Chapter 202: Awakening (Part 1)

  "To think you were... from the very start..." The color of Master Aiden's face, outside his mask, had already turned completely ashen.

  "Likewise. From the very beginning, we were all thinking of how to take the other's life. It's just that your minds weren't as cunning as mine, and your methods weren't ruthless enough." The Necromancer with the golden skull mask was toying with a stiff lark in his hand, which he had just taken out from his robe. He looked at Master Aiden and said leisurely, "As for you, I didn't expect that after so many years on the Tower Master's throne, your senses haven't been dulled. Rare, rare... What's even rarer is that, being a Necromancer, you would actually use a scroll to assist your attack. In terms of shamelessness, I have to admit, I can't compare to you..."

  This lark was stiff and motionless, seemingly a specimen, but Aiden knew that if the other party wished, it could become a deadly weapon in an instant, just like the one before. Aiden knew this was the same as the sparrow that had scattered his Thunderblast Bomb at the very beginning, and the birds that had ambushed the three of them from behind. He just couldn't figure out how the other party could have so many of these strange weapons prepared at hand, and he had to admit that this was indeed the thing that could best bring out the power of Necromancy.

  It was true from the very beginning, or even earlier, that the other party had decided on this plan of ambush. Those three birds had long been waiting in the blind spots far from their three's line of sight before they had even noticed him. He had thought himself the mantis stalking the cicada, but who would have known that it was a fine and dangerous oriole behind him. What he thought was the perfect opportunity to strike was precisely the moment the other party had been waiting for.

  "How about it? Do you still want to give it another try?" The Necromancer with the golden skull mask was not in a hurry to make a move; he was now the one who had completely gained the upper hand.

  The Necromancer who had lost an entire arm could still barely stand, but the cold sweat on his head already showed that he was almost completely out of fighting strength. Neither he nor Aiden was skilled in white magic, and now the wound on his severed arm could only be temporarily sealed with water magic.

  Master Aiden grunted, "I just really didn't expect that someone with your status and combat strength would think of ambushing from the very start."

  "Nonsense. What, you think people with status can naturally fight with grace? It's a pity I've never been a graceful person. Have you forgotten?" The Necromancer with the golden skull mask spat. "Actually, I didn't want to kill you all. I've had it out for that fat man for twenty years now. How dare he compete with me for a woman... I didn't expect to have to wait twenty years, when I had almost forgotten the matter, to kill him. It really feels a bit strange when I think about it. Without this stinking-rich fellow, the air in Diya Valley would surely be much fresher. As for you two, I don't really want to kill you, but once I make a move, I must go all out. It's your own luck and strength that you're not dead. Now, get lost."

  But after Aiden and the other began to pick up Norbolin's belongings, and just as they took out a teleportation scroll, the Necromancer with the golden skull mask suddenly shouted, "Wait."

  Aiden and the other froze in their actions and looked toward the Necromancer with the golden skull mask.

  "I almost forgot to ask you this question. Why did you think of coming to kill the two people down there?" The Necromancer with the golden skull mask looked at them and asked, word by word, "Although I believe no one can command you, I believe even more that this wasn't your own idea. Give me an answer."

  "I'm sorry. This is an internal matter of the Guild. Even if I were willing to answer, you know I cannot." Aiden replied flatly.

  A pair of eyes beneath the golden skull mask flared with a cold light, but then quickly dimmed. "Right, I'm not part of the Guild anymore. According to the rules, you can't disclose Guild information to me either. In that case... I'll ask, and you just need to answer yes or no... Your coming here is related to that newcomer kid, the Cardinal named Javi, isn't it?"

  Aiden was silent for a moment, then nodded and replied, "Yes."

  "Good. This kid, I told him long ago not to mess around." The Necromancer with the golden skull mask snorted coldly.

  "By the way, here's a free piece of information." Aiden said, as if remembering something. "Although I can't say it too clearly, I can tell you that this kid is very close to the current acting Guild Master. Perhaps it was his idea..."

  "Acting Guild Master? Who? I know Valthor has no interest in that... Was it someone who came after I and Agrael left?" The Necromancer with the golden skull mask looked very surprised. He thought for a moment, then suddenly sat up straight and closed his eyes.

  This action made Aiden and the other pause, but a moment later, the Necromancer with the golden skull mask opened his eyes again, and the light in them flared violently. He raised his hand and waved it through the air, shouting coldly, "Get over here, all of you."

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  Following his gesture, four black shadows appeared from the four directions below and flew towards them. In the blink of an eye, they arrived before him and landed on the back of the great eagle. They were two crows and two owls, staring ahead with a pair of expressionless, large eyes. Some had been hiding in the trees, others in crevices in the ground, and only flew out at the Necromancer's gesture.

  Seeing these four little creatures, it was Master Aiden whose expression changed the most. He snorted, a mix of anger and resentment, "That bastard actually dared to spy on us."

  "The fifty-third acting Guild Master of Diya Valley, aren't you going to greet a senior when you see one?" The Necromancer with the golden skull mask picked up a crow and held it in front of him, looking into the bird's eyes. "I didn't expect that you, as the acting Guild Master, would be willing to waste your own magic power to practice the Puppet Eagle Eye..." He turned to look at Aiden. "This fellow's schemes must be very deep and heavy. It seems you've been played."

  Master Aiden's expression became somewhat strange, but he didn't speak.

  "Although I am no longer a member of the Necromancer Guild, I still won't allow anyone to cause trouble in Diya Valley. I'm warning you, if you make a mess in there again, that dead fat man will be your example." After the Necromancer with the golden skull mask finished speaking, he gently waved his hand forward. The four dazed-looking birds instantly began to rot, decompose, and evaporate into a puff of black smoke, dissipating into the air without leaving a trace.

