Chapter 703: Darian
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Rosen, I think you’ve been living in vain all these years. How could you have the cheek to say that? Why don’t you get your disciple to go be at the vanguard?” Andoine retorted as exasperation grew within him.
Rosen did not show any weakness. He looked up at Andoine, and said, “Andoine, don’t be so ridiculous. I have my reasons for making that suggestion. Osric is indeed the disciple of the Immortal King. There must be some similarities between the mausoleum and the Sky Castle. Felic, who had been to the Sky Castle, is the best candidate for being at the vanguard.”
“Similar? You said it yourself, it’s similar. Similar is different from identical! Aren’t you just eyeing Felic’s Tower of Dusk? You just want your idiot of a student to take over!” Andoine completely ignored Megard’s presence and cursed his heart out at Rosen.
Rosen was so infuriated that he had turned as red as a tomato. He then stood up and hollered at Andoine, “You can disagree with my opinion, but you can’t insult my character. Do you really think I’m scared of you!?”
Andoine pulled out his magic staff and sneered, “Sure, I’ve long wanted to teach you a lesson.”
“Have you guys had enough yet!?” Megard hollered.
As Megard yelled, a huge mana wave suddenly broke out, causing everyone in the conference room to hold their breaths. Andoine and Rosen were no longer bickering. Instead, they began quivering and frowning, while the veins on their foreheads began bulging. It seemed that they were under tremendous pressure that was difficult to resist.
Although Lin Li was frightened by the unparalleled, ma.s.sive mana wave, he did not feel oppressed. Obviously, Megard was only targeting Andoine and Rosen. However, Lin Li could acutely sense that Andoine seemed to be having a hard time withstanding it.
“Enough, seems like we can’t get peace today. Bring the maps home and study them carefully. I hope you guys can put in more effort on this tomorrow.” A moment later, Megard finally put the mana wave away and placed a few scrolls on the table. He then stood up and left, not giving them a chance to speak at all.
The huge oppression suddenly disappeared, and Andoine and Rosen, too, returned to their seats, staring at each other while panting heavily. That was the difference between the Sanctuary-realm and the Legendary-realm, which were worlds apart. Even though they both had level-23 powers, they couldn’t stand firm when faced with a powerhouse of the Sanctuary-realm.
After a moment of rest, Rosen stood up again and glowered at Andoine before leaving the conference hall with a map.
“d.a.m.n it!” Seeing that Rosen had already left, Andoine stood up while propping himself up against the table. However, he found it hard to leave.
The meeting to formulate a plan for exploring Osric’s mausoleum was hence temporarily suspended. After Macklin left, Lin Li and Andoine sat opposite each other. There was a map of Osric’s mausoleum laid on the table in front of them.
“Can you tell me what the heck is going on? Why is the Supreme Council suddenly so interested in Osric’s mausoleum?” Lin Li was a little depressed at this moment, but it was not because of the conflict between Megard and Rosen. Instead, it was because of the forceful intervention of the Supreme Council. It meant that most of the treasures in Osric’s mausoleum would end up becoming theirs. No one would feel great if they were in his shoes.
“Suddenly? This not sudden at all. Several years ago, the Supreme Council had already gotten track of the clues to Osric’s mausoleum, and they haven’t stopped researching at all. Of course, it’s also thanks to the two maps of yours. Otherwise, we’d have still been stuck in research.” Andoine was pleased with himself for choosing the right person. The appearance of the two maps brought him plenty of glory in the Supreme Council. If it weren’t for the fact that the arbitrator Megard was Rosen’s mentor, Andoine would have probably already become the third arbitrator because of that.
However, Andoine’s answer did not clear the doubts that Lin Li had. Instead, he got even more curious. “The treasure of the Immortal King and the Sky Castle probably cannot be hidden from the Supreme Council. If the Supreme Council had wanted to join at the start, even the elves probably wouldn’t have been able to turn them down. The Supreme Council doesn’t even take the treasure of the Immortal King seriously. Why would they be so interested in Osric’s mausoleum?”
Andoine looked at Lin Li who was full of curiosity, but did not ask him about the Sky Castle. Instead, he suddenly laughed, and said, “If I guessed correctly, the treasures in the Sky Castle that you explored were definitely limited even though each of you got your own gains. It definitely isn’t what you imagined the Immortal King’s treasure to be.”
“How did you…” Lin Li was slightly stunned, but he soon thought of a possibility; hence, he exclaimed in shock, “Could it be, that the Supreme Council had already found out about Osric plundering the Sky Castle!?”
It was no secret that Lin Li and the three other forces had explored the treasure vault of the Immortal King; hence, it was obviously impossible to hide from the Supreme Council. However, the three forces were the only ones who knew what each of them gained respectively. It would be impossible for ordinary people to find out. The likeliest reason for Andoine’s statement was that the Supreme Council had already begun investigating Osric.
“The Supreme Council has been investigating Osric for so many years, but there hasn’t been any result. Although the Sky Castle had been cleared out, it still has great value. Yet, even Osric couldn’t control it, so why would the Supreme Council waste so much time and effort on this?” However, Andoine still looked rather regretful, seemingly because he couldn’t see the Sky Castle in person, and also because no one could control the Sky Castle.
“It’s no wonder that the Supreme Council would keep close tabs on Osric’s mausoleum. It turns out that they found out long ago that this is the real greatest treasure of Anril,” Lin Li muttered resignedly.
However, to Lin Li, it was mandatory to go to the Sky Castle even though he’d already found out long ago. For the sake of the debris of the stars, Thunderbolt, Lin Li could ignore everything else and focus on obtaining it. Besides, he had gained more than just Thunderbolt in the Sky Castle. He also obtained the magical crystal that controlled the Sky Castle.
