Soryntha poured out her thoughts in an almost cascading storm, but she tried to remain as coherent as she could.
“The odds that one such talent would arise from a world is minimal. It’s far more likely that this world is quite talented to begin with, and that is probably why the recent announcements about the upgrade to the galaxy were triggered.”
“Explain.”
“It’s my belief that Sylas Grimblade’s Summoned World is very high in Grade—higher than any other world in our galaxy. As such, its successful Summoning was able to elevate us all. By extension, it makes sense that they would produce more than just one talented Race.”
“That is still not enough.”
“Yes, I understand. But the second piece of it is the existence of the True Chosen mark. As you know, Matriarch, only three True Chosen marks were given out, but the luck of our galaxy was spread across many more than just that. I was quite close to receiving a mark myself, and as such, I was given a good portion of Luck as well. Because of that, my senses toward the True Chosen mark are stronger than most.
“I could feel the existence of the mark vaguely while observing Nosphaleen Tideborn’s race through the trial, but it wasn’t until I saw her personally that I could confirm that I was, indeed, sensing correctly.
“But I could also feel something else. The Luck around Nosphaleen Tideborn was only recently changed—very recently. As you know, Matriarch, Overlord Race status is also heavily tied to Luck, and from what I could tell, the woman also only became a member very recently as well.”
Matriarch Valeria’s eyes narrowed. “Continue.”
“This was the final puzzle piece I needed. As far as we can tell, Sylas Grimblade is just a normal Human, and a World will only pick one Overlord Race. If I’m correct, Sylas Grimblade is of the current Overlord Race of his Summoned World, while this girl was from a previous Race.
“Matriarch has likely read about many case studies like this. A World always favors the first Races it produces more than the latter ones. Although Sylas Grimblade led his Summoned World to a successful Ascension, it’s likely older Races continued to exist and have been plotting to overthrow him.
“With how much Sylas Grimblade has been overextending himself in the outside world, it isn’t impossible that such a Race could grab onto a weakness of his and take advantage of it. It doesn’t even have to be so detailed—maybe they simply sprung a trap and managed to snatch away the True Chosen mark for themselves.
“And of course… Sylas Grimblade’s disappearance from the Titans Leaderboard is likely the final confirmation.”
Silence fell between the mother-daughter pair.
The logic was sound. The story was compelling. But… there simply wasn’t nearly enough information.
The Matriarch could practically feel her daughter cutting corners just to force the story to be accurate, just to allow herself the right to maintain the True Chosen mark.
But in the end… hadn’t she been correct about at least one thing?
That was most definitely the True Chosen mark. There was no getting around that. It was definitely real.
In that case, even if the story was only 70 or 80% accurate, the end result was true enough.
Plus, no matter how the Matriarch racked her brain, there was simply no way Sylas Grimblade could just disappear from the leaderboard.
No… there was one way he could do that.
By progressing to the E-Grade.
And that one caveat—that one little seed of doubt—was why the Matriarch still felt like everything was not yet fully under her control.
“… We will trigger a Seeing Thorn Sanctum. We will contact the main branch and inform them of the changes here, and they will decide how they want to move forward. You will let me do all of the talking, and you will stand there obediently.”
“Understood, Matriarch.”
A light lit in Soryntha’s eyes. This was it. This would be her chance.
So long as they kept things under wraps, if they started leveraging the true power of the Petals of the Seeing Thorn, wouldn’t everything come up roses?
The Matriarch looked at her daughter through the corners of her eyes as she led the way out, the disappointment in her heart only growing.
Soryntha liked to think that she was the only intelligent person in the room. But if she could pick up on so many clues, how could others not start raising eyebrows?
Sylas’ disappearance from the list and the largest commotion in Petals of the Seeing Thorn history all taking place on the same exact day? Was that really such a coincidence?
It was such a simple deduction too, but Soryntha was so obsessed with her chance to break through to a new realm of talent in the near future that she was letting her excitement blind her. It was simply unacceptable.
…
The duo stepped into a room deep within the organization. It had the dim, soothing light of a greenhouse, and its walls were lined with greenery and flowers.
At the center of it all, there was an altar.
Contacting the main branch—or rather, at least their overseeing branch—wasn’t difficult. It just cost quite a sum of money, not to mention that there would be sanctions if there wasn’t a very good reason.
But there was one thing that Soryntha had said that the Matriarch could use.
The elevation of the galaxy to a much higher Silver Grade would quickly make it a hot commodity. This would mean the Petals of the Seeing Thorn would be much more likely to invest, especially if they would soon have the Progenitor of this Galaxy…
If Soryntha could follow through and make things right.
Matriarch Valeria took a breath and began to activate the altar, a pulsing might sweeping out as a tunneling connection was formed between this galaxy and one across the vast cosmos.
But then the situation changed.
—
[Violation Detected]
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—
Matriarch Valeria froze in place.