Chapter 247 - The Birth of a New Emperor (5)

Just as Henry had planned, the imperial palace hosted an official speech event to declare to the world that Arthus was alive and well. During the event, he revoked the wizard execution order and officially announced the end of the continental conquest.

The emperor’s sudden change of heart left everyone perplexed, but with the war being officially over, the prices were finally stabilizing, and the anxiety that permeated the entire continent finally subsided.

This wasn’t the only measure they took.

Henry informed the existing allies, including the City Alliance, that the emperor was actually Ten under Arthus’ appearance. He wanted to let them know what was actually going on so that they could further focus on stabilizing the masses and the prices.

Everything had unfolded according to Henry’s meticulous plan, which meant he could focus entirely on hunting Arthus down.

“Skall.”

Henry’s first move toward tracking down Arthus was to summon Skall. Once Henry took the necessary steps, Toad Skall, the Exchange Spirit, which was half-beast, half-human, appeared.

-It’s been a while. How have you been?

After Henry summoned it, Skall greeted his old friend with praise for his successful return.

“It sure has been a while. How have you been?”

-I couldn’t have been any better. Thanks to you, life in that world wasn’t so boring. I’ve been watching everything you’ve been doing!

“I knew you would.”

Skall was a spirit from another world, and he had the ability to observe everything that happened in the human world, so he had kept an eye on every move Henry had made. Knowing what he had done, Skall was extremely proud of Henry.

Skall continued speaking.

-You’re still on the path to becoming a complete Archmage, but you should still be congratulated for what you’ve done so far. Alright then! What made you summon me this time?

“I want to know where Arthus is.”

-I knew it! I knew you would ask that. However... I wish I could tell you where he is... But there’s a bit of a problem.

“Problem?”

Henry furrowed his brow after hearing the word ‘problem.’ As long as he was in the human world, Henry knew that there weren’t a ton of things he wasn’t capable of doing. Because of this, negative words like ‘problem’ didn’t seem to go along with him.

-Yeah, deep down, I really do want to give you his location, but unfortunately, he is no longer an ordinary human being.

“What do you mean by that? He's no longer human?”

-I mean it literally. He’s being favored by someone so high up that not even I can dare look at. So I can't tell you anything about him. That someone really doesn’t want anyone else to look at Arthus, or even talk about him.

Henry had a hard time understanding what Skall was telling him. He also found it hard to believe that there was a figure which Skell regarded with such reverence. After all, Skall was considered a special spirit, one that no other spirits could compare to.

Given that, Henry was naturally curious, so he asked, “Can you tell me who or what that high being is?”

To this straightforward question, Skall shook his head and crossed his arms to form an X.

-Nope. Not even I can help you on this one. One mistake could actually lead to me disappearing out of existence.

“That’s ridiculous. I know that the Spirit King can’t even give your orders... Who on earth is putting that kind of pressure on you?”

-Don’t even bother to guess. Anyway, I can't give you any more help regarding Arthus. So if you’re going to ask questions, ask any that aren’t related to him.

With this turn of events, Henry’s entire plan was facing a huge setback. His original strategy was to use Skall to figure out where Arthus was located and then send an army his way to finish him. But since Skall apparently couldn’t provide any information regarding Arthus, things became more complicated than Henry had anticipated.

‘Well, this is frustrating.’

After pondering for a while, Henry called in Lore, who had been waiting outside.

“Lore.”

“Yes, Archmage.”

“Did you find out what I asked you?”

“Are you talking about the wizard who suddenly disappeared?”

“Yeah.”

“It took some time, but I did manage to get a name.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Dracan Rotique. He’s a mage who specializes in anthropology.”

“Dracan?”

For some reason, the name Dracan sounded vaguely familiar. However, Henry had never had the chance to talk to him, so he didn’t remember anything about the man.

Henry rubbed his chin and thought about who this Dracan guy was, but after a while, he suddenly remembered...

“Ah! The tall guy!”

“Yes.”

“Is he the only one who disappeared? No other wizards disappeared?”

