Chapter 542: The Demon Of End

"Since you returned from the Special Area, she has gone into isolation."

"She still hasn’t come out?" Lian walked beside her.

"No."

"Training?"

"More like preparing."

He thought for a few moments, it was almost predictable.

Seris was not the kind of person who would rest the night before the most important ceremony of her generation because "she was already ready."

She was probably using all the resources the family had prepared for her while in isolation.

Increasing her stats as much as possible with the help of those resources and reaching the best possible condition before the ceremony.

And that was not even mentioning that girl had also gone through the first Evolution just like him.

Lian became curious for a moment, with Seris’s talent, resources, and background, what did her first Evolution look like?

One had changed from a Normal monster into a Fallen.

He himself had also upgraded his main Innate Skills after the Evolution, and with their help, he had managed to increase all his stats as much as possible during one month.

Seris’s Evolution path? It was impossible to predict, but he had no doubt that girl would become even more monstrous than before.

"You will definitely see her tomorrow." Aurelia added.

Their path went through one of the old gardens of the estate.

Tall trees cast shadows on both sides of them, and between them, there were dragon statues of different sizes and shapes.

Aurelia walked silently for a few steps before asking.

"By the way, how much do you know about the Dragon Mark Ceremony?"

"More or less." Lian answered and raised his head slightly.

"The new generation is introduced, those who have made important achievements in exploring the new Ruined Realm are rewarded, and then you announce the official heir."

She nodded.

"That’s right."

She paused.

"But the main ceremony is a little older and more complicated than what is usually said outside the family."

Lian looked at her, and Aurelia pointed at one of the dragon statues.

"Do you know why our family is called Pendragon?"

"As far as I know, the founders of the family hunted a dragon."

"That’s right, but not a normal dragon, more exactly, a Demon."

Lian gave her his full attention, and Aurelia continued.

"The name of that Demon was Demon Of End, our ancestors fought it."

Her tone was simple, but the sentence itself was not simple.

"It wasn’t a short battle either, many of the founders of the early branches of the family died there, but in the end, they killed it."

Lian said nothing for a few moments.

Killing a Demon.

He now understood better than many humans what that sentence meant.

The memory of the Demon Of Eclipse was still in his mind, he knew very well how powerful a Demon could be.

And as far as he knew, some Demons were even stronger.

Even today, hunting a Demon Rank being required forces at the highest level of the world.

But the ancestors of the Pendragon Family had managed to kill one.

"After the death of the Demon Of End, our ancestors obtained many spoils from its body, but the most important thing was a special artifact. Something that later became the foundation of one of the family’s most important traditions."

"The Dragon Mark, right?" Lian guessed the answer.

"That’s right, it is a kind of blessing artifact, of course, the word blessing isn’t exactly accurate, but it’s the closest simple explanation."

"What does it do?"

"It reacts to members of the family, almost every twenty-five years, after a new Ruined Realm opens, the family chooses the most important people of the new generation."

Not every young member, only those who were truly worthy of standing before that artifact.

Talent, achievements, future potential, performance in the new Ruined Realm, position among the generation, all of these were considered when choosing the people for the artifact.

Aurelia added.

"Then they stand before the Dragon Mark and read the family’s traditional oath."

Lian listened.

"The artifact reacts to each person’s blood, potential, abilities, growth path, and compatibility, and gives them a Dragon Mark, but not all marks are the same."

Some were simple, some were rare, and some were greatly different from the others in terms of quality.

And there was no guarantee that two geniuses with almost the same level of power would receive similar Dragon Marks.

The artifact measured something beyond their current power, in fact, even after all these years, no one still knew what the true basis of that artifact’s decision was when giving its blessings.

"For many generations, the person who received the highest Dragon Mark was almost always chosen as the heir."

"But this time you already chose Seris." Lian immediately noticed the difference.

"Yes." Aurelia said without even a moment of hesitation, the smile on her face was different this time and showed more pride.

"Even without the Dragon Mark, Seris is the jewel of this family."

Her tone was completely certain.

"No one really doubts that she will receive the highest mark of this generation tomorrow."

The family’s confidence in that girl was truly on another level.

The young Vorhelm became curious for a moment about what reaction he would cause if he himself stood before such an artifact.

Of course, he did not have Pendragon blood, so probably nothing or...., he put the thought aside right there and after a few more steps, he asked.

"I have never read this part in the books."

"Which part?"

"The Demon Of End, the fact that the Mark came from its spoils, is it okay for you to tell me this?"

"Yes." Aurelia said very easily.

"Isn’t it confidential?"

"The details are."

The woman put her hands behind her back.

"But the general truth is not. Important members of the six great families, some of the twelve ancient associations, and many high-rank Awakened know about it."

Lian nodded, it made sense.

If a battle on that scale had happened and several important founders had died in it, hiding the entire event for several centuries would have been almost impossible.

She continued in a happier tone.

"Of course, the ceremony isn’t only for the Dragon Mark, and the six great families, the twelve ancient associations, allied families, companies, unions, political representatives, and anyone else worth inviting come for their own reasons."

"So half of the ceremony happens in closed rooms." Lian added after thinking for a moment, it was easy to guess what she meant.

Aurelia smiled.

"Bravo."

Trade contracts.

The division or exchange of resources from the new Ruined Realm.

Hunting alliances, joint investments.

Agreements about exploration areas and political relations, these were the reasons many forces came.

"And of course, marriage." Aurelia added.

The young Vorhelm turned his eyes slightly toward her, the woman’s smile had become far too innocent...this part was not random.

"Our current Patriarch also started the path toward marrying his current wife at almost this same ceremony."

Her eyes stayed on Lian from the corner, she was clearly watching his reaction.

He thought for a few moments.

"I didn’t expect even the Pendragon heir to marry through an arranged marriage."

"Why?"

"I thought someone in that position would need it less."

Then he paused himself.

No.

If he looked at it more carefully, it was the opposite.

"But it makes sense."

"Oh?" The woman became curious about what reasoning he had reached.

Lian looked at the path ahead.

"When an heir is chosen, they still don’t have all the power of the Patriarch, they have the name, they have the position, but they still need to gather part of the family behind them."

A large foreign family could provide things that would take years to build.

Influence, money, connections, political support, and even indirect military support if needed.

He continued.

"If the Pendragon heir marries someone from one of the other six great families, your family’s internal power doesn’t decrease, but your influence outside the family becomes several times greater."

The woman’s smile became wider.

"For you, marrying into another great power isn’t a weakness, it’s an investment."

"Bravo." Aurelia slowly clapped twice.

Lian ignored her.

"So your family doesn’t only have no problem with the heir having a political marriage, you actually support it."

"Exactly, almost all the heirs of the last few generations either directly married into another great power, or the family used their marriage to build an important alliance." She nodded.

He thought about the Vorhelms in his mind, they almost had the opposite philosophy.

Political marriage also existed in his own family, but the Vorhelms hated dependence.

The family preferred its internal factions to be strong enough that the heir would not need to rely on an outside power to secure their position.