Chapter 269: Ivanovszki's Plot
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Lucien purposely asked in a confused tone, "Mr. Ivanovszki? It's quite late now…"
Ivanovszki's response was quite cheesy and suspicious, "I'm visiting you this late, Mr. Peter, because of the good news. I know several viscounts from Vladimir family, so I felt quite close to you the first time I saw you, Mr. Peter, not to mention how your courage and fighting skills impressed me… So I'd like to share the good news with someone I like."
All of Ivanovszki's words only reminded Lucien of a fraud. However, as powerful and influential as Ivanovszki, why would he be interested in Lucien, a nobody?
After thinking for a few seconds, Lucien decided to listen to him to see what the good news was. Getting more information was never a bad thing, since Lucien would probably be able to see through Ivanovszki's secret plot during their conversation.
Lucien used his knight instinct and sensed that there was someone else on the other side of the door with Ivanovszki, but the person was not trying to hide himself—the person should be Ivanovszki's assistant or something.
With his left hand holding Frost, Lucien opened the door casually.
Ivanovszki still dressed in his party suit, like a winter bear wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. Beside him there was an old man wearing a black suit and bow tie. The old guy looked gloomy, his eyes dull, face wrinkled and cold. Holding a black suitcase, he was shorter than Ivanovszki.
Seeing that Mr. Peter opened the door himself, Ivanovszki looked a bit confused, "Mr. Peter, where's your butler? How come you do this yourself?"
"He's sick because of the storm. I asked him to take a rest." Lucien explained casually, "And this is?"
Ivanovszki pointed at the old man and grinned, "This is my assistant, Matvienko. He's talented in doing business, and he's got his own understanding of economy."
"Oh… Mr. Matvienko, may I ask for your thoughts on the production, circulation and distribution of wealth? Do you think the market is controlled by an invisible hand and follows its own rules?" asked Lucien seriously. Obviously, he did not like this old guy at all, who was not so much an economy expert as a aggressive safeguard.
Matvienko frowned, offering no answer, while Ivanovszki's smile froze on his face. After a while, he laughed out of embarrassment, "Haha, Mr. Peter, it's really hard to find a noble and a knight like you who's this profound in economy…"
"I'm just a beginner in economy. Some related knowledge is helpful for when I have my own land in the future, isn't it?" Lucien did not keep giving them a hard time. What he just said was more like a warning—dare you mess up with me!
Ivanovszki put on an impressed look, "Good idea. Young nobles like you, Mr. Peter, do have different understandings and thoughts." He also did not mention anything professional in economy.
Lucien let them in. When they sat down on the couch, Lucien poured each of them a cup of water, "So, what is it about, Mr. Ivanovszki?"
Ivanovszki's big hands were holding the porcelain cup like a toy. He smiled, "Mr. Peter, you do know that Count Witte has part of his blood from family Vladimir, right?"
"Of course. The count's mother was family Vladimir's member. She awakened the family Blessing, Frost, as a knight and a lord." Lucien replied, "But so what? Count Witte's Blessing, Withering, is still from his father's family, and Count Witte is the first one in his family who managed to become a radiant knight, not to mention all his brilliant exploits on the battlefields… His achievement has way surpassed the glory of his mother's family…" Lucien seized the chance to show that he knew the family well.
Ivanovszki's put on a meaningful smile, "Just as you said, Mr. Peter… the good news is that you will be provided with the title of a count, and the wealth of a local count."
Because of the many mines in Ural, most nobles here were way richer than nobles in other countries and areas.
"What do you mean?! What's gonna happen to Count Witte?" Lucien pretended to be shocked, "Why me?"
Ivanovszki slightly nodded to calm Lucien down, "As you know, Carleena's the niece of the second wife of Count Witte, and she's thus close to the count. According to Carleena, Nevskiy, the cardinal in Ural city, asserted that the count could only live up to another half year. No divine power can cure this, because it's the count's natural aging."
Lucien maintained the shocked look on his face.
"Because of his Blessing, Withering, the count has had a difficult time in having offsprings, and he spent most of his best years in the south, fighting against the south church. Although he married three wives in total, Count Witte only had a son, but his son died before ten," continued Ivanovszki.
"So?" Lucien asked calmly.
Ivanovszki put down the cup in his hand, "Mr. Peter, you should know the fact that the count successfully awakening his Blessing was a miracle, a miracle that was made come true by family Vladimir. The count lost his parents because of the war when he was young, and he failed to awaken his Blessing until twenty-five. Before that, his remote relatives gave him a very difficult time because they wanted to take over family Witte's land and title. It was some members from family Vladimir here who once helped him."
"I know." Lucien nodded.
"The count has revealed his plan to Carleena. He wants to have one of the male members from family Vladimir to be his stepson and give this stepson his title and wealth. To do this, the stepson must marry a lady from family Witte, who's not closely connected to the core family, leaving the rest of family Witte no hope to touch what he has. Mr. Peter, you're elegant, strong and good-looking, and you have even awakened your Blessing! You can't miss the great opportunity! The count will of course like you!"
Now Lucien understood what they were planning on. The count title and the great fortune equal to half of the wealth of the whole Ural district was beyond alluring to everyone, not to mention a greedy smuggler.
After that, Lucien asked casually, "So, Carleena's also from family Witte?"
Ivanovszki first was a bit surprised and then laughed, "Yes, several generations ago. Although it's quite remote, no one can deny. Without Carleena, we would never know what the count likes specifically. She plays an important role here. I mean… marrying a beauty and gaining the title and a great fortune… can anyone say no to this?"
Lucien now understood Sergey's true intention. Sergey was not trying to get his gold or sword, but to control him using the business. So, when both Sergey and Carleena failed, Ivanovszki came to Lucien and tempted him directly.
However, what Lucien did not understand was why the count would be dying so soon twenty or even thirty years earlier before he reached the average life span of a radiant knight. Was it because he was somehow severely injured during the war?
And Lucien was quite sure that no matter who married Carleena and got the title, the person was only going to be another piece of evidence pointing that Carleena truly deserved the name people called her by—Black Widow.
Therefore, Lucien put on a smile and said, "It's a hard decision, but I'm still saying this. Mr. Ivanovszki, I cannot agree on the plan. I won't work with you guys."
Although Lucien often craved for money, in Schachran Empire, he could not take any risks, not to mention the fact that he was not even a real family member of Vladimir, as the cardinals would test his blood.
A less greedy person was always smarter.
"What do you mean, Mr. Peter? Literally, you're saying no to a count title, half of the district's wealth, lots of mines and manors…" Ivanovszki could not believe his ears. He did not believe that anyone would reject the offer, not even the emperor in San Ivansburg!
Lucien said to Ivanovszki seriously, "I cannot give up my surname. My name is the glorious representation of my family. I believe that one day I can become a count myself under the name Vladimir!"
After that, Lucien added, "I'm proud of my name!"
Ivanovszki looked at Lucien as if he was lunatic, "I thought those kind of knights who only pursued glory had all disappeared in the empire, but you shocked me, Mr. Peter."
Then he stood up and bowed to Lucien, "Mr. Peter, good luck with your faith."
Although Ivanovszki tried his best to be respectful, Lucien felt that he was not saying what he was really thinking.
"Before the decision is made, I'll keep the secret for you." Lucien still pretended to be super righteous.
Ivanovszki put on a nice smile, "I trust you, Mr. Peter, a noble knight. Maybe we can work together in the future."
Then, he left Lucien's room with his assistant, Matvienko.
"Be careful, my lord." Leo walked out of his room after Ivanovszki and Matvienko had left, and he reminded Lucien worriedly, "He's more ruthless than one can imagine, and he does not like any latent troubles."
Chapter 270: The Count's Invitation
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Holding the fine porcelain cup, Lucien slightly nodded, "I know. People like Ivanovszki are definitely ruthless, or they wouldn't be able to survive. I wish I knew who was protecting him, so I could…"
Although Lucien's tone was gentle, his words made Leo feel cold. The person he was working for right now was a sorcerer who was beyond calm. If this young man knew more about Ivanovszki, then through a series of analysis, he would kill Ivanovszki as soon as possible.
"When I was working for Ivanovszki, in public, he only had a grand knight or a middle-rank mage protecting him, but as you said, he must still have more people. I've seen it several times. Those assassinators sent by his competitors never made it into the place he lived. There was one time… a level two knight whose Blessing allowed him to hide, and thus he seriously injured Ivanovszki's grand knight. The moment when Ivanovszki was going to be killed, the assassin fell on the ground, dead. I still remember the look on his face… it was horror." Leo told Lucien what he knew altogether.
There was smile on Lucien's face, "I just sent my unseen servant to follow him, and he almost noticed it. But the servant still managed to make sure that his room was protected by some spells. It's hard for us to spy on him. If we want to kill him, we need to make him step out of those places that he knows well. We want him to follow our plan."
"My lord…" said Leo, a little hesitant, "If you give me a middle-rank magic item, I'll seize a chance and die together with Ivanovszki."
Lucien looked around and said, "Suicide attack? Not necessary yet. Go and have some rest, Leo."
Lucien's biggest advantage now was the fact that Ivanovszki did not know anything about his power as a sorcerer. No matter who Ivanovszki sent to kill Lucien, it was always going to be a mistake, which was a great chance for Lucien, since he could consume Ivanovszki's power bit by bit. Of course, if Ivanovszki was not planning on killing him, that was the best.
At the same time, Lucien also cast a secret magic circle invented by the Congress around his room. The magic circle did not block other people from spying on the person in the room, but it could reinforce the caster's spiritual power for sensing any magic waves, so the caster could detect even the slightest amount of magic wave disturbance.
