Chapter 167: Little Vessel

Chapter 167: Chapter 167: Little Vessel

Captain Voss stayed on the balcony long after Theon had been carried inside. He stood motionless with his head bowed, still trying to understand what he had seen. The wind pulled at his cloak, but he hardly felt it.

He had spent years on battlefields and had seen power in every form: armies marching under banners, mages burning down fortresses, generals leveling mountains with a wave of the hand. But those were mortals, however terrifying. What had stood on this balcony belonged to a level where a single step could end an empire as easily as a boot crushes an insect.

And they had been standing at the side of the theon. "Had his highness reached that level too?" Voss’s chest tightened until each breath felt like work. Everything he knew about the balance of power in the empire now felt like a child’s game.

He turned toward the doors. The young master was waiting to hear whether Theon was alright. He took one step, then stopped as a single thought echoed in his head. *That look. Ifrith’s look.* His hand clamped around the railing, and his feet refused to move.

Then another thought came, and his face twisted. *That little cat.*

Voss remembered the strange creature from the Imperial Palace a few months ago. The young master had treated it like a pet, playing with it and even sleeping beside it, and Voss had never given it a second thought. Once he had even shooed it off a chair. Yet that same creature had just stood among beings capable of ending the world.

"How is that a Primordial Demon Sovereign?" he whispered. His knees nearly gave out, and he held the railing harder to stay upright.

The door clicked open behind him. Ifrith stood in the doorway. "Come inside."

Voss straightened at once. "Alright."

Inside, Theon lay unconscious on the bed, pale and still. Lyra sat close to his side, holding his hand in both of hers, with the dragon girl behind her. Silver stood farther back, watching the room in silence. Voss took the chair farthest from everyone and sat with his back straight, hands on his knees, and eyes on the floor. His fingers would not stop trembling, so he pressed them into his legs. He did not want to meet Ifrith’s gaze again.

Ifrith walked to the bed and looked around the room before he spoke. "No one is to speak of what happened today. The Spirit Sovereign came out because of the power within Master Theon’s body. What happened after that stays in this room. Understood?"

He looked each of them in the eye. "Master Theon is not to be told what the Spirit Sovereign said. If anyone speaks with him about it, it will be me."

They all nodded. Voss lowered his head. "Understood."

Ifrith turned back to the bed, and his expression softened in a way Voss had not thought possible. "Master, I hope you survive what is to come."

Voss’s head snapped up. *What is to come? Don’t tell me there are more disasters ahead.* He lowered his head again and stared at the floor. He had faced death on a dozen fields without flinching, yet here he sat, a grown soldier afraid of a quiet man’s glance. He wanted no part of it.

Morning came, and pale light spilled through the windows onto the bed.

Lyra was the first to stir. She had been dozing in the chair beside him, her cheek resting on the mattress after a night of refusing every offer to rest elsewhere, when Theon’s fingers twitched against her palm. She gasped as his eyes fluttered open, then jumped to her feet.

"He’s awake! He’s awake!"

She threw her arms around his neck before he could say a word, and he felt her shoulders shaking against him. Ifrith waited until she let go, then stepped close. "Master, are you alright?"

Theon pressed a hand to his temple as a sharp pain ran through his skull. "What happened? Where am I?" His gaze landed on the balcony. "I thought we were outside."

"You were unconscious, Master," Ifrith said calmly. "We brought you inside."

"Oh. I see." Theon sat up and frowned. Something felt different. He placed a hand on his chest and felt power filling his body, not mana but some other kind of energy, so much of it that every breath seemed to draw in more. "Why do I feel like I’m overflowing?"

Ifrith said nothing. The pause lasted a moment too long, and Theon felt a small flicker of dread.

"Ifrith. What happened?"

"The Spirit Sovereign manifested, Master. She came out of you because the power within you grew too strong."

Theon looked at his hands. They looked small and ordinary, the same as always, which somehow made it worse. "Is that a problem?"

Ifrith’s expression turned grave. "You are only ten, Master. If that power keeps growing, your body may not withstand it. It could break down and stop functioning."

"You mean I could die?"

A tense silence stretched through the room. Lyra’s grip on his hand tightened until it hurt, and he did not pull away. Theon looked down at himself and forced a small smile. "That’s inconvenient."

"It isn’t funny," Lyra said, her voice cracking.

"I know. I’m sorry."

A notification appeared before him.

**[World Archive]**

**[Targets defeated: One Supreme Demon General.]**

**[Demon Generals defeated: Seven.]**

**[Demon soldiers defeated: 20,000.]**

**[Total EXP gained: 1,200,000.]**

"That’s quite a lot," Theon said with a smile."

**[All skills belonging to defeated targets have been acquired.]**

**[Current status: Locked.]**

**[Requirement: Increase Level.]**

Theon smirked at the screen. "You’re being nice today. I thought you had an autonomous intelligence."

**[I am merely showing the respect Master has earned.]**

Theon raised an eyebrow.

**[However, if Master wishes, I can change my behavior.]**

"Yep." He grinned. "That’s my Archive." For a moment the room felt almost ordinary, and he was grateful for it.

