Chapter 46: Rise
Seeing that, Zaoh sighed. He'd been told before to count on Vahnu to help him at the academy. But at the same time, they'd also warned him not to bring up certain topics around her.
Unlike the Dragon King and the top brass of the Mannaz with Dragon blood, she was someone absolutely devoted to the academy and to winning the war against the Risen.
Actually, in the past, she shocked everyone when she killed hundreds of Mannaz from various tribes after finding proof they were traitors. But little did she know, the filthiest corruption was hiding right under her nose.
For some reason — maybe because she was so close to the Dragon King and the others — she never found any evidence or clues... maybe she even had her suspicions, but always ended up convincing herself of their honesty.
Back to the current situation. She could feel it, deep down — Niara and Darian were hiding a lot. She didn't see them as traitors, but the signs of something abnormal were clear. They were obviously at the center of it all — latecomers, then a calamity-level slug shows up, and now all this?
"Inside the abyssal nest, where every passing hour lets the Risen send even stronger enemies... there's no room for wasting time," she murmured coldly.
"The punishment for anyone breaking the rules in a situation like this is simple: death. The ones who committed the crime were killed, and the two you didn't finish off, I'll deal with them myself. After all this is over, I'll personally investigate everyone connected to them and punish them severely. But for now, I can't let you two, Dariaan and Niara, go. You're clearly an unknown variable that needs to be removed."
Niara snorted, confirming mentally: 'She definitely hates traitors as much as I do...'
Darian nodded. That was the confirmation he needed. This High Elder might be harsh, but she wasn't wrong. The simplest way for the traitors to win inside the nest was to destabilize the ranks from the inside. The way they showed up out of nowhere, followed by all this chaos... it was way too suspicious.
"I get it. Alright then, let's explain." Darian spoke calmly, turning in a direction. "Tarn, show her."
Zaoh was confused. Vahnu narrowed her eyes and turned around. She saw a Spiritual Guardian that looked like a purple slime trembling and staring at her.