The Clash of Authority
Aether, the Western Dragon Prince, did not appreciate Jade's insolence. The pressure he exerted in response to her sharp retort wasn't physical; it was purely spiritual—the weight of millennia of elemental authority crashing against the raw, new divinity of the Azure Sight.
Grand Elder Lin, sensing the imminent explosion of Rank A+ magical power, quickly bowed low. "Prince Aether! We welcome you. This is the new Host of the Divine Eye, summoned by the breakage of the Celestial Vessel."
Aether ignored Lin completely. His amethyst gaze remained fixed on Jade's electric blue eye, searching for weakness. His obsidian scale armor seemed to ripple, sensing the hostile magic emanating from her.
[Target Classification: Western Dragon Prince Aether. Level: Unmeasurable (Apex Rank). Threat: Extreme/Involuntary.]
Jade felt her newly tamed Yaoguai, Bao, trembling violently behind her. But her own defiance, fueled by adrenaline and the System's primal authority, refused to break.
"It doesn't matter how I got here," Jade retorted, pushing back against the invisible pressure. "If you're so powerful, why are your mountains covered in shadow, and why is your King dying?"
The question was a direct, dangerous hit. Aether's control momentarily snapped. The temperature in the courtyard plummeted, and sheets of ice instantly webbed across the stone floor. Jade felt a sharp, cutting wind that tasted of freezing lightning.
"Silence, human," Aether commanded, taking a menacing step closer. "You carry an ancient magic that belongs to the foundation of my realm. That makes you property. And property does not question its masters."
The Dragon's Pain
Jade, surprisingly, did not shrink. She used the Divine Eye, not for command, but for perception. She didn't want to fight him, but she needed to understand the source of his profound volatility.
The azure eye focused on the dense, overwhelming energy of Aether's core. She saw not just raw power, but deep, blinding stress and fury—a Dragon Prince pushed to the edge by his father's failing health and the encroachment of his ruthless cousin, Seraphina.
He's terrified of losing his father and his lineage, Jade realized. He's not arrogant; he's desperate.
The moment this insight hit her, the Silver Bloom—no, wait, the Divine Eye—acted. The raw empathy of her perception, channeled through the divine lens, momentarily pierced Aether's formidable mental defenses.
A flicker of raw, agonizing pain flashed across Aether's face—a pain unrelated to the fight, but to his failing King.
He stopped the elemental assault. The ice on the floor vanished as quickly as it appeared. He stared at Jade, his amethyst eyes wide with shock.
"What did you just do?" Aether asked, his voice now dangerously quiet, stripped of its demanding authority. "You... you touched my mind."
"I saw that you're losing the war," Jade replied, breathing hard. "And that you're distracting yourself by trying to intimidate a historian."
Aether let out a low, humorless laugh. He walked slowly toward her, stopping barely an inch away. Jade could feel the cold radiating off his obsidian armor.
"You are infuriating, human," he murmured. "And yet, your Eye is the only thing that could have survived the psychic backlash of a true Dragon's core."
The Necessary Weapon
Aether finally acknowledged Lin. "Elder, prepare the teleportation matrix. She is coming with me to the Citadel."
Lin looked terrified. "Prince, with respect, she has only just activated the Eye. Her power is unstable!"
"Unstable, perhaps," Aether countered, turning his gaze back to Jade. "But she is a weapon. The moment she activated the Eye, Seraphina marked her. Keeping her here is sentencing her to death. And I need the Eye's unique ability to command the Yaoguai."
He faced Jade, his expression hardening into one of cold, calculated resolve.
"The Eastern Princess is amassing an army of the most vicious spirit beasts, creatures that despise Dragon authority. The Dragon Kings only command the elemental forces; we cannot force the loyalty of the chaotic Yaoguai. Your Eye, however, can."
He reached out and gently—almost reverently—touched the skin around her azure eye. The cold of his touch was startling, but there was no rush of overwhelming emotion, only the controlled discipline of an elemental being.
"I need you to command a counter-army for me, Jade. I need you to tame the very chaos that Seraphina wields."
"And if I refuse?" Jade challenged.
"Then I lock you in the Citadel's deepest dungeon, where you cannot be used against me," Aether stated simply, without malice. "Or, more likely, Seraphina captures you, kills my father, and uses you to enslave Xianzhou. The choice is yours, historian. Be my weapon, or be her pawn."
The stakes were clear. Jade was a pawn either way, but with Aether, she saw a chance for survival and maybe even redemption for this beautiful, flawed world.
"Fine," Jade sighed, rubbing the space where his fingers had rested. "But I am not property. We are allies, Aether. And my terms are simple: I help you save your father, and you help me find a way home. Agreed?"
Aether's amethyst eyes glinted, a spark of dark humor entering his gaze. "A bargain with a Dragon Prince? Bold. Very well, little human. You have a pact."
He turned, the obsidian scales of his armor catching the dim light. "But understand this, Jade. This pact is forbidden. If anyone—especially Seraphina—discovers the closeness of our alliance, we will both burn."