Regaleon: The Forgotten Knight

In the meantime, while the rest of the cohort subconsciously interpreted Regaleon’s overwhelming aura as majesty and felt an almost instinctive reverence toward him, Aureleah interpreted it as something else entirely.

For some strange reason, that crawling sensation she had felt earlier returned. But this time, it came with overwhelming intensity.

It crashed down upon her like an invisible weight, settling heavily upon her chest and tightening every nerve within her body. Her muscles tensed instinctively while her instincts screamed.

Yet this feeling wasn’t the result of fear or dread. Rather, it was the result of something far more primal.

It seemed like her body’s instantaneous reaction to the presence of something that opposed it; something that it instinctively recognized as incompatible.

In a way, one could interpret the sensation as revulsion. But if Aureleah were to describe it mildly, she would perhaps call it antipathy.

Even that word, however, didn’t quite capture what she was feeling. It wasn’t simply dislike neither was it hatred nor hostility in the conventional sense.

It was something deeper; something that seemed to originate from a part of her that existed beyond reason.

Honestly, even Aureleah herself didn’t understand what she was feeling as the reaction wasn’t something she could simply switch on and off.

For some inexplicable reason, Regaleon felt like her rival. No. Perhaps even worse than that... He felt like her enemy.

The various thoughts and emotions became entangled with one another until Aureleah’s mind itself became muddled, leaving even her unable to distinguish one sensation from another.

She simply continued staring at the pure radiance pouring from Regaleon’s body. Her distant silver eyes flashed and for the briefest instant, her pupils narrowed into slits.

A sharp, sinister glint passed through her gaze. But the moment was so fleeting that nobody noticed because the rest of the cohort remained completely captivated by the glowing figure at the center of the pool.

Even Sylveris, who stood closest to Aureleah, failed to detect her sister’s sudden change in demeanor. The young girl simply stared at the breathtaking phenomenon before her, completely gobsmacked.

At some point, Aelric had also moved away from the corner where he had been standing. He was now beside the group, his emerald eyes fixated on Regaleon.

His brows were furrowed in seriousness, while his gaze had sharpened to the point that it seemed capable of piercing straight through solid structures.

Aelric was of a higher cultivation realm than anyone present. Yet even he couldn’t deny the tremors rippling through his heart.

For some inexplicable reason, the moment Regaleon began undergoing that pre-cultivation phenomenon, Aelric had also felt an impulsive urge to abandon everything and bow his head before him.

The urge wasn’t particularly overwhelming but Aelric couldn’t deny that it had affected him more than he cared to admit. And that was precisely what bothered him.

From the beginning, the green-eyed youth had regarded these breakthroughs as little more than random exercises for a group of teenagers.

There was no harm in helping them. After all, their strength and experience would be valuable to the Sanctuary several months or years from now.

So what was a little investment in the present?

Truthfully, Aelric hadn’t expected any shocker or revelation that would rattle him. After all, he had seen enough of the world to lose his composure over something as mundane as a few breakthroughs.

In fact, when they had begun, only two people had managed to genuinely garner his attention and they were Regaleon and Aureleah.

Even then, Aelric had merely been impressed by their respective talents.

At first, when he witnessed Aureleah’s breakthrough, his aversion to assassins had merely risen to another fold but that was all.

However, now that he was witnessing Regaleon’s breakthrough, Aelric couldn’t deny it any longer.

He was completely bamboozled and his thoughts couldn’t help but drift back to that time in the cave; to the moment Regaleon had crushed merely five Aether Cores and caused his Soul Essence to ascend to an entirely new tier.

It was from that moment that Aelric had realized that Regaleon was inherently more unique than the others despite his unassuming exterior and his seemingly good-for-nothing talents.

There was something fundamentally different about him. And now, after witnessing this scene, that conviction had been reinforced beyond measure.

Just who are you, truly?

Aelric’s eyes narrowed. His mind raced through every legendary family, ancient bloodline, forgotten figure, and powerful existence he had ever heard of.

Yet nothing came to mind nor was there any dot connecting Regaleon to those mythical figures he knew.

And perhaps that was what made the Forgotten Knight so frightening.

Regaleon didn’t fit anywhere neither did he belong to any category Aelric knew. For all he knew, the silver-haired Knight was an acute description of an anomaly.

In the meantime, the dazzling radiance surrounding Regaleon finally began to recede.

