Chapter 2194 - 298 - 307

Chapter 298: The Angry Clown

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In the Golden Cathedral, Aalto.

"What? Sentence Clown to death? He's the leader of the Night Watch!" Although Gossett, the red-robed cardinal, knew that Natasha would be pissed after seeing the black miasma, he totally did not expect this.

Natasha's silvery-purple eyes looked at the cardinal seriously, "Yes, Clown must be sentenced to death."

As a cardinal, Gossett was good at controlling his emotions. Although he knew that Natasha was not here for negotiation, he still said to the princess in a nice way, "Your Highness, Mr. Evans will be fine. No side effects will be left. Maybe you can let this thing go. After all, we cannot make sure that it was Clown who attacked Mr. Evans. Quite possibly, it was some heretic who wanted to frame Clown up."

"Cardinal Gossett, this is simple. If you think Lucien accused the wrong person, just let him ask Clown a few questions himself, and use the divine spells to test if Clown is lying, so everything would be clear," Natasha said in a very pushy way. After all, both of them were of senior-rank.

Facing Natasha's proposal, Gossett was a bit speechless. Because, in fact, the pastors and cardinals all believed that it was Clown who did this, and it would definitely bring very negative words to the reputation of the Church if the fact was proved.

"Alright…" Gossett used in the same gentle voice and said, "Let's first assume that Clown did it. Why would he do it? The only possibility is that Mr. Evans might have something to do with Professor, the evil sorcerer on the Cleansing List, so Clown decided to test him…"

"You've got any evidence?" Natasha took a step forward and there was stateliness in her eyes, "It's not in the War of Dawn, and you cannot randomly accuse someone of having 'something to do with' a sorcerer. Clown almost killed Lucien Evans because of his terrible assumption, so can I say someday the Church can directly kill a noble because of a baseless suspicion? No noble would want to live in this kind of fear. Also, although knights might not worry that much about themselves, they would still worry about the safety of their family!"

Gossett felt great pressure.

"On behalf of all the nobles of Aalto, I insist that Clown shall be sentenced to death to warn all the night watchers. No one can break the pact between the Church and the nobles!"

Gossett wished that they had lived in a few hundred years ago, so he could just ignore the unreasonable request from Natasha. However, the power of the nobles had increased a lot, and when they were united together, their power was strong enough to affect the decision made by the Church. Also, what Natasha said was not just nonsense.

"Your Highness, you're a devoted follower of the God of Truth. Fortunately, Mr. Evans is fine. And even though Clown made a bad mistake, sentencing him to death isn't the only solution, right?" Gossett softened his tone, "We can send Clown to the Inquisition, where he will get the punishment he deserves."

Natasha crossed in front of chest, "Only truth lives forever." Then, she said seriously, "I'm a devoted follower, so I don't want to see anyone ruining the relationship between the Church and the nobles like Clown did." Natasha's voice became very firm, "Clown must die."

Gossett remained silent for a while and said, "I'll send your request to the grand cardinals. I'm sorry I cannot make the decision for the Inquisition."

Natasha nodded, "I'm sure that the grand cardinal and cardinal Amelton know how serious this thing is, and I'll be waiting for the final decision."

…

In a common house in Aalto.

Clown was reading the information collected, trying to find clues out of it to figure out the relationship between Lucien Evans and Professor.

All of sudden, the door was pushed open. Juliana, the battle pastor, rushed in and said out of panic, "You gotta leave now, right now!"

"What? Calm down, Juliana." Clown looked up at Juliana with his ridiculous-looking face.

Juliana took a deep breath, "The Inquisition has decided to sentence you to death. You have to run now."

"What?!" Clown could not believe his own ears. He felt that he was abandoned by the whole world. He could not believe that all the effort he had made to defeat the evil for Lord, for the Church and the Inquisition now meant nothing at all.

Juliana said in a great hurry, "Lucien Evans passed out at the end of his concert an hour ago. Cardinal Gossett said it was because of the injury he had from before. The princess is very angry. Representing the nobles, she's imposed great pressure on the Church. From Lend's words, it seems that the Church has compromised. They're planning on arresting you and sentencing you to death secretly to pacify the nobles without damaging the Church's reputation."

"Sentence me… to death?" The ridiculous-looking clown face was still grinning, but the voice behind the mask was beyond desperate.

Juliana thought Clown did not believe her words, so she explained further, "You should trust Lend. I know we didn't get along well with him after what happened in the Black Forest, but as soon as he was selected to be the one to arrest you, he took a great risk and told me this. He needs you to leave Aalto right now. Someday you can come back using another identity. Several cardinals in the Inquisition are still on your side!"

Clown started murmuring to himself but just stood still there, as if his soul had been stolen. When Juliana was about to urge him to leave again, Clown burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha… Haha!"

The laughter sounded crazy.

"Are you alright?" Juliana asked concernedly.

The laughter suddenly stopped, and Clown replied in an extremely calm way, "I'm fine. I just find it funny. A musician who is close to an evil sorcerer and a princess who has special connections to the Congress of Magic can force the Church to kill their most loyal servant. I wonder if the Church has belonged to those sorcerers. How can the grand cardinals… How can Sard, Amelton, and Gossett let this happen?"

"It doesn't matter. I trust you, Minsk trusts you, Lend trusts you, and many night watchers are also on your side. Two out of the three leaders of the Inquisition have mercy on you! This is just temporary. One day the darkness will be driven away!"

Clown shook his head, "I'm okay, Juliana. You have to trust my willpower, or I wouldn't be able to control my Blessing power. I'll hide properly until I find the solid evidence. Then I'll accuse Lucien Evans of connecting to the evil sorcerer right in front of the Inquisition, or… it'll be even better if I can kill Lucien Evans right in front of Natasha's eyes."

"Don't! Right now Lucien Evans must be under great protection." Juliana hurriedly reminded him, "Maybe this is a trap for you!"

Although she was aware that Clown was able to control his emotions to avoid making stupid mistakes, Juliana also knew that a dark Blessing could make people more or less crazy.

Clown looked out of the window and sneered, "I know. I know how bad Lucien Evans was injured by me. I did not have the time to really harm him. As a knight, even without those potions, he should be able to recover within a few days. It was Lucien Evans himself who turned this into a bad disease, and thus Natasha could find the reason to kill me using the Church's hand. I'll be careful when investigating him. This time, I'll get him."

His eyes on the clown mask looked cold.

…

In the garden villa.

"Lucien, are you sure that someone will tell Clown the news?" asked Natasha with uncertainty. "Don't tell me you learned this from your magic crystal ball."

"How did you know?" Lucien pretended to be surprised, then he said, "It's just a simple reasoning. What you asked for was too much, and the cardinals and the leaders of the inquisition must more or less sympathize with Clown, not to mention that based on the number of night watchers that survived in the black forest, there must be other people who hate Professor very badly just like Clown, and those people must be on Clown's side."

What Natasha said to Gossett was previously agreed by the two of them.

"I see, but this is just your reasoning. Those cardinals and the Inquisition have always been taking a ruthless position when it comes to maintaining their relationship with nobles, so maybe Clown will be killed, and then your plan wouldn't be able to continue." Although Natasha was impressed by Clown's resolution in fighting against darkness and evilness, she was on her friend's side firmly. She knew it well when she should have mercy and when not.

"Even so, those night watchers are gonna be so worked up that they won't just let go of Professor."

Also, Lucien thought to himself that, if that person noticed something, he would not blow this chance. After Clown attacked him, Lucien found another way of using this chance and this was also the foundation of his reasoning.

"I hope so." Natasha smiled, "You've got that person's information. You should go now. I'll stay here for you."

…

Although he failed to awaken his Blessing, Viscount Klein was still very energetic in his fifties. His black hair was taken good care of and his green eyes were like deep lakes. He was an archon in the town hall of Aalto.

After attending Lucien Evans' concert in the Psalm Hall, he was too excited to fall asleep. So he just got up and started to read the books he collected in his living room.

It was getting late. Putting down the old book in his hand, Klein was ready to go to his bedroom.

When he put on his pajamas in front of the mirror, a mysterious figure showed up in it, like a reflection. The man in the mirror said to him in a hoarse voice:

"Long time no see, Mr. Philosopher."

"Professor?!" Klein was shocked, and in the next second, he activated mage armor. In the past years, he finally became a sorcerer.

Viscount Klein was one of the apprentices, Philosopher. Because he was close to Silvia's father, or say, White Honey's father, Natasha got his information but never told this to anyone.

Klein carefully looked back but saw no one behind him. However, the man wearing the black robe in the mirror was still there.

The fourth-circle spell, Figure in Mirror?

Chapter 299: The Guide

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

Ten o'clock at night, on the 3rd day of the Month of Passion, the sixth of the year.

When the entire city was still immersed in the great charm of the concert, when people all over the streets were still humming the melody of New Country Symphony and Ode to Joy, those who lived in the darkness had come back to their original life, and now they were seizing the chance to have their secret gathering.

In a common-looking house in Purple Lily District, about ten people gathered in the basement. Most of them were wearing the same black robes, while some were wearing the common masks drawn with bear or goat that kids could easily buy on the streets.

"Hanger, why is Mr. Philosopher still not here?" A woman asked. Although she was wearing a loose black robe, one could tell that her figure was quite nice. Despite the disguise, her voice was still sweet.

They were standing around a round table, on which there were several white candles, many books and pieces of paper.

Hanger answered in his cold voice, "Why do you ask me, Mercury? As a sorcerer, Mr. Philosopher doesn't have to arrive here early."

In this dangerous city, Aalto, after becoming a real sorcerer, Philosopher did not leave the magic apprentice circle, instead, he chose to play the role of teacher for the apprentices. He taught the apprentices a lot and sometimes offered the apprentices useful potions and materials by exchanging some things. Now, he was already the leader in this circle. Thanks to Philosopher's effort, Hanger was also close to becoming a real sorcerer, and other apprentices had also improved a lot.

"Five more minutes. If Mr. Philosopher is still not here, I'm afraid we must go." Before Mercury said anything, the man wearing a reindeer mask said in a hoarse voice.

