Chapter 348: You cannot stop it.

"What is happening?"

Lucian asked out loud, hoping Neroth would answer.

And he did—

"It has begun."

"What has?"

Lucian asked as he stared at the floating blood.

"Surely you can guess."

Neroth chuckled. Lucian thought about it for a moment, then his face hardened as the realisation set in.

"Varek."

His Third Ascension had begun.

"Hahahaha..."

Neroth laughed.

"Good.

Very good."

"But his Ascension was supposed to start two days later."

Lucian narrowed his eyes and Neroth kept laughing.

"That’s what he told you."

Lucian turned silent and Neroth enjoyed the conversation to its fullest.

"It was a small deception.

You really should stop trusting him."

He suggested.

"I don’t trust him."

Lucian narrowed his eyes and Neroth laughed again.

"And yet here you are."

Lucian did not react to that, he looked at Neroth’s pulsing Heart and more and more blood that was gathering around it.

According to the reports he read, in these past few decades, Varek’s body had already adapted to the blood it was injected with, his Ascension would now strengthen those changes and fuse them into his Vampiric foundation permanently.

Varek did not need Neroth’s Blood.

"This isn’t about making Varek stronger."

Lucian spoke in a frostily cold tone as he killed all the emotions he was feeling.

And for the first time, Neroth remained silent.

But Lucian didn’t.

"This isn’t Varek’s Evolution."

He understood it.

There was a reason Arcelis did not inject more of Neroth’s blood into Varek’s body than they already did.

They wanted Varek’s body to adapt to those changes, not be... overwhelmed by them.

Lucian thought about it all and finally, the last remaining doubt in his head cleared up.

"This isn’t about Varek at all.

It is... about you.

This is your resurrection."

For the next few seconds, Neroth remained silent.

Then—

"Pfft."

He laughed.

"Hahahahaha!"

And he continued laughing, filling the entire chamber with his laughter.

"Yes!"

There was genuine joy in his voice.

"Finally!"

Lucian didn’t move and the Archdemon continued—

"Do you understand now? Do you understand how beautiful this is?

House Arcelis preserved me, they fed my blood into one subject after another, letting me test all of them, letting me reject those I didn’t like and bringing me a better body after that, and they kept doing it for centuries—

Until they finally brought me Varek."

Lucian narrowed his eyes.

"You manipulated them."

"Oh no no."

Neroth laughed.

"I didn’t manipulate just them."

Lucian’s face changed and Neroth’s glee became even clearer as his Heart pulsed.

"After House Arcelis, it was Varek.

The boy wanted strength more than anything in the world, it wasn’t difficult to use that desire to control him. After I granted him part of my strength, he practically followed my every demand."

"And you brought him here."

"There was no other choice.

My Heart is necessary for my resurrection. Varek had to return from his exile in order for me to get it."

"And manipulating him was easy, you only needed to tell him that he would get even stronger if he had more of your blood."

Neroth cackled at that.

"Once he had a taste of my power, he couldn’t resist it. For the next few decades, I remained beside him and aided him, giving him a little more of my Authority every time he listened to me.

That increased strength gave me more influence over him, so much so that in the end, he agreed to return even when he knew his House would betray him.

I didn’t even have to do much, I simply needed to make sure he believed he was the one making that decision.

Just like I did with you."

Lucian narrowed his eyes at that.

"...what do you mean?"

And Neroth—

"Hahahaha!"

He laughed again.

"What? Did you think Varek was the only one I manipulated?

I still needed the Heart that the Arcelis had sealed in here and Varek couldn’t get it. The Arcelis made sure he couldn’t move around because they knew he was influenced.

So I needed someone else."

"...me."

Lucian spoke in a low voice.

"Yes."

Neroth laughed.

"You."

He couldn’t control himself, the face Lucian was making was simply too irresistible to gloat at.

"All I needed to do was exchange a few words with you in your dreams and you followed my leads exactly as I wanted.

Every little clue I gave, you looked into it and you found something.

It was just like Varek, every time he followed my words, I rewarded him with strength, you, I rewarded with answers.

And once again, all I needed to do was make sure you believed you were in control and you moved like a puppet.

You followed the clues, uncovered the secret Arcelis has been hiding for centuries, learned about their little project, found Varek, let him lead you here and finally—

You released me from my prison."

Lucian clenched his fists.

He was manipulated.

And... it wasn’t a good feeling.

Neroth relished the moment.

"You made everything possible, Lucian."

He laughed.

"In the end, you even got Aurelia involved. She used her resources to find out more about Crimson Crucible, then she brought you to Varek and then here.

You made the very person who killed me help bring me back to life.

That was the most amusing part of it all and for that—

I must thank you."

He spoke with genuine joy in his voice.

"...how long?"

Lucian spoke in a low voice.

"Hm?"

Neroth almost didn’t catch that.

"How long until enough reaches him?"

Lucian asked directly, his frustration was clear in his voice and it only made Neroth relish it even more.

"Concerned?"

Neroth chuckled playfully.

Lucian didn’t say anything and the Archdemon’s amusement only grew stronger.

"Not long."

He actually answered. Lucian’s eyes sharpened at that, he stared at the beating Heart, thinking of a way to put a stop to it all.

And as if Neroth could see that, he laughed even more.

"Don’t bother."

He spoke dismissively.

"You cannot stop it."