Chapter 121
Aden’s current and sole objective was to bring his former comrades to ruin as an act of revenge.
And now, the Knight King, Sylbeta Sias, had been dealt with.
Three remained.
The Iron-Blooded Saint, Spica.
The Archmage, Shaura.
The Grand Alchemist, Kalsis.
To deal with them, he first needed information about them.
‘Especially now that the future is increasingly deviating from what I knew.’
For that reason, Aden tasked the Silver Witch, Niketa, with investigating the movements of these three and monitoring changes in their surroundings.
She was the head of orthodox warlocks and the owner of the intelligence organization “White Moon,” making her well-suited for the job.
“A report, Aden-nim.”
“Niketa.”
Niketa’s voice emanated from the white dove, her familiar.
“The investigation went well, I assume?”
“Of course. The noble Lord of the Underworld’s command! We poured all of White Moon’s intelligence capabilities into the investigation. If it can be of any help to you, my lord…!”
“Yes, yes, thank you. You’ve done well.”
If she were right in front of him, it was obvious she’d be looking at him with shining eyes of admiration.
Aden was slowly getting used to wearing the mantle of the Underworld’s avatar.
“Dragon Slayer, do you have no conscience?”
‘Damn. What else can I do? Should I reveal the truth?’
Imagine Aden saying this:
“Hello, Niketa. Actually, I’m not the avatar of the Underworld’s lord but a returnee who possessed the body of a duke’s wastrel. In my previous life, I was the apprentice of the Mercenary King, and I killed you and your subordinates. I even stabbed the Underlord you revere in the gut, which led to my comrades betraying me. Haha.”
…It only painted a future of ruin.
If she discovered the truth, she’d crush him before he could even achieve his revenge, so for survival, he had no choice but to get used to exploiting this misunderstanding.
“Now, I will report in order. First, information on Kalsis of Immortalia.”
The first report was about Kalsis.
There wasn’t much noteworthy information.
Like most imperial alchemists, he was holed up in the Alchemist Tower, Oroboros, rarely coming out.
Occasionally, his attendants ran minor errands.
Apologetically, the white dove bowed its head.
“Oroboros’s surveillance is too strict, so we couldn’t find out what’s happening inside. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. This was somewhat expected.”
Kalsis was likely the toughest to deal with immediately.
Not because he was the strongest among them.
‘Rather, he’s weak.’
Despite consuming various alchemical potions and elixirs and possessing a reasonably strong body for an alchemist, to Master Aden, his body was laughably pathetic.
In this timeline, he wouldn’t yet be the master of Oroboros Tower, and his alchemical achievements would be lower than in the future, so in a one-on-one fight, he was the easiest to deal with among the three.
‘The problem is his status and the difficulty of creating a one-on-one situation.’
He was a royal, a prince related to the current emperor.
In the Immortalia Empire, unless the first prince had a significant flaw, he inherited the emperor’s crown, and the second prince traditionally dedicated himself to the Alchemist Tower, Oroboros, learning alchemy and becoming its master.
Living safely under the protection of the imperial family and the heavily guarded Alchemist Tower was his turtle shell.
For now, the best he could do was to keep an eye on his movements.
‘There will definitely be an opportunity later.’
Aden was convinced of this.
“Next is information on the wizard ‘Shaura’ and the current status of the Anguis Magic Tower.”
The second report was on the Archmage Shaura.
‘She isn’t an archmage yet.’
The title of Archmage was reserved for those who reached the 8-star level, equivalent to the level of a high superhuman in terms of mana warriors.
She would not yet be the master of the Anguis Magic Tower or an archmage.
Of course, that didn’t mean she would be easy to deal with.
“She reached the 7-star level about a year ago at the age of twenty-one. Because of this unprecedented achievement, she’s causing a stir in the magic tower nation as the youngest high-level mage. Indeed… her skills are remarkable.”
Niketa was somewhat impressed even as she reported.
Typically, even those considered heaven-sent geniuses didn’t reach the high-level mage status until after forty, and most who dedicated their lives to the path of magic never even came close.
For her, who reached the master warlock level in her early twenties, to be impressed showed just how extraordinary Shaura was.
‘Indeed, Shaura.’
She was a mage with natural talent as if the heavens had made a mistake.
Now she was called the ‘youngest high-level mage,’ but in a few years, she would rise another circle and gain the prestigious title of ‘youngest archmage.’
“And, as is often the case, there are severe disputes between the Southern Great Forest Confederation and the Anguis Magic Tower. Negotiations for mediation are underway.”
“Yes, that would be expected.”
Aden nodded.
The Southern Great Forest Confederation.
Directly south of Anguis lived numerous primitive tribes.
‘They live in the unknown forests of the south.’
Over a hundred tribes formed a confederation led by the strongest, the ‘Great Chieftain.’
That was the Southern Great Forest Confederation.
One couldn’t dismiss them just because they were primitive tribes.
They honed their wildness and strength to survive the monsters of the unknown forest.
‘Especially their taming skills and shaman’s spells are tricky to deal with.’
Living in harmony with nature, they honed taming skills to control not just fierce wild animals but even monsters.
