Geron's voice echoed across the broken chamber.
"You want to hand him Keros? Do you even know what you're saying?"
Verica didn't flinch.
"I know exactly what I'm saying. I know what that drug does. But tell me...Do we have any other chance of slowing him down? If we will not do that he will definitely kill all of us. If we not live than who? Save the humanity."
Geron clenched his fists. "He is our enemy. If you give him Keros, than we lose this world. We will definitely loss this battle. You may buy time, but it will be time stolen from the dead."
"Better stolen than surrendered," Verica replied coldly.
"Enough," the Mage King said.
His voice cut through the rising tension like a blade. Everyone turned.
His presence was calm now. Steady. But there was a storm beneath it, barely held in place.
"We won't use the Keros drug unless there's no other path. For now, prepare the girl. Elara is the only link we have to the boy. If Ren finds her first, we can use her to shape the truth. If everything wil okay, than we will definitely defeat him and his civilization too."
"And if he already know? He knew our plan already. We need another plane." Frein asked softly.
Silence followed.
Then the Mage King looked toward the ruined wall, his gaze lost in something beyond it.
" We have no other options left. We will follow that path. That boy and she is the last hope of us. If that man is in conscious than we don't have to worry. Hope the miracle happens and that man be conscious. By the way how he is? In his condition any improvements show?"
A cold shiver passed through the chamber.
No one spoke again.
Only the distant hum of the damaged mana cores filled the air.
And above them, carved in ash and stone, the name still burned.
VAEL
Seroi sat at the edge of the broken dais, breathing heavily. His right hand pressed against his ribs. Frein had healed the worst of it, but pain still throbbed deep. The kind no magic could remove.
Across from him, Mage King remained standing. Unmoving. Eyes half-closed. As if he was no longer here.
Then Layra finally broke the silence.
"No! My lord! In his condition nothing improvemens seen." Her voice was soft, trembling slightly. "He's gone. But he left a mark. And… he called us whenever you need me, I will there for you."
Her eyes were filled with sadness and sorrow. Her eyes wants to weep but she didn't weep infront of them. She was a tough member of the counsil.Then...
"We have no option left," the Mage King said without raising his head. "We are not strong enough to face him. You all saw it. You felt it."
"But… Ren. He will go to him," Seroi said. "That's what Vael wants."
"We can negotiate with him," said Layra again. "Maybe we offer him something. Time. Space. Something to delay..."
"No." The Mage King's voice cut through her words. "He will not be bargained with. He came here to provoke us. To shake us. And he succeeded."
Frein finished his last spell and slumped into a chair. "What if we warn Ren? If we intercept him before he reaches the Kullon Lake..."
"He will not listen," said Seroi.
Everyone looked at him.
"Vael planted something in him. A spark. A challenge. A purpose. Ren will go. He's already on that path. Even if we try to stop him, he'll fight through us."
"But... He is not know about Vael. How can you say that he is already on path of Kullon lake?" Frein asked gently.
" Because Vael place his spy on me. Ohh ! Sorry you all. But you all live in delusion. We all think and waste our time to figure out what we do next. That's the original plan of the Vael. He wants to delay us. He already send his messanger to inform the Ren." Seroi spoke. He felt still pain.
Everyone was quite. Nobody had words to spoke. To express.
"Wait... How you know about that?" Layra broke the silence.
"Hmmm... Actually I don't know about that. But one person know. Elara. I think you all forget about her ability. She can communicate with anyone. No matter how much the distance is. She have a telepathy power too. So few minutes ago, she contacted me and told me that the black mask person approached the Ren. I think you all now understand what I am trying to say. You all know about that black mask person." Seroi answered softly. His eyes were bright. Like he was felt proud on Elara.
"Wait... We don't gave you ordered to follow the Ren via Elara." Geron spoke with confusion and anger too.
"That was I. I gave ordered to follow the Ren via Elara. Before here I am going to meet Seroi and Elara. Tell them truth and ordered her to follow the Ren. And also to Seroi to pretend and be ready for every situation what happens during exposing the imposter." Mage King said.
Geron growled under his breath. All knew that they both were childhood friends so now all misunderstandings cleared and finally he spoke... "Then what do we do? Just wait for them to clash? Watch the world burn?"
Verica stepped forward. Her robes dragged through the dust and glass.
"There might be another way," she said.
Everyone turned to her.
"We offer him the Keros Drug. That's the last option."
Frein choked.
"What did you say?" Geron stood up. "You want to hand that to a creature like Vael? Are you mad?"
Verica didn't flinch.
"We can buy time. That's all we need now. If he consumes it, it may overload him. Or at least... stall his progress."
"You know what that thing does," Geron said, stepping closer. "It warps. It unbinds. It doesn't just amplify magic, it tears at the soul. And you want to give it to him?"
"He's already beyond us," Verica said. "This is not about survival. It's about delay. We need time to reach Ren. We need to prepare him. Maybe… maybe even tell him the truth."
"No!" Mage King snapped.
Everyone fell silent again.
His face was twisted now. Not with anger.
But something deeper. Regret.
"We cannot tell him. Not yet. He must not know what lies beneath."
"You're afraid," Seroi said quietly.
Mage King looked at him.
"You've seen his potential," Seroi continued. "But you still think he's like us. That if he learns the truth, he'll break."
"He will," Mage King said, his voice bitter. "Because the truth is a weapon more dangerous than any spell. And Vael knows it."
He walked slowly toward the broken wall where Vael's name still glowed.
"I saw that name once. In the Lost Records. A being not bound by cycle or time. Not born. Not made. Something that slipped between the threads of creation. A Trace, yes, but not a creature."
He looked back at them.
"He is a wound in reality."
They all stood still.
Frein looked pale. Geron clenched his fists. Verica turned her eyes to the floor.
Then Seroi stood.
His shoulder stiff, but his voice steady.
"Then we prepare. Not just for Ren. Not just for Vael."
He looked at each of them.
"We prepare for truth. And for the war it brings."
★★★
Far away, beneath the shrouded clouds of Mount Eldan, a boy stood alone.
Ren.
His breath misted in the cold air. His hand was resting over his heart.
A pulse had reached him.
Something deep. Old. Calling him forward.
He didn't know what waited at the Kullon Lake.
But he would go. Go for found the truth. A truth that already hidden.
And when he arrived, he would no longer be the same.
He whispered to the wind.
"Vael…"
The name felt like a curse.
Or maybe a key. A key to found his family. A key to found the truth.