Chapter 4011: Poisoned Pill (Part 2) The two thralls had briefly smiled while enduring the beating, but smiled nonetheless. That and the pride shining in their eyes for the strength they hid had betrayed not their nature, not as Upyrs, but as wolves in sheep’s clothing. The mana crystal in Balkor’s hand thawed at discernible speed, and the arrays finally activated, but Balkor kept his guard high. "I’m sorry, Karim. I really am." The Colossus grabbed the head merchant and sealed the other members of the Crystal Bird guild inside its body. "Now stay still, or you’ll join the traitors in death." Life Vision couldn’t reveal Vurdalak blood, but the lack of mana flow was a testament to the merchant’s non-Awakened core. Balkor sealed Karim’s lips and hands with Spirit Magic before examining him with his breathing technique, Death’s Whisper. ’Not an Upyr nor a better actor. Good.’ He examined the merchants one by one and found no anomalies. "That’s it?" Balkor furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why turn two idiots into Upyrs if they were destined to f- Oh, shit! I need to alert the other Feathers before it’s too late!" *** A similar scene had taken place in all the villages with a visiting merchant caravan, but with one major difference. Those selected by Salaark to become her Feathers were powerful mage warriors that no Upyr thrall could hope to defeat. The Overlord had warned them of the threat Orpal’s pawns posed, and they had kept their spells at the ready just like Balkor, making Frost Soul useless. The real problem had come after defeating the Upyrs. Unlike Balkor, Feathers were fake Awakened and lacked a breathing technique. They had no way to determine if more Upyr thralls hid among the remaining merchants. "I’m sorry, Sherad. I really am." The Feather of the Red Lion tribe said. "But the Overlord’s law is clear. I can’t let any of you live. You are a threat to my people, and I have no way to detain a Divine Beast safely until the Overlord returns and passes her judgment. Your sentence is death." "This is madness, Felyr!" The old woman said as the Feather’s Spirit Spell choked the life out of her. "The Silver Nugget guild has loyally served the Overlord for generations! We had no idea Kiram and Hassid had turned into monsters!" "I wish I could believe you." He sighed. Felyr was about to rip the merchants’ heads off when his contact amulet drew his consciousness. "You’d better have a good explanation for this, Balkor. This line is for emergencies only." "This is an emergency, you idiot!" The god of death said. "If you kill the merchants, the Blood Desert will be isolated from the rest of Garlen for years!" "It’s just one guild." The Feather curled his lips up in spite while staring at Sherad. "It can be easily replaced." "One guild can be replaced, but what about all the guilds? What if the other Feathers follow your same reasoning?" Balkor asked. "How do you think I know what just happened to your village?" The simple question made Felyr’s eyes widen in understanding. "Shit! We need to alert the other Feathers before it’s too late!" Balkor wanted to curse at Felyr, but that would have wasted the little time he had to stop the other Feathers from swallowing the poisoned pill that Orpal had delivered to their villages on a silver platter. Balkor kept pressing the runes on his contact amulet, hoping that others would answer his call. *** Jiera continent, ruined city of Talgor, at the same time. Orpal looked at the runes of his useless thralls as they disappeared from his disposable contact amulet one after another. He usually kept the amulet inside a Sealed Space array to avoid getting tracked in case one of his minions disobeyed his orders. A second array checked the number of runes on the contact amulet, and the sudden alarm from the death of so many thralls at the same time was the signal Orpal had been waiting for to spur his plan into action. "Ladies and gentlemen, it’s showtime." He said to the troops assembled in the main hall of the fortress. Orpal had learned the standard protocol of the Blood Desert from the outlaw tribes and then interacted with the merchant guilds to find those among them desperate, arrogant, or stupid enough to accept his offer. He had given them power, promised them more, and given them one simple order. "Whenever the Overlord starts a lockdown, that’s the moment to strike. Kill the local Feather and the Upyrs I planted in each tribe will do the rest. Everything you’ve always dreamed will be yours, and with my help, no one will be able to stop you." Of course, Orpal had planted no Upyr among Salaark’s loyal tribes and no intention to uphold his promise. The lives of the young merchants meant nothing to him. Their death, however, would be remembered by the Blood Desert and the Griffon Kingdom for years to come. *** Starry Lagoon village, at the same time. "Don’t worry, Garrik. We’ll keep you company." Aran said. "If you can’t leave the house, we won’t either." "That’s very kind of you, children." Ryla said once she managed to calm down. "Thank you for everything you are doing for my son." ’I wish I could tell Auntie Ryla about Big Brother’s tower.’ Aran inwardly sighed. ’Here or on the beach changes nothing. Nothing bad can happen to any of us as long as we don’t leave the mana geyser.’ Yet a sudden knock caught him by surprise and made him yelp. "Lith?" Rem’s voice came from the other side of the door. "Can we talk for a second?" "Sure. Is there something wrong?" Lith asked, noticing the merfolk representative’s embarrassed expression. "Sort of." Rem cleared her throat. "We are not an official tribe of the Blood Desert yet and have no Feather. The Overlord set a few powerful temporary arrays to protect us, but I’d lie if I said I know how to use them. "Do you mind being our acting Feather until the Overlord returns?" She offered him the control crystal with both hands. "Not at all." He Warped it to the Armory, giving the tower and everyone listed as an apprentice control over the village’s arrays. "Is everyone clear about the martial law? We are under lockdown, and all trips to and from your twin underwater city must stop." "Don’t worry, we know what-" "Get inside!" Lith pulled the merfolk past the threshold and activated the tower’s defenses. Two colossal figures, about twenty meters (66’) tall, had appeared in the middle of the village’s market. They killed humans and merfolk alike with abandon, their faces twisted into savage grins in euphoria. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮 One moment they were weak merchant apprentices, and the next they had become mighty Divine Beasts. The power that came with the transformation was intoxicating, and so was the realization that Mogar had become their plaything. The control crystal in the Armory froze just like Balkor’s. The Upyrs were close to the center of the village, and the twisted energy of Frost Soul they released had already flooded the main nodes of the arrays. ’Please, stop!’ Solus screamed in agony as she needed sheer willpower not to fall to her knees.