The King Of Warriors novel (Jared Chance) novel Chapter 5350

True to its name, Twilight Valley lay ablaze. Evening blanketed the valley, and trailing banners of peach and crimson light kissed every blossom on the countless flower-trees until the whole ravine shimmered like poured gold.

At the heart of that glow, beside a silver stream, the celestial princess, Lorraine, sat alone on a block of iolite. Her white gown ghosted over the rock as her fingertip skimmed the water, rippling golden divine markings across the surface—the very woman Jared and Flaxseed had rescued days before.

Hidden behind the petal-heavy trees, Jared watched the clouded sorrow knotting her brow and chose, for the moment, to stay silent.

Only when the sun slid completely beneath the rim of the world and twilight swallowed the gorge did he strike. Lorraine rose to leave—then gold chains of spiritual energy lashed her wrist, freezing her divine power mid-breath.

“You again! What do you want?” Her eyes, bright with divine gold, narrowed to wary slits.

“I'm bringing you back to Celestia,” Jared answered, voice flat, aura tightening around her wrist. “Your Celestial Guards scour every province for you. Better you walk beside me than be dragged home in irons. I don't grope captives the way they will.”

“Stop wasting strength. You're a notch below my realm. Keep thrashing and all you'll earn is pain.” Lorraine struggled to break free, but Jared's spiritual energy clamped down like iron tongs. She summoned the celestial power within her, golden divine markings flaring across her body, yet they were instantly suppressed by the Exorcism Charm from Jared's other hand.

“Impossible! You're barely at Earthly Immortal Realm Level One. How could you bind me?” Lorraine continued to struggle.

Yet no matter how fiercely she twisted, the golden coils held fast, clamping around her aura like iron jaws.

“Earthly Immortal Realm Level One or not, you're still outmatched. Quit the dramatics and walk.” A faint, wintry smile ghosted across Jared's lips.

“I will die before I set foot in Celestia again!”

Defiance flashed; celestial power surged as she tried to turn it inward, intent on shattering her own meridians.

The threat came out blunt and brutal, the way a brawler might speak in a tavern yard rather than a courier of destiny addressing a princess.

Color rushed to Lorraine's cheeks. Her knees pressed together of their own accord, mortified by his crudity. She bit down on her lower lip, glancing at the Immortal Binding Rope on her wrists—an insult as much as a restraint—yet she swallowed the protest that trembled at the edge of her tongue.

Jared offered no further explanation. He took her slender waist, stepped onto a current of light, and the two of them rose into the open sky, carving a silent arc toward the distant Celestia City.

They flew for eight long hours. Somewhere beyond the horizon, the world changed.

Wisps of cloud thickened into billows the color of milk and fire, glowing faintly gold from within. Celestial energy soaked the air so densely it almost condensed into droplets; each breath made Jared's meridians hum and burn.

The jagged ridges below melted away, replaced by an endless plain rolling out like a sea of green velvet.