Chapter 395: Return
Dungeon's Entrance, City of Red, Fire Elemental Plane.
At that moment, a humanoid figure came out from the void-like passage and soon landed on the ground.
It was none other than Charles.
First, he released a bit of his wisdom power, checked the surroundings, and soon breathed out a sigh of relief.
But just as he was about to take a step forward, he sensed someone was looking in his direction. Although he didn't see any presence nearby, he vaguely felt that the prying sensation came from the Cathedral.
'It seems Adur won the fight.' But he wasn't bothered by his prying eyes.
.
He released his full wisdom power without delay, scanned the surrounding areas, including the Red Human city, and cast [Flame Teleportation] spell.
Then, he enveloped his body in a crimson flame and disappeared from there.
A second later, he reappeared 10 km away from the Red City and smiled.
'That guy seems to be injured heavily this time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have let me go without a fight.' He shook his head and once again released his wisdom power.
At that moment, he shifted his gaze towards the [Curse of the Overlord] spell model and checked the curse connections.
'Out of 9 Elders, only one Elder is alive. Moreover, he is currently heading towards the Ember Castle direction. Hmm? Isn't he the one who carries the final hope of Paragons?' He paused for a moment and soon took out the Twin Leaf from his space ring.
'Hmm, it's better to give this leaf to a trustworthy person.' As he thought, a certain woman knight's image flashed in front of his eyes.
'Nora, the Chaos Maiden… Hmm, I think she would keep this leaf safer and take it to the Twilight Land. After that, her job is to bring the Twin Leaf to the old waterfall and hide it in the underground cave. Although that Red Dragon knew of that location, I don't think it would be still looking for me over there.' Charles had some plans for the Night Goblin child.
'But they are all for the future. First, I need to break my Destiny shackle.' A cold glint appeared in his eyes.
He then gripped the Twin Leaf in his palm, cast [Flame Teleportation] spell, and disappeared from there.
A few seconds later, he reappeared in the sky, looked at the surrounding mountains and forest, and soon zeroed his focus on a particular direction.
At that moment, he saw a group of 40 young men and women moving towards the direction where the Ember Castle was located.
The one who led the group was a crimson-haired paragon woman.
She was none other than Scarlet, whom he met a few hours ago.
Scarlet's group had yet to reach the Ember Golems' territory, making it easier for Charles to contact Nora.
'Before that, I need to change my identity.' He nodded inwardly, touched his face, and started shapeshifting into a Red Human merchant, Tebs.
His hair turned short brown color, his eyes turned coral, and even his height also reduced to 175 cm. Not only that, but he also appeared a little fatter with a big belly and a round face.
Once he completely shapeshifted into a Red Human, he first cast [Red Wings] spell on himself, descended towards the ground, and soon landed in front of the group.
"I came here to deliver a message from the new champion." He shouted in a loud tone before others could ask any question.
Upon hearing his words, Scarlet wore a surprised look and asked in a hurry.
"What is the current situation?"
"Elders are still fighting the old champion, My Lady." His words were short.
"What about the casualties? How did you sneak out from the defensive magic array?" Scarlet continued to ask more questions.
Meanwhile, Charles paused for a moment and responded in a vague tone.
"I don't know much about the casualties, My Lady. The only thing I know is that the whole defensive shield was on the brink of breaking down when I left the city. That's how I manage to sneak out." He shamelessly lied.
Before Scarlet could ask another question, he shifted his gaze towards Nora and spoke.
"I've something important to talk with you, Miss Nora."
Although Nora got startled inside, she didn't ask any question, nodded her head, and moved forward.
Meanwhile, Charles turned around and walked into the woods.
Both continued to walk for a few more minutes and soon stopped as they arrived in front of a river.
Then, Charles released his wisdom power, blocked the other foreign forces from listening to their conversation, and passed the Twin Leaf to Nora.
Then, he gave a few orders on behalf of the new champion and left the Fire-Elemental Plane!
…
Layer-0, Rebirth Tower, City of Iron, Iron Kingdom, Edhen Plane.
Charles reappeared in the underground basement layer and soon frowned as he noticed the different atmosphere.
'I'm not in the old mansion's underground basement?' He raised his eyebrows and soon looked at the surrounding dark hall.
His gaze swept past the mysterious runal circles, tall supportive pillars, experimental tables with many glass equipment, and soon landed on the cloning pods.
Charles also saw illusionary game interface-like screens in front of those pods and became surprised.
'Damn, this looks more like a sci-fi setting.' He muttered inwardly and turned his attention towards the white-haired old man seated a few meters away from him.
"You are late," Oswald said in a cold tone, stored the scroll into his space ring, and stood up from his seat. Then, he took out a black cane from his space ring, held it in his hand, and started walking towards him with its support.
But just as he took the second step, a loud explosion came from above and caused the whole tower to shake violently!
