Chapter 554: You Should Have Made a Better Story ( Castle Bonus - )

Chapter 554: You Should Have Made a Better Story ( Castle Bonus Chapter )

Lian slowly moved his index finger along the armrest of the chair.

Interesting.

Even proving that the two families were innocent might not count as a failure of the plan.

Maybe they had expected it from the beginning.

Because the next question was completely predictable.

Who could fake something like this?

And exactly that question was asked in the hall a few seconds later.

One of the Blackthorn representatives leaned forward.

"Let’s assume both families are being framed."

His eyes stayed on the images.

"Who can copy the signatures of your attacks this accurately?"

The discussion became quiet for a few moments, and one of the specialists said.

"There are many copying abilities."

There were skills that could copy the appearance of an attack.

Talents that allowed a person to imitate another element for a limited time.

Artifacts that could recreate a seen skill with lower power, but none of them answered this question.

Lian also knew why, the first attack was not just "lightning", if it was only lightning, hundreds of Awakened around the world could create something similar.

He himself was an example.

What remained on the body was the signature of Stormheart.

And the second attack was not just a few movements similar to the Seven-Doomsday Warform, it was exactly the same, without any difference.

"We are not looking for something that can copy the appearance of the power, it has to be able to record and recreate the actual pattern." someone else said.

Silence formed, and this time it was different.

The Young Vorhelm noticed the change in the eyes of several people, the older people present had remembered something.

A name.

"The Thousand Faces Mirror." the Grandalz representative said quietly.

Several people almost at the same time turned their eyes toward the Ancient Guild section.

One of the treasures of the Primal Firmament Guild.

The atmosphere in the hall changed.

Among the Twelve Ancient Guilds, the Primal Firmament held a different position, not because the other eleven Guilds were directly under its command. ℯℯ𝑙.

But in terms of the number of high-rank Awakened, influence, resources, foreign territories, and especially operational power in the Heavenly Realm, none of them could easily compare to it.

In many joint operations, even without an official title, the Primal Firmament was considered the natural leader.

And the Thousand Faces Mirror? It was one of the reasons for their fame, this was a treasure they had obtained in the Heavenly Realm about fifteen years ago.

One of the Federation specialists explained.

"The Mirror can record the structure of a skill or attack after observing it, it does not steal the person’s basic power, but what it records is the pattern of how the skill is used."

How Mana is gathered, how it moves, when it is compressed, what signature it creates when it is released.

And then it can recreate a version of the same attack that is extremely close to the original, with 99.99% perfection.

Lian sat a little straighter, so if the Thousand Faces Mirror had seen the Vorhelm Warform, it could not only copy the shape of the steps, it could create something extremely close to the actual structure.

The same was true for Stormheart.

Everything fit together in an uncomfortable way.

"Do we know of any other artifact at this level?" the Blackthorn representative asked.

No one answered immediately, and then one of the Federation members said.

"Nothing that has been recorded."

Silence filled the room once again, and that silence was the first real accusation.

The Young Vorhelm turned his eyes toward the Primal Firmament section, a man was sitting there who had barely spoken until now.

He looked about fifty years old, with dark gray hair, simple dark blue clothes, and the circular symbol of the Primal Firmament on his collar.

Severin Rath.

The leader of the delegation sent by the Guild.

Even now, with a large part of the hall looking at him, his expression had not changed.

"I’m not saying the Primal Firmament did this, but if the question is who has the ability to do it, for now we only have one known answer." one of the Stormheart delegation members added.

This time, the looks were no longer hidden, and almost all of them turned toward Severin.

Lian organized the information in his mind.

Ability? They had it.

Information? Naturally.

The Primal Firmament had seen members of Vorhelm and Stormheart many times during joint operations.

Opportunity? Their representatives were in Verendal right now.

And as for motive? That part also came to the table very quickly.

One of the Valemonts said.

"How many times have you argued with the families over the division of resources in the Heavenly Realm during the past year?"

Another added.

"Three times just in the official Exploration Council."

The path was becoming clearer now.

