Chapter 496: Making Haste

Much later that night…

Footsteps hurried through the otherwise silent corridor outside Ethan's chambers.

Almost everyone in the castle was asleep by this point.

Then the door to Ethan's room was suddenly pushed open.

"What the—" Ethan began groggily.

Both he and Isabella were stirred awake by the intrusion, but whatever irritation Ethan might have felt disappeared the moment he saw the person standing at the entrance.

Nathan.

There was something terribly wrong with him.

His face was stricken with fear, and the urgency in his expression immediately caused Ethan to sit upright.

"Your mother…" Nathan said, struggling to get the words out.

Ethan stared at him.

Nathan's voice trembled.

"She's dying."

Ethan's eyes widened.

——

At the palace of the Demon Queen…

It didn't take long for Morgana to be informed of the situation.

She now stood in the presence of the Mistress, Ethan, and Nathan as they discussed what needed to happen next.

"None of you are ready for this," Morgana said plainly.

Ethan immediately cut in. "You just heard him. My mother's dying. We have to do this, and we have to do it without haste."

Morgana's eyes snapped toward him. "Boy, watch how you—"

"It's alright, Morgana," Bella interrupted. "This isn't the time."

Morgana turned toward her Mistress with an annoyed glare.

For a moment, she looked like she wanted to argue. Instead, she released a frustrated sigh and turned her attention toward Nathan.

His expression was distant; his mind occupied by the whole situation.

Morgana studied him for a moment before asking, "Do you know how she is being imprisoned?"

Nathan's attention returned as he turned to the Queen with a nod. "She's being held in chains in a dungeon under the Dragon Emperor's palace."

"The chains prevent her from transforming or using her affinity. And there are at least ten fully grown dragons guarding her."

Morgana's expression changed slightly. "Ten?"

Nathan nodded again.

Morgana regarded him curiously. "Then what exactly was your plan for getting her out?"

Nathan gave an answer "When I first planned this, I never intended to approach the palace conventionally. The idea was to bypass the distance using my magic."

He continued, "I would enter the Astral Realm, emerge inside the dungeon, free her from the chains, and take her with me."

Morgana stared at him. "And you believe the ten dragons surrounding her would simply stand there and watch you do that?"

"Of course not, Lady Morgana," Nathan replied. "But I believed that gaining Carrion's power would have been enough for me to fend off anyone who tried to stop me from saving my wife."

Ethan spoke next. "Your plan is still feasible. Even more so now that there are more of us."

He looked between them. "Moreover, this isn't something they would see coming. So even if there are other dragons capable of responding outside the ones guarding her, they wouldn't know what was happening until we've already rescued my mother."

Nathan shook his head. "That plan was feasible when it was only me."

He looked toward Ethan. "Under our current circumstances, it wouldn't work."

"Why?" Ethan asked

"There are too many of us now," Nathan answered. "My magic cannot handle moving that many people."

The problem came from the nature of Astral Magic.

Ordinarily, a person should not have been capable of physically entering the Astral Realm as it was a plane of consciousness, not somewhere a living body was naturally supposed to exist.

Nathan was an exception. And through his magic, he could temporarily make others exceptions as well.

However, maintaining his physical form while traversing the Astral Realm required a considerable amount of magical power.

Bringing another physical person with him demanded even more.

Also, the difficulty did not simply increase based on the number of people he intended to carry. Their individual levels of power mattered as well.

Someone like Morgana possessed an enormous amount of power. Ethan's existence as a Demon Dragon made him equally difficult to carry between realms.

Then there was Isabella who at this time has gone beyond Nathan's level as well. She wasn't just more powerful than before; her existence was tied to an entire realm of her own—the Endless Dark.

For Nathan to use his magic to physically transport individuals of their level through the Astral Realm at the same time was way beyond what his magic could sustain.

Additionally, it wasn't a problem that could be solved by Ethan assisting Nathan with more mana.

He explained all of these circumstances to them; the limitation came from the level of his Astral Magic itself and how much it was capable of carrying between realms.

Once Ethan understood that, another idea quickly came to him as he gestured between Morgana and Isabella. "But you two can."

Morgana narrowed her eyes.

"The Endless Dark," Ethan clarified before turning his attention more directly toward Isabella. "Babe, you can take us into the realm of shadows. We could use it to slip straight inside."

Isabella's expression changed as she considered the possibility.

"In fact, that might be our best way of doing this," Ethan continued. "We get to the Dragon Continent, locate the exact position of the palace, enter the Endless Dark, and use it to get inside. We grab my mom and get her out before they have time to understand what's happening."

"Enough with your delusions, son of Izzgur," Morgana suddenly snapped.

Ethan frowned at her. "What?"

"The Dragon Emperor's castle isn't located where you apparently think it is." She said.

"The dragon-folk live upon the surface of the Dragon Continent. The dragons themselves do not… they live on floating islands several thousand feet above the continent."

Ethan's expression slowly changed.

"Among those islands is the Dragon Emperor's castle," Morgana continued. "If we were to travel into the Dragon Continent and attempt to approach it from the skies, we would be discovered long before we even come close enough to execute your plan."

Morgana raised her right index finger. "But there might be a way."

"Portal Magic is one of the many forms of magic under my control. I can use it to get us where we need to be without anyone seeing us approach."

She paused for a second, then continued. "The problem is that Portal Magic requires me to know exactly where I'm going. I either need to have been there before or possess a clear knowledge of the destination."

Morgana turned toward Nathan. "And I have no idea where your wife is being held."

Nathan immediately responded. "If that's the only problem, then I can help with that."

Morgana narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I know exactly where Irene is being kept," Nathan continued. "I can implant my memory of the place directly into your mind."