It was reported that the Kingdom of Caliburn was burned to ashes and was replaced by a massive sinkhole.
Going by the abilities of Dragon Kings this was probably done by Dragon King of Light, Baxtiel.
The report had nothing wrong with it. But the same couldn't be said about the next reports.
Kingmaker Kingdom was covered by a strange mist and the people inside it turned into mindless dolls.
The mist was related to the unique skill of Illusive Dragon 'Dream Tree', while turning people into mindless dolls could only be done by Dragon King of Slavery.
However, there was a problem.
Their abilities couldn't affect an entire kingdom.
Kingdoms of this world were about the size of a large country from my previous world - Earth. A King level ascender can't cover an area so large.
One had to reach Emperor rank to achieve such feats.
Moreover, the dragon kings never worked together in the novel. It was weird that they were doing so now.
The report about the Haltozai Kingdom disappearance was similarly strange. It was definitely done by Dragon King of Sky but she also couldn't make an entire kingdom disappear overnight.
It wasn't that Dragon Kings were weak. On the contrary, they were overpowered.
Nevertheless, the reports were too much for a King rank.
This was how I reached my second conclusion.
'I don't know if the kingdoms have been wiped or not, but these reports are over-exaggerated. Someone did this purposely.'
Why would someone do this?
I arrived at the answer easily.
'The Illusive Dragon King did this to weaken the security of the Imperial Capital by having the Imperial Army go towards the border.'
'Dream Tree', the Illusive Dragon King's – Qantal's – unique skill requires him to make a few preparations before activating the skill.
If Qantal moved inside the Imperial Capital in a normal situation, there was a chance he might have to kill a few guards to remain undetected while laying the foundation of his unique skill.
And Qantal hates senseless killing.
In his eyes, the only way to kill someone is to feed them to his Dream Tree. Any other method was disgusting.
So, he tampered with the report.
As a result, the security lessened, allowing Qantal freedom to move as he wished without being forced to kill someone.
This was also how I was sure it was Qantal who was going to attack Imperial Capital. Though, I don't know how Baizamu knew this.
'The way Qantal is going in a roundabout way to kill everyone shows how much he looks down on humans like other dragon kings. In his eyes, there is no way humans can harm him so he takes his sweet time to lay the trap.'
I told everything to Jae-sung.
His expression changed every few seconds while I told him why the reports were fake. However, I did not tell him that Qantal, the Illusive Dragon King, was going to attack tonight.
"Why… Why does Sir Sol know about the Dragon Kings in such detail?"
At the end, he asked the question I wanted to avoid. But, alas, I had to answer him.
"The evil god inside me knows about the Dragon Kings. He told me everything I explained to you."
"The evil god is helping Sir Sol!?"
"In his words, 'I don't want my vessel to die'."
Every time I said evil god I was taking over 100% mental damage. Fate really was a fickle bitch, making me continue Setsuna's embarrassing lie.
"Still, it was unexpected that the evil god would be of any help. We should inform others about the fake report."
I shook my head at Jae-sung's naive thoughts.
"No. First, we need to catch the one who tampered with the report and know about the enemy's plan. Moving hastily will only alert them of our presence and bring disastrous results."
"I see. We should do that." Jae-sung paused for a few seconds before continuing. "It's not like we can tell others about the evil god when they question our source of information."
'He is doing it on purpose, isn't he?'
Clicking my tongue internally, I moved toward the Celestial Sphere.
"Wait for me. I need to check a few things."
I spoke to Jae-sung while dropping a droplet of my blood on the Sphere. After all, there was no guarantee he wouldn't choose the Star Slaying Series.
It was best to choose the swordsmanship first before allowing him to use the Sphere.
Instantly, a message window only visible to me appeared.
⟪ Access Denied ⟫
⟪ User does not contain Lionel family blood ⟫
I blinked and re-read the notification.
⟪ Access Denied ⟫
⟪ User does not contain Lionel family blood ⟫
The message did not change.
Maybe the sphere wasn't working properly? Thinking as such, I let another droplet of my blood fall on it.
⟪ Access Denied ⟫
⟪ User does not contain Lionel family blood ⟫
But the message window remained unchanging.
I tried a number of times.
This message was saying...
'… I'm adopted.'
At last, I had to accept the truth. The truth forced me to add another point to the list I reviewed before.
1. Jae-sung didn't regress
2. I'm getting a portion of stat points from Jae-sung (the only good news)
3. The Dragon Kings have awakened
4. Baizamu is suspicious of me
5. Illusive Dragon King is going to attack the Imperial Capital according to Baizamu
And finally…
6. Today, I found out about my adoption.
…
..
.
Few minutes passed but I remained still.
Was the shock too much?
I didn't know how I should act. The situation made it difficult to put my thoughts and emotions into words.
If I had to give an example. It was like someone telling you that you would die tomorrow.
It is terrible but you won't feel sad or sorrowful. The shock shoots through the roof, leaving you confused instead.
You will ask yourself.
What should I do now?
And that was what I did until I reached a conclusion.
'I do nothing.'
The Lionel family treated me normally until they were possessed by Daemons. They should've known that I wasn't their blood but they took me as one of their own.
I didn't know if the Daemons knew I wasn't a Lionel by blood. After all, Daemons don't possess memories of the bodies they take over.
However, it didn't change anything for me. My goals remained unchanged.
"Sir Sol, is there a problem?"
Jae-sung's words shook me out of my thoughts.
Shaking my head, I secretly moved my hand below the pedestal under the Celestial Sphere.
Thankfully, the Imperial Family had a way to access the Celestial Sphere without Lionel's and I knew about it from the novel.
My fingers slid into the squared gaps and touched a sponge-like item.
Immediately, a small section opened under the pedestal. A red pill fell.
I caught the pill containing blood in my palm and crushed it before touching the Celestial Sphere again.
⟪ Access Granted ⟫
Then, my soul was sucked into a different dimension.
