Chapter 4089: Exposed Secrets (Part 2) Boosted by the Yggdrasill wood, the Sapphire Dragon and the tower had worked until the last second, sharing everything they discovered to increase each other’s efficiency. ’Thanks, Ajatar.’ Solus said, brimming with joy. ’We couldn’t have cracked much of the cloaking runes without you. There wasn’t enough time to learn everything, but it should be enough to improve my Sage Staff.’ *** City of Valeron, at the same time. "The operation was a resounding success." Sylpha smiled from ear to ear. "The nobles have stopped squabbling, and many members of the Awakened Council exchanged contact with us. "Narchat is no longer the main topic of every conversation, Verhen is. Our Supreme Magus is on everyone’s mind now. Do you think we should release the video of the evening?" "No." Meron shook his head, his gaze lost in deep thought. "Let them stew. Let curiosity and imagination make the Indech seem a much bigger deal than it already is. The less Narchat knows, the bigger tantrum he’ll throw. "Also, it will make any sighting of Verhen’s Indech form much more interesting and prolong the buzz. I bet that no Fae or plant folk will join the Dead King until they understand how much they are going to miss if they pick the wrong side." "It’s a great idea, my love. This will play straight into our hands." The Queen replied. "Then why that face? You should be happy." "I am. It’s just..." The King didn’t know how to put his feelings into words. "Seeing the Indech in person and via the amulet are two completely different experiences. I didn’t evolve tonight, but it changed me. I’m sure I have understood something, but I don’t know what." "I know what you feel." Sylpha sighed. "I knew what was going to happen and what form Verhen would take, yet I ended up staring at him like a slack-jawed idiot-" She noticed that Meron wasn’t listening to her and stopped talking. The frown on her husband’s face was enough for her to know he needed silence to focus. The King conjured the Sword of Saefel, using its elemental crystals to draw in the world energy. He had no idea what Swirling Wind was, but he remembered the feeling and fine-tuned the output of the mana crystals until he reproduced it to the best of his ability. Meron took deep breaths, almost seeing the ethereal chains again, almost feeling their weight on him. Yet it wasn’t enough, so he conjured a bolt of Life Maelstrom from the Saefel Armor, using it only to empower his mana core. Meron let the silver lightning course through his body as he had done with Vital Storm and then shared it with the Sword. Amplified by the Life Maelstrom, the crystals generated a small vortex of world energy around the King. He focused on his mana flow, on the feeling of the chains on his skin, and the burst of energy he had experienced when the Indech had shattered them. Meron craned his neck up and opened his mouth, but unlike Lith, he roared at the top of his lungs. The King’s aura flared up, burning stronger and stronger until it suddenly went out. The world energy dissipated, and the throne room became silent. Meron fell to his knees, leaning on the Saefel Sword just to keep himself straight as he panted like a bellows. "Is everything alright?" Sylpha ran to his side and checked him with her best diagnostic spell to make sure the cracks in Meron’s life force hadn’t gotten worse. "Sort of." The King replied, wheezing. "I think I have just learned a breathing technique. I’m a true Awakened now." *** Jiera continent, ruined city of Tle’ket, a few hours after the end of Friya’s marriage. It was late at night in Lutia, but the sun was high in Jiera. Erion the Jormungandr was in the middle of his training with Jorl and Akhton when his communication amulet started pulling at his consciousness nonstop. The three Upyrs possessed each a bloodline ability that made them unique, and only by combining them could they hope to stop Orpal if he ever became too tyrannical. Doom Tide, Origin Flames, and Life Maelstrom matched Dusk’s crystal, while their Upyr powers were identical to the Vurdalak’s. Erion, Akhton, and Jorl practiced relentlessly, hoping that together they might hold their ground against Orpal and his tower, if ever push came to shove. The Jormungandr ignored the first messages. If something truly important happened, someone would call him. Yet each new notification was akin to a jingle in his ear, disrupting his focus. When the number and frequency of messages turned the jingle into full-blown wedding bells, Erion had to stop. "Give me a second." He snarled. "I swear to the gods, if this is some gossip bullshit, I’m going to shove my communicator in my dimensional amulet until- Oh, shit! Come down, you have to see this." No one had called Erion, just like no one was writing to him simply because he wasn’t that important. The rings were from the Jormungandrs’ group chat, and everyone who hadn’t been exiled from the clan received them. It took Erion a while to scroll back enough to understand how this "Indech" was connected to Lith and what the reason for all that fuss was. "A new form?" Akthon’s voice was a throaty leopard’s growl. "How many does this make? Four?" "Five, if you also count his normal human form." Jorl replied. "Five." The Bastet snarled. "How many do we have? How many does any fucking Upyr have?" "Two." Erion snorted. "The Upyr form and our own." "We are still at the level of a fucking hybrid." Akhton’s rage was palpable. "What can this Indech do?" "Something like Life Maelstrom, among other things." Erion replied. "Except it seems there is no limit to the amount he can produce." "No limit?" Jorl was as flabbergasted as he was outraged. "That’s preposterous. There’s no such thing as a perfect bloodline ability. How strong is it?" "One moment. The time to call Verhen so that he can explain it to me in detail." Erion’s voice oozed sarcasm. "Do you really think he gave out an instruction manual? Of course, Verhen played it close to the vest. "All I have here are second, if not third-hand, information and wild speculations. The thing my clan knows for sure is that Verhen’s last form is that of an evolved human, and its power is genuine. "Lots of Awakened witnessed the Life Maelstrom lookalike and all of them examined the Indech’s life force. It’s the real deal. Even worse, his children and sister have it as well." "Fuck." Akhton took the word out of everyone’s mind. "The only silver lining is that I get to see Orpal’s face when he learns the news. His pain should brighten this shitty day." "Then feel free to tell him yourself." Erion said. "I’m not going to hit that psychopath in the ego. It’s bigger than the moon. He’s going to- Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The Jormungandr had scrolled back far enough to notice an important piece of news he had almost missed amid all the chatter about the Indech.