Other apprentices all agreed. It was not that they did not want to show respect to Mr. Philosopher. For a secret meeting like this, if anyone was late, that might very possibly be a sign of danger.

Hearing that, Morning Star said in frustration, "I'm really fed up with this kind of life… worrying and hiding all the time."

"If you don't want to worry and hide, consider Fire Wolf's solution." Hanger was being ironical.

Suddenly, all the apprentices quieted down. Although they were not there on the spot in the black forest, they heard the rumors and some were even directly told that Fire Wolf was the traitor.

Mercury released a sigh, "If Mr. Professor hadn't left Aalto in a hurry, if there hadn't been a traitor, maybe we would have known where the Congress of Magic is already, and we wouldn't be this confused and lost now."

When mentioning the name of Professor, she felt in awe. The name represented profound knowledge and terrifying magic power, and the name was even on the Cleansing List!

Hearing Professor's name, the apprentices who joined the gathering not long ago all felt very curious. They totally believed what Mercury just said, as the name was even intimidating for those sorcerers belonging to other circles!

"I thought Mr. Professor was a common middle-rank mage, but his power was way more terrifying than I thought…" Hanger murmured.

At this time, someone knocked at the door in a unique way.

"It's Mr. Philosopher…" The apprentices felt a bit more relaxed. They then all stood up to show their respect.

Mercury walked toward the chamber door and asked carefully in a low voice, "Mr. Philosopher?"

The house they were in was a two-storey one with lots of windows that one could get in. Therefore, they did not place any detection spells beside the house door, instead, they placed many magic traps on the corridor towards the chamber. They had special ways of knocking the door to know who it was, and if there was any dangers, they could escape through the secret magic hidden path in the basement.

"It's me," the man answered, whose voice sounded old.

The voice was familiar, and the tone was calm. Their spiritual power told the apprentices that there was nothing wrong.

Every time when someone was at the door, each one of the apprentices had their guts lurched up in their throat, which made them feel horrible.

Dismissing the magic trap, Mercury opened the door and saw Mr. Philosopher wearing the black robe and hood.

"Good evening, Mr. Philosopher." All the apprentices put their right hand on their forehead and bowed with great respect.

But after they looked up, they all gasped as they were completely shocked. There was another man wearing a big black robe standing beside Philosopher, but they were not aware of this at all just now when they used spiritual power to scan around!

"Who is he? Why are you bringing a stranger?" Mercury was angry. It was strictly prohibited by the gathering.

With no notice in advance, no one could bring any strangers here.

Although other apprentices also felt offended, they did not say anything right in front of Mr. Philosopher. After all, he was a real sorcerer.

Seeing Mercury's reaction, these apprentices guessed that very possibly Mercury had already become a real sorcerer, and she was just hiding her power.

Philosopher remained calm and grinned, "Calm down, Mercury. He's not a stranger. He's been here before."

"What? Who?" Mercury and the other apprentices were all very surprised.

"Mercury, Hanger, Morning Star, Reindeer… you all don't remember me anymore?" said Lucien in his pretended hoarse voice, and he released his great spiritual power completely to let the apprentices feel it.

This power did not come from any magic items, but from a real middle-rank mage.

In Hangers and the rest of the apprentices' eyes, the black-robed sorcerer was beyond dreadful. His power was like an endless pit of darkness, and just taking a step closer to it could take away all their strength and make them feel freezing cold. If the man really intended to use his power on them, their limp legs would not even be able to let them stand there still, not to mention casting any spells.

With no doubt, he was definitely a middle-rank mage!

His power was terrifying, and in front of his power, the power of the apprentices was just nothing.

Although Mercury also took a few steps backward, and her beautiful hands were slightly trembling, she was still able to move in front of the great power.

"… Mr. Professor?" Her voice trembled as well, "You're Mr. Professor!"

Professor was the only middle-rank mage she once had a connection to so far.

"I'm glad you can recognize me," said Lucien coldly. Although he laughed when he was talking, the laughter was also cold. He was aware that Mercury did not recognize him because of his appearance—the fake hoarse voice he was using was not special at all, and he made himself look even a bit taller.

The rest of the apprentices were beyond shocked.

"Mr… Mr. Professor?!" They repeated the name subconsciously. They could not believe that the sorcerer whose name was on the Cleansing List at the three hundred and sixtieth place was standing right in front of them. Professor, the name which had been bothering Night Watch for more than three years, was a legend in the circle of magic of Aalto!

They totally did not expect this.

The apprentices suddenly felt very proud and excited. Also, the hope that they might get to know where the Congress of Magic was started to grow fiercely!

Lucien was there before, so he totally understood what they were going through right now. Therefore, even though he had no other purposes, he would still find other ways to tell them how to get to the Congress.

After the apprentices bowed to Professor respectfully, Philosopher introduced, "Mr. Professor, among the apprentices you know from before, some left Aalto as they saw no hope here, like Oak and White Glove; some died, like Owl and White Honey… Now we still have Mercury, Hanger, Morning Star, Reindeer and me, and the rest of them are new members."

Lucien was a bit emotional as his memory was awakened. He did not expect that Smile died during his adventure, and he wondered if Lord Doro managed to escape. As for White Honey's death, no one knew better than Lucien.

After the introduction part, and after Professor sat down, Mercury asked hurriedly and eagerly, "Mr. Professor, can you tell us where the Congress of Magic is? I'm willing to do everything that I can for the information! Please tell me if there are any conditions?"

She wanted to get the information as soon as possible. No one knew what would happen in the next second.

Under the gaze of the apprentices, Lucien replied, "There's no condition required, as it's my duty as a sorcerer to introduce more of you to the Congress to help it grow. I'm here for you all as a guide, and I'm willing to help."

Lucien differed himself from Felipe and those people from the Hand of Paleness.

After a short time of silence, Mercury's voice trembled as she almost cried, "Mr. Professor, I have no idea how to express my gratitude. Thank you so much. Can you tell us where it is right now?"

Only people who were there themselves before understood the great nervousness and intensity as well as the depression these apprentices were under every day.

"If we can get there, Mr. Professor, we'll never forget your help!" Hanger was excited as well.

All the apprentices presented showed their feelings of gratitude. Then, Lucien smiled and said, "The Congress of Magic is in the Kingdom of Holm, across the Storm Strait. It's a floating city close to the kingdom's capital, Rentato, and the city is called Allyn."

Chapter 300: Clown's Action

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

"It's a city in the Sky?! In the Kingdom of Holm?" Mercury repeated the words out of great surprise.

Hanger and Reindeer were also shocked, "Rentato? Near the capital?!"

It was totally out of their expectation, like how Lucien felt when he first heard where the Congress was. They simply could not imagine that the Congress of Magic could exist above board right in front of people's eyes in the country across the strait.

They thought that the Congress was probably deep into the mountain ranges, or even in another dimension or demiplane, which was secretly connected to the main material world.

Philosopher, Viscount Klein, had more or less heard something from Count Hayne, Count Rafati, and some other big nobles, so he remained relatively calm.

Looking at the surprised faces of the apprentices, Lucien felt quite satisfied, "Yes, the Congress is in Allyn. It's gained some support from the nobles in Holm, and its power has way surpassed that of the Church in the kingdom. Right now, if it was not because of the nobles' wish to maintain the power balance between the three parties, and if it was not because of the great cost the Church has paid to hold the Radiance Church, the kingdom would have been under the Congress' control."

"It's… It's unbelievable…" Mercury murmured, and she still could not believe what she just heard. She was born and also grew up in the Duchy of Violet, and in her mind, the Church's power was greater than anything else, even across different dimensions. If the Church had not been divided, most sorcerers would have died out already. How was it possible that the Congress of Magic could overpower the Church?

Mercury was not alone here. Even including Philosopher, the apprentices present were all very surprised and confused. Although Philosopher had heard something about the kingdom across the strait, because he was not qualified enough to sit close to the grand duke, the information he had was also very limited.

In order to give him more confidence, Lucien briefly told them the history of the development of the Congress of Magic, the achievement made by some great arcanists from the Congress and its current situation. In the end, Lucien said to them, "The Congress has been the second most influential power across the continent. In Allyn, you can learn arcana and basic magic for free, and you don't need to hide anymore. Instead, you can earn yourself status and wealth that you deserve by learning magic."

Lucien was not trying to exaggerate anything, but his plain tone made the apprentices thrilled. Their great excitement left their body slightly shaking, as they finally saw the light in the seemingly endless darkness.

Although Mercury was quite calm most of the time, now she almost burst into tears, "Then Mr. Professor… What shall we do? I think the Church must have blocked the strait… Can you lead us to get there?"

What she said reminded the other apprentices—they realized that they were not in Allyn yet, and there were still lots of dangers waiting for them ahead.

"I've got my own things to deal with. I cannot do this for you." Lucien first rejected them and then told them the two possible routes to get there. Then he added, "If you've got any magic items that can make you fly, consider to take the route in the north through Schachran Empire. If you don't, go to Sturk and find Ferryman. There you have to prove to them that you're qualified to be sent to Allyn. So try to show them your ability and potential if you haven't become a real sorcerer when you arrive in Sturk."

Lucien did not tell them who Granneuve was, because there might be a spy from the Church among the apprentices. Lucien only told them how to find Ferryman.

Learning from the lesson a few years ago, the liaisons from the congress now had a strict series of procedures to observe, question, identify and test the apprentices. So even if the spy told the night watchers how to find Ferryman, it would still be very hard for the night watchers to get to Allyn.

Mercury calmed down a little, "Thank you, Mr. Professor. If there's a chance, I hope to see you in Allyn."

The apprentices including Philosopher knew that they had to work really hard to prove that they were useful to the Congress in order to obtain the chance of going to Allyn. This was the cost they had to pay, and they were well aware of it.

"I hope that you can tell this to other apprentices and sorcerers who you can trust. Don't be selfish. Give others the chance to choose." Lucien nodded, and then he added, "After tonight, you might want to change an identity and find another place to hide. I'm concerned that there are still spies from the Church in other magic groups."

