Chapter 544: The Dragon Mark Ceremony II

The sound of Verendal’s bells was still in the morning air when Lian moved toward the central part of the city with the flow of guests.

Unlike the previous night, the old streets were no longer quiet, white and gold flags of the Pendragon Family hung from balconies and stone towers, and official groups went toward the ceremony one after another through separate paths.

And among all of them, there were a considerable number of presences that made it clear even without releasing Mana that their owners were not ordinary people.

He kept his hands inside the pockets of the dark formal clothes he had chosen for the ceremony and moved forward without hurry.

The bad feeling he had last night had still not completely disappeared, but there was nothing to prove it either.

So for now, it was only a feeling that made him keep his guard up.

The ceremony location was in the central part of Verendal.

As he got closer, the buildings around them gradually moved farther away, and a huge square revealed itself.

Lian slowed his steps for a moment, the place was neither a closed hall nor a simple public square, but something between an ancient amphitheater and a ritual altar.

Semi-circular rows of seats rose several levels, and thousands of stone and modern seats had been placed among the old architecture. Each section was marked with the symbol of the power it had been assigned to.

The six great families, representatives of the twelve ancient associations, members of the Federation, allied families, and companies and unions that had enough influence to receive a direct invitation from the Pendragons.

But his gaze quickly passed over all of them, the center of the square was more important, a circular altar with a diameter of more than twenty meters was located at the lowest point of the amphitheater.

Six metal and stone rings, one inside another, had been built into its floor.

And right in the center, something was floating.

It was about three meters tall, with a black and irregular surface, and at first glance, it looked more like a huge scale separated from the body of some unnatural creature than something made by humans.

Golden veins flowed across its black surface, similar to veins moving under dark skin.

He did not need to guess, that thing was the Dragon Mark.

Lian stared at it for a few seconds, Aurelia’s words from the night before returned to his mind.

Demon Of End, a Demon Rank dragon and a creature that the ancestors of the Pendragons had killed at a heavy cost.

And this was the most important spoil that remained from that battle.

Based on what he had seen from Demon creatures, looking at this artifact and thinking that the ancestors of a human family had managed to kill its original owner still felt a little unreal.

Still, in a way, it was also a little unfortunate, if he could obtain the Essence of that Demon, he could form another Core.

But he doubted that he could find such a thing.

A voice came from his right.

"If you keep staring at that thing like this for a few more seconds, they might think you are planning to steal it."

Lian turned his head, a tall man was standing a few meters away.

A calm face that, despite the clear family resemblance, did not have the usual harshness of many members of the Vorhelm Family.

Several people with the Vorhelm Family symbol stood behind him.

He recognized him without the slightest delay, Cassius Vorhelm, his oldest brother.

Cassius came forward.

There was no hug and no overly friendly display, and only when he reached Lian did he place his right hand on his shoulder and look him up and down for a few seconds.

Then he gave a faint smile.

"I’m glad to see you again."

"Me too, if there is one of my brothers that I’m happy to see, it’s you, my older brother."

"Uncle Damian said I might see you here too, and I’m glad it turned out that way."

Cassius took his hand off his shoulder.

"I’m glad to see you’re healthy too, these days, every time I hear news about you, before I continue reading, I have to make sure you’re still alive."

"Well, I guess people have been saying that a lot lately too." Lian looked at the Vorhelms behind his brother and said quietly.

"So Uncle talked to you too." Cassius understood what he meant.

"Yes."

A few seconds of silence formed between them.

His older brother then turned his head slightly toward the section reserved for the Vorhelm delegation, and they both slowly moved in that direction.

"Did he tell you about Father?"

He nodded, although he knew he had to be careful around this brother too, and he was careful, he did not think this one would try to kill him.

Cassius let out a short sigh, like someone dealing with an old matter that had caused trouble again.

"It’s natural, but if you’re worried that I will enter the game because of Father’s seat, you don’t need to be."

"I know." Lian said calmly.

"Good. At least one of my brothers still believes what I say." He laughed, and a sign of relief appeared in his eyes.

This was not a new matter between them, Cassius had made it clear a long time ago that he had no interest in the position of Patriarch of the Vorhelm Family.

It was not that he had no ambition, he did, but his ambition was in a different direction.

His own power, his own path, and a position that did not require blood to be spilled between the family’s factions for him.

This was also one of the reasons why Lian’s relationship with him had never really become bad, of course, they had distance between them, there was a large age difference.

They had not even spent many years together, but they were not enemies either, more accurately, their relationship was neutral.

They were neither enemies nor friends, they did not hurt each other and they did not help each other.

What was more interesting was that this man was the oldest child of the Patriarch and, in the eyes of many, the most likely heir, but he himself had no interest in that position.

Cassius reached the Vorhelm delegation’s section, and before they separated, he lowered his voice.

"By the way, if you need anything, you can contact me directly."

Lian looked at his older brother for a few moments, he was not someone who used long emotional words, and perhaps that was why the sentence carried more weight.

"Okay."

Lian did not sit in the Vorhelm section, his invitation had assigned him another seat, and to his surprise, it was in a row very close to the front.

From this section, almost the entire altar could be seen.

The six great families were placed in six separate sections, with the Pendragons in the closest section to the main stage.

A little farther away was Blackthorn, a dark flag with branches that looked like thorns on it.

(In the previous few Chapters, I accidentally wrote Eisenwald, but Blackthorn is one of the six great families, unfortunately, I accidentally used a name from my other novel.)

Then there were Stormheart and the Vorhelms on the other side, followed by Grandalz and finally Valemont.

All six main families of the world had brought representatives or important members of their families.

And this was without even considering the twelve ancient associations that filled several levels of the seats across from them.

Lian moved his gaze across the Pendragon section, and several people caught his attention almost immediately.

Some were curious, some neutral, and a few were clearly cold.

He did not need to guess the reason, Seris’s personal invitation had not remained as private as he had thought.

One of the young men did not even try to hide his displeasure when their eyes met for a few seconds.

He had short silver hair and a strong face, his body showed even under his formal clothes that he had spent most of his life on the training field, and he looked at him with clear hostility.

The young Vorhelm did not know him yet, but he would probably hear his name very soon.

Another bell rang, this one was different from the morning bells, shorter and heavier, and it was heard only once.

All conversations in the square slowly became silent, and two people appeared on the main stage, Rhaenar Pendragon was the same man Lian had seen the day before.

He was wearing more formal clothes, but he still had the same calm behavior as before.

Even so, thousands of people became silent just because he entered.

Beside him stood a woman Lian had never seen until today, and even among all the powerful people present, it was difficult to ignore her.

Isolde Pendragon.

The Matriarch of the family.