The Royal Palace was unbelievably huge, so much so that it took Zeke and Robert close to half an hour to reach the majestic and spacious Throne Hall. The Hall, which was empty except for thick ceiling-high golden pillars, felt a bit chilly and unwelcoming. Still, Zeke focused his gaze on the middle-aged man sitting on the throne. Emperor Ascalon, who was over 90 years old, looked like a 35 middle-aged man; He had a fairly well-built physique, a nice cleanly-cut beard, long light auburn hair, and commanding jawline. His unique red pupils were distinct and his gaze was authoritative but not overly domineering. “Your Radiance, I’ve brought Mister Orland.” Archmagus Robert respectfully bowed and stood next to the stairs leading to the somewhat unremarkable and shabby throne. Meanwhile, Zeke performed a polite bow, “Zeke Orland greets his Radiance.” Besides being a capable and well-respected ruler, Zeke’s knowledge about Ascalon was superficial, at best. Although he was meeting th
As promised, Archmagus Robert guided Zeke to where his mother was taken. They reached their destination within 20 minutes, but the door was sealed by a layer of Darkness magic.Zeke frowned and was about to use his voltage to break it but Robert stopped him.“Wait. Maybe Miss Kleya isn’t done yet. Let’s wait a bit.”Although he seemed very reluctant, Zeke nodded his head and crossed his hands as he leaned against the wall. Soon enough, he seemed to be absent-minded, but the Archmagus broke the silence.The bespectacled man had never left Zeke’s side, though it was unsure whether it was due to courtesy or to monitor him. Either way, Zeke didn’t seem that bothered.“Would you be willing to talk about the recent ‘event’, Mister Orland?”“You mean the raid on the Ascetic Blasphemers? What about it?”Robert still didn’t get used to the youth’s gloomy attitude and cold stare, but he still kept his amicable smile and polite behavior. He was a distinguished mage, renowned across the entire w
Zeke patiently recounted what happened to his mother, who attentively listened with a faint smile on her face. Due to their relatively ambiguous relationship, caused by the tumultuous circumstances of their several meetings, she didn’t forcefully do anything. For instance, albeit sitting right next to him, she didn’t touch his hand or anything, though it was likely due to his reserved and awkward current attitude.She might not know everything about Zeke, but she did learnt quite a bit when she briefly stayed at his apartment years ago.He might not necessarily act like a teenager, but he was still young and clearly needed guidance, especially with everything that has been going on around and to him.When he was finally done speaking, Jennifer nodded her head and said,“All that matters is that you’re okay. To begin with, you shouldn’t have recklessly charged in when they were waiting specifically for you.”“...”Zeke was wont to object to anyone that showed displeasure to his actions
The conversation between Zeke and Jennifer came to an abrupt end as none of them knew what to say. She thoughtfully looked at him as she kept holding his hands, wanting to enjoy this moment of peace and warmth as long as possible. Although she was his mother, she couldn’t dictate what he should or should not do. Forcing him to accompany her to the Witch Association would only worsen their relationship and possibly ruin her chances of actually being a genuine mother to him. “What about you, mother? Will you be returning?” “Miss Kleya will be staying for a bit longer in the Empire. I’m going to stay with her until she returns.” Jennifer was the Army Commander of the Witch Association. Regardless of her personal feelings, she couldn’t abandon her post and be with her son around the clock. Nevertheless, she wasn’t going to remain idle and do nothing either. She was planning to talk to the Witch Queen in hopes of convincing her to finally make a move and put an end to this bloody war
“Welcome back, Elena.”His Majesty, Emperor Ascalon Serey, welcomed the Archmagus with a smile. However, she didn’t look the least bit happy. Although the invasion against the Nezulian Republic had seen some advancement, they suffered a lot of casualties.Most of all, the Knight Commander had died due to the mass-destruction Artifact the Republicans had deployed.Elena Whitefort had escaped through the skin of her teeth and only managed to save a small portion of the entire army.After all gaining ground and closing in on the Capital of the Nezulian Republic, they had been forced to retreat.The real Dead Ends was spreading from the West of the Nezulian Republic to the North, soon about to reach the Whitefrost lands. There was also the artificial, less dangerous but still threatening artificial Dead Ends that the higher-ups of the Republic were using.Put simply, the 1st and 3rd Imperial Legions weren’t enough to completely subdue the Nezulian Republic. The war has been ongoing for a
“You’re here! Good!”Despite her beauty, Elena was quite the fierce and stubborn woman. Her mastery in Magic and many achievements throughout the years were the main focus of her fame. Her attractive appearance wasn’t the main focus, so to speak. Still, there were many foolish people that tried to court her and ended up getting beaten. She was the head of the Whitefront Family, however, the lack of a husband by her side was what made many of her clan members try to wrestle her status away. Unfortunately for them, they were brought under heel by her absolute prowess.Now, such a woman barged into the room and was giving Zeke a rather menacing look.“Is there something you want?” Zeke stood up and faced the Archmagus.He could sense the monstrous quantity of Aether flowing through her body, but he also noticed that her movements were somewhat stiff, probably due to the serious wounds she sustained in Three Finger Mountains.“I’ve heard that the Emperor asked you to join us… but I’m not
“Good… good!”While wiping the blood off her lips, Elena immediately cast another spell which caused the ground to shake and light rays to surge forth. [Block Spell]Much to her confusion, however, the spell was stopped half-way as voltage crackled around Zeke. His silhouette blurred and shot at her, forcing her to retreat to the back while conjuring one shield after the other.The raging blue thunder was attacking indiscriminately, riddling the ground with holes and cracks as well as dancing uncontrollably in the air. Her shining white shields disintegrated upon contact and, within a couple of breaths, the youth was already in front of her.She swiped her staff from the side, attempting to counter-attack, but he deflected with ease and followed up with [Fury of Fists], which was strengthened by [Champion of Strength Mode] and [Sreyzhanian Arts].The ashen-haired Archmage was blown to the back, her body spinning in the air like a ragdoll. She was conscious enough to swiftly cast a sp
Zeke’s right eye was inside of an exquisite box inside of a glass pedestal. The Archmage approached it, used the talisman again to make the glass vanish, and then retrieved it.“Just so you know, we’ve conducted no tests whatsoever. Your eye is in a very good shape.”Zeke didn’t question her statement and merely accepted the box. He didn’t hesitate to open it and peek at the eyeball resting with it. It looked pretty disgusting with coagulated blood around it. The tiny blood vessels were abnormally thick and imbued with an outrageous amount of Aether, surprisingly.Zeke didn’t know how he was going to literally put his eye back into its socket, but he felt relieved that it was finally back to its rightful owner.Just as he was about to touch it, he heard hurried steps coming towards them. Elena furrowed her brow and exited the Vault.“What is the meaning of this?!”One of the elders, a relatively tall one with a dishevelled beard and eyes as small as beans, was angrily shouting with a