"Got it, Mr. Professor," the apprentices answered seriously. They completely trusted Professor's words, and no one wanted to fail when they were almost there at the edge of the light.

After a while, Hanger said to Professor with some passion, "Mr. Professor, you mentioned something about arcana and basic magic. As a profound middle-rank mage, can you make some brief introduction of them? As for the pay, you can pick any magic materials that we have here…"

"It's free to make some basic introduction…" said Lucien in a plain tone. In fact, the materials here brought by the apprentices were just nothing in his eyes.

Hearing that, all the apprentices including philosopher stood up and gave Lucien a respectful salute following the manner of the ancient magic empire.

Then Lucien started to explain magic system using the arcana way of thinking. All of the apprentices were shocked, as they had never heard something like this before, but the new way of thinking definitely had brought them lots of thoughts.

It was different from last time when they read the journal, Arcana. Last time they were totally lost, while this time because Lucien was great at explaining profound theories using simple language, the apprentices saw a new gate behind which there was an ocean of knowledge!

At the end of the gathering, the apprentices and Philosopher were still immersed in the new world of knowledge. Even though there were parts that contradicted what they knew, what Professor said was very persuasive.

At their current level, and because they had never received any systematic education after a profound leader, it was the best time for them to absorb new knowledge like a piece of sponge.

After leaving the basement, the apprentices and Philosopher again gave Lucien a respectful salute with their right hand on their forehead, "Hope we can learn more from you if there's chance in the future, Mr. Professor."

In their eyes, Professor was not just some mysterious and important sorcerer on the Cleansing List anymore, but more like a representation of arcana and the Congress of Magic.

Lucien grinned, "My students don't like me that much. If there's chance, I hope you all won't regret."

"…?" The apprentices were very confused. Then they watched Professor and Philosopher leaving together.

…

Down in the sewers of Aalto.

"What? Professor's in Aalto right now?!" Clown suddenly stood up and his eyes stared at Juliana like they were going to burn.

Juliana was both thrilled and nervous, "Yes, an hour ago, we've confirmed it from our spy that he just attended the gathering of the magic group. "

The spy reported to them immediately after the gathering. After all, Professor was on the Cleansing List, and what he had done could never be forgotten by the Night Watch.

Clown suddenly became silent, then he burst out laughing, but his laughter sounded crazy and sad, "Lucien Evans is in Aalto. Professor then also shows up in Aalto. If they are not connected, I'd rather put myself on the burning post! Those cardinals up there should see now…"

"Just stay here and wait for the good news. When we catch Professor and find the evidence that shows Lucien Evans is connected to him, you can go back to the Inquisition!" said Juliana joyfully.

Clown shook his head, "No, I need to seize the chance. I need to catch Professor myself."

"It might be Professor's conspiracy…" Juliana hurriedly said to Clown. "Professor might be here just because of you! Let us do this for you!"

The three leaders in charge of the Inquisition were all level six radiant knights, although they were not as powerful as the level-seven red-robed cardinals, they were enough to catch Professor. Any conspiracies were simply nothing in front of the absolute power.

Clown shook his head firmly, "Maybe there'll be someone behind controlling the Inquisition or the Church to buy Professor more time. I have to be quick, and I must take revenge for the more than twenty teammates of mine who died in that forest. I'll never forget what happened to us. I'll be very careful."

Clown had no idea what Professor's purpose was. There seemed to be pointless for Professor to kill him.

"I see. Please take care." Juliana knew that Clown would not change his mind, so she nodded.

Clown laughed, "Professor could never expect that we've got all the information about Philosopher!"

The night watchers had spent months investigating apprentices who were relatively close to Professor. Although they lost Owl because he died in the remains of the Magic Lock, Philosopher finally led them to find Professor.

"Then you'd better hurry. You want to find Professor before the other night watchers come." Juliana reminded him. After all, Clown was also on the night watchers' target list.

Chapter 301: The Last Smile

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In Viscount Klein's study.

Viscount Klein was tied to the chair, and his black hair looked messy. His green eyes stared at the man wearing a ridiculous-looking clown mask standing in front of him.

"You must be the crazy Clown! Just as the princess said, you're out of your mind!" Klein, the archon of Aalto's city hall, scolded Clown out of fear.

Clown laughed, "Mr. Viscount, please don't tell me that the spell you cast just now was from a magic item. I see nothing wrong with a night watcher catching a vicious sorcerer, or do you want me to call you… Mr. Philosopher?"

Klein was shocked, "How do you…"

He did not finish his sentence. Instead, he stopped himself very quickly. He thought that this might be a trick.

"We've been watching you all this time, Mr. Viscount, but we never really did anything to you because we were waiting for you to confess and to realize what you've done is completely wrong. After all, you're a noble. But unfortunately, you didn't. However, you've still got one more chance. As long as you tell me where Professor is, you can keep your status as a noble and archon… and you only need to secretly join the Night Watch," said Clown. As he was talking, he looked out of the window, feeling a bit worried that the rest of the night watchers might arrive here anytime.

Klein realized that he was not the real target, then he sneered, "I see. You're here for Professor. Sure enough, hanging out with one on the Cleansing List means great risks. But I don't trust you, Clown. You're not part of the Night Watch anymore, and the night watchers are even after you as well. I'd rather wait until the real night watchers come."

As what Clown expected, although Klein had no plan on keeping the secret at the cost of his life, he was as sneaky as many other nobles. If the reward was tempting enough, they could even work with demons! People like Klein knew how to make decisions in this kind of situation.

Klein was trying to get a better offer!

Clown's face got close to Klein's and he said, "Good try, Mr. Viscount, but you're negotiating with me, and I'm in a hurry, so I don't feel like negotiating."

Klein's facial expression suddenly changed, and Clown's ten fingers started moving. Clown's fingers controlled the muscles in Klein's face and whole body, and his eyes and mouth started to open and close following Clown's movement.

Gradually, Klein's will and soul were also controlled. Unlike other night watchers, Clown could get the information he wanted even without using divine power.

"What's your pseudonym? Are you a sorcerer? In what school?" Clown first used a few simple questions to see if his power worked.

Klein's eyes finally found focus, and he looked just as usual, except for the smile on his face, "Lord Clown, I'm a sorcerer. My pseudonym is Philosopher, mainly major in the school of Astrology. At that time, I failed to awaken my blessing, and I had no potions to rely on, so found the magic books left by the sorcerers who were killed by my ancestors to see if there was anything I could do to awaken my Blessing, but then I got interested in the school of Astrology, and could not stop myself anymore."

Clown was not interested in Klein, so he asked directly, "How did you meet Professor? How can I find him?"

"Lord Clown, it was Professor who found me after I came back from the concert. To be more specific, he used the fourth-circle spell, Figure in Mirror, to talk to me. He wanted to attend our next gathering to tell us the information about the Congress of Magic." Klein told Clown everything, "After I agreed to help, we met each other once. It was beside an idle garden villa in Gesu, No. 116. And we had this secret code… But I don't know where he is right now. He decided on the place where we met."

Of course, Professor was very cautious and cunning, and Clown knew it well. Suddenly, it came to him that the address belonged to Lucien Evans! The villa was in a remote corner, and it had not been rented out yet. Only an old servant was keeping the house. So it was a perfect place for Professor to hide.

Clown's blood was boiling, and his body was shaking out of thrill. He was glad that he paid attention to the details.

However, knowing how cunning Professor was, Clown forced himself to calm down and thought, "Lucien Evans is taking his rest in the house in Noble district right now, and it is said that Natasha is being occupied with all kinds of stuff in Ratacia Palace today and never left the palace. If both of them all of a sudden showed up in the idle house, people could easily tell that this was a conspiracy."

He also considered whether Professor would lead him to another powerful sorcerer and make them fight, but it was not very likely to happen, after all, they were in Aalto. If a big fight happened, those cardinals would arrive immediately.

Although Clown knew that the best option right now was to wait for Juliana and the other night watchers to handle this, the anger and the wish to take his revenge were burning his guts. Also, he was confident in his own power as well.

After making a quick analysis, Clown made up his mind to go there. He knew that he must be very careful, and if there was anything out of his control, he would hide and leave Professor to the rest of the night watchers.

After sealing Klein's spiritual power using his special Blessing, Clown wrote down the information that he got from Klein to save some time for the night watchers coming after.

Then Clown left the noble district and arrived at No. 116, Gesu District.

The garden villa was covered in the darkness like a terrifying monster.

After checking around, Clown saw no magic traps around. Feeling a bit relieved, he decided to take one more step further. As quick as a shadow, he sneaked into the garden villa.

There was only an old servant here in the villa. After making the old servant fall asleep, Clown carefully checked the rooms one by one, trying to find some clues.

Soon, Clown had finished searching the basement and the ground floor. With great caution, he walked upstairs.

…

In Viscount Klein's place.

Waldo, the Executer, led a night watch team secretly to the second floor. They were still looking for the viscount.

They avoided making a great stir, in case Professor would notice and run away.

As soon as they came to the second floor, Waldo smelled blood.

Juliana suddenly became worried. She was afraid that Clown had lost his control.

Waldo's face was half covered by his beard, but his nose was very sensitive to smells. He said seriously in front of the door of the study, "Only one dead person in there. It's the smell of Millstone family."

The viscount was from the family.

As he was talking, Waldo opened the door. The strong smell of blood blew to them.

When the night watchers got in the room, although they were very used to blood and death, in front of what they saw, they all frowned.

The room was like a slaughterhouse. Tiny pieces of flesh and blood were everywhere, from the ceiling to the floor, leaving not even a complete piece of bone or organ. This whole scene was beyond disgusting and cruel.

"This looks… familiar…" murmured a night watcher.

The rest of the night watchers knew what he was talking about—almost all of those who had been caught by Clown's strings ended up like this.

"Impossible… Clown wouldn't kill the viscount…" Juliana's face turned pale.

