'Mr. Runeth, can you be able to cast a miracle now? Also, can you explain more about this miracle skill? Is there any specific amount of Luck need to cast a miracle? Will the user receives any side-effects? I want the truth, not the one you told your previous owners.' Charles asked after a short deliberation.
'Tsk. You sure do lack manners, lad. Well, I already stole the Riverdale Citizens' Luck to create the final miracle on you. But to cast a miracle, few requirements need to be met. First is the reason. Without any proper reason, the miracle won't be successful. The second one is the range of the miracle. I now have 540 peoples' Luck. But with this much amount of Luck, I can be only able to do small miracles like fulfilling a mortal's lifelong wish or something like that.
For example, a farmer suddenly encounters a mutated wolf when he is doing some fieldwork. In this situation, the possibility of him defeating the wolf is almost zero. But if I made a change in the farmer's Fate by boosting his Luck to an incredible level, the farmer might defeat the mutated wolf just by swinging his draw hoe. If possible, he might get a unique class gem in return upon killing the wolf. It is basically a miracle for the farmer. But there is another possibility. The 'Miracle' might fail if the farmer suddenly lost his courage and ran away from the mutated wolf.
Next is about insufficient Luck when casting a miracle. It is the tricky part, and I faced such a problem when I cast the miracle spell on you. I have gathered a total of 50 thousand people's luck powers in the past few decades, so I thought it would be more than enough to get you out of such a minor kidnapping incident. But something extraordinary occurred when I cast the 'Miracle' skill, and the gathered luck power disappeared in a blink. Left with no other choice, I made a swift plan and borrowed the Riverdale Citizens' Luck. Although I stole only their next two months' Luck, it still affected them in many ways. So, you can never predict what will happen next when casting a miracle skill. And if I didn't steal their Luck at that time, then the last miracle might not have happened at all.'
'Oh.' Charles nodded his head in enlightenment and soon thought to himself in English.
'My transmigration must be the cause of this extraordinary occurrence. Still, what about the origin of the game system? It sure isn't caused by a miracle. Then, is there any other third party involved in this?' Doubt appeared in his mind.
Casting those thoughts away, he took out the silver pocket watch from his pocket, flipped open the outer case, and checked the time.
'It's 2.35 P.M.' He nodded his head and soon muttered to himself.
'It's been almost four months since I transmigrated into this magical world. So, the misfortune effect on Riverdale Citizens has gone, right?' He furrowed his brows for a moment and asked to study more about the Holem's Crown's character,
'Mr. Runeth, if I end up in a similar situation, can you steal the Riverdale Citizen's Luck once again and fulfill the miracle?'
'No, if I further steal their luck power, the whole city will plunge into a great disaster. Many citizens will die.'
'Oh, it seems you do care about the poor citizens' lives. But if I didn't trick you into signing the contract, you would have created a formality 'Miracle' for me to fulfill the contract, stole my heart as a reward, and escape from others by casting another extraordinary miracle, right?' Charles asked in a sarcastic tone.
The Holem's Crown went silent for a whole minute and soon sighed.
'It seems I ended up in the hands of a smart one this time.' It paused for a moment and continued in a careless tone.
'Well, who cares about those mortals' lives? Even if I didn't kill them, they will age 50 to 100 years and die naturally anyway. So, there is no harm in stealing their luck power beforehand to cast a 'Miracle' on you and get my freedom and a true body. Haa! If not for my impatience, ego, overconfidence, I wouldn't have ended up signing another contract like a dumb fool and became a slave once again.'
A frown appeared on Charles's face.
'This artifact sure is a troublesome one.'
He knew that if the artifact triggered something disastrous in the future, the whole lawful Church organizations might come for his head. He suddenly thought of Bishop Reynolds's request and soon asked,
'Can you able to give back the stolen Luck to the people? If not, how many days will they be affected by the misfortune effect?'
