Chapter 603 - 599 – THE EMPEROR WHO SURRENDERS, THE BLOOD OF THREE HUA DESCENDANTS, AND THE ISLAND THAT NEARLY FELL

The three-hour journey felt like the blink of an eye.

Sol streaked over the sea of clouds with Sylvia, Zhaoyue, and Noir on his back, while the purple thunderstorm of the Deathcloud Mountains rolled beneath them without ever touching his golden scales. Zhaoyue said little along the way. She hugged her knees on the dragon’s back, gazing at the horizon, and from time to time her fingers touched the small crystal on the shoulder of her gown like someone checking whether she was still real.

The white marble peak emerged from the clouds as dusk turned to night. The golden veins in its stone glowed dimly, and the ancient stone pillars around the crater looked like bony fingers pointing at the stars.

At the crater’s edge, someone was already waiting.

Not one person. Two. And Sylvia, who could see their life threads from afar, stopped Sol with a soft tap on the dragon’s neck.

"We have guests," she said.

Zhaoyue looked too, and her body stiffened slightly. A man in plain black robes without insignia, gray hair loosely tied, stood with his back to the crater, hands clasped behind him. Beside him stood a young man in light blue robes with a bearing so calm, warm, and upright that even from a distance Zhaoyue could not possibly mistake him.

"Father," she whispered. "Brother Tianyu."

Sol landed soundlessly at the crater’s edge and shrank into a golden cat who immediately leapt onto Sylvia’s shoulder. Noir crept out of the shadows and sat by his mistress’s foot with ears perked. Zhaoyue dismounted first. She stood one step from her father, but did not dare move closer.

Emperor Hua Chen turned slowly.

Sylvia remembered the man from the evening banquet. Then he had stood at the throne in golden robes, a Tier Eight mage perceptive enough to slap his own son the moment he felt the Queen of Death’s aura. Tonight there were no golden robes. Only an old man who looked far older than before, with dark circles under his eyes that clearly weren’t from a single sleepless night.

"Commander Lian reported through the communication crystal this afternoon," the Emperor said, his voice hoarse and flat. "The Legion surrendered without a single casualty. Tianming is alive." He paused briefly. "Thank you for not killing him, Miss Sylvia."

"I’m bored, not hungry," Sylvia replied lightly. "So you’re already here. I suppose it’s your visiting schedule this month."

Hua Chen did not seem surprised that his secret was known. His eyes merely shifted to Zhaoyue, and something in his aged face cracked slowly like ice in spring.

"You came."

"I came, Father."

"I suspected you would." Hua Chen smiled bitterly, and that smile was far weirder than any tears. "Tianyu said I was wrong. He said you might choose to close your eyes, like the rest of us. But I’ve known you since you could walk. You’re too kind, Zhaoyue. Since you were little, you always picked up birds that fell from their nests and made the servants feed them milk. I should have known you could never let something stay bound beneath a mountain."

Zhaoyue bit her lip. "So Father already knew I would free it."

"I’ve known since you were ten years old and cried because a butterfly in the garden was trapped in a spiderweb."

The young man in blue beside him finally spoke up. Hua Tianyu stepped forward, his face warm but his eyes red. He did not embrace his sister. He simply stood two steps before her, then bowed deeply, so deeply his forehead nearly touched the stone.

"Forgive me, Zhaoyue."

"Brother..."

"I’ve known for seven years. I followed Father on one of his visits and saw for myself." His voice trembled, but he did not lift his head. "Ever since, every year on Father’s birthday, I’ve come here in secret. I channel my mana to ease its pain. It’s the only thing I could do. I’m no hero. I haven’t even dared to oppose Father. I just came, poured out a little power, then went home and pretended to smile."

’So that’s what the Second Prince meant,’ Noir murmured from Sylvia’s feet, without inflection.

Zhaoyue was silent for a long time. Sylvia had been watching her face all along, patiently waiting to see what would come out. Anger? Devastation? The girl clenched her fists, then slowly released them, then stepped forward and took her brother’s shoulders, making him stand upright.

"Brother has done more than I have all this time," she said softly. "I didn’t even know anything."

"Don’t be kind to me. I don’t deserve it."

