Fire Mage

Two days later.

An orb of light suddenly appeared above the Keeper's watch and soon formed into the appearance of a naked young man.

He slowly crashed onto the floor and groaned.

"I'm still alive?" He opened his eyes and noticed he was lying with no clothes.

'The strange orb entered my Inner World, but what happened next? I can't remember a thing… I want to see if I still retain the strength I gained from the illusion world.' He tried to check his Inner World and soon sighed.

'As expected, I can't enter my Inner World yet.'

'Wait!' He hurriedly picked up the Keeper's Watch as he stood up, injected his spirit imprint, and took the Moonfire sword from it.

'Let's see if my sword skill is still the same.'

He gripped the sword hilt and slowly enveloped it with the basic aura. Gradually, he covered the aura with a sunshine aura, followed by a reddish aura.

'Now is the hardest part.' As he muttered, he focused more on the edges and transformed the reddish aura.

Slowly, a light green glow enveloped the sword and soon deepened into a dark green.

The corner of Zephyr's lips rose.

But the master aura started to shimmer before he could maintain the stability, and soon vanished.

'Tsk, my body and wisdom power are still too weak to maintain Master Aura. Still, I can maintain it for 10 seconds.' Ten seconds may seem like a short time, but even a single second was enough to overpower a Rank-4 Mystic.

He showed a satisfied smile and activated the Analyze skill on himself.

…

[Name: Zephyr Silvercrest]

[Class: True Blade (Rank-5)] (Suppressed to Rank-3)

[Sub-Class: Light Mage (Rank-2)]

[Strength: 16 | Dexterity: 17 | Constitution: 17 | Wisdom: 21]

[Class Skills: Moonlight Cleave (??%), Radiant Slash (??%), Divine Hit (??%), Grandmaster Sword Aura (???%)]

[Subclass Spells: Radiant Lance, Holy Aegis, Flash Step, Healing Light, Cure Curse, Holy Wings]

[Affinities: Sword – Genius, Light – Divine]

…

'Damn! If I could increase my wisdom power and rank up my subclass, I'll become a Pseudo-Legendary Mystic in no time!' He aimed to reach the Legend Realm like Charles and others!

But it was easier said than done.

He quietly looked at the Keeper's Watch and noticed the next quest was already updated.

'Safely bringing Christine Ver Lockwood to the Rogue Throne, huh? But how do I even leave this place?' He soon observed the hall and noticed a strange scroll near his feet.

He hurriedly picked it up and checked it.

"Oh? A teleportation scroll?" But first, he took a black formal outfit from the inventory and put it on.

After that, he took the teleportation scroll and tore it.

A moment later, a golden magic circle appeared under his feet, enveloping him in dense golden light.

The next moment, Zephyr vanished from the underground chamber.

…

A flash of light appeared above the Eye Lake suddenly and soon formed into the appearance of a young man.

Zephyr quickly cast [Holy Wings] and flew toward the hidden cavern.

But as soon as he flew over ten meters, a winged wolf leaped from the ground, opening its mouth to tear him apart.

With a single glance, Zephyr realized it was a Rank-3 Magical Beast!

He touched the Keeper's Watch, took Moonfire from the inventory, and covered the sword with Master Aura.

At the same time, he cast [Flash Step], evaded the wolf's attack mid-air, and appeared beside its neck.

He then gracefully raised his sword and slashed at the wolf's neck.

The next moment, the sword sliced through the wolf's neck and decapitated it.

Zephyr flapped his holy wings and flew toward the mountain as the corpse fell into the lake, dyeing the water red with blood.

After a short flight, he reached the cavern entrance and noticed a small fire crackling within, its warmth faintly spreading into the damp forest air.

Christine sat beside the fire, sharpening her dagger with a look of quiet focus. But the moment she sensed a presence, her head snapped up. Her eyes widened in shock and immediate relief.

"Zephyr?" She stood up quickly, her voice almost a whisper.

He dispelled the wings and landed gracefully. "Did you think I'd make you wait forever, Your Highness?"

