Chapter 60: Meeting an old relative

Chapter 60: Chapter 60: Meeting an old relative

The salty ocean wind whipped against Krono’s pale face as he stepped onto the bustling stone docks of Dryland. The sprawling sea bay city was a chaotic maze of wooden piers, crooked taverns, and massive merchant galleons. Seagulls shrieked loudly overhead, fighting over bloody scraps of meat.

​Krono ignored the shouting merchants, the haggling fishermen, and the drunken sailors stumbling out of the local brothels. He had one specific purpose in this miserable coastal cesspool. He was looking for his master. He was looking for Aurora.

​He walked straight past the noisy fish market and entered the darker, narrower alleyways of the lower city. He stopped in front of a weathered wooden door bearing the faded symbol of a crescent moon. This was the Sunken Anchor, a hidden refuge for retired mages and underground informants.

​Krono pushed the heavy door open. The tavern was incredibly dim and smelled strongly of cheap ale and sweet pipe weed. He walked directly to the bar.

​An old, heavily scarred man with a thick gray beard wiped a glass with a dirty rag. He looked up, and his one good eye widened in absolute shock.

​"By the sunken gods," the old man whispered hoarsely. "Krono? Is that really you? You have grown so big!"

​"Yes. I am surprised you recognised me. It has been a long time, Silas," Krono said, "I am looking for Aurora. Where is she?"

​Silas set the glass down with a violently trembling hand. He looked around the empty tavern nervously before leaning over the sticky wooden counter.

​"You should not be here, Krono. The Holy Cathedral has issued a maximum bounty on a pale demon wandering the eastern borders. I am guessing that is your doing."

​"My affairs do not concern you. I will ask you one more time. Where is my master?"

​Silas sighed heavily and poured himself a tall shot of dark rum. He swallowed the burning liquid in one gulp.

​"She is not here, boy. You missed her by an entire month."

​Krono narrowed his dark eyes. The temperature inside the tavern instantly plummeted. A thin layer of white frost began to rapidly form on the wooden bar and the glass bottles behind it.

​"Explain," Krono commanded.

​"Calm your magic, please! I will tell you everything I know. Just stop freezing my tavern."

​Krono reigned in his dark aura. The frost melted away into small puddles of water.

​"Speak," Krono demanded.

​"Aurora came through Dryland exactly thirty days ago. She was in a terrible rush. I have known that woman for sixty years, and I have never seen her look so panicked."

​"What caused her panic?" Krono asked.

​"She saw you disappear into the portal.. To the Dragon Partition."

​Krono remained completely silent. His sharp mind quickly processed the geographical distance and the sheer, overwhelming danger of that specific territory.

​"Aurora went after you," Silas continued quietly. Not alone. Her team members went her as well."

"Why?"

​

​"You know exactly how stubborn she is. She refused to wait for the official Guild reinforcements. She said the bureaucratic process would take a week. She said every passing second meant worse torture for the boy. She bought the ship and left that very same night."

​"Has she sent any magical summons? Any carrier birds?" Krono pressed.

​Silas looked down at the dirty floorboards. His weathered face wrinkled with genuine grief.

​"And she never came back," Silas admitted softly. "It has been exactly one month. Nobody survives in the Dragon Partition for a month. Not even an Platinum hunter like Aurora. The Dragon Lords do not take kindly to human intruders in their domain. She is either permanently enslaved, or she is dead."

​Krono turned away from the bar. His pale face betrayed absolutely no emotion, but a terrifying dark energy began to leak from his fingertips. The wooden floorboards groaned and splintered beneath his heavy boots.

​"You are wrong, Silas," Krono stated coldly.

​"I am just telling you the facts, Krono. The Dragon Partition is a massive death trap."

​"You are wrong because I just came from the Dragon Partition. i slaughtered the local Dragon Lord yesterday. Their territory is currently in absolute chaos."

​Silas stared at the pale young man in pure, unadulterated horror. His jaw practically hit the floor.

​"You did what?" Silas choked out, his eye bulging.

