Badge in Azure

Chapter 1343: Pain (Part 2)

The six palace mages were summoned into the room. Ojarvis shut his eyes and rested for a while. The mages were all tense as they waited for Ojarvis to speak. They knew that the conversation Ojarvis had had with Saleen in private would have been of great importance and, furthermore, possibly shocking. When one had gotten to level ten with one's magic practices, one would have developed a strong sense of presentiment. That was something instinctual.

Ojarvis did not open his eyes. He kept his eyes closed as he said to the six palace mages, "No other forces have been able to enter Holy Rock City since the day the Qin Empire was founded. Thus, I am guilty of letting the city be infiltrated under my reign."

None of the mages spoke. They did not heed such words. They were loyal to the royalty, and they were actually of royal blood themselves. They were compelled to live and die alongside the Grukos royalty. Without support from the royal family, they would not have been able to earn their very prestigious status, as their bloodline would have only ended up in them getting repelled and oppressed by those from Alchemy City.

"I have decided to yield the throne to my sister, Lex De Grukos. I know that all of you have taken my sister to be the empress even before I made this decision. This is not important to me. Since the day I came to make sense of the world, I knew that I wouldn't be able to live a long life. It has been you all who helped me live as long as I did, using all manner of magic pharmaceuticals."

Again, none of the mages said anything in response. When Ojarvis was born, everyone thought that the empire had its next heir and would continue to prosper. However, Ojarvis's body had been extremely frail. The wealthiest royalty on the mainland, which was also the one with the greatest number of mages, was unable to do anything to change Ojarvis's fate. The sickly Ojarvis seemed to have symbolized the empire's decline, but none of them thought that way back then.

Lex was still around after all. Even if Ojarvis were to end up dead, the empire would have still had an heir. Furthermore, Emperor Chanake had been the strongest Grukos to have emerged for the past 300 years. Everyone thought that Emperor Chanake could have lived 1,000 years. However, Emperor Chanake died in his prime and at his very best. If he had not been trapped by the Holy See, Emperor Chanake would not have died even if there were ten powerful ones of his level surrounding and attacking him. But even the late emperor's power would not allow him to take on attacks from hundreds of, even up to 1,000, powerful professionals.

None of the mages cared about the fact that Lex was not liked by the prince. The problem, however, was Master Merlin's prophecy. It put the mages on edge as it had everything to do with the state of the empire's strength. Things actually seemed to have turned for the better as they ran out of options, with letting Lex take the throne being the only remaining option.

If Safilos were to become emperor instead, then the most powerful secret arts of the Qin Empire would be forever lost. Furthermore, that secret art's existence played an important role in having Golden Plains recognizing the legitimacy of the royal family. The emperor of Qin founded the empire all those years ago and moved all of the Grukos's powerful ones to Golden Plains, precisely because he was afraid of infighting breaking out within the clan. The Grukos of Golden Plains were not allowed to participate in the fight for the throne, unless the bloodline of the royal family was no longer pure. The ones at Golden Plains had curses running in their bloodlines. If the royal bloodline were to be broken because of them, then Golden Plains would have ended up destroyed as well. The founding emperor of Qin used extreme methods to ensure the position of the royal family. However, at present, the Grukos royal bloodline had become increasingly thin even without interference from people of Golden Plains, with Lex being the last one left.

The sons of Safilos had all been tested long ago, and none of them would have been able to learn the highest of secret arts of the royal family. Those arts were in Lex's hands, and they enabled her to form her seventh magic chord. Lex was a rightful heir to the throne and Ojarvis, on the other hand, had his legitimacy questioned for not having been able to do anything. It was not that he had no wife, but that his body was so frail that any slightly intense movements would have hurt him, and thus prevented him from producing heirs.

"However, everyone, I have also made a decision that you all won't be able to understand. I have decided to give the magic cube to Saleen, and you all shall aid him in unifying the mainland," Ojarvis said in a serious manner and the six mage trainers looked at each other.

The old mage only said after a while, "Your majesty, I'm afraid that wouldn't be the right thing to do."

"What would be so wrong about it? Saleen is Lex's husband and a powerful mage, fully capable of leading you all to glory. You all should know that Lex's goal is to build a kingdom of mages, instead of having the nobles control the empire, like how things are at present. The world in the future should be such as well. I don't need to go into details as you all know that the nobles' influence is wearing out. It would be difficult, even impossible, for common folk to become nobles, as mages would probably be the ones fit to be so."

"Golden Plains." Isenberg blurted out two words. He had pledged his support to Saleen, yet he was compelled to voice the problem all the same.

"There is no need to worry about Golden Plains. Saleen has the Floating City, which would ensure that the magic cube would not fall into the hands of others."