Stepping on the pieces of flesh and the pool of blood, Waldo directly walked to the desk and picked up the piece of paper under the ink bottle. After taking a quick look, he said to the rest of the night watchers, "This was left by Clown. He left the secret code that no one can mimic. He's confirmed that Viscount Klein is Philosopher, and, according to Clown, Professor might be at No. 116 in Gesu District."

Hearing that, Juliana gasped. She started to think that it might be Clown who had done all of this. When he got the information he wanted, he might have got too excited to control himself.

Because the viscount had been confirmed to be a vicious sorcerer, his death did not matter that much.

"Leave the viscount thing to the Inquisition. Now we should get to Gesu District as soon as possible!" Waldo said to the rest of the night watchers. In his heart, he was still on Clown's side.

"Got it!" replied the rest of the watchers together. They did not care about a vicious sorcerer's death.

…

Clown had searched most of the second floor but found nothing special.

One room after another… When Clown felt disappointed, he suddenly noticed that there was someone in the study! As a grand knight, Clown sensed that a man was standing beside the window, enjoying the cool night wind.

Clown was very surprised. He did not expect that it would be this easy for him to find Professor, and, more importantly, it seemed that Professor did not even notice him!

Although having lots of questions and thoughts in his mind, facing the evil and powerful middle-rank mage, Clown did not want to waste even a second. Instantly, he fiercely launched the puppet strings right toward the man beside the window.

Letting out all of his power, Clown destroyed the door within a second at the same time. However, to his great shock, he saw Lucien Evans standing beside the window.

Being tightly bound, the way Lucien Evans was standing was weird and distorted. And there was a creepy and fake smile on his good-looking face. Under that certain mysterious power, his body directly and stiffly fell backward, like a swan shot by an arrow.

The messy black suit Lucien Evans was wearing, the creepy smile on his face, and the moment when he fell backward like a worn doll… became an eternal, mysterious painting in Clown's memory.

To frame him, Professor chose to sacrifice Lucien Evans?

Clown totally did not expect this.

Before hitting the floor, Lucien Evans' body exploded like a blooming flower. His flesh and blood were everywhere.

Chapter 302: The "Sad" Princess

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In fact, at the very beginning, before he arrived at No. 116 Gesu District, Clown did consider the possibility that Professor and Lucien Evans would work together to frame him, say, Lucien Evans would pretended to be severely injured by him, and then the princess and Camil would arrive right on time and stop him. Then he would be caught for sure, or even killed right on the spot.

However, after a careful analysis, Clown did not think that they were going to do this because of the many points questionable through the whole plan. If the princess killed him right on the spot, those leaders who were on his side from the Inquisition definitely would not simply accept the result, instead, at least they would require an interrogation against Lucien Evans, which was of course not a good thing for someone like the musician, who had so many secrets related to Professor. Even as a princess, Natasha could not say no to the Inquisition's reasonable demand. After all, a question would be part of the procedures when things like this happened. No matter how powerful and influential the princess was, she could not interfere with the balance between the Church and the nobles.

And if they could not kill him right away, there was big chance that he could still prove himself as innocent. He had so many questions to ask—how did Lucien get hurt? What did the wounds look like? Was it possible that the wounds were left by his Blessing? Why Lucien Evans showed up in the middle of the night at No. 116 Gesu District?

And the most important thing was that he could directly ask the Church to use the divine spells to test whether he was lying when questioning Lucien Evans.

However, Lucien Evans just died like that, which was totally out of Clown's imagination. The picture of Lucien Evans falling to the floor kept lingering in his mind, and he was not able to get rid of it.

At this moment, he believed that Lucien Evans really died. Since the cost of faking Lucien Evans' death was too much to bear—that meant that the great young musician would never show up again, and Clown would never know that Lucien Evans had decided to abandon this identity as a great musician forever.

After losing himself in his thoughts for a few seconds, Clown's eyes suddenly became alert.

He saw the gorgeous princess, Natasha, who was wearing a fancy purple dress, show up in the air. Her lips were red, and her eyes were full of light. It seemed that she was here to meet her lover.

However, a second later, Natasha's eyes had lost their focus. As if she had lost her soul, she unbelievably stared at the flesh and blood on the floor and the walls.

Run… Run. Run!

That was the only thought left in Clown's mind. He would not want to stay here even a second longer in front of the powerful woman who just witnessed her beloved man's body on the floor in pieces!

At this moment, she would not listen!

Clown instantly exerted all his strength and power, and countless invisible strings rose in the darkness. Stepping and grabbing the strings, Clown rushed into the forest behind the house very quickly.

At this time, he heard the bellow full of anger and brief, or it was more like a plaintive cry, making the air and the ground shake.

Clown knew that the princess was coming after him. As soon as he started moving again, a silver sword hacked his back.

The light of the sword pierced the light of the divine items covering Clown like cutting a pile of paper. Clown's body suddenly became distorted, and it suddenly became like a doll covered with black strings.

The strings were broken by the hacking, and a deep gap appeared in the back of the black doll.

A second later, Clown showed up from the strings again. However, part of his body on the right side fell onto the ground. Pieces of guts and blood were everywhere.

Clown started to lose his consciousness, but he knew that he could not stop. He needed to seize every tiny chance if he wished to run away from a radiant knight who had the strongest Blessing.

As long as the princess did not kill him with the first hacking, he still had a chance to survive!

Like he said, Clown did have strong enough willpower to keep running as fast as he could, despite the horrible injury he suffered that could make most of the cardinals feel limp in their legs. In the darkness, as he was running, Clown calmly wriggled what was left on the right side of his body and covered the wound by a layer of invisible film to prevent his blood from coming out more, so he would not leave any marks.

Although Clown knew that he would not be able to avoid the princess' second round of attack, he would not give up until the last second.

Despite the fact that he disliked Lucien Evans a lot, Clown agreed on the spirit of perseverance contained in Lucien's music.

Miracle happened. Until Clown disappeared in the darkness, the second round of hacking never arrived.

…

"Are you trying to stop me, Waldo?" Holding a silver sword in her hand, the coldness in Natasha's eyes looked terrifying.

In the strong air flow caused by Natasha's fury, Waldo's hair became tangled and messy, but he was still standing in front of the princess and said to her calmly, "I've sent the night watchers out to get Clown. Before things become clear, I think it's better to keep him alive. So… What happened, Your Highness?"

A distance away from them, Camil was still following the princess, but the distance was purposefully left.

"Clown killed Lucien." Natasha answered with restrained great fury. Her silvery-purple eyes were as cold as ice.

"What?!" Including Waldo, all the night watchers were shocked.

Juliana's face suddenly became very pale.

Lucien Evans, the great musician, died?

This was totally out of their expectation as well!

Natasha closed her eyes, as if she agreed to leave this to the night watchers, since the grief in her mind was too heavy to bear, "I saw Lucien die with my own eyes, and Clown was right there."

Her voice was full of sorrow and great desperation.

Waldo unnoticeably gasped. He saw the pieces of flesh and blood drops on the grass. Based on the motivation and the way of killing, Waldo had to admit that it could be Clown who did this.

"Your Highness, I understand how you feel…" Waldo crossed in front of his chest. "Mr. Lucien Evans is so outstanding and brilliant that the God of Truth wants him to go and play his music in Mountain Paradise."

After comforting the princess for a bit, Waldo became serious, "But I'm sorry, Your Highness. Right now I have to ask you some questions and check if this is Mr. Evans' blood. I'm not doubting you, but I have to follow the procedures of the Inquisition. I hope you can understand, Your Highness."

Before Natasha nodded, Waldo was very cautious. He was afraid that the princess would lose her mind out of great sorrow, and her power was just beyond horrible.

After several seconds of silence, Natasha opened her eyes. The light in her eyes was cold.

"Go ahead," she said.

Waldo sincerely appreciated the princess' courage. He first asked several night watchers who did not go after Clown to collect the blood left, and then he asked the princess carefully, "Your Highness, why did you come here tonight? Wasn't Mr. Evans still taking his rest?"

Natasha put on a sad but stunning smile, "He used to live here. In the bedroom, he played the first movement of Moonlight for me. So we wanted to come here tonight in memory of our past…"

Natasha covered her face with her hands to stop herself from crying.

Hearing that, Waldo looked down upon himself for those vulgar thoughts he had had in his mind.

"I see." Waldo slightly nodded.

After asking a few more questions, a night watcher of bishop level came to him and whispered in his ear, "Moonlight Blessing. It is Lucien Evans' blood."

"Mr. Waldo, Clown was severely injured by me, and he should die within an hour. I hope you can find him as soon as possible." Natasha told Waldo the true reason why she stopped chasing after Clown.

When Natasha looked to the side, she saw an iron ring on the grass. So she flew down there and picked it up. The look on her face was extremely sad but seeing the ring seemed to warm her heart up a bit.

Seeing the moment, Waldo felt that this was like a dream. The princess was not usually this feminine, but more heroic and decisive. The look on her face was as gentle as the moonlight in Lucien's music.

Waldo knew well what the iron ring was. It was the broken Holm Crown Ring left by Natasha's mother, and now it seemed that it was also a token of love.

"It's our fault, Your Highness." Waldo comforted her again, "We did not catch Clown in time."

"It has nothing to do with the Church. After all, the Church has made the decision to sentence him to death." Natasha slightly shook her head.

Hearing that, Waldo nodded out of relief. What he felt concerned the most was that, because of Lucien Evans's death, the Church and the future ruler of Violet would have an unfixable gap between each other.

"You're such a dedicated follower, Your Highness, and a wise leader," praised Waldo.

When the night watchers started to check the house and the surroundings, Natasha unnoticeably released a sigh of relief. She felt it quite cheesy with what she just said. But she also had strange feelings when she was talking about what once happened between Lucien and her.

But what was more important was that Waldo did not show suspicion for what she said, and things were going the way they wanted them to.

As a devoted follower, Natasha was fine with putting some pressure on the Church to help and protect her good friend and to maintain the status of the nobles, but she would not be willing to do great damage to the reputation of the Church and the balance between the two sides despite the fact that there was a chance, since she still had her bottom line, and she hoped that Lucien could understand.