Upon hearing Lin Li’s mumbling, Andoine shook his head with a smile, and said, “Although Osric’s mausoleum seems to be the greatest treasure, the Supreme Council didn’t plan this expedition for the sake of money.”
Lin Li raised his brows and hurriedly abandoned his thoughts. “Could it be that the Supreme Council already knows that there’s something hidden in it?”
Andoine stared at the map on the ground and nodded gently. “Although you’re not a member of the Supreme Council, you’re one of the members partic.i.p.ating in this expedition. So, I have a shocking secret to tell you. It’s a secret that even most members of the Supreme Council do not know about.”
“Oh!” Lin Li hurriedly concentrated and stared at Andoine, waiting to hear the amazing secret.
“The biggest reason why the Supreme Council planned this expedition is because they found out from our research that Osric’s mausoleum contains something extremely important to them. What I’m trying to say is, if our research direction is right, I’ll be at least 80% certain that Osric’s mausoleum contains a weapon and not money. It’s a weapon that will be enough to destroy the Felan Kingdom…”
However, Andoine looked just as puzzled after revealing the secret. “However, even I myself cannot imagine what kind of weapon would actually be able to destroy the entire Felan Kingdom…”
“d.a.m.n it…” Upon hearing this, Lin Li’s heart tensed up, and a look of worry flashed in his eyes.
Weapon that could destroy the entire Felan Kingdom? The Felan Kingdom was not a small country, and despite having grown weaker over the years, they were still the strongest in Anril.
However, Lin Li also knew that that was not impossible, because he had already become the master of Osric’s Eternal Furnace, and also personally experienced the mania of that Highlord through the experience he had in the Sky Castle. The direction of research of the Supreme Council might really be correct because Connoris had once said that Osric had already moved all of the things that could be moved away from the Eternal Furnace and into his mausoleum. Hence, he reckoned that the mausoleum should contain the weapons that the Eternal Furnace lacked.
Although everything was just based on speculation, Lin Li could not help but be worried. According to various information, he deduced that the debris of the stars, Nothingness, was very likely to be in Osric’s mausoleum too. That was what he was the most concerned about. If the item that the Supreme Council was looking for had something to do with the debris of the stars, it wouldn’t be a good thing for Lin Li.
Lin Li had once had all of the debris of the stars and the Stars of Fury. Hence, he had a deep understanding of the power of the debris of the stars. Although Nothingness was not the most powerful of the seven pieces of the debris of the stars, it was powerful enough to make even the Dragon of Destruction tremble. Hence, it was likely for the Felan Kingdom to be destroyed by it too. Although the real Stars of Fury was required for all of its power to be released, the Immortal King could use mana to condense it. Even if Osric couldn’t do it, there would probably be other methods.
For the expedition to Osric’s mausoleum, Lin Li might not care about the powerful weapon that was powerful enough to destroy Felan Kingdom, but he had to obtain the debris of the stars, Nothingness. If there was any connection between the two, a conflict between Lin Li and the Supreme Council would be inevitable. After all, Nothingness was too important to him. However, the arbitrator Megard was at least in the Sanctuary-realm, and was much more formidable than Lin Li, a Legendary-mage.
Did the Supreme Council partic.i.p.ate in the exploration of Osric’s mausoleum this time for the sake of that powerful weapon? It’s no longer the Dark Age now, what do they need such a powerful and destructive weapon for!? Lin Li thought about it for a long while, but he didn’t reveal what he was thinking. Although Andoine was his teacher, the latter was also one of the authoritative figures of the Supreme Council. Hence, he was afraid that he might put Andoine in a spot.
“Of course, this is just a speculation. After all, the information we have is still too little. Most of the precious doc.u.ments from the Dark Age have been destroying during the war. Even though I’m a so-called powerful High Elven expert, I can only find out bits and pieces of information about that year. No one can be sure whether the weapon really exists or not. I also hope that our guess is wrong… “Andoine shook his head helplessly, but he didn’t seem smug about his research results.
Staring at Andoine who was suddenly sorrowful and benevolent, Lin Li had no choice but to wait in silence, because he knew very well that Andoine’s expectations wouldn’t come true. Lin Li had no idea in what form the powerful and terrifyingly destructive weapon came, but he could basically confirm its existence. His only hope was for it not to be related to the debris of the stars, Nothingness.
“It’s best to keep something like this buried in the ground forever. Otherwise, it would bring a disaster upon Anril. Seriously, a weapon capable of destroying Felan Kingdom. What has that lunatic Osric done before…” Andoine grumbled, but unfortunately, even as one of the top 10 authoritative figures of the Supreme Council, he did not have enough power to influence the decisions of the Supreme Council.
Although Lin Li had discovered some fresh information from Andoine, Lin Li was in fact more worried. How was he supposed to handle the relationship with the Supreme Council? If there was any link between the debris of the stars, Nothingness, and the item they wanted, how was he supposed to deal with that?
Lin Li left Andoine’s room while questions flooded his brain. He walked while thinking about the countermeasures he could take.
“Dear guest, your room is…” He suddenly heard someone who seemed to be calling him. Hence, he stopped and turned around, only to see a middle-aged mage who was staring at him with his eyes wide open.
“Fe… Felic,” Darian called out, staring at the young mage Lin Li with confusion. Isn’t this that country boy from Jarrosus!?!
Macklin had told Darian to carefully serve the distinguished guest, but the latter had not expected the guest to be Lin Li!
Darian definitely wouldn’t forget the young mage in front of him, because like Gerian, he, too, came from the Jarrosus Guild of Magic, and even almost caused his only nephew, Madrick, to die because of a lowly servant.