But this immediately created an even more dangerous question.
How?
How could a man who had died hundreds of years ago be sure that the conditions for his return would one day be ready?
No.
That was not the right question, for a few seconds, he looked at the very weak flow of blood under the man’s skin.
Then the images from the past few days appeared in his mind one after another.
Forgotten Tree.
A tree that was dying at a very fast rate.
Corrupted Titan.
A creature whose Awakening was connected to the death of the tree.
The Black Silence.
The Calamity that was inside the Titan.
Selina.
Cocoon.
[Black Silence Fetus.]
[New Calamity Vessel.]
And then the words Aurelia had said before.
"One of us allowed The Black Silence to enter."
Lian remained motionless, it only took another moment, but after that, all the information that had seemed scattered and unrelated took on a different meaning.
He looked at Cindar again.
This man did not simply know that he would come back to life!
He had planned to come back to life!
Lian’s eyes became cold, Cindar was the only survivor of the Final Battle, all the leaders of the other civilizations had died and then he built the Cindari civilization.
The main information about the Final Battle had almost been removed from history, there was no information about The Black Silence and all the records that could have been close to the truth were either damaged or deliberately erased.
And now, exactly when the Forgotten Tree was dying, Cindar’s body was still being kept in Suspended Death, as if it was meant to return one day.
Exactly when The Black Silence was finding a new Vessel, exactly when the Corrupted Titan was about to Awaken.
This many coincidences were no longer an accident.
"Bastard..." A few seconds later, another sentence quietly came out of his mouth.
"So Aurelia was talking about you."
He almost had no doubts anymore, Cindar was a traitor.
Someone who had allowed The Black Silence to enter this world and if his understanding of Aurelia’s words was correct, he might be the main reason why a Calamity was able to spread through this world.
Of course, it was still unclear how he had done it and how such a thing was even possible.
The person who became the only survivor after all the other leaders died, the person who later built a new civilization on the ruins of the old world.
And now, even after his own death, his plan was still being carried out.
For a moment, a small feeling of satisfaction appeared in Lian’s mind.
It was not satisfaction from what was happening, but from finally having one of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.
But that feeling quickly disappeared, because the biggest question was still unanswered.
"Why?"
Lian looked at the body again, why would Cindar do something like this?
Power? Immortality? Control over a Calamity? Did he want to use The Black Silence to become a higher existence?
Or perhaps this entire cycle ... the death of the tree, the Awakening of the Titan, the creation of a new Vessel, all of it was part of his own Resurrection ritual?
If his guess was correct, then the man the Cindari considered the founder and hero of their history was actually nothing more than a fraud and a traitor who eventually caused the near-collapse of the world.
It would not even be wrong to say that the deaths of all the leaders of the ancient civilizations in that battle against the Corrupted Titan might have also been his doing, so he could remove all his rivals and obstacles from his path.
But... what the hell was his exact goal?
His eyes remained on the man’s dried chest, perhaps this body was not only waiting for Resurrection, perhaps it was waiting for something much bigger.
If Cindar had really planned for his return, he probably was not meant to return as an ordinary Cindari.
This thought was not pleasant, but there was another problem.
After a few more minutes of checking, Lian quickly reached an important conclusion, Cindar could not do anything at the moment, he was practically between life and death and had no awareness.
His body could not even move a finger.
There was no active Skill, no Mana flow that could reach the Forgotten Tree and no sign of remote control either.
"You didn’t do these things yourself." Lian pulled his hand away from the body.
This result was almost certain, if Cindar was behind everything, then his role must have been related to the original plan.
Someone else was carrying out that plan, a living person, someone who could move around Rootcrown, someone who had access to the Forgotten Tree.
Someone who probably knew what the Cocoon was, someone who could start the process of the tree’s death or at least allow it to continue.
And if the choice of Selina was also intentional, that person must also have access to or information about the Outsiders.
Lian stared at the coffin for a few seconds.
"There is someone else doing the work."
It could be a Descendant, or even someone much higher in the political structure of the Cindari than Maelor.
For now, it did not matter who, the logic was simple, if everything was progressing according to Cindar’s plan, someone had to be alive to carry out that plan.
And if the Cocoon was at 63.7% when Lian was there, that person probably had not finished their work yet.
He looked toward the entrance of the hall.
"Whoever it is... they’re either there right now, or they’re coming back very soon." For a moment, he remembered Seris and Aren, they were alone beside the Cocoon.
That thought was enough to remove all his interest in continuing to investigate the tomb.
Lian still wanted many answers.
But if his guess was correct, the person who had the answers might be near the Forgotten Tree right now.
He grabbed the heavy cover of the coffin, pulled it back into place and the sound of stone echoed through the hall, Cindar’s body slowly disappeared from view.
Lian did not touch the chains.
He still did not know exactly what they were connected to, breaking them might activate some mechanism.
It might remove the body from Suspended Death and the last thing he wanted to do was wake up a man who was probably behind the destruction of this world.
The cover closed completely and he turned around, his only goal now was to return immediately.
But he had not even reached the first step when a very distant sound came from above the tomb.
A bell, but it was weak.
Then a second bell, and this time it was louder.
Then dozens of similar sounds echoed from the higher levels of Rootcrown.
Alarm.
Lian stopped there and a few seconds later, a shout came from the hallway above.
"Infiltration confirmed!" Another voice shouted louder in response.
"First Archive breach confirmed!"
"Close all Inner Root gates!"
"Lord’s Root Palace is in complete Lockdown!"
"No one is allowed to leave!"
He closed his eyes for a moment, those three Cindari had probably finally noticed something.
Abyss Veil was still active, he was not afraid of getting trapped inside Rootcrown.
If necessary, he could force his way through the city walls.
The only problem was that outside this city, something was getting closer to its birth very quickly.