“Yes, considering the conditions you’ve told me, I made the judgment that they would need to have abilities equal to at least 5th-Circle in order to create a Chimera on their own without the assistance of another wizard. Thus, I conducted my investigation under the assumption that he was a mage.”

“And so, out of everyone you looked into, Dracan was the only one who disappeared?”

“Precisely.”

Henry had already harbored suspicions that one of the wizards in the Magical Spire was secretly tied with Arthus. Despite these concerns, he had been so busy with the war that he had barely had any time to investigate who was the spy.

Now that the war was over and Arthus was gone, Henry finally got to the bottom of this.

‘Dracan... Dracan...’

Henry tried to recall how Dracan looked. He didn’t have any particularly memorable features that would instantly come to one’s mind; Henry could only remember that he was tall, had a ghostly pale face, and had long hair.

In light of the circumstances, Dracan seemed the most likely suspect as to who was the traitor that had sided with Arthus. And since he was suspecting Dracan of betrayal, Henry planned to use his alternative method, his second best plan, on Skall.

“Skall.”

-What?

“Let’s forget about Arthus since you can’t help me with him. Instead, can you find a 5th-Circle wizard named Dracan Rotique who majored in anthropology?”

-5th-Circle wizard who majored in anthropology with the name Dracan Rotique... Okay, what are you going to offer me in exchange?

“Look for him first. I’ll give you whatever you ask for in return.”

-Right on. I like how you’re straightforward with everything!

With that, Skall immediately closed his eyes and began searching the human world. After scanning for a while, he curled his mouth and exclaimed slightly.

-Ho...!

Henry and Lore cocked their heads when it seemed that Skall had found something. After he finished locating Dracan, Skall slowly opened his eyes and spoke to Henry.

-You said you would give me whatever I asked for earlier, right?

“Yeah?"

-I think the price is going to be more expensive than you might think.

“What do you mean by that?”

-The wizard you are looking for, Dracan, is no longer just a wizard.

“Tell me more...”

Henry couldn't help but perk up his ears at this unexpected information. Skall chuckled at Henry’s curiosity.

-Before I tell you, you better keep your word. About the price, I mean...

“Yeah, yeah, I promise. Just tell me already. What do you mean? Are you saying he’s no longer a mage? Has he awakened as an Archmage?”

-No, it’s not that.

“Then what?”

-Something beyond that.

“What...?”

Although Arthus did favor Dracan, he was not great enough to interfere with what Skall did. Therefore, as long as Dracan was in the human world, Skall could see all the information regarding Dracan as much as he wanted.

Through his ability, Skall managed to find out the level Dracan was currently at and where and what he was doing.

𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

-This may be hard to believe, but that Dracan guy has reached the same level as you, Henry.

“...!”

The same level as Henry.

That meant that Dracan had gone past the level of a regular Archmage; he had awakened the 7th-Circle. It made no sense to Henry. How could Dracan, a 5th-Circle mage at best, reach the level that even the current Archmages couldn’t?

Lore looked perplexed.

“What you just said, is that really true?”

Skall crossed his arms at Lore’s question as though the Archmage had just hurt his pride.

-Are you saying you don’t believe me? I know I sell information at a high price, but I never deal with false information.

Just like Skall had said, he was an honest businessman. Although he demanded a lot, he never sold false information.

Henry couldn’t resist bursting into laughter.

“Hahaha... Dracan? A 7th-Circle? What kind of nonsense...”

Henry was as shocked as Lore because he had been the only one in the history of this continent to awaken as a 7th-Circle Archmage. However, the shock quickly turned into something else...

Excitement.

Instead of having his pride hurt, Henry was actually intrigued by the fact that there was another 7th-Circle Archmage besides him.

“Okay, if that’s the case...”

Anthropology was most definitely a discipline on par with alchemy when it came to studying Chimeras. As for Dracan, he had reached the level of a mage purely through his pursuit of anthropology. Therefore, if he had actually awakened the 7th-Circle in succession, it meant that he had done so by concentrating all of his efforts on the research of Chimeras.