The old mage then said, "Your majesty, the mages of the palace would support you, but royal mages that are not of the palace…"

The old mage's tone was a wavering one. While he had been taking a hard stance at Saleen in the beginning, that was all but a show for the emperor. With how things were going at the moment, with the emperor having come to terms with Saleen, there was simply no need for him to object to anything. There was no doubt that he knew of the Floating City, just like every other mage in the room. All of them dreamed of being able to move to the Floating City and train there. It was impossible for Saleen to take the magic cube and dismiss all of them after all. If Lex were to take the throne, all of them would have still remained as royal mages and their statuses would not have changed. Furthermore, they gained the chance to train on the Floating City. During battle, things would have been considerably safer up there compared to the underground city after all. Saleen had powerful alchemy factories and that eerie magic net. The royal mages were very clear about all of that. Siding with Saleen would have yielded far more benefits than siding with Safilos.

It was impossible for Safilos to provide greater benefits to all of them. As for Lex, it was just as the emperor right before them put it—she intended to build a nation of mages. If Lex's ideals were to be realized, then all of them would have enjoyed very high status and would have had access to limitless resources. It would have been like Alchemy City, and both Lex and Saleen would have taken good care of them, just like Ojarvis's mother would have.

Ojarvis felt pained when he thought of that. It was not he who had caused his mother's death. The position of emperor was the one who took someone who would have loved him the most from him instead. Visions of his mother suffering great pain in order to give birth to him flashed before his eyes. Master Merlin left a prophecy, which cast Lex out of the imperial capital. That was not destiny; someone was manipulating things from behind. The power of the Grukos royalty had been too deep-seated and powerful. It was almost impossible to just overthrow them right away. Even at that very moment, where the portal of the abomination plane became connected to Holy Rock City, the royal family was still intact. Furthermore, most royal mages were already on standby in the magic cube, ready to retaliate in a scale that no one would have expected.

"Oh right. I'm still emperor now. So that means I could still give you people one more order, right?" Ojarvis said all of a sudden.

"Indeed, your majesty," the old mage answered.

"Become Lex's follower then. I'm not a professional myself and so I couldn't do something like that. But Lex is a level-ten mage and possesses the God's Ring. I assume that qualifies her for such a position, no?"

Isenberg looked at Saleen, who nodded. It was only then that he and the other mages agreed to it. Matters like that required contracts to be signed. Without Saleen's permission, there was not even a single bit of freedom left in his soul, which meant that he would not have been able to sign any contract at all. The problem was, however, even if he were to sign a contract, but if Saleen were to disagree, then his contract would have been voided all the same. That was something that Isenberg did not know. The rules on the broken jade were higher than that of the follower's contract.

"Well, seems like there are enemies showing up at our doors. Take a look, everyone." Ojarvis' pain was borne by the Figure of Fate, so he was of better mental state at the moment, making the power of his secret art abilities greater. A vision of the future flashed before his eyes. He saw the invaders fighting the large-scale puppet.

"Your majesty, please…" the old mage gestured.

"No need for that. I'm not in pain now." Ojarvis blinked, telling the old mage that he was at ease.

The mages retreated, leaving Saleen, Lex, and Nailisi in the room together with Ojarvis. Even that servant officer left the room. A magic array appeared before Ojarvis's bed. The magic array itself was an image, but one that was able to relay magic projections from outside. At the last entrance to the underground city and within the magic door that Safilos was guarding, the assembly of the large-scale puppet was almost finished. Safilos was retreating behind the magic door in shambles with his people. Blinding light shot from the sides of the magic door as it shut altogether.

Saleen paid close attention to the fighting. He was already able to tell that Safilos's powers were probably at the pinnacle of level-ten true might when he brushed past him. Furthermore, his long blade amplified his combat prowess by several times. With Safilos looking to be in shambles, that meant that his enemy would have been the leader of the Elemental Hand.

"I am the empress. If those people are not taking my orders, then I'd simply drive them away. Affairs of the Grukos shall not be dictated by outsiders." Lex was very clear on her stance on backing Saleen when there were outsiders around. Even if Saleen had been in the wrong, she would have remained by Saleen's side nonetheless. That was what Saleen liked about Lex, as she would not have let sentiments get to her head. She would not have allowed other people to be the ones to chastise her man.

Ojarvis approved of Lex's words in silence. He did not like being an emperor and especially so after he saw his own past. The secrets known to no one found in the visions he saw robbed him of any fondness he had for the throne. If it had not been for his position, he would not have been sickly at a young age. What he was going through was not illness, but a curse. While he was unable to see who had been the ones who cursed him, but he was nonetheless able to tell that it all had to do with the throne. Someone had laid out all of that before his birth, in order to rob the Grukos royalty of heirs.

Who was the one who put the curse onto me indeed?

Safilos was indeed looking to be in shambles. If it had not been for the Winged Skull protecting him, he would have suffered grave injuries. The enemy's skill was not actually all that powerful, yet it was something never seen on Myers Mainland before. He lost hundreds of swordsmen from one lapse of judgment. The ones who escorted him to the door were none other than the spirits of the Winged Skull. Four mages were still outside. The magic door was already shut, and there was no telling if those mages were still alive.