Throne of Magical Arcana

After the pitch dark where one could not see one’s own fingers was gone, the forest seemed to have been caught in extreme quietness. Even the slithering bugs below the rotten leaves stopped making any noise.

“Lucien Evans…” The low gnashing sound came over from the dark clouds in the sky and the dispersing smoke, and it was mixed with intense fury.

For Dracula, Lucien represented a memory that was the opposite of pleasant. As a vampire prince who had lived tens of thousands of years, and an expert who ranked among the top ten in the whole world even including demigods, he was actually tricked by a bug who had just reached the sixth circle and suffered a failure that his capabilities did not deserve at all. He could have smashed the guy into pieces just with his intimidating air, but he could only watch the guy summon the Primordial Ancestor and wound him.

Whenever he recalled that, Dracula felt that his face was burning and his heart was full of humiliation. He intended to find an opportunity to kill Lucien, but the guy was devoted to arcana studies and barely went out. When he was indeed out, it was impossible to determine his location through the Host Stars of Destiny. Also, as a vampire prince with self-esteem, Dracula could not do things like lurking around Allyn for a long time. Even if he were to abandon his pride, he might not be able to fool the grand arcanist who watched over Allyn. So, the thing had been postponed until this day.

Of course, for vampires who had long lifespans, it was not so much as procrastination, even less so for Prince Dracula, a top legendary expert who could create a prosperous city in his dream that might easily last a hundred years. For him, ten years could be as short as a dinner. It was not procrastination at all. Who could’ve thought that Lucien would grow from a sixth-circle sorcerer into a top legend in only ten years and reach the same level as him?

It was a miracle that he had never seen before!

Considering that her “boss” was quite moody, just like everything when he just woke up, Fitia sighed and said courteously, “Mr. Evans, the Valley of Fiery Stone is the headquarters of the Dark Congress, and an important meeting is to be held soon. So, unless invited, no outsiders are allowed to approach. Do you want to fight against the entire Dark Congress?”

She was both polite and reasonable, so Lucien smiled and said, “I’m only here to visit Mr. Rhine. I can wait for him here.”

To be honest, Lucien would rather not enter the Valley of Fiery Stone even if he were invited. The place had a powerful defense and a top legend who was hostile to him. Danisos, the primordial dragon of time, was not particularly fond of human beings either. Entering the place recklessly was like entering the Holy City. His life would be at somebody else’s mercy.

Suddenly, Dubenal, who had gotten back on his feet again, spoke loudly, “What if Mr. Evans is invited? We, the werewolves, invite him to attend the meeting as a witness of the justice and impartiality of the meeting.”

Nasdell was shocked. Why is the prince, who fought a life-and-death battle against Lucien Evans just now, suddenly inviting the legendary sorcerer of the Congress of Magic? Is the moon rising from the west?

For a moment, he felt that his brain was in a mess, and he could not understand what was going on at all. He couldn’t help but realize that although he was smart, he was a clown compared to the wise prince. It was impossible for him to comprehend his mysterious plans!

“Dubenal, do you have any idea what you are doing, you hideous monster whose head is full of hair?” Dracula, who was hiding in the high darkness, said arrogantly and bluntly.

Under normal circumstances, Prince Dracula was a gentleman who appreciated manners, but manners were unneeded when he was faced with a filthy werewolf and a cunning reptile.

Dubenal laughed loudly. “This is the right of werewolves acknowledged by all the members of the Dark Congress…”

“I did not say that I want to attend the meeting,” Lucien interrupted him at a leisurely pace.

Crack.

Dubenal’s smile was frozen on his face. He said both in shock and in fury, “Then, what are you doing here?”

Why are you here if you haven’t come to attend the meeting and disrupt Danisos and Dracula’s scheme?

“I’m here to visit Mr. Rhine.” Lucien did not know the werewolf prince very well, but according to the files of the Congress, he was a legend whose mind was a simple straight line. So, Lucien repeated himself again.

“Why didn’t you say it early?” Dubenal’s roar shocked the bizarre-looking birds in the forest, which fluttered out in fear. Aren’t such reasons all excuses? Do you not know what excuse is?

“I already said it before…” Lucien couldn’t help but rub his forehead. What were you thinking?

Dracula fell into silence while listening to their conversation. Nasdell found it even more impossible to keep up with the pace. Fitia, on the other hand, blinked her green eyes, and her lips were cramping slightly.

Fitia couldn’t bear to watch the conversation continue anymore and said in a gentle voice, “As a matter of fact, Mr. Evans, you can attend the meeting.”

In the meantime, she waved her hands at the black cat that was moving toward Dubenal and said, “Skoy, come back.”

