Sylvia sat back down in front of Draven, her expression complicated, her eyes fixed unwaveringly on him. She raised her hand again, placing her warm palm on his forehead.

  Draven blinked, looking at the elf girl so close before him. His gaze instinctively lingered on her high, straight nose, her soft pink lips, and those green eyes tinged with a trace of worry.

  Sylvia said nothing but continued to concentrate deeply on her examination. Her expression gradually grew serious, her brows knitting tighter and tighter. No matter how she searched, she could sense no lingering traces of the violent power, as if it had never existed.

  "This is not right..." she muttered quietly to herself, then withdrew her hand.

  Although on the surface this seemed like a good thing, her intuition told her it was not so simple.

  Draven's power had increased too suddenly, and the earlier berserk state had been strangely abnormal. No matter how talented he was in battle, he shouldn't have gained such a huge boost in such a short time.

  Sylvia lowered her hand, puzzled. Although it was good news, it brought her considerable confusion.

  Draven took the opportunity to hold her small hand, looking at her seriously troubled expression."Did you discover something? You look a bit off."

  Sylvia instinctively tried to pull her hand back, but he gripped it too tightly—when she tried to pull, he only held on harder. She sighed helplessly and let him hold it, steadying her breath before speaking.

  "I found no trace of residual power, which is very strange," she frowned,"Logically, even if you've returned to normal, there should be some residue left in your body. But I sensed nothing—it's completely clean."

  "Isn't that great?" Draven's eyes lit up, and he smiled excitedly. While gently stroking her slender fingers, he said,"I've recovered, haven't I? And my power has increased even more—doesn't that make it even better?"

  "It's definitely a good thing," Sylvia bit her lip,"but it's so unclear it's unsettling. What if this is only a temporary recovery? What if it flares up again later?"

  Her voice grew softer, seemingly distracted by the touch of his hand. The warmth of his palm through her skin sent a subtle current that made her shrink her neck slightly.

  Viola had been sitting quietly beside them, listening. She was used to their interactions but cared more about Draven's physical condition. She spoke softly,"Could it be related to that night?"

  After saying this, her cheeks flushed red and she lowered her head, unable to look at them.

  "That night?" Draven recalled and furrowed his brows.

  Viola's face grew even redder as she whispered,"Those secret techniques you taught me that night, you've been using those methods…"

  Her voice became quieter until it was almost inaudible.

  Draven understood what she meant. His expression instantly turned strange. He glanced at Sylvia, who was looking at them with a confused expression, clearly lost in their conversation.

  He leaned close to Sylvia and whispered an explanation in her ear. His low voice mixed with warm breath brushed her ear, and those explicit words instantly flushed her pointed ears bright red. Her body stiffened, her ears twitched as if burned by fire.

  "What you said... let me see that secret technique book." She lowered her voice, forcing calm.

  Draven immediately took out the thick stack of blood elf secret technique scrolls from his storage ring and handed them to her. He showed no shame—rather, a hint of pride. He had memorized those contents long ago.

  Sylvia opened the beast-hide scroll and flipped through the pages, holding back her embarrassment.

  The first images she saw made her want to bury her face in the ground. The pictures were so explicit that she dared not even look closely at some. But she endured it, because this was related to Draven's condition.

  Stolen story; please report.

  She flipped slowly until her finger stopped on a page describing a dual-person ritual to clear the berserk state.

  She took a deep breath and suddenly snapped the scroll shut, quickly shoving it back to Draven as if it were something hot.

  "This is it." Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible. Her face was flushed red, and she didn't want to look at him anymore.

  "This secret technique can indeed neutralize the berserk power inside the body. It works through a special resonance to decompose the out-of-control energy."

  Draven didn't look at the book. He didn't need to—he had the content memorized thoroughly. Even when his mind was fuzzy, he could instinctively use it, moving smoothly as if he had practiced countless times.

  Suddenly, his expression changed as he thought of another possibility.

  "Wait," he frowned,"Could this secret technique have any side effects on you?"

  Sylvia said nothing, lowering her head and gently shaking it. Her lips pressed lightly together, seeming reluctant to say more.

