Magic Chronicles : Fallen Race

Kasm, still unsettled, looked around in panic. He had been transported to a secluded alleyway of a palace, but evidently, Kasm himself hadn't yet grasped what had just happened.

Intent on running away from this eerie place, he had just taken a step when, the next moment, a pair of hands wrapped in bandages impatiently and roughly pulled him back by his tie, dragging the imperial envoy back.

"Who's there!"

Suddenly, a figure emerged from behind, causing the already terrified Kasm to tense up completely, his nerves on edge. He made a show of drawing the sword at his waist, but the trembling of the sword tip made it clear he couldn't even hold it steady, let alone protect himself.

"How could they send such a useless person for the handover?"

The shadow in the darkness stepped forward, casting a spell on himself so Kasm couldn't make out Lordan's appearance, but he could still hear the Wicked Demon's words.

'Handover!?'

Catching the keyword, Kasm's originally terrified gaze quickly smoothed over into surprise, and he stuttered to Lordan:

"Are, are you the one who met with the Sage?"

"Sage?"

Lordan chuckled, seemingly finding it somewhat ironic and amusing that his "partner" had acquired the title of "Sage" among humans.

"It's me. Bring out the item."

Lordan's mysterious demeanor, along with the realization that he had been instantly transported here, likely with Lordan's assistance to escape the terrifying Great Demon, left no doubt in Kasm's mind about Lordan's identity. He hurriedly took out the "Saving Relic," the secret mission given to him by the Great Sage, from his bosom and respectfully handed it to Lordan.

The expression on the Wicked Demon's face finally warmed a bit, as per the agreement, the other party was to share the control of the "Insect Race" with him, granting him supreme power.

Holding such beautiful aspirations, Lordan, upon receiving Kasm's "Saving Relic," watched as ghastly green demonic power began to crawl over the relic. The floating "Atlas" began to rapidly flip pages under Lordan's control.

However, soon after, the expression on the Wicked Demon's face changed.

At first, he was puzzled. Then, he increased the input of his demonic power, but no matter how he manipulated it, the chapter on the Insect Race in this "Atlas" remained a blank page.

If Reji were here, he would recognize at a glance that this so-called "Saving Relic" was actually the "Catalog" system from his game time.

Every enemy encountered by players, every item used, weapons, and so on, would be recorded in the Catalog, essentially a compendium that grows and accumulates as the player adventures.

For Lordan, what he wanted was the part about the Insect Race, but realizing he might have been deceived, an angry Lordan, with his bandage-wrapped, mummy-like hands, grabbed the still hopeful, foolishly smiling envoy by the neck.

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"Great...great lord?" Kasm's eyes widened in confusion, bewildered and scared.

Lordan couldn't be bothered to waste words and directly used Soul Siphon. Ghastly green magic power spread through Kasm's orifices into his brain, allowing the Wicked Demon to steal some of Kasm's memories.

After searching through the memories, Lordan snorted coldly and dropped Kasm down, paying no mind to the imperial envoy who was terrified of him. Lordan's mind was also in a mess now.

Lordan initially thought that the human who delivered the relic had hidden something. After searching through the memories, he found that the other party had not tampered with the relic at all but had been taking good care of it.

That made it all the more strange.

Could it be that my "partner" was deceiving me, playing me for a fool?

No.

If they wanted to deceive me, why bother sending the real Saving Relic?

Indeed, Lordan was certain that this book, the Atlas, was genuine, a real and authentic relic of the Son of Destiny.

The real relic was delivered, but it completely lacked what he wanted.

The content originally in the Atlas seemed to have been erased or sealed. Either way, it was utterly unusable to him, essentially a blank slate.

Lordan's face now was terribly grim. To meet with this envoy, he had taken a great risk, even secretly helping to mask his presence to avoid detection by the brute Hektor. Luckily, it was the Great Demon responsible for this area, whose scouting ability was weaker. If it were another apostle, it would have been much more difficult.

Regardless, Lordan first secured the relic. Just as he was hesitating whether to execute this human envoy or not.

Buzz!

Under the dark night sky, at the center of the entire palace, suddenly rose a beam of light shooting straight into the sky.

