Xantheus moved down the stairs with a grunt.

He hated living in a place that was this large. There were always too many stairs, too many halls, too much distance between everything. It made even the simplest movement feel like a chore.

Of course, he could use magic. But he didn’t.

Magic was sacred, he swore by the fact that magic wasn’t something to be wasted on trivial things like walking from one floor to another.

If not for the space, he wouldn’t have chosen this place at all.

His beasts needed room. They needed land to run, to hunt, to grow. In fact, that was the only reason he had taken this castle as his residence.

Though, he had enjoyed the process of taking it too.

The previous owner had refused to leave. No matter what negotiations he put forth, or what threats he presented, he had refused until he had stopped talking. That had been… entertaining.

Xantheus remembered the screams.

That was decades ago, he thought to himself and continued down the steps, maintaining a steady pace. His thoughts shifted to something else as he neared the ground floor where he already knew Dravros would be waiting for him.

His presence made him curious. Dravros wasn’t the type to visit without reason.

And right now, he should’ve been in the smaller kingdoms, pushing Maleficia’s influence further. Using his blood drinkers to eliminate obstacles, removing those who stood in their way, and spreading dead mana through the most mana-dense regions.

The smaller kingdoms were the easiest to control, but if they were left alone for too long, they had a habit of forming alliances.

Maleficia could not allow that.

So his presence here must mean something had changed. And Xantheus wanted to know what.

When he finally reached the ground floor, he saw him.

Dravros sat on a sofa, exactly as expected. His pale white face looked the same as always, his clawed fingers rested openly, while two of his drinkers stood silently behind him.

Xantheus stepped down the last few stairs, and Dravros clicked his tongue.

“You took your sweet time,” he said. The light reflected his fangs, showing them off.

“I didn’t know you were coming to see me today,” Xantheus replied, reaching the final step.

He took his seat across from him and crossed his legs.

“What’s going on?” he asked. “You shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

Dravros leaned back slightly, not looking concerned.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “Everything is going well in Valenreach and Drakmor. I’ve taken out a few old nobles who refused to see the greatness of our lord, and I’ve managed to spread dead mana in several regions. It will take time, but it’s progressing.”

Xantheus let out a slow breath. “But we don’t have much time,” he said. “If the great lord wakes up anytime soon, we won’t be able to welcome him into a world that suits him.”

Dravros snorted in response. “The great lord will shape the world as he pleases,” he said. “What we are doing only makes it easier for him. But regardless of that, we still need to wait for the Elder Tree to truly die.” He paused briefly. “And I’m here because of that.”

A bad feeling stirred in Xantheus’s chest, but he forced it down and asked directly. “What do you mean? The everlasting flames should be consuming it slowly. Have the elves done something to stop it?”

He didn’t know how. But if they had, then he had made a huge fucking mistake by letting them live. He had intended to cripple the race, to wipe out the younger generations and weaken them enough that extinction would come naturally, especially without the Elder Tree to guide them.

The goal had been to give a slow, painful death to a race that had stood against the great Malefic for so long.

They had assumed the elves would be powerless and forced to watch as their god burned.

But if that assumption was wrong—if they had found a way to save the Elder Tree, then it wasn’t just a setback. It was a major mistake on his part.

Just as his thoughts were growing more grim by the second, Dravros chuckled and spoke, “To my knowledge, they haven’t done anything yet. The Elder Tree is still burning.”

“Then why are we talking about the elves?” Xantheus asked as a frown crept to his face.

Dravros leaned forward a little. “Because my agents saw one of them leave Sylvastra,” he said. “And he was heading toward Lancephil.”

Xantheus’ gaze sharpened. “What?”

Dravros nodded. “Yes,” he said. “One of the elves. An elder, at that. He travelled to Lancephil and made his way toward Veralt.” He paused briefly. “You know who resides there.”

Xantheus gave a small nod. Of course he knew. There was no way he wouldn’t. Arzan, a man he had personally wanted to deal with, but the rest of Maleficia had chosen to observe instead. But all of them had agreed on one thing—Arzan was far more dangerous than they had initially estimated.

Xantheus spoke again after a moment. “The elf went to meet Arzan.”

“That’s what I believe,” Dravros said with a short nod. “I haven’t informed the others yet. I thought it was better to speak to you first.”

“Why me?”

Dravros smiled, his fangs glinting again. “Because who else is left? We started with six. Now we are four. And among those four, one is a recluse… and the other is nothing more than a mindless beast.”

He leaned back.

“That leaves us, Xantheus. No one else. We’re the ones who need to make decisions now. For the sake of the great lord’s vision.”

Xantheus fell silent. For a moment, he simply looked at him. Then, slowly, he found himself agreeing. And that surprised him more than anything.

He and Dravros had never truly seen eye to eye. The man had always been condescending, always speaking as if he understood more than others.

But this time, he was right.

There was no one else left to push Maleficia forward.

After almost a minute of silence, Xantheus spoke again. “What else did you find?”

“A few things,” he replied. “My agents also confirmed Elias being there. There might have been others as well, but we couldn’t get any closer. Arzan can fly, and if my men are spotted, they won’t survive.” He paused before continuing. “There are also detection arrays around the city now.”

“What do you think they’re doing?” Xantheus asked.

Dravros shook his head. “I don’t know,” he said. “But a few days have passed, and there’s been no news from either of them. Whatever they were doing… I don’t think they’re there anymore.”

Xantheus frowned. “Then where would they be?” he asked. “Did they move out?”

Dravros shook his head again. “No,” he said. “That’s the strange part. My servants have seen Arzan flying around the Ashari Desert and other regions, but they couldn’t get close enough to confirm anything. Still… him staying isolated like this is unusual.” He paused briefly. “Especially with Elias and an elven elder involved. You know what’s happening in Vanderfall, right?”