…

In a house, a man wearing a black hood sat down in the armchair, weak and limp.

"Morning Star… He didn't talk much. It was totally out of my expectation that he was the traitor, until I saw his response when knowing where the Congress was," signed Philosopher. He looked weak from losing a lot of blood.

Professor was still wearing the black robe. He reached out his hand and wrote down letters with the blood on Morning Star's back.

"The end of the betrayer. Professor."

"Why do you want to leave the words and the body, Mr. Professor?" asked Philosopher. "Morning Star's dead, and we can just put all the blame on Clown and the Church. Now, you're catching all the attention."

"To teach other traitors the lesson." Lucien smiled. But in his mind, he said to himself that Natasha had helped him a lot, and he would not bring more trouble to her.

Chapter 303: Him

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

After leaving the letters, Lucien and Philosopher quickly left Morning Star's place and disappeared in the darkness.

In fact, as this was not the first time that the Inquisition dealt with Professor, the Inquisition indeed considered the possibility that Professor was playing the same trick again—the purpose of Professor showing up in Aalto again was to find the spies in the circle of magic, so what happened to Fire Wolf would happen again. Therefore, the inquisition was ready to put several of their spies hiding in the magic groups under this risk. After Mercury and the other apprentices told more magic groups the information about the Congress, the spies in those groups would also report the message to the Night Watch.

However, what was out of the Inquisition's expectation was that Professor could locate Morning Star so quickly. The fact that Morning Star was killed only half an hour later after he sent out the secret message showed that Professor had been watching him all the time. On the other side, the fact that Philosopher blew his cover as well as what Clown did also made the leaders of the Inquisition believe that Professor's target was Clown and the rest of the night watchers, so they did not have time to set up traps and send out enough people to protect Morning Star. Therefore, Lucien killed Morning Star pretty easily.

Lucien and Philosopher took many turns along the streets in the darkness. After passing quite a few blocks, they came to the secret hiding place set up by Philosopher a few years ago.

"Mr. Professor, I didn't expect that you are not only good at Astrology and Element but also Necromancy." Philosopher felt that they were safe for now, although he was still weak from losing lots of blood.

After witnessing that Professor made a body in the necromancy circle using one-third of Philosopher's blood and the limbs they collected in the Black Forest, Philosopher was deeply shocked. In Philosopher's eyes, this power should be possessed by the divine gods. Although he was not young anymore, he had made up his mind to head for the Congress of Magic.

Lucien replied in his pretended hoarse voice, "I'm far from being 'good at it'. I just started looking into Necromancy a year ago, but the Congress has made great progress in synthesizing the human body. The theory of cell memory can explain why your blood could be used to synthesize your own body. Right now, the Church still isn't able to tell the difference, unless a grand cardinal uses some level nine divine spells."

After a year of study, plus Lucien's solid arcana and magic foundation, as a fourth-circle sorcerer, Lucien's skills in synthesizing human body was not bad.

"'Far from being good at it'? Then what is a master necromancer like?" Philosopher was shocked, then something came to him, and he asked. "There's a necromancer I once heard about… Felipe Carneiro. Two years ago, his name suddenly soared on the Cleansing List to No. ninety-one, and at that time, he was only of fifth-circle. Is he a master necromancer?"

As the previous archon of the city council, Viscount Klein had access to the Cleansing List.

"I have to admit that he's a genius in the school of Necromancy." Although Lucien did not really like Felipe, he still made an honest comment. Despite the fact that in many young sorcerers' eyes in the Congress, both Mr. Felipe and Evans were geniuses, Lucien was well aware that he was still far behind.

The higher the circle was, the harder it became, and this was especially true with several key stages. When one wanted to reach the senior-rank as a fifth circle sorcerer, he or she needed special magic rites to move forward. Without enough preparation, this was very likely to fail.

Then Lucien switched the topic, "I'm sorry for involving you in this without telling you the details. Honestly speaking, I was not sure whether Clown would kill you or whether I had enough time to save you before the night watchers' arrival. I'm very sorry for putting you under such great risk."

Lucien was concerned that Clown would find more details when questioning Philosopher, so he did not tell Philosopher the whole plan. What Lucien told Philosopher was that he would save him from the great danger that he was going to encounter tonight.

"It's okay, Mr. Professor. I trust you, and I know that there's a cost if I want to find the path to the new life." Philosopher did not mind it.

Lucien slightly nodded, "Anyway, what I did is bad. Morning Star's magic items are yours now. Don't refuse. I have my way of doing things. Take some rest after taking the potion, and then you should leave Aalto as soon as possible."

"Alright, Mr. Professor. Actually, I'm feeling much more relaxed now." After becoming a sorcerer, the pressure and stress on Philosopher's shoulder kept accumulating. What his noble status brought to him was not glory or enjoyment, but fear. And he was getting older. As the family had already recognized a proper heir, now this pseudocide had freed him from the heavy burden, and he finally could pursue what he wanted.

…

In Ratacia Palace, Natasha, who looked gloomy and cold, gave the grand duke a quick hug and said, "Father, I'm okay. I'll be alright quickly. I've been through a lot of things, and I think they're the tests from God. I'll get better for myself, for you, and also for my mom and brother in Mountain Paradise."

"I believe in you, my poor Natasha, but don't push yourself too hard." The grand duke touched her hair. He knew that Natasha must be very sad. Her mother was a sorcerer, so there was no way that her mom's soul could be in Mountain Paradise right now. He felt bad for his daughter that both of her two love stories did not manage to have a good ending.

What was a comfort to the grand duke was that his daughter could still fall in love with a man. As long as he knew this, the grand duke would not push his daughter too much.

"Father, can I stay alone for a while tonight?" Natasha forced a smile on her face. Truly, in her mind, she did not feel good tonight as well. She did not like lying to her father, and although this was a play, it still reminded her of Silvia. So far, she still preferred being with a female. Natasha felt that she needed some time to figure out what she really wanted.

The grand duke nodded and touched her hair again, "You can do this, Natasha."

Watching Natasha, followed by Camil and several guards, walking back to War Gallery, the grand duke suddenly became worried—would this tragedy turn Natasha into one who would fall for neither men or women?

…

In War Gallery, Camil was sitting on the couch quietly, while Natasha was playing piano in a slight upset way.

"This is the best Pathétique I've ever heard you play. But can you stop for a while and tell me what happened in the house? Did Clown and the rest of the night watchers notice anything?" Surprisingly, there was one guard who hadn't yet left the room, and the guard talked to the princess trying to cheer her up, as if they were close friends.

Natasha stopped playing and took a deep breath, "Good body-making skill. They've noticed nothing different."

After leaving Philosopher's place, Lucien secretly met Camil and played the role of the princess's guard to hide here in Ratacia Palace.

"The body cost one-fourth of my blood, so I'm quite confident." Lucien tried to play a joke to comfort the princess, "What really concerned me was that you probably would burst out laughing when you were describing how much you loved me."

Natasha snorted, "Come on, my playing wasn't bad. I felt I could go and play opera! But the role wasn't very suitable for me… I shall be like this."

Natasha quickly stood up and came to Lucien. She put her right hand on her chest and slightly lowered her head. Then she looked into Lucien's eyes and said to Lucien in a man's manner:

"Every time you see the moon, you will think of me."

Natasha's and Lucien's face were very close to each other. Somehow, when they looked into each other's eyes, they felt a bit awkward.

Natasha took a few steps backward with her slightly embarrassed smile. Lucien also took a step aside.

"By the way, why didn't you let me kill Clown? Why did you want me to severely injure him and then let go of him?" Natasha asked. "Although I'm confident that he won't live long, we could have taken the safer way."

In fact, Natasha was impressed with Clown's will of fighting against darkness, but she was also concerned that a crazy man like Clown could do anything to achieve his objective. If it had not been for Lucien's words, it was impossible for Natasha to miss the target.

Lucien put on a mysterious smile, "I'm waiting for him to show up."

"Him?" Natasha was confused.

Lucien did not make it all clear, instead, his words were very ambiguous, "Although we haven't met each other yet, I sort of know what he's thinking. He's helped us a lot with this thing…"

"Can't you just be more specific?" Natasha did want to push Lucien.

Lucien shook his head and said, "You'd better not know, but I'll give you a final outcome."

"About what?" Natasha felt that Lucien was getting more and more mysterious after he came back from the Congress.

Lucien just smiled but did not say anything else.

…

After finding an empty room in War Gallery for Lucien, Natasha sat on a chair and looked at the moon outside of the window. Her facial expression was still a bit gloomy.

Although they were good friends, the gap between a sorcerer and a noble who followed the God of Truth was still more of less revealed by itself from what happened. She wondered if she had gone beyond her bottom line to help her friend out.

At this time, Camil opened the door and walked in.

"Any news out there, Mrs. Camil?" Natasha asked without turning around.

As usual, Camil looked serious, but right now she also looked a bit confused, "Professor showed up again, and he left the words 'the end of the betrayer'. So the night watchers believe that it was Professor who killed the musician to frame Clown up. But, of course, Clown should be dead anyway, for severely violating the agreement between the nobles and the Church."

Natasha was a bit surprised. And then the look on her face became very gentle.

Chapter 304: The Elegy of Night Watch

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In an ordinary-looking house in Purple Lily, Aalto.

Leaning against an old wardrobe, Clown took out a tube of potion from his robe and drank it with his left hand—the one that he was left with.

Clown had lost part of his right body, so right now he was even having a hard time breathing, and the only thing that was supporting his life was the strong willpower of a grand knight. After arriving at the secret hiding place, Clown was totally exhausted, and he was not even able to take a few more steps to go down into the secret chamber.

The divine potion helped Clown's guts and flesh to start growing, but as soon as the newly-grown flesh touched the cut, it shrank and withered, as if an invisible wall was preventing it from growing further.

Clown could feel that he was losing life force very fast. He wondered if he was going to die there. It was his first time seeing how powerful and terrifying the top Blessing could be.

