Chapter 820: Erius’s Anger (2)

Third Person’s POVElis entered first, and behind her walked a tall, handsome young man with long violet hair and calm crimson eyes.

The instant Ethan stepped into the room, every gaze inside the study naturally shifted toward him.

Ethan wasn’t particularly surprised to see Erius inside the study.

From the moment Elis had silently led him away from the academy without offering a single explanation, he had already guessed that he wasn’t being taken back to the white chamber where he had first awakened.

The sudden opening of the Glaciem Ice Abyss had undoubtedly disrupted countless plans throughout Ice Emperor City, and someone as calculating as Queen Shixea would never allow such an opportunity to pass without making new arrangements.

Naturally, that meant he would also become part of those arrangements.

At the same time, Ethan had no intention of openly opposing Shixea’s faction, at least, not yet.

He currently had no place to stay, knew almost nothing about Ice Emperor City, and still needed information and training resources that only people within this faction could provide.

Until he became strong enough to stand on his own, temporarily cooperating with Shixea was far more beneficial than making unnecessary enemies, not to forget the main factor behind his forced cooperation, i.e the mana seals that she used as a bargain to force him to do her bidding.

He currently had no way out of that, and even that old man Dominic had only given him a faint hope that he would help him out against these mana seals if he actually joined forces with him, but had not actually done anything to unseal them.

So, he was stuck as a chess piece between two powerful players, and Ethan, who had been used to having such a powerful Master and having full freedom to do anything and not fear anyone, didn’t like this situation at all.



However, the sight that greeted him upon entering the study still caught his attention.

His crimson eyes swept across the spacious room before stopping on the long wooden display case positioned near the center.

An assortment of exquisite magical weapons rested inside it.

Swords, spears, staffs, sabers, daggers, and even a sinister-looking scythe radiated powerful elemental auras that made the surrounding mana fluctuate faintly.

Standing quietly beside the opened weapon case was the elderly man he had noticed earlier.

His wrinkled face and frail body made him appear like an ordinary old grandfather nearing the end of his life, yet Ethan didn’t underestimate him in the slightest.

Anyone capable of standing so calmly before Queen Shixea while displaying weapons of such quality was certainly no ordinary craftsman.

Without sparing Erius or Aria even a passing glance, Ethan casually walked deeper into the room.

His indifferent attitude made it seem as though neither of them even existed.

He pulled out one of the elegant blue chairs surrounding the study table before sitting down comfortably.

The chair was crafted from pale blue spiritwood and covered with thick white beast fur across its backrest and armrests, making it surprisingly comfortable.

Leaning back slightly, Ethan rested one arm upon the chair before calmly studying the magical weapons displayed before him.

Curiosity flickered within his crimson eyes.

Every weapon carried a distinct aura.

Some radiated overwhelming cold.

Others emitted scorching heat or violent lightning.



Meanwhile, the purple scythe particularly attracted his attention.

Its sinister dark aura felt strangely familiar.

It reminded him faintly of the oppressive and suffocating darkness that had pervaded the Dark Forest, the first place that had been his first battlefield all those years ago, when he had been forced to survive alone for three whole years without a single hope.

Not only did it radiate a similar dark and bloody aura, but its spiritual fluctuations also had that same suffocation and humidity of the Dark Forest.

Seeing Ethan make himself completely at home without the slightest hesitation, one of Shixea’s elegant eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly.

The young man behaved as though this palace belonged to him.

Rather than standing respectfully before the Queen of Ice Emperor City, he comfortably occupied a chair while examining priceless magical weapons with the curiosity of someone browsing merchandise inside a marketplace.

If an outsider witnessed this scene, they would probably assume that everyone else present, including Shixea herself, existed merely to accommodate him.

Under normal circumstances and if he had been a normal subordinate of hers, such behavior would’ve been regarded as blatant disrespect, yet Shixea remained silent.

By now, she understood Ethan’s personality better than anyone else in the room.

He wasn’t deliberately trying to provoke or insult anyone.

This was simply the way he was.

A feeling of great pride was ingrained into his very bones.

He was unyielding by nature and completely indifferent toward authority.

More importantly, despite that personality, he was still following her arrangements exactly as she had intended, evident by the fact that he had returned to the palace without the slightest resistance.

As long as that remained the case, she could tolerate a few displays of insolence from him.

At the same time, her thoughts drifted toward something far more important than Ethan’s manners.



Erius’ angry outburst moments earlier had unintentionally revealed valuable information.

’Just as I expected...’

A faint light flashed through her blue eyes.

’That old fox really summoned him to the tower...and not only that, he even allowed him to meet that girl Arlene.’

That single fact told her much more than Erius probably realized.

Shixea quietly tapped one finger against the armrest of her chair as countless calculations began unfolding within her mind.

At the same time, Shixea finally understood the true reason behind her son’s unusual outburst.

She could now clearly imagine the scene that had taken place within the academy.

The prize that Erius had painstakingly stolen from Arlene after risking so much now seemed to have returned to her side once again.

From his perspective, Ethan wasn’t simply walking beside Arlene.

He was talking with her, and touring the academy with her.

And judging from the report hidden within his emotional outburst, they had already become acquainted.