The Holem's Crown didn't take much time to think and replied instantly,
'No, I can't give back the luck power to the people whom I stole. The duration of the misfortune skill will depend on how much Luck I stole from their lifetime. Mostly, I won't steal more than six months of their lucks in fear of changing their Fate. Luck is somewhat interlinked with one's Fate. If I stole too much Luck from a particular individual, the particular individual might permanently lose his/her life and cause deep variation in the timeline.
Let's take this ruin mission as an example. A year ago, I made a plan to do the 'False Reincarnation Ritual' in Unexplored Forest and created a future mission by changing your Fate by manipulating the power of Luck. That somehow attracted a certain individual's attention, and he started manipulating behind the scenes. He is the one Luke addressed him as 'His Highness'. If not for your warning and another individual's interference, I wouldn't have noticed this 'His Highness' scheme and would still be in a clueless state. So, frequently using my miracle skill will cause too many variables in the Fate and attract unwanted attention.'
'Another individual? Are you talking about the [Historian] Max?' Charles raised his thin eyebrows in surprise.
'I don't know about that guy's name. But he seems to have interfered with the plans of 'His Highness'. You do remember about him cursing someone as damned [Historian] kid, right? That [Historian] Max might be that another individual.'
'Heh, so that explains everything.' Charles nodded his head and soon turned his gaze towards Emilia, who almost finished her long chanting.
A few seconds later, Emilia finally placed her right hand on the ground and completed her long chanting.
An instant later, an electric arc came out from her hand and spread in all directions, causing the ice on thieves' bodies to melt at an unimaginable speed.
Before long, all those Mystics gasped for breath and began to shiver due to the cold. Some stared around cautiously while gripping the weapons, while others started gathering together in a group.
"BOSS?!" Richard was the first to notice Night-Eye's body on the wet ground and called out in alarm. Others, including Nicole, and Henry, also went near him and checked his body in a hurry.
"He is dead." Before they could check his pulse, Emilia muttered coldly and then added after a short pause.
"You guys should get out of this forest before something weird pops up and kill you all."
After saying those words, she turned around and sat under the black mangrove tree's shadow. Unlike before, though, there was a sadness that appeared on her face.
"It's been five years since he joined the Withering Shadows organization and became a member of the Aces team. I didn't expect him to betray and became a criminal at all." She muttered in a gloomy tone.
"Why did he became someone's lackey?" Andrew sat beside Emilia and asked with a frown.
"Did you forget about his lover's death? That happened due to Jaxon's mistake. He might have held some grudge against our team." Emilia rubbed her template in frustration and said.
"What if he became a member of Withering Shadows just for this moment? There is a possibility that he might be Red-Prince's lackey from the beginning itself! Team leader, haven't you noticed another clue?" Andrew purposefully paused for a second and soon continued with a serious look.
"It's his house, Team Leader. He hasn't moved to another street for the last five years and stayed in 134 El Street. He might have monitored Charles's and his mother's movements from the very beginning."
Although his words sound absurd, Emilia felt that there might be some truth in his words and soon frowned.
"It doesn't matter now." She took a deep breath to calm her emotions and stood up with a stern look on her face.
Then, she glanced at the surrounding area for a moment and started walking in the direction where Luke and Daniel went before. Charles and Andrew glanced at each other and then followed after her silently, leaving thieves alone in the dark, gloomy forest.
Once they reached a certain distance, Emilia stopped near a swamp river and asked.
"Charles, did you have any guess about Red Prince and his lackey's goal?"
Her sudden question made Charles pause in surprise.
"Aren't they after the Holem's Crown?" He asked but soon frowned.
Noticing his frown, Emilia nodded her head and spoke,
"When the Holem's Crown revealed its presence earlier, they didn't even try to capture it. Instead, they ran away like cowards. Although they told Night-Eye to bring us to the ruin, Luke should have known about most of my trump cards. And, the possibility of Night-Eye defeating me is only 50 percent. So, I