Chapter 4009

“Meln never lived in the Desert. If he’s going to target a country, it’ll be the Griffon Kingdom,” Lith pointed out.

“My thoughts exactly,” Salaark replied. “But that doesn’t mean he won’t interfere with me. All he needs to do is place a few thralls in the right locations to deal a devastating blow to the Blood Desert.”

“How?” Solus asked, stunned.

“Think it through, Solus. An outlaw tribe attacks one of my Feathers, and two—maybe three—of its members are Upyr thralls,” Salaark said. “A single sneak attack from someone with the mass of a Divine Beast is enough to kill a fake Awakened.

“My soldiers would wipe out the tribe, but my Feather would still be dead. Meln would be trading a pawn he created with a few drops of blood for a mage it took me decades to raise and train.”

“By my Mom!” Solus’s eyes widened in shock.

“Exactly. It would be a disastrous exchange for me,” the Overlord nodded. “In the same way, those thralls could stall members of my Nest during a crisis. Not one engineered by Meln—he lacks the resources for that—but one caused by my enemies.