Chapter 255: Sefira Has Poisoned The Royal Palace (5)

The dark wizard Ailos had a bounty of 72,000 gold on his head. He had carried out a bombing attack in the Eslow territory, where the Sword of the South Tournament was held, and attempted to kill the southern lord by using the forbidden Dark Pages. That was the information the world knew about Ailos.

According to what Keter knew, Ailos had stolen the Dark Pages stored in Eslow’s palace, and Eslow was currently chasing after him. Not just anyone, but the lord himself.

The Dark Pages was practically divine scripture to dark mages and wizards. Even if Ailos was a necromancer and possessed the Dark Pages, it was nearly impossible to escape a lord who had surpassed Prime and neared an eight-star Irregular. Thus, the only options would have been to flee into the Demon Capital or cross into the empire.

Yet, Ailos was wandering inside the royal palace, the very heart of the kingdom he should have been escaping from. And it wasn’t Keter who found Ailos. Ailos had found Keter. But from his expression when he saw Keter, it didn’t seem intentional.

“I shouldn’t say something like this, Keter, but you always seem to show up only at important moments.”

His tone held no bad intent. If anything, there was even a sense of gladness.

Keter scanned Ailos and found it interesting that he was spotless, with not a wound anywhere.

“Where there’s trouble and incident is where a Solver is. Isn’t that obvious?”

“More like you’re always at the scene because you’re the one causing the trouble,” Ailos commented.

“So, why don’t you tell me what story lies behind you outrunning Eslow and wandering around the palace maze?”

“Strange. It almost sounds like you’re offering to help me.”

“Well, meeting at a place like this isn't an ordinary coincidence, after all.” Keter shrugged.

“

Haha

. Keter, you’re someone who doesn’t know anything about compassion or goodwill. The very fact that you’re walking this maze means you also have a purpose in the palace.”

“What’s with the long answer? Great villain who will destroy the world, are you afraid of this trivial hellion?”

“Once I complete the Dark Tome, you’ll be the first I’ll come for, Keter.”

“I can guess you came to the palace to look for the Dark Pages, but there are exactly three things that don’t make sense.”

Keter raised three fingers and folded his index first.

“First, how did you outrun Eslow’s pursuit?”

Then he folded his ring finger.

“Second, even with the Dark Pages, it should’ve been impossible for you to infiltrate the palace.”

With his last remaining middle finger, he didn’t fold it, but pointed it toward Ailos.

“Third, who told you that the Dark Pages were in the royal palace?”

Although Keter asked the question, he had already begun answering that question on his own. Eslow was a wolf. Once he bit into prey, he never let go. Yet Ailos was roaming freely. That was nonsense. Of course, an external force could have assisted Ailos. After all, he did have the Godfather of Liqueur to back him.

However, Eslow wasn’t someone who would back down just because the Godfather protected him. Besides, the Godfather was very busy with the affairs of Liqueur. Therefore, Ailos hadn’t gotten rid of Eslow. Eslow simply hadn’t pursued him. That was Keter’s conclusion.

In that case, the second mystery of how Ailos secretly entered the royal palace was naturally connected. It would’ve been possible if Eslow had helped him. And the same went for the third question. If Eslow told him the Dark Pages were in the palace, everything lined up perfectly.

Then the question becomes, why would Eslow help in creating the Dark Tome?

The Dark Tome was a forbidden book that should never be completed under any circumstances. Just possessing part of its pages was enough to defeat a five-star Master and slaughter many. Moreover, if the pages were gathered and the tome was completed, even a seven-star Prime couldn’t stop it.

However, what was most terrifying was that even the Dark Tome was merely a component of another grimoire. The Necromicon. A grimoire that killed even death. If a grimoire even sealed by the gods out of fear were to be completed, what would happen to the world?

Really, what would happen? Would the world be destroyed? Would some foreign god descend? There are rumors, but nothing confirmed. Ugh, I can’t hold back on mysteries like this.

If it were easier to find, Keter would have tried creating the Necromicon himself just to see what would happen.

“Ailos, is the Godfather’s goal to make the Necromicon? Is that why he told you to create the Dark Tome?”

From Keter’s perspective, Ailos had the guts to make the Dark Tome, but not the guts to create the Necromicon. However, the Godfather was different. He was someone who could aim for the Necromicon.

After staying silent at Keter’s continuous questions, Ailos let out a deep sigh. “I can’t tell whether you’re strange for asking things like that so casually, or whether I’m strange for finding it strange... Sometimes I’m not sure.”

“It’s only strange because you think it shouldn’t be. If something is strange, just go with it.”

“Should I? Your guess is right. Eslow made a deal with me. He’s the one who snuck me into the palace, and he’s the one who told me the Dark Pages are here. As for whether the Godfather wants the Necromicon, maybe. But I have no intention of giving the Dark Tome to the Godfather. Is that enough of an answer?”

“Don’t pretend you gave me a full answer when it really wasn’t.”

“You’re the one extracting my secrets. Then why don’t you explain how you entered the royal palace and are wandering the maze so freely? Your steps didn’t seem like those of someone who was lost at all.”

“The palace was too quiet, so I came in to make it lively. Which is why I think we can work together.” Keter nudged Ailos’s side with his elbow. “Just tell me where your destination is. I’ll find it for you.”

***

Ailos stared intently at Keter.

“You got in my way all you wanted last time, and now you want to help me? Help me find the Dark Pages?”

