Rivers of the Night
Chapter 374: Mandate Badge

Chapter 374: Mandate Badge

Theron’s demeanor was calm and unhurried. But Monet didn’t seem prepared for battle at all.

Sure, her rapier was out, and her blade was twinkling with golden Mana, but other than that…

Her posture was off; her legs weren’t in an explosive stance, her wrists weren’t relaxed in a confident swordsman manner, but instead in a way that suggested Theron could easily knock her blade from her hands.

She was in the First Gold Resonance Realm, and her Resonance itself was very clearly in the Runebound Realm as well. But she didn’t have the posture of someone experienced in life and death at all.

Theron could tell that this wasn’t because she was so incompetent, but rather because she was waiting for what would inevitably come—the people who would be watching.

For someone who was so angry about her younger brother just moments ago, to be waiting for an audience before she served her justice…

It left Theron with a feeling of disgust in his gut.

It was a disgust he had once held for Thessa—until he grew to the point that he simply didn’t care about her at all. In truth, he had never acknowledged that disgust at all—not until she mentioned his parents, that is.

But this was worse, in Theron’s opinion.

Thessa had killed her own best friends, and that was terrible. But Monet… she felt anger toward the mistreatment of her brother, and yet that somehow lost out to her own vanity.

One could argue in Thessa’s favor, at least to a point. She had done what she thought she had to—not only to protect her own family but also that of her friends. If not for her killing them, anyone related to them would likely have been killed by the cruelty of Aetherion regardless.

But Monet? There was nothing redeeming about what she was doing right now. It wasn’t even internally consistent.

Given how little she thought of Theron, why would she think that defeating a Quasi Gold Mancer in public would make her look better? It didn’t even make sense.

It was as though she was more interested in showing off the power of the badge in her hand than in the battle or revenge for her brother.

Some of this naivety could be considered childish—something that could normally be forgiven.

But Theron had seen this face too many times. And that sneering disregard, as though her casual posture didn’t give him a dozen different ways to not just kill her in an instant, but do so in a completely humiliating fashion.

However, he just continued to stand there, his blades in hand, his expression calm. It was impossible to tell that anything was brewing in his thoughts, nor could anyone stir the well of disgust in his gut.

…

“What the hell is happening here? Who triggered a Mandate Duel in the middle of the fucking palace?”

“Who do you think?”

“There’s no way. She just got it. Why would she waste it on something like this? Doesn’t she know how valuable it is?”

Two young men in their late teens whizzed over, meeting seamlessly as they cruised to a stop. They had the same ash-white hair and crimson eyes, looking off into the distance with a frown on their faces.

However, the frown also seemed tinged with hints of disdain. It didn’t seem like they hated what was happening, but more like they didn’t like their day being interrupted by such a thing.

When a Mandate like this came down, it made it too difficult to sense the Laws in the air. Most people who were training, unless they had solid protections, had to stop—or they would end up triggering Heaven’s rage or entering Cultivation Deviation.

There were definitely more people annoyed than just these two, but there was little they could do. So why not come here to see what had triggered the little princess?

“I always knew she shouldn’t be allowed to have one.”

“It’s not like there’s a choice. The Mandate Guild gives one out to anyone who passes a Tribulation of a certain level.”

“She barely passed.”

“A pass is a pass.”

The two weren’t even arguing; they were just grumbling back and forth as if they couldn’t believe their day had been derailed like this.

“Is one of you going to stop complaining long enough to let me in?!”

A shout came from the other side of the palace’s tall walls.

Right now, they might be in a forest, but it was still all palace territory. This was more of a garden than a forest. And, unfortunately, since it was palace grounds, the only ones allowed in and out casually were members of the Imperial Clan.

“Since when do you follow rules, Ippe? Just leap over the walls.”

“Fuck you. What if there’s someone I’m actually scared of over there? Come get me.”

Even as he said these words, he had already leapt over the wall, his eyes rapidly darting from side to side before giving the two a grin and leaping the rest of the way, landing beside them.

The two Tyre princes couldn’t help but roll their eyes. They knew of this bastard’s antics, but it wasn’t as though anyone could do anything to him.

Ippe Harmon. On the Tribulation Rankings before, he was ranked 99th, while the two of them weren’t even on the list.

Luckily, Ippe was quite a nice guy and didn’t carry an air of superiority wherever he went—unlike their childish cousin. The only trouble was that he wasn’t the best at understanding boundaries or sticking to them.

No… he understood them perfectly well; he just pretended as if he didn’t.

“Hm?” Ippe’s head tilted to the side. “Am I sensing wrong? That little vindictive princess used her Mandate Badge on a Quasi Gold Mancer?”

The eyes of the two princes twitched. They hadn’t been paying that much attention at first, but when Ippe spoke, their heads snapped forward at the same time.

There was no way. Right?

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