Chapter 169: Nothing lasts forever
The days passed quickly. The summer remained just as hot; however, with each passing day, the sun seemed to grow stronger. It was as if it were burning high in the sky, wanting to transform the earth into a vast inferno.
On Quian Mountain, the breezes still blew strongly. Those winds alleviated the unbearable weight of the heat. Thanks to them, the air did not become a suffocating yoke, but rather a harsh respite that kept the summer heat at bay.
The rope system allowed people to move around naturally. Sliding along them, they moved from one point to another while chatting quietly, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. For outsiders, it was a rare sight; for the inhabitants of Quian, it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Accustomed to it since birth, this practice was part of their daily lives. The vertigo, the creaking of the pulleys... none of that bothered them. On the contrary, it was as natural as walking along a dirt path.
In one of the most luxurious houses in the city. Inside, Liyana danced happily. Her bare feet glided lightly from side to side, her silk skirt swaying as if following the beat of an invisible rhythm.
A big smile lit up her face as she clutched a search sheet tightly in her hands. At that moment, she couldn’t have been happier.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA~!" Her laughter rang out, full of euphoria. "I knew it, I knew he wasn’t dead! How could my dear husband die so easily? Impossible! That’s not the man I fell in love with!"
Liyana spun, her feet moving with refined grace, as if dancing on an invisible stage. Her movements were elegant, but there was a disturbing undertone to that elegance, making her seem more like a priestess in a trance than a lady celebrating.
This could be the happiest day since the destruction of the Medici Clan. That news suddenly erased all the doubts she had carried for so long.
A few days earlier, wanted posters had arrived in the mountains. They bore the name Kael Medici in dark letters, marked as a target after an incident on Mount Dubhu. The poster was clear and direct: he was wanted dead or alive, and the reward offered was a staggering 20,000 mana stones!
For many, that figure was enough to ignite the deepest greed. A single letter like that was enough to attract countless hunters, mercenaries, and those hungry for power, all eager to claim such a juicy reward.
But for Liyana, none of that mattered. The reward, the blood that would undoubtedly be spilled because of that warning... it was all irrelevant. The only thing that really mattered was the certainty that the flyer brought with it.
Kael was alive.
Alive!
That single confirmation was enough to ignite a flame in his heart that neither time nor tragedy had managed to extinguish.
"HAHAHAHA~!"
Her laughter continued to echo throughout the luxurious house, drawing the attention of everyone around her... Meanwhile, Gabriel’s face contorted as he looked at the wanted poster.
His eyes burned with hatred as he stared at Kael’s portrait on the paper, just as his platonic love Liyana was about to give up on him.
"Shit! Why? Why now? Damn it!" Gabriel angrily tore up the poster. Hearing Liyana’s happy laughter, his anger and hatred only grew, and a cruel look appeared in his eyes.
"I just have to make that damn bastard die." A plan began to form in his mind, and his smile grew as the plan took shape in his mind.
...
Chrysar Mountain
Through the streets, coffin-shaped carriages drawn by skeletal horses glided slowly. Their dry hooves struck the cobblestones with a hollow sound. The creaking of the wheels echoed in the air.
The houses, old and worn by time, stood on both sides. Their cracked and blackened walls looked like relics from another era, as if they had withstood centuries of wind, dust, and silence.
The inhabitants wore elegant suits and top hats. At first glance, they appeared refined, but their pale faces and sunken eyes gave them an unsettling presence.
Despite its peculiar culture, the streets were brimming with vitality. Merchants hawked their wares in deep voices, children ran among the shadows of the carriages, and street musicians played melancholic melodies on bone instruments.
Several shops made of bones displayed strange products: lamps made from polished skulls, canes adorned with femurs, jars containing grayish powder, and dark hearts suspended in viscous liquids.
Lyra, who was enjoying the gentle breeze on her face, while her blood-red hair fluttering like a flag.
She had already reached rank 5. She had become one of the youngest people to reach that rank in the entire Northern Frontier, and now she was at the pinnacle of mortal power, just one rank away from becoming a demigod.
At that moment, a servant approached her with the utmost respect. Her steps were light, almost fearful, and in her hands she held a carefully folded parchment. Without looking up, she handed it over with a bow.
She took it, somewhat confused. Why were they suddenly giving her a wanted poster? She didn’t understand. The gesture was strange, out of place... until she unfolded the paper and her eyes fell on the portrait that had been drawn in detail.
"Kael Medici..." she uttered the name in a low voice, laden with disbelief, as if she were speaking of a dead man.
Her eyes, which until then had been dull, began to regain their sparkle. The more she looked at the name and portrait, the more her heart raced. It was the face of her brother, the one she had given up for dead, along with the rest of her family.
"Really...? My younger brother is alive!" Her voice trembled, a mixture of amazement and suppressed hope.
She still couldn’t believe it. The destruction of her clan had been final, or so she thought. However, this small discovery changed everything. If Kael had survived... could others have made it too?
The wanted poster in her hands was no longer just a document. It was a spark, a glimmer of hope that pierced the darkness of her memory.
She was right. The only survivors of the destruction of the Medici clan were Michel, Kael, and Liyana. The rest had all died at the hands of wild beasts or infiltrators from different kingdoms.
"Thank you... for being alive, Kael."
Lyra pressed the wanted poster against her face. Her tears rolled silently down her cheeks. They were not tears of sadness, but of deep happiness, so rare that it seemed unreal.
Now that she knew her brother was still alive, an invisible weight slowly lifted from her chest. For months, she had carried that silent anguish, like a chain tightening around her heart.
The simple fact of knowing he existed freed her, even if only a little. Her desire was immediate: to go find him, to run to his side without hesitation.
However, reality was unforgiving. Her current position meant that her every move was being watched.
She was no longer simply a Medici but someone who had reached rank 5, the pinnacle of mortal power. Such a figure could not move freely; her every action provoked suspicion, intrigue, and conflict.
But even so, the news that her brother was alive was enough to sustain her. She had already waited long months in silence. She could wait a little longer. What did it matter to add more time to the wait if the end of that road was getting closer and closer?
"Hah..."
Lyra sighed softly and closed her eyes. The breeze caressed her face, ruffling her hair as if to comfort her. But unlike before, this time a smile appeared on her lips. A faint smile, but a real one.
...
Meanwhile, in the Holy Empire, in the great city of San Martín, Kael, who was oblivious to everything that was happening, found himself in a very peculiar, not to say strange, situation.
In front of him lay the corpse of Sister Mily, hanging from a beam, her face purple and her body extremely cold; some of the children clung to the body with tears in their eyes, calling her name.
"Sister Mily, why aren’t you answering? You still haven’t told us the story of the Ancient Sun God."
"You said you would stay with us. Why aren’t you answering, Sister Mily? Please answer, don’t go to the sacred kingdom like my parents."
"Sister, please wake up, don’t leave us alone... please, you have many stories to tell us, and we have many questions."
The children’s crying intensified when they saw that, despite everything, Sister Mily did not respond to their voices, and it was obvious that she was not going to respond if they were talking to a corpse.
Kael stepped forward and touched each of the children’s heads, saying in a gentle voice, "Say goodbye to Sister Mily; she is now resting in the bloody kingdom of the Ancient Sun God."
He wasn’t going to be so cruel to a group of children. The best thing he could do was lie to them and give them a farewell; the weight of loss was something they would all experience at some point.
Whether it was your mother, your father, your sister, your lover, a pet, or a friend, in the end, everyone was going to die.
It was inevitable.
Nothing lasts forever.