He had even threatened that once he completed the Dark Tome, he would come for Keter first. Yet, Keter said he would help.

What kind of person are you, Keter?

In Liqueur, Keter had been alone. Because he was alone, he had nothing to lose. Strictly speaking, there was Daat, but that was just one person. On the other hand, what about the current Keter? He had a family, even a clan. Not just any clan, but a noble one. A noble family which contained the lives of thousands.

Aren’t you afraid of losing all of that? Or do you believe I won’t do such a thing?

Ailos felt no need to ask aloud. Even if he asked, Keter wouldn’t answer straightforwardly, and even if he did, there was no guarantee it could be believed.

That’s why I like you and want to kill you. Humans always show their truest behavior before the moment of death.

Ailos shook his head to get rid of his thoughts, and placed his hand on his waist. “A Solver offering help is reassuring. So you know where the Dark Pages are?”

“I don’t. But Eslow must have given you a hint. You wouldn’t have entered this maze with no plan.”

Even though Keter acted like a crazy man, he was smart. He was so accurate, especially when it came to deduction, it was as if he could peer into the past. Not only Ailos, but anyone who spoke with him always felt they were at a disadvantage because of it.

“The underground royal library. He said I can find the Dark Pages if I find the scribe without eyes.”

“Damn riddles. I wondered why one hadn’t been mentioned until now.”

“So, do you know where it is?”

Keter pointed at the ground and seriously said, “It’s an underground library, so it’ll be underground.”

“I’m not asking because I don’t know that. I’m asking if you know where the stairs or passage leading down are.”

Ailos had wandered this maze for a full month. It was possible because he was an undead and was able to go without eating or sleeping. If he had been an ordinary human, he would have starved to death.

“There are stairs in every corridor, but it didn’t seem like they led down. Even when I went up, the number of floors never changed. Don’t tell me to dig a hole in the floor. The guards will come if even a little noise is made.”

“The person who made this maze was a psycho, so it would never be easily destroyed. Even if it were me, I wouldn’t let anyone get away with trying to break through the maze. Too much work goes into making something like this.”

“Save the admiration for later. If you don’t know how to reach the underground library, the only option is to kidnap a guide.”

“Every guide knows different locations, so that’s pointless. Besides, even if I don’t know where the underground library is, I think I know the path to get underground.” Keter began walking ahead.

Ailos walked beside him and said, “Keter, you act like you’ve been to this palace before. It feels like you know the routes well.”

“Don’t talk to me. I’m moving based on intuition right now.”

Keter cut Ailos off and focused all his attention on finding the path, or at least pretended to.

They eventually arrived at a dead end with stairs, and Ailos’s eyes widened.

“Interesting. I’m sure this was a corridor I’ve passed before. Dozens, no, hundreds of times. But why is the result different now? This is definitely a place I’ve never been before.”

However, there wasn’t just one staircase leading down. There were four. In the palace maze, the concept of going back didn’t exist. If they tried turning back because a path seemed wrong, they would end up somewhere completely different. In other words, when a choice had to be made, it had to be made carefully.

Knowing this, Ailos carefully inspected each staircase, trying to determine which one was correct. But Keter headed toward a completely unexpected staircase.

“Keter, what are you doing? That one goes up.”

Of the staircases, two went upward. Keter placed his foot on the one to the right. “It’s a shift in perspective. You just have to overturn the common sense that says you can only reach the underground by going down. In fact, going up leads to the lower levels.”

“What? Are you saying such high-dimensional spatial magic was applied to this maze?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? This kingdom has a wizard who manipulates space and time, after all.”

Keter only knew this because he had rampaged through the palace in his previous life. Without that experience, he never would have known. However, that was as far as that advantage went.

At the boundary between the staircase and the hallway, Keter stopped walking and turned back.

“Starting here is the underground, and beyond this point, even I don’t know.”

Even without Keter saying so, they could clearly feel that this place was the boundary between the underground and the ground level. The corridor had no windows, making it pitch-dark. There seemed to be some faint source of light, but it wasn’t possible to tell where it came from or why.

However, darkness was a specialty of dark mages and wizards. Even without help, finding one’s way wouldn’t be difficult. Ailos didn’t feel disappointed. If anything, he would have refused if Keter insisted on accompanying him to the end.

“I can’t believe you found something I couldn’t find for a month within an hour... You’re truly a solver. What do you want in return?”

For a mage and a wizard, a fair exchange was non-negotiable. No matter how trivial, accepting something for free would ruin the foundation of magic. And that was especially true when the other party was Keter.

Keter smiled and said, “I’ll take care of that myself.”

Keter’s hand moved swiftly. Ailos instinctively took a defensive stance, thinking Keter was about to attack him, but that reaction was only half-correct. Keter had indeed attacked. He had formed an Aura Arrow and thrown it, but the target wasn’t Ailos.

The arrow embedded itself on a random wall. It was an Aura Arrow infused with an aura laser strong enough to cut through orichalcum, yet not even a scratch appeared on the surface of the wall. Instead, both sides of the entire corridor were suddenly lit in red light.

Ailerus briefly wore a puzzled expression, unable to understand why Keter had attacked the wall. Then, he suddenly remembered Keter’s reason for entering the royal palace.

“The palace was too quiet, so I came in to make it lively.”

At that moment, Keter turned Ailos’s suspicion into certainty.

“A dark wizard! A dark wizard has appeared!”