Li Yu sat near the damp entrance of the hidden cave while the afternoon sun filtered through the dense canopy of the surrounding forest. He circulated his Qi in a steady and rhythmic pattern to consolidate his recent martial insights. Going from a brutal battle where he was using most of his arsenal to a full day of healing had given him some inspirations that he was diving deeper into.

The ambient energy of the woodland environment flowed into his meridians and washed away the lingering mental fatigue from his battles within Silverguard City. He took a slow breath and enjoyed the quiet serenity of the wilderness while taking a slow approach in his thoughts. His mind also pondered about what kind of events led to this situation for Morrigan but he wouldn’t need to wait for long to know.

Deep inside the dim cavern, a soft groan broke the peaceful silence. Queen Morrigan of the House of Night slowly opened her eyes. The shadowy ceiling of the cave made her blink several times as her fractured consciousness slowly returned to the waking world. She felt a dull ache radiating from the center of her chest and just about everywhere else as well. Her limbs felt incredibly heavy and unresponsive but the searing agony of her broken meridians had faded into a manageable throb. She was still in very bad shape but she was at least conscious now.

She tilted her head and saw a young man wearing black robes sitting near the cave entrance. It took her eyes a long time to adjust to the bright light but then she saw his features clearly. She stared at Li Yu and felt a sense of shock wash over her tired mind and if it wasn’t for the pain, she would have thought that she had died. She laid there thinking about how strange and unpredictable the encounters of fate could be while gathering strength to even talk.

She remembered the day she was freed from her protective amber prison back in the demon territories. The terrifying woman named Lian had saved her from her rivals and forcefully bound her soul to this human youth as the ultimate price of freedom.

Despite that soul tether tying their lives together, they had experienced almost no direct interactions with one another. He never asked her to perform any tasks or demanded any tribute from her royal bloodline. They were a master and servant in name only. Yet, here he was sitting in an unknown cave and watching over her broken body.

Li Yu heard the rustle of the woven mat and opened his eyes. He stood up from his meditation spot and walked deeper into the cavern to check on his patient.

"You are finally awake," Li Yu said with a gentle tone while kneeling beside her. "Do not try to force your Qi to circulate just yet. Your core is still fragile."

"Li Yu," Morrigan whispered while her voice rasped. "How are you here? How did you find me in this place?"

Li Yu reached for a canteen and helped her drink a few sips of fresh water before answering her questions.

"I was wandering through this forest two days ago when I felt a sharp tug on my soul," Li Yu explained while setting the canteen down. "It was pulling me toward a specific direction in the forest and it carried a very familiar presence. I believed it was someone bound to me via a soul contract but I was very confused by the sensation. I just arrived in this realm a few weeks ago and the only two people I bound are currently traveling with me. I followed the pull anyway and found you wounded here."

Just as he finished explaining his miraculous arrival, heavy footsteps echoed from the cave entrance. Borum and Faen stepped into the cavern after finishing their perimeter scouting.

Morrigan turned her head and her sharp eyes widened as she scanned the two newcomers. She felt the heavy and oppressive auras radiating from the earth golem and the deer kin woman. The two guards were a full three major realms higher than her current King realm cultivation so she could not even begin to grasp the true depths of how strong they were. The pressure they emitted made her breath catch in her throat.

However, she was not too stunned by the revelation for very long. She quickly rationalized the situation in her own mind. The last time she saw Li Yu back home, he was traveling alongside Lian and her legion of terrifying generals. She assumed he was a youth of high status who was simply always surrounded by experts to protect him and in a way she wasn’t that far off.

She thought to herself that having guards this strong was only natural for someone with his background, not realizing that Li Yu was actually at the Karma Severing realm himself and possessed an even higher cultivation than the servants standing behind him. However his aura was locked in tight and could not be felt.

"I am grateful for your timely rescue," Morrigan offered a weak but sincere nod. "You have saved my life once again. I don’t know how to repay the first debt, how am I going to repay this one?"

Li Yu chuckled and waved his hand to dismiss the formal gratitude. He was happy to see that she was most likely going to be okay and just needed time and some more pills to fully recover. His expression turned serious as he prepared to deliver the heavy news he received from his Core Warden.

"While you were unconscious, I tried locating the realm where I first met you," Li Yu told her softly. "I wanted to send a message back home to let your daughter Vespera know that you were found and that you were safe with me."

Morrigan smiled at the mention of her daughter but the smile quickly faded when she saw the grim look in his eyes.

