THE LOST GOD OF CHAOS

Chapter 8 – The Learaf Archipelago

TERRA ISLAND

One kingdom in the east was on the verge of crumbling because of an unforeseen attack. Inside the council chambers, the elders who held prominent positions in the estate were in a heated argument. They were all seated on an enormous oval table.

“This is unacceptable! It had been weeks since the prince died, and yet you couldn’t find traces of the remains of his magic.” It was Rangye, a man in his fifties, who served as an adviser to the ailing king. He was scolding Mord, the general of the army.

“My apologies, we are trying our best—”

“Try harder, General! Once the news about these spreads out in the archipelago, this island will cease to exist.” Rangye’s face was red, fuming in anger.

“Rangye, don’t lose your cool. Why blame General Mord for your negligence?” Another elder with long white hair mused. He was Embir, the king’s brother.

“Embir is right. You’re the one tasked with overseeing the prince’s progress, yet you failed to notice that one of his guards had been poisoning his mind, which led to his death.” Wilbur, the head of the council of medicine, said.

Rangye clenched his fist hard. “Someone on this table has something to do with this. The king is ill, and the prince suddenly killed himself for no reason... and worse, we lost the Luominen!”

Once again, the elders murmured to one another, but as Embir spoke, they abruptly stopped.

“Do you really believe that this matter is still being kept within the walls of this kingdom? Spies are everywhere! We need to quickly recover the Creation Orb, or else we’re done.” He gazed at the general. “I know your men are divided between protecting our islands and finding the orb. But you have to make haste, General. We cannot entrust this matter to anyone. The creation orb is the lifeblood of this kingdom. Without it, we’re doomed to be slaves of the growing Western empire!”

General Mord tilted his head and bowed down. He was dismissed immediately.

Viscount Andre finally broke his silence after observing the heated arguments of everybody. “Having someone to blame will not solve the problem. Our Luominen is one of the four mother orbs that hold the power of the earth; hence, it has a will on its own. What if the orb has already found its new holder, and it’s our enemy? Any plans you have in mind?” The viscount took a deep breath.

The room fell silent. It took a while before Rangye spoke again, calmer this time.

“We cannot forcefully take the orb by killing its new holder because it will only respawn somewhere else. I pray it wouldn’t fall into the hands of our enemies.”

“I heard the West has developed something that could extract the orb from its holder.” The Viscount held his chin. “I’m thinking of the worst that could happen. Imagine, what if the empire got a hold of the two most powerful mother orbs?”

Everyone looked interested and focused their attention on the viscount.

Meanwhile, General Mord quickly checked the prince’s library after he stormed off the council chamber. Among everyone, the sudden passing of Prince Thespian deeply hurt him. They grew up together, and he considered him as his younger brother despite the difference in their status. It was too bad that he was busy defending their island when the tragedy happened.

General Mord swore an oath to bring justice to the prince. And he’d find the Creation Orb, even if it meant offering his life.

“Thespian, why did you lose your will to live?” He mumbled in lamentation as he gazed at the prince’s portrait.

VATRE EMPIRE

ANKHE, THE CAPITAL CITY

On the right-wing tower of the palace, Taftani, the High Mage, felt a strange tremor from the crystal ball on his table. He was watching the movements of his mages roaming around the city, but the magical ball detected an unusual surge of energy. The ball was invented specifically to detect mana around him.

“Whoa, what was that?” Taftani’s eyes widened. Afterward, a flutter of wind swept through.

“Must be my imagination. This ball only reacted like that when near the presence of the mother orb.” He grinned, scrutinizing further the red crystal.

Taftani’s favorite pastime was experimenting with any form of magic that would strengthen the army of the Empire. He was over a hundred years old, but his appearance was like that of a human in his forties. He was a half-breed, notably for his pointed ears and his bright golden eyes.

While in the midst of gazing at the crystal ball, someone stormed inside the room.

“Taftani!” a familiar voice thundered.

The high mage’s eyes widened as he recognized his visitor. He wasted no time lowering his knees to pay his respect.

It was the king!

“Sire! What can I do for you?”

“Get up.” The king nodded his head as if he were giving his guards a cue. “Bring him in!”

The guards were all alert. After a moment, two royal guards came in along with a man in a shackle whose robe was severely torn, and his body had a lot of fresh wounds.

“Interrogate him,” King Malik ordered.

Taftani, although confused, did not raise a question. He waited until the king filled him with the details.

It was one of the royal guards who explained. “He’s the only survivor of the hundreds of spies that we sent to Terra. Please confirm if he is telling the truth.”

The spy kneeled before the king. “My king, I spoke only the truth! I rushed here as soon as I witnessed the prince’s death! Prince Thespian committed suicide.”

Taftani’s face beamed. “Prince Thespian? The new holder of the Creation Orb?”

“Yes, high mage. Please believe me. I am not lying!” The spy did not conceal his anxious expression.

“We’ll see about that. There’s nothing to worry about if you speak the truth. Interesting, tell us more.”

“They are in the race to find their mother orb, the Luominen!”

The king smirked upon hearing it. “It only means that they do not have the orb. Pathetic! I’ll be the one to break this news to the emperor. I’m sure my father would be delighted! He was still enraged when we failed to obtain the Water Orb three years ago. We could have been immortals by now!”

“Of course, sire.” Taftani slightly arched his head down again, but his lips twitched and formed a smirk. “Terra had an impregnable defense. That’s why we couldn’t touch their territories. Now that the orb protecting them isn’t in their possession, I guess we’re going to expand in no time.”

The king’s smile widened. “Do what you must, Taftani.”

“Yes, sire!”

The king left along with his guards. Only the spy remained.

Taftani wasted no time. He motioned with his hand, whispered a quick incantation, and held the man’s temple. Then he saw the flash of his memories—the very thing the spy saw. It was the dead body of the prince of the neighboring kingdom.

The high mage cackled loudly. “The Empire will be invincible once we get a hold of the creation orb!”

“What will happen to me?” The spy stuttered, fearing for his life. Everyone in Vatre knew the infamous high mage who’d kill with just a snap of his finger.

“What is your name?” Taftani asked after he was satisfied with extracting the information from the man’s mind.

“X-Xeric...” the man swallowed hard.

“Well, Xeric, I may be heartless, but I’m fair. I shall let you go, but I will give you one task.”

The spy’s face gleamed with hope. “I will do it!”

“Go to the Idhair Guild and inform Semme about the hunt for the Luominen. You will join them. Because when we have it, we’ll launch an all-out attack on Terra.”

“Yes, high mage!”

Ever since that day, the hunt for the Creation Orb has begun.