The moonlight was gentle and delicate. Lucien sat in the couch and slowly closed his eyes.
In the darkness, everything was very quiet. At this time, Lucien sensed a tiny amount of magic waves. It was only like part of the night breeze, so, if Lucien had not placed the magic circle, there was no chance that he would notice this.
The magic waves gradually settled, however, it was still there—like a mirror, watching Lucien.
Lucien, in the couch, adjusted his position from time to time, as if he had fallen into deep sleep.
Just like this, nothing ever happened throughout the whole night.
…
Ural City, Green Vine luxury hotel.
After selling most of his goods in this busy city and buying some more local ironwares, Berdychiv was quite relaxed.
He sat in the hotel's corner after having breakfast, drinking his liquor and looking at the many guests in the hotel. He and another juice head were remarking upon the guests' appearance and manner.
"Father, are you seriously drinking in the morning?" asked Yielena a bit angryly. She had accepted Igor's apology last night, and they were planning on having a tour in the city.
Berdychiv let out a belch. The strong smell of liquor was rising from his stomach. "Yielena, come on…" Berdychiv laughed, "Tomorrow we're heading back home. Just let me drink today. The more I drink, the more revitalized I am."
The caravan's next stop was the provincial capital of Kirov.
"You've been drinking for two days!" Yielena frowned, "You have to promise that you won't drink a single drop on our way home!"
Berdychiv laughed, "Yielena, you think I'm drunk? Ha, you cannot cancel my breakfast drink, lunch drink, and dinner drink from the list!"
After saying this to his daughter, Berdychiv suddenly stood up, rolling a bit back and forth, "Mr. Peter, welcome back! I thought you were gonna stay in the baroness' manor!"
The ambiguity of Berdychiv words contradicted his age.
Lucien, followed by Leo, was right now walking into the hotel. After having breakfast in the manor, Carleena, who was obviously much colder to Lucien than yesterday, sent Lucien and Leo back to Ural City, which was what Lucien wanted exactly, but he would not lower his guard.
"Morning, Mr. Peter." Yielena grinned. She always believed that Peter was a decent gentleman.
Lucien also smiled, "Good morning, Miss Yielena. You two are good again, aren't you?"
Yielena's face flushed, and although Igor did not like Lucien, he also scratched the back of his head shyly, having no idea how to answer.
Berdychiv patted on Lucien's shoulder and comforted, "You're still popular among young girls, Mr. Peter. Maybe… Maybe you're just not lady Carleena's type, you know…"
Although Lucien was a few centimeters taller with his disguise, compared to most guys in the empire, he was still small.
At this time, Igor said to Lucien, "Mr. Peter, there's one thing… I live next door to you, and last night I heard some noise in your room. You might want to go back and check your luggage, or maybe it was a mouse… I'm not sure."
Lucien quickly exchanged a look with Leo, and then said to Igor calmly with a smile, "Thank you. I'll go back and check it right now."
…
In the room, Lucien carefully checked almost everything including the secret magic marks he left, his cups and kettle, then he said to Leo confusedly, "Nothing… Maybe it was a mouse?"
"I don't think so, my Lord. This can't be just a coincidence." Leo knew what kind of person Ivanovszki was.
Lucien nodded, and he started checking around again.
Opening his suitcase, Lucien searched through his clothes, some folk music transcripts and some special souvenirs…
At this time, Lucien noticed the set of stacking dolls in the corner. When he examined the dolls with his spiritual power, he finally detected a tiny amount of vicious power in it, which made the look of the doll quite creepy.
"Curse…" Lucien murmured. He had been studying curse-related things for almost a year.
Leo also saw the dolls. He asked, "My lord, what shall we do?"
After thinking for a while, Lucien smiled, "Do as nobles do."
He activated Sun's Corona in front of his chest, and the holy light immediately covered Lucien's body.
Then Lucien opened the stacking dolls, one by one.
When he opened the fourth layer and an old grandma's face was revealed, black smoke burst out and came directly and fiercely toward Lucien!
However, the holy light blocked the smoke completely, and the smoke disappeared.
When the light was going to disappear, Lucien started to roar out of great anger, "A sorcerer tried to kill me! A sorcerer! In this empire!"
As he was shouting, Lucien asked Leo to wrap the dolls with clothes, and they directly walked towards the church nearby, leaving Berdychiv and other people feeling astonished in the hotel.
…
In a secret room in the church.
"You must know what I just said is true. My divine item just saved my life!" said Lucien to a city lord. Lucien was still furious, or say, pretended to be furious.
The cardinal was like a big bear wearing white robe. He nodded and comforted Lucien, "Yes, I know, Mr. Peter."
"Good. Then, Cardinal, please get the damned sorcerer as soon as possible! I have no idea how the bastard dared to do this to me in the empire under the close watch of the church!?" As Lucien was saying, he even quickly took out his Sun's Corona in front of the cardinal. With only two layers of seals unlocked, Sun's Corona looked like a level-five divine item.
"I understand, Mr. Peter, but we still need some time to investigate," said the Cardinal calmly.
"But I do know who did this! It was Ivanovszki! It was Carleena! They are craving for the count's wealth! That's why!"
Then Lucien told the cardinal what happened in the manor.
"But, Mr. Peter, the baroness and Mr. Ivanovszki are not doing something immoral. Most people would do exactly as what they are doing if they could get the information ahead. Nevskiy also knows this." The cardinal felt that this young noble was overreacting a little, "Of course, thank you for providing us with the information. We'll look into this."
Lucien spent half an hour in the church asserting that it was Ivanovszki who did this. After that, he gradually calmed down and left the church.
Following Lucien, Leo asked in a low voice, "My lord, why you did not mention Ivanovszki's a smuggler?"
"They won't trust me. Or they probably know this already. An influential businessman like him must have great support behind his back." Lucien slightly squinted, "I've done what I can do. Now let's see how Ivanovszki will respond."
…
As soon as they came back to the hotel, a middle-aged gentleman greeted him.
"Mr. Peter. Count Witte heard that an outstanding young man from Vladimir family has arrived in the city. Count Witte would like to invite you to his castle." The man smiled.
Lucien was a bit surprised. It looked like his plan on dealing with Ivanovszki was going to be disturbed by the count's invitation.
Chapter 271: The Old Count
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
In the warm afternoon sunshine, a fine coach was heading toward the center of Noble Zone in the southwest of Ural City. Its destination was the count's castle, Dry Vine.
All the pedestrians, when seeing the coach, yielded to it respectfully, as they could easily recognize it as the count's coach.
In the coach, Lucien pretended that he was just going sightseeing, however, he was checking out the empire's map in his spirit library and he paid extra attention to the surroundings of Ural City.
The count's invitation was a surprise, and Lucien could not find any excuses instantly to turn it down. The role Lucien was playing had brought him much convenience, but also some trouble.
Also, because the invitation was out of everyone's expectation, Carleena and Ivanovszki's plan could be interrupted by this. Lucien had no idea what they would do to have things back in their control, but definitely not something good, so he had to be prepared in advance.
Lucien was sure that the invitation was not part of Carleena and Ivanovszki's plan, since before they could be certain that Lucien would work with them, there was no reason that they would want to expose Lucien in front of the count. If the count did like him, but another young lady from family Witte was designated, Carleena and Ivanovszki's effort would all be in vain. And this was one of the reasons that Lucien decided to accept the invitation.
What Lucien felt confused about was that he thought Carleena and Ivanovszki would severely control what Count Witte could see and know. Why this invitation went out of their control? How did the count send out this invitation under Carleena and Ivanovszki's close watch, especially, according to Ivanovszki's words, when the count was so sick and the most trustworthy person for the count was Carleena?
If Ivanovszki did not know how to control the count, Lucien believed that Ivanovszki should rather drop his smuggling business and go home to find a safer job. Smuggling and craving for the count's wealth was not suitable for him.
As he was checking out the map, Lucien casually asked Leo beside him about the surroundings of Ural City, especially whether there were some haunted places around. Lucien wanted to be as prepared as he could.
"Mr. Peter, the Church is around, so those haunted places only exist in the stories to frighten children, or were made up by those sorcerers living deep in the mountains. According to what I know, several mines to the west of the city are called Cursed Place or The Cave to Hell because collapses often happened and many people died there." The servant of the count, Nicolay, when hearing the conversation between Lucien and Leo, joined them and introduced.
Nicolay was a knight, and he was also a lord. However, he had been working for the count for most of his life since the war against the south Church, and he was saved by Count Witte many times. Therefore, Nicolay was willing to stick around and became the count's servant.
These kind of people were actually not that uncommon. They could often be found around big nobles, dukes, kings and emperors. Unlike those knights whose duty was to protect the nobles because they had joined the Knights, these people were willing to give up their land to stay close to and protect other nobles for various reasons:
Some had passed on the right and title to their offsprings, and by protecting bigger nobles, they could have the chance to obtain an even higher status than the family's hereditary rank of nobility; Some, like Nicolay, wished to pay his gratitude; Some were cultivated by other nobles, so they had made the promise that they would serve the nobles for an amount of years by protecting them; Others worked for nobles just because of the secret methods for improving Blessings that were passed down by inheritance in the noble families.
After hearing Nicolay's words, Lucien smiled, "Mr. Nicolay, I do know that there are haunted areas in the northwest province and they are right now under the Church's control." By providing information about the northwest territory, Lucien was trying to show the fact that he knew the family very well.