​"If Aurora is alive, I will find her," Krono promised, completely ignoring the bartender’s shock. "If the dragons have harmed even a single hair on her head, I will return to that partition and exterminate their entire ancient bloodline."

​Krono pushed the tavern doors open and stepped back out into the salty sea breeze. His new objective was firmly set.

---

A Local Temple of Elongate.

High Priest Elmond stood before the grand golden altar of the Sanctuary of Light. Hundreds of devoted villagers sat in the tightly packed wooden pews, hanging onto his every word. His strict, weathered face held absolute authority, deeply lined by years of enforcing the Cathedral’s rigid laws.

​"The light demands absolute purity. We must purge the darkness wherever it hides. Even if it sprouts within our own homes, we must offer it to the purifying fire without a single moment of hesitation. Mercy is a sin when dealing with the darkness."

​The heavy oak doors of the sanctuary suddenly burst wide open.

​Gusts of winter wind swept through the warm hall, instantly extinguishing every single candle in the room. The entire congregation gasped in unison.

​Then, a towering figure stepped into the dim church.

​Krono walked slowly down the center aisle. His heavy black boots cracked the polished marble floor with every single step. His pale, ash-colored skin and glowing dark eyes radiated a suffocating, terrifying pressure. The terrified villagers scrambled out of the pews, screaming as they fell over each other to escape the approaching monster through the side exits.

​Within moments, the massive hall was completely empty, save for two men.

​Elmond did not run. He gripped his golden staff tightly and glared at the towering intruder.

​"Halt your steps, demon. You dare enter a house of the divine? The holy light will turn your wretched body to ash."

​Krono stopped at the base of the altar. He looked down at the strict old priest.

​"You always loved the sound of your own voice, Priest Elmond," Krono said quietly.

​Elmond narrowed his eyes in confusion. He stared at the towering, muscular demon standing before him. He had absolutely no idea who this pale creature was. The demon before him was a massive, intimidating entity radiating overwhelming abyssal magic. His own son had only been eight years old when he last saw him. This creature easily stood over seven feet tall.

​"Do not speak my name with your filthy tongue," Elmond spat angrily. "Who sent you here?"

​"Ten years ago, you handed an eight-year-old boy over to the Cathedral’s executioners," Krono stated, his voice devoid of any emotion. "You told them he carried a dark core. You watched them drag a crying child to the death."

​Elmond froze entirely. The golden staff trembled in his wrinkled hands.

​"That child perished for the absolute salvation of this Kingdom," Elmond said defensively.

​"You’re wrong. He did not perish completely," Krono replied.

​Krono reached up and pulled the heavy collar of his black coat down. He exposed the base of his pale neck. Right above his collarbone sat a distinct, jagged birthmark shaped exactly like a crescent moon. It was completely untouched by the horrific, twisted burn scars covering the rest of his chest.

​Elmond dropped his golden staff. It clattered loudly against the stone steps. The strict, righteous fury on his face completely melted into sheer, unfiltered terror.

He knew that exact birthmark. He had seen it every single day for eight years.

"No," Elmond whispered hoarsely, stumbling backward until his back hit the cold altar. "That is completely impossible. You are dead. My son is dead."

​"The inquisitors certainly tried their best. Their holy fire melted my skin. Their blessed silver chains shattered my small bones. I screamed for you to help me. You stood in the very front row and watched me burn."

​"You were tainted, Kronor. The Bishop told me the darkness would consume you. I had to protect the village."

​"No. You were protecting your own ambition. I was a child. I trusted you to keep me safe. But you traded my life for a heavy pouch of gold and a High Priest robe."

​"It was a divine test," Elmond argued, clutching a silver holy symbol hanging from his neck. "I sacrificed my own flesh and blood for the greater good. The Cathedral rewarded my absolute devotion to the cause."

​"Your devotion is bought with blood," Krono stated flatly.

​"Look at you!" Elmond shouted, pointing a shaking finger at Krono’s pale face. "Look at your demonic eyes! The Cathedral was absolutely right. You are a monster."

​"I am exactly what you made me. Your betrayal broke my humanity. When I nearly died, I realized the light you worship is nothing but a fragile, pathetic lie. The abyss offered me survival."