  Viola, however, blushed and nodded quietly.

  Sylvia had actually already examined her own body just now.

  Not only did she find no negative effects, but she even felt the flow of magic inside her becoming smoother, as if something had been unlocked.

  She knew this change was definitely not an illusion.

  In some ways, the use of this secret technique was more like an unconventional enhancement.

  While silently memorizing the core content of that technique, she secretly glanced at Draven.

  The glance was brief, but Draven still caught it.

  She immediately looked away, her face flushing deeply, lowering her head without speaking.

  "That's good!" Draven breathed a sigh of relief and patted his broad chest.

  Only then did he truly relax. He could endure it himself, but he absolutely did not want it to harm them because of him.

  If there really were side effects, he might never forgive himself in his life.

  After hesitating for a moment, he cautiously asked,"So does that mean with this secret technique, I can keep using the Blood Spear from now on?"

  The elven girl lowered her head, clearly pausing at his words. She bit her lip, and after a while, she nodded slightly.

  Her voice was so low it was almost inaudible:"You can use it, but you have to clear it in time..."

  Her face flushed even more. The clearing method of that technique was really embarrassing.

  Draven immediately understood what she meant, his eyes lighting up. He held back laughter and said nothing, but his expression was full of"I get it." The corners of his mouth curled up slowly, smiling like a child who had just stolen honey.

  The Serpent Ancestor probably never would have imagined that the trump card he meticulously prepared—the berserk effect of the Spear of Slaughter—would be broken in such an unexpected way by Draven and his group.

  The most ironic thing was that the method of breaking it was almost exactly the same as his own original approach.

  Thousands of years ago, he also relied on this method to stay clear-headed. Back then, surrounded by beauties, he naturally had some special secret techniques to assist with regulation.

  He was extremely familiar with similar dual-person secret techniques. But now, he didn't even have a decent body, let alone perform them.

  Since entering Selene City, he had become a prisoner and didn't dare show his face. To avoid revealing his identity, he had to revert to his snake-headed form to help with disguise.

  Gregor had prepared a fully enclosed suit of armor for him, covering his snake face tightly, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed—looking exactly like a walking iron barrel.

  That look was so ridiculous that Gregor almost burst out laughing. But he forcibly threw a black cloak over the Serpent Ancestor to help conceal his figure.

  Seeing him dressed properly and finally looking like a person, Gregor finally relaxed. He led the Serpent Ancestor through the streets to the old stone house where the Dorian brothers used to live.

  Before leaving, Draven had given Gregor several important items, including the key to this stone house.

  After settling the Serpent Ancestor in the stone house, Gregor warned him,"Don't run around, don't make a sound, wait for me to come back."

  After finishing the arrangements, Gregor immediately set off to complete two tasks.

  The first was to contact Rurik.

  Gregor took out a handwritten letter from his pocket, written by Draven.

  He handed the letter to Rurik, who read it silently for a moment and then nodded solemnly."If needed, I will fully cooperate."

  Watching the serpent man's figure grow distant, Rurik sighed where he stood. He didn't understand why Draven trusted this strange serpent so much, but he knew the leader's orders must be carried out.

  However, the contact with Rurik was only as a precaution. Gregor's most important mission was to get in touch with Valeria.

  Gregor walked to the stone house where Angelica and the others had once lived. The house was small and looked almost abandoned.

  He looked around to make sure there was no suspicious person nearby, then took out the key and opened the door. The room was empty except for a modest stone piled in the corner.

  Gregor walked over, lifted the stone, and retrieved a neatly folded piece of parchment from a small hollow underneath.

  He closed the door and leaned against the wall, slowly unfolding the parchment. It was Valeria's handwriting, written quickly but clearly.

  She reported that she had safely returned to Selene City without arousing Freya's suspicion. But the disappearance of another succubus had raised alarm, and Freya had begun organizing a search.

  In addition, Bronan's death had been confirmed.

  Gregor frowned, refolded the parchment, and hid it away.

  "No wonder the city has been so oppressive lately—everyone is acting in secret."