"Maybe it's true. Maybe there are some places like this around Ural City and they're under the Church's control. But we cannot know for sure." Nicolay had spent many years on the battlefield, so his way of talking could be quite straightforward.
Lucien did not mind. He kept talking to Nicolay and Leo to get to know more about the surroundings.
…
Half an hour later, the grand castle covered by dry vines was in front of Lucien.
Just as Lucien got off the coach, he saw a fancy coach coming from another direction in a hurry.
As soon as the horses stopped, a beautiful lady wearing a white wool dress got off the coach with the help of her maid hurriedly.
"Mr. Peter…"
"Lady Carleena…"
They were both surprised to see each other in front of the castle gate.
Lucien first smiled and said, "So you're here to visit the count?"
"That's right. I heard that uncle Witte just invited a guest, and I was worried that he might now follow the doctor's words and get too tired. The count needs good rest right now." Carleena also put on her bright smile again.
"No worries. I won't bother the count too much." Lucien slightly bowed to her, "After you."
"Mr. Peter, you have the best manner among Schachran Empire. I do like it." Carleena nodded to him and then went inside the castle gate.
What she said was true. Most Schachran nobles did not like following rules and manners at all. Instead, they preferred spirits and fights. So they were often called by the nobles in the south as savages.
As Lucien guessed, this invitation was out of Carleena and Ivanovszki's expectation. Lucien wondered what happened in the castle. He followed Carleena and entered the gate.
…
The bright fire in the fireplace warmed the whole space of a living room in the castle, which was not very big.
Lucien took off his coat and handed it to the servant. Then, he bowed to the old man politely in a noble manner, "It's my great pleasure to meet you, Count Witte."
The old man was sitting in the couch right next to the fireplace. Wearing black, heavy coat, the old man was still trying to wrap himself up with the coat tightly, as if he still felt very cold. His face was pale, although the figure of his face still looked more or less fortitudinous. His eyes, that used to be clear blue, now looked dim and cloudy. The black beret that the count was wearing covered his thin hair. Lucien's overall first impression of the count was that the man who used to be beyond brave and strong was now like a withering plant.
Seeing that the count, who was a level seven radiant knight, now looked this weak, great fear rose in Lucien's mind when he thought of aging and dying. Fortunately, there were many ways for prolonging one's lifespan in the world of magic. Everyone feared death. Human beings, with their very limited lifetime, always pursued ways to live longer and keep their youth.
"Mr. Peter, pleased to make your acquaintance," said the count in a weak voice and with his pale lips. "It's hard for me… to see an outstanding Vladimir family member in Ural."
After saying this, he gasped a bit and said, "This is my niece, Carleena. You two should have met each other already. This is my steward, Semenov, my good steward."
Carleena was on the count's left side and Semenov on the right. Semenov's hair was already gray, and although there were only a few wrinkles on his face, they were all quite deep, so it was hard to tell Semenov's real age.
It was said that Semenov was a grand knight, and unlike most stewards, he was a quite interesting person.
"Yes, my lord. Lady Carleena invited me to her party before, and she's really nice," said Lucien in a pretended sincere manner, and then he sat down in the couch.
Carleena did not like what Lucien said, but she also had no idea how to pick on his words. She could also curse him that every single girl he met in the future would say the same thing back to him.
The count smiled, "Yeah… Carleena's a nice girl. Actually… I've been looking for a young man from family Vladimir, and you, Peter… here you are…"
Before he finished his words, he started gasping again. He was really in a bad health condition.
Carleena got nervous all of a sudden. Her hands grabbing the count's arm became stiff, and the veins in her hands stuck out.
Lucien politely waited for the count.
The count lowered his pace of talking and said, "I'm old now… really old. I am not that firm and strong anymore… I start to like looking back. I remember… when I was young, I went to the northwest province with my mom. Are there still those many strange trees, flowers and animals in Tula forest?"
"I haven't gone back for many years as well, my lord. But I do remember almost everything in the forest… especially the red magic trees that can move and hunt like animals," answered Lucien confidently.
Carleena felt a bit more relaxed.
The rest of the conversation between the count and Lucien before lunch was all about the count's memory, and the conversation went pretty well. The count invited Lucien to have lunch with him and to stay there tonight. The caravan was going to leave tomorrow.
There were many grand knights and knights within the castle, so Lucien agreed. Things had gone sideways, and now Lucien had to see how things could go.
…
It was getting darker. In one of the many rooms in the castle, Dry Vine.
"How did the count know Peter?" Ivanovszki questioned Carleena a bit angrily.
Chapter 272: Night Falls
Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Vermillion
Carleena responded in confusion, "what does it have to do with me? Ivanovszki, I thought the intelligence agents that worked for uncle Witte were under your control. Why is he asking to see Viscount Fyodorov after he woke up and had the breakfast?" She sounded frustrated and angry.
Viscount Fyodorov was the senior brother of Barshac and it was obvious that he had heard about the matter regarding Peter.
"I've checked the situation. It's impossible for Count Witte to meet Viscount Fyodorov just because of the intel, and none of the agents contacted Count Witte secretly. Carleena, there might be a problem with the servants and maids you selected." Ivanovszki denied the allegations and accused Carleena of selecting the wrong people.
Carleena shook her head with confidence in her eyes. "No, their parents and relatives are under my control. They won't leak any information of uncle Witte to the public without my permission. They only talked about the situation of the manor and the snow. Also, they executed all my orders. The agents are the only ones who are allowed to visit uncle Witte. They told the Knights who wanted to visit that uncle Witte needed rest, so the Knights could only send letters or oral messages to him."
No one expected the incident. Carleena and Ivanovszki were at the same position. They were trying to find excuses subconsciously so they could blame each other. No one wanted to take the responsibility.
Ivanovszki remained silent for several minutes and pushed his gold-wired glasses up slightly. "Maybe Count Witte just suddenly had this idea. Anyway, it has become a problem and we should make sure that the Count doesn't leave his legacy to Peter. We need to…" He gripped forward with his right hand and the behavior looked like he was about to break someone's neck.
"Are you crazy? This is the Dry Vine Castle, there are several Grand Knights and more than 20 Knights guarding this place! You'd be burnt at the church's stake if they caught you after!" Carleena spoke in a surprised tone, her pretty eyes were wide open, and she was staring at Ivanovszki as if he was crazy. She could not believe what Ivanovszki just suggested.
The nobles like Viscount Fyodorov that served Count Witte would take turns to guard the Dry Vine Castle with their own Knights in the district of Ural. It was a duty that the Knights had to their lords. When there was no war going on, they needed to serve the lord for two months every year. It was their chance to communicate with other nobles and show their loyalty to the lord.
Ivanovszki pulled his collar slightly, it seemed like his collar was a bit tight.
"We planned to kill Peter but we don't want anyone to notice what we're doing. The problem is, we failed to strike him by surprise. Peter realized what our plan was and reported us to the Church. The situation was bad enough and we shall do what an empire noble would do. It's the simplest method, but it'll be very effective!" He spoke in a cold tone.
"The Grand Knights, Knights, and the Priests in the castle are not a problem. We have Mr. Matvienko, which is a middle-rank sorcerer, and… that one…"
Carleena suddenly calmed down after hearing the word, it almost looked like she never got nervous. She spoke in a worried tone, "Let's just follow your plan if you already made the decision. I just think something is off here. It almost felt like those things happened for no reason."
"Don't worry, Carleena. There's only a dying old man on this floor beside the servants and maids that are already under your control. Although the old man was a Radiant Knight, he already lost his ability and his will. We just need to be careful and he won't notice anything. He didn't do anything when we killed those faithful attendants, right?"
The anger and anxiousness were no longer bothering Ivanovszki. He rubbed his lips and calmed down.
"Also, Peter probably thinks he lives in a safe environment as there are so many Grand Knights and Knights guarding this place. Our chance of assassinating him is high."
Carleena's expression changed several times, and she spoke in a calm tone, "Destroy the body after we kill him. Ask Mianka and Niake to transform into Peter and his housekeeper. They can just leave with the caravan and sneak out on the way. Make sure you send the strongest assassins to kill Peter. I don't want anything like what Mianka did happening again. We spent way too much time on cleaning the mess."
Mianka became the laughing stock of the group after the Winter Bear Incident.
Carleena continued before Ivanovszki responded, "Although Peter tried to hide his Knight-level power with his footwork, I still determined that he was just a normal Knight after checking his heart rate, blood flow, and skin when we were dancing. Peter is a Knight that has high agility and speed. That's why he defeated Mianka with a sword. The problem is that it seems like Peter carries two enchanted long swords and one of them is at the middle-level."
With her keen sense and clear analysis, it almost felt like she was not a normal female noble who spent a lot of time on hunting.
"According to Mianka's description, the sword might be a level three or four magic item. However, a normal Knight has no way to survive a fight against a Grand Knight and a middle-rank sorcerer with just a middle-level magic item. Also, he has a level four or five divine item that will protect him from curses and spells that might kill him instantly, so the Grand Knight should be the assassin and the middle-rank sorcerer needs to make sure the Grand Knights at lower floors don't notice anything."
Ivanovszki stopped for a second and continued, "What did Peter experience at the northern continent? A man that became a Knight not so long ago has such an expensive magic long sword and a divine item? He's probably richer than me! However, they'll be mine after tonight." It sounded like he was jealous of Peter.
Carleena completely calmed down, and there was a seductive smile on her face.
"I'll take the divine item," she chuckled.
