After a long explanation and many attempts to wake Marc's mother, who fainted at the sight of the Emperor...
"You could try being less intimidating."
Turcan simply raised his eyebrows.
"And how am I supposed to do that?"
"Don't be here. It's simpler."
"All right."
They managed to leave Orio and set off in the direction of Erazel.
Feeling extremely stressed, Mary kept trying to remember all the mistakes she might have made against the throne. And even though there weren't any, she imagined numerous serious situations in which the slightest action could cost someone their life in this empire.
"I don't understand why the Emperor's carriages are accompanying us."
"Don't worry, Mom."
"So that's where you were going, my son, every time you disappeared."
"No."
"I don't know whether to be proud of you or not. Trading with the Turcan Emperor, what an idea."
Marc told himself that his parents might never understand him and it was better that way.
He looked out of the carriage window, to see many people watching him and his family being transported by the Emperor himself. They were all stunned, trying to figure out if this was a noble or important family.
Outside, whispers and rumors were already spreading like wildfire.
"Who are they?"
"Are they from another empire?"
"Why do they travel with the Emperor?
"Are they important?"
"What have they already achieved to have this privilege?"
No one knew. Marc didn't either.
"Do you think he really wants to help us, Marc?"
Nathanaël was watching the crowd too. From his point of view, The Emperor couldn't be a nice, powerful character. He had to have his big reasons.
"Maybe?"
Marc didn't really trust the Emperor, but compared to him, he had no choice.
So, on the way to Erazel, he let himself sleep calmly on his seat, enjoying the light breeze that caressed his face...
*
Erazel was more modern than Orio. These buildings rose higher and there was a huge tower right in the middle of it.
"So this is the most prestigious school in the world. Cartillar."
But what really made Ezrael famous was its vast and prestigious academy, which admitted only the Empire's elite. And they drove right past in a carriage. And it goes without saying that his appearance lived up to his reputation.
"What's the point of so much space if the admission rate is so low."
"To look pretty, I suppose."
"It wasn't the Turcan Emperor who erected this school. It was his father. Emperor Charles."
It was said that Emperor Charles had made the prestige of the Zvenne Empire and Emperor Turcan had made its glory.
"That doesn't surprise me."
The Cartillar Academy was anything but an ordinary school.
The complex covered several square kilometers and resembled a large, independent city more than anything else. Huge black-stone buildings formed a circle around a central tower so tall that it almost disappeared into the clouds. From any point on campus, it was impossible to overlook it.
The main entrance was marked by a monumental arch capable of accommodating several hundred students side by side. Above the gates were engraved the academy's name and the principles that governed the institution. Dark banners hung down the facades, bearing the school's official emblem.
It was a magnificent, perfectly symmetrical compass rose, whose four cardinal points were marked by triangles more pronounced than the intermediate directions. In the center of the rose stood the symbol of the Empire, serving as absolute proof that one was indeed in Zvenne and nowhere else.
The architecture emphasized vertical lines. The walls were lined with narrow windows illuminated by a reddish light visible even through the downpours.
The central courtyard was immense. The polished stone floor reflected the light from the lanterns and the surrounding buildings. Even in the rain, groups of students crossed the walkways without slowing down. No one spoke loudly. In this place, discipline seemed to be second nature.
Everything about this school was designed to reinforce a single reality: only the best belonged there.
The students were constantly surrounded by symbols of power, strict rules, and a clearly established hierarchy. The imposing buildings, the silent statues, and the guards stationed at strategic points gave the whole place an atmosphere of constant surveillance that sent a shiver down Marc's spine.
He never imagined himself studying at a school like that.
Erazel, though impressive, possessed an ugly flaw: her colors. Compared to Orio, where a magnificent golden sun illuminated the city, Erazel had only black clouds to keep it company. The atmosphere was very heavy because of the weather. It rained often, and there was hardly ever a ray of sunshine. Marc noticed that the city seemed to be extinguished.
And the aura it exuded was just as extinguished.
"What a sad town."
"We've arrived at the place where you're staying. We'll leave you here. The children are coming with us."
Exorian may have been as polite as possible, he still seemed to be giving orders.
They changed carriages to go with the Emperor to the ruins.
Mary grabbed Marc's arm as he stepped out.
"Be careful."
"I will be."
Marc didn't want to worry his mother.
David simply gave him a nod and a smile as he watched him leave. Even though it was a nervous smile, he had confidence in his son.
Marc got out of the carriage and headed for the Emperor's carriage.
The rain was pounding down on him. The only lights were those of the street lamps.