The beam of light quickly transformed into the shape of a "Holy Sword," and then aimed its tip towards the ground, plunging straight down.

As the "Holy Sword" descended, an oval barrier instantaneously enveloped the entire palace, so swiftly that even Lordan didn't have time to react.

When the Wicked Demon finally came to his senses, his face showed an expression of shock.

Beyond the shock, there was a deep-seated, inextinguishable fear.

This barrier...

Lordan looked towards the ground. Within the barrier, he could faintly see sacred and complex runes flashing. Touching it with his hand, he immediately felt a burning sensation on his fingertips.

There was no mistake.

Is this the Radiant Sword!?

No.

The barrier unfolded by the true Hero's Holy Sword wouldn't merely cause a slight burning sensation.

Touching it, he supposed his fingers would be severed by the immense force of fate contained within.

It is a counterfeit.

Though Lordan breathed a sigh of relief, his tension did not ease. He no longer cared about the human envoy beside him and immediately set off towards the top of the palace, the core area where the Holy Sword was located.

....

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

Under the guise of "Shadow Demon Wings," Reji too hovered high in the sky. Of course, he also saw the dazzling Holy Sword. In fact, every part of the royal city should be able to see the Holy Sword's barrier now.

A Holy Sword barrier?

Reji shook his head.

Having heard about the "power from a thousand years ago" from the old king, he had some expectations.

Reji lightly touched the barrier that shrouded the palace.

Unlike the Wicked Demon Lordan, and indeed unlike all demons, the barrier gave Reji a sensation of warmth, of closeness, like placing his hand into clear spring water. Each sacred rune within it seemed like a joyful fish, swirling around his hand.

Of course, this sensation was invisible to others, perceived only by Reji himself.

It seems tonight's harvest is indeed much more than I had anticipated.

Reji hesitated no longer.

He was ready to face whatever came his way.

With the Shadow Wings fluttering behind him, Reji's figure turned into a streak of light, heading towards the core of the barrier, where the Holy Sword had landed.

-----

The King's Tower.

The tallest building in the entire royal city.

From a bird's eye view, one could see most of the royal palace.

At the top of this towering structure, Konstantin held his magic staff high, a sacred aura cleansing this spirit summoned by him. The Holy Sword, floating before him, shone with a brilliance that seemed to elevate his tattered cloak and cape to greatness in this moment.

Konstantin.

Under the command of General Anna, Captain of the Fifth Column of the Third Mage Division of the Ninth Group of the Human Alliance Army, a Seventh Tier Grand Mage.

All these titles and honors were things of the past.

Now, even if he could replicate the glory of his past and cast Seventh tier spells, the cost was his already fragile life, rapidly dwindling away.

Compared to his insignificant life, Konstantin could only offer a bitter smile.

"Your Highness, I fear I must break my word."

This "ghost" from a thousand years ago spoke with a tone filled with bitterness. From the moment he unfolded the barrier, it was as if he had set up a giant radar across the entire palace.

For this reason, Konstantin could instantly discern the situation within the palace.

He saw within his barrier, one after another, the scarlet orbs flashing continuously.

The Holy Sword Barrier.

A hero's power from a thousand years ago, later modified by the "traitor," resulted in this lower-grade, simplified barrier. Yet, it still possesses strong lethality and specificity against demons.

Once the barrier was unfolded, it first provided reconnaissance capabilities. Every demon would be marked with a red dot on the barrier's formation map. The deeper the red, the larger the light spot, indicating the stronger the demon's power.

Pale red, orange-red, crimson, scarlet, and finally, dark red.

How should one put it?

Perhaps he should be relieved, at least there are only seven scarlet light spots here, without the appearance of that... the highest level of dark red?

Konstantin shook his head.

The eldest princess on the other side remained calm in the face of changes. Although she could mostly infer how bad the situation was from Konstantin's expression, Yuffie calmly asked, "Have the demons intervened?"

"Your Highness, 'intervened' is not the right word. To be precise, it's more like they have come out in full force."

If one apostle appeared, Konstantin would feel nervous and urgent.

If two apostles appeared, Konstantin would consider fleeing directly.

But with three, four...seven apostles, Konstantin now felt relatively at ease, even in the mood to make a not-so-funny joke with the princess by his side.