Chapter 170: Injured Nova

Chapter 170: Chapter 170: Injured Nova

The face of the figure who had made it’s way up through the balcony became visible.

Theon stood completely still, unable to move.

Ifrith was frozen in place as well.

It turned out to be Nova.

"Nova."

There was a clear note of disbelief running through Ifrith’s voice.

Nova lifted his head slowly. He was covered in wounds, and his breathing came in uneven, ragged pulls. With what little strength he had left, he reached his other hand out towards Ifrith, as though Ifrith was the only person he could still put his trust in.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Ifrith sprinted towards him.

"Nova!"

Nova’s lips moved as he tried to speak, but the words came out broken and faint, as if he were pouring every last bit of his effort into getting them out.

"Everything... is gone, master..."

His hand would not stop shaking.

"You have to save us."

Moving quickly, Ifrith caught him just before he could collapse onto the ground.

Nova’s eyes were gradually drifting shut.

"The Crimson... Sovereign..."

His entire body suddenly became limp and lifeless.

"Nova!"

Ifrith stared at him, his eyes wide with sheer horror.

"What exactly is the Crimson Sovereign? Who is the Crimson Sovereign?"

Nova did not say a single word in response.

He had already slipped into unconsciousness.

Without giving it even another moment of thought, Ifrith lifted him up and carried him inside.

Theon stood there watching the whole scene unfold, his face filled with worry. Silver stood frozen in shock, her eyes taking in the battered, broken state of Nova.

Cryvathar and Seraphina merely stared ahead with blank expressions, as though they had already known what had happened.

Ifrith set him down gently and carefully. Then he lifted one hand into the air.

"I haven’t practiced light magic for quite a while now... But I really hope it still works..."

Magical energy began to swirl around his hand. He sent out a steady stream of healing magic toward Nova.

But it was not working.

The wounds on his body were not closing up as quickly as he had hoped they would.

*This is happening because of how constantly I’ve been using dark magic...* He kept thinking to himself, turning the thought over in his mind.

All of a sudden, Theon got to his feet.

’I’ll help.’

Right away, Theon poured a portion of his healing magic into Nova.

It happened quickly; the wounds on his body gradually started to close, until at last he was fully healed.

Even so, Nova had still not regained consciousness.

"Give him two minutes,"

Theon said.

Ifrith kept his eyes fixed on Nova, who lay there without moving. His thoughts were racing nonstop. He was trying to figure out what could possibly have done this to him. What sort of enemy would be capable of hurting a Primordial Demon to this extent.

Theon gave him a look filled with worry.

After that, he turned to Silver, who was lost deep in her own thoughts.

Ifrith stared at her.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened?" Ifrith asked.

Silver shook her head from side to side. ’No, I don’t.’

The silence that followed was deafening.

All of a sudden, Nova’s tiny fingers gave a small twitch.

The rhythm of his breathing shifted.

Bit by bit, his eyelids began to open.

He had a hard time making sense of what was in front of him, and his breathing came in heavy gasps as he forced his eyes open.

Ifrith was the very first one to hurry over to his side.

"Nova! tell me what happened. who did this to you? What exactly took place in the Primordial Demon Realm?!"

A flood of questions was pouring into his mind.

’Hold on, give him a moment to breathe." Theon said .

With a weak motion, Nova shook his head.

" No... It doesn’t really matter.."

Slowly, he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

" Master Ifrith needs to know what happened."

Theon turned his gaze toward him. " All right, go ahead and say it."

Nova’s expression grew serious.

" The Crimson Sovereign."

Ifrith’s face grew darker and more serious.

" What is this Crimson Sovereign ? " Ifrith asked, wanting to know more.

Nova shook his head from side to side.

"It’s not a what."

Nova stared him straight in the eye.

" It’s a who."

" What do you mean?" Ifrith said, with a mix of anger and disbelief in his voice.

Nova swallowed hard, struggling to get the words out.

"The Crimson Sovereign Azerel ."

The moment he said the name, Ifrith’s expression changed completely.

A mix of anger and confusion tainted his features.

"Continue." Ifrith spoke up.

Nova gave a nod. "Azerel was the one who set the Primordial Demon War in motion. The great war of the Primordials ... the war which i explained to you about."

Ifrith stayed silent, not saying a word.

"Ever since you left, master, he has been tormenting the Primordial Demon Realm From the shadows and has killed thousands upon thousands of Primordial Demons."

Nova’s voice shook as she spoke.

"He sends their souls off to eternal punishment ... and then he revives them ... only to do it again ... and again ... and again."

With every word that Nova said, Ifrith grew angrier and angrier.

Theon turned his gaze toward him. " Who is Azerel?"

" He is my old nemesis." Ifrith answered slowly, choosing his words.

" Old nemesis?" Theon asked.

" Yes." Ifrith replied.

For a brief moment, Ifrith said nothing at all.

After that, he finally began to speak.

" When I lost my parents ..."

