Chapter 126: Avatar!

"Why is the mountain roaring?!"

"The master of the tomb must have awakened and is clashing with the Crown Prince’s Archons," Cassian said, his expression grave.

Though they had successfully evacuated, the Academy disciples showed no signs of relief. They stared solemnly at the crumbling cave entrance.

"Theo and the Empress are still inside," Titus swallowed hard.

"A clash between Exarchs could bring ruin to the entire mountain range. The Ashfall Peaks will collapse before long," Cassian’s face grew troubled.

Leaving now was the only tactical choice, yet the Academy disciples hesitated, glancing back against the tide of fleeing mercenaries.

Titus forced a smile. "Knowing Theo, he will probably make a grand entrance with a thunderous explosion any second now. He always steals the spotlight."

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than someone shouted:

"The Abyssal Sword Sovereign is out!"

Cassian, Valeria, and Titus perked up, turning their attention to the main cavern entrance.

Theo’s figure burst out of the cave.

The commotion was immense. Behind him, a swarm of pursuers followed like a disturbed hornet’s nest.

The hunters included, but were not limited to: Crown Prince Aurelius, Duke Regulus, the Praetorian Guards, Hierarch Malakor, and the Cult of the Devourer.

Everyone at the camp froze.

What exactly had the Sovereign done to earn the joint, homicidal fury of the Crown Prince and the Demonic Hierarch?!

"What do we do?" Valeria asked, her grip tightening on her hilt. "He saved our lives. We cannot just stand by!"

"But that is the Crown Prince and the Cult..." Titus’s face twisted in conflict.

Cassian’s eyes hardened as he touched the spatial ring on his finger.

"Move aside! Do not be reckless!" Theo’s clone shouted.

He deployed his *Aether-Stride Sigil*, soaring into the sky and leaving a fading silhouette behind.

Not far away, hidden amidst the swirling dream-moths...

"Finally lured Aurelius and the others away," the real Theo muttered, rubbing his temples. *Great Sage, allocate 70% processing power to the Shadow-Clone.*

Controlling an external avatar at Exarch-level speeds was draining...

"And the Academy disciples didn’t chase after me. Perfect."

But before he could relax—

In the distance, Instructor Cassian pulled out a black executioner’s hood and slipped it over his head.

Valeria and Titus exchanged glances, nodded, and pulled out their own black hoods.

In an instant, the honorable elites of the Imperial Academy transformed into anonymous highwaymen.

"....?"

*Wait! Do not do this!*

Cassian merely paused, scratched his ear through the hood’s eyehole, and looked entirely confused.

Then—*whoosh*—the masked Academy group brandished their blades and flew after the Crown Prince to "save" their friend.

The Imperial Academy was fiercely loyal...They were far too loyal!

Worse yet, the surrounding mercenaries watched this and had a collective epiphany. They wanted the treasure, but they didn’t dare openly provoke the royal family. Masks were the perfect loophole.

In a matter of seconds, hundreds of mercenaries pulled out hoods, cloaks, and masks. The evacuation camp descended into chaos, resembling an international bandit convention.

"What are they doing?" Pontifex Valerius asked, bewildered.

Theo rubbed his temples. "...Probably expanding their tactical horizons."

"It is fine. I will dismiss the avatar soon," Theo sighed.

The Pontifex glanced at the quaking Ashfall Peaks. The Sanctum of Somnus would not last much longer.

"Then let us hurry," she bit her lip, closing her eyes in concentration. "Where to?"

"The Capital. Solstice Manor," Theo replied.

The Pontifex pressed a pale finger to Theo’s forehead. "Close your eyes. Picture the destination clearly. Imagine nothing happened today. You are simply pushing open the front doors of your manor. When you open your eyes, we will be there."

Theo complied. He pictured the doors of his estate.

"Push!"

Theo pushed forward.

He blinked. The apocalyptic mountain was gone. They stood in the serene courtyard of Solstice Manor. Liana and Sylvia were safely beside him.

"We are really back?" Sylvia breathed in shock.

"My Dream-Walk is second to none," the Pontifex declared, crossing her arms proudly.

"Wait—I need to finish the avatar’s sequence." Theo sat cross-legged on the grass, focusing his mind.

Thus, on this day, a major event shook the Empire...

The Abyssal Sword Sovereign, the most brilliant prodigy of his generation, was presumed dead.

Fifty miles outside the Ashfall Peaks...

"I have almost caught up..."

Gaius the Butcher, the cross-eyed Exarch of the Cult, excelled in shadow-arts and assassination.

His form dissolved into swirling darkness, blending perfectly into the void.

"Kill the Sovereign, secure the relic, and earn the Hierarch’s ultimate favor..."

"Die, brat!"

Abyssal energies coalesced in Gaius’s palm, erupting with devastating force aimed at the fleeing boy’s back.

"About time," the avatar murmured, making no move to dodge.

Theo’s clone faced Gaius’s strike head-on, meeting those crossed eyes with eerie calm.

"No—!"

Several masked figures of unknown origin — clearly the Academy disciples — rushed forward in a desperate bid to intercept the blow, but it was already too late.

*BOOM—!*

No matter how strong an initiate might be, they were no match for a true Archon’s strike.

His form was instantly obliterated, vanishing without a trace.

Only a single wisp of black smoke drifted to the ground...

Instructor Cassian, the masked bandit chief, fell to his knees.

He let out a piercing shriek. "NO!"

A shockwave of void tore through the clearing, kicking up a blinding curtain of ash.

As the dust settled, the Sovereign was nowhere to be seen... leaving only a gemstone tumbling through the air where he had stood.

The young figure vanished into the abyss, and the mercenaries, like sharks drawn to blood in the water, rushed forward in a frenzy to seize the fallen Lumen-Mirage Core.

Instructor Cassian’s expression froze. His sword-gripping hand trembled.

"Theo!!"

The same disbelief mirrored on the faces of Valeria and Titus.

The Abyssal Sword Sovereign —the undisputed genius of the Academy, the boy who had defied Archons and returned unscathed from the southern front— was he truly dead?

For anyone else, this might have been a common tragedy of the martial world... But he was destined to reach the pinnacle of the Empire.

"It is over..." Titus whispered.

"What is over?" Valeria asked, her voice shaking.

"The Cult of the Devourer is finished," Titus shuddered.