Chapter 96: [Chapter 96 ● The Master’s Return!]
The two exchanged glances before nodding obediently. Their excitement remained completely visible, but neither disagreed. Then, as though suddenly remembering something, Auguszta tilted her head. Her eyes shifted toward Clementine.
"Speaking of which... where is that Azara girl, big sister?" A suspicious look appeared on her face. "You didn’t kill her or something, did you?"
Aphryne immediately became interested as well. Clementine stared at the two for a moment before laughing softly. "No. Of course not." Amusement filled her voice. "I’m not nearly foolish enough to allow such a precious gem to die."
The smile on her face became slightly mysterious. "I simply made her into my die-hard follower."
She punctuated the statement with a playful wink. Both Aphryne and Auguszta blinked. Then, realization slowly appeared on their faces.
"As for where she is..." Clementine continued casually. "She has already returned to the academy." Her smile deepened. "After all, she never came here in the first place."
The tone of her voice carried obvious meaning.
"So naturally..."
"She shouldn’t be seen here either," Aphryne finished.
Understanding immediately dawned upon her.
"Oh."
Auguszta nodded as well. The two girls exchanged amused looks before quietly chuckling. Indeed. That explanation was far cleaner, far safer, and far more useful. Satisfied that everything had been handled properly, the three women exchanged a final glance before simultaneously activating the sub-ability, Eternal Convergence Corridor. Space distorted, distance folded, and the next moment, all three vanished from the balcony entirely.
When they reappeared, they found themselves inside a dimly lit room located far away from the subtle disorder spreading through Varion. The instant they arrived, an amused voice greeted them.
"You three have been having quite a bit of fun, haven’t you?" Aezaleon asked in a teasing tone.
The three instinctively turned toward the source of the voice. He sat beside the window, his figure illuminated by the pale moonlight spilling into the room. In that quiet atmosphere, his deep crimson eyes seemed particularly striking, naturally drawing their attention the moment they landed upon him. Aezaleon raised an eyebrow, his gaze sweeping across the three women.
"What? I don’t think I’m handsome enough to make all three of you lose your breath like this."
Taking a leisurely sip from his teacup, he looked at them with obvious amusement dancing within his eyes. Putting the teacup back down, he clicked his tongue dramatically. "Tsk. Tsk. Looks like that really is the case. I’m the only saint in this family while my wives are such shameless demonesses. Oh, lord, have mercy on them."
The three women blinked. Simultaneously, their gazes drifted toward the bed. There, Anastasia remained peacefully asleep, looking completely exhausted despite the content expression resting on her face. Also, the hand-tattooed image of her red buttocks and the swollen innocence, the scene alone immediately exposed who the true demon inside the room actually was.
A moment later, Clementine simply shook her head while Aphryne and Auguszta struggled to suppress their laughter.
"Alright, enough playing around." Aezaleon’s teasing expression gradually faded as he placed the teacup aside and rose from his seat. Crossing the short distance between them, he sat on the edge of the bed before taking Clementine’s hand and gently pulling her onto his lap.
Only then did his expression become more serious. His gaze shifted toward the other two. "Tell me everything that happened at the auction house."
Curiosity remained visible in his eyes, but beneath it was genuine concern. "Are we in any immediate danger? And who exactly was that lowly elf?" His expression darkened slightly. "I want to know everything."
"Hm?"
Clementine tilted her head slightly while adjusting herself into a more comfortable position. "Weren’t you watching us?" There was obvious confusion in her voice. "It should already be clear that we aren’t in any immediate danger, nor any other sort of danger for that matter." Her gaze remained fixed upon him as she settled more comfortably against his chest, of course not minding the eager hardness poking at her behind.
Aphryne spoke in an amused tone, the corners of her lips curling upward. "Husband, you do know that the blood elf you crushed was a high monarch, correct?"
Aezaleon blinked. Almost subconsciously, his arm tightened around Clementine’s slender waist, supporting her as she rested against him. At the same time, his attention shifted toward Aphryne and Auguszta, both of whom had taken seats near the bed.
"Seriously? He was a high monarch?" Aezaleon asked, genuinely surprised. "But he was so pathetic. Are they really that weak?"
There wasn’t the slightest trace of arrogance in his voice; he was genuinely confused.
After all, for him to have overwhelmed such an existence so effortlessly, it was only natural that doubts would arise. The entire incident had happened while he was consumed by a level of fury he had never experienced before because of the elf’s intolerable action.
Looking back on it now, even he wasn’t entirely sure what he had done.
In fact, he was only beginning to realize that he hadn’t consciously activated many of his abilities at all.
Take Axiom of Will Manifestation, for example. Aezaleon was fairly certain he hadn’t intentionally used it. Rather, the sub-ability had responded automatically when his emotional state crossed a certain threshold, manifesting his will without any deliberate input from him.
The realization left him somewhat speechless. For all the time he had spent studying his powers, he still knew embarrassingly little about what many of them were truly capable of. He really needed to set aside some time and thoroughly examine every single one of his sub-abilities.
"Looks like you still don’t understand the true magnitude of an absolute ability if you’re questioning a result like that." Clementine’s voice suddenly sounded from beside him. Leaning comfortably against Aezaleon, she began explaining further, making sure he properly understood the value of what he possessed. "Do you remember the concept of Power Paradox?"
Aezaleon nodded.
Power Paradox was a fundamental phenomenon.
If an existence acquired power that vastly exceeded its own existential tolerance, the result would be immediate structural collapse. Physical matter, metaphysical matter, energy, information, soul, consciousness—everything would fail under the burden and be destroyed.
It was one of the most basic laws governing growth.
