Chapter 204 – Reinforcents
[Gram Seraphim – The Blood-Drinking Chalice (Blood)]
The mont permission was granted, her hidden divine na was revealed.
Arcane smirked slightly.
That deep, euphoric sensation—
It always ca when he uncovered the true nas of those shrouded in secrecy.
For him, collecting divine nas was an addiction.
However, unlike most cases, Gram had already known her own divine na before he revealed it.
That ant soone had told her.
As she studied the note in her hands, Arcane asked,
“…Who told you?”
“A man working for the Grand Duke.”
“Then it must have been the Prophet of Radiance.”
“He does have remarkable foresight.”
The Prophet of Radiance.
But that man should have been paying the price for revealing part of his divine na—The Siren’s Hymn—to Kal Blazer.
A prophet whose own life was in danger wouldn’t have risked exposing Gram’s divine na as well.
That could only an one thing—
The Grand Duke had forced him to do it.
Knowing that his death was inevitable, the Prophet must have gone to Gram of his own accord.
“…Did you pay him with Blood Nature?”
“It was an exchange that benefited us both.”
“…Is he still alive?”
“Are you hoping to et him?”
“Yes.”
“That’s unfortunate. His final act was contributing to Demtor’s progress.”
“…Contributing.”
In other words—
After his death, he had beco one of Gram’s test subjects.
It was clear now—she and the Grand Duke had already reached an agreent.
In exchange for Blood Nature, the Grand Duke had sold the Prophet to her.
Arcane was reminded of a hen.
It spends its life laying eggs, contributing to humans—
And in the end, its value is finished as a al.
The fate of those who serve the gods in Demtor was often a cruel one.
And himself?
Arcane let out a quiet chuckle and t Gram’s gaze.
She was watching him with an amused smile.
“…You’re special, Arcane.”
“I simply haven’t been caught yet.”
“Oh my, how cold of you.”
Between people like them, ties could shift between warm camaraderie and cold betrayal at any mont.
Gram placed the note back on the table.
She didn’t even need to ask—
The na written on it was already familiar.
“…Kal Blazer. His na ca up the most in the latest Demtor eting. Could this also be fate?”
“You seem particularly interested in him.”
“There are many factors that draw people together. For —it’s blood.”
Gram licked the traces of blood on her lips, revealing her teeth in a radiant smile.
“I want him. I want to tear out his heart and examine it.”
Just as her divine na suggested, she had an obsession with blood—
An unshakable belief that Kal was already hers.
Whether that certainty would hold, however, was another matter entirely.
From what Arcane had seen, Kal was no ordinary man.
A being born under the Star of the Massacre—
With a mind deeper than most, and an uncanny sense of foresight.
He was the type who only grew stronger the longer he survived.
But—
There was a mont when his fate reached its weakest point.
The battle of Tobaron—if he lost.
If that happened, Gram would devour him.
She would never pass up the chance to claim sothing she had set her sights on.
“…How are the negotiations with Kal going?”
“You just returned from eting the Grand Duke, didn’t you? The deal is already done.”
“…Strange. He hasn’t said a word to .”
“Perhaps he’s displeased with you.”
“…Displeased?”
“You handed a direct communication link—one that connects straight to Demtor’s Stars—To a naless human. The Grand Duke was the one who gave you that device, wasn’t he? So it’s understandable if he found your actions… offensive.”
“I assud Kal’s presence would be a gift to the Grand Duke. I didn’t expect him to take it so personally.”
“Lies.”
Gram burst into laughter and stood up from her seat.
“Are you really going to pretend you didn’t see this coming? You knew what kind of person Bersen Clarke is.”
The Grand Duke of Demtor.
A man of royal blood, blessed with exceptional magical talent—
A figure who was practically Demtor’s own nobility.
From the mont he was born, he had been worshipped by those beneath him.
And because of that—
He had developed a fatal flaw.
Pride.
A man with an intensely self-centered nature.
“…He invited you so urgently because of your knowledge of divine nas.”
“He was very curious about any recent changes to the divine na records.”
“That makes sense. He’s been changing ever since he started taking Blood Nature. His stagnating strength has begun to rise again.”
“…Which benefits you greatly, doesn’t it? He’s trying to surpass his six-star limit by relying on another power.”
Gram had struck at the Grand Duke’s desperation—
And because of that, her influence in Demtor was only growing stronger by the day.
She looked down at Arcane and held out her hand.
“…We help each other, don’t we?”
“Is there sothing you want from ?”
“…Your mouth.”
Gram touched her lips—
Moving them slowly as she whispered:
“…Keep quiet.”
A warning.
A request.
She wanted Arcane to be careful about what he told the Grand Duke.
“I don’t know anything about Blood Nature.”
“I wasn’t talking about that.”
“…Then?”
“I ant my divine na list. The one thing you haven’t told yet.”
Arcane chuckled.
At that mont, he knew—
Gram had learned of a new list of divine nas through the Prophet.
That was why she had killed him—
To silence him.
And within that list—
There was a divine na that could be compared to The Blood-Drinking Chalice itself.