A dark, red light.
"Are you coming, Marc?"
The Emperor looked at Marc with emerald eyes that pierced the darkness. His look, reminiscent of superiority, landed on Marc's dark eyes.
"I'm coming."
*
After a short trip, the Emperor's carriage arrived at the ruins and what the small group found there was not very encouraging.
The ground was strewn with stone. Nothing remained of the great church of old. All had been destroyed. One could still see the central statue, of which only the base remained. The other statues, whose eyes had been pierced, had been cut in half. There was no trace of the lady's presence around the ruins.
"There's nothing left here. It's all in ruins. If you see anything more than me. Let me know."
Marc and his friends walked around the church. Some stones contained engravings, but no one could decipher anything. Nevertheless, Marc could read the word Aregis in some places because there were still quite a few inscriptions on the stones on the ground.
Nathanaël noticed how Marc would pause at certain words. Recognizing the characters of that famous word, he then realized that Marc sometimes stopped whenever he found it carved into certain stones.
"It's weird that you can read that. Your connection with that word is pretty scary."
"Yes, I know."
Not far from there, the Emperor's voice interrupted their search.
"There's nothing else to take from this ruin. It's in pieces. It'll be the same with Monriv and Jacod, but we're going to see them anyway. We never know. Your parents will stay here. It's better if they don't make all the trips."
"Agreed."
They set off for the towns of Monriv and Jacod and the results were identical. None of the ruins left the slightest clue. Jacod was burnt to a crisp and Monriv looked as if it had turned to dust. Marc could only read the word where it was possible to read it.
Then it was time to go to the last place.
"Zvenne? The capital?"
"Yes. The last ruin is in the capital. I won't be able to accompany you as Emperor if I don't want to be spotted."
"Are we really going to Zvenne?"
"Try to be discreet. In Zvenne, they don't like strangers."
"Yes, chief."
"Stop calling me chief."
The horses were soon replaced by luxury cars.
Marc then wondered why everyone in this life would first choose to use the old methods before switching to the obviously simpler solution right after.
It was the same with Nathanaël, who had given them a sword instead of a gun.
"We'll change cars in Zirlande. We don't want to attract attention."
They went from luxury cars to what he might call normal cars. According to the Emperor, at any rate...
Marc didn't want to leave the fast cars offered by the Emperor, but he had no choice.
Two cars left the Emperor's guard and seeing that they were now alone, Elie asked the question.
"Aren't you afraid of being isolated?"
"Afraid? Me? What would I be afraid of?"
Elie quickly regretted her question when she saw the emerald eyes staring back at her intensely. Looking at the Emperor, Marc thought that he too needed to work on his aura. If he could reach a certain level, he was sure he could do as the Man in Black had done the day he conjured up the sword to kill him. For him, the aura represented one's power. The more imposing, the more powerful. Which justified the fear he'd felt that day.
"We've arrived. "
And that was the most pleasant surprise of the trip.
Zvenne deserved the praise they were giving it. Jin's eyes, dark though they were, lit up at the sight of the city.
It was simply dazzling.
Buildings of an architecture never seen before. Marc thought he was seeing the future in his present. Cars seemed to be flying through the sky, buildings were floating and people were running on the walls. Worst of all, everything seemed to be done in an ancient style, making the city seem supernatural. Elie thought the city had been made with superpowers.
The city's fantastic, futuristic feel was its charm.
Nathanaël described it as the most beautiful city he had ever seen. Marc's mother faints.
Marc's father faints too.
"Welcome to Zvenne."
The city seemed to belong to an era that no one had yet reached.
Immense towers soared into the sky, each slightly shorter than the Cartillar Tower but just as impressive when grouped together. Their architecture defied any known classification. Some echoed the silhouettes of ancient cathedrals or palaces, with domes, arches, and slender spires, but their proportions and materials evoked a futuristic technology he'd only seen in the world's greatest cities—nowhere else.
Luminous lines ran along the facades like veins of energy. Between the main buildings, platforms floated in mid-air with no visible supports. Gigantic structures seemed to literally defy gravity.
Traffic lanes crisscrossed the city on multiple levels. Some ran alongside the canals, while others passed over neighborhoods hundreds of meters above the ground. Vehicles glided silently along these elevated roads, giving the impression that the sky had become a second city.
The strangest thing, however, was the contrast between the past and the future.
Despite the impossible technologies visible everywhere, no building had the cold or industrial appearance one would have expected from an advanced city. The streets were lined with monumental colonnades. The towers displayed intricate decorations carved directly into their structures. Some buildings resembled ancient temples, palaces, or observatories more than they did skyscrapers.
