Chapter 547: The Serpent Court Finally in Action

Venomspire, the hidden seat of the empire, which had always been silent, was now loud with activity. They’d witnessed their empress devour two dragons, and now the emperor had declared that they all "go rogue." If this wasn’t good news, what else was?

They were a gorgon council, the Serpent Court, vowed to protect the empire from the shadows, just like the Silverbanes, but they were more discreet. In fact, apart from the imperial family, no one knew they even existed. This time might be the first time they come out in the open.

The council was currently seated for a meeting. The Serpent Court consisted of nine matriarchs, including the empress, Harley, whose name was Gorgoneia. She was their leader. After her were the other eight matriarchs, who were all gorgons. This meeting was to plan their course of action, and they didn’t need the first matriarch to be around.

She was the empress of the empire and also the founder of the court. In truth, she was more or less their patron and protector and would only be truly needed if things went south, but for something like this... It was a piece of cake.

The Oathcoil, Vasukira, headed the meetings when Gorgoneia wasn’t around. She was the next in charge.

"Sisters... the time has finally come. We’ve managed to find more of our sisters. Now the gorgons of Venomspire have thirty citizens, excluding us. This, although a small number, is more than we expected. And it is time to make use of it.

We all heard what the emperor said... and guess what?" Vasukira started with a smile that kept on widening till the last statement and question.

"What?" Echidriana, known as the Mother of Monsters, asked with barely restrained curiosity.

"The emperor specifically granted us his blessings and assigned us a mission. A mission that might have given us a chance to find other sisters," Vasukira said, causing everyone to gasp in shock.

"Are you sure about this?" Nahilith, the Whispering Coil, asked with a bit of anxiousness.

"Yes. Look at your wrists... the mark of the emperor glows there," Vasukira said with a calm smile. Everyone hurriedly checked their wrists, and lo and behold, they found the marks: three interlocking golden rings. They could feel the power brimming within them, waiting to be unleashed on the world.

"But how?! He never made an action. How did..." Zahareel, known as the Scarlet Veil, asked in shock.

"Don’t question, just do it. That’s what he said, and that’s what we are going to do," Vasukira cut her off.

"So what is this mission exactly? Details?" Ophirael, the Divine Coil, asked while lightly massaging her wrists, where the mark was.

"The mission is... the Dragon Empire."

Silence fell.

Not the calm, composed silence of a council in thought, but the kind that pressed heavily. The unwelcome kind.

"The... Dragon Empire?" Ophirael’s voice came out slower than intended, her fingers freezing over the glowing mark on her wrist. Across the chamber, the others didn’t move. They didn’t even breathe. For a brief, dangerous moment, they looked... mortal.

Echidriana was the first to react. A low, disbelieving laugh escaped her lips, but there was no amusement in it.

"That’s not a mission," she said, leaning forward slightly, her serpentine eyes narrowing. "That’s a death sentence."

Her fingers tapped lightly against the armrest, but the rhythm was off. It was unsteady. For someone known as the Mother of Monsters, that alone spoke volumes. Nahilith didn’t laugh.

Her voice came out as a whisper, but it carried clearly through the chamber.

"We felt it."

No one needed to ask what she meant. They had felt it: the roar, the declaration, the pressure that had spread across the world like a divine hand pressing everything down.

"The Primogenitor of Dragons..." she murmured, her gaze distant. "That wasn’t just power... that was authority." Her fingers curled slightly. "Even we are not beyond that."

Zahareel exhaled sharply, her crimson gaze flickering.

"And you’re telling us," she said slowly, each word measured, "that we are to go against that?" Her lips curled faintly, though they lacked their usual confidence. "Even with his blessing, that’s..."

"Not what I said." Vasukira’s voice cut cleanly through the tension. All eyes turned to her. She was still smiling, but now it wasn’t playful. It was sharp.

"You’re all jumping ahead," she said calmly, folding her hands together as she leaned forward slightly. "The Dragon Emperor is not our target."

She paused, letting her statement sink in.

"He is our destination." That didn’t help. If anything, it made it worse.

Typhessara shifted in her seat, lightning faintly crackling along her arms in response to her agitation.

"Explain," she demanded, her tone lower than usual. "Because right now, this sounds like suicide dressed as strategy."