They thought that a normal knight like Peter was lucky enough to acquire two magic longswords and a level four or five divine item. He probably had a suit of magic armor at the most. Peter probably found some magic items during an exploration and he sold the items to purchase the gear.
After the discussion, Ivanovszki turned to Matvienko, who was standing on the side with hands on his back, and said, "Mr. Matvienko, please make sure that no one notices our action and prevent Peter from activating any magic item that can help him teleport away."
Ivanovszki respected Matvienko in private as the man was a third circle sorcerer that was good at curses and transformations. Matvienko could ambush and kill other level five classes when they were not prepared, including sorcerers and bishops.
Matvienko nodded with a cold expression on his face. "Sadly, Peter has a divine item with the Death Ward, or I could just kill him with my curses, just like what I did to…"
Ivanovszki smiled. "Mr. Matvienko, I trust you. Also, please make sure you don't stay too far away from me so you can continue to protect me. I'm sure there are people that want me dead."
Ivanovszki knew that his own safety was the most important part, and he was trying to imply that Carleena might be a threat to him, but it sounded like he was not concerned when he talked to Matvienko.
"For sure," Matvienko responded quickly. There was still a sexy smile on Carleena's face. It looked like she did not care.
Ivanovszki clapped his hands after he gave Matvienko the order. "Mr. Petrov, I'm counting on you for the assassination."
A deep voice came from the darkness in the corner, "yes, Mr. Ivanovszki."
Narrowing her eyes, Carleena looked at the corner, but the only thing she could see were the shadows.
"A Darkness Blessing or a Shadow Blessing?" She opened her mouth.
"Dark Blessing, level three," Ivanovszki spat out several words and did not say anything else.
The smile froze on Carleena's attractive face. A level-three Dark Blessing was at the same level as the top-level blessings like the Sun, the Shield of Truth, the Sword of Truth, the Silver Moon, the Vampire, the Devouring Beast, the Destruction Beast, the Devil Duke, and the Demon Lord. One of the nine city lords in the East Haven, Onegin the Dark Sky had the same blessing, and he could fight a level eight Knight with a normal blessing as a level seven Knight.
The power of the blessing was famous for its defensive ability, for example, with the Darkness Blessing, one would be immune to the supernatural effects that could impact his mind and body. The spells and divine spells that had a lower level than the owner of the blessing would do no damage to his body. Also, the owner of the blessing was immune to necromancy and transformations. Physical attacks that involved acid, explosion, or ice, would do absolutely no damage.
Matvienko suddenly disappeared as the night fell.
Ivanovszki sighed slightly, "God the Father bless us."
Carleena was also drawing a strange cross, which was longer in the horizontal direction and shorter in the veritical direction, in front of her chest. "God the Father bless us."
…
In the guest room of the Dry Vine Castle.
Leo felt unsettled and anxious. "Master, the invitation from Count Witte probably interrupted Ivanovszki plan. It's highly likely that Ivanovszki will try to solve the problem with a simple but effective way. Please be extra cautious after you leave the castle tomorrow.
Leo had served Ivanovszki as an assistant for about ten years and he knew the man well. However, Leo thought that Ivanovszki would attack them after they left the castle. The castle was owned by a Radiant Knight, Count Witte, and there were also many Loyal Grand Knights and Knights guarding the place.
"Leo, I understand and thank you for the information. You can go rest now."
The smile disappeared from Lucien's face after Leo fell asleep in his room. Narrowing his eyes, he knew something was about to happen as he dropped a teacup accidentally just a while ago.
It was a warning from the Host Star and it was the power of the star, also, it seemed like no one interrupted the Host Star's power.
"An enemy that is stronger than me or a mysterious spell? Will they take the risk and try to attack us tonight?" Lucien did not use the astrology as he did not want to alert the knights in the castle. He checked his psychological blind points and had several thoughts in mind.
"Anyway, I should stay alert tonight." It was a simple but effective decision that he made without thinking for too long.
…
It was dark at night and the darkness in Lucien's room was dancing like it was alive.
Chapter 273: Slaying
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
The dim moonlight behind the curtain did not light up Lucien's room, but made the whole place very quiet and somehow even darker.
The darkness in the room was not evenly distributed, as if the darkness had life. But when one took a closer look at it, there was nothing in the darkness.
Lucien was lying in the bed, and his breath was long and smooth. It seemed that he had fallen into a sweet dream in his deep sleep.
"The darkness shows… He's indeed in the bed…
"His swords… two swords… about ten centimeters from his hands. He's very alert…
"Breath… heartbeat… spiritual power… all normal. Hands are covered by the blanket… hard to tell… His posture is awful… not like a noble at all…
"He's in deep sleep. Maybe the many guards in the castle made him feel safe…
"He's still wearing the amulet. The amulet can be activated very fast, but it only works facing lethal magic spells and curses. It cannot protect him from any physical or elemental attacks, nor can it hurt the attacker.
"Maybe he still has more magic items, but I should be able to get him before they actually work…
"I'm ninety-nine percent sure… I can send him to hell before he wakes up!"
After close observation, Petrov had made up his mind.
In the darkness beside Lucien's bed, a figure suddenly showed up! The figure fiercely took a step forward and the dagger shining in green light directly stabbed toward Lucien's throat!
Just now Petrov dared not to get too close in case Lucien could sense the danger with his intuition. Although Lucien had a magic sword and a quite useful divine item, Petrov was not afraid of them. In the darkness, he was totally confident with his Blessing. However, his only concern was that, if the divine item was too powerful, the magic circle set up by Matvienko for blocking the noise might collapse, and then the grand knights in the castle would notice what was going on here.
Petrov was fast, and his blade was even faster. However, as soon as his dagger cut Lucien's throat, he sensed a surge of familiar magic waves. He could not believe the first idea flashing through his mind, but it was true—it was magic!
Feeling shocked, Petrov saw Lucien's figure breaking down into pieces like a broken mirror.
The second circle spell, Mirror!
Although Darkness Blessing was immune to those lower level spells, this was only for defence. When the power was used to attack, it would still be affected by magic.
In the moonlight, the mirror broke into shining pieces, just like a beautiful dream.
"A Sorcerer?!" Petrov's heart suddenly sank, but soon he realized that the information was not accurate. In the next second, he was ready to go back into the darkness to retrieve!
However, it was already too late. He saw Lucien's real figure beside the bed, and holy light lit up in front of his chest.
Immediately, the whole room was filled with the bright, burning light.
The darkness that Petrov heavily relied on was instantly dispelled, and his figure was revealed.
The level three divine spell, Burning Radiance!
Petrov fought to bear the great pain but released no scream. In great effort, he tried his best to move away from the light, but the pain made him move way too slow.
Without hesitation, Petrov activated the magic ring on his left little finger.
However, as soon as the black smoke started to rise out of the ring, Lucien directly cast Elemental Order!
Bang!
The ring first cracked, then the power in the ring lost its balance. When the ring exploded, the power completely covered Petrov and blasted his light-brown blood everywhere.
With Lucien's outstanding spiritual power as a third circle sorcerer, when he cast Elemental Order, if his enemy did not have anything for defence, Lucien's power was enough to destroy most level four alchemical items.
Seeing that the ring just exploded, Lucien was a bit upset. His possible trophy was gone now. No wonder all the powerful sorcerers were very careful with using the ninth-circle spell, Cracking, since most enemy's magic and divine items under legendary level would be destroyed by the power, leaving one with no gain at all from the fighting.
Also, Cracking was a spell with an area of effect. If one still had his or her teammates around, it would be a great concern to the caster. Therefore, comparatively speaking, Lucien's Elemental Order was much more convenient to use.
Petrov was still writhing on the floor, trying to reach the shadow in the corner. Lucien, of course, would not leave him with any chances, so he activated Sun's Corona again. The flame summoned directly hit Petrov.
One second before, Petrov had no other choice and activated his ultimate and forbidden power, Darkness Assimilation, however, the flame put an end to all his hope.
In the flames, Petrov's figure was quickly overwhelmed. His mouth and throat were burnt into ashes instantly, thus his howling of great pain and fear was restrained in his chest. He could not believe that he had failed this fast, after all, his power was not fully revealed at all! Still, very quickly, nothing was left of him.
Petrov's dagger dropped on the floor.
When Flame Strike was cast, the divine power in the room peaked, but the power was still a bit away from destroying the invisible magic cover. As Lucien expected, the grand knights in the castle sensed no difference.
Because they estimated that the divine item Lucien had was about level four or five, in order to be careful, Matvienko also built a level five magic cover.
Seeing what just happened in Lucien's room, Matvienko was so shocked that he was distracted for a second, thus his figure showed up in the air outside of the window from Lucien's room, right beside that of Ivanovszki!
Lucien's buffering time for casting had passed, and thus he immediately looked at Matvienko in the air and locked him with spiritual power. Lucien's eyes were shining with dim light. He was ready for another round of fighting!
As soon as they started spying on him, Lucien instantly found out what they were planning.
Magic waves spread. Matvienko, who had cast Mechanized Mind and Magic Armor on himself, saw that his invisible covers were silently broken down.
For a second, Matvienko suddenly felt that Lucien was a quite nice guy. However, he quickly realized that Lucien had cast Charm Person on him, but now he felt a little dizzy.
Matvienko had no idea why the spell, Charm Person, could be this powerful. Although his spells had countered most of Lucien's spell power, for a short period of time, he still could not stay concentrated with his spiritual power.
Fortunately, Matvienko could still use his magic item. After seeing what happened just now, without any hesitation, Matvienko activated his magic boots and disappeared in the air.