Xantheus nodded. He was well aware.

The kingdom was preparing to move back toward its central lands. A full migration, led by the royal family. He had already placed men to monitor the situation, and plans were in place to eliminate the old king, creating conflict among the princes.

That chaos would make it easier to return Vanderfall to the plague of dead mana. But when even Elias was absent from something like this… it just didn’t add up.

The man was known to care for the commoners. He wouldn’t normally ignore something that was this important.

The more Xantheus thought about it, the stranger it became. Nothing lined up the way it should have.

Elias missing from Vanderfall. An elven elder leaving Sylvastra. Arzan moving in and out of places without any clear pattern.

In the end, his thoughts narrowed down to two possibilities.

“They are either researching something to save the Elder Tree,” he said, “or they aren’t in Veralt anymore. Maybe both.”

Dravros grinned. “I knew you would get it,” he said. “I believe it’s both.” He leaned forward slightly. “My servants have reported that Arzan’s research lab is likely in the Ashari Desert instead of his city. There’s no other reason for him to go there so often. We just don’t know where exactly in the desert. So them doing research in Veralt doesn’t make sense to me.”

Xantheus rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Do you think he realised someone was spying on him,” he asked, “and moved back there with Elias and the elf elder secretly?”

Dravros seemed to consider it. “Maybe,” he said. “I could capture a few tribals and try to get information, but they are known to be stubborn.” He shrugged lightly. “If not the lab, then they’re somewhere minor enough that we don’t have eyes on it.” Then his expression shifted slightly. He tilted his head, suddenly grinning. “Honestly, I think it’s both an opportunity… and something to be wary of.”

Xantheus raised an eyebrow. “How is it an opportunity? If those three are together, then they’re clearly planning something. And Arzan has already become our biggest problem after killing Regina and Selenia.”

Dravros’ grin faltered a bit. “I thought you were smart, but I guess I need to spell it out for you,” he said. “It’s an opportunity because whatever Arzan is doing, it’s keeping him occupied. And that gives us a window. A chance to finally push into Lancephil.”

Xantheus’ eyes widened slightly, and everything fell into place.

“They’re still recovering from the civil war,” he said.

Dravros nodded. “Yes,” he said. “And if we succeed, we might finally get close enough to learn how Arzan managed to purge the plague lands.”

He paused, his gaze sharpening.

“And whether he truly has one of those filthy high humans with him… just like we suspect.”

***

Kai had a lot of ways to attract the attention of spirits. That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was attracting the right attention, and that was a whole lot easier said than done.

Flying around aimlessly searching for spirits wasn’t going to work. This wasn’t the kind of place where fate rewarded the impatient. He could cause a disruption in the surroundings—something loud, something that broke the natural rhythm of the earth plane—and that would certainly drag every spirit within range toward them.

But Kai wasn’t looking to start a war. The spirits here would come in numbers he couldn’t handle, and getting overwhelmed in a place like this wasn’t a mistake he’d get to learn from.

So he needed something better. Something efficient.

He’d been turning the problem over in his head the entire journey here, running through options and dismissing them one by one. And by the time they arrived, he had found something. One plan. It wasn’t clean, and it wasn’t without risk—things could go wrong at basically any point—but it was the only real option they had.

Convincing the others had taken longer than he expected. Half an hour of back and forth before everyone finally came around.

Elias had been the most resistant, which surprised Kai at first, but thinking about it more, it made sense. If things went sideways, Elias would be the one pulling them out of it.

And Kai knew better than anyone that the spirits in this part of the earth plane would be faster and stronger than what they were used to.

Veridia had also suggested splitting up to cover more ground and find the earth sovereign sooner. Kai shot that down immediately. They weren’t all at the same level, and dividing themselves in a place like this felt less like a strategy and more like a quiet way to reduce their headcount permanently.

In the end, all of them had to agree to his plan. But agreeing to the plan was only the first step.

First, they actually had to find the right place to set it up, somewhere that gave them the best shot at this working without everything falling apart before it even began.

And that was exactly what they did for the next two hours.

The moment they entered the forest, their pace dropped sharply. Massive vines cut across every path like the trees had spent centuries weaving the ground into a trap. Some they could jump over.

Others were stacked so thick that Elias had to conjure platforms mid-air just so the rest of the party could clear them. It ate up time, and it ate up energy, and the forest didn’t seem to care at all.

Kai and Veridia took to the air, scouting ahead while keeping the group away from anything that moved. Every time one of them spotted a spirit nearby, they’d redirect the party to another path without a word. In a place with no fixed trails, that was easy enough.

More than a few times, Kai thought he’d found a good spot. A large clearing, decent cover, the right amount of space. Then he’d get closer and realize the ground was already occupied—some spirit curled up and sleeping, its presence buried just beneath the surface or on the trees. He had no intention of waking any of them up.

Battles were the last thing he wanted before the plan even started.

But as the hours stretched on, doubt started creeping in at the edges. With trees this massive, growing over and into each other from every direction, finding any open ground felt close to impossible.

The forest was alive in a way that left almost no room for anything else.

Then, with a stroke of luck, they finally found something.

It wasn’t exactly what Kai had pictured, but it was close enough to work. A small clearing, quiet and still, with thick vines running along its edges that could be cut back to open up more space. Three sides were walled off by trees grown so close together they may as well have been a single structure.

That was exactly what he needed. He brought the party over and they got to work.

Veridia, Elias, and Killian started clearing the vines while Kai moved to handle the part that mattered most—One of building an array.

***

A/N – There was a mistake in chapter posting with 370 being skipped and 371 becoming 370, but I corrected it by adding 370. Sorry.

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