The city did not seem to have been built by engineers, but by architects capable of reshaping the laws of the world as they pleased.
Each neighborhood gave the impression that an ancient civilization had discovered a technology several millennia ahead of its time, then integrated it into its aesthetic without ever abandoning its traditions.
The result was a city that seemed at once ancient and futuristic, familiar and utterly alien. A city that resembled less a human creation than the vision of a world that had taken a different path from that of known history.
How could such a city exist? The whole group was asking the same question.
But as they all stood silently watching the city, the cars moved slowly forward, then took a few bends, separating from the road that led to the Emperor's castle.
If they could call it a castle.
An immense mansion rising almost to the clouds stood in the very center of the city. Dozens of pointed peaks, thousands of panes of glass, water all around, flowers in many places...
the castle could reflect the glory of man.
"Emperor's Glory. That's the name of the castle."
A name so arrogant it suited him so well. No one could argue with this building.
Marc then looked at the Emperor. His aura had intensified, but it wasn't threatening. It was glorious. As if the proximity of his palace made his presence even more glorious than it already was.
And the cars drove away... farther and farther... so that instead of showing the magnificent view of the city, the scene shifted to a part where time had taken its toll.
"The ruins are ruined here."
Far from the castle and the center of the capital, the ruins of Zvenne's church were impeccable.
They seemed to reflect the splendor of the city.
"These are the ruins that have been best preserved. That makes sense to me, given that we're in the capital. But they're also the strangest."
Marc observed the ruins.
Their aura was indeed dangerous. He could sense a mixture of antiquity and deep resentment there. In fact, after observing them for so long, Marc could sometimes sense the intentions emanating from their auras, which sometimes allowed him to recognize an object. The ruins had similar auras; it wasn't hard to distinguish them because they reeked of the aura of the statue of Zodric.
But each time, there were other auras mingling in the mix, and one of which seemed quite familiar to him. Although he had never been certain, he could now confirm its presence in the best-preserved ruin right before his eyes. *
And that did not please him in the least.
A bead of sweat appeared on his forehead as his breathing and heartbeat quickened, and he narrowed his eyes to see more clearly.
But Nathanaël then tapped him on the shoulder to find out what he was staring at so intently, which distracted him slightly.
"Marc?"
"Yes."
And before he could fully focus on that particular aura, it vanished, blending back into the whole once more, becoming imperceptible again.
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. Don't worry."
Marc told himself it was a dream, but in that last moment of doubt he looked at Elie. And she was no better. Her eyes seemed to indicate that she too had seen something not very pleasant amid the ruins.
She looked at Marc.
"He was there."
"Yes."
Exorian jumped into the conversation.
"Who are you talking about?"
And Marc replied in a voice that was almost trembling.
"The man in black."
The mood of the group grew dull. Everyone knew who this man was, and even though Jin, Exorian and the Emperor Turcan didn't know him, they were very worried about him.
Turcan merely looked back at the ruins with a thoughtful expression.
"So it was him."
Intrigued, Marc asked him:
"Have you seen him before?"
"No. But I felt that aura the first time I came. And it was in that ruin that a man died. Since that day, I no longer have it guarded. It's too dangerous. Prepare yourself. Exorian, prepare my equipment."
"Yes, Majesty"
Exorian did as he was told.
And suddenly, the atmosphere in the group changed once again. And the tension began to skyrocket. The Emperor had never been so serious since they'd known him.
His gaze shifted toward Marc like two green beams piercing him straight through the heart.
"Marc."
"Yes."
"You remember those white beings from the other world you told me about."
Marc's eyes opened wide...
"There are some in there. They're guarding this ruin."
Jin felt the excitement rising...
"You'll finally be able to use the equipment I gave you."
At those words, Marc's gaze quickly shifted to his own body. He had completely forgotten that he was wearing a full suit of armor.
"As soon as I open the door, get into fighting stance. Let's see what you've got."
The Emperor looked at them out of the corner of his eye. He was surprised to see that none of the kids seemed frightened.
"Here's your sword, Majesty."
"Thank you, Exorian. Prepare yourself too."
Exorian then handed him a midnight-blue scabbard on which nothing special had been engraved. But just by seeing the aura emanating from it, Marc realized that this scabbard concealed a true monster within...
The Emperor moved towards the door. Slowly, he opened it cautiously. As soon as it was ajar, he understood...
"They're coming."