Chapter 139: The Royal Delivery

The high-vaulted ceiling of the fourth-floor laboratory was quiet, illuminated only by the soft, green glow of the specialised containment vats.

Kale Ardentis stood before his central workbench, his fingers resting on the smooth wood.

His new domain was a stark contrast to his master’s cluttered chamber.

It was clean, spacious, and fortified with heavy lead-mesh arrays designed to suppress even the most violent elemental fluctuations.

On the stone table lay his master-level certification... a parchment bearing the gold-rimmed seal of the Association, legally securing his political immunity.

The permanent subcutaneous seal on his neck thrummed with a steady, numb warmth, a constant reminder of the gold runic mesh resting beneath his skin.

The balance between his newly acquired Terra Shell and the Ignis Core was absolute. The earth element anchored his decaying life force, while the fire element served as a thermodynamic filter, destroying any heretical resonance before it could surface.

For the first time since his regression, Kale felt physically stable, his body no longer consumed by the slow, exhausting drain of the World Dragon’s curse.

But Kale had no intention of resting on his laurels. The permanent seal was a shield, but the storm circling Emberheart was only growing more dangerous.

High Inquisitor Luke was still in the capital, his eyes fixed on the Association’s gates, waiting for the slightest mistake.

To survive the coming purge, Kale needed to strengthen his foundation and expand his network of allies. He walked toward his desk, unrolling a large sheet of parchment containing the blueprints for his first official Master-rank project.

He had a debt to pay. During the banquet at the Sol Ignis palace, Prince Renard had promised him imperial protection in exchange for a private faction of fire-attributed chimaeras.

Now that his Master status was legally registered, it was time to fulfil his end of the bargain.

Renard’s faction required stable, high-performance beasts to reinforce their private guards, and delivering them would secure the prince’s continued influence within the imperial guard... a necessary shield to misdirect the Church’s tightening investigations.

Kale did not want to deliver standard, unstable chimaeras.

If his creations failed or went berserk in the field, it would ruin his reputation and invite unwanted inspection. He needed to design a masterwork... a fire-attributed beast that was highly lethal, incredibly loyal, and genetically stable.

He chose to splice the aggressive fire properties of the Flame Salamander with the physical agility and hunting instincts of a Shadow-Cat, utilising a neutral slime base to bridge the conflicting variables.

He named the blueprint the Ignis-Salamander Hound. It was a beast designed for urban warfare and personal defence, featuring heat-resistant dark scales, high-frequency kinetic claws, and a core of pure, stabilised flame.

Splicing reptilian and feline genes was a notorious bottleneck in fleshcrafting, a process that usually triggered a violent rejection cascade within minutes. But Kale had the advantage of his unified Trinity Crafting skill and his stabilised elemental pathways.

He approached the master-level resource vaults of the Association, his gold-rimmed token granting him access to materials that had been strictly barred from him as an apprentice.

He gathered high-grade copper wire, refined obsidian resin, and several jars of fresh, preserved Flame-Salamander tissue. For the catalyst, he retrieved the remaining Ember-Drake eggs he had harvested from Inferno Hollow, their shells pulsing with volcanic heat.

Returning to his laboratory, Kale began the extraction. He lit the portable cauldron on his desk, the burner crackling with a steady blue flame.

He poured the volcanic resin into the container, monitoring the temperature with his refined energy senses.

He did not rely on standard timers; instead, he watched the molecular shifts within the boiling fluid, his hand making micro-adjustments to keep the heat within a strict, two-degree variance. The resin slowly thickened, turning into a glowing, translucent red gel.

With the stabilisation gel prepared, he turned his attention to the biological splicing.

He set out the neutral slime base in a glass vat, utilising a surgical needle to extract the pure, molten fire essence from the core of an Ember-Drake egg.

The moment the fluid touched the gel, it hissed violently, threatening to crack the glass. But Kale remained composed, his fingers moving with a disciplined speed developed from hours of silent practice.

He wove the elemental strands through the slime’s nucleus, utilising the specialised stabilisation arrays of his table to anchor the conflicting forces. The orange light within the vat grew brighter, pulsing in a slow, rhythmic cadence.

The slime’s neutral jelly began to change, absorbing the drake egg’s volcanic properties until its body turned a warm, incandescent orange. The cellular structure settled with a soft, biological click, the first pillar of the synthesis completed perfectly.

