Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“It’s the least I can do.” The priest lowered his head.
“I meant my words and I’ll keep them,” Angor said as he put on a serious look. “Anything you want to be done, you can ask me for it, as long as it’s within my power.”
The old priest remained silent for a long time to go over his thoughts.
“For a thousand years… I’m so sorry for the terrible ending that awaits my brothers. I… do not know if this can be done, but I don’t have any other options now.”
“You mean…?” Angor looked at the old man, who slowly knelt down and put his head on the table.
“I hope you can save my kins, young mister.”
Even though Angor somewhat expected such a request, he didn’t know how to respond to it.
It sounded too vague. There were many extents as to how the Krakoks could be helped. And if the priest wanted the whole race to be brought out of their destiny… Angor definitely could not do it.
The priest already noticed Angor’s thoughts and sighed in his mind.
“It’s fine, as long as you can make sure that we do not become extinct.”
To the Krakok priest, this was the minimum of his wish.
“You know you can stay pretty well if you keep living like this in Soul Genesis Garden, right?” Angor spoke in a plain tone.
“No. I don’t want my people to live in fetters and shackles for eternity. Only if one small branch of us can find freedom…”
“Is that the ‘revolution’ you mentioned?”
“While you’re away, young mister, I’ve been thinking. And I reached the conclusion that it’s impossible for us to raise a thorough revolution at this rate. I wasn’t the only one who sought for a change, but now, I’m the only one left. I no longer pursue a complete revolution. If you can help a small number of us seek true freedom… then I’ll be very happy.”
Angor considered. Telling from how Gummy, Gao, and Gamus could travel among the three worlds freely, the Krakoks weren’t actually restricted inside the garden. No one else left yet because they didn’t want to.
What the priest was asking was for a small number of Krakoks to have the “mark” removed from their blood and strive elsewhere, away from the magic array in Hippocrotee which would claim their souls in the end.
It was not really an easy task.
Angor spoke to Shadow through Spirit Bond.
“Are the three Krakok brothers recruited by Floating Mech City?”
“Yeah. They are very good at micro-carving. My teacher thought it would be a good choice to take them in, but it isn’t official yet.”
“Do you know if they have a problem in their blood?”
“My teacher mentioned something about it, that their blood was tethered to some kind of base… I know it now. It means the magic array under Hippocrotee,” Shadow moaned. “The request isn’t hard if you can do something about that array. But you know, if you did, something big might happen.”
The magic array ensured that the soul of dead Krakoks would return to Hippocrotee no matter where they died. To achieve freedom, Angor had to sever this restriction.
“The old thing knows it’s too hard. He just wants to take advantage of your promise,” Shadow complained.
“Say, do you want the three brothers to achieve such freedom?” Angor asked.
“I… think so? But that’s not something that’s up to us. The magic array is created by a truth-finder wizard! How can you remove such a powerful blood bond? Well, unless—”
“Isabelle.” They both reached the same conclusion.
Angor looked back at the priest. The old man’s body had broken down badly. After staying in a groveling position for such a long time, the old Krakok wasn’t doing very well.
“I… cannot say for sure yet. Give me a week, and I’ll see what I can do. If I can’t, I’ll find my mentor back at my organization and ask for help.”
It wasn’t a promise, yet the Grand Priest already felt excited. Having a branch of his people to escape this soul trap had always been his lifelong wish.
“Thank you truly, young mister…” The table surface beneath the priest was now wet. Probably tears mixed with sweat.
He struggled to get up and bowed again. “Since you’re back now, can we start the ceremony?”
“Yes, right here at the palace.” Angor nodded.
The old man quickly left. There were still preparations to be done.
“Are you serious about asking Isabelle?” Shadow asked. “Suppose she actually agrees to help, you’ll probably miss that destiny she mentioned.”
“I never expected much from that destiny anyway.” Angor didn’t seem bothered at all. “You know what’s worse? That the old man doesn’t ask anything and keeps my promise hanging. I’m glad I can pay him back as soon as I can. One concern out of my mind.”
Shadow nodded. As wizards grew stronger, their old promises might turn worse. If the favor was dragged into the future, the priest might ask Angor to help the entire Krakok race or even fight for independence against Dark Castle.
Soon, a cleric came to the palace and knocked on the door.
“Oh, I’ll leave it to you.” Angor glanced at Shadow and went invisible.
Shadow slowly disappeared as well and prepared to control Fiona to deal with the clerics.
He did a perfect job in tricking the Krakok clerics. After discussing some insignificant matters, “Fiona” went upstairs with the excuse of feeling unwell.
Meanwhile, a number of Krakok knights and crafters began to arrange the palace hall.
An hour later, a simple yet exquisite stage was left in the center of the palace.
Next, a choir group that consisted of about 100 Krakok singers entered the palace. They were led by Grand Priest while the clerics saluted them to show respect.
Fiona appeared on the second floor and took a random seat to inspect the singers. Whoever she looked at would quickly lower their head.
“Hey, priest, come here.” “Fiona” released a single string and asked the old Krakok to walk on it.
The other clerics looked at each other in shock. It was the first time for them to see their Grand Priest invited to join a Citadel visitor.
Of course, it was Shadow who asked the priest to come.
Upon approaching, the priest quickly noticed that Angor and Shadow had been sitting not far from Fiona.
“There’s an illusion that prevents them from seeing us,” Angor explained. “So, where can I find the treasure that purifies souls?”
The old man lifted a hand, and a lump of white mist emerged from his palm. It then slowly turned into an object. The priest then tossed the object into the air; it slowly grew larger until it was handy for human hands.
“It can change its size?” Angor gazed at the item in wonder. “It’s at least a tiered alchemy item.”
The initial appearance of the object was a black dish made from an unknown material. Angor couldn’t see anything particular on the surface of it. It seemed like a layer of paint or something had covered the object.
When Angor tried to reach for it, the priest suddenly warned, “The queen has left her mark on the treasure. Anyone other than me who connects with it will alert the queen.”
By “queen”, the priest referred to Isabelle’s disciple, Isabella; the current leader of Dark Castle.
Isabella was obsessed with following her teacher’s example, which could be seen from her name and her title, “Sundown Queen”. Angor decided to heed the warning. He clearly knew about Isabella’s mad character. Anything might happen if she noticed his careless attempts.
He had to use his eyes.
There were no obvious runes on the surface which meant possible Synthesis works, and Angor couldn’t tell its material, so he failed to find any information he could use.
However, he sensed some weak energy ripples from the item. Familiar ripples. It felt similar to the Mystery energy he wielded not long ago.
Shadow was also inspecting the item curiously. “It should be. I felt it too.”
“Yup. But the energy isn’t strong. The priest said there’s another half of it. That will probably make it ‘real’.”
Even though the current half of the object held a similar amount of Mystery energy as the silver revolver, it was already powerful enough to purify souls. Angor wondered what kind of property was hidden inside his revolver.