She was staring at something else.
. Leylin followed her focus to the band across Vale's forehead. A simple strip of cloth, insignificant at a glance, yet her entire body had gone rigid. Not fear. Not shock. Recognition.
"Let's go." Her voice was low, controlled, final. She had already turned, her body shifting forward, ready to vanish into the forest. Leylin pushed back immediately.
We're leaving? Now? The fragments, "Forget them," she cut him off. "You can't take it." She stepped forward, but the moment stretched too far.
"Leaving so soon?" The voice came from behind her, close enough to freeze everything in place. The clearing turned as one.
Vale was no longer where he had been. A dozen meters away, near a fallen trunk, he stood with his head slightly tilted, staring at what seemed like empty space.
Then the pressure shifted. Subtle. Compressed. A presence folded tightly into itself, hiding so completely it almost didn't exist. Almost.
Séraphine's jaw tightened. There was no point hiding anymore. She turned and stepped fully into the clearing. Vale's lips curved slightly.
"My, my… if it isn't little Séraphine." He moved toward her slowly, hands behind his back, gaze passing over her with quiet interest.
"A member of a fallen house, surviving out here. You lot do have a way of lingering longer than expected." He paused, studied her briefly, then lost interest as his attention shifted to the remains of the beast.
"Anyway," he said lightly, "I'll take what I came for." He stepped forward and simply appeared in front of the corpse.
His hand shot out too fast for anyone to react. His fingers pierced through the split skull and sank deep before pulling something free.
A wet tearing sound followed as blood spilled and bone cracked. When his hand emerged, it held a small dense sphere, dark at its core and wrapped in leaking purple light. The remnants of the beast's signature.
Varian did not move. Aleen's hand tightened slightly on her sword. No one spoke. Vale glanced at the sphere once, then raised it to his mouth and bit.
The crunch echoed clearly. He chewed slowly. "Interesting," he said, almost thoughtfully, as blood ran from the corner of his lips. The sphere collapsed between his teeth, its energy spilling outward before being pulled inward and absorbed.
For a brief moment, it showed. His aura deepened. Not expanding outward, but sinking, thickening into something complete. Pure purple.
The ground beneath him cracked under the pressure before everything snapped back into place as he retracted it effortlessly. Silence followed. He swallowed once. "Alright," he said casually. "That should do."
He turned away. The two women behind him stepped forward and fell into place at his sides. As he passed Séraphine, his shoulder brushed lightly against hers.
He paused just enough to be noticed. "Feel free to visit." It wasn't directed at anyone, yet everyone understood. Then he kept walking and was gone.
The pressure lifted, not entirely, but enough. No one moved. No one spoke. Nothing that had just happened could be challenged or undone.
Leylin watched through Séraphine's eyes as beings capable of dominating entire cities stood in silence, stripped of response. Then, quietly, almost to himself, he spoke.
What the fuck just happened here?