Another Mug of red wine was delivered in front of the Serpentine race entity, who picked it up, and a long, slithery-like tongue came out of his mouth, dipping into the wine. Once he tasted the blood and flesh. A surprised delight flashed through his half-human face.

To which Zeledin let out a hearty laugh, "I’m glad you like it, Duke Ramos..."

The 6th Phase Serpentkin nodded, his tone was beastly, "Thank you for your efforts, Sir Zeledin. I presume the excavations of the Oathbreaker stones are almost finished?"

Zeledin said with a smile, "Of course, Duke Ramos, and there is no need for you to be so polite."

"Once all the shipments of the Oathbreaker stones are transferred near the Ghost Island, the sea vessels of the Venus Empire can take them all away," reassured the 6th-phase Death Knight in a confident tone.

Zeledin shook his head in the next moment and sighed, "If only the Oathbreaker stones worked against the seal placed upon our Ghost Island... such a pity."

Duke Ramos explained calmly, "As you know, that seal was placed by an ancient relic of the Elven race; it’s quite different from the contracts established by Prime Nexus or any other magical restrictions."

This time, the serpentkin’s voice was more human-like, but there was still a strangeness to it that could make a person’s skin crawl, and he was gradually trying to emulate a normal human voice until there were no faults in his disguise.

The subtle serpentine features on his face also gradually vanished with each sip of the blood wine he drank.

Duke Ramos eventually stated in a completely human voice with no ripple of power, "Indeed, if the seal was possible to break. It would have been of great help in our next course of action."

"Regardless, I wish to extend my greatest thanks towards the Ghost Empire," he stated with a tone of gratitude.

Zeledin offered a courteous smile; the truth of the matter was that the Ghost race was not the one to discover these oathbreaker stones. Rather, they were simply mercenaries, hired by the Venus Empire, which was the land of Serpentkin’s.

And the reason the Ghost Empire helped them was that the Ghost Emperor himself was interested in these Oathbreaker stones, hoping they could be used to break the seal on the Ghost Island. Which naturally did not work.

The 2nd was due to the purpose for which the Venus Empire would use the Oathbreaker stones: the Serpentine race had been scheming against the Elven race for a long, long time. Once they possess this immense amount of Oathbreaker stones, their preparations would be complete.

Glee filled Zeledin’s heart just at the thought of it; those arrogant Elven bastards would not even see it coming, how they would fall, it would be marvelous.

Duke Ramos added, "Do not worry, Sir Zeledin, once the Elven Empire falls and we get our hands on the ancient relic, we will immediately spare no effort to take off the seal. After all, that is the agreement between our Kings."

Duke Ramos then smiled for the first time, then said in an anticipative tone, filled with lustful desire, "I truly long for that day very badly. I will take in a few thousand virgin elves. I would finally be able to satisfy my desires and perhaps advance somewhat."

He turned towards Zeledin, "I can give you a few dozen as a gift."

Zeledin chuckled and thought to himself, the Serpentine race is extremely lustful; the members of this race can hardly control their reproductive urges. At the same time, it is a way for them to grow stronger.

It doesn’t matter if they perform carnal acts with the members of the other races or their own; both are helpful in different ways, but the latter is naturally more helpful to them.

Zeledin nodded in a curious tone, "Yes, please do..., perhaps then I could make an even better wine with the flesh and blood of elves, or try some carnal acts with a possessed human, I wonder how the human souls would feel then..?"

Zeledin shifted the topic and asked, "I presume the council of Dark Elves is already into this?"

Duke Ramos smiled through his teeth, "Of course. They hate the High Elves more than we do..."

Then Duke Ramos tilted his head and remembered a particular piece of information, "By the way, Sir Zeledin, I have some information that you might find interesting. As a sign of goodwill, I will tell you this for free. As you already know, we have a dark elven spy within the Suncrest Palace."

A look of interest appeared on Zeledin’s face, and he nodded, nudging the Serpentkin to continue.