The Serpent That Devours Stars.
Depending on how it was interpreted—
This divine na could be Gram’s greatest weakness.
The word "Star" held deep symbolic aning in Demtor.
“…So, do you plan to silence as well?”
“If I could, I would have.”
“I can be a friend or an enemy to those who bear divine nas.”
“…Am I a friend, then?”
Instead of answering, Arcane simply took Gram’s hand.
“I do not move for profit.”
“…aning the prophecy favors .”
“The prophecy desires the fall of Ordor Forest. Becoming your enemy would go against it.”
“…We’ve already begun preparations for that.”
Following Kal’s proposal, Demtor had assembled a formidable force.
Since magic users couldn’t step foot in the mana-starved land of Tobaron, the Grand Duke had gathered so of Demtor’s strongest knights and rcenaries instead.
And right now—
They were making their way toward Tobaron, bringing with them a certain artifact.
After listening to the terms of the negotiation, Arcane asked,
“…I don’t know what Kal’s plan is, but this seems insufficiently prepared.”
“…Is Kal incompetent? Or is his enemy just that strong?”
“…Most likely the latter.
Will you help him?”
“I’m a mage.”
“But you have children who are mages and yet not mages.”
Her hand—mid-handshake—froze.
Gram’s smile vanished.
She stared down at their joined hands, expression unreadable.
Arcane simply smiled, silent.
A mont later, Gram let out a soft scoff and released his hand.
“…It seems my children will finally get so fresh air.”
“Thank you.”
“…We’re friends, after all.”
With that, Gram turned away, dragging her robe behind her as she disappeared into the archives.
As her presence faded, Arcane slowly rose to his feet.
He stared at his slightly damp palm—
Clenching and unclenching his fist.
“…Did death approach and pass by just now?”
Gram Seraphim, the Blood-Drinking Chalice.
Her abilities were unpredictable—
She was not an opponent to be taken lightly.
After watching the direction she had left, Arcane shook off his thoughts—
And resud his search through the archives.
He had co to the Ivory Tower’s library for a reason—
To find information about a bow that could seal divine nas.
Sssshhhk—
Carrying a stack of ancient tos, Arcane carefully flipped through their pages.
Most records from ancient tis contained information about the Absolute Beings of that era.
Reading them now, they might seem like re myths or legends—
But they were real accounts of past calamities and gods who once walked the world.
As he searched for references to the bow, his hand suddenly paused.
A passage caught his eye—
[The Lords of the Fallen World feared him, shunned him, and opposed him.]
[At first, they called him friend—but when they learned his truth, everything changed.]
[He withdrew from the world, walking a lonely path.]
[Across countless ages, he hid his truth, taking on many nas, many forms—drifting endlessly through ti.]
[Even at the very edge of a dying world, he remained.]
It was a passage he had skimd casually—
But the mont he read the phrase "countless ages", a single na surfaced in his mind.
“…Retonicalus, the Undying.”
Gram had ntioned Arena.
Had he not recalled Arena’s divine na, he might have overlooked this entirely.
After all—
To Arcane, that particular divine na held little significance.
The owner of a dead divine na was no longer soone worth pursuing.
“…Why isn’t it here?”
Through all the ancient texts he had searched—
Not once did the na Retonicalus appear.
If it had been revealed through a divine na, then it should have existed in so record.
“…Sothing about this bothers .”
It seed he would be spending a great deal of ti in this library.
***
“M-Master!”
An old man, frail and breathless, was sprinting as fast as his body allowed.
If not for the massive staff in his hands, he would have barely managed to stay upright.
Rengua Field.
The guardian of the Shaman’s Nest.
He climbed the stairs in a hurry, stopping before a tightly shut door.
Gasping for breath, Rengua waited.
The mont he heard the awaited news, he had rushed here.
It was unthinkable for soone of his status to personally deliver a ssage—
But the circumstances left him no choice.
“Master! Master!!”
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rengua pounded on the locked door, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
It had been fifteen days.
For fifteen days, his master had sealed himself away, allowing no one to enter.
He had refused all visitors.
Even food had been rejected.
All for one thing—
One piece of news.
The mont it arrived, it was to be delivered imdiately.
That was the only instruction his master had left before isolating himself from the world.
That was why Rengua had co running.
For fifteen days, his mortal master had gone without food or water.
What if sothing had happened to him?
Rengua’s heart pounded in fear—
As he finally spoke the awaited words.
“Master! The spatial portal has opened! Demtor’s reinforcents have arrived!!”
For a mont—
Only silence.
Then—
A faint sound.
A subtle shift of movent.
The tightly locked door—
Slowly—
Creaked open.
A figure erged.
His dark hair—unruly.
His beard—unkempt.
But his eyes—
Cold, piercing, and unshaken—
Still bore the sa gaze that cut through the world itself.
Swallowing dryly, Rengua glanced past him into the room.
Scattered maps littered the floor.
Countless docunts and unfamiliar symbols were pinned to the walls.
What had he been doing in here—
All alone?
“…Lead the way, Rengua.”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
At last—
Kal Blazer had returned.
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