And although not as systematically developed as magic, the shaman’s spells wielded formidable power comparable to magic.
The Anguis Magic Tower, pursuing the development of magic and civilization.
The Southern Great Forest Confederation, pursuing the strength and wildness of nature.
Mages scoffed at and despised the forest tribes living like beasts, while the tribesmen shuddered at the mages’ arrogance and elitism.
With such contrasting pursuits, clashes were inevitable, leading to frequent disputes and incidents.
‘And in the end, it wouldn’t just be a dispute, but a full-scale war.’
The incident started when a wizard from the Anguis Tower secretly massacred a small village belonging to the Tribal Alliance to test his achievements.
This wizard’s magical achievements were outstanding, but he regarded humans other than wizards as beasts, and he particularly viewed the humans of the southern forest as insects.
However, when the Tribal Alliance found out about this, their enraged warriors engaged in combat with the wizard and killed him.
The wizard had underestimated the fearsome warriors of the Alliance, believing solely in his magic.
The furious Tribal Alliance demanded a sincere apology and compensation, but the Tower, instead, blamed the Alliance for killing a promising wizard.
‘Several negotiations took place but ultimately broke down. And then, catastrophe.’
In a few months, a great war would break out between the Anguis Magic Kingdom and the Great Southern Forest Tribal Alliance.
‘Initially, the Tower would dismiss and underestimate them.’
Thinking, what could such uncivilized people who can’t even use magic do?
However, the resilience they had honed in the wild was formidable, and after suffering repeated defeats, it was only when the Tribal Alliance’s warriors stormed the gates of the Anguis Tower that the Tower realized their complacency.
‘And then Shaura single-handedly crushed the Tribal Alliance’s army.’
She incinerated all the Alliance’s warriors with her specialty, fire magic, and to completely eradicate them, she burned down the entire Great Southern Forest where the Alliance resided.
More than 90% of the forest’s inhabitants perished, and the Tribal Alliance was obliterated, turning into ashes along with the forest.
This event led to Shaura being praised as the ‘War Hero of the Inferno’ who saved the country in Anguis, while the few survivors of the tribes cursed and feared her, calling her the ‘Demon of Fire, Shaura.’
She was one of the five heroes who fought against the Talos army of the Underlord.
This was another face of the Archmage Shaura.
Ultimately, the difference between a butcher and a hero was just a thin line.
‘In any case, the negotiations will break down, and war will ensue.’
That might be the perfect opportunity to target Shaura.
For now, it was enough to watch the situation and prepare little by little until the right time came.
– And lastly, here is the information about the priestess named ‘Spica’ and the Slaughter Cult.
Aden received the final report on the Slaughter Cult and the Slaughter Tower from Niketa.
‘At this time, the Iron-Blooded Saint must still be a candidate for the saintess position.’
The Slaughter Cult, a slightly deranged religious group worshipping the gods of slaughter and death.
In that place, the saintess was the master of the Slaughter Tower and the head of the cult.
In fact, she was the trickiest among the targets of revenge.
‘I can’t figure out what that ruthless woman wants…’
Aden’s goal was to ruin and plunge his betrayers into despair.
For that, understanding the desires and ambitions of his enemies was essential. Only then could he shatter those ambitions and drag them into despair.
In the case of Shaura and Kalsis, their ambitions were similar: personal growth and expansion of power.
‘But the Iron-Blooded Saint Spica has no such ambition.’
If one were to describe her in a single phrase, it would be this:
‘A doll born solely for slaughter.’
When a monster appeared, she killed it.
When she found an evildoer, she smashed their skull with her fist.
She slaughtered anyone who opposed the Slaughter God and the Slaughter Cult.
That was the operating principle of the Iron-Blooded Saint Spica.
She always wore an expressionless face as if she had no emotions and rarely spoke unless absolutely necessary.
During the Great War against Talos, Aden and his comrades rarely saw her speak properly.
She was truly a saintess like a doll made solely for fighting.
Such was the Iron-Blooded Saint, a genius in martial arts and the master of the Slaughter Cult.
How could one bring despair to someone who seemed to have lost all human desires?
‘Well, for now, we have no choice but to investigate slowly and learn more.’
The Iron-Blooded Saint Spica would become a saintess a few years from now.
Currently, she was just a chosen priestess bearing the Holy Mark of the Slaughter God, a candidate for the saintess position.
‘The current saintess is still alive.’
The current saintess, who had built up the Slaughter Tower over decades, would enjoy a natural lifespan and pass away in 4 to 5 years.
After that, her successor Spica would awaken as a saintess and become the strongest saintess in history, leading the priests of the Slaughter Cult, the servants of the blood-spilling god of the wasteland.
So there was still about 5 years of time, which meant Aden could afford to take things slowly.
That was certainly how it should have been…
Aden doubted his ears at Niketa’s subsequent report.
– Spica Lunios. Until recently, she was a saintess candidate, but now she is the 54th saintess of the Slaughter Cult.
“…What?”
At Aden’s query, Niketa elaborated with a slightly bewildered tone.
– Well… it seems she recently killed the former saintess of the Slaughter Tower and usurped the position.
“……”
It appeared that the future had changed drastically.
And in a very unexpected direction.