Throne of Magical Arcana

The castle of the Magic Empire seemed to be enshrouded in the dark fog. Terrifying roars of beasts were coming out, mixed with devastating and miserable moans.

If it were any other places, such a situation would’ve caused all kinds of horror stories. The kids would’ve been too scared to cry at night, the clerics or the battle sorcerers would’ve been attracted to cleanse them, and the adventurers would’ve come to explore the place. However, in the Dark Mountain Range, it was just a regular situation, and chances were that even more spooky castles were somewhere else.

In a glamorously-decorated room, the carpet from the southern desert of the Gusta Empire lay on the ground, next to the artworks that reflected the passage of time. A big window, which had only gone popular in the recent hundred years, was installed in the room. Everything emanated the air of nobles except for the man and woman on the carpet, who were wearing chain mails that made their action easier and holding longswords in their hands.

Before them stood a thirty-year-old man in a classic robe. His cheek and his body were extremely slim, but his head was much bigger than usual.

The smile on his lips was particularly creepy under the contrast of the dark fog outside. His eyes were filled with passion as he observed the man and the woman greedily. It seemed that he could barely control his desire.

“Both the mind and the body are so delicious. My trophies this time are really delightful…” The man squatted and extended his slim right hand, touching the lady’s pretty face and the man’s chiseled cheek as if he were appreciating two pieces of thrilling artwork.

Such a touch immediately raised reactions on the two sleepers, whose eyes rolled as if they were about to wake up. However, the big-headed man showed no wariness at all but kept on touching every inch of their skin.

Half-awake, Sharon sensed something cold and smooth wandering on her face and her body like a wriggling long snake. As someone who loathed such a creature, she was immediately woken up and opened her eyes abruptly.

She saw nothing but a gold ceiling where crystal lamps were descending, as well as a familiar face. The face was much closer to her than she thought.

“Brother Finn, you… my strength!” Sharon called his name subconsciously, but halfway through her sentence, it suddenly occurred to her that she was unable to activate her blood power. Her blood power of the grand knight had vanished!

“Finn, what are you doing?!” The man next to Sharon woke up a few seconds earlier and therefore noticed Finn’s anomaly.

Finn burst into laughter. “Constantine, what do you think I am doing?”

“You captured us here? Why?” As a battle-tested knight, Sharon soon held back her panic and realized that the reason she could not activate her blood power was because of the shackles and manacles on her.

However, her question was still filled with an intense shock. Constantine and she had known Finn ever since they were little kids. They had been going for adventures and growing together. They were knighted by the kingdom and were no strangers to the Dark Mountain Range. This time, Finn announced that he found a relic in one of his solo adventures. He believed that there should be a lot of good stuff inside, so they had come together.

Little did they anticipate that the castle was not as simple as Finn claimed. They were attacked by many powerful dark creatures. After a bloody battle, they encountered a weird mist and passed out. By the time they woke up, they found that Finn had become a stranger.

“Finn has been my slave ever since a long time ago.” “Finn” laughed crazily. All of a sudden, his eyes bulged, as if they would burst out soon. Then, from his nostrils, his mouth, and his ears, tentacles that looked like those of an octopus grew out. His skin became crimson.

“A Mind Stealer!” Constantine screamed in desperation. Such monsters were good at controlling the mind and the relevant spells. Now that they had been captured, their lives would be more miserable than death. It was possible that they would become his loyal slaves while maintaining most of their memories and personalities.

“Finn” shook his head. “I am not a Mind Stealer; I’m just a radiant knight who has the blood power of Mind Stealers. I was heavily wounded and could not heal myself, but the message of relics that I spread out earlier attracted many adventures to come. Their brains became the source of my revival. Finn was one of them. Hehe. Greed is truly the harbinger of doom. For nothing but rumors of treasure, they would come to my castle one group after another.

“By the time I absorb your brains and modify you into my slaves, my wounds will basically be recovered.”

Finn couldn’t have looked more hideous under the black fog when he said that. Sharon shivered even though she was a determined grand knight. It was even scarier than death.

The raging tentacles next to Finn’s head spread out to Sharon and Constantine, aiming directly at their heads.

Unable to make use of their blood powers, Sharon and Constantine could only back off by holding their bodies with their hands, until their backs stuck to the cold wall.

“It’s useless. I did not let you obey me by mind control exactly because I want to enjoy your fear.” “Finn” laughed cockily.

Dark knights and regular knights were basically the same, except that the dark knights often had bloodlines that were associated with demons and devils, which would affect their personality and mental status. If their willpower was not good enough, it was possible that their blood powers would be out of control, turning them into real demons.

