Chapter 282
Whether it was unfortunate or fortunate, Lena didn’t give a detailed explanation. To be more precise, she clicked her tongue and answered in a way Ysaris couldn’t possibly understand.
“It’s the way the Clan of Night rests during their long slumber. Their blood is so saturated with vitality that they don’t even need a heartbeat. If they use a coffin as a bed and pull this kind of stunt, of course they’d look like corpses.”
Clan of Night. A term she had mentioned once in passing. It was another name for the ancient vampire race that formed the root of Tennilath’s abilities.
“But that’s strange. How could a degraded copy…?”
Lena muttered to herself before falling silent. It wasn’t just Ysaris’s gaze—she was lost in thought.
The Clan of Night, infamous for being unkillable unless decapitated and burned, and Tennilath were fundamentally different beings. Their very species were distinct, so the scope of abilities they could naturally wield was incomparable.
Tennilath was nothing more than a partial replica of the Clan of Night’s traits. Its power was inferior overall, and abilities like Absolute Hibernation—something only possible for those born with the physiology to sustain it—were beyond human reach.
“…Wait, was it actually weakened by the curse? And then reinforced after clashing with purification abilities?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh. Can you pretend you didn’t hear that? Damn habit of talking to myself after centuries of solo research.”
Lena smacked her lips and examined Kazhan’s arm. She had never witnessed Absolute Hibernation firsthand, but the knowledge passed down through dragon magic matched perfectly. There was no doubt.
A mere descendant of an experiment had wielded the original’s power. This was nothing short of revolutionary.
“If I just take one of his arms for research—”
“Lena!”
Even if it had slipped out half-seriously, Ysaris’s immediate reaction made Lena raise an eyebrow.
“Why are you so jumpy? You and your husband weren’t exactly close.”
A pause.
Struck by the blunt truth, Ysaris bit her lip before answering quietly.
“That’s true, but Kazhan ended up like this because I begged Casillia to save our child. I can’t just stand by while the body of someone who sacrificed his heart for my daughter is treated carelessly. If you need Tennilath’s blood, I’ll give you vials from the imperial vault—former emperors’ blood. Just leave Kazhan alone.”
“I need him the most.”
“Lena.”
“What’s the harm in being a little greedy? It’s not like he was ever waking up without me. And it’s just an arm—Tennilath can regenerate that much. Doubt he’d even complain when he wakes up.”
“That’s—!”
Ysaris froze mid-protest, processing Lena’s words a beat too late.
‘Wake up? Kazhan?’
Yes, she’d heard he was alive. That he was in hibernation.
But staring at his corpse-like body, the idea of him actually rising had never fully connected in her mind. It had felt distant, vague—like an echo from somewhere unreachable.
At least, until Lena outright mentioned the possibility.
“…Can he really wake up? When? How?”
‘Kazhan, with his heart torn out, returning from death?’
Still disbelieving but unable to suppress her hope, Ysaris looked at Lena, who answered flatly.
“Dunno. Absolute Hibernation is normally used for decades-long naps. Might never wake up if he botched it. Frankly, it’s a miracle a knockoff like Tennilath even pulled off suspended animation.”
“…I see.”
Back to square one. No guarantee was no different from declaring him dead. Ysaris sagged.
Still, thinking of him as comatose was better than accepting total loss.
She forced optimism into her voice.
“Is there any way to force him out of hibernation?”
“Not that I know of. It’s meant to block all external stimuli, so forcibly waking him would be…”
Lena trailed off, tilting her head.
Her eyes landed on Ysaris—a purifier, a being that hadn’t existed in ancient times, likely born from the influence of dark mages.
“…Actually, maybe?”
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