  In a room in the distant Diya Valley, four crystal balls placed on a table extinguished simultaneously.

  But there was no one in this room at the moment. The expression the Necromancer with the golden skull mask had made in the crystal ball just now was for nothing. The master of this room had actually hurried away the moment he saw him.

  Watching Aiden and the other flee in disarray on the gargoyle, the gaze beneath the golden skull mask showed not the slightest bit of joy, but was instead full of worry. He glanced at the Emperor and Roland on the ground, paid them no mind, and instead took out a teleportation scroll of his own and unfurled it.

  The blue light of teleportation, as always, lit up as the scroll unfurled. The Necromancer within it seemed somewhat distracted, not noticing that the situation around him was strangely wrong.

  The light of teleportation is generally stable and transparent, but the light now surrounding the Necromancer was so bright it was almost opaque. Moreover, it was flickering lightly and incessantly. This flickering became more frequent and intense as the teleportation light grew brighter.

  Finally, the somewhat distracted Necromancer noticed the unusualness around him. When he detected the change in the light, he was first stunned, and then the expression that had always appeared calm and leisurely instantly turned to shock and horror.

  "That bastard..." he roared, and suddenly moved aside with reflexes and explosive power completely ill-suited for his age. He wanted to use his own movement to cancel the teleportation magic that was already activating around him.

  But it was too late. His earlier distraction, coupled with the fact that this teleportation magic was activating much faster than ordinary, meant that his figure had just moved when the already dazzling blue light erupted with a bang.

  In that instant, the blue teleportation light in mid-air seemed to become a small sun.

  This was absolutely not an effect a teleportation spell should have. The great eagle carrying the Necromancer also shattered in the erupting blue light, becoming a sky full of corpse parts. Not just it; after the blue light passed, the corpse puppet, which was still a great distance from the blue light, suddenly fell powerlessly to the ground, and it began to slowly disintegrate in the air, turning into a sky of bloody clouds and rotten rain that showered down.

  "Impossible... How could Mr. Sandro... What's going on?" On the ground, Captain Roland's face was filled with an expression of extreme shock and disbelief.

  At this moment, in the Magic Academy, a flash of blue light also passed through the room where the teleportation array was placed. With a light crack, the Star-Eye at the very center of the teleportation array shattered.

  "Goodbye. Respected senior Sandro. I will forever keep your name on the wall of the Diya Valley Council Hall." Marquis stared coldly at the teleportation array on the ground. The blue light between the magic gems was still flickering and jumping intermittently.

  This teleportation array was now completely changed. Both the arrangement of the magic gems and their number and size were completely different from before. To be precise, this wasn't even a teleportation array, but a magic array designed to kill the person who was originally supposed to be teleported here.

  Although this magic array might not be unprecedented, it was certainly unique. This self-created magic array was ingenious and its concept was very original, but the crucial point was that it could only be used once, destroying the extremely precious Star-Eye that served as its core. Therefore, no other magicisian would ever conceive or design such a thing.

  But Marquis felt it was very worth it, at least not wasting the month he had spent studying this array. Although the Star-Eye was precious and rare, it was nothing compared to this person's life. There were only a dozen or so Star-Eyes on the continent. And once used as the core of a teleportation array, it was carved and positioned, unable to be used for any other purpose. But this might be the only way to kill this person, and this was the only such opportunity.

  When using a teleportation scroll that was keyed to this array, by relying on the power of the Star-Eye's shattering and the entire altered array, the magic wave of the teleportation scroll could be forcibly converted into a destructive force. This was, to date, the only destructive magic that utilized spatial power. It was absolutely indefensible; no matter how powerful this person's body or strength, the destruction caused by spatial distortion was unstoppable.

  Now this magic array had served its purpose. Marquis bent down and rearranged the array, and after a short while, the teleportation array returned to its previous appearance. Of course, this was only on the surface. The shattered Star-Eye could no longer function. It was just pieced back together, looking intact and remaining there as a decoration.

  After doing all this, Marquis walked to the door and gently patted the shoulders of the two magicisians, coughing lightly. Only then did the two senior magicisians and the several guards beside them suddenly awaken from their daze.

  "Lord Marquis, you've returned to the Royal Capital?" The two senior magicisians turned to look at Marquis, smiling and nodding in greeting. Someone like Inham·Erney Marquis was easy for anyone to have a good impression of. Besides, he was a good friend of Bishop Ronis when he was alive.

  "Yes, it's been a long time since I've returned, so I'm coming home to have a look." Marquis also smiled and nodded. "By the way, has anything happened in the Royal Capital during this time?"

  The magicisian nodded and replied, "Of course. You've been traveling everywhere, so you probably don't know..." Neither of the two senior magicisians nor the guards beside them glanced in the direction of the teleportation array. In their memories, Lord Marquis had come out of the teleportation array and immediately come over to greet them very cordially, without anything unusual happening.

  "Oh? This new Cardinal is so formidable?" After listening to the magicisian's story, Marquis nodded slightly and then asked, "You just said that the Bishop and Lord Rodhart captured an important prisoner together. Do you know where he is being held now?"

  "It's in the dungeon over there." The magicisian pointed in a direction. "But no one other than the Bishop and Lord Rodhart is allowed to enter. Why do you ask?"

  "Just asking casually. By the way, where is the Bishop now? I want to go see him."

  "Oh, that's a bit strange. I heard from others that just now, the Bishop suddenly left in a great hurry with the Great Priest Ryan for the Grand Cathedral, and they even sealed the Grand Cathedral, not letting anyone else in. Who knows what they're doing inside..."

  After hearing this, the charming smile that Marquis had maintained on his face instantly stiffened. He didn't even have time to say a word to the two magicisians, turning and running out at an astonishing speed.