Chapter 46: Unexplored Forest
Fifteen minutes later, Charles reached his house and soon furrowed his brows as he heard an argument from the reception hall.
To his surprise, he saw Bishop Reynolds, Lady Charlotte, Mr. Hunt, and Ethan Walker seated on the ornate sofa on the right side and were discussing something serious.
To their opposite side, he saw a white-haired old man, whom he had met a few weeks ago; Saron White, two other old-looking men, sat on the ladderback chairs and appeared to be listening to their discussion. In the meantime, Eve Nightwind held a place full of glass bottles and served the orange juice glasses.
With light footsteps, Charles walked in and attracted others' attention in an instant.
"Why are they all gathering here?" Without minding their gazes, he stared at Eve Nightwind's back and asked.
"They are here to talk to you," Eve said as she turned around, took a few steps forward, and gave him a glass of orange juice.
"Talk to me?" Charles took the glass with his right hand and then turned his gaze towards Bishop Reynolds.
Noticing his gaze, Bishop stopped taking the sip and said in a casual tone.
"I arranged this meeting, Charles." He paused for a moment as he took a large sip from the orange juice glass, gulped it down, and then added while placing his trembling hand on his lap.
"All of them here are trusted members of Life Church and would help you obtain the Holem's Crown at the cost of their own lives."
"All of them?" Charles asked as his gaze swept past Bishop Reynolds and soon landed on the two old-looking men seated on two wooden chairs. One guy had blonde hair, a sharp nose, a lean body, a pale face, and emerald eyes, while the other guy had silver hair, a round nose, a slightly obese body, and pupil-less eyes. Both wore blue robes, strange wheel-symbolic badges, and strange tattooed shoes and looked more like wizards from a particular fictional series.
"They are mages of Life Church. Both are Rank-2 mages with considerable battle experience. Blonde hair guy's name is Logan Myth, and he is a Rank-2 [Lightning Man]. As for the silver one, his name is Leo Blue, and he is a Rank-2 [Spatial Blinker]."
Charles greeted them with a nod and soon shifted his gaze towards Charlotte and Ethan Walker.
"Ethan Walker is originally a member of Withering Shadows in the past. Due to some personal reasons, he and Charlotte stayed undercover in Riverdale City and is currently acting as husband and wife." Without waiting for Charles to ask more questions, Bishop said.
"What about Mr. Hunt? Don't tell me... Are Mr. Hunt and Lady Charlotte husband and wife?" Charles widened his eyes for a moment and soon nodded in understanding.
'Heh, so that's why the Holy Knight always sneaked into Ethan Walker's mansion and ends up gaining the title of Wife Stealer.'
"What about Lady Charlotte's Rank?" Charles didn't put much thought into their personal affairs and soon asked.
"Charlotte is Rank-2 [Reader], a [Student] class Mystic." Bishop Reynolds didn't hide anything and responded in an instant.
Even Charles became stunned by his words and soon asked another question.
"What about Derrick's father then? Why is he here?" He knew that Derrick's father was not a member of Life Church and became puzzled.
"Sir Carter is a Rank-3 [Seeker], a [Historian] class Mystic. I asked him to come here and attend this meeting, son." This time, Eve interjected their talking and said in a solemn tone.
"Because of his Rank-3 power strength, we also agreed to her suggestion." Bishop Reynolds also said with a nod and then took the opportunity to gulp the whole glass of juice in one go. After that, he took out a pointy-leaf from his pocket and stuffed it in his mouth.
In the meantime, Hunt heaved a deep sigh and said.
"To put it more simply, when the Holem's Crown revealed its presence, we will work together and capture it before others do. After that, we will hand it to you as per the agreement and would help you to gain full control over it."
Charles wasn't surprised by their decision. He acted like he was in deep thinking, rubbed his template for a moment, and then spoke.
"Mr. Hunt, you are wrong about one thing. A-035 is not a normal Series-A Artifact and has the power to do miracles. Although I'm its successor, it doesn't seem to be willing to serve under me. So, do you think a bunch of Rank-2 and three Rank-3 Mystics have the power to force the Holem's Crown to submit to us?" Without waiting for Hunt to respond, Charles shook his head and continued.
"Moreover, I also heard from Father Reynolds that this A-035 could see the 'past' itself. Using normal methods to capture this artifact would never work against it."
"What do you suggest then?" Bishop's stared at Eve with wide red eyes and asked.
"I'm on your left side, Father. As for your question, I do have some plans. But to achieve that, I need all of your help."
Everyone straightened their backs as they heard his words and waited for him to continue.
"Before that, what do you guys know about the Unexplored Forest?" Charles wore a mysterious smile on his face and asked.
"Unexplored Forest? It's the treasure house for Explorers and Adventurers and has some connection with the Abyss Plane. I heard that a total of 128 Chaos Rifts were hidden in the Unexplored Forest, and these Rifts are the main reasons for the previous Planar Invasions. Some say that these Chaos Rifts are still connected to the Abyss and other Chaotic Planes and would activate once in a millennium. As for the dark creatures hidden in the deep area, I knew nothing about them." Carter took the initiative and explained what he had known from his years of experience as an Explorer.
At this time, another voice came. It was Bishop Reynolds!
But Charles felt a sense of mystery and profoundness in his words.
"Unexplored Forest has some deep connection with the Ancient Era. It's an Era where Gods and Mages united and explored the cosmos together. There were no Class gems, nor do peoples have other methods to understand the secrets of the mysterious powers. Only Mages and Divines ruled the World...
