I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

The pain in Seris’s hand was gone, or at least, she acted as if it was.

She was standing on her feet again and had the same cold expression she always had on her face, but from such a close distance, Lian could see that the fingers of her right hand unconsciously curled and opened again every few seconds.

It was a small movement.

For someone who did not know Seris, it was almost impossible to notice.

He kept his eyes on the Ancestral Dragon Mark.

The golden dragon could still be seen on the back of her hand, but the light that had been flowing through its lines that morning had become weaker.

Seris was also looking at the same place.

”It happened at the same time as the change in the formations.”

”It seems it wasn’t only yours.” Lian slightly raised his head and looked down.

Down on the terrace, several other Pendragon members were still checking their own marks.

One of the younger members had rolled his sleeve up above his elbow and was talking to an older man.

A little farther away, a woman with a Dragon Mark on her neck had also stopped moving.

The same thing had happened to all of them at the same moment.

The young Pendragon ran her thumb over the faded lines of the mark.

”So the marks are not independent.”

All the holders of the marks were in different parts of Verendal.

Some had received their marks only today, while some had probably received them years ago, if all of them had reacted at exactly the same moment, then there had to be a shared connection somewhere deep inside their structure.

”And the changes in the formations touched that root, but how? How can these two be connected?” Lian looked at the city again.

According to what both of them knew, the Dragon Mark was a type of blessing given by an ancient treasure that belonged to a Demon.

And the city’s formations were part of the city’s defensive mechanism, so how could changing the city’s defensive mechanism affect the marks?

The result was clear, these two had a connection that they did not know about, or that had been hidden from them...

”The first murder locked down the city, the second attack brought the families into it, the accusation against the Primal Firmament pulled the Guilds into it, the Overlords took my father outside the city.” Seris slowly whispered.

Then her eyes moved toward the city.

”And the conflicts made my mother change the network.”

Silence fell between them, when all those events were seen separately, each one had a natural reason.

A murder justified locking down the city, the accusation against Vorhelm justified investigating the family.

Finding the Thousand-Faced Mirror led to suspicion against the Primal Firmament.

Calling in backup forces was also not strange in the current atmosphere of distrust, but when you placed them one after another, they started to look like a path.

And somehow, what had just happened to the marks was connected to them.

But how?

Could it be... that the target was to rewrite the city’s defensive mechanism?

”If someone wanted the defensive formations to be changed from the beginning...” Lian said quietly, but did not finish his sentence.

Seris said nothing either, because she had already understood the rest of his thought.

If the final goal was to change Verendal’s defensive network, then all the events before this could have simply been a way to force the Pendragons to do something that no outside enemy could directly force them to do.

The Pendragons had to rearrange the network with their own hands.

Both of their eyes widened for a moment, did that mean that all this time... all the events that had happened were only a preparation for changing the defensive mechanism of this city?

But why? Why would a plan have to go this far? What benefit could it give them?

A voice came from behind them.

”There is no need to guess any further.”

Both of them turned around.

Isolde Pendragon was standing at the beginning of the stone path of the terrace.

Two high-ranking guards stood several meters behind her, but even they did not come any closer.

The woman’s face was different from when she had been sitting on the ceremony platform a few hours ago, she was not afraid, but the somewhat relaxed calmness and short smiles she had before were gone.

She walked directly toward Seris.

”Show me your hand.”

Seris held out her right hand without asking any questions.

Isolde grabbed her daughter’s wrist and closely examined the faded mark, her finger moved once over one of the golden lines, and for a moment, her expression became more serious.

”Did it hurt?”

”It passed.”

She raised her head and looked directly into her daughter’s eyes for several seconds.

”That was not an answer to my question.”

”A lot.” Seris paused briefly.

Those two words were enough.

Isolde’s hand remained on her daughter’s wrist for a moment, the pressure of her fingers changed very slightly, so slightly that she might not have even noticed it herself.

Then she let go.

”Are you okay?”

”Yes.”

The Matriarch did not insist any further and moved her eyes to Lian.

”Both of you come with me.” And without saying anything else, she turned around and left.

The two exchanged a look and followed her.

Their path did not lead to the public areas of the palace, from the first few hallways, Lian realized that something had changed.

Pendragon forces were present at almost every intersection in the city, some doors that had previously been open were now sealed with several layers, and in two hallways on the western side, even restraint formations were active.

But the people being taken under protection attracted even more attention.

Several members of the Primal Firmament seemed to have been arrested...?

Six Pendragon forces were moving around them, and Mana restraint rings could be seen on the wrists of two of them.

Seris only gave her mother a look.

”Before I came to get you, I ordered the arrest of all members of the Primal Firmament delegation.” Isolde said without stopping.

Lian raised an eyebrow.

This was no longer normal caution.

A Celestial belonging to the same Guild was currently outside Verendal, standing against Rhaenar, and Isolde had arrested his delegation inside the city.

If the news reached Kairos, which it certainly would, the situation outside would not become calmer.

”Are you that certain?”

”No.”

Her answer came immediately.

”But the risk of waiting is greater.”

They walked a few more meters.

”The Thousand-Faced Mirror is the only known artifact that can recreate an attack’s signature and structure with the level of accuracy we saw today.”

Young Vorhelm said nothing, she already knew this part.

”The first person who requested a complete separation of the security routes after the twenty-four-hour agreement was the representative of the Primal Firmament, and that caused us to rewrite the city’s defensive mechanism.”

This point caused his expression to change slightly.

It really was true.

The others had made their requests after that.

If that request had not been made, perhaps the city’s defensive mechanism would never have been changed, and as a result, what happened to Seris and the other Dragon Mark holders would never have happened.

But what exactly had happened to the holders of the Dragon Marks? What had happened that even the Pendragon Matriarch seemed worried?

Isolde said.

”A few minutes after the network was rearranged, all the Dragon Marks reacted.”

”The others sent Overlords, but the Primal Firmament sent a Celestial.”

Lian did not answer.

The result of that decision was right in front of everyone.

Kairos had arrived, and Rhaenar had personally been forced to leave the center of Verendal, right before the defensive mechanism was changed.

Isolde gave him a brief look.

”Kairos did not need to come.”

Her voice became colder.

”If it was only about protecting the delegation, an Overlord would have been enough.”

”His presence made it impossible for Father to leave that place.” Seris said shortly.

”Exactly.”

All the pieces were pointing toward the Primal Firmament again, even more than before and with greater certainty.

Isolde placed her hand against the wall beside them, there was no door there, but when she touched it, very faint golden lines lit up under the stone, and part of the wall slowly moved backward.

”If they are innocent, they will be released later, if they are not, I don’t want them walking freely around my city until then.”

Behind the wall was a short hallway that ended at a completely dark room.

When the three of them entered, the stone door behind them closed.

The feeling of the environment immediately changed.

Lian almost completely lost his connection with the outside, as if this part of the city was completely isolated.

Isolde touched one of the seals on the wall, and very faint golden lines lit up, giving the room just enough light for their faces to be seen.

Then the woman looked directly at Lian.

”From this moment on, everything you hear stays here.”

”Even from the Vorhelms?” Lian held her gaze for several seconds.

”Especially from the Vorhelms.” Her tone was not joking.

He tilted his head slightly, this level of secrecy was not normal for an ordinary security crisis.

Beside him, Seris also remained silent.

”Do you know the Demon of End?” The Matriarch walked a few steps forward and asked.

”The dragon that the founders of the Pendragons killed, right?” Lian answered almost immediately.

For a moment, no one spoke, Isolde seemed unsure how to say the next words...

In the end, she sighed and added.

”They didn’t kill it, that dragon is still alive.”