Infinite Realm: Monsters & Legends

Chapter 495: Ryun

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Ryun took deep, calming breaths to quell the rage that still simmered within him. The fiery anger that had consumed him was now a dull ember, but it still burned relentlessly in the pit of his being. He had to actively keep a hold on it, or he felt like he would burst. He used his new instrument to keep an appearance, flesh and blood, because he didn't trust himself to create a shell on his own. His body lacked the cracks in his skin that he had grown so accustomed to. Which was logical, this shell was Flesh and Blood Essence, not Void or Oblivion, or a makeshift amalgamation of random Essences. The power of the Grand Spirit of Change allowed his instrument to turn into different Essences it would seem. He hadn't even had a chance to experiment with it, he barely knew what it could do. Selia had been the one that had told him a few things as she figured out. He hadn't even had the time to think about how it was possible for it to be bonded to both of them. He had assumed that their perk, their bond, was smaller than it seemed to be. The fact that it had been presented to him as a single perk had diminished what it really meant, and Ryun only now realized that there was a lot that they had taken for granted. The perk had changed as their connection had grown, but Ryun suspected that they had always been bound fully, that they had only been unlocking what was already there. Or perhaps the Framework had been unlocking it for them, releasing the power that they wouldn't have been able to handle otherwise.

He turned his mind back to the matter at hand. The ravzor man was sitting across from him, and he nodded, then studied their surroundings. Ryun didn't know where they were, he had just taken them as far as he could as fast as he could. He didn't know if they were still in the Exalted Empire's area of influence or not, but it didn't really matter, they wouldn't find them. He had already the disintegrated the small array that had been buried beneath the man's collarbone, and with his power active around them nothing would be able to find them. Once they realized what had happened, Ryun hadn't left any ways of communications, nor anyone living who would be able to call the attack on the prison in. With the prisoners now free, Ryun figured that it would be days, if not weeks before the events at the prison become known, and even then who knows how long it will take for the Empire to realize that Maleatus' release was the goal. They would have more pressing things to worry about.

"The Unchained base of operations," Maleatus said slowly with a nod. "I'm going to assume that you mean their home base, as they have many bases of operations around?"

Ryun inclined his head. "Yes," then he thought better. "Or a place where they would keep a prisoner."

Maleatus tilted his head at that. "A prisoner?" He asked thoughtfully. "That changes things, depending on what kind of a prisoner. They rarely take prisoners."

"A High Ranker prisoner, a powerful one, top of the list," Ryun said, then he thought about it for a moment. "Anatalien," he told him. It wasn't like he had to keep a secret, plus, Selia and Erdania vouched for the man, even though they said that he was a bit of a scoundrel.

Maleatus frowned. "The Unchained don't take High Ranker prisoners, they kill them. That they had taken her means that they have a use for her. All that they care about is their fight against the systems that govern the world. Do you have any idea how Anatalien could help them achieve that? Any secrets that she had, any powerful weapons?"

Ryun thought about it, his mind scouring through his memories. There were many things that Anatalien knew, but Ryun didn't know if any of that was a reason.

"Or does she have any enemies who would want her? Powerful people that the Unchained could trade her life to?" Maleatus added.

Now it was Ryun's turn to frown. He didn't have any idea, the one that came instantly to mind was Awirren, and she was dead. "No, I don't think--" Ryun paused as something occurred to him.

The yeti had attacked his sect, he had fought Zach, but he didn't want to kill him. From what Zach had told Ryun, the yeti had tried to capture him. The Unchained were somehow involved with the yeti, they had helped it escape from the Ethereal Realm. Why would a group that killed High Rankers capture Tali, it made little sense, from what Selia had told him, Zach had witnessed them taking care to keep Tali's power sealed as they captured her. They had the opportunity to kill her. Unless they weren't there for their own goals. They wore armor that had Ra'azel's craftsmanship marked all over them, the Runes.

If they had given her to the yeti... Where would the yeti hide? Somewhere on his own? Or with the Unchained? He couldn't know, he didn't have enough information to be able to speculate on the nature of their relationship. "Their headquarters, that's where I need to go," Ryun said finally. If he was wrong and she wasn't there, he would find people who would know. Maya Rebadotter had been stalwart in her beliefs, but Ryun knew that not all people were like that. At the very least he would find more clues.

Maleatus nodded. "Their headquarters is difficult to find, and even harder to infiltrate, it is a small territory, a mountain."

"Where is it?" Ryun asked.

"That is the difficult part," Maleatus rolled his shoulder. "It moves."

Ryun blinked. "What?"

"It is a flying mountain, something like Fenera's Kingdom," he answered.

Fenera was one of the members of their group, the one that had joined with the Herald. If he remembered correctly, her kingdom was made up of flying islands.

"Theirs is much bigger," Maleatus continued. "A mountain with a small town at its base and a fortress on top. It is hidden by clouds that cover entire territories, and it flies so high that most never even wonder if there is anything up above. It is not only hard to find, it holds tens of thousands of their people. Some of them are High Ranker level."

Ryun tilted his head and Maleatus nodded.

"Hunting High Rankers is a difficult task. The Unchained's more famous or better said, infamous, people are those that you probably know about, but they have more teams. People who infiltrate, who discover information, who steal, who clear dungeons and earn Essence. An organization such as theirs doesn't survive as long as they had, doing what they do, if it doesn't have powerful people."

"I am not concerned with their people, only mine," Ryun said, anger starting to rise up again.

"Of course, most of them are the people that they rescued anyway. Some are strong, but I doubt that any are on your level. Regardless, only a warning."

"So you can't find their home?" Ryun asked.

"I didn't say that," Maleatus grinned. "You are very lucky, I have infiltrated their home before, well, just the town, not the fortress as it was too well defended even for me to risk it. But it ultimately doesn't matter. I possess a... A power that allows me to find all locations that I had previously marked and teleport to them instantly. Now, I can't get you there, they have protections that prevent such unauthorized teleportation. But I still left a mark, and I can track their moving mountain for you."

Ryun closed his eyes and felt some of his anger drain from him. Finally, he had a target that he could reach.

I'm coming Tali, just a little bit longer.