No, only Divines, Warlocks, and Mages ruled the Universe. But that soon came to an end when a mysterious 'Taboo Existence' collected the 100 divinities of 'Luck' and created the 'Class-Gem' path by casting an Ultimate Miracle." Bishop Reynolds stared vacantly at the ceiling and said in a weird monotonous tone, causing everyone to stare at him in wonder.
"Hush! His consciousness entered the Divine Kingdom of Life." Hunt stood up from his seat and muttered in shock.
"Is that a rare occurrence?" Charles was clueless about that part, so he asked with a frown. When Bishop said something about entering the divine kingdom last time, he didn't put much thought into it. But now, he was a little surprised inside.
"It's a very rare occurrence. It's the third time Lord Bishop is entering the Divine Kingdom of Life in his whole life. Whenever he enters this state, his soul will be linked to the Goddess Nira's divine kingdom, and he would be able to ask answers from one of the Goddess Nira's incarnations." Hunt paused for a moment and soon added.
"Ask another question before he awakens."
Nodding his head, Charles folded his hands and asked.
"What is going to happen in the Unexplored Forest?"
"Tragedy. It will be an orchestrated encounter. You can't escape from the 'Fate'." Bishop paused for a second and soon added with a weird creepy smile on his face.
"Face it. Face the 'Fate' and reborn as a new."
Before Charles could utter a word in response, Bishop Reynolds gasped for breathing and soon slumped on the sofa.
Upon seeing the strange incident, Charles closed his jade eyes and soon fell into deep thoughts.
'Unexplored Forest... City Ruins... Orchestrated Encounter... Face the 'Fate'... Tragedy... Red-Hair... Red Prince... Fate... Fate... Someone is manipulating the strings... Multiple Coincidences... Is this related to the [Astrologer] Class Mystic? Arbiter Willy also said something about an Irregular...' Multiple words whirled in his mind and soon connected to a single person in his mind.
"[Watcher]" He muttered out loud and soon asked.
"Do any of you know anyone with the title of [Red Prince] or [Watcher]?"
Saron suddenly raised her hand, wiped the corner of her red lips, and said.
"He might be a member of the 'Fate Rulers'. Most of the [Astrologer] Class Mystics are members of this ancient organization, while the rest are members of the Lawful Churches. Unlike other organizations, this organization is a secretive organization with no goal…
No, I would say that this organization was born to create disturbance in other's Fates. The members of this organization are manipulators of Fates and would cause strange variations in everyone's life. I once heard from the Wisdom Church Bishop that the Fate Rulers are lurking in every city and are manipulating everyone's life from behind the scenes. That's the reason all the Churches put bounties on the entire Fate Rulers' heads."
"How many members are there in this strange organization?" Eve leaned her back on the granite wall and asked. Although she heard about the organization in the past, she didn't know much about its information.
"I have no idea about the numbers. But there must be more than thousands."
"Thousands..." Charles sucked in a cold breath and soon understood the seriousness.
'If what Saron White said is true, then we are in serious trouble. But what can I do now? Watcher's identity is still shrouded in mystery, and I knew nothing about him. Even if I found out about his identity, do I have the power to fight against him? I couldn't even hold off against the half-baked Addie Baker. If not for Team Leader Emilia's warning, I would have killed on that day.' Charles thought for a moment and soon spoke.
"If my guess is true, someone had already found a city ruin. They seemed to be planning to go alone, but I don't think it's possible. Within a week or two, someone will expose the city ruin's location and reveal it to everyone. So, you guys should form a team with some explorers and go there. I will also go to the ruin in disguise and wait for the Holem's Crown to show its presence. Till then, you guys should hide your strength and act as normal Mystics."
At first, Charles planned something else in his mind, but Bishop Reynolds's sudden prophetic words changed his whole plan. After some discussion, the gathered Mystics walked out of their house one by one, leaving only Eve, Saron, Carter, and Charles in the reception room. Without minding Saron's curious gaze, Charles sat on the ornate sofa and then turned his gaze towards the old man Carter.
Noticing his gaze, Carter made a fake cough and said.
"You have changed, Charles."
"Everyone has their reasons, uncle." He purposefully paused for a second while taking out a book from his space ring and gave it to Carter.
In puzzlement, Carter caught the book and opened it to see the content. He flipped the empty pages one by one in confusion and soon stopped in front of a handwritten page.
As he stared at the content for a moment, Carter instantly understood the reason and started decoding those messy words.
After five minutes of struggle, he let out a chuckle and read the content out loud.
"Keep an eye on the target all the time and be careful of the Life Church members. If you met an anomaly, use your full force and kill the other party. To seek the truth, we need to make some sacrifices. 'For the True Fate.'
By- The Red Prince."
Carter read the content with a solemn tone and then shifted his gaze towards Charles.
'Red Prince…' He muttered the name and soon shook his head.
"It's nothing serious, Uncle. I just found this book on the road and became curious about these strange words. But I didn't expect that this book is a secret letter."
"It looks like a troublesome book. I don't know what you are doing in secret, but be careful of this Red Prince. First, give this book to Bishop or some other person with high-authority; they will find use some artifact and might learn more information about this mysterious 'Red Prince.'" Carter felt something was not right about the contents and gave him a suggestion.
Without even waiting for Charles to nod, he stood up from his seat and said to Eve in a solemn tone.
"It's getting late. I'll be leaving now, My Lady."
After that, he bowed his head to Saron and then to Charles and walked out of the reception room in hurried footsteps.