The third circle spell, Short Distance Teleportation!
Matvienko had just witnessed how Lucien fought—his fast, continuous attacks never left his enemy any chances to fight back, so Matvienko instantly decided to run away.
Lucien was still in his buffering time for casting Elemental Order, thus he could not destroy Matvienko's boots. However, Lucien had many powerful magic items. Now, he calmly activated his ring, Element.
Outside of the window, a cluster of greenish yellow smog was released, and the smog in the air surrounded the building.
In the smog, several tall and thick pines quickly perished, and even the bugs hiding in the trees were not exception, as if nothing could survive in the smog.
The fifth-circle spell, Gaston's Poison Cloud!
Without any preparations for this, one could die from the smog even with a small amount of it inhaled!
Matvienko's teleportation could not make him move far enough to avoid the toxic smog. When he showed up in the air again, he was surrounded by the greenish-yellow gas.
As a sorcerer, Matvienko was alert enough to know what to do right now. He instantly held his breath and cast Air Filter Bubble.
Matvienko decided to protect him first, and then cast Dissipate Smoke, because dispelling all the smog could take some time.
However, he was greatly shocked when he saw that the filtering bubble was being dyed by the greenish-yellow smoke bit by bit.
"Damn it!" Matvienko had no idea how many middle rank magic items Lucien had. Since he knew that Air Filter Bubble could only manage to handle toxicants produced by spells under the fourth circle, he understood how dangerous the smoke was immediately.
At this time, Matvienko noticed that his skin started to fester!
He could not believe the fact that the toxic smoke could affect his body directly!
"A unique spell…?!" Matvienko's brain started to get slow. With great effort, he managed to retain his consciousness, and activate the spell enchanted in his magic robe, Gasification.
He wished to turn himself into gas for a while to temporarily get rid of the toxic smoke, at the cost of not being able to cast any spells during that time, only being able to fly.
Lucien would not let his wish come true for sure. He cast Elemental Order again, and many holes appeared in Matvienko's magic robe!
"What…" This was Matvienko's last thought before he turned into pus.
Since Lucien cast Charm Person, everything happened within just a few seconds.
At this time, a big hand formed by force field suddenly showed up in the air, trying to grab Matvienko, but it was too late.
Also, a fierce wind blew off the greenish-yellow smoke completely. Then, a man flew out of the window of the count's room. He looked furious, as if he was very mad that he failed to save Matvienko.
Lucien sensed great danger. The man's anger was like the boiling waves in a rough sea.
The man had gray hair and deep wrinkles. It was Semenov, Count Witte's steward!
"Senior rank mage?!" Lucien was shocked.
Chapter 274: Good Actors
Translator: _Leo_ Editor: Vermillion
When the dark assassin Petrov was killed by the Flame Strike, Ivanovszki and Carleena only noticed the waves from the divine spell. They knew something went wrong but they had no idea what happened in Lucien's room.
When the short but intense magic battle between Lucien and Matvienko happened, they finally learned the "truth" as they focused in the scene mid-air.
"He's a middle-rank mage?! Damn liar!" Ivanovszki's eyes were wide open, it almost felt like he was about to break his gold-wired glasses. After the surprise, the man started cursing furiously.
Ivanovszki could understand how reluctant Petrov was before he died and how desperate Matvienko was at the moment.
Carleena was so surprised and confused that she could not close her half-opened mouth, exposing her neat teeth to the air.
"Peter isn't a knight? He's a sorcerer?! Wait, he's probably not Peter Joseph Vladimir! Liar, what a liar! All he did was telling lies!" She started cursing in her mind.
Sadly, it was too late for them to save Matvienko. The battle ended quickly and they saw Matvienko's rotten body falling at full speed.
After that, they shouted at the same time, "Mr. Nikonov!"
They addressed the man in a respectful way. It was Semenov, who was flying out of Count Witte's room, and he was a senior-rank mage with a power that was deep like the abyss.
What they did not know was that Semenov was not the Nikonov they knew.
…
The housekeeper Semenov, who was called by the surname "Mr. Nikonov", was floating outside Lucien's room, staring at Lucien through the window and curtain that were damaged by the Flame Strike and Burning Radiance.
His sight was so cold that it felt like he was staring at a dead man.
Lucien was surprised by the fact that Semenov was a senior-rank mage, however, he had successfully fought and eliminated a senior-rank mage by luck before. He was not terrified by the difference in rank like a normal mage would. Lucien had fought many life-or-death battles, so he quickly calmed down and got ready to activate the transformation robe.
It was a large castle, so Lucien had the chance to survive if he transformed into a rat and moved around. Also, if the priests, knights, and grand knights noticed what was happening in the Dry Vine Castle, they would be able to send the signal to Cardinal Nevskiy, who resided in the Ural City.
If Lucien cast the Elemental Swirl, the spell could barely do any damage to a healthy senior-rank mage, and he would put himself in a bad position.
Lucien was about to activate the transformation robe using his mind, however, he suddenly noticed he had trouble thinking, and he could barely control his spiritual power. He could not even activate the robe.
"Am… I… impacted… by… a… spell….?" Lucien was trying his best to think but it felt like his brain was acting like a rusty gear that was barely spinning.
The power of a well-prepared senior-rank mage that had not experienced an intense battle was terrifying.
Lucien finally realized how hard it was for Felipe to escape the chase of a senior-rank necromancer, feign death, counterattack, and force necromancer to waste a lot of strong spells and magic items. That was probably the reason why Felipe was the best of all of the geniuses in this generation.
However, Felipe was already at fifth circle when he encountered the senior-rank necromancer, but Lucien was two circles below that. Also, Lucien did not have a spell like Life Hiding as a final resort.
Semenov casted the sixth circle spell, Distraction, to impact Lucien's soul and mind. Although he was calm as a spellcaster, the burning rage was striking his mind. His best student and the most loyal servant were killed in front him. Semenov underestimated the target and he failed to rescue him in time.
Semenov spoke in a cold tone due to the shame and anger, "I'll turn you into a frog and torture you. You'll learn that sometimes it's better to be dead than alive!"
It almost felt like those words were pushed out of the gaps between his teeth by some chilling wind.
Semenov did not care if this bastard was from the Congress of Magic or a strong inheritor of an ancient sorcerer. The man must pay for what he did and there was a strong organization backing Semenov up.
"As long as… he doesn't… kill me… right away… I still have… a chance…"
Lucien had not given up in such a desperate situation and he was trying his best to deal with the Distraction spell, he would not let any chance slip by.
One shall never give up even though it might be his destiny.
One shall keep trying until the last breath!
Lucien's ability to think started recovering slowly due to his strong willpower and a bright light that burst out of his soul.
However, it was too late. His opponent was a senior-rank mage, and although there was a gap between every spell Semenov cast, he could still deal more damage than Lucien could heal.
Semenov was much stronger than Lucien.
Semenov's deep blue eyes looked like a calm and depressing sea when the storm was about to come. Lucien noticed that his body was being decomposed and reformed following a certain pattern.
Baleful Polymorph!
A ball of black smoke appeared beside Lucien. Leo was in caught inside it, he wanted to push Lucien away, but he was too slow.
Suddenly, the dark sky that was illuminated by the silver moonlight turned yellow, and dried tree roots that looked like dark tentacles appeared everywhere. Those strange shadows gathered together and wrapped around Semenov like a ball.
In the castle, the land with the muddy fragrance was decaying quickly, the flowers which just survived the coldness withered, and the vibrant needle-like leaves of the trees started drying out…
It was a power that was at a similar level as a senior-rank mage.
"Withered Shadow!"
"Uncle Witte!"
It was Ivanovszki and Carleena who were shouting in surprise. They thought Witte would not be a problem, but the thing that worried them the most still happened.
"A level seven radiant knight, a strong knight that survived countless intense battles, a knight that owns his unique honorable title, is he really under our control?!"
"He's getting old, his body was weakened by the serious illness, and we have Nikonov, who's a sixth circle senior mage. We placed a curse that is hard to notice and his body will be weakened even further, but his name still terrifies us."
Today, when everything was finally about to end, the things that Ivanovszki and Carleena worried about actually happened, as if it was a nightmare.
In the withered ball, a strange glow flashed upon Semenov's body, and he disappeared into the air, teleporting to the shadows on the far side. Also, an energy armor was created on the surface of his body.
A sixth circle spell, Magic Trigger!
It was a signature spell that separated the senior-rank mages from the middle-rank mages. If the spell is created in the soul, it meant the sorcerer had another life, and a chance to fight back.
The spell would be triggered under different circumstances, based on how the sorcerers set it up. The spell might be triggered when the sorcerer was about to die or when there was a strike that was too hard for him to block. When the requirement was met, the Magic Trigger would instantly cast two spells that were stored in the model, which were at a level that could not exceed half of the sorcerer's level. Also, those two spells could not be interrupted and they were perfect for life-threatening situations.
The situation was under Semenov's control after he dealt with the Withered Shadow using two 3rd circle spells: Shadow Step and Greater Mage Armor.
The withered ball turned into a human being, revealing Count Witte. He looked old and weak but he stood there with pride.
He was holding a dark greatsword using both hands, the wrinkles and weakness were still displayed on his face, however, the fierce expression on his face made him energetic, and he did not look like a normal old man at all.
"I can still kill even if I'm about to die," Count Witte raised his eyes slightly and spoke in a cold tone. He slashed forward with the greatsword. It turned into blurry shadows and went toward Semenov.
His patience finally granted him the chance!
