"It will destroy us all."
Suddenly, Kael spoke. His expression was full of hesitation, but in the end, he decided to give in.
"As you all know, I was sent to Estwyn Town for my test."
He began.
The people nodded.
"Estwyn was in no position to defend itself. Many of their capable tars had left the town; the only ones left were mostly weak and couldn't fight.
The people who could fight were low in numbers, nowhere near strong enough to face a Beast Tide, not when every single one of them was exhausted.
Honestly, Estwyn should have been destroyed in the last Beast Tide even before I got there."
Kael then turned towards Archmage Alaric and questioned,
"How do you think it survived?"
Alaric narrowed his eyes. It wasn't just him; the rest of the counciln turned towards Kael as well.
"Their Town Head was corrupted."
Kael revealed.
Honestly, he wanted to hide this to save Tobias's life, but he realized he couldn't anymore, not when his and his children's safety was on the line.
His words instantly attracted all the attention and Alden narrowed his eyes.
"What…?"
'None of them showed any strange reaction.'
'Tsk.'
Igni inford, and Kael clicked his tongue. He wanted to use this reveal to catch the one behind what happened in Estwyn.
'I guess they know how to hide their expressions better than I do…'
He sighed inwardly as he stared at all the council mbers and then sighed.
"Town Head Tobias loved his people and his granddaughter, but he could see that if he didn't do anything, his town and everyone in it would be destroyed. He constantly sought the Kingdom's help, writing letter after letter, but there was no reply for months.
He was desperate, and on one fateful night, beings wearing black cloaks ca to his doorstep."
"Twilight."
Sylvara narrowed her eyes.
Kael glanced at her for a mont and then continued,
"Tobias had a Bond nad Laughter. They fed him the Seed of Corruption. Not wanting to hurt his Tar, the corrupted Laughter flew away, and from then on, he only appeared when the town was overrun by corrupted beasts."
"He… defended the town…?"
Sylvara frowned, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"Yes, he did.
His attacks may have caused destruction, he might even have hurt tars of the town, but it was only because of Laughter that Estwyn was able to survive. He ca, attacked the corrupted beasts till they all ran away, and then flew away."
Kael nodded.
"However, the day I walked into Estwyn, Tobias's connection with him disappeared."
"So he…"
The look on Sylvara's face had already changed; her concern and pity were visible. Kael nodded at her words.
"Yes, Tobias thought the sa—that his Laughter died."
"But?"
The Master of Coins, Zarya, raised her eyebrow. She knew that such stories always had a 'but' in them.
"Did the report ntion the last flying beast that chased ?"
"Wait…"
Sylvara's expression changed.
"It was Laughter."
Kael nodded.
"But that isn't possible. Even if the Bond is corrupted, the connection between a Tar and a Bond cannot disappear—not unless the Tar or the Beast is dead. It cannot be Laughter; it must be so other beast."
"I saw it with my own eyes. His na was Laughter. He was a Stormveil Roc, just like Laughter, and his age was the sa as Tobias's. All of this cannot be a coincidence.
He was Tobias's Laughter."
"But…"
Sylvara wanted to say sothing—anything—but she couldn't. It went against everything she knew, and yet… she couldn't co up with a counter.
It wasn't just her; the rest of the council mbers had frowns on their faces as well, and once again, Igni didn't notice anything out of the normal in their expressions.
Kael continued the story.
"This ti, however, Laughter hadn't co to protect the town like he used to. He only had one goal.
."
Kael declared, then he glanced at all the council mbers and,
"Almost as if he was being controlled by soone else who wanted the Hero dead."
"…"
"…"
Silence.
Absolute silence fell over the eting room.
And how could it not?
The aning behind those words couldn't be clearer.
A Bond's connection with his Tar was destroyed, and soone else took control of it… and if the Power of Corruption was what made that possible, and if the Energy of Dawn is the sa as the Power of Corruption, then…
It wouldn't be wrong to think that the Energy of Dawn, which strengthens one's Bond, was very much capable of taking control over the said Bond, destroying his connection with his Tar, and making him do what soone else wants.
If that was indeed the case, then…
All of this was a big trap.
The Xenthalor Empire and their research—it was all a sham, a way to take control over the entire Nerathis using corrupted beasts.
Or maybe…
Even the Xenthalor Empire itself was tricked by the Twilight, or maybe the two forces are now working together. There were countless possibilities, but no matter which one it was, it wasn't good for Nerathis.
"How do you even know about all this?"
Suddenly, a man sitting at the Council questioned with a skeptical look on his face.
It was the Crown Prince.
"What do you an?"
Kael frowned as he glanced at Edric.
"That Twilight ca to Tobias, corrupted his Bond, his Bond continued to protect the town till the connection was lost, and the sa Bond then ca after you—who told you all this?"
"Tobias did."
"When?"
"I went to him after my party sent them back to Estwyn at night."
"And why didn't you tell any of this before?
Even a child could tell that this matter was of utmost importance. You have been back for what, three days now? You've had more than enough chances to bring this up, you could have told this to anyone, yet you didn't. You waited for three whole days to say anything.
Why is that?"
The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes as he leaned forward.
"…"
Kael stared at the man in silence. As he did, the rest of the council mbers turned towards him, waiting for his answer. Even Veylara was the sa—Kael hadn't revealed anything about it to her either.
Suddenly, a strange portal appeared beside Kael, making others frown. Kael, however, didn't react. He took out a stack of papers from the portal and placed them on the table.
Then, he glanced at the King, who nodded towards the Archmage, and the Archmage nodded back.
The docunts flew in the air, different docunts were given to different mbers of the council, and the mont they started reading them,
"!!!"
Their expressions changed.
They glanced at each other, unable to hide their shock. Then, they started exchanging these docunts to read them all. The more docunts they read, the stronger their shock beca.
In the end, unable to control himself, the King himself turned towards the Hero and,
"…how do you have these docunts?"
He questioned directly.
"Not , you should be asking how Town Head Tobias had them."
"What…?"
The Shadow Regent widened his eyes, unable to believe what he just heard, and Kael just nodded.
"Indeed. The Town Head of a small town at the border of the Kingdom had docunts that supposedly contained 'sensitive information' that only the higher-ups of the Drakthar Kingdom should know about,
Who do you think gave it to him?"
"…the Twilight."
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