At this time, he heard footsteps from the other side of the door. Clown opened his eyes with great effort. He knew it was the night watchers.

When the door opened, Clown was a bit surprised to see Juliana, as well as Lend and Minsk, who were not carrying the mission this time.

Seeing his partners, hope started rising in Clown's chest. He tried his very best to talk to them, "Not me… Professor… did it."

Clown thought that he was being very careful, but he still ended up in Professor's trap. But what tortured him the most was that he still had no idea what was Professor's purpose!

Why?! Why did Professor do all of these?!

The miserable situation made Juliana's eyes turn red with tears, "I know… I know… Professor did all of these. You'd never kill Lucien Evans right in front of the princess. I'm here… Let me cure you!"

Although Clown did something about catching Lucien Evans right in front of Natasha, what happened right now made the words he said rather ironic.

When Lend heard what Juliana said, although his face always looked very serious, he frowned his eyebrows. He knew that very unlikely Juliana's divine power would work, but he was also praying for a miracle.

As a battle priest, Juliana was used to using divine power to cure people. However, neither her own power nor the divine items worked. The cut absorbed all the divine light like an endless pit.

"Captain Lend…" Juliana almost burst into tears. Lend was close to senior level, and if there was nothing that Lend could do here, Clown was going to die very soon.

Lend took a deep breath to calm himself down. Then, he lifted his long sword and his body was covered with a layer of peaceful light. The light thus extended the sword, together with the black mist from his black gloves.

Lend shouted and then hacked toward the horrible cut on Clown's right side, as if he was trying to chop off the endless pit connected to the cut.

His Elimination Blessing could make any supernatural power that did not belong to the real God become invalid!

Air was stirred from the hacking, but nothing changed.

Lend did not want to give up. He tried again and caused a strong wind blow, but Clown's flesh still could not grow any further.

"It's okay… Unless you're… a radiant knight, you can't…" The craziness and fury in Clown's eyes had disappeared. Right now his black eyes behind the ridiculous-looking mask looked rather calm.

"No…" Juliana cried.

She had followed Clown for more than seven years and was saved by Clown many times. When facing evil, the captain was always the team's strongest support. Although many night watchers described Clown as crazy and crooked, she completely trusted him.

So far, they had encountered Professor twice, but the whole team was already almost gone.

Clown murmured in an obsessive way, "Not me… Professor… did it."

"I know… Captain, I know…" Juliana hurriedly nodded. "I told the leaders of the Inquisition that we needed to hurry, but they spent too much time on discussing what Professor's true purpose was and if this was Professor's trick to lure us away from the base, or we could have caught him!"

Facing the great pressure from the nobles, the Church became hesitant.

Lend was not in the team chasing after Professor. He met Juliana when looking for Clown after hearing what happened.

Lend told Clown the latest information, and his voice was cold, "Morning Star's dead. Professor killed him. 'The end of the betrayer'… Professor left the words."

Right now, if he could catch Professor, Lend would tear him into pieces.

"I see…" Clown's anger started burning again, and he said with great effort, "The Church's corrupted… and too timid. If it was like before… there would be no way… for Professor… to toy with us like… like a cat playing with mice… twice!"

"Lots of them in the Church have lost their faith." Minsk was so furious that his body was covered with a thick layer of flames, "They bend their knees in front of the nobles and the darkness!"

Clown started to get hyper, and he talked in a more fluent way out of his unusual mood, "Although I killed many innocent people when I first awakened my Blessing and lost my mind, after being touched by… by the dervish's words, I've devoted my heart and soul to the God of Truth! For no second… did I ever forget my oath! I live in darkness… to fight against darkness! I don't care how other people see me… ruthless… or crazy, I do not regret it. I did all of these to drive away darkness!"

Clown gasped hard. He had used up all his strength. His breathing started getting very weak and short. Looking at Lend, Juliana, and Minsk, Clown said, "Don't forget… our oath. Don't let off… Professor…"

"We won't…" answered Juliana with tears but in a determined way.

Lend crossed in front of his chest and started making the vow of the Night Watch in front of Clown,

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall keep watch over the darkness and abandon my all. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the opposite of darkness, the mortal enemy against evil. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that pierces the darkness. I pledge my life and honor to God to be the keeper of the light, for this night and all the nights to come."

Juliana and Minsk repeated with tears, "…I pledge my life and honor to God to be the keeper of the light, for this night and all the nights to come."

Clown reached out his left hand with great difficulty. With the hand shaking, he crossed in front of his chest, "… I pledge… my life and honor… to… to God… to be … the keeper… of the light… for this night… and all… all the nights to… come."

Clown's voice became lower and lower. His eyes slowly closed, and he could not see clearly anymore.

At this time, with his blurry consciousness, Clown heard footsteps!

Lend was the first to turn around and was shocked, "Lord Amelton!"

The female red-robed cardinal was wearing a unique-shaped biretta. She had long, black hair, and her beautiful face and eyes looked full of mercy.

"Lord Amelton!" Minsk and Juliana were also shocked to see the top leader of the Inquisition—Vila Amelton.

Was she there to catch Clown?

Would she also punish them?

However, Amelton quickly walked toward Clown and checked him using divine power. After a while, she said, "I'm here late. Clown's soul has been cut off by the Sword of Truth."

As she was saying, the white light in her hand slowly closed the horrible cut, but Clown's flesh never grew back again. His life force had been exhausted.

"Lord Amelton?" Lend noticed the different tone from the cardinal. It seemed that she was not here to take Clown.

Amelton looked at them and said seriously, "The nobles have forgotten what the Lord's given them. The Church is being timid and they have lost the glory. I believe that you all know what I am talking about."

Although feeling exactly the same way, Lend and the rest of the night watchers still didn't dare to show direct agreement in front of the highest leader of the Inquisition.

Amelton turned to Clown, "You're the most loyal guard of the Lord. On behalf of the rest of us who are discontented with the situation, I show my great respect to you. No matter if it's on the ground, or in Mountain Paradise, we're always with you. The Lord's glory will be with you. You shall never be alone."

Clown could not speak, but his heart was full of ecstasy.

"Lord Amelton, you're one of those who is discontented with the situation?" Lend asked very cautiously.

Amelton stood up and looked at them with mercy, "Yes, will you join us?"

Thinking of what happened and what was going on right now, and thinking of the glory they once had, Lend, Juliana, and Minsk crossed in front of their chest, "Only truth lives forever. We guard the Lord's glory with our life."

Clown's consciousness went completely faint as if he had fallen into a dream from which he could never awaken. He knew that death had arrived.

The last second before Clown's consciousness was gone, in his dream, he saw a silver-haired man wearing a red shirt and black coat. Holding a glass of wine in his hand, the man had a mysterious smile on his face.

"He's trying…"

Chapter 305: The Other Purpose

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In the night sky, lots of stars were circling around Lucien, who was standing on his own Host Star of Destiny, staring at the deep darkness. His black hair became messy in the wind, adding a slightly wild look to this quiet and calm young man.

Suddenly, the starry sky turned red, and a full silver moon rose quickly to the sky, which expelled the darkness.

Then, the silver moon turned into Rhine, who was wearing a red shirt and black coat. His huge bat wings extended widely in the space.

"It seems that you really like stars. Your dream is exactly the same as the last time. Is that why you chose to major in Astrology?" Rhine joked. "Come on… Of course, I know that you purposefully controlled your brain and soul before falling asleep to hide your secrets from me, Lucien. Sorcerers are boring… I prefer you as a musician… What a pity…"

Lucien was in his own dream, so he was quite confident, "Mr. Rhine, did you find anything in Clown's dream?"

"Did I ever let you down?" Rhine grinned. "Someone important came before Clown died, and the person invited the rest of the night watchers present to join them."

Before carrying out the plan, Lucien had called the projection of Rhine through the mark and asked him to enter Clown's dream to see what happened to Clown before he died, which was the reason why Natasha did not kill Clown on the spot.

"I see… So, was it Sard or Amelton?" asked Lucien calmly.

A smile slowly appeared on Rhine's face, and he asked out of some curiosity, "How did you know? It was Amelton…"

"Without Sard's silent support, it was almost impossible for Natasha to push the Church and the Inquisition this hard to their limit, and Clown wouldn't be sentenced to death this easily. Sard chose to turn a blind eye to the whole thing, so my plan worked perfectly. And the red-robed cardinal, Vila Amelton, remained silent all the time. All she did was pass on Sard's will," said Lucien. By killing the musician identity, Lucien also tested Sard, which was his other purpose.

Sometimes a scheme did not have to be very complicated, as long as it seized the enemy's true desire and will!

After Clown attacked him, Lucien added this second purpose to his plan. From the Church's response to every step he took, Lucien managed to learn what he wanted to know. And Rhine's projection into Clown's dream was the final confirmation.

Even Natasha only knew part of Lucien's plan, not to mention Clown. Therefore, Clown got very confused and fell into Lucien's trap.

Rhine smiled, "He cannot wait anymore. He's trying his best to seize every chance to break the Church apart and to increase his power, just like how the saints did before. As for the World of Souls, obviously, he even knew more about it than me. So I'm trapped here right now, but he managed to escape. I'm not sure… but probably he saw something else here. Anyway, this is a good thing for the Congress. If Sard's power manages to develop, the South Church would divide again. Seize the chance and make the right choice, Lucien."

"I don't think the Church will be further disrupted. Sard is neither a fool nor a madman. He knows what will happen if the Church splits again. No matter what Sard's purpose is, weakening the power of the Church and losing the number of its followers are not good news for him. I think he wants to be like a parasite, sucking the essence and power of the Church. One day, when he's fully prepared, say, when he becomes the pope, he is going to replace the Church with something else without changing what it is on the outside." Lucien made his own analysis, and then he continued, "So, according to me, I think when Amelton was recruiting the several night watches, her excuse should be the corruption of the Church, and the Church should go back to the right path. It's not like many years ago how the several saints divided the Church, they have decided to take a more revolution-like way, although, in fact, the ultimate purpose is still the same."