The Baleful Polymorph was interrupted by Count Witte at the most important moment and the black smoke disappeared before it completely surrounded Lucien's body. Lucien noticed that his body returned to the normal form and the impact of the Distraction was no longer a problem.
"Move!" He glanced at Leo and jumped down the patio of the castle. A fight between the radiant knight and the senior-rank mage was about to begin, this was Lucien's best chance to escape.
No matter if the senior-rank mage who disguised himself as Semenov or Count Witte the Withered Shadow won the battle, Lucien was certain that they would kill him. He killed the sorcerer's student and the radiant knight had killed countless sorcerers in his life. Also, this was the Schachran Empire, a country that would hunt and burn sorcerers.
Lucien decided to escape the castle using the knight-level speed because the shadows in the air would catch him if he used the flying spell that was relatively slow.
Leo noticed that Ivanovszki was observing the situation in another window before he jumped. His body suddenly expanded and was quickly surrounded by a frost aura. He jumped to the window with his muscular body and a long sword in hand.
"Ivanovszki's middle-rank guards were eliminated and this is my best chance to kill him! Doing so will temporarily pause the intel web of the smuggling organization and Lucien will have an easier time escaping. Lucien saved my life and I want to repay him, also, I want to avenge my family. I shouldn't let this chance slip even if I need to risk my life for it!"
Ivanovszki was worried that he would be caught in the fight between two strong individuals and he wanted to jump to the patio just like Lucien. However, he did not expect the strike from Leo.
Although Ivanovszki was weaker than Leo, he still pursed his lips into a sneer, "It's you."
"Die!" Leo could feel that his blood was boiling as his sword was about to hit his enemy.
However, Leo saw Ivanovszki striking forward with his right fist, and the next moment his sight turned black. Leo could not handle the attack, and was sent flying in the air like a kite with a broken string.
"Grand Knight?! He's a grand knight!"
Ivanovszki's tight suit was changed into a silver full-body armor and there was a cold expression on his face. He jumped down with a greatsword in hand and started chasing after Lucien.
The infamous smuggler was a real grand knight and his bloodline was not granted by potions.
That was the reason why he survived the attacks of the assassins.
Carleena muttered after seeing the scene, "A grand knight? He's a liar too!"
"Ivanovszki, a smuggler and a grand knight that disguised himself as a knight squire. Mr. Nikonov, a senior-rank mage that disguised himself as Semenov the housekeeper. Uncle Witte, who made it look like he did not notice anything and he was just waiting for the death to come. A middle-rank mage and knight that disguised himself as a member of the Vladimir Family. An enemy of Ivanovszki that disguised himself as the housekeeper of Peter. Also, I disguised myself as a weak woman who hasn't activated her bloodline power. What an incredible stage. It shows we're all good actors…"
Chapter 275: Entrance Gap
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Lucien's room was on the third floor of the castle, more than ten meters above the ground. Even a knight would get hurt if he fell onto the ground from this high. However, casting Feather Fall was also not a good idea, since Lucien would for sure become an easy target when he slowly glided toward the floor.
Therefore, Lucien jumped out and did not cast any spells, so he fell freely for half a second, then he quickly cast Flying, using the gravity of stars to slow down his falling.
With that perfect calculation, Lucien landed on his feet safely in the garden. Although the controlling of the right time was greatly challenging, Lucien's strong spiritual power and outstanding calculation ability made the whole process simple for him.
After landing, Lucien quickly dodged the colorful light pieces falling from the sky, and directly rushed to the castle gate.
Since Leo had a magic ring enchanted with Feather Fall, Lucien thought he would be okay when he jumped down. Lucien's only concern was that Leo would become the target when he slowly fell down, therefore, Lucien chose to be the first one taking actions in order to attract all the attention. Also, Leo was not as important as Lucien in their enemies' eyes.
However, as soon as Lucien started running, his spiritual power field sensed that Leo was fiercely punched back by Ivanovszki, like a rag dool. Bang! Leo's body hit the ground hard.
The magic circle for blocking noises and magic waves set up by Nikonov had nearly reached its limit, but it was still there. The grand knights and other knights in the castle still had no idea what was happening there right now. As the fight between Witte and Nikonov was so bitter, neither of them had a chance to either reinforce the magic circle or to break it for the knights' help.
To Lucien's great surprise, the powerful punch revealed the fact that Ivanovszki was in fact a grand knight. Before that, Lucien had no clue at all about it.
Although through training, knights could hide their power by adjusting the way they walked, the strength of their muscle, heartbeat, blood circulation and so on, real knights, especially those high level ones, could easily reveal their identity by showing their vigor and imposing manner. However, despite the fact that Lucien had talked to Ivanovszki twice in person, Lucien never doubted that Ivanovszki was just a common knight who awakened his Blessing through a magic potion, and that was it.
Lucien felt lucky that he did not take any reckless actions when he was in Carleena's manor. Then, he sensed that after releasing a painful moaning, Leo quickly stood up again, while Ivanovszki also jumped down from the window and started to chase after Lucien.
Ivanovszki's bitter punch hurt Leo badly. He had pain in his body everywhere. He knew that right now even a high level squire could kill him. Fortunately, he had activated his Blessing, Giant, when he was attacked, or his head would be like a watermelon broken into pieces right now.
However, Leo's cheekbone on one side was broken, so the side of his face had sunk, and blood covered his whole face. He felt great dizzy, and his organs were severely damaged as well. He was not capable of fighting now!
This was the gap between the power of a grand knight and someone who had just awakened his Blessing. Although Leo had spent much money on those magic potions to improve his power, the gap still existed!
Compared to the great pain in his body, Leo's pain in his heart was even bitterer. His revenge now seemed to be hopeless after he realized that his enemy was a grand knight. He now saw no hope at all.
At this time, he heard Lucien's voice, "I'll attract Ivanovszki's attention to cover you. You run. We meet at the place we agreed before…"
The second circle spell, Electromagnetic Message.
Leo suddenly realized the situation, feeling greatly depressed, but he knew that it was not a good time to let himself be immersed in grief. He wanted to live… at least he still should pay Lucien back.
After sending Leo the information, Lucien kept running and soon came in front of the castle gate.
Activating Fire Weaver, a huge fireball hit the gate directly. The great explosion opened a gap in the solid iron gate. And Lucien directly ran out of the castle to the west of the city.
Ivanovszki's landing made the ground shake a bit. He was not hurt by jumping down at all. Without taking even one look at Leo, he ran out of the castle chasing after Lucien.
The ignorance depressed Leo greatly. He knew that he was not a threat to Ivanovszki at all, so Ivanovszki would not waste a second on him. However, Leo knew that he could not let the depression catch him again.
Quickly, Leo took out a tube of Storm and drank it. After the injury became under control and the potential of his body was driven, Leo activated once more his Blessing, Giant, and started to run toward the castle gate.
At this time, he tripped lightly on something on the ground. Looking down, it was Matvienko's boots. Although the color of the boots looked dim because of the fight, it was barely damaged.
"The master might need this…" Leo murmured. After quickly wrapping the boots up with his clothes, Leo used all his strength and ran out of the castle. He must leave this place before the fight between the count and Nikonov drew the attention of the grand knights in the castle!
In the room, staring at the fight in the sky, Carleena looked confused. When she saw Ivanovszki started chasing after Lucien and left the castle, she swore, "Damn you, Ivanovszki…"
A second later, she also jumped out of the window. Before she hit the ground, her body started to change and a pair of black wings grew out of her back. Also, two tiny horns grew out of her forehead, which looked quite cute. Her fair skin was now covered in a whole set of half-transparent black armor.
Carleena was a knight too! Her Blessing was Succubus!
Her black wings flapped, and Carleena landed safely. But when she was about to fly up again, in the middle of her forehead, a thin blood line appeared, and her body quickly withered like a piece of autumn leaf. Her big eyes were filled with great fear as she died in a few seconds and her dried body hit the ground.
Among all of them, the count hated her the most. He really liked and supported this niece before, and he even helped her inherit the wealth left by Baron Lotnikov. But now, she was taking advantage of the fact that he was now old and weak to benefit herself together with some other people. The count could never forgive her. Had the count not gotten some information from the projection of a powerful person, he was sure that he would eventually die under Carleena and Ivanovszki's watch.
Seizing a one-second chance, Count Witte killed his niece directly. Now, the knights and grand knights in the castle had all seen the fight, and they were supporting the count and informing the church and other nobles.
…
Casting Speed on himself, Lucien managed to keep some distance away from Ivanovszki for a while. Then, the two of them went out of Ural City over the city wall and ran northwestwards.
A while later, Lucien sensed that Ivanovszki had slightly changed his direction.
As Ivanovszki definitely knew the surroundings better, Lucien wondered if Ivanovszki was taking a shortcut to get him.
However, after a while, when Lucien was about to stop and try to kill Ivanovszki in this suburb place, he found that Ivanovszki was gone.
Lucien was surprised that Ivanovszki was not chasing after him, then he realized that Ivanovszki would never try to kill a middle-rank mage himself, not to mention how many powerful magic items and strange spells he had. Ivanovszki was not trying to take him down, but to run away!
If the count won the fight in the castle, the last thing Ivanovszki wanted would be to stay there, and as a grand knight, he could not help Nikonov, a senior-rank mage, at all. If Nikonov managed to kill the count, he would also not be blamed, since the reason why he left the castle was to chase the sorcerer.
Lucien was impressed with Ivanovszki strategy and his talent of being a great actor, since the anger and determination that Ivanovszki just showed was so real.