Sensing that the cold and smooth tentacles already touched her mouth, even the strongest willpower could not stop Sharon from screaming in desperation and fear.

“NOOOOOOOO!”

“It’s useless. This is the Dark Mountain Range and my castle. There are no living creatures around except my slaves. Nobody can hear you however loudly you scream. Hahahaha.” “Finn” obviously enjoyed Sharon’s fear and stopped touching her, giving them even more desperation.

Dum, dum, dum.

Somebody knocked on the door at a fixed pace, and the three persons in the room were frozen as if someone had hit a pause button.

Who was it? Why would someone knock the door at such a time and place? Finn was the most scared one of all. Nobody knew the neighborhood better than him. There might not be one intelligent creature who had the courtesy of knocking the door passing by in a whole year. Also, this was his own castle, and the “dark fog”, which he asked the elder Mind Stealers to set up for him, was out there!

At this moment, he seemed to be back to his childhood when he pestered his parents to tell him horror stories only to be too scared to go to sleep at night. Whenever he heard any noise, he would have goosebumps all over his body, and coldness would then rise in his heart.

Dum, dum, dum.

The door knock was neither too quiet nor too loud, suggesting the manners of the visitor.

“Who is it?” Finn recalled his tentacles and asked warily. As a radiant knight, he controlled himself well enough to not take action recklessly.

Sharon and Constantine were surprised, panicked, and somewhat hopeful. Even though their miserable fate had been avoided for now, they did not feel relieved. Whoever visited the castle of “Finn” couldn’t have come to specifically save the two of them but was more likely to be the enemy of “Finn”. If they were the experts of the Dark Mountain Range, they wouldn’t go easy on the captives more than Finn would’ve.

“It’s me.” A gentle male voice came from outside. “Since somebody is at home, I’ll let myself in.”

Who the hell is “me”? 

Unclear about the stranger’s strength, “Finn” secretly cursed and stayed where he was without opening the door. This place was the core of the castle surrounded by multiple defense circles. It was not so easy to break in!

At this moment, he saw that the doorknob turned on its own, and the door of the room was opened.

No! The eyes of “Finn” bulged even more widely. Where are my extraordinary circles? Where are my defenses? This is the most heavily defended place of my castle, but why does it look like a common hotel room right now? Why are those defenses gone?

“Finn” stood there like a stone statue as the door was completely opened and a handsome man in a double-breasted suit walked in slowly.

“I… I surrender! Don’t kill me!” “Finn” did not need to think to realize the gap between them, so he begged for mercy without any hesitation or self-esteem.

Then, he added, “I’m very close to the tribe of Mind Stealers nearby, and I once visited the Elder Mind. Whatever you need me to do, I can get it done for you.”

He was introducing his supporters so that the stranger wouldn’t think too little of him.

Lucien was amused. “I’m only here to ask directions. There’s no need to be so serious.”

If he couldn’t find any information, he would have to go to the King of Nightmare.

“To ask directions…” “Finn” felt that he was about to vomit blood.

Suddenly, clings echoed nonstop as Sharon and Constantine’s manacles and shackles broke off one after another, but there were no unusual waves in the whole room at all.

This… This is even more unbelievable than the Elimination blood power… “Finn” had witnessed many bloodlines, but he had never been through this before. He did not know what the power was at all.

Right when Sharon and Constantine were about to express their gratitude in excitement, Lucien smiled and said, “So, I was meaning to ask why the Observer’s Castle nearby was moved away.”

……

Ten minutes later, Lucien left the castle in satisfaction.

According to “Finn”, the Observer’s Castle was still here yesterday, but the headquarters of the Dark Congress sent a message and called for all the legendary members.

It seemed to be a motion from Danisos, the primordial dragon of time, and Dracula, the vampire prince. They wanted to truly unite the Dark Congress. After all, the Congress of Magic, the Church, the Elven Court, and the Boundless Ocean were more and more powerful nowadays, and the Dark Congress could not remain as divided as before.

It was what “Finn” learned from the Elder Mind. He was rather panicked about the sudden disappearance of the Observer’s Castle.

Considering that “Finn” provided satisfactory intelligence, Lucien did not kill him but simply put the shackles and manacles on him. Generally, those tools worked only on people below the senior rank, but Finn hadn’t entirely recovered.

As for what would happen later, it would be none of his concerns.

“It can be rather difficult to stop the division and the internal strife of the Dark Congress. Is Dracula willing to contain himself and live in peace with the werewolves?” Lucien shook his head with a smile and planned to join the meeting while he was visiting Mr. Rhine. “I hope that brains will not be flowing everywhere on the ground by then…”