Rhine was obviously quite impressed, "You've become a wise and mature man, Lucien… although I still think the young teenager who just started learning magic was more interesting."

Then, Rhine confirmed that Clown had been dead by telling Lucien what he saw through Clown's dream.

That was a relief to Lucien. It was obviously quite a risk letting Clown run away. If Sard was involved, which, according to Lucien, was very unlikely to happen because Sard would not want extra trouble from Clown, the night watcher could still be saved. Then one day when Clown came back, Lucien's friends and family would be in great danger.

After Clown's death, Lucien felt very relieved. The last step was the funeral for the great musician, and Lucien definitely did not have to attend it.

…

Waking up from his dream, he saw the moonlight, still gentle and quiet.

Opening his eyes, Lucien thought of the grief that his relatives and friends were going to suffer from, and the thoughts made him feel pain. In order to make sure that no one could tell the difference, Lucien had to wait until the day before he left Aalto to tell uncle Joel and his family the truth and let them make their choice.

This several days were going to kill them, and Lucien felt the same way. Although his plan worked, he did not feel joyful or excited at all.

It was safe here in Natasha's War Gallery. So, Lucien got up and walked to the window. He stared at the moon and tried to calm himself down.

"You can't sleep as well?" In this quiet night, Natasha's voice also sounded very gentle.

Lucien slightly turned around and saw the princess taking a walk in the garden under the moonlight. Because of the power of the divine circle, violets and lilies in the garden were all blossoming in the sweet floral aroma.

"I can't fall asleep thinking of how horrible my family and my friends would feel tomorrow…" confessed Lucien. "I wanted to tell them the truth tonight, right now."

Natasha waved her hand, asking Lucien to come out of the room and join her.

She directly sat down on the railing of the garden, which was not a princess manner at all. However, Lucien didn't mind it either, so he sat down beside her.

Lucien smelled the light scent from the princess, but it was not from any makeup or something. The scent was clean and pure.

"I understand, Lucien. When I was lying to my father and making him sad, I felt bad. And I know it's a hundred times harder for you." Natasha patted on his shoulder. "But we can't let this affect our judgment and will of knowing what to do. We've made the decision, and we must stick to it. Maybe it sounds cold, but it brings us the best result. Being sentimental and hesitant can neither save us nor help to protect those people important to us. Just like I said, cruelty can also be a kind of mercy."

Lucien slightly nodded, "I know. I know it almost too well. I'm doing what I should, but inside my heart, I suffer a lot from the pain."

"So, just talk to me. You'll feel better," said Natasha supportively. "To be fair, we exchange things that we feel bad about."

"Sounds good. So… I feel I'm despicable. I'm using the genuine emotions of human beings as part of my plan. I let my family and friends suffer…" said Lucien in a low voice.

Natasha leaned sideways with her back against Lucien's, "The fact that you're feeling this way means you're not despicable. You're doing this for their good as well. I'm different. I know what my father wants, but I ignore it, and I don't even want to try for him. I'm the bad one."

"We cannot deviate from our path because of the expectation of someone else. We only live once. Sometimes we compromise, but sometimes we just cannot give up." Lucien did not look back but tried to comfort her.

Taking turns, the sneaking and cruel sorcerer, Professor, and the decisive and tough knight, Sword of Adjudication, shared their pain and sorrow.

Until midnight, their voice slowly became lower, and both of them felt much better.

The night was very quiet. Lucien could feel the warmth from Natasha's back. Lucien said to Natasha without turning around, "Be careful with Sard."

"Okay." Natasha knew that this was the result Lucien promised.

…

In the early morning, in the Musicians' Association of Aalto.

Franz walked into the association's building with the latest Aalto Weekly, which was another newspaper about Mr. Evans' return concert he collected.

Under the title—The Greatest Concert Ever, The Unparalleled Symphony Feast—the columnist commented, "This night was the greatest stir ever. People were crazy about this young musician, Lucien Evans, and I was one of them…"

Franz was very happy seeing these praises. After the concert, he admired Mr. Evans more than anyone else, so he felt genuinely delighted as if he was sharing the honor.

When Franz was reading the newspaper while walking, he suddenly sensed the different heavy atmosphere. Turning around, he saw the princess walking into the hall, followed by a group of guards.

The princess' sorrow and depression made the air heavy and thick.

"What… happened?" Franz thought to himself.

Chapter 306: The Bad News

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

The princess was wearing a simple black dress on that day. Her purple hair was tied back and covered with a piece of black crape, showing the curve of her long and elegant neck. She looked sad and solemn.

Walking past Franz, the princess continued toward the stairs in a cold way, as if there was nothing in her eyes.

Franz felt a bit worried. He looked around.

All the people in the hall, including the receptionist, Polly, looked as confused as him. They had no idea what happened that could make the future grand duchess this sorrowful.

Was it… the grand duke?

No… If it was the grand duke, the princess should first send the obituary notice to all of the nobles and then send the coffin to the Golden Cathedral as the pallbearer. In the Golden Cathedral, she would be crowned by the grand cardinal, Sard, and become the new grand duchess.

Was it because the heretics from the north had pushed through the northern fortress and they were right now approaching Aalto?

No… Instead of immersing herself in the sorrow using music, as an honored knight, the princess should be the noble leading the Violet Knights to fight against the enemies.

Was it because of a famous musician who just passed away?

No… Except for Mr. Christopher, who once taught Natasha music, no one in this association was qualified for the great respect and deep grief from the princess.

…Wait!

The thought came to everyone present. People in the hall wondered whether the thought was true, but no one dared to ask for verification.

Although the great young musician passed out after the concert due to the combination of excitement and his chronic disease, the princess' imperial guard had announced that Evans was going to be fine, despite the fact that it would take time for him to recover. After two days since then, except for Mr. Evans' close friends and family who managed to visit him once or twice, no one outside of the manor knew Mr. Lucien Evans' health condition.

It happened many times that acute diseases managed to take away lives within just a few minutes before a priest's arrival!

If it was Lucien Evans, the young genius, who just impressed everyone with the Symphony in D minor, Ode to Joy, and who once caught people's heart with his masterpieces, he for sure deserved the future grand duchess personally coming over to the association and breaking the grievous news.

What was more important was that the young genius musician's close relationship with the princess had been recognized, and many believed that Lucien Evans would be the future Duke of Tilan—in the Duchy of Violet, if the heir was a female, her husband would be ennobled with the title of Duke of Tilan, which brought the husband no real power, and the title was non-inheritable.

If it was Lucien Evans, the way the princess was dressing now and her irrestrainable grief all made sense!

"God… Mr. Evans is not even twenty-one…" Polly covered her mouth in a shocked manner, and there were tears in her eyes. She tried to persuade herself that it was not Mr. Evans. She prayed that it was not Mr. Evans…

After the concert, Polly had regarded Mr. Evans as the angel in charge of music and joy, and the musician who she admired and respected the most.

The newspaper slowly fell onto the floor from Franz's hands. When he visited Mr. Evans on the first day morning after the concert, the latter looked okay. After coming back from the manor, Franz immediately immersed himself in the passion and inspiration of creating his own music and thus he did not hear anything from the outside world for lots of hours.

Today, Franz left his place and came to the association. He was not here especially for collecting the newspapers praising the concert, but to find some materials in the library and then see if he could visit Mr. Evans again.

"No… No…" murmured Franz, whose thin face looked very shocked. Not being able to control his feet, Franz followed Natasha and Camil upstairs. He wanted to hear the final answer. He wanted to know Mr. Evans was fine.

…

In Mr. Christopher's office.

Othello helplessly said to this music master, "Mr. President, are you still working on the review? This month's Music Criticism and Symphony News have been postponing their issue for two days."

Although Othello was the current president of the association, he was still used to calling Mr. Christopher the president.

Victor, standing on the side, quickly took a glance at the pile of paper in front of Christopher on his desk.

Because Lucien's return concert was held on June 1st, both Music Criticism and Symphony News had decided to postpone their issuing until June 2nd. And it turned out that the concert was of such a great success that was out of anyone's expectation. When the two journals were about to hurriedly select the contribution from their regular music critics, they found that they were overwhelmed by the countless articles praising the excellency of Lucien Evans' concert. The review articles from those passionate and motivated musicians and critics were of very high quality, so both Music Criticism and Symphony News had decided to publish a supplement for this month. However, although the space for the first leading article was reserved for Mr. Christopher, this music master had been delaying for two days, and thus the journals had no choice but to wait.

Christopher seemed to be quite relaxed, as he had his own pace, "Ode to Joy has seized my heart, and its theme, structure, and melody have surpassed the level of any other symphony pieces I've ever heard before. I want to use the best and the most sincere words that I have to develop this article, and I think the article is not there yet."

"Maybe too much thinking and revision aren't going to help…" Victor was being euphemistic.

"It makes sense." Christopher nodded, "Take a look at it for me, Victor."

As Christopher was saying, he pushed several sheets of paper to Victor.

Victor picked up and sheets and read in the gentle voice, "…This is a masterpiece beyond people's imagination, the most precious treasure in the palace of symphony for anyone who is fond of music. I have this feeling that, for a long time, there is not going to be another symphony piece that can be on a par with Ode to Joy…

"But we do not necessarily have to feel sorry about it, instead, we shall feel proud and excited, for we just witnessed this glorious moment and had this firsthand experience of how thrilling a great masterpiece could be. This is a masterpiece that is going to be remembered by history. So let's leave our seats and show our great respect to Lucien Evans and his magnificent creation…

"Lucien Evans' name is well qualified to be put next to the glowing names of the music masters in the palace of music. The spirit of perseverance when facing difficulties and the will of fighting against darkness contained in Lucien Evans' music will shine forever, and thus his music pieces will shine endlessly as well!"

Following it was the comment on the symphony structure and theme. Hearing Victor's reading, Othello had a smile on his face, "Mr. President, obviously, you are a very generous man when giving praises, and your comments are, I have to say, really high. But I shall say that the comments are very accurate, as no symphony has ever fascinated me like Ode to Joy."

