Chapter 578: Aftermath

The two Celestials looked at the seed at the same time, first examining its cracked outer shell, then its central part.

"It has some kind of reflective and corrupting structure."

"It’s not just reflective, part of its structure is designed to record and recreate mana signatures, I wouldn’t say its purpose is to recreate attacks and strikes, but there is a structure inside it that has that ability." Rhaenar whispered.

The seed’s main purpose was to disable formations, but part of its structure had the ability to reflect attacks and skills.

The same structure that was also used in the Thousand-Faced Mirror.

And both Celestials knew very well which race was capable of creating such a seed.

The Silver Elves.

This time, even Kairos leaned forward slightly.

The similarities were not a coincidence, but that was not the point, this seed was only evidence confirming the existence of a Silver Elf.

Both of them looked at Lian.

"Well, kid, do you want to explain?"

Lian looked at them, then gave both of them a full explanation about the Silver Elf he had seen, although he made sure not to say anything about the Demon of End in front of Kairos.

Because of that, many parts of the story had to be left out, but he still managed to explain the main points.

He explained that he and Seris had caught the Silver Elf while she was trying to steal an artifact belonging to the Demon of End, and that the elf had used this seed to disable the formations protecting the treasure.

When the two of them caught the elf, they discovered that she was only a clone. Her main goal was to create conflict between the world’s great powers, start an internal war between them, and steal one of the Pendragons’ greatest treasures.

Of course, that was partly a lie, but he did not want to tell Kairos that the Demon of End was still alive. First, Rhaenar had trusted him and shared such a secret with him.

Second, he was selfish and wanted to kill that Demon himself in the future, he did not want to let other Celestials hunt it down.

After hearing the explanation, Kairos thought for a moment before finally speaking.

"The Silver Elves are capable of carrying out such a false flag operation, but the fact that a clone managed to fool all of us..." He glanced at the seed.

He had never seen such a seed before, but there was no doubt that it belonged to the Silver Elves.

He then looked at Rhaenar, their battle had started because he had learned that his delegation had been captured by the Pendragons.

He knew it was unlikely that the Six Great Families would carry out those murders and then blame the Twelve Ancient Guilds. Unlike the elders, representatives, and lower-level figures, he was a Celestial and knew many truths that others did not.

The Six Great Families would never start a war for survival against the Twelve Ancient Guilds for any reason.

So it was clear that there was a foreign conspiracy, but he had not expected that the outsiders would be so "foreign" that people from another world had managed to play them all.

He sighed.

"At least release the members of my guild."

Isolde nodded and immediately ordered the release of the Primal Firmament delegation.

Kairos went to see his delegation, and it was decided that a meeting about the Silver Elves would be held the next day with all the delegations present.

Isolde and Rhaenar also needed to inspect the Dragon Prison, and Lian was dismissed as well.

However, all of this only lasted for a few hours.

A few hours later, Rhaenar requested that Lian and Seris come to his private room.

Isolde was there as well.

When Lian entered, he had already removed the World-Devourer Bastion armor from his body.

Seris was also feeling better now, both of them had consumed healing potions during these past few hours and had returned to their peak condition.

Rhaenar was sitting behind his desk, and when the two entered, he greeted them with his usual calm smile and said.

"I think it’s time for me to find out exactly what happened."

The young Vorhelm glanced at her, and the girl nodded.

Then he began.

He started from the moment they entered the prison, describing how they saw the Silver Elf and the Silver Corruption Seed.

He explained the awakening of the Demon of End and what had happened afterward.

At first, the Patriarch simply listened.

But when Lian explained the power of the End, his expression changed slightly.

"So it was able to use its own nature."

Lian nodded.

"Not at its full power, but even that amount was enough to tear apart parts of the prison’s space."

Isolde placed her fingers firmly on the armrest of her chair.

"And the main seals?"

"Several of them were damaged, but they were restored." Seris answered, then added after a short pause.

"But all the Dragon Marks had to be sacrificed."

The room fell silent for a few seconds.

Rhaenar looked at his daughter.

"All of them?"

"Almost all the active Marks."

Isolde slowly breathed out.

Although she already knew that the younger generation’s Marks had disappeared, hearing Seris confirm it directly made the matter feel more serious.

Those Dragon Marks had been a great advantage for their younger generation, and now they no longer existed.

However, Rhaenar showed no clear reaction and simply said.

"Continue."

Lian explained how Seris had reached the heart of the formation and returned the energy from all the Dragon Marks to the seal structure.

After the main flow had been restored, a new problem had appeared.

Without a stable source, the formation could not maintain all the gathered energy. And that was what had caused him to enter the central structure.

When his report reached this part, Rhaenar’s calm gaze settled on his right hand.

"So almost all the family’s active Marks disappeared, but it seems you gained one yourself."

The young Vorhelm raised his right hand, and the black and golden Dragon Mark on the back of his hand was clearly visible.

The Ancestral Dragon Mark.

The Patriarch examined it for a few moments, then shifted his gaze to Seris, but there was no anger in his eyes, only a kind of calm understanding.

He knew better than anyone that someone from outside the family could not enter the heart of the formation and receive an Ancestral Grade Mark without direct help.

So his daughter had not only allowed Lian to enter, but had also played a key role in creating that Mark.

The young Pendragon met her father’s gaze without saying anything more.

Lian also only gave a faint smile.

After a few seconds, Rhaenar let out a short laugh.

"Interesting."

And he did not continue the topic.

But the young Vorhelm could tell that a lot was hidden behind that one word. The report about the battle continued.

Lian then explained how the Demon had returned to sleep, how the Silver Elf had lost control of the situation, and how her clone had been destroyed.

When he finished speaking, silence filled the room for a few moments.

Rhaenar leaned back in his chair, then spoke slowly.

"You did a great job." This time, his tone was serious.

Isolde also looked at her daughter, and for a moment, the formal expression on her face softened as she quietly said.

"Indeed."

Seris said nothing, and after a while, Lian brought up another matter.

"There’s another problem."

"Go on."

"The formation is stable for now, but it can’t rely on just our Marks forever."

He raised his right hand slightly.

"The main energy comes from the prison’s own reserves, but those reserves aren’t unlimited. In the past, thousands of active Marks also helped maintain the network’s stability."

Rhaenar nodded, he understood this matter better than the young man did.

"If we want the situation to remain stable for many years, we will probably have to give Dragon Marks to the other Pendragons again."

Isolde looked at her husband, as she also considered this suggestion reasonable.

But the Patriarch remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.

"Restoring all the Marks would cost a lot."

His gaze moved toward the large window in the room.

"Especially now, when a large part of the stored energy is needed to keep the seal stable. I’ll do something else."

That was all he said, and he gave no further explanation.

Lian looked at him for a few seconds, then decided not to ask any more questions and instead asked.

"Do you still want to hide the existence of that Dragon from the world?"

"Of course." Rhaenar answered without hesitation.

"Even after what happened today?"

"Especially after what happened today."

This time, the Patriarch was completely serious.

"You saw what happened, just one person managed to enter the prison’s structure, and we nearly faced a disaster on a continental scale."

He placed his hand on the desk.

"The existence of that Demon must remain hidden."