Henry thought about the several types of Chimeras he had encountered so far, and he realized that all of them had been incredibly powerful. They were incredible inventions that marked a milestone in terms of the development of magic. Also, given that they were a grotesque combination between outstanding technical skills and cruel imagination, it was hard to believe that a human being was capable of conceiving something like that.

After thinking for a bit, Henry finally asked, “So? Where is Dracan now?”

-In the southern Charlotte Heights.

“Charlotte Heights?”

-Yeah, in Charlotte Heights.

“What on earth is he doing there?”

-Hey, Henry.

“Hmm?”

-All you asked for was his location. If you want to know more, why not make a new deal with me?

In response to Henry’s additional questions, Skall reminded him of what their initial deal was.

Hearing this, Henry got very irritated with Skall because he was bargaining with his curiosity.

“Skall.”

-What is it?

Skall noticed that Henry’s mood had suddenly changed. He looked calm, but his tone was full of anger.

Henry said in a low voice, “I feel like you’re forgetting something. I am once again head of the Magical Spire, so I can ban everyone from summoning you whenever I want.”

-...

“I know you want to continue doing business, so you better get down off your high horse and stop annoying me.”

Henry had let Skall get away once or twice with his tricks because that was how he did business. However, perhaps because he had been summoned for the first time in a while, Skall was being insanely greedy, charging Henry for every minuscule piece of information.

Skall’s attitude ended up irritating Henry, who had been letting it slide all along. In response to his warning, Skall brought his hands together and smiled as he instantly understood the situation he was in.

-There must have been some misunderstanding. I was just kidding, kidding! Haha!

Skall chuckled awkwardly, but Henry continued asking questions as if he wasn’t interested in his excuses.

“What on earth is Dracan doing in Charlotte Heights?”

-I don’t know exactly, but there were a lot of monsters slaughtering each other.

“Slaughtering each other? Are you saying they’re hurting people?”

-No. It looks like... they’re biting and fighting each other?

“...?”

Since Henry couldn’t see what was happening himself, he couldn’t understand what Skall was saying.

However, Skall was just as clueless as Henry. He had the ability to see everything that was happening in the human world, and yet he could only see some monsters tearing each other apart.

At any rate, Henry knew that he had obtained enough information. He waved his hand to dismiss Skall, but just then...

-Wa-wait!

“What?”

-That’s it? What about my end of the deal?

“Didn’t I tell you? If you want to continue your business, you should reflect on your practices.”

-...

With that, the deal ended.

***

There were two chairs that resembled a throne; chairs that a king and a queen would sit in side by side.

On those chairs stood Arthus, with his flowing silver hair, and Dracan, with silky white hair, resting their chins on their palms with their legs crossed.

-Kiaaa!

A piercing wail rang in their ears, and at the same time, blood spurted into the air.

Roll, roll...

The grotesque head of a monster with sharp fangs protruding from its mouth at the top and bottom, reminiscent of a goblin, rolled on the floor. The head was disfigured.

The one who had chopped off the head of the monster had the body of a girl... But she was anything but a girl.

It had hair growing here and there all over its body, and its long fingernails on both hands made it look like a ferocious monster with deadly claws

Eventually, the monster with the feminine body howled at the sky in victory.

Thirty different monsters had emerged from those eggs; they had all been Chimeras that had been reborn with Dracan’s mana. They had all evolved a second time, but now, there were only nine of them left.

“Is that one the last one?” asked Dracan while raising his head.

The Chimera, who howled in victory, knelt down on both knees and placed its forehead on the floor, facing Dracan and Arthus. It was a sign of complete obedience toward the two men.

Arthus clapped as he looked down.

“Fantastic. Nine high-ranking Chimeras who survived the fight among thirty others. Fantastic stuff.”

Arthus continued to applaud, and then...

“I will personally give you names.”

Now that Arthus and Dracan had filtered out the nine strongest Chimeras, the third stage of evolution was about to begin in Charlotte Heights.