After a moment’s pause, Duke Ramos disclosed the hidden information with a solemn expression, and his tone returned to a serpentine hiss: "The dark elven spy has confirmed that the daughter of the Sun King actually possesses the awakened bloodline of the Luminaries."

The moment Duke Ramos revealed those words, the pupils of Zeledin constricted to the extreme.

A deafening silence fell over the entire tavern; not even the insects sucking on the blood and flesh of humans splattered throughout dared to buzz. A dark shadow covered Zeledin’s face, his eyes turned into sunken hollows, burning with nether flames.

With a chilling countenance, he asked, "Duke Ramos, do you realize what you are trying to say? Please tell me that I heard it wrong!!!"

But the expression on the Serpentine Duke’s face remained unchanged, "I assure you, Sir Zeledin, I would not have revealed this if we were not sure of it. Because I know very well how sensitive this matter is to the Ghost race."

After that, he brought out a transparent vial containing one drop of water that glowed intermittently with a whitish light; yet, it was not water at all, but a teardrop.

Once the mighty death knight sensed the purest energy contained in that single tear. His entire body jolted, Zeledin took multiple steps back in shock. And he mumbled in disbelief, "True Tear of a Luminary."

His voice shook, "And the power contained in it is so strong and pure, it...it must have been shed in the most heartbroken state."

Duke Ramos nodded in a grave tone, "It’s a tear formed by one-sided longing of the Luminary when it fell from her eyes. Just from the pure emotions and strength contained in it, I can tell that the sheer potential of this Luminary who shed this tear is nearly limitless."

"Her heart is disgustingly pure..." said the Serpentine powerhouse, and for a small moment, his eyes flashed with boundless lust, and he thought to himself, if only he could have intercourse with this pure-hearted Luminary and drain all the power of her bloodline and spirit.

His own potential would skyrocket to such a degree that becoming a quasi-7th phase existence, the same as his King, was not impossible. But then that thought disappeared immediately. He also put away the tear.

Duke Ramos gave one last glance towards Zeledin and got up. As he walked out of the Tavern, he disappeared.

Only Zeledin kept standing there, his mind filled with a storm of thoughts. Eventually, his guise of a middle-aged man withered, the skin on his body melted, bones broke, muscles and blood vessels decayed.

Until his true appearance as the Black armored Knight was revealed. Even his face was entirely covered by the helmet. Only the flickering flames in his eyes could be noticed somewhat.

He stood there unmoving, his figure covered in deathly darkness. After what felt like an eternity, the figure spoke in a voice like dry bones scraping against one another: "I will have to talk about this with the Emperor."

Zeledin could obviously see Duke Ramos’s ploy, and the moment that person revealed the Luminary’s existence, Zeledin’s hands were tied.

From his perspective, even Leonidas was suspicious, extremely suspicious, that immovable calmness of the Sun King, it definitely stems from confidence, not baseless arrogance. Leonidas knows something that he does not, which makes Zeledin feel very wary of the Human King.

The scheme being played out among the three forces of the three races was too complicated—each party with its own secret and open agendas. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Suncrest King wanted to use the Ghost Race as a medium to cut down the forces of Blackvale and Samartan.

He also wished to use the Ghost Race’s hands to kill the Valkyrie, so that he could eventually take over all of humanity by blaming the death of humanity’s champion on the shoulders of the other two Great Kingdoms.

The Ghost Empire was acting as a mercenary force, excavating the Oathbreaker stones from the Human Lands, to help the Venus Empire get these resources. So that the Venus Empire could attack the Elven race and get the Ancient relic, by which the Ghost race could be freed.

The Serpentine race of the Venus Empire wanted to destroy and take over the Elven Race, even though they were long-time allies of each other, but the cunning Serpentine race also wanted to put the Ghost race in a predicament.

Which was why Duke Ramos revealed the existence of the Luminary, whom the Ghost race will have no choice but to kill. No matter what price they would have to pay.

And Axel would remain oblivious to all of these events as the ripple effects of his interference have already taken shape, once that which was a small flap of a butterfly’s wings now turned to a ginormous typhoon.

It is a typhoon that Axel cannot stop from causing the predestined course of tragedies.