“Fitia, what are you doing?” Dracula said in surprise.

Completely ignoring her “boss”, Fitia went on to say, “Because the content of the meeting was exposed in advance, at the request of most members, the meeting will be held outside of the Valley of Fiery Stone, in case certain ambitious schemers silence the oppositions with the defense. Therefore, attending the meeting is not dangerous.”

“Fitia!” Dracula already sounded angry.

“Skoy”, the little black cat, disregarded its master’s summoning and went on to Nasdell. It liked playing with big dogs the most!

“About that…” Lucien thought for a moment.

Fitia chuckled. “Stanis will attend the meeting too.”

“I’m very curious about the result of the meeting.” Hearing that the King of Nightmare was coming and that the meeting was not to be held inside the Valley of Fiery Stone, Lucien naturally wouldn’t refuse to attend it. This way, he could know what was going on as early as possible.

Hearing that Lucien was willing to attend, Dubenal burst into laughter. It was indeed an excuse! I’d seen through you!

Nasdell admired his prince even more, feeling that his prince was truly visionary.

The darkness in the sky was much shallower, suggesting that Dracula might have left. Fitia gestured and said, “Mr. Evans, I’ll show you to the entrance of the Valley of Fiery Stone.”

Then, she blinked and said with a smile, “It’s really a great thing that the sun is discovered.”

Ever since she appeared, vague sorrow and melancholy seemed to have been hidden in her smile, as if she had complicated feelings about the whole world. However, her smile was pure and brilliant this time, like the flower blooming in the northern ice field.

Her attitude reminded Lucien of the files he saw before. Wasn’t Fitia the Empress of Snow, the legendary sorcerer of the Schachran Empire in the north? She went missing in the War of Dawn!

“The Empress of Snow?” Lucien recited the legendary title in confusion. How did she become a vampire?

Fitia smiled. “It’s actually a long and monotonous story. All in all, because of the problems of my own body and my soul, I could only succeed in my life by transforming into a vampire. Right, don’t discuss too much arcana with me. I fear that my brain might explode.”

“Am I that infamous?” Lucien said in self-mockery. When he walked into the forest with Fitia, he remembered that she was allegedly good at many ancient mysterious rituals.

Most of the legendary sorcerers today had little to do with the Magic Empire. The few of them were merely senior-rank sorcerers or archmages during the last years of the Magic Empire and were far from the center. Therefore, the legendary sorcerers who knew the weird rituals in the past well were only the ones in the Dark Mountain Range and Pope Viken. Fitia was apparently much more important than the former.

During the last few years of the Magic Empire, there were only two top legends in the three empires. Other than them, it was the almost twenty level-three legendary sorcerers such as Fitia.

Seeing that its master had left without bothering him, the little cat Skoy hurried to turn around and follow her.

Following Dubenal to walk in the forest, Nasdell held himself back for a long time and finally asked, “My prince, why did you invite Lucien Evans?”

“Because Dracula opposed it,” Dubenal replied. Then, feeling that it was not enough to reflect his wisdom, he added, “Lucien Evans has already reached the peak of legendary, and he has the special, powerful legendary spells such as Advanced Time Stop, Eternal Blaze, Luxury Cracking, and Snow Goddess’ Forgiveness. It’s barely possible for me to defeat him in a head-on battle. So, I can only carry out my strong suit and crush him with wisdom.”

“This meeting is very complicated and will be a perfect place for my scheme. Lucien Evans cannot attend it safely at all.”

Nasdell was thrilled. It was truly as expected of his prince. He had come up with a solution to deal with Lucien Evans so quickly!

……

Inside the Valley of Fiery Stone, volcanoes were erupting, covering the sky with thick dust that looked like lead clouds. However, the place was not dark at all. The overflowing magma illuminated everything around.

Outside of the valley, black chairs that looked like thrones had been placed in the open air.

The chairs had been occupied by the experts who were in different attires and appearances. There was a legendary knight with six arms, a Spirit Absorber—the formal name coined by the Magic Empire, but they were more commonly known as the Mind Stealers because they were good at controlling the mind—who had an octopus head, a legendary sorcerer covered in a black cloak, a middle-aged man who spread out the aura of a dragon, and a brown eye that spread out many tiny tentacles that had little eyes in different eyes.

Now that Fitia brought Lucien over, the six-armed knight among them suddenly burst out, “Lucien Evans?”

He was apparently both shocked and suspicious.

“Lucien Evans?” The other legendary experts had recognized Lucien’s identity too. The atmosphere was suddenly frozen.

Although they had hardly been away from the Dark Mountain Range, it would be an insult to their wisdom if they did not know the most dangerous person in the world.