As the memory came back to him, his voice trembled just a little.

" I was making my way toward the Empire on foot. I said once that nothing at all would stand in my way on my quest."

The memory made his vision blur.

" But the truth is, I lied."

Something deep inside him grew dark.

"Because someone really did stand in my way."

Azerel.

Ifrith’s POV:

" Since I was a child, he would always try to provoke me. He used to call me a freak. Everyone else was scared of my aura and never dared to come close to me but he was not like the others."

"Out of everyone, he was the only person who could actually get close to me, and he pestered me more than anyone else did."

"At the beginning, I figured it was simply because he was similar to me in that way."

" That is, until the moment I actually laid eyes on him. Once I had carried the corpses of my parents out, he was standing there beside the tree line."

’He just watched the whole thing unfold."

"And then he smiled.’

" I never once stopped to think about it again."

" But some time later, while I was making my way towards the Primordial Realm, he stepped out from the woods."

"He began to mock me all over again. Driven by anger, I went on the attack."

" The battle that followed was incredibly powerful."

" In terms of raw strength, he was able to overpower me. However, when it came to intelligence, I was the one who managed to overpower him."

"After I had defeated him, I simply moved on."

END OF IFRITH’S POV.

Nova continued and said.

" That includes your own hometown, master.’

Ifrith’s expression grew dark and heavy as Nova continued. "He destroyed it completely."

"The grave of your parents ... the very one where you placed that powerful golem to guard. A large portion of it — more than half, in fact — has already been destroyed. The only things left of your parents are their headstones and for those thousand years, the golem has been doing everything it can to keep them safe. Even though its body has already worn away over time it still keeps trying and protecting their grave stone "

Ifrith’s aura burst out in a rage that could not be controlled. That aura spread through the whole chamber.

Captain Voss, who was still seated at the table, lost his mind right away. He leapt up from his chair and ran straight out of the chamber.

Cryvathar turned his gaze toward Ifrith. " Keep your anger under control."

Ifrith drew in a long, deep breath. The aura around him vanished.

" I’m sorry for losing my temper."

Theon shook his head from side to side. " It’s all right. It’s all right. If I were standing in your position, even I would want to turn him to ash."

Ifrith turned around to face Nova once more. "How did you end up so badly beaten like that?"

Nova dropped his head down. "It was his minions."

"His three strongest generals."

"They came after me, tracking me down."

"Once I got out of the Primordial Demon Realm, I was able to keep away from them for some time. Even so, they eventually caught up to me. They roughed me up and tried to haul me back with them."

Nova tightened his fists.

"But in the end, I had to give up my tail. I sacrificed it so I could pull in more power. I needed enough strength to hold them off for a while and make it all the way here."

A quiet silence settled between the two of them.

Ifrith fixed his gaze on Nova. "For a Primordial Demon, the tail is his dignity."

Nova raised his eyes to look up at him. "You sliced away your own dignity just so you could reach me."

Ifrith reached his hand out. "You deserve reward."

Power began to gather.

Right away, Nova’s tail grew back once more. Nova glanced behind himself, unable to believe what he was seeing. After that, he turned around to face Ifrith.

Ifrith then turned to look towards Silver. She gave a small nod of agreement.

" I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth, my love." She said.

After that, he turned to face Theon. At last, he got down on one knee.

" Master, I’m so sorry."

Theon’s gaze settled on him. "I know you need me right now with everything that is going on. I know I Once said that I wouldn’t involve myself in the matters of the Primordial Demon Realm again."

He bowed his head lower. "But this ... this has gotten too far. I must intervene. Do I have your permission to leave?"

For a moment, Theon said nothing at all

"If the three Primordial Generals of Azerel were able to defeat Nova ..."

He turned his eyes to Nova.

" Even though Nova does not possess the same level of power as you do, he is still someone that should be taken seriously as a force to contend with."

"Even while Lazaria was in the middle of fighting him off ..."

His expression grew darker than it had been before.

" Just how powerful would Azerel actually turn out to be?"

"There is no need for you to worry about that, master.’ Ifrith said.

"He does not have as much power as I do. I am confident that I can handle dealing with him.’

Theon opened his mouth as though he was about to speak. However, Cryvathar cut him off before he could.

"Young lad, let him go."

Theon turned his gaze toward him. " It appears that you have failed to recognize just how much power and ability is possessed by the creatures that you have placed around yourself."

" What exactly are you talking about?" Theon furrowed his brows in confusion.

" Are you aware that Ifrith has evolved more than five times?" Theon’s expression shifted.

" What? "

Cryvathar laughed. "You really do not pay much attention to things, do you? "

Theon turned his attention straight away to what lay within.

"World Archive how come you never mentioned any of this to me?"

A notification popped up.

[Are you really asking me. were you not the one who kept me sealed away the entire time, l tried to tell you about it. You shut me away. Silver has already undergone evolution more than three times I kept trying to notify you.]