Larissa considered the question carefully. It was a complicated request... taking an eleven-year-old child, talented and probably very important for the future like Ren, directly to an active combat zone.
"Arturo won’t approve that," she said honestly. "But... if we can present it as essential for cleanup and control of the ’biological weapon’, maybe they’ll bring soldiers one by one after the war ends..."
She stopped, clearly thinking through possibilities. Though perhaps waiting would an more casualties...
"It would have to be after the main combat ends. During cleanup operations, when it’s relatively safe for you."
"And if it doesn’t end soon? If the abyssals fight for a long ti, will we let most of them die?"
"But even if we tell my brothers, they won’t..." Larissa paused. "I have an idea... But you’d have to promise to follow all safety asures I decide. Nothing heroic, nothing dangerous!"
Ren nodded eagerly. It was exactly what he needed, an opportunity to ensure his weapon didn’t cause unintended long-term harm.
And secretly for "Mooshito," an chance to absorb all that sweet accumulated energy.
The little mushroom pulsed with anticipation, though it tried to maintain its dignified deanor.
♢♢♢♢
The King of Yino stood beside his firstborn and daughter in the sacrifice chamber. The potion seed to have enhanced them all, as all three were strangely calm, a serenity that transcended normal concerns of war or politics.
Venmont remained kneeling before the King, drinking the last remnants of his own dose of the transformative potion. Purple marks on his skin glowed with intensity, indicating his abyssal beasts had successfully ascended to the next power level.
But the ssage that had arrived about the bridge situation affected the King slightly, though much less than it would have before the transformation.
"It seems Yano was already playing with fire before knowing what they’re ssing with," Coleoran murmured, the crystal’s voices whispering interpretations in his mind.
It seed they would have to act sooner than expected on all fronts before the idiots unleashed the end tis through pure ignorance.
Letting the World Dragon take complete control of any of the mana veins under either castle would be the end for everyone... an apocalypse that would consu not only both kingdoms, but potentially the entire continent.
’But they can’t see it clearly like us,’ Coleoran thought with so pity and a lot of frustration. ’The Great Savior Crystal can’t reach them yet to share their wisdom.’
However, according to reports arriving filtered through multiple sources, the King could hear in the increasingly clear crystal whispers sothing that fundantally changed his perspective on the threat.
As if the crystal itself understood sothing by connecting the dots.
What was happening, how it was happening, implied the World Dragon’s Light was incomplete... it was barely a third of what it should be in its final form.
Apparently, for so reason, it hadn’t been awakened alongside its two key pieces.
Without its primordial dicine, without its ’amplifier’ and its ’structurer’, it could never unify in the form the crystal’s prophecies had predicted.
’Had so idiot found them ahead of ti?’ Selthia heard clearly. ’Had they been stolen and removed from the incubation chamber?’
In any case, it would be excellent news for the crystal. The beast would never beco what it was destined to beco.
Without real competition, it was only a matter of ti before the crystal finished its developnt and kept everything for themselves. As long as the Dragon’s Light couldn’t obtain its other two ingredients, wherever they were, the world would be theirs.
The crystal’s voices intensified, and Coleoran and his children felt new information flowing directly into their expanded consciousness.
His daughter nodded from her position next to the crystal’s main fragnt, indicating she had surely heard much more than he had been able to capture.
Coleoran gestured for Selthia to speak, recognizing her connection with the crystal had reached levels that surpassed even his own enhanced capacity.
With the clear and direct voice she had developed for transmitting crystal orders, Selthia addressed Venmont.
"You must go help eliminate the stolen light from the core on the other side of the bridge," she ordered with authority that sounded strange coming from an eleven-year-old girl, "replace it with the purple moon veil. And bring us our missing ring."
Venmont imdiately stood up, his new powers pulsing through his transford form. Without asking questions, (the potion’s clarity had eliminated any doubt about the necessity of these actions), he headed toward the exit to fulfill the mission.
Selthia looked toward her father, who now wore two rings that had been safely stored. But now they nurtured the crystal directly through their power, the new power of the next level they had achieved.
"The preparations for the next phase?" Coleoran asked, though he knew his daughter had already been working on translations of the most complicated information.
"Almost ready," Selthia responded, her eyes shining with purple light that indicated a deep connection with the crystal. "But we need more ingredients."
Coleoran nodded. He would have to continue creating potions, elevating more of his subordinates to the level necessary for the next operations.
"Once we have Kassian connected to the network too," Selthia continued, "I’ll be able to use him to increase ’my’ range once more."
Everything was going perfectly according to the plan the crystal had been whispering. They only had an incomplete parasite’s light to exterminate.
"What else are we missing from the other side?" Coleoran asked.
"Just one ring," Selthia responded with certainty that ca directly from crystalline voices. "Once Venmont completes his mission and brings the third ring, we’ll have everything necessary."
In the silence that followed, father and daughter remained united in purpose that transcended normal family bonds. They were instrunts of sothing much greater, servants of a vision that promised perfect order in a world that had been plagued by uncertainty and conflict for too long.
The Grand Crystal far in the forest felt what was happening around it with its roots that grew each day and pulsed with satisfaction, sensing its plans were nearing fruition.
Soon, very soon, there would be no more need for wars, politics, or the ssy complications of free will.
Only perfect order would remain, under perfect control, in a perfect world that existed within ’eternal crystal clarity’.
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