Nagarieth didn’t speak, but her form flickered faintly. Her very presence was thinning, like a shadow preparing to disappear. It was a reflex, an instinct... One that screamed... Run!

Melanthera’s claws dug lightly into the stone beneath her seat. Her expression was calm... too calm. "We all felt what happened to the two dragons," she said quietly. Her eyes lifted to Vasukira.

"They weren’t weak, but... They were erased."

Vasukira nodded once.

"Exactly."

She raised her wrist. The golden rings glowed brighter, and for a moment, the entire chamber shifted. A subtle pressure spread outward, warm, stable, and protective.

"This," she said softly, "is why."

The others looked at their own marks again... this time, not with shock, but with awareness.

"He didn’t just give us a blessing," Vasukira continued. "He gave us authority."

Her eyes glinted.

"Protection... and permission."

Echidriana leaned back slowly.

"Permission to do what?"

Vasukira’s smile widened again. This time, it was unmistakably predatory.

"To hunt."

The word settled into the room like a blade being drawn.

"We are not going after Fafnir," she clarified. "We are not challenging the Primogenitor."

Her gaze swept across them.

"We are going after what he left behind." Understanding began to dawn. "All dragons left behind in the Dragon Empire for being weak..." Nahilith whispered.

Vasukira nodded. "...Are ours."

The tension shifted. Typhessara exhaled slowly, the lightning around her stabilizing.

"That’s still not simple," she said. "Even lesser dragons are..."

"Terrified," Vasukira cut in.

That made them pause.

"They felt it too," she continued, her voice lowering slightly. "What happened to Vaelrith and Drakar didn’t just affect Fafnir." Her eyes gleamed. "It rippled."

Nagarieth’s form solidified again.

"Fear spreads faster than power," she murmured.

"Exactly," Vasukira said.

She leaned forward further now, her presence sharpening.

"They are disorganized, unstable. Some will be reckless... others will hesitate."

A small tilt of her head.

"And hesitation... is death."

Melanthera’s lips curled slightly. Now... there it was. That familiar hunger.

"And the mark?" Zahareel asked, her tone steadier now.

Vasukira raised her hand again. "This ensures one thing."

A pulse of golden light spread faintly.

"No dragon within our designated range can overwhelm us completely." Her smile returned, softer now.

"It doesn’t make us invincible. But it makes this..." Her eyes gleamed. "...possible."

Silence returned, but this time, it wasn’t fear. It was a calculation. Echidriana leaned forward again, her earlier unease gone, replaced with something far more dangerous.

"So we slip into the chaos," she said slowly.

Nahilith’s voice followed. "Strike where they don’t expect..."

Typhessara’s lightning flared faintly. "Separate them..."

Nagarieth’s form flickered. "Erase them before they regroup..."

Melanthera smiled.

"Leave nothing behind."

Vasukira nodded once.

"There it is."

Ophirael finally relaxed back into her seat, a faint smile touching her lips as she looked at the glowing mark again.

"We’re not being sent to die," she murmured. "We’re being unleashed."

Vasukira’s grin widened fully now.

"Exactly."

The atmosphere in the chamber shifted completely. What had once been tension became anticipation. Plans began to form: routes, entry points. Dragon movement patterns. Weak zones within the Dragon Empire’s outer territories. Communication methods that left no trace. Fallback positions that weren’t truly retreats, but repositioning points for better kills.

They would not march. They would not announce themselves. They would not fight like warriors. They would hunt from shadows, from silence, from angles no one expected, and when they struck, it would already be too late.

Vasukira rose from her seat slowly, and the others followed. Eight figures. Eight presences that the world had never truly seen.

"The empire moves in the open," she said calmly. Her eyes gleamed. "We move beneath it."

Her voice dropped.

"Let’s remind them..." A faint hiss echoed through the chamber as their power began to rise in unison. "...why serpents were feared long before dragons learned to fly."

And with that, the Serpent Court vanished into the shadows. The hunt had begun.

"And remember... we can keep spare those who surrender."

Fafnir had left the Dragon Empire in a fit of rage and useless pride. Even till now, he still believed that Ethan was no match for him, but his world would be turning upside down soon.