"I’m not being kind." Zhaoyue lifted her chin. Her eyes were wet, and her voice trembled, but it was firm. "I’m angry at Brother, just as I’m angry at Father. Later. After this is done, the three of us will talk until morning, and Brother is not allowed to run away. Now help me."

Tianyu looked at her for a long moment, then nodded, and the tears he’d been holding back finally fell without a sound.

Hua Chen looked at his two children. Then he turned to Sylvia, and for the first time he did not speak as an emperor.

"Miss Sylvia. I will not stand in your way." His voice was low. "For years I convinced myself I was doing the right thing. Millions of lives were saved because of that false covenant. That is true. But I also know what I did to the creature who helped me. No truth makes that sin disappear." He took a long breath. "Now my daughter lives well. She has her own territory, an honest friend, and a courage I never had. I have no more reason to hold these chains. I surrender."

Sylvia looked at him for a moment. The same person can save millions of lives and be cruel to a single creature. She had said it to Zhaoyue. She had not expected to hear the man himself say it more honestly than she’d imagined.

"Good," Sylvia replied. "Then let’s do this properly. We don’t have much time."

They descended to the crater floor by the marble spiral staircase whose ancient script was half-eroded. Hua Chen walked at the front. He knew every step there, and Sylvia noticed that his stride did not hesitate in the slightest, like someone who had walked the same path hundreds of times in nightmares.

Baihu was still there.

The giant White Tiger lay in the center of the purple-glowing magic circle, gaunt and weak, its black stripes dull beneath chains as thick as a human waist. Twenty bottles of Nocture potion and Sol’s stabilization had bought it time, but its breathing was still shallow and heavy. As their footsteps echoed across the stone floor, a pair of pale golden eyes slowly opened.

’You returned, woman who smells of death.’ Its telepathic voice was gentle, like wind through a crack in the rocks. ’And you bring guests I both awaited and did not await.’

"As promised. The four days haven’t passed," Sylvia answered. "And I’ve come with the answer."

Those golden eyes shifted to Zhaoyue. The girl stood very stiffly, both hands before her chest, then suddenly knelt before the giant tiger, heedless of her red gown touching the cold stone floor.

"Baihu," she said. "I am Hua Zhaoyue. I am the daughter of the man who chained you. I have no right to apologize on his behalf, and I know my apology isn’t enough. But I’ve come to free you of my own will."

Baihu looked at her for a long time. Slowly, the giant lowered its head until its nose almost touched the princess’s forehead.

’I told you I did not wish to force you, little one.’

"Father and Brother will give their blood too," Zhaoyue continued. "Because the covenant was made with Hua Chen’s blood. I think the one who made it should help close it."

Behind them, Hua Chen stepped forward and knelt beside his daughter. His movements were stiff, his old joints creaking, and it may have been the first time in decades that an Emperor of Tianhua knelt before a non-human creature. He said nothing. His head was bowed until his forehead nearly touched the stone.

Baihu looked at him, and there was something unreadable in those pale golden eyes. Hatred? Perhaps once. Now it was more like a long exhaustion it did not wish to place on anyone.

’Rise, Hua Chen,’ it said. ’I do not need your knees. I need your blood, and then I wish to sleep.’

Meanwhile, in another corner of the crater, Sylvia had already raised her holographic bracelet. Blue light appeared, showing Stacia’s face, her golden hair a mess as if just hit by a storm wind, her lab goggles crooked, and behind her a giant crystal wall pulsing with reddish light.

"Sylvia! Finally!" Stacia nearly shouted. "I’ve been in the core chamber for three hours. The Emperor ordered through the communication crystal that the head core guard open the door for me, and that was the most surprising thing today. The man even brought me tea."

"You arrived without trouble?"

"With my ten wings, no jets, no rest. Don’t ask about my back." Stacia brushed hair from her face. "Listen carefully, because I’ll only explain once. The backup spatial anchor is embedded in the heart of the capital’s magic core. Nocture’s Astral Starforge Reactor is already connected to that anchor through the gate at Quiet Bay. In theory, once I press the button, all the core’s energy will switch from the tiger to the reactor."

"And in practice?"

