Ben's answer came quietly.
"Then I deal with it. Look, it's not like we have the luxury of turning down power .
Our enemy's stronger than both of us. If we don't take risks, how are we supposed to grow strong enough to fight back?"
"It's not like every one of your experiments is one hundred percent safe either."
Elvira stared at him for a long moment, silent, unreadable. Then she turned away with a sigh of pure frustration.
"You better be safe," she muttered.
"Because whether you like it or not… we're in this together."
Ben gave her a crooked smile.
"Fair. But for now? You still need that sample, right?"
She shot him a glare.
"Don't think this conversation's over."
Afterward, Elvira quietly capped the vial and slipped it into a reinforced case at her side.
Then, without a word, she turned and focused straight on Ben's soul. Her eyes narrowed.
A single gesture from her hand summoned a hovering spell array above his chest, thin lines of glowing script. She didn't speak. She simply stared, analyzing everything.
Ben shifted uncomfortably. The silence stretched.
She circled him once, slowly, meticulously. Still, she said nothing.
Ben cleared his throat. "You could… I don't know, narrate what you're doing? Or maybe blink once or twice?"
But Elvira ignored him Another rotation. Her gaze turned sharper, almost dissecting him with her eyes.
Ben frowned, then muttered under his breath, "Okay, now you're just doing this to mess with me…"
The spell arrays shifted, Elvira adjusted them mid-air with a flick of her wrist, pulling up new layers that floated above his heart. One of them pulsed faintly with gold and black.
Ben's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…That's new. What is that?"
Still, no response. Finally, Elvira stopped in front of him, arms crossed, brow furrowed deep in thought.
"This seal is… weird. It's like part of you, but it's not."
Ben raised an eyebrow.
"Use normal language."
"Fine. Think of it like cancer. Technically, it's part of your body, but it serves no purpose, and worse, it's dangerous. The difference is, we can cut out cancer. This?"
She gestured toward the floating runes.
"This is fused to your soul. Completely. It's covering every direct line between you and Apophis."
Elvira's expression turned serious.
"Yes. If you sever the soul tether, the seal should collapse. It's designed to block communication and influence. No connection, no seal."
Ben muttered under his breath.
"You're not planning to cut it, are you?"
"Of course not. If I do that, I lose my access to dark aether."
Elvira narrowed her eyes.
"You do realize the only reason you can access it at all is because she's letting you? She could cut you off at any time."
"I know. That's why I'm stockpiling it while I can."
"So… do you have a better idea?"
Elvira look at him for along time than sighed, "Give me time, I will find some solution."
"Alright. I'll leave you to it, then."
He turned and left, his pace steady as he headed back to his office.
Tomorrow, he had a meeting with Zarnak. His next task: to bring in a representative from Shalvrak.
The groundwork for rebuilding the city had to begin now. With the surrounding area finally secured, the reconstruction could start.
He had tasked Tharn and Kaela with patrolling the city's outskirts. With them handling security on the ground, Zarnak could focus entirely on maintaining internal order without being stretched too thin. While Krell check everything from the shadow.
As for trade with the outside, Barrek had already taken over negotiations and transit management. All Ben had to do was wait for the report.
If everything went smoothly, he planned to relegate future trade oversight directly to Zarnak, freeing himself from micromanaging the smaller details.
In the past, he would've simply ordered the Krell to begin large-scale construction after securing the resources.
But that wasn't an option anymore, not under current situation.
'Depending on tomorrow's meeting,' Ben thought, 'I'll need to figure out how to bring more people here.'
He considered the options.
'I could have Barrek spread rumors that life here is better, especially for other species. Or ask Draeven to escort a few groups directly to the city.'
Each method came with its own pros and cons. And then, of course, there was Gravenhold…
Ben tapped his finger on the desk, then decided to set that issue aside for now.
'After losing so many soldiers, they'll probably stay quiet, at least for a while. Long enough to reassess their next move.'
But that wasn't the only concern.
Apophis was free now.
And the knight… where had he gone?
The thought made Ben pause. He raised his hand and tried to call out the system interface.
Nothing. As expected, it was gone. The minimap. The stats. The familiar pings and markers. All vanished.
But thankfully, his Hive Sovereign abilities were still intact. He could still create Krell. Still evolve them. Still use Consume. Still design new species.
And more importantly, he was now free to do it all on his own terms.
There were no limitations on how many he could design or create anymore. But as he worked without the system's interface, Ben quickly realized just how much it had been streamlining everything.
In the past, designing a new Krell was like building something in a video game, just select parts, slot them together, and done.
He had to manually adjust every limb and organ, making sure each body part fit and functioned together correctly. A misplaced joint, an improperly sized torso, or an internal imbalance could ruin the entire design.
Then there was the problem of mana and biomass. Before, the system gave him exact numbers. Everything was measured.
He had no feedback at all. No estimates. No guarantees.
If he didn't supply enough resources, the creation would simply fail, and everything spent would be wasted.
It forced Ben to calculate more carefully in advance… or just over-prepare and dump excess materials to ensure success.
"Tch. Using it is no fun…"
Then a thought crossed his mind.
'Wait… what if I make one that can breed?'
He leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowing.
'Now that... could work.'