NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1135: The Deceitful One
In the dark of the night, a horse-drawn caravan rolled out of the City of Sails, quickly making its way towards its destination.
The pale glow of the twin moons cast an ethereal light over the lands of the Southern Federation. However, the atmosphere inside the caravan was extremely grim.
Daryl rode on the front bench beside the driver, a mortal resident of Hannes City, who the carriage belonged to. Meanwhile, the covered caravan was occupied by Rowan, his family, Ada, and lastly Anna.
Behind them, Kasper followed closely, erasing their tracks with arcane means and weaving illusions to make it seem as though they had traveled east instead of towards their true destination.
"Kekeke!" The carriage driver's laughter was no different than a goblin's.
He casually picked his nose, ignoring the disgusted look Daryl displayed, and said in amusement:
"Do you people live under a rock or something? How come you are so clueless? Kekeke!"
Inside the caravan, Rowan was sweating incessantly. He couldn't help but wonder if this driver had no regard for his life.
He was just about to warn him to speak to Daryl respectfully, but it turned out Daryl did not care about formalities at the moment. The Magus just wanted to hear the truth. And so did everyone else in the caravan.
"Tell us what you know about the Dark King," Daryly muttered in a cold voice. "Why is there a wanted poster of him? Issued by the Acadian Empire, no less."
The driver suddenly felt his back covered in a layer of cold sweat. He looked around frantically, wondering what the reason was for the sudden drop in temperature. After finding nothing around their caravan, he turned to Daryl and asked with a dubious look on his face:
"Huh, you really don't know? By the way, mister, do you feel cold?"
Daryl tried his best not to beat the living daylights out of the driver. He forced a smile as he answered, "My friends and I were at sea for the past few months. Now, would you mind telling us?"
"At sea?" The driver raised an eyebrow. "Alright, alright, that makes more sense to me."
He paused for a moment, reined in the horses, then continued:
"Anyways, three months ago, one of the Pillars of the Acadian Empire was attacked by foreign forces. Ah, what were they called? Uhm… The Cult of Gnomes? No, that doesn't sound right. Ah, got it! The Cult of Bones!"
The moment those words left the driver's mouth, Daryl's blood turned cold. A drop of cold sweat trickled down the side of his forehead as he slowly turned around, his gaze settling on Anna and Ada.
Ada was similarly frozen in shock, and as for Anna… there was a cold look on her face, but beneath that facade, a fiery storm was raging.
In Europa, the Ignisra Kingdom—of which Anna was the royal princess—was part of the Sovereign Union, a coalition of independent kingdoms and principalities that was in direct opposition to the Haynam Empire.
Dark rumors whispered that the Haynam Empire was being secretly backed… by the Cult of Bones!
They had always dismissed such tales as rumors, but now, on a continent half a world away, they finally realized there must be some truth to them after all.
Of course, the vast majority of people in the Sovereign Union must have never even heard of the Cult of Bones. But Anna, Ada, and Daryl were different. They were either royalty or closely tied to it. So how could they not?
"Anna…" The silver-haired Ada looked to her friend with a deeply concerned look on her face.
"What do you know about the Cult of Bones?" Daryl immediately asked.
"Huh?" The driver was perplexed.
"I thought you wanted to know about the traitor? But anyway, no one knows about this Cult. They just appeared out of nowhere. But people are saying that the traitor is a servant of the Cult and whatnot, that he was raised by them to act as a spy within the Empire—"
"Wait a minute," Anna interrupted him.
"Huh?" The driver turned around and glanced at the woman.
Although she had her hood on, he could still see streaks of crimson hair and a face that seemed to have been touched by divinity itself. He had never seen such a beautiful woman in his life.
"Hehe, yes, young miss?" The driver asked with a foolish smile.
"You said… The Dark King is a servant of the Cult and was raised by them to become a spy in the Empire? How credible is this information?"
"I don't know…" The driver shrugged. "It's what everyone's saying, so I guess it must be true."
He turned back around, reining in the horses again. Then, he continued:
"Anyways, they no longer call him the Dark King, you know? Now, people call him… Adam the Deceitful. They say that he, along with another traitor of Ravenfell, orchestrated the Battle of Ravenfell. And that the two were directly responsible for the deaths of the Saratoga Castle's former Headmaster and the previous emperor of the Acadian Empire…"
The driver went on and on about how Adam the Deceitful was involved in slave trading and human trafficking, using the unfortunate souls in bloody rituals to appease evil entities. He even spoke about how he had slaughtered the students who participated in the Grand Magus Tournament.
As these rumors floated from one mouth to another, they grew wilder until there was barely any truth to them—not that there was any truth to them to begin with. In the end, the Dark King, who was once hailed as the greatest talent of the Empire, had been reduced to nothing but a cutthroat, backstabbing devil.
And so, in the minds of the people of Ulier, Adam Constatine was remembered by a single name…
The Deceitful One.
Anna, however, paid no heed to these rumors. In fact, she scoffed at them, her lips curling in disdain.
Adam the Deceitful?
Orchestrated the Battle of Ravenfell?
Responsible for the death of Mana Core Magi?
Involved in the slave trade and human trafficking?
Servant of the Cult of Bones?
Raised by the evil Cult?
How could such tales be true when it was she who had raised him?
In that moment, she understood many things. First of them being… that this was a deliberate conspiracy to discredit Adam. She didn't know the exact details about it, but she believed she was right. A deep, insidious ploy was at work here.
She also realized another thing…
Anna closed her eyes, her hands subconsciously turning into fists.
So that's why you sent me away? She wondered.
You knew the Battle of Ravenfell was inevitable, so you… placed me out of harm's way.
She realized, too, that based on her nature, she would never have left Ravenfell had she suspected anything even remotely terrible looming over her little brother.
The very fact that she did leave could only mean one thing…
And you also cast a spell on me, she thought bitterly.
Damn you, Adam.
Damn you…
As Anna wrestled to come to terms with this reality, she couldn't help but wonder about Adam's whereabouts. Was he safe? Was he even alive?
She did not know.
And the uncertainty ate away at her from within.
***
A day later, another ship docked at the port of Hannes City.
On its deck stood an elderly man with blond hair and topaz eyes, holding a small copper lantern in his hand. Within the glass walls of the lantern, a wisp flickered and tapped restlessly, pointing in a single direction.
Ives Ballard lifted his head and looked west, his gaze seemingly piercing hundreds of miles… straight towards his son's murderer. His eyes were bloodshot and blazing with murderous intent. His lips parted, and he coldly muttered:
"No matter where you run… I will find you and I will kill you!"