Shaking his head slightly, and after checking the direction, Lucien started to run toward the mine to the west of the city.
…
In the mountains, Lucien was flying low over the trees, looking for the closed mines because of the frequent collapses. After picking the most creepy mine pit, Lucien secretly sneaked in, and he started using Sun's Corona to look for an entrance gap connecting to the World of Souls.
Based on his experience, the creepier a place was, the more likely an entrance gap might show up, but Lucien was not sure. This was part of Lucien's plan. If he was going to face great danger, Lucien could enter the World of Souls to escape.
The tunnel in the mine was dark, long and crooked. Walking alone there, Lucien felt quite uncomfortable.
When he had almost reached the end of the mine, Sun's Corona informed Lucien that there was an entrance which could not be seen by eyes or sensed by spiritual power, just as Lucien expected.
Near the entrance gap, Lucien found a corner and hid. After a few minutes' rest, he heard the sound of someone's footsteps.
It was Ivanovszki!
Chapter 276: The Unexpected Encounter
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Ivanovszki?!
Lucien was more than shocked. Luckily, Lucien had made himself stay concentrated when he heard the footsteps and he was always quite good at staying calm, or his Invisibility spell would have expired already because of his sudden mood swing.
Ural City was as big as Allyn, and its suburb area, surrounded by great mountains, was even broader. How could two people who were both trying to avoid each other just meet like this in the end of a mine tunnel?!
Lucien tried to calm down and restrain his idea of killing Ivanovszki, as a grand knight could sense nearby danger, including someone's intent to kill. He wondered if this was a coincidence or in fact Ivanovszki was following him all the way.
Hiding in the corner, Lucien saw that Ivanovszki stopped in front of the end of the tunnel and looked around.
Maybe it was because Ivanovszki just assumed that no one would be here. He did not use any other methods to check the surroundings. Then, after releasing a sigh, Ivanovszki looked more relaxed.
Turning around, Ivanovszki got down on one knee in front of the invisible entrance gap and started to pray with his hand crossing in front of his chest, "God the Father, may thy Kingdom come and live in us; may our filth and sin be purified; may our soul be saved…"
Praying? At this time? Lucien was confused. He totally did not expect that this great smuggler would be a loyal follower of the God of Truth.
However, soon Lucien realized that neither the North Church nor the South Church addressed the God of Truth as God the Father. Lucien also noticed that the cross that Ivanovszki was wearing looked quite different—the vertical was shorter and the horizontal was longer, like a lying down cross.
Therefore Lucien guessed that Ivanovszki was a follower of some other gods, but soon he rejected this idea. According to the book he read before, no followers of any gods, in order to avoid the influence of the Saint Truth, were using crosses as their symbol.
Which power was behind Ivanovszki? Lucien was getting more and more confused. He tried hard to stop thinking, or his spiritual power might be noticed by Ivanovszki due to his active mind.
When Ivanovszki's praying ended, holy divine power and white light surrounded him.
To Lucien's great surprise, the power was indeed that of the Saint Truth. Although the followers of different gods could all cast divine powers, the powers had their unique features and varied slightly.
The holy light went into Ivanovszki's eyes. Smiling, Ivanovszki reached out his right hand and it directly went into the entrance gap to the World of Souls.
"Thanks, God the Father… for helping me find this secret world, so I can temporarily shelter myself," Ivanovszki murmured to himself in a relaxed manner.
However, the look on Ivanovszki's face suddenly changed! Grabbing his heavy sword with his left hand, Ivanovszki fiercely hacked at the corner where Lucien was hiding in.
Lucien was greatly shocked when he saw Ivanovszki found the entrance gap. For a second, Lucien was distracted, and the grand knight instantly noticed it!
Luckily, as soon as Lucien had this sudden mood swing, he knew what was going to happen. Trying his best to calm down as soon as possible, Lucien activated the magic model in his soul.
Circles of blue light spread out surrounding Lucien like ripples.
The third circle spell, Deep Sleep! This was another new spell Lucien constructed in his soul in those couple of months he had been in the empire.
Using Spider Web should be Lucien's best choice. However, this second circle spell, although Lucien had built its magic model in his soul, still required casting reagents just like the spell Maskelyne's Star.
Although Ivanovszki was very fast, as Deep Sleep was a ranged spell, there was no chance that he could avoid it.
When Ivanovszki hacked his heavy sword at Lucien, his body was covered with a layer of white holy light. So, Lucien's blue light was directly cut off.
Some spilled blue light affected Ivanovszki slightly, but it was only for a second. Squinting a bit, Ivanovszki became sober again, and his attacks did not stop.
That was totally out of Lucien's expectation. Fortunately, he still had a plan B. Activating his spiritual power, his body was covered by a magic flame shield, using the power of the ring, Element.
When Ivanovszki's heavy sword hit the flame shield, sparkles burst out everywhere.
The flame shield shook fiercely and cracked a little, while Ivanovszki let out a painful moaning when the flame burned his skin black.
Powerful Fire Shield was not only for physical, elemental and pure power defence, but it could also reflect damage with the flames. The fifth circle spell did not show its full power because Lucien's previous enemies were all using creepy and strange necromancy, curse and soul spells.
"Damned it! How many magic items does this Peter guy have?!" Ivanovszki also found Peter. To his surprise, Peter used another fifth circle spell.
Although Ivanovszki was very pissed seeing that Peter's magic items seemed to be countless, as a grand knight, he quickly forced himself to focus on the fight again. As soon as the holy white light mitigated the pain, Ivanovszki swiftly dodged sideways to avoid being located by the sorcerer, and then used his heavy sword and hacked at Lucien again.
Again, the heavy sword hit Lucien's flame shield. The shield's structure was damaged. And the great impact brought by Ivanovszki's hacking buzzed Lucien's mind, making it hard for Lucien to focus, thus, Lucien's buffering time for casting spells became longer.
"Interference? A pure Blessing for hunting sorcerers!" As a sorcerer, Lucien was of course relatively profound. He quickly recognized what he was facing.
The Blessing, Interference, could greatly disturb a sorcerer's casting and could even dispel spells. Therefore, it was regarded as one of the most powerful Blessing for hunting sorcerers. As a Saint Knight, Ivanovszki's divine power could strengthen the Blessing even further.
Although the flame shield was almost destroyed, Lucien was still calmly analyzing Ivanovszki's movement and his way of launching attacks. Although his strength should be at least of level five, his shortcomings were speed and agility… which were below level four. Quite possibly, he was using some items to reinforce his strength. As Saint Knights having Interference Blessing always had more requirements when it came to wearing magic or divine items, in most cases, they could only wear bigger items such as armor, boots and gloves enchanted with extra magic circles, in order to counteract their own power.
Holding Amboula in his left hand, Lucien tried to concentrate his spiritual power. It seemed that his experience of fighting against the sixth-circle spell, Distraction, had somehow improved Lucien's soul power slightly. Under Ivanovszki's fierce attacks, The recovery speed of Lucien's soul was faster than Lucien's expectation. Finally, Lucien's buffering time passed.
Ivanovszki was now only a step away from completely destroying the shield. He was confident that he could take away Peter's life with his next attack!
Suddenly, Ivanovszki sensed great danger from the sorcerer. Decisively, Ivanovszki quickly turned around and made a dive for the entrance gap to the World of Souls.
A cluster of greenish-yellow gas came to Ivanovszki. As soon as he touched a bit of it, Ivanovszki instantly felt dizzy and weak. However, he did not slow down his movement, but became even more concentrated on his target—the gap. Holy light burst out of his body, and Ivanovszki successfully jumped into the gap.
Ivanovszki felt lucky that he still had the World of Souls to hide and shelter himself, and the path was informed by God the Father. Only those ones who were favored by God the Father could get to know this path. No any other creatures could.
As soon as he entered the World of Souls, most colors faded, and only black, white and gray were left. This was a silent world, a world of no lives.
Ivanovszki still felt dizzy from the poisonous gas. Half kneeling down on the ground, he activated his Blessing to drive out the toxin from his body. Drops of pus came out, and his life force started to recover quickly.
When he finally relaxed a bit, a great dizziness hit his brain bitterly, then he felt the torturing stabbing pain in his brain like countless needles were penetrating his head. The attack was so out of Ivanovszki's expectation that his Blessing did not help him too much.
Charm Person—the special version against knights!
Seeing Lucien standing in front of him in the World of Souls, Ivanovszki's eyes opened wide.
"How come?!" Ivanovszki could not move because of the great dizziness. Lucien's sword directly hacked at the crack on his armor, left by the corrosive gas.
No sound was made. No obvious damage was left from the hacking. But Ivanovszki felt his thinking and body started to become slow—like slow motion.
It was because of Lucien's sword, Frost. The sword could slow down his enemy's movement.
After hacking at Ivanovszki's armor twice, Lucien took a few strides backwards. Pointing at Ivanovszki's helmet, which had been partially corroded from the gas, Lucien cast Elemental Order and broke the helmet down.
As soon as Ivanovszki's helmet was gone, Lucien activated Fire Weaver's Bracelet. A head-sized fire ball flew right toward Ivanovszki' head.
Ivanovszki was too slow. He could not do anything at this point.
After the silent explosion, Ivanovszki's head was covered with lots of wounds, and his blood, which now looked black, white and gray, was everywhere.
However, as a grand knight, Ivanovszki did not die yet. Instead, he got rid of the negative effect left by the sword. Now, he could move faster.
The only problem was that Ivanovszki's brain was now a complete mess, thus it was hard for him to make any correct decisions. What he knew was to run around to avoid being an easy target.
