Ren pointed toward the golden crystal pulsing in the center of the chamber where they were.
"The crystal is already under Yino’s castle too," he explained. "It’s taking over that side of the tower."
The revelation hit Dragarion like a fist. He had assud the threat was external, a corruption growing at civilization’s margins. He hadn’t believed that it was already infiltrating the fundantal infrastructure.
This wasn’t an enemy they could et on a battlefield; it was sothing that had already embedded itself in the very systems that kept their world functioning.
"It only has control of the golden crystal from the first chamber for now," Ren continued, "but if it takes over the second one, the one surrounded by the seven diamond rank dragons..."
He paused, carefully choosing his words to not reveal too much about the seed his fungus had consud.
"If it gets all the treasures and control of the second chamber... Then it would beco too strong for anyone to bring down... Its power will grow faster and faster from there."
Julius approached, his mind imdiately processing the implications.
"How much ti do we have?" he asked, urgency clear in his voice.
Ren considered the question, ntally consulting with his fungus about the growth patterns he could perceive.
"We should have enough... Yino’s third ring shouldn’t erge from the dense crystallized mana cocoon soon," he responded. "The cocoon depends on our side of the ethereal flow and the corruption can’t absorb crystallized mana. The flow from this side hasn’t been compromised and has functioned normally, right?"
Julius, Zhao, and Dragarion exchanged aningful glances.
"What do you an by ’compromise’?" Julius asked, his voice carrying the caution of soone who suspected they had been inadvertently contributing to the problem.
"Because we’ve also been using the flow," Dragarion added with growing concern.
The weight of potential unintended consequences settled over them like a heavy blanket. What if their own activities had sohow accelerated the very threat they were now trying to stop?
Ren thought for a mont, analyzing the erosion patterns he could perceive through his expanded connection to the system.
Then he reassured them with a smile he hadn’t had since before his evolution.
"Activating cores to make random eggs hardly affects anything," he assured them. "At most, giving those 9 years left so extra days or maximum a couple months ahead."
He had realized they were thinking about the system they had been using... putting cores from different beasts into the ethereal mana column to saturate them with mana and obtain eggs of unpredictable colors.
"The vein’s mana has elents and energies combined from different SSS Dragons," Ren explained with the patience of a good teacher. "That’s why the ’eggs’ can’t be predicted as to what beast they’ll end up being."
Dragarion leaned forward, fascinated by the nontheoretical information.
"Absorbing mana in large quantities like the crystal in Yino does was hundreds of tis more intense than the egg system," Ren continued. "Which by the way, due to the elevated location in the vein you use, just under the castle, mostly produced gray eggs."
He pointed toward where he could perceive the vein divided more deeply.
"If we took from this new side of the vein, the eggs would be of greater variety," he told them. "But I guess that it might be more worthwhile to teach you the thod to obtain specific eggs..."
The casual dump of knowledge surprised the adults, but Ren imdiately returned to the main point.
"There’s a way Your Majesty might be able to destroy the crystal," he declared, pointing toward the command center with the seven dragons.
Everyone’s attention imdiately focused on it.
"I could help you absorb part of the power from the seven crystals," he told Dragarion directly. "And with purification and fusion, maybe you could manage to beat the corruption core and break it."
He paused, his expression becoming serious as he evaluated the king with his enhanced senses.
"But I warn you that although your body is the most resistant of all Yano, it won’t be an easy load to carry."
Dragarion imdiately straightened, a smile that was half amusent and half pure determination crossing his face.
"Boy," he said with that casual confidence that had carried him through decades of impossible battles, "I’ve carried the weight of power for years. I’ve faced dragons that could erase mountains and erged victorious. If there’s a way to stop this corruption before it devours everything we’ve built, then it must be done."
He approached the command center, his eyes evaluating the seven crystals that pulsed with diamond rank power.
"Besides," he added with a broader smile, "I’ve never been one to shy away from an interesting challenge..."
Dragarion’s willingness to push beyond normal limits was both his greatest strength and his most dangerous weakness.
Ren nodded, but raised a hand to temper the king’s enthusiasm.
"Then first we need to heal everyone," he declared with authority that surprised even himself.
His eyes systematically turned toward each group mber, analyzing wounds and deficiencies with his improved perception.
"And our King himself," he continued, looking directly at Dragarion. "You are, from what I can see, at the limit of exhaustion."
Julius was surprised by the way Ren spoke to the king, but could notice he was right, although Dragarion had been masterfully hiding the small signs of fatigue.
The observation was both respectful and unflinching, showing that Ren’s enhanced perception cut through even his own hesitancy.
"Prince Julius needs an arm," Ren continued, pointing toward the stump the brave warrior had been clutching, "as well as others who can benefit from helping grandma Selphira wake up..."
"...And many doubles who could fuse may be just what we need for an attack group," Ren concluded, pointing to the potions. "We have ti before they open the door, but we must act before Yino can capitalize on their new thods of obtaining power... whatever they were that led them to have 6 golden beasts in a single body."
Dragarion looked around at his son with the lost arm, at his most trusted explorer struggling against exhaustion, at the girls and boy who had shown so much potential but needed more developnt.
They had the resources to create sothing unprecedented, but they also had limited ti and enormous stakes.
"Should we use the diamond healing elixirs?" he asked, pointing toward the pedestals surrounding the central crystal.
"Exactly," Ren confird. "And the double potions. With this chamber’s resources, we can create an elite group that has a real chance against the soldiers Yino has been enhancing."
"It could be exactly what we need," Julius nodded, imdiately understanding the strategy.
Dragarion nodded slowly, his mind aligning with Ren’s vision.
"Very well," he declared. "First we strengthen our best operatives, then we attack... The problem is... Who are the best in our kingdom today?" He turned to look at Julius.
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