"My subordinate traveled to the coordinates of your home," Li Yu continued with a heavy sigh. "But the realm is missing. It is no longer there and I still don’t know what happened to it."

The Night Queen froze and a look of horror washed over her pale face. The revelation stunned her to her very core and made her violently worried, nearly causing a backlash with her currently weak constitution. Her breathing quickened as she imagined her daughter and her recovering kingdom being swallowed by the dark void or destroyed by some grand power.

"Missing?" Morrigan gasped while trying to sit up. "How can an entire realm just go missing? Vespera is still there! My people are still there!"

Li Yu gently placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down onto the mat.

"Do not panic and damage your core," Li Yu urged with a calming voice. "A very similar thing happened to the realm I was originally from as well. When my people investigated they found empty space. But there was a hidden message left behind for me. They used a grand spatial technique to move the realm across the cosmos to avoid a terrifying enemy. They relocated the realm to keep everyone safe but they didn’t know where it would move them to."

He looked into her panicked eyes and offered a reassuring smile. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Perhaps something like that happened to your realm as well," Li Yu suggested to soothe her fears. "If a powerful threat approached your borders, they might have utilized an ancient artifact or a supreme array to shift their location into the hidden void. No debris or signs of destruction were found at the coordinates. That is a very good sign."

The logical explanation washed over Morrigan and slowed her racing heart. Knowing that such a grand relocation technique was actually possible gave her a sense of hope that her family and her kingdom were still okay. She chose to believe her daughter had found a way to survive and that it wasn’t the end of her time yet.

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Once she calmed down from the shocking news, Li Yu asked her the question that had been bothering him for two days.

"How did you end up in this specific realm?" Li Yu inquired while crossing his arms. "You were ruling your kingdom the last time we parted ways then I heard you went missing."

Morrigan let out a tired sigh and went on to explain the bizarre sequence of events that led to her current state.

"I was inspecting the underground vaults of our newly rebuilt capital," Morrigan began while staring at the stone ceiling. "I saw a strange and vibrant light coming from a sealed tunnel under the ground. I went down there alone to investigate the anomaly and as I approached the glowing source, a volatile spatial rift tore open without any warning and I was violently sucked through the tear before I could even react."

She paused to gather her breath before continuing her tale.

"The place I originally went to was very strange, it was not this realm." Morrigan recalled. "The local people and the wildlife were relatively weak, mostly under Soul Formation so I did not have much trouble surviving the harsh environment there. I was desperately trying to find a way back home while being stranded there for around a year.”

She paused a bit as she remembered her time there. “Then through another chance encounter while exploring a mountain range, I discovered another active rift that someone else had recently opened, I could only see their back, it looked like a man. Seeing a desperate chance to maybe get closer to home, I took the risk and went through it. I ended up landing in this realm instead."

"You have been wandering for a long time then," Li Yu noted with a sympathetic nod.

"I have been trapped here ever since that day," Morrigan confirmed with a bitter tone. "I focused on keeping a low profile to avoid drawing the ire of the local ruling powers but I also needed to gather resources to sustain my cultivation and perhaps become strong enough to return home on my own. Over time, I recruited a few wandering warriors and built up a small force for myself here. It was a mercenary group known as the Nightfall Corps."

A glimmer of pride flashed in her eyes as she spoke about her new faction. It was way smaller than her previous kingdom but it was hers and she had grown to care for those within in.

"They were decently strong with me standing at the head and we did very good work," Morrigan explained. "Over the time I have been here, which is around two years now, we built up a very good reputation across the northern provinces. We protected merchant caravans and hunted rogue beasts for the nearby towns."

"What went wrong?" Li Yu asked while knowing a mercenary group did not usually end up with their leader bleeding out in a hidden cave without a major catalyst.

"I eventually drew the unwanted attention of a royal prince who was passing by our headquarters," Morrigan said while a look of deep disgust crossed her features. "He is the sixth or seventh prince of the Kingdom of Solaria. I did not really care to memorize his exact title. His name is Prince Darian."

She clenched her fists on top of the woven mat as she recalled the arrogant noble.

"He saw me during a public festival and became enchanted by my looks, at least that is what he said." Morrigan spat with venom. "He kept insisting that I abandon my group and become his personal concubine. I tried to politely stop his aggressive advances. I even told him that I had a husband before and that I had already raised grown children. I hoped the reality of my past would disgust his royal sensibilities and make him leave me alone."

Li Yu shook his head slowly. "I assume that diplomatic strategy did not work out the way you planned."