When he turned back to the room, he noticed Captain Voss sitting in the corner, stiff as a man waiting for a verdict. "Captain Voss?"

Voss stood at once. "Your highness. Are you feeling alright?"

"I should be asking you that."

"Y... Yes. Nothing happened," Voss said, in a voice that meant the opposite.

Theon studied him, then looked at Ifrith. Their eyes met, and Voss quickly looked away.

*Was Ifrith intimidating him? Possibly. But Voss had not been like this when he arrived*. Theon decided not to dwell on it. There were more pressing matters.

"Lazaria, the undead emperor you fought. Do you know who he was?"

Her expression darkened. "No. But he said my father made him that way."

"The Demon Lord of Pride," Theon said. "I thought he was dead."

"He is. But the emperor spoke as if he were not, and that makes no sense. If my father were alive and knew I was alive, why would he send Demon Generals after me?"

"Maybe he did not want to show himself."

Lazaria shook her head. "That’s unlike like him. He dotes on me. He would have come himself, and he could suppress his mana so well that no one could sense him. Hiding was never a problem for him. When I was little he used to appear behind me and pretend he had been in the room all along. I never once caught him."

"Then who sent them?"

"Possibly one of my father’s enemies."

"I thought you knew nothing about your father’s faction."

"I didn’t, not at first." Her fingers curled into her sleeve. "After he and my mother disappeared, I started investigating, and I found out he had allies. Powerful ones."

"You never told me this." Theon’s expression hardened. "Who were they?"

Her voice dropped. "I don’t know. Before I could find out, Duke Raven caught me."

"I see," Theon said, and the room fell quiet.

Then he asked about celestial and Ifrith replied and said " I sent her back " theon sighed then he turned to Silver and studied her for a moment. She met his gaze without a word, calm in a way that made the room feel smaller. Theon sighed. "I really wish I did not have to do this."

A wave of pressure burst from his body and sent everyone reeling. A translucent figure appeared above the bed, stretching and yawning like someone waking from a nap.

"You know," Cryvathar said, "you could have warned me before pulling my soul out like a chicken from a coop."

"Sorry," Theon said.

Cryvathar waved him off. "Not talking to you. Her."

A voice echoed from within Theon. "Hello, Cryvathar."

Cryvathar’s face twisted. "Do not talk to me like I am your friend."

Ifrith stepped forward. "Show the Spirit Sovereign some respect."

Cryvathar turned slowly toward him. "Know your place." His voice had dropped to something low and ancient, the voice of a being who remembered when empires were younger than his temper.

The air in the room tightened, and Ifrith began to gather mana in his hand.

"Ifrith," Theon said, and Ifrith stopped. Theon turned his attention inward. "Spirit Sovereign."

A woman’s voice answered in his head, warm and faintly amused. "Call me Aurora, little lad."

"Aurora?"

"That is better."

Theon smiled. "Why did you come out?"

"Your body was holding more power than it could take."

Her voice softened. "You are welcome. I also gave you a gift. A skill that can suppress the power flowing through your body."

"Really?"

"Temporarily."

His smile faded. "How long is temporarily?"

"Long enough for you to find another solution."

Theon nodded. "Understood. Thank you again, Aurora."

No answer came, but the pressure in his chest had loosened, as though someone had quietly undone a knot. Cryvathar hovered nearby, still sour, and Theon ignored him and turned to Lyra. The smile left his face. The premonition of her death. The memory of it still lived in his head, and it nearly made him clench his fists. She was alive and breathing, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, and he said " I would give anything to keep her that way. whatever path i have to walk" His knuckles whitened against the bed sheets.

*I need to create original magic. Something that will protect her from whatever killed her the first time.*

Another thought followed. Noel Embercrest. The academy. Someone had opened the barrier for Noel, a person who knew what he was after and let him get close enough to Lyra. The boldness of it bothered him. A boy like Noel did not simply walk through walls built to keep out people with ill intentions.

"I am going to find the traitor within the academy," Theon said. "Noel could not have gotten past those barriers without help."

"I can investigate that."

Theon turned toward the voice and blinked. The Headmaster was standing by the wall. "Oh. I forgot you were here."

"That is fine, Master." The Headmaster stood perfectly still. "I am under your command."

Cryvathar’s menacing gaze stayed fixed on him, but the Headmaster did not seem to notice. He walked to Theon’s side, and Theon nearly smiled.

"How do you plan on figuring it out?"

"I need my position restored. If I regain my position, I can investigate from the inside without arousing suspicion."

Theon thought it over. The risk was real, but he had no better option, and the Headmaster knew every corridor of the academy. "Alright. Do it."

The Headmaster bowed and turned away, but Theon was still not satisfied. Whoever the traitor was, they had known exactly what Noel was after. Theon stared at the floor.

*I will find you.* He said to himself.

Above the academy, above the towers and the mountains, above a sea of clouds that stretched for miles, something flew through the morning sky.

The clouds parted to reveal a huge face. It wore a serene smile that stretched from ear to ear.

"Little vessel," a voice echoed through the heavens. "I found you."