Before Christopher responded, someone knocked at the door, slowly but firmly.

"Yes?" asked Othello.

"Her Highness," said the guard on the other side of the door.

Othello hurriedly stood up and walked to the door together with Christopher and Victor.

When the door opened, they saw Natasha wearing the long black dress, and the sorrowful look on her face. They hurriedly asked, feeling some panic, "What happened, Your Highness?"

Natasha slightly lowered her head and crossed in front of her chest. Using the flat tone, she said, "Lucien Evans was… recalled by God in the early morning."

Her flat tone could not hide her deep grief.

"… What?!" They could not believe their ears.

Victor's head suddenly buzzed and he almost fell to the ground. Othello grabbed his arm.

Hearing what the princess just said, Franz looked very confused. Like losing his soul, Franz started wandering in the corridor. Then, he was stopped by a guard.

"I'm very sorry to tell you this, but… Lucien Evans was killed by an evil sorcerer in the early morning, because of a conspiracy that was not even really related to him," said Natasha using the Church's explanation.

People knew how close Natasha was to the young musician, and thus they all believed that what the princess just said must have been carefully verified as true. Sorrow started to spread in the corridor, and some started to sob, cursing the evil sorcerer.

Victor's face turned pale. He opened his mouth but his throat could only make some hoarse noise. Mr. Christopher's wrinkled face looked heartbroken.

Othello gently patted on Victor's shoulder, "Don't be overly sad, please, Victor. Evans' talent is incomparable, and he just created the greatest music piece in this world. God has decided to call him back to Mountain Paradise, so he could play for God. Evans is loved by God, and up there, he is going to have the eternal joy. We shall pray for him. We shall not let the pain and sorrow torture us. Evans is going to watch over us from Mountain Paradise."

"I hope so, but I'd like to be left alone right now." Victor murmured, voice trembling. Then he turned to the princess, "Your Highness, can I… can I at least take one last look at him?"

Natasha slightly shook her head, "The evil sorcerer destroyed his body… Only some… some… is left."

The tough female knight could not say the word. It was too cruel.

"What… What can we do now, Your Highness?" Othello helped Christopher sit down and then asked.

Natasha said in the same flat tone, "On behalf of the association, release the obituary notice. On the newspapers, journals, in front of the association building, across the many city zones… Tell this to all the people who like his music. In three days, there will be a funeral… for us to say goodbye to him."

Chapter 307: The Whole City's Sorrow

Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion

In a nice house, Purple Lily District.

Ryan walked to the dining table and noticed that there was a pile of newspaper on his right side, so he asked a bit confusedly, "I thought we already had the latest issue of Aalto Weekly yesterday?"

Managing a trading business, Ryan needed to know what was going on in Aalto in different fields to decide what to buy and what to sell. Therefore, he subscribed to the most comprehensive newspaper—Aalto Weekly.

After making sure that their little son was sitting on the chair safely, the wife, Elena, answered in a pretty good manner, "It's a supplementary issue, the delivery man told me."

Elena could not read. She had no idea what was on the newspaper.

Then, she started humming the lyrics of Ode to Joy in the kitchen. The family was in a quite happy mood.

Picking up the newspaper, Ryan also hummed the melody together with Elena. He started his career as an apprentice in the trading business, and although he was not the smartest among the apprentices, he was definitely the most hard-working one. Because of his perseverance, he slowly got rid of poverty and also learned how to read. Right now he was managing the business and he had a lovely family that was relatively well-off.

Therefore, his heart was deeply touched when he first heard Symphony of Fate. He fell in love with Lucien Evans' music instantly, and soon his family members all became the followers of Lucien's music.

He unfolded Aalto Weekly, and saw the bold black letter in the headline—"Obituary".

Ryan's first thought was that an important person's death was very likely to affect the price of many goods.

He continued to read, and the black typed letters looked rather depressing:

"Lucien Evans, the immortal music master, the great pianist and conductor, the innovator, the leader of the current trend of symphony, the founder, the finisher, the music genius loved by God, was recalled by God in the early morning on June 4th."

Ryan did not get it at that moment. After a while, he realized that his ears were tingling. He just could not link the obituary to Mr. Lucien Evans, who was so young and so talented…

He though that Mr. Evans could lead the development of music in Aalto for at least another several decades!

Ryan continued to read with his vision slightly blurred. The lines on the newspaper hurt his heart:

"… Mr. Evans came from the slum and managed to play in the Psalm Hall as a music master. His life has shown us the spirit of perseverance and his great willpower. His life was a glorious legend!"

"… Let us use our most profound condolences to pray for the talented young musician, wishing him the bliss in Mountain Paradise. His song of praise shall always be with God. May God bless him."

Elena walked out of the kitchen with the breakfast. She was so surprised when seeing the look on her husband's face that she almost dropped the plate.

"What happened, darling?" asked Elena hurriedly. "Why are you crying?"

"Am I…?" Ryan did not even realize the fact that there were tears in his eyes. He only knew that his eyes felt swelled and he could not see very clearly.

A tear dropped on the newspaper and it was quickly absorbed. The letters nearby became blurred.

"I can't believe it. His leaving is the greatest loss of the field of music! — Christopher"

"Maybe God wants him to play in Mountain Paradise, so Evans had to leave earlier. — Othello"

"He brought us the joy and the spirit of perseverance, but he has left us without taking anything with him. I don't want to cry, but I can't help it. — Felicia"

"He has set off for Mountain Paradise, leaving us a peak in the world of symphony that is beyond hard to conquer. The treasure he left with us is equal for everyone—young or old, rich or poor. A grateful and unyielding heart is the most valuable thing in one's life. One day, when I die, I hope to be buried close to him. — Franz"

Ryan stared at the tear stain on the paper and murmured, "I really… cried."

…

Beside the gate of Aderon District that led to the market, sad people gathered together. Some were silent, while others were sobbing. Many young ladies hugged each other, shedding their tears.

Betty, Joanna and Simon saw these people on the street as soon as they stepped out of Copper Coronet. At the same time, they saw a notice on the city wall.

They could not read, but the color of the notice told them that this was an obituary.

"Which important figure passed away?" asked Betty curiously. In her mind, she saw no reason why these poor people in Aderon should cry for the death of an important person, say, a noble or a cardinal.

Out of curiosity, Betty asked the two gate guards who also looked sad, "May I ask what this notice is about?"

Most people in Aderron did not know how to read. So one of the guards answered in a rather depressed way, "The pride of Aderon… no, The pride of Aalto… Mr. Lucien Evans… has passed away due to his serious illness."

Except Lucien's close friends, some nobles and some major members of the association knew that the young musician was killed by the evil sorcerer called Professor, other people were told by the Church that Lucien Evans passed away because of his illness. The Church had asked for the permission of the princess.

The fact that a very successful and popular musician was killed by an evil sorcerer right in Aalto would make the followers doubt the capability of the Church. They would wonder if the Church would be able to protect them from the evilness like they claimed they could.

If it was not because of Natasha's insistence, the Church would try to hide the truth from everyone.

Betty was frozen. She felt that she had lost her soul.

"Betty, what?" asked Joanna concernedly.

Betty suddenly burst out crying. She buried her head in Joanna's arms, "Evans… Mr. Evans… die… died."

Although she had been traveling around for three years, Betty was still a young lady under twenty, who was not able to control her emotions very well.

Joanna could not believe what she just heard, but she also knew that the guard would not play jokes on this. So, she patted on Betty's shoulder, although her own eyes were also holding tears, and said, "Mr. Evans was just recalled by God to Mountain Paradise, because his talent was just too outstanding. Don't cry, Betty. Work harder to become a knight and don't let Mr. Evans down…"

Betty sobbed and nodded.

…

Riding his Dragon Scale, John led a group of guards heading for the city gate of Aalto that faced the black forest.

Aalto was the last major city very close to the Dark Mountain Range, therefore it was also not far away from the fortification. It only took John about a day to come back to Aalto. He had applied for his annual ten-day vacation as soon as he received the letter from his family that his old friend had come back.

However, due to the strict regulation of the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range, and also because Natasha and Lucien were worried that John, as a knight, would notice the different power from Lucien if they lived in the same villa together, his vacation did not get approved until the third day after the concert.

Wearing the silver set of armor and purple mantle, the blond young man's eyes were full of joy. He was looking forward to reuniting with his family and old friend.

Although from time to time John had got some letters from the princess, the joy was not even close to that of talking to his old friend face to face. On his way home, John heard that his friend's concert had just achieved a huge success and everyone was humming the melody of Ode to Joy. His heart was beating faster and faster as he approached the city gate. John almost wanted to push his horse to rush back home, but there were too many people on the streets.

However, John noticed that something was wrong. Those people on the streets all looked very sad, and he heard that people were all saying the name—Lucien Evans.

The look on John's face started to get more and more serious. He sent his servant to ask what happened.

Then John heard the passerby's answer very clear, "Mr. Evans was recalled by God…"

The horsewhip in John's hand suddenly dropped onto the ground, and the sound was crispy.

…

The Aalto Weekly published later recorded this day as following:

"It seems there is a huge piece of cloud covering Aalto. People have lost their smile from the great shock. The angel of music has left this world in such a young age, and that is the whole city's sorrow."

…

Three days later, Aderon District, beside the old shanty Lucien once lived in.

A black hearse pulled by four bulls started to move slowly, following the life path of Lucien Evans, from Aderon to Gesu, then to the administrative district, and finally it would arrive in the noble district. The funeral would be held in the Golden Cathedral.

Wearing the black knight suit, John walked silently on the right front side. Behind him were Joel, Alisa, Iven, Elena, and Lucien's other friends. On the left side, Victor stood in the front, followed by Othello, Felicia and Lucien's classmates.

Christopher, because of his age, and Natasha, because of her status and the fact that she had not had a settled relationship with Lucien, were waiting in the Golden Cathedral.

The black hearse moved slowly. There was only sobbing in low volume in the air.

A poor man from Aderson district silently joined the procession.

Then, more and more people joined them. They wanted to see off Lucien Evans for the last time.