Lian had been so busy with his own problems during the past few months that he had not followed the major politics between the powers, but even he knew the basic situation.

Unlike the Six Great Families, the Twelve Ancient Guilds usually acted more like a united group when it came to major matters.

There was competition between them and even hatred, but when their shared interests were involved, they often stood behind each other.

The Six Great Families were not like that.

Pendragon might sign a contract with Vorhelm today and compete with them over a resource tomorrow.

Blackthorn and Grandalz could unite over one issue and become enemies over another.

There was no permanent common structure above them.

This difference had become even clearer in the Heavenly Realm.

A minimum level of sixty was required to enter that world, and because of that, every operational force inside it was considered elite from the beginning.

And the Twelve Ancient Guilds, with their shared structure, large number of high-rank Awakened, and established bases, had managed to gain control of a large part of the exploration routes, mines, resources, and newly conquered areas earlier.

The Six Great Families were not happy with this situation, they had not been happy for a long time.

"If several great families become involved in an internal conflict, who gains the most?" one of the Grandalz members said.

There was no need to say the answer, and the looks themselves gave the answer.

The Primal Firmament and the Twelve Guilds alongside it.

For a few moments, Lian seriously thought that maybe this was the answer.

Tools.

Knowledge.

Opportunity.

Motive.

It fit together too well.

Severin Rath had remained silent the entire time, finally, when the last sentence ended, he took his hand off the armrest of the chair.

"Are you done?"

His tone was calm, but no one took it as friendly.

"No one has officially accused you, but all the evidence shows that you are responsible." one of the Blackthorn elders said.

Severin slightly turned his head and looked at all the faces that were still looking at him.

"Of course, the entire hall is looking at me."

No one answered, and he stood up from his seat, without releasing any power.

But even that simple movement caused the representatives of the other eleven Guilds to give him their full attention.

"So your argument is this, two different powers were copied with high accuracy, and the only famous artifact that can do something like this belongs to us."

"And because there are disagreements between us and the Six Great Families over the Heavenly Realm, it must naturally be the work of the Primal Firmament."

"When all the pieces point in one direction, you cannot ignore them." one of the Valemonts said.

Severin looked at him.

"I completely agree."

The man stopped for a moment and then said.

"Or maybe that is exactly what you wanted."

This time, the hall truly became silent.

Lian kept his eyes on him and was surprised for a moment, the direction of the discussion had completely changed.

"For how many years have the Six Great Families been trying to limit the influence of the Guilds in the Heavenly Realm?"

No one answered, and he answered himself.

"A lot."

Then he looked at one of the Federation representatives.

"Increasing the families’ share of the newly discovered areas."

His eyes moved to Grandalz.

"Canceling some exclusive resource rights."

Then to Blackthorn.

"Opening the routes that our forces made safe with our own losses."

Finally, Pendragon.

"And increasing supervision over the territories the Guilds have obtained."

His voice had still not become louder, but it was clear that he held anger and resentment toward the Six Great Families.

"Where did all these proposals come from?"

"Because the Heavenly Realm is not your personal property." one of the Blackthorn members answered.

Severin smiled very calmly.

"And the land is not the personal property of the Six Great Families."

The air in the hall became heavier, and he continued.

"Now someone is killed inside Pendragon territory, the second attack copies the Vorhelm style, and a few hours later, all of you reach the only artifact that seems to have the ability to do this."

"An artifact that belongs to the strongest Guild among the Twelve Ancient Guilds, which is us."

His eyes moved between the elders.

"What an interesting coincidence, don’t you think it is too much of a coincidence? Or did you really think we were stupid?"

"You want to say we killed our own person?" one of the Valemont members said angrily.

"I didn’t say anything, I’m just looking for someone who has a motive, just like you." He thought that the Six Great Families had planned this from the beginning so they could blame everything on them.

And then he said directly.

"If your goal is to isolate the Primal Firmament and then break the unity of the Twelve Guilds, I expected you to at least make up a better story."

Lian’s expression also became blank, what tge fuck?