410 Outside of the Underground Palace (1/2)

In a remote area of Antiffler, a dim ball of light emerged in the darkness and then suddenly expanded into a mysterious gate.

The gate was fiercely pushed open, from which Lucien walked out.

And then everything went back to normal.

Spreading out his spiritual power, Lucien examined the surroundings very carefully.

This was a wooded area with small hills. Except for the several startled animals that were able to resist the cold, there was nothing else nearby.

Lucien finally could lower his guard, and he put the Space Jump scroll back into his magic pouch.

The enchanted seventh circle spell, Chaos Teleportation, could send the caster to an undesignated place. Lucien could have ended up showing up in White Maple Palace of Antiffler, in a cathedral, or in the middle of a random street.

But Lucien got lucky this time. Maybe it was because of the power of the underground palace, or maybe it was because of the special connection formed by Lucien turning himself into Beaulac, Lucien had been sent to the place very close to the villa where Beaulac was hidden.

Casting Invisibility on himself, Lucien rushed toward the direction of the villa.

Lucien decided to leave something for Beaulac.

With these many things happening, Lucien would not bear the risk for staying in Antiffler to improve Beaulac's blood power.

However, Lucien was such a man of his word that he did not want to break his promise. Beaulac, willingly or not, helped Lucien a lot, so Lucien should pay him back.

…

In the old manor of the Gorse family, oppressed by the silence, the nobles all looked very gloomy. Some of them were being seized by the deep sorrow, as their beloved children had died in the competition, in spite of the fact that the competition was always claimed to be very safe by the Gorse family.

”… So this is what happened…” said Ulrich, the Gorse Duke, in deep grief, ”A mysterious senior-rank sorcerer fooled us with his unknown transfiguration spell and went down into the underground palace. In the palace, he summoned the ancient demon and controlled Sir Metatron, launched slaughter, and took away our family's treasure, the Sun Staff. By the time when the rescue force managed to get in, Sir Metatron had sacrificed himself, thus Prince Beyer, Princess Sophia, and a few lucky young men were able to survive.”

”I understand how you are feeling,” continued Ulrich, ”as our family also lost Arthen, Relph, and Sir Metatron. The Gorse family will try our best to meet your demands.”

This was the ”truth” which had been negotiated by the Duke and the Princess. They put all the blame on the mysterious sorcerer. And before the underground palace was broken in, they had decided to kill Relph to make sure the true version of the story would not be revealed.

The rest of the young nobles who joined the competition were all involved in the assassination of the Prince, and they would keep it as a secret within their families. Meanwhile, they had been put to sleep by Lucien, thus they had no idea what happened to Sir Metatron.

Count Porti, whose face resembled Duda, said in a stiff voice, ”Demand? I've only got one demand - Find the damned sorcerer! I'll cut him into pieces!”

Duda was his most beloved son.

The rest of the representatives of the noble families agreed. They did not choose to turn into enemies against the Gorse family, since those families which managed to send their youngsters to the competition all had close connections with the Gorse family.

There was no need to suddenly turn hostile because of such an unexpected tragedy. Also, the loss of the Gorse family was way heavier than theirs.

Therefore, the nobles showed their understanding.

”You have my word,” said Ulrich decisively, ”and the Gorse family shall never give up as well. We must find this vicious sorcerer and burn him to ashes in the underground palace! Although currently, we still haven't figured out who he is because of the creepy transfiguration spell he used. We sent Count Nuremburk to find the grand cardinal, Sir Inman, and the grand cardinal has arrived here. Sir Inman will use divine power in the underground palace to find more clues about the sorcerer.”

Count Mecklen nodded with a gloomy face. AlthoughCount Mecklen did not like his son much, Deniz was still his blood.

…

Ten minutes later, the grand cardinal, Inman, who looked middle-aged, walked into the underground palace accompanied by the nobles.

However, the result was to their great disappointment.

”The sorcerer was very careful. The fight between the sorcerer and Sir Metatron caused a lot of damage here, and many clues have been erased,” said Inman in a tone full of mercy.

Count Porti's breath became heavy and blue veins popped out on his hands, ”Sir Inman, are there any other ways to identify the sorcerer? Are we just letting the young nobles die for nothing? The damned sorcerer deserves the sentence and punishment from God!”

No one present could accept such a result.

Inman remained silent for a few seconds and then nodded, ”I'll pray to God to receive the instruction.”

Level nine divine spell, Pray!

Porti suddenly cheered up. ”Thank you… Thank you so much, Sir Inman!”

Under the many nobles' gaze, Inman and went down on his knees, holding the Saint Truth badge.

The nobles also followed him.

A cluster of pure light enveloped Inman, and in the embrace of the light, Inman said in low voice,

”My almighty God, please reveal to me who the sorcerer in the underground palace is.”

The emotionless voice came from an unknown direction above, ”Sixth circle, from the Congress of Magic. He has way more powerful magic items than a senior rank sorcerer usually possesses.”

Apparently, the information given was not enough for Inman to discover the identity of the sorcerer. Any students of a legendary archmage could possess more powerful magic items than a senior-rank sorcerer.

But the voice just disappeared, and it never came back again.

After a while, Inman stood up and said to the nobles, ”He is a student of a legendary archmage. The archmage interfered with my power, so the information revealed is limited. Hopefully, it's helpful.”

Hearing Inman's words, Ulrich ground his teeth in anger, ”There are only a few hundred sixth-circle sorcerers in the Congress of Magic. One by one… I'll find you!”

…

In the White Maple Palace of Antiffler.

Sophia said to the majestic middle-aged man, ”Father, do you know who he is?”

In the underground palace, Sophia saw how her father, Rudolf II, destroyed the clues left in the hall, and how he interfered with Inman's praying just now. Sophia thought that her father had the answer.