"He is Dahek, Amon’s pet," the Dragon Emperor said, his voice carrying no particular emotion as he tugged the chains violently and dragged the bloodied body fully into the room.
The iron links scraped harshly against the polished floor, leaving faint streaks of blood in their wake.
Dahek’s body followed limply, every movent sending a dull clatter through the chamber.
His limbs were bound at unnatural angles, muscles were torn and swollen, and the black-and-red striped skin stretched tight over damaged flesh.
"He was roaming around in my Drakemore Empire’s aerial space," Emperor Xaeroth Drakemore continued as he handed the chains to BloodRose and walked forward unhurriedly.
He approached Marcus’s seat and lowered himself into it as though this were nothing more than a routine visit.
Andrea appeared back in her seat at the sa ti.
Marcus, however, did not sit. He appeared directly in front of Xaeroth in a flash and slamd his palms lightly against the table.
"Tell sothing I don’t know," Marcus said in a clipped and irritated tone.
A chair materialized beside Xaeroth a mont later, and Marcus took it, sitting down with a rigid posture.
Xaeroth did not even glance at him, his attention seemingly elsewhere.
"Hey, guys," Xaeroth said casually, leaning back in his chair. "A tea party going on??"
His gaze drifted lazily around the room before abruptly stopping at the corner, where Damian stood beside BloodRose, his figure stained red from earlier events.
Xaeroth’s amusent faded abruptly.
"Never mind," he muttered, the cheer gone from his voice.
He straightened slightly and looked back toward the table. "Who the hell is this Eternal Sovereign??"
The question landed heavily.
"How do you know that na?" Vivianne, Marcus, and Andrea asked simultaneously, their voices overlapped in surprise.
The rest of the leaders exchanged confused looks.
"Well," Xaeroth replied, turning his head toward Andrea with a faint grin, "he has refined tastes like you, sis. Sends letters in mysterious ways. He sent aletter telling about the demon roaming in my territory."
"I caught this bitch, but was too lazy to interrogate, so I thought Marcus would do it for . I was free today, so I ca here.
He ignored everyone else entirely as he spoke.
Andrea’s brows drew together as she turned her gaze toward Vivianne. Vivianne, for once, looked genuinely astonished, her composure slipped slightly.
"Umm," Vivianne began, then inhaled deeply as if deciding to unload everything at once.
"This Eternal Sovereign was the one who told about the traitors in my empire recently. He also gave the information about Sara and the survivors of the cults through that mysterious golden butterfly."
She paused only briefly before continuing, words spilling out faster now.
"When I reached the site, all I could find was a hellish pit filled with hundreds of mangled bodies and remnants of what would have been a small-sized base."
She finished in one breath, clearly eager to get everything out before another interruption could derail her again.
"Wait!!" Klaus suddenly spoke up, his eyes widening as realization struck him. "I got one of his letters too!! He was the one who inford about the Bloody Tears incident three years ago."
Murmurs erupted instantly. Voices overlapped as everyone in the room began murmuring at once.
The room was filled with uneasy energy as glances were exchanged and assumptions quietly ford.
"Everyone!! Be quiet," Marcus snapped, clapping his hands sharply.
The sound cut cleanly through the noise.
He turned toward Blood Rose.
"Docunt everyone’s experience and send the report to the investigation departnt. They already have a lead on this entity."
Blood Rose nodded without question. A sheet of paper and a quill appeared in her hands in a smooth motion, and she imdiately moved toward Klaus, then Vivianne, then Xaeroth, recording each account carefully.
It took several minutes for her to finish docunting everything.
Andrea watched the process for a mont before turning back to Vivianne. "Do you have any idea who destroyed that cult base?" she asked. "Was it this Eternal Sovereign?"
"No idea, ma’am," Vivianne replied, shaking her head. "I didn’t see anyone when I arrived."
Marcus shifted his gaze toward Xaeroth. "Do you still have that letter?"
"No," Xaeroth answered calmly. "The scroll disappeared the mont I finished reading it. As if it existed only to be read by ."
Marcus’s expression darkened. Xaeroth noticed imdiately and chuckled under his breath.
"Seems like there’s a new unchecked power rising after so many years on this continent,"
Xaeroth said thoughtfully. "I thought that brain-dead church was the last thing I’d see crawling out of the shadows in my lifeti, but it looks like we’re going to have so fun. Right, Marky?"
Before Marcus could respond, Selena spoke up, looking at Andrea, continuing the earlier topic of concern.
