Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Congress' research in the field of s.p.a.ce and time was lacking and had not yet formed a complete theory. Thus, it was impossible for the arcanists of the Congress of Magic to determine where Lucien would be teleported to after the disruption caused by Ramiro would. On top of that, Lucien himself is the Secretive. Due to its special abilities as well as this world's disturbance to long-distance magic and prophecy, Fernando and Hathaway had yet to find him.
Lucien concluded that this surveillance specter had fused with his body and soul before he had entered the Portal to Alternate Realm.
Otherwise, how was the man behind the scenes able to find him before Fernando and the Prophet, and let the wraith posses him before he recovered?
As another expert arcanist in the field of Necromancy, Lucien knew that since this specter could be “executed” by the Pale Justice, then his mentor Fernando must have been able to sense it when they met. Therefore, the wraith must have possessed him sometime after Fernando stepped into the Portal to Alternate Realm and before Lucien was forced into it.
It seemed that the most possible explanation would be that the man behind the scenes did something to Ramiro's body so that when he self-exploded, the specter seized the opportunity and possessed Lucien. The explosion would also help to erase any trace, and since that Lucien had been forced into the Portal to Alternate Realm, even if Hathaway suspected anything, no trace was left to be found.
The man behind the scenes was aware of the exact time that the Portal would remain open. He was also able to let Ramiro carry out the a.s.sa.s.sination without knowing that he had been possessed. And finally, he is apt at this method of surveillance. Lucien wondered what Thanatos, the DemiG.o.d-lich or the Eye of Curse would want to know from him — Fabricating memory or strong hinting could both make Ramiro do things without realizing that they weren't his own decisions.
Pieces of memory flashed in Lucien's mind. He was trying to check if he had missed anything.
Suddenly, it dawned on Lucien:
“When I was pa.s.sing through the underground ruins of the dwarfs, there was a senior-rank specter from the World of Souls that ambushed me. I had a.s.sumed that it was because Rhine's plan had been discovered.”
“When Adol was captured by Thanatos and sent to Allyn, he did not have any memories about the fact that Maskelyne and Mr. Rhine were trapped in the World of Souls. I had a.s.sumed that Adol did not hold a rank high enough to know about the deeper secrets. Thinking back now, I'm sure I had misjudged the situation then. ”
“From the deep memories of that senior-rank specter one could see that, while it loathed Adol, it could only curse him to be cleansed by the Saint Truth. It must be that its rank is lower than that of Adol. Could have been his a.s.sistant or subordinate. If even he knew about the plans of Mr Rhine, then Adol must have known about it too.”
“If Adol really didn't know anything, then why did the senior-rank specter ambush me? To avenge its master Felipe, whom he described with the word ‘dumb?'”
“The two events form a paradox. The best explanation would be that Adol did knew a lot. He knew that Maskelyne and Rhine were trapped in the World of Souls. He also knew how they were related to me, which is what caused him to target me. However, he no longer knew about these things after he was sent to Allyn. Someone must have erased his memory. ”
“Considering all these, His Excellency the Eye of Curse is not likely to be the man behind the scenes. As for Thanatos, even if he was not the one committing the act, he at least allowed it to happen. Is he planning to use my connection with Alterna or the mysterious existence of the World of Souls to find Them in advance?”
“No wonder Ramiro came to investigate at Erdo. No wonder he could find Anheuse so quickly. No wonder that he attempted to attack me time and again. That's just way too many coincidences.”
Lucien took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. The idea that someone of legendary rank was keeping an eye over him made him feel very uneasy.
Admittedly, other grand arcanists could also be the suspect. If the specter had possessed him before Fernando had pa.s.sed through the Portal and Fernando did not detect it, then Lucien's deductions would crumble. Hathaway who was guarding the Portal also had enough time and ability to tamper with such things. However, comparatively speaking, these two were very unlikely to have been the culprit.
Given Hathaway's character, her rather average Necromancy, and the bright future ahead of her brought about by “New Alchemy”, given the times Lucien spent together with Fernando and the fact that Fernando's character has remained constant for several centuries, Lucien chose to believe them.
Now that Alterna of the Silver Moon has appeared, but neither Thanatos nor the DemiG.o.d-lich had acted. Lucien wondered if this meant that their main target was the mysterious existence in the World of Souls?
But Lucien quickly denied this thought. When he first pa.s.sed through the realm of the Lord of Underworld, Alterna had already noticed him but didn't come out to meet him. Instead, She had entrusted Herself to his care, sleeping inside his hand as She is now. It probably wasn't because She was worried that Lucien would get in the way of her killing the Lord of Underworld though. Now that thinking about it, Alterna could have noticed that someone was spying on Lucien. The collapse of the underworld realm rendered the surveillance temporarily ineffective, and Alterna then suppressed the specter before showing up in Her true form. Otherwise, She would have hidden with that “beef jerky” and Lucien would have never been able to find her.”
Lucien felt a chill down his spine once this thought occurred to him. It wasn't because the specter still lived, but out of genuine fear. He had recklessly slain the specter. The legendary that sent it must have noticed.
