Ten years later...
"By His Majesty's command, the teleportation arrays in all thirteen provinces of Yager will be shut down for three days. No one, under any circumstances, is allowed to activate or use them!"
A herald on a massive griffin flew across the sky, spreading the will of the emperor throughout the cities of the empire's thirteen provinces.
Normally, with the existence of teleportation arrays, the emperor's orders could be transmitted more efficiently. However, because all the arrays in the region needed to be shut down, the messages could only be delivered using the most primitive methods.
"What is this all about? Is this really necessary? Shutting down every teleportation array in all thirteen provinces of Yager? My god, I need to ship my goods to another city using the array! Now, what am I supposed to do? This entire batch is going to be a total loss!"
"I might go bankrupt this time! Does the emperor even realize how much financial damage this will cause the empire?"
"My goods, no!"
As the order to shut down the teleportation arrays spread, the entire Yager region erupted in complaints and cries of despair. Some lamented, others grumbled, and a few even muttered curses under their breath. But not a single person dared to openly voice opposition.
No one was foolish. In a region where magic technology was extremely advanced, everyone knew what kind of consequences shutting down the arrays for three days would bring. The emperor was certainly aware of the cost. Yet, he had still issued the order.
This meant that something had occurred, something so serious that the emperor deemed it necessary to pay such a high price to resolve it. And whatever that was, it likely wasn't good news. If anyone dared to protest too loudly and became an example, they'd have no place to cry over it.
"Three days of shutdown—is that how long they think it will take to catch me?" In a small town, a traveler in a cloak looked up at the herald on the griffin passing overhead and smirked with disdain.
"Or perhaps they plan to give up if they can't catch me within three days."
...
"No matter the cost, you must capture that man!" In a luxurious palace seemingly made of sapphires, a middle-aged man in ornate clothing raged, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Father, please calm down. I've already issued the necessary orders. The scoundrel who dared defile my sister won't get away!" A younger man, regal in appearance yet exuding authority, immediately responded in the palace.
"With the way you're handling things, there's no way you're going to catch Aeolos!" A tall, blue-haired woman standing nearby scoffed, unconcerned.
"Shut up! Your sister privately made a pact with someone, and you only found out after the fact! What kind of sister are you?" The middle-aged man turned and roared at the blue-haired woman, venting his overflowing anger.
"And who are you to yell at me? I'm her sister, but I can't keep an eye on Felicia 24/7! You're her father, yet you didn't notice right away either! Why hold me responsible for not detecting it earlier?"
After being scolded by his daughter, the middle-aged man cooled down slightly, but the fire in his heart only burned hotter. He shot a glance at his son, the current emperor of the Orlando Empire.
"Use your authority and find that boy as quickly as possible!"
"Elena, can you still not pinpoint Aeolos' location using astrology?" the former emperor of the Orlando Empire, now retired, turned to his wife.
"I can't. His origins are rather unusual, and I can't pinpoint his exact location. I can only determine a general area."
"Mother, the area you pinpointed is ridiculously large—it encompasses all thirteen provinces!" The current emperor sighed in exasperation.
"If you don't like it, next time you deal with anything related to divination or astrology, don't come to me. Find someone else!" The blue-haired woman sitting beside the former emperor responded firmly to her son's complaint.
"No, Mother, I'm sorry!" The new emperor quickly apologized.
"Be grateful. Even a rough location is enough. Search the thirteen provinces thoroughly, and you'll find where he's hiding soon enough.
If he tries to escape using spatial magic, without interference from other teleportation arrays, we can lock onto his location directly!"
...
"Is this really necessary? I'm the victim here!" Aeolos sighed helplessly as he moved through the increasingly locked-down city.
He knew it wasn't just this city being locked down—the entire region's cities would soon be tightly searched by the Orlando Empire's dragon army. An empire like this certainly had the resources to carry out such a thorough operation.
"I have to find a way to escape. It's a shame I can't use even basic spatial magic!" Aeolos sighed again, knowing that the arrays had been shut down to reduce teleportation fluctuations. If he used magic to tear through space, it would surely attract the attention of legendary figures hunting him down.
"But without spatial magic, if this search continues, they'll eventually find me!" Aeolos touched his face, feeling troubled.
"It looks like I'll have to take advantage of the chaos and escape with the trash!" Aeolos recalled a gathering he'd stumbled upon the night before and reluctantly made his decision.
Although the Orlando Empire's actions were aimed at capturing him, they would inevitably unearth some shady characters along the way. And of course, those shady figures wouldn't go down without a fight. They'd attempt to break through the empire's military blockade.
...
"What a bunch of useless fools! I must have been out of my mind to join them in attacking the imperial troops!" Aeolos, clad in a gray robe, dashed through a mountain forest.
He had just participated in a raid with a group of criminals attempting to break through the imperial forces' blockade around the small town. Unfortunately, nearly 90% of them were killed on the spot by the empire's soldiers.
Only a handful, including Aeolos, managed to break through. But they now found themselves marked as high-priority targets by the empire. Each one of them had at least a hundred, if not more, soldiers in pursuit.
Due to Aeolos' exceptional performance during the escape, he now had the honor of being chased by the largest force of all.
...
"We've found you, Aeolos! Where will you run this time?"
After several rounds of pursuit, Aeolos had finally drawn the attention of the Orlando Empire's legendary figures. Now, as he was surrounded, he found himself blocked by an incredibly powerful enemy.
A hand, covered in blue diamond-like scales, broke through space and reached for him. As it approached, the very space around it twisted. At that moment, Aeolos realized he couldn't move.
"Damn it!" Faced with what seemed to be a life-and-death crisis, a fierce light flashed in Aeolos' eyes. Bright arcs of lightning flickered in his gaze as his body began to swell, and something seemed to be pushing against the fabric of his cloak from behind, ready to break free.
But soon, a series of runes appeared, forming a massive and impossibly complex magic array, suppressing all the changes occurring in Aeolos' body.
"Mm!" Though Aeolos didn't manage to break through his restraints, the brief display of power shocked the owner of the blue-scaled hand, causing him to pause momentarily.
...
"How dare they!"
In the majestic palace of Synapse, Muria, seated upon his throne, slowly opened his eyes. His golden gaze revealed the sight of Aeolos frantically trying to break through the seal he had placed. His son was attempting to access his true power to escape his current danger.
"How dare they lay a hand on my son!"
...
"I'm going to die, I'm going to die! This is it! Damn this seal! Why can't I break through? It's just this last thin layer!" Aeolos grew increasingly desperate as the blue-scaled hand closed in on him. Yet his heart remained calm, for he knew he wasn't entirely alone—someone had his back.
Boom!
Aeolos had just leaped over a mountain peak when, in the next instant, the space above the peak collapsed and shattered. From the void, a hand wrapped in lightning and armor reached out, intercepting the massive blue-scaled hand.
"You're a legendary figure, yet you strike like a mere soul cultivator. Don't you feel ashamed?" A grand and majestic voice, slightly ethereal, echoed from the spatial rift.
At the same time, the lightning-wrapped hand grasped the blue-scaled one. The sound of bones shattering and scales cracking filled the air, followed by a muffled groan of pain.
"Who are you?"
"I'm just a passerby who can't stand bullies."
"Hmph!" The current emperor of Orlando, whose fingers had been broken, sneered. But he didn't believe Muria's nonsense for a second. "Did you even bother to find out who I am before interfering?"
"I don't think my status requires me to find out anyone's identity before stepping in."
_________________________
[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!]
[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]
[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter] [+5 Reviews = +1 Chapter]