The imperious majesty radiating from his body gradually faded, disappearing little by little until it vanished altogether with the faint outlines of the six massive wings behind him.

The cavern finally returned to its previous tranquility. And only then did the rest of the group finally snap out of their mesmerized trance.

"What just happened?" Veyrath rubbed his head, his expression still dazed.

For some reason he couldn’t explain, the failed Alchemist suddenly felt like someone who had just woken after sleeping for several days.

"I don’t know." Valmyr shook his head.

It wasn’t just the two of them that felt muddled up. Everyone else also felt somewhat lethargic, their minds still struggling to recover from the overwhelming phenomenon they had just witnessed.

Well... Everyone except Aureleah.

Throughout the entire phenomenon, Aureleah hadn’t shifted her gaze away from Regaleon even once. If anything, the intensity with which she stared at him could only be described as unnerving.

"Uhm... Aureleah?" Caelestra’s hesitant voice finally came from nearby. "Do you know what just happened?"

The question finally succeeded in shifting Aureleah’s attention. he silver-haired Assassin turned toward her and that slight action froze the whole blood in Caelestra’s body.

The sinister aura Aureleah had previously managed to repress had somehow flared up again. It spread through the surrounding area like an invisible fog, casting the environment into a gloomy and dreadful state.

As a matter of fact, it had taken a considerable amount of courage—and even more determination—for the failed Merchant to finally speak to her.

Caelestra swallowed nervously when Aureleah turned fully toward her.

Her pupils were still slitted; those silver, snake-like irises gleamed with a dark and predatory light.

Caelestra’s breath caught. "Ah—!"

She instinctively flinched backward. That reaction finally caused Aureleah to snap out of whatever strange state she had fallen into.

Her pupils immediately returned to normal and the sinister aura vanished along with the oppressive atmosphere.

Aureleah blinked, then she noticed Caelestra staring at her as though she had just seen a ghost.

Her brows furrowed in confusion as she asked. "What?"

Caelestra didn’t answer immediately. She was still trying to process what she had just seen.

Those eyes and that unmistakably serpentine gaze. For a moment, she wondered whether her mind had simply conjured the entire thing.

Perhaps it had been nothing more than a hallucination born from the strange events surrounding their breakthroughs.

But if that was the case, how was she supposed to explain what she had seen with the completely normal eyes now staring back at her?

Eventually, Caelestra shook her head. "Oh. Nothing. Don’t worry."

Her voice betrayed how much more unsettled she actually was than she wanted to appear.

She didn’t hesitate afterward and she simply walked away from Aureleah.

Somehow, standing beside that girl made Caelestra feel as though she could lose her head at any moment. And while she trusted Aureleah with her life, she wasn’t about to gamble that life away for no reason.

Besides, something else was bothering her.

That strange sensation only reinforced the thought that whatever had happened during their breakthroughs might have begun affecting them in ways they didn’t understand.

Why does it suddenly seem like no one is normal after their breakthrough?

For some peculiar reason, that was the thought that struck her as she walked away.

Aureleah watched Caelestra leave, still perplexed. Honestly, she had no idea why the failed Merchant had reacted that way.

If only she knew the reason behind Caelestra’s unease... Then one could only imagine whether she would still remain calm.

While the group was still reeling from the phenomenal impact of Regaleon’s breakthrough, his body suddenly jolted.

His eyes snapped open.

"Ugh!"

A heavy groan of pain escaped his lips.

Without hesitation, his right hand flew toward his temple as he began massaging it.

The reason for the sudden headache was simple.

The moment his breakthrough had ended, Regaleon had suddenly felt as though his consciousness had been slammed back into place within his brain with tremendous force.

It was so sudden and violent that the impact made his entire head feel as though it had been struck by a hammer from the inside.

For a moment, his vision blurred, his thoughts became chaotic and even his sense of balance seemed to abandon him.

Yet oddly enough, the moment Regaleon regained control of his motor functions and the rest of his body, he could no longer feel that strange will affecting him.

It had vanished completely. Even now, he still had no idea what that autonomous mechanism had been. But whatever it was, Regaleon believed he would find out eventually.

For now, however, there was a more immediate problem.

The others had to deal with a post-cultivation haze that fogged their minds after breaking through to become Etheryeans.

Regaleon, on the other hand, had to deal with a post-cultivation skull-splitting headache that left him teetering dangerously close to the edge of consciousness.

Either way, one couldn’t exactly say which was better...

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