Commander Hida continued where she left off.
"But not all souls."
I immediately understood where this was going.
"The original bloodlines."
He nodded.
"The contracts never applied to us."
Silverbane folded her hands together.
"The Eternals can harvest ordinary souls."
"They can create Phantoms."
"They can create Abominations."
"They can process entire populations if they wish."
Her voice remained calm.
"But they cannot do the same to our bloodlines."
I frowned.
"Why not?"
"Nobody knows."
The answer came immediately.
"The contracts simply exclude us."
Haliaka tapped the table once.
"Perhaps intentionally."
"Perhaps accidentally."
"Perhaps because whoever created those contracts wanted limits placed upon Eternal authority."
She shrugged.
"No one truly knows anymore."
Commander Hida’s expression became colder.
"What we do know is what happened afterward."
I already suspected the answer.
"If they can’t use you..."
"They kill us."
"The moment an Eternal discovers a member of one of the protected bloodlines," Hida continued, "that person becomes a target."
Silverbane nodded slowly.
"Which is why settlements like this exist."
My eyes moved around the room.
Then a thought occurred to me.
"If there are other Ironharts..."
"There are."
Haliaka answered immediately.
"There is at least one surviving Ironhart settlement."
For the first time since arriving, I felt my attention sharpen completely.
Haliaka noticed.
Unfortunately her next words were less encouraging.
"We don’t know who lives there. And we don’t know if the settlement still occupies the same location."
She paused briefly.
"But the Ironharts exist."
The room remained quiet for several moments after Haliaka confirmed that another Ironhart settlement still existed somewhere within the Prime Territory.
Unfortunately, before I could push the discussion further, I noticed something else. The leaders were looking at me strangely. Commander Hida eventually spoke up.
"I’ll be honest. We still haven’t discussed the most important question."
I raised an eyebrow.
"And what’s that?"
The commander stared at me for several seconds.
"Are you insane?"
The room immediately erupted into laughter. Even Andrea covered her face.
I blinked.
"What?"
"You entered one of the most heavily monitored regions in the entire Prime Territory, exposed yourself to the Eternals, killed so many administrators, destroyed multiple facilities, fought two Saint-ranked Overseers, awakened Verilux and somehow survived all of it."
He pointed directly at me.
"Normal people don’t do that."
I considered his words.
Then shrugged.
"I thought I could handle it."
The room became silent. Commander Hida slowly rubbed his forehead.
"You thought you could handle it."
I nodded.
"That was the plan."
The commander looked toward the other leaders.
"See? Insane."
This time even I laughed. Then I decided there wasn’t much point hiding anything further. Soul force surged through my body.
The atmosphere inside the hall changed instantly. Silver-violet energy spread outward while my Saint aura filled the room.
The wooden structure trembled. The defensive formations embedded throughout the building activated automatically.
Several people immediately stood.
Others stumbled backward.
The expressions on the leaders’ faces changed completely. Gone was the casual amusement and skepticism.
Only shock remained. Because for the first time they were truly feeling my strength. Not just what they must have heard here.
The real one.
A Saint.
Not merely a Saint.
A living Saint.
The pressure lingered only briefly before I withdrew it again. Unfortunately the damage had already been done.
The room remained frozen.
Then Silver grinned.
"Oh."
Soul force exploded around him as well. A Saint aura erupted from his body. Before anyone could recover, Ragnar released his next. Then others as well. The room collectively looked as though it was about to suffer a heart attack.
Several guards near the walls had turned completely pale.
"You brought seven Saints."
I nodded.
"Yes."
Nobody spoke.
The silence somehow felt louder than Verilux’s roar. Eventually Andrea broke it.
"I suddenly understand how Region Three became a disaster."
A few nervous laughs followed. The tension eased slightly.
"As I said, I thought I could deal with the Eternals."
Hida immediately shook his head.
"The Eternals weren’t your problem."
My eyes narrowed.
"Verilux."
The commander nodded.
"Verilux."
The three leaders exchanged glances before Haliaka finally began explaining.
"What you fought wasn’t Verilux."
I frowned.
"Pretty sure it was."
"No."
She shook her head.
"What you encountered was only a partial manifestation."
That immediately got my attention.
"That was partial?"
Silverbane answered.
"The true Verilux possesses seven heads."
The room became quieter.
"Seven?"
She nodded.
"The creature is older than Eternal authority itself. Some records claim it predates the contracts. Others claim it was bound through the contracts."
Her expression darkened.
"Nobody knows which version is true."
Commander Hida leaned forward.
"What we do know is that Verilux is a native creature of the Null Realm."
His hand moved toward a map hanging on the wall.
"The Eternals acquired its service as part of one of the greatest agreements ever made within the Prime Territory."
I immediately remembered Augustus’ words. The Eternals clearly hadn’t acquired Verilux cheaply.
"The seven regions each anchor one portion of its authority," Hida continued. "What you fought was essentially the manifestation attached to Region Three."
My expression slowly changed.
"Meaning if all seven regions were involved..."
"Then all seven heads would emerge."
The answer came from Andrea. Nobody looked happy discussing it.
That alone told me enough.
After a brief silence I asked the obvious question.
"So kill it."
Several people laughed.
Not because it was funny. Because it wasn’t. The suggestion simply sounded ridiculous. Commander Hida pointed toward me.
"See. That’s exactly the problem. You think like someone who can solve problems by punching them."
"I can solve many problems that way."
The commander sighed.
"Unfortunately not this one."
Silverbane continued the explanation.
"Verilux is connected to the Soul Sea itself."
My eyes narrowed.
"The entire sea?"
"Not directly. But enough of it."
She gestured toward the floor beneath us.
"The creature continuously draws power from the Soul Sea. Damage inflicted upon it recovers through that connection."
The realization immediately made sense.
The regeneration. The ridiculous reserves. The endless growth.
"Then how strong would someone need to be?"
This time all three leaders answered with identical expressions.
"Peak Saint."
The answer wasn’t surprising. Disappointing.
But not surprising.
Even then they didn’t look entirely convinced. As though Peak Saint was merely the minimum requirement.
"There’s another reason why your actions in Region Three terrified us."
I looked toward her.
"If you had actually succeeded."
"Meaning?"
"If you had somehow killed the Overseers and taken control of Region Three."
I nodded.
She sighed.
"The Eternals would simply take it back."
That answer surprised me.
"With what forces?"
Commander Hida laughed.
"All of them."
His finger moved across the map.
"Region One to seven."
His expression became grim.
"Every Eternal Saint from every region would arrive."
The implication immediately became obvious.
"And Verilux."
Hida nodded.
"And Verilux."
Then Silverbane finished the thought.
"The battle wouldn’t remain confined to you. The cities. The regions. The settlements. The civilians."
Her expression hardened.
"Billions of souls would die."
The room fell silent again.
Because everyone knew she wasn’t exaggerating. If Region Three became a battlefield between all seven regions, the collateral damage alone would be catastrophic.
"Then how do we deal with Verilux?"
Finally Haliaka sighed.
"There is a way. But the answer doesn’t exist within this settlement."