Rivers of the Night

Theron wondered if he should have put more thought into how he would die. He had been filled with so much anger for so long, maybe he just never paused to think that this path could only really end one way for him.

Yet, he didn't feel regret, he didn't feel rage or unwillingness. In fact, he found himself feeling hints of relief.

He could finally just let go. Let the world destroy itself. It was headed down that path anyway. Did it really need him to tip the balance?

He had only been in this world for a short few months, most of the time he had spent in secluded cultivation, and yet how much nonsense had he seen?

He saw a Sect that claimed to be chasing Demon Chosen acting more like Demons themselves. He saw a Matriarch who was willing to use her own disciples as sex pawns to control more power. He saw families turning their own offspring into exiled slaves because they had the wrong bloodline running through their veins.

What exactly was good about this world? If it wasn't destroyed already, it probably was on the verge.

Wasn't that what Goddess Sacharro had said? She was struggling so much just to save this piece of shit world. Well, if he died, she'd lose a key pawn she needed and have to start all over again.

He bet there wouldn't be any going back after that. The world would spiral into nothingness.

Maybe that was the best punishment for the woman who had taken everything from him. For her to watch her own efforts fail in the end—was there even a better outcome?

Those thoughts… they didn't last for nearly long enough.

He felt a wave of disgust hit him fractions of a second later.

Relief?

Did his parents feel relief when they were slaughtered? Did his little sister feel relief when she died before she even knew how to live life? Did Malaya feel relief when everything was taken from her one after another? Such a kind soul… what had she done to deserve being erased?

He had never treated her well, and yet even up until her final breath, she had always done her best for him. He had never met a person so pure in his life other than his own little sister.

Theron's eyes reddened. Encased in ice, it almost looked as though they were trying to bulge out, but in reality, it was just tears attempting to streak down his face—tears the world wouldn't even allow him to shed.

Theron roared, or rather he tried to. His vocal cords couldn't even vibrate, his mouth couldn't even open.

But there was one thing he could do.

The skies trembled.

Bring it down. If he was going to die, it wouldn't be with resignation in his heart. If he was going to die, he would die fighting to his last breath. If he was going to die, he was going to do so before a threat that left him as helpless as his family and Malaya had been.

**

Lyrah looked up into the skies with a frown. In a land where it snowed often, it wasn't a surprise that they were always under the perpetual influence of heavy clouds. But there was a difference between normal clouds and this.

"Is that…"

The first voices to feel what was happening immediately spoke out. Waves of murmurs spread through the crowd.

Without Theron present, the proceedings had become more cookie-cutter and boring. After some wild speculation about Theron's sudden 100-point boost, the crowd mostly fell into silence.

It seemed that things would end up like they usually did—boring domination by the Hall of Ice and Heart disciples.

However, that was when those rolling clouds of dark gold appeared. Runes flashed in the skies, complex sigils glided along one another like gears, a powerful presence of Water Mana and Dark Mana pouring in from the surroundings.

Water and Dark Mana?

What sort of Tribulation was this?

Every Tribulation they had known of only had lightning within it, filled with the Heaven's desire to destroy everything in its path.

However, there was only one person in line for a Tribulation that also had Water and Dark Mana Cores…

Theron Galethunder.

He triggered his cultivation?

Lyrah's brows furrowed. This was bad.

If Theron failed his Tribulation, the odds there would be anything left of him to retrieve would be unlikely. To make matters worse, it was one thing to lose the strand of her soul; it was another if it was actually outright destroyed. The backlash she might suffer could set her back.

She would go from already being on the verge of the Dome of Heaven Realm to right back to square one. Her cultivation might even fall.

There also had to be a reason Theron was triggering his cultivation. Had he run into something he couldn't handle? He had held back for so long already—could he not hold back a bit longer until he was out of danger and had protectors? She would be more than willing to watch his back.

Frustration began to bubble in her chest. She finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel, but now it was threatening to close up again. If this happened, she didn't know if she would be able to handle it.

First Elder Bertrum's laughter was especially grating at this moment.

"Trouble in paradise, is it? Seems that your boy finally bit off more than he could chew."

"Are you finally acknowledging that he's a boy now?" Lyrah snapped, her aura rotating wildly.

First Elder Bertrum took a step back, frowning.

"I'd advise you control your temper, Third Elder. There's a limit to what the power of a single person could do. It's just a shame that your little disciple didn't seem to understand this. Though, my Lliac and Violet seem to have quite a strong sense of cooperation. The virtues instilled in them by me will be remembered for a lifetime."