"In practice, once the three-layer chains are destroyed and Baihu’s channels are cut, the island’s support system will shut down in a single breath. The magic chains holding the Upper District to the earth pillar will lose power. I don’t have minutes. I have, count it yourself..." Stacia held up two fingers. "Twenty seconds, at most. Past that, the island starts to descend. And I have to adjust the energy flow very precisely, because if it’s too hard, the island’s chains will snap. If it’s too gentle, the island falls anyway."

"So I have to give the exact signal."

"You have to give the exact signal to the second." Stacia swallowed. "I don’t want to add pressure, but there are more than nine million people in the Lower District, Sylvia."

"I know." Sylvia lowered her voice. "I’ll count down from here. But I need you not to move away from that button, not even for the blink of an eye."

"I won’t even blink."

In the center of the magic circle, Zhaoyue was already standing again. The three Hua descendants took their places around the core seal beneath Baihu’s belly: Zhaoyue in the center, Tianyu on the left, Hua Chen on the right. The ancient script on the floor glowed brighter, as if recognizing blood that had long not touched it.

Sylvia positioned things quickly. Noir leapt down from her shoulder and melted into the shadows around the three blackish-purple energy pipes crawling along the wall. Pitch-black shadow crept to wrap each pipe, the same sheath he had used before, only much thicker this time.

’I will hold back the recoil from all three pipes,’ Noir said in a small but steady tone. ’As long as you don’t cut them too quickly.’

Sol leapt onto Baihu’s chest and shrank to the simplest form, a small golden cat pressing both front paws against the tiger’s white fur. Golden light flowed from those tiny pads into Baihu’s fragile life thread, and Sol’s voice in Sylvia’s head sounded like the murmur of a child holding back tears.

’I’ll keep it breathing. I swear.’

"Good." Sylvia stepped to the position before the core seal. "Then begin."

Zhaoyue sliced her palm with a small silver dagger without hesitation. Dark red blood dripped onto the magic circle. Tianyu followed, then Hua Chen. The three drops fell almost simultaneously, and when they touched the marble, the entire floor glowed white-gold like shattered stars.

The core seal opened like the petals of a flower.

No explosion. Only white-gold light crept from beneath Baihu’s belly and spread across the whole magic circle, dissolving the purple on the floor bit by bit. Baihu let out a long sigh that it seemed to have held in for decades. The binding chains on its four legs, its neck, and its back began to tremble, and the ancient script carved in the stone glowed and then went out, one after another.

"The third layer is open," Sylvia reported. Her eyes flashed violet, True Sight tracing the thin threads crawling along the walls. "Now the second layer. Three draining pipes. Noir, ready?"

’Ready. My sheath holds, but I can’t hold long if you sever them all at once.’

"I won’t."

Sylvia raised a hand. From her palm, three thin black chains shot to the three pipes, each attaching precisely to the knot where the energy thread met the wall. Cold air filled the crater floor. Zhaoyue closed her eyes and gripped Tianyu’s bloodied hand.

"Stacia," Sylvia said to her holographic bracelet. "The count begins. Are you ready?"

"I’m on the button. Finger over it, breath held." Stacia’s voice sounded tense. Behind her face, the giant crystal on the core chamber wall pulsed red like a heart chased by time. "Up here everything’s still normal. The towers are still lit. The light carriages are still passing. They don’t know anything."

"Good. Keep it that way." Sylvia took a breath. "First pipe. Cut now."

The black chain contracted. One energy pipe crawling along the wall snapped cleanly, and the whole crater floor shook. Baihu growled low, but not from pain. Noir’s shadow sheath absorbed the recoil, and Sol on the tiger’s chest murmured something like a lullaby.

"Second pipe. Now."

The second shock was harder. Dust fell from the crater ceiling, and from afar came a rumble that didn’t come from the storm. Hua Chen did not move. His face was hard as stone, but the hand dripping his blood onto the magic circle trembled without stopping.

"Energy in the capital is down ten percent!" Stacia shouted. "The towers in the Upper District are starting to flicker! Sylvia, if it takes too long..."

"Third pipe."

Sylvia wasted no more time. The third chain severed the last pipe, and Noir let out a small scream in everyone’s head, his shadow flaring purple as he took the hardest jolt. From the binding chains on Baihu’s body came a long cracking sound. As the sound reached its peak, the three energy pipes vanished, and the whole ritual moved to its final stage.