"You disappeared for over a week! I thought something went wrong," she said, rushing over and lightly punching his shoulder. "You keep making me worry."

Zephyr chuckled. "That's not my intention, Your Highness. I had to do the trial alone." He looked around the cave and then smiled. "Glad you didn't leave."

Christine sighed. "I was about to break camp and leave tomorrow morning… Seems like your timing is weirdly perfect."

He nodded, then turned serious. "Did anything happen during the past few days?"

Christine's expression darkened. "No attacks. But… I felt someone was watching me from the woods. I couldn't see who. Just the feeling."

Zephyr's expression turned cold. "It seems they're still tracking you."

"That's why we should move. Tonight," she said firmly. "I don't want to give them another chance."

Zephyr agreed. "Good. We'd better move under the cover of darkness."

Although Zephyr could stand toe-to-toe against a Rank-4 Mystic, he didn't dare underestimate the enemy.

"Her guardian was Rank-4 or Rank-5, but even she was killed by those black-robed men." His priority wasn't fighting them but escorting Christine to the Rogue Throne.

"I packed everything," she replied as she walked out of the cavern, wearing a black dress.

Zephyr cleaned the blood-covered sword using water and took the lead.

…

23rd Floor, Rebirth Tower, Iron Kingdom.

June 11th, Year 0001, Chaos Era.

It had been around five months since the start of the Chaos Era.

A long, black-haired woman with azure eyes and pale skin stood near the window, looking outside at the city.

She wore a velvet gown with a diamond-embedded crown on her head and held a short golden staff with a bluish gem embedded in it.

She was the ruler of the Iron Kingdom—Rhea Boneflare!

"I didn't expect him to get a legacy of an ancient light mage." Rhea then glanced at the illusionary elven woman standing beside her and continued.

"Casualty Manipulation. What a terrifying ability." Unlike her 'Fate' ability, this power was based on one's wisdom and understanding of the world, or a place's past, present, and future.

'If not for his knowledge, Zephyr wouldn't have gotten the Sacred Orb to enter the Dungeon and obtained a fortune encounter.' What shocked Rhea most was that he killed a Rank-3 Magical Beast in a blink.

"What the hell did he experience in the dungeon? He looks different for sure."

One thing she was sure of was that Charles was planning something big!  Big!

"It's time, Master," Zera said, bowing her head.

"Ha! Who else is coming?" Rhea asked.

"Lord Runeth and a special guest you are familiar with," Zera said with a smile.

"A guest I'm familiar with?" Rhea furrowed her brow, but Zera didn't respond and smiled.

"What is the current condition of the United Council?" She asked about the pressing matter.

"Nothing has changed much, but the Rogue Throne, Blood Empire, and Azure Federation have officially sent nomination letters to elect a new Union Leader."

"Who are the candidates?"

"There are four candidates—one from the Rogue Throne, one from the Blood Empire, one from the Azure Federation, and the last is none other than you. Even though Seer Rory said you would be the Union Leader, no one other than the eleven members from the Iron Kingdom supports you."

"To get the majority, I need over 240 more supporters, huh?" Rhea felt this was a hopeless situation.

"Worry not. The council meeting will last 30 days, and they will select the new Union Leader only in the last week. You have all the time to convince the people."

The corner of Rhea's lips twitched.

'As if that's an easier job.'

Although she was a Rank-5 Mystic now, her strength was nowhere near enough to fight for the position of the new Union Leader.

"You are not there to fight physically. What you are going to do is fight using words, Master. State the facts. Reveal the truth to the world with evidence," Zera spoke.

"What evidence do we have? All the information we have is just a hypothesis. Will anyone believe me if I say that the Lawful Gods are not from this world but foreign gods? Those churches form the Council itself. One wrong move, and I might get imprisoned in the Sacred Empire." Rhea sighed.

The council meeting would have at least a dozen Legendary powerhouses.

'Not to mention, the current Leader of the Union Council is rumored to be a Demi-God-level powerhouse.'

The mission was a suicidal one.

"Ha! Teleport me to the base," Rhea ordered.

As soon as she spoke, her figure turned blurry and disappeared from the hall.