"What the hell is that?" Charles shouted in surprise.
Meanwhile, Oswald frowned a little and responded.
"It must be the Arch-Mage Marcus. So, what's your plan? Are you planning to confront the World Will? Or, run away?"
"Runaway? To where? Moreover, the Divine had already placed a curse on my soul. Running away is not an option." Charles paused due to another explosion from outside, shifted his attention towards the Holem's Crown's contract mark, and erased it.
"Old man, you are free to go on your own." He said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Runeth took a step forward, raised his black cane, and gave Charles a forceful beating.
"There are still 90 more years for our agreement to end. Moreover, why do I need to leave when I have this much wealth to do research? Whether you live or die, I'll be staying in this tower for the next 90 years and continue to do my research. Now, get the hell out of here." He said in an angry tone.
Charles let out a chuckle and searched for an empty place before walking over there.
After that, he closed his eyes, entered his Inner World, and soon reappeared in front of the system cube.
Then, he covered the cube with his wisdom power and left his Inner World.
A second later, a large red cube appeared in front of Oswald's eyes.
It was 6 to 7 meters tall and appeared more like a crystal cube.
At that moment, thousands of runal characters orbited around the cube and let it stay one meter above the concrete floor.
Upon seeing this cube, Oswald widened his eyes and hurriedly walked towards it.
"Is this the system artifact?! Extraordinary! The Sun God must've used the ancient rune language to build this thing. Not only that, but he also seems to have used elven-style blueprints to create the outer cube. There is also the presence of 'Time' power hidden all over this cube. Although it is almost non-existing now, the remnant power is still there." He muttered in a shocked tone.
On the other hand, Charles shook his head and spoke in a cold tone.
"This is under your control from now on, old man. Study this cube carefully and then remodel the whole thing. Also, check if there are any traps placed in this game cube. Once you finish studying the game cube, we'll think of a way to upgrade it."
In the meantime, Oswald nodded his head and was about to say something but suddenly froze.
"Wait… Why are you placing the System Cube here? Don't tell me-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Charles cut him off.
"Don't say a word. The World's Will might perceive my plan. Anyway, take care of the kids."
Saying so, he raised his hand, touched his face, and started to shapeshift.
On the other hand, Oswald squinted his eyes, replicated a part of his memories, appeared beside him, and directly sent the memories into his Inner World.
"Use this transportation method to travel. I also added my original name I.D. and passcode." He then said in a calm tone.
'This… Planar Transportation method? Lawful Faction? Neutral Faction?' A flash of surprise appeared on his face.
Charles then thanked him with a nod, changed into Oswald's appearance, and took out the black cane from his space ring.
"Don't use my identity often," Oswald grumbled from behind, but Charles paid no attention to it.
He then looked up at the ceiling, released his wisdom power, and scanned the whole tower.
In a second, he saw all the ins and outs of the Rebirth Tower and soon zeroed his focus on the 24th floor.
At that moment, Jessie, Rhea, and Noel looked outside through the glass window and were showing angry expressions on their faces.
Before Charles could cast [Flame Teleportation] spell, another attack came from outside, causing the whole Rebirth Tower to shake.
"Come out. You people dare to scheme against my family?" A sharp voice came from outside.
'A foolish puppet of the World's Will, huh.' Charles took a deep breath and cast [Flame Teleportation] spell.
A second later, he enveloped his body in a crimson flame and disappeared from there.
He reappeared on the 24th floor the next instant, shifted his attention towards Titus's cold body, and walked towards it.
Meanwhile, Jessie, Rhea, and Noel noticed someone's presence in the hall and turned around in surprise.
"T-Teacher!" All three of them shouted in unison and ran towards him with teary eyes.
Soon, the trio arrived next to him and hugged him from all directions.
Charles stumbled a bit due to the force but managed to regain his balance.
Without waiting for them to question him, Charles patted on their heads one by one and spoke.
"I know you're angry at me for not saving Titus. But there is a big reason for my action." He paused for a moment and then asked a question.
"Do you guys still remember the First King's prophecy?"
Although Jessie and others got confused by his sudden question, they glanced at each other and nodded in unison.
"Is it possible for Titus to come back from the dead?" Rhea asked in a shocked tone.
To this day, she thought of that prophecy as a fake one.
When she heard about Titus's death earlier, she indeed thought of that prophecy. But she didn't put much thought into it.
"Yes, it is possible for him to return from the dead. But it's all in Titus's hand. What you guys should do from now on is focus on improving your strength and wait for the destined day. It may take months, years, or even decades. Don't lose hope and stay together." Oswald spoke as he continued to walk, arrived near Titus's body, and then added.
"Zera, send Titus's body to layer-0 and tell Runeth to seal his body using the Time Elemental Crystal."
Saying so, he once again cast [Flame Teleportation] spell and disappeared from there.