Unfortunately, another fire ball, a much bigger one, hit his head again.
A small mushroom cloud rose.
The serious injury together with the toxin that remained in his body finally killed Ivanovszki. Staggering and stumbling, his body hit the ground hard.
The level three Saint Knight, Ivanovszki, died.
Lucien did not lower his guard. Decisively, he hacked Ivanovszki's head off. Then, he finally felt a bit more relaxed.
Lucien entered the World of Souls for two reasons: to kill Ivanovszki, and to avoid the toxic gas himself.
Casting Gaston's Poison Cloud in a narrow place could be very dangerous to himself. This was why Lucien did not use it at the very beginning.
"This is… the projection of Dry Vine castle?!"
Now, Lucien finally had the chance to look around. This place looked exactly like the count's castle, spacious and quiet, but the only difference was that it did not have colors other than black, white and gray.
Suddenly, Lucien heard that someone chuckled! In the World of Souls!
Looking up, he saw a young man sitting in a throne above, holding a glass of wine in his hand.
The silver-haired young man had a beautiful face that Lucien was quite familiar with. He was wearing red shirt and black coat with high collar.
He raised the glass slightly and said, "Welcome."
Chapter 277: Rhine's Request
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
"Mr… Mr. Rhine?! Why are you here?!" Lucien was more than surprised. Although he was still alert, it was still a big relief to Lucien.
It was Rhine who was sitting in the throne up there, raising his glass to greet to Lucien. Just like when he was in Aalto, Rhine still looked very relaxed and casual, as if he was here just waiting for Lucien.
The fancy gold throne in this glorious castle built by Count Witte himself to honor his great achievement in the countless battles now looked boring in this world of black and white. When facing death, all those valuable things including feelings, glory, loyalty, treasure and cuisines had lost their meaning. In the world of death, everything was the same meaningless.
However, Rhine was the only colorful existence in this space. Silver, red and black… he was so out of tune here, a living man in the world of death. He lit up the space, but also made this space seem a bit absurd and so unreal.
"Why am I here?" Rhine swirled the wine a little and grinned, "I'm here for you, Lucien."
"Come on, Mr. Rhine…" the corner of Lucien's lips twitched a bit. Rhine still liked playing jokes, which made him feel a little more relaxed.
Lucien did not believe Rhine's joke. After all, they had not met each other for a long time. Even prophesy could not be this accurate.
Rhine shook his head and put down the glass. When he slowly stood up, Lucien saw the pair of huge bat wings behind his back. The wings were so huge that the whole castle was filled with them, and the dim light on the wings rippled like water.
"Vampire… Legendary?" After seeing that, Lucien finally became certain that Rhine was not a human being. Although he had much of this thought when he met Rhine's grandson, Viscount Carendia, now his guess was finally proved right.
Rhine slowly walked down the stairs and smiled, "I am not joking. Lucien, I am waiting for you. I even cast my projection into Count Witte's dream."
Although this Rhine in front of Lucien was acting in a quite casual way, Lucien suddenly had this weird feeling that Rhine was using all his power to maintain his own existence. Maybe this Rhine was not real. It could be a projection!
"I see. What can I do for you, Mr. Rhine? You also know the World of Souls?" Lucien became more serious.
Rhine nodded, "I was sent by the Dark Council to Aalto for a task, but later I found the real seal of the Master of Argent. Because the seal was part of a very important story that had created much of a stir before Saint Calendar, and the secret of the World of Souls, I changed my plan and chose to work with my enemies."
"Sard… The grand cardinal?" Lucien murmured thoughtfully. Across Aalto, the grand cardinal seemed to be the only one who was qualified to be Rhine's enemy and to work with him. The other two legendary-level people were all in the north fortress—one was God's Glory, Bellia, the leader of Sword Brothers, Natasha's teacher, and the other was Snake the Chaos, Milton, who had a very close relationship with Violet family. To Lucien, it was just absurd and creepy thinking of the fact that a Saint Cardinal would work with the ancestor of a vampire…
Rhine's smile was as charming as before, "Brilliant. Then, our goal was basically fulfilled. But when I was exploring the Word of Souls, I ran into some… some accidents, and I got trapped somewhere here, like Maskelyne, who left you with the amulet."
He took a glance at Lucien's chest as he was speaking.
"How do you know…?" Lucien burst out a question. However, he instantly realized that Rhine was watching him all the time before he entered this world. It was not hard for Rhine to know that Lucien had found Sun's Corona left by Maskelyne.
When they were now standing face to face, feeling the existence of Sun's Corona should be even easier for this legendary level vampire. Maybe Rhine also knew where Maskelyne was in the World of Souls…
Thinking of this, Lucien hurriedly asked, "Mr. Rhine, but you look different, as if you and Mr. Maskelyne are both trapped here? What's the secret of this place?"
Lucien had been bothered by this question for days and nights, especially after he found that Maskelyne might have something to do with the establishment of Saint Truth. Finally, Lucien had someone in front of him that could probably answer this question!
Rhine shrugged a bit, "It's a long story. I am always cautious, so before I entered this world, I was quite prepared. Also, because I can borrow someone's power, even trapped as I am right now, I can still cast my projection. Unfortunately, this projection does not have much power. To communicate with the material world, I can only pick those lives that are close to death to cast my projection in their dreams. In fact, what Count Witte has encountered so far is related to something in this world, so I have been watching him for a long time. From Mianka, the Transfiguration sorcerer's dream, I got to know that you were going there."
Lucien nodded seriously. He had no idea how complicated everything was behind the story on the surface.
"Because you've known the existence of the World of Souls; because we're, haha, quite close friends; because you're the weakest one among all of us who know this world, and thus the safest one; because I cannot cast my projection into your dream… I had this plan and decided to use Count Witte to lead you into the World of Souls again to talk to you." Rhine grinned.
"But Mr. Rhine, what does Count Witte's business have to do with the World of Souls? Is this place related to the gods? You want me to save you, right? But before I become a legendary archmage, I'm afraid I am not capable of digging into this world…" Lucien asked a lot of questions. He was shocked and also lost.
Rhine nodded, and this serious look on his face was rare, "I don't know for sure what the ultimate secret of this world is. In my mind, according to the information that I have, this place is indeed related to gods and the true immortal. Unfortunately, I haven't met Maskelyne or his friends yet, so I cannot answer your questions, Lucien. Maybe you'll find your own answer when you explore this world more yourself."
After pausing a bit, Rhine continued, "As for Count Witte, someone who was very close to the secret of gods like Maskelyne sent his people to get the count's wealth. I don't know why he is doing this. After all, the wealth should be meaningless to him."
Lucien nodded seriously and said, "Then, how can I help you, Rhine?"
"Two stages," said Rhine. "First, when you become a senior-rank mage, go to several places, quite dangerous I must confess, and activate the things I left there. Also, find a person for me. If everything goes well, I should be able to leave this place without stage two; If stage one fails, then we'll wait until you become a legendary archmage, or a grand arcanist, which would be the best, to save me, like what Maskelyne asked."
Lucien was a bit surprised with how well-planned Rhine was. Then, he said to Rhine seriously, "Mr. Rhine, you've helped me many times, and I'll always keep this in mind. If I can become a senior-rank mage, of course I'll try my best to help you. But as for reaching legendary level… I'm not sure if I am that capable right now…"
"I like your personality, Lucien." Rhine smiled. "We both know that this thing is dangerous, and I am only asking for your help, not forcing you to do this by making you vow or promise anything. It's always up to you. Also, I won't make you help me for nothing. When you become a senior-rank mage, go to the place where I store my treasures, and take three items that you like the most. If you can save me or become a legendary archmage, you can go to the bottom floor and pick one of my most valuable items out of my collection. Don't say no, Lucien. The more powerful you are, the bigger chance I have of being rescued."
Lucien nodded slightly, "I will do it for you, and also for me. As an arcanist, after knowing such a big secret, I cannot stop myself from exploring further."
What Lucien did not mention was that his fear toward aging was also part of the reason.
Also, as sophisticated as Rhine, Lucien did not believe that he was Rhine's only hope.
"Lucien, before you reach the legendary level, do not tell this to other people and ask for their help, no matter if he or she is a legendary knight from Holm, or a grand arcanist, or a legendary archmage. What's most likely to happen when you tell such a big secret to someone powerful like them is that they'll kill you to keep the secret."
Lucien nodded with great caution and in a very serious way. This might be the biggest secret of the world. Once the secret was revealed, the world was going to face a horrible storm.
After staying silent for a few seconds, Lucien asked, "Mr. Rhine, can you tell me more about this world?"
"Knowing too much all at once might not be a good thing, Lucien. When you are qualified to know more, I'll cast my projection in your dream to tell you." Rhine put on the charming smile again.
When Lucien just found that what Rhine said was a bit contradictory to his previous words, Rhine said to him, "Right now, let me give you some pay in advance."
He took a step closer to Lucien and a great power burst out from his body. Lucien could not move at all. Four sharp fangs grew out of Rhine's well aligned teeth.
It was not horrible or scary, but beautiful in an unique way.
"Mr. Rhine?" Lucien did not panic, since he knew that Rhine had no reason to kill him after this long conversation.
Rhine's voice was gentle, "Relax, this isn't the Embrace." Then, he lowered his head and bit on Lucien's neck.
Lucien's neck felt some pricking pain, and he felt dizzy. Then his blood started to boil, and the heat became some kind of power, running toward Lucien's soul.
His body quickly became very weak, while his soul was strengthened at an even faster speed!