"Why don’t we ask the one who was in that place the entire ti?"
She turned her gaze toward Sara, who had fallen asleep peacefully with her head resting on the table.
All eyes shifted toward the girl.
"She can’t speak!!" Raegor said imdiately, his voice was tense with concern.
"Well," Aurelius said quietly, speaking for the first ti in a while, "she can write, I hope."
Raegor clenched his jaw, irritation flashing across his face, but he did not object further. It was clear no one intended to harm Sara.
Selena rose from her seat and approached Sara slowly. "Move you brute!! Let handle the kid. She needs gentle care."
Raegor stood up awkwardly, stepping aside as Selena sat down beside Sara.
She moved silently, her hands resting lightly on the table before she reached out and brushed Sara’s hair back gently.
"Sara," Selena called softly.
After a few repeated calls, Sara stirred.
She rubbed her eyes slightly and looked up at Selena. Her bright gaze was clear despite the lingering grogginess in her eyes.
Without a word, Selena slid a sheet of paper on the table towards her.
Selena smiled faintly. "Will you tell us who saved you when you were stuck in that bad place?"
"Tsk, it’s not like she’s five years old," Xaeroth muttered from behind, only to fall silent when Andrea shot him a sharp look.
Sara took the quill from Selena’s hand and began writing quickly. Her movents were confident, betraying none of the hesitation one might expect.
She slid the paper back across the table.
"I want chocolate," Selena read aloud, her face twitched.
"What is that, my dear?" she asked, clearly struggling to maintain composure.
"I think she’s talking about this," Raegor said, taking out the half-eaten chocolate bar from earlier from his inventory.
Selena snatched it from his hand and offered it to Sara.
Sara accepted it with one hand, taking the quill with the other, and imdiately began drawing sothing on the sheet of paper.
"What the hell did they teach you ?? Do that to the walls of your ho, kiddo? we need answers," Xaeroth muttered, peeking over the paper.
Sara and others ignored the comnt and kept drawing.
Slowly, the drawing took shape.
A tall, lean man appeared first. He wore a crow mask.
Then she drew a curved arrow beside the drawing, pointing at the other end of the page, where another figure was drawn by her.
A hybrid of bird and man, with what appeared to be flas surrounding its body.
Her sketches were clean and precise, impossible to dismiss as childish scribbles.
"You saw this?" Selena asked carefully. "A man turning into a bird?"
Sara nodded.
Everyone leaned closer, crowding around her.
"Did she see a phoenix?" Raegor asked hesitantly.
Sara shook her head.
Confusion deepened.
"No worries," Marcus said, taking the drawing gently from Sara and handing it to Blood Rose. "We’ll analyze it."
He turned back toward the table. "Should we depart for the mission now?"
Xaeroth raised a hand, stopping him.
Marcus followed his gaze.
It was fixed on Dahek’s bloodied body.
As if on cue, Xaeroth stood and walked toward Dahek.
He grabbed the demon by the hair and lifted him effortlessly. Dahek struggled weakly, chains rattling as his feet left the ground.
Without warning, Xaeroth slamd him back down and squatted beside his face, still gripping his hair.
"Speak!! What were you doing in my empire?" Xaeroth asked,
"Arghh!!" dahek ratteled before he spoke in a hoarse voice, "Amon..."
"Amon...asked to watch the boy"
"Which boy?"
"Heugh... Archon..."
Everyone’s eye widened as they moved their attention to the broken figure."
"Oh? Interesting," Xaeroth said calmly. "Which Archon?"
"Heugh... blue... hair boy."
"I was following him the whole ti," Dahek continued weakly. "I was told to watch him from a distance because Lord Amon wanted to play with him."
"What!!" Andrea and Yue exclaid together.
"What were you doing in my empire then?" Xaeroth asked, unfazed by the reactions.
"Cough!! I was chasing him..."
"You wanted to kill him?" Xaeroth’s voice sharpened. "Why? Didn’t your demon lord tell you to just watch him?"
"Cough!! He had sothing I wanted."
"What?" Several voices overlapped.
"What did he have??"
"Cough...cough..arghhhh!!"
Dahek’s body convulsed violently. His skin began to lt and warp, flesh restructuring in grotesque patterns.
His abdon bulged unnaturally, gurgling before splitting into a malford face that erged from his chest’s flesh.
The face twisted and spoke, its voice filled with malice.
"Khe khe khe!! After such a long ti, I’ve seen you all together!! Having a tea party?"
The demonic laughter echoed.
"AMON!!!" Andrea growled.
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