Chapter 620: Thoren’s Departure

When it was time for Thoren’s departure, they departed from the estate and arrived at the Suncrest City defense line.

The defense base was undergoing reconstruction. Many places still bore the marks and claws of the Beast Tide battle.

Walls were cracked.

Towers leaned at dangerous angles and the ground was scarred with deep gouges where monstrous claws had torn through stone and earth.

Soldiers moved among the rubble, hauling debris and rebuilding what had been destroyed. The air smelled of dust and blood.

However, when news of Thoren’s arrival reached the General and all the commanders, they all came out of their offices.

Even those who were injured left their beds and came to send him off.

The Governor had tried to keep the news of what happened in the Muster Ground underground facilities hidden. But the news still managed to escape to the public.

All the influential families and soldiers knew about the inhuman experiments going on inside the Muster Ground. They knew about the cages and the bodies

Most especially for the soldiers, they were all thankful to Thoren for exposing such an inhuman act.

Many soldiers had mysteriously disappeared from the base without any concrete news or evidence of their disappearance.

Families had mourned without bodies. Mothers had wept without end. But with the secret facilities exposed, many missing soldiers’ corpses were found.

Thus, all the soldiers were full of gratitude toward him.

"Young Master," the General called.

Thoren turned and looked at the General, who seemed to have aged a couple of decades since they last met.

The man’s face was lined with exhaustion and grief, but his eyes held something they had not held before.

Respect.

"Thank you for all you have done for my men and the people of the Suncrest City," the General said, his voice dripping with gratitude.

Just then, one of the commanders shouted.

"Salute!"

The effect was instantaneous.

Every soldier in the defense base snapped to attention. Boots slammed together. Backs straightened.

Hands rose in perfect unison to their brows.

The sound of the salute cracked through the air like thunder, a single unified motion that echoed off the broken walls and scarred towers.

They held the salute.

Not for a second.

Not for two.

They held it with their eyes fixed on Thoren’s face.

Some of them had tears in their eyes. Some had bandages wrapped around their heads and arms.

Some leaned on crutches or were supported by comrades. But every single one of them stood as tall as their wounds allowed.

The atmosphere was charged.

Heavy.

Sacred.

Watching from the side, Ardyn and Serene stood frozen. Their eyes moved across the sea of saluting soldiers, and their hearts swelled with a pride they had never known.

This was their son.

Their boy.

The child they had raised was now a man who commanded the respect of an entire military base.

Serene pressed a hand to her chest and her eyes glistened.

Ardyn did not bother to hide the smile that broke across his face. Just then, many other families arrived.

Members of the Crimson Arc Guild came to show their respect and their gratitude to him. They walked in formation, their banners held high, their faces solemn. They stopped at a respectful distance and bowed as one.

Likewise, Arin and Fidelia’s families appeared. They came to bid him farewell. Arin’s parents, dignified and composed, offered quiet words of thanks.

Fidelia’s mother, her eyes red-rimmed, simply pressed her hands together and bowed. Her father nodded once, a gesture that carried more weight than any speech.

Just when everyone thought no one else was coming, members of the Knight Order guild arrived.

They came in full ceremonial armor, their cloaks billowing in the wind, and they stopped before Thoren with a precision that spoke of their discipline.

They came to say their farewell. Each one prayed he returned alive to them.

Looking at the huge crowd, many were stunned. This includes Thoren’s parents.

Ardyn and Serene exchanged a glance. They had known their son was a talented awakener while also, they knew he was powerful.

But not this.

They had not known he had become a figure who could draw crowds, who could command the loyalty of guilds and soldiers and families alike.

Thoren looked at the crowd one last time without any change in his expression.

He did not speak and he did not bow.

He simply turned and walked out of the defense base toward the Abyss gateway in the distance.

Looking at his departing back, the base was quiet like a graveyard. Each person held their breath.

No one moved.

No one spoke.

The only sound was the wind and the distant hum of the Abyss gateway. Slowly and gradually, his figure vanished into the Abyss gateway’s darkness.

The crowd remained for a long moment, staring at the empty space where he had been. Then, one by one, they dispersed.

...

...

Meanwhile, inside the Governor’s office. The Governor sat behind her desk with an unsightly expression.

Her fingers rested on the wooden table, still and pale. The sneer that had curved her lips moments ago had faded, replaced by something harder.

Something colder.

Her eyes were fixed on the opposite wall, but she was not seeing it. She was seeing him.

Thoren Starfall.

The way he had looked at her. The way he had spoken to her.

The way he had dismissed her as though she were nothing more than a minor inconvenience.

Her jaw tightened.

The anger did not come in waves. It came as a slow, steady burn, building in her chest like a furnace. Every breath she took fed it. Every heartbeat pumped more fuel into the fire.

That brat.

’He dares threaten me.’

The words echoed in her mind like a toiling bell.

Just then, her assistant knocked on the door and pushed it open.

"What?" the Governor snapped, her voice filled with annoyance.

"Thoren Starfall has descended," the assistant announced.

Listening to the report, the deep frown on the Governor’s face lessened for a moment and a sneer crept up her lips.

"Tell the men to begin the plan."

****

[AN: Thank you everyone. We have come to the end of the Second Volume – The Bleeding Desert.

And now, the Third Volume begins.

]