"First layer. The binding chains. This will send a signal to the Council the moment they break." Sylvia turned to Hua Chen.

"Let it," the Emperor answered without turning. "The Council has already lost the Legion. What remains of them will come, and I will be the one to answer them."

Sylvia nodded. She gripped the air. The three purple chains piercing the flesh of Baihu’s four legs, neck, and back began to crack, one after another, like glass pressed from within.

"Stacia. Count down from me. Ten."

"Ten!"

"Nine."

In the world above the clouds, two hundred kilometers from that crater, the Upper District of the holy capital flickered. The crystal towers that had shone now dimmed. The light carriages halted midway on their rails, passengers turning in confusion. The hanging gardens swayed gently, the flowers there bowing as if blown by a wind that did not exist.

"Four. Three."

The binding chain at Baihu’s neck shattered. Purple light exploded in every direction. The White Tiger lifted its head and roared, a long roar that made the marble ring like a giant bell, and all of its life thread, which had been nearly severed, shone bright gold in Sylvia’s eyes.

"Two. One."

The last chain, at the back, snapped.

"NOW, STACIA!"

In the core chamber, Stacia pressed the button with her whole palm. The giant crystal on the wall screamed, red turning to silver-blue, and from the spatial anchor at the core’s heart, a column of light rose through the ceiling. It was the energy of Nocture’s Astral Starforge Reactor from five hundred thousand kilometers away, plunging into the capital’s magic network with a force that threw even Stacia backward.

"It’s in! It’s in! But too hard on the west side, I have to..." Her voice cut out amid the hum. Stacia’s face on the hologram vanished and reappeared. In that one-second gap, in the distance, Sylvia with her True Sight saw something huge swaying on the horizon.

An island floating in the air dropped thirty meters in a single breath.

In the Lower District, among the millions looking up, a scream rose whose echo pierced the clouds. The giant shadow that had sheltered them for decades suddenly descended toward them at a speed that made the earth tremble.

"Stacia!"

"I know! I know! I’m balancing the west side! East first... west... hold, hold, HOLD..."

Sylvia clenched her fist. Beside her, Zhaoyue covered her mouth with both hands, eyes wide, unable to breathe. Hua Chen fell to his knees once more, this time not from remorse, but because his legs could no longer bear his body.

Then silver-blue light spread evenly across the entire network, and the island stopped.

It stopped right in the air, swayed once, twice, then steadied. The crystal towers of the Upper District lit up again in a color they had never had before, cold silver-blue. The light carriages moved. In the Lower District, the screaming slowly turned to silence, then whispers of disbelief.

"It worked," Stacia’s voice came hoarse and nearly tearful from the bracelet. "Sylvia, I did it. It dropped thirty meters, but no more. I... I need tea. And sleep. And maybe a hug."

"You’ll get all three." Sylvia exhaled a breath she seemed to have been holding all along. "Good work, little sister."

On the crater floor, Baihu staggered to its feet. It was free. No more chains stuck in its flesh, no more pipes sucking its life, and its giant white body trembled like a child learning to walk. Zhaoyue ran to it, and without thinking hugged the tiger’s foreleg, weeping without a sound. Baihu bowed, pressed its great nose to the princess’s hair, then closed its eyes.

’Thank you, little one.’

Sol, still on the tiger’s chest, finally wept openly, something he would vehemently deny the next day. Noir quietly melted back into Sylvia’s shadow with a long breath and fell asleep within seconds. Hua Tianyu sat on the floor with bloodied hands, laughing softly between tears, while Hua Chen simply stared at his own palms as if seeing them for the first time.

’Woman who smells of death,’ Baihu called softly, opening one pale golden eye. ’You promised me something.’

Sylvia raised an eyebrow. "What?"

’Hotpot. I still do not know what it is.’

"Ah." Sylvia smiled broadly, her first truly unrestrained smile since the morning. "You’ll like it. Spicy. Oily. Maybe a little dangerous for your tongue."

But far below them, in the heart of the holy capital, in a windowless stone chamber whose walls were covered in black crystals, an old man in white robes edged in gold slowly opened his eyes. Before him, a single small black crystal that had glowed steadily for decades was now cracked and dead.

"The chain is broken," he whispered.

And in the darkness, something older than the Noble Council began to stir.