Lucien immediately jumped straight out of the window. He could only hope that the legendary is hiding in a faraway place in fear of alerting the silver moon and the World of Souls.
Lucien found himself in a gloomy forest. However, with his radiant knight transformation, he pa.s.sed through it in a jiffy. He then jumped into a river and transformed into a fish, and swan with the currents for a while.
After a while, Lucien came up to the sh.o.r.e and used magic to erase his traces. Then he jumped back into the river and headed towards the place where the divine temples congregated. Lucien had made his decision — If the legendary sorcerer was able to track his movements, then Lucien would lead him into the Single-eyed that Alterna mentioned. It was a desperate attempt at survival.
After he had reached the divine temple area, Lucien deliberately slowed down. He focused on sensing the surroundings, focusing on any changes to his left hand. If he had been able to escape the legendary arcanist tracing behind, then there was no need for him to provoke the Lord of War Antanas, as Lucien was confident that his special abilities of the Secretive coupled with the Silver Moon's self-cloaking would be able to let him escape this conspiracy.
He continued swimming like that for a while. Suddenly, Lucien sensed intense shaking in the water, as though there was an earthquake nearby.
Poking his head out from the water reeds, Lucien found that the mountain ranges on the outskirts of the city were enveloped by thunder. The air of death blocked out the moon, and the towering mountain peak collapsed.
Lucien surmised that senior-ranks were fighting there.
Could it be that Ell and the rest are trying to kill the G.o.d of Thunder and Lightning?
Immediately afterward, Lucien heard an angry roar. A black arrow flew out from the Temple of War.
As the distance between was too great, Lucien was unable to sense if the “Arrow of Antanas” hit its mark. However, the air of death did seem to tarnish a lot.
Then, a cloud of smoke rose from the Temple of War. Accompanied by the smell of conquest and the sound of the horn, Antanas bolted towards the outskirts of the city. Within a few seconds, he vanished into the air of death.
At the same time, from the Divine Temple of “the Star of Dawn and Dusk”, a bright star rose and chased after the Lord of War.
However, when it tried to pa.s.s the Solna river, a terrifying black haze suddenly enveloped it.
The brilliant star flashed once more before falling from the sky, cras.h.i.+ng into the riverbed and revealing a mature and s.e.xy figure.
Asin asked in terror, “Francis?”
Before he could finish, A bright, clear silver moon rose from the woods and lunged itself at Him.
By a fraction of hair, Asin managed to avoid the main impact. He jumped into mid-air, and His face was even paler. The scimitar in His hand had been snapped.
“Ell?”
With his exclamation, countless starlights appeared around Ell, who was barely tangible. The starlights twisted into the shape of a cage, attempting to trap Ell inside.
A concentrated air of death oozed from Ell, dissipating the starlight cage. Ell said calmly, “Francis, help me tie him down. I will use the Command to take over his G.o.dhood. My incarnation, the Angle of Thunder and Lightning, the Angle of Earth, and the Angle of Wisdom cannot delay Antanas for long. After I absorb his G.o.dhood, I will be able to go toe to toe with Antanas.”
Lucien who was still hidden in the water deeply approved the incoming battle, for it would help him cover his tracks, and he would then wait for an opportunity to escape. Meanwhile, he secretly wondered if it was Sophia who had planned all this for the false G.o.ds to take Ell's side.
As soon as Ell finished his sentence, a deep, rich sound asked, “Really?”
“Antanas?” Ell was shocked to see the towering, single-eyed man step out from the Temple of War. He carried a terrifying war hammer and gazed down at Ell with the steadiness of a mountain. Behind him was another well-built young man, the Sun G.o.d Bero.
Surprisingly, it was the true divinity of Antanas. He had sent out only his incarnation. What's more, he had not even taken the opportunity to ambush Ell.
Antanas smiled cunningly. “Don't pretend to be surprised. I know that Bero is lying to me. Your target is not Asin, but me. Come at me together, let me see what gave you your confidence!”
“What?” Bero took a few steps back in shock. His s.h.i.+eld raised unconsciously.
He was indeed in cahoots with Ell. Pretending to be a double agent, he divulged to the Lord of War that Ell and his lot are plotting against the G.o.d of Love and Beauty, Asin. Bero told Antanas to use a special method to mix up his incarnation and his true divinity and hide within the Temple of War while waiting for the opportunity to give Ell and his lot a fatal blow.
The real plan, on the other hand, targeted straight for Antanas. As long as Bero could take advantage of the time when Antanas attacked Ell and let his guard down, He could land a fatal blow. Then, they would team up against Antanas. However, Antanas seemed to know the real plan.
Who had betrayed them? Why was Antanas so calm?
Francis calmed down. “The plan was simply there to make things easier. Since you have seen through our ploy, we would face you in honest battle.”
In the surrounding darkness, three silhouettes appeared. They were that of a gloomy man, an elder in white robes, and a breathtaking beauty who was wearing purple armor and equipped with sword and s.h.i.+eld.
“Natasha?” Lucien, who was still underwater, almost cried out in surprise.