Now came the most dangerous phase... the integration of the Shadow-Cat tissue with the Flame-Salamander scales. He arranged the muscle fibres on the workbench, aligning the biological vessels with the runic channels of his master-rank core.

The moment the fire gel touched the cold feline flesh, the cells reacted violently, the fibres turning a dark, bruised purple as a cascade of rejection was triggered. Smoke rose from the edges of the table, carrying the sharp scent of burning organic matter.

Kale did not panic. He called upon his taming bond, and the shadow beneath his boots rippled like liquid ink.

Neo did not emerge fully, but the three-headed hydra directed a subtle, highly refined ripple of its absolute taming affinity through the connection. Under the silent, commanding pressure of the sovereign force, the chaotic cellular friction vanished.

The rebellious feline cells ceased their resistance, rapidly absorbing the fire gel and fusing with the dense reptilian scales. The dark discolouration faded, replaced by a vibrant, deep crimson glow.

He performed the final micro-sutures with surgical precision, sealing the entire construct in a localised, dense mana barrier, anchoring the conflicting forces within a stable biological matrix.

The completed chimaera sat on the table... a sleek, muscular hound covered in dark red, overlapping scales. Its eyes were closed, its chest rising and falling in a slow, rhythmic cadence as its internal flame core stabilised.

It was a flawless Ignis-Salamander Hound, a masterwork of fleshcrafting that possessed zero cellular friction and absolute genetic stability.

By the time the midnight hours arrived, three of the hounds stood near his workbench, their dark red scales absorbing the dim light of the lamps. They did not growl or make a sound, their postures disciplined and entirely obedient to his presence. They were a silent vanguard, ready to be deployed in the field.

The door’s locking mechanism vibrated with a soft, rhythmic hum, and Rando stepped into the laboratory.

The prince’s shadow pulled his hood low to conceal his features, his gaze sweeping over the spacious room before landing on the three scaled hounds.

Rando’s eyes widened in genuine disbelief, his posture freezing as he sensed the sheer density of the elemental energy radiating from the beasts.

"By the crown..." Rando whispered, stepping closer to examine the nearest hound. He ran his hand over the dark red scales, feeling the steady, controlled warmth beneath the skin. As an experienced Master-rank tamer, he had seen countless fleshcraft creations, but none possessed this level of precision. "They are completely stable. No cellular friction, no erratic mana leaks... this is a level of craftsmanship that even some grandmasters struggle to achieve without expensive catalysts."

"I do not manufacture defective pieces, Rando," Kale said flatly, leaning against his workbench with his arms crossed. "The hounds are designed for urban defence.

They can absorb and redirect fire-attributed attacks, and their physical agility matches any shadow-beast of the same rank. They are ready to be delivered to the prince’s faction."

Rando retrieved a heavy leather pouch from his cloak and placed it on the wood.

The pouch landed with a definitive, metallic clink. "The Prince is highly pleased with your progress, Kale. Inside are five thousand gold coins and several rare spirit stones from the imperial vaults... further payment for your continued cooperation.

He has also authorised me to deliver a warning. Princess Aria’s personal guards have been monitoring your laboratory’s resource requests. She is highly curious about what kind of beasts you are designing."

"Let her watch," Kale replied calmly, his green eyes remaining clear and unyielding. "As long as she does not interfere with my personal research, she can watch as much as she wants. My main focus remains on the completion of my own work, not their petty royal games."

"Aria is not a woman who settles for watching, my friend," Rando cautioned softly, adjusting his dark hood. "She is a predator, and she will use any opportunity to pull you into her own circle.

But for now, the Prince’s shield will protect you. I will take the hounds under the cover of darkness. Stay in the shadows, Kale, and prepare yourself. The capital’s tides are shifting quickly."

Rando gathered the three hounds into his spatial storage, his tall figure dissolving into the cool gloom of the stone hallway as the heavy door clicked shut behind him. The silent peace returned to the laboratory, the green light of the containment vats casting long, flickering shadows across the floor.

Kale slowly turned back toward his stone table, unrolling the detailed Ignis Core blueprint once more.

The first royal delivery was complete, and his political shield was fully secure.

With his master status registered and his elements perfectly balanced, the determined Genetic Engineer prepared to take his next tactical steps, ready to forge an elemental engine that would eventually shatter the very heavens of Nergal.