"It backfired horribly," Morrigan confirmed with a heavy sigh. "The knowledge of my past only made him become even more enchanted with me. He boldly declared that he liked mature and experienced women best and that my history only added to my charm. He is a truly vile man."

"I refused him firmly for a while and I possessed the personal power to stand up against his guards," Morrigan continued the grim story. "However, he did not give up his twisted pursuit. He clearly requested and received heavy support from his royal family back home after trying to win me over on and off over a few tense months. But then my group was suddenly ambushed by overwhelming forces. We were surrounded and I barely made it out alive after breaking their containment array."

She looked at Li Yu with pleading eyes. "I hope some of my members made it out as well. I intentionally tried to draw the main enemy forces away since I knew they were only after me. I hope that my people were able to scatter and hide but I do not know their fates."

Li Yu listened to the harrowing tale and nodded his head in understanding. He turned toward his companion.

"Faen," Li Yu ordered. "I need you to travel to the town where their headquarters is located and gather information on what happened after the ambush."

"The town is called Oakhaven," Morrigan provided the name quickly. "It is located to the north of this forest."

Li Yu looked back down at the injured queen and offered a reassuring smile. He told her she does not need to worry about the royal pursuers anymore because he will protect her from any lingering threats. She just needs to rest up now and focus her energy on recovering her internal foundation.

After talking for a while longer, Li Yu mentally noted the name of the prince and the Kingdom of Solaria. He had asked Faen to learn more about them before she left but Faen was actually already aware of their geopolitical standing.

Before departing, Faen had informed him that the Kingdom of Solaria was considered a decent power to the north of their current location. Their kingdom was actually widely known across the region for being incredibly kind and just. They heavily promoted a culture of righteousness and charity.

Li Yu thought about that pristine reputation and scoffed internally. Maybe this Prince Darian was just one bad egg that was able to hide his vile nature behind closed doors or maybe the kingdom itself was just wearing a false face of kindness to mask their internal rot. Either way, Li Yu would ignore the royal family for now. He wanted to let Morrigan rest up first and decide what to do about the situation later when he had more information.

The cavern remained quiet for the rest of the afternoon as Li Yu tended to a small smokeless fire while Faen returned a few hours later as the sun began to set. She stepped into the cave and her expression was dark and she had grim news.

"The Nightfall Corps did have survivors," Faen reported while standing near the fire. "But the situation is not good at all. Most of the fleeing members were hunted down by the troops belonging to the prince and they are all prisoners now. They are being held captive in the center plaza of Oakhaven."

Morrigan let out a choked gasp and tried to sit up again but her weak arms betrayed her.

"The captors declared that the hostages are being held as prisoners until Morrigan reveals herself and surrenders," Faen continued the report. "They issued a strict deadline of two weeks. If she does not turn herself in, they will publicly execute everyone in the plaza. That ultimatum was issued one week ago. We only have seven days left."

"Are the troops flying the royal banners of Solaria?" Li Yu asked while analyzing the political angle of the hostage situation.

"No," Faen shook her head firmly. "They are not operating under the banner of the prince. They are calling themselves The Bloodied Fangs. They claim to be a radical group of rogue mercenary killers.

They have a background claiming their members hate all mercenaries because their leader had his home village slaughtered by hired blades many years ago. They publicly state they always kill any mercenaries they encounter to exact cosmic revenge. I have heard of their name before and most in the mercenary business already know they have ties to or are directly under that prince."

Faen crossed her arms and offered her own tactical assessment.

"I believe it is clearly just a web of lies," Faen stated with confidence. "The prince is probably using the fearful name of this rogue group to hide his involvement. The members of The Bloodied Fangs likely belong to the prince directly and he is using them for his own dirty work so his pristine kingdom does not take the blame for slaughtering innocent people."

Morrigan felt tears of frustration prick the corners of her eyes. She turned her head and looked at Li Yu. She saw the powerful earth golem standing guard and the swift scout delivering the news.

"Li Yu, please," Morrigan begged while her voice trembled with emotion. "I ask you to help me again. I cannot stand by and let my loyal people die needlessly because of my presence. They followed me when I had nothing and I owe them their lives. They shouldn’t die in this way. I know I have nothing to give you but please."

Li Yu looked at the desperate leader of the Nightfall Corps. He understood the heavy burden of command and the loyalty owed to those who bleed for you.

"Do not worry Morrigan," Li Yu said with a firm and unyielding tone as he agreed to her plea. "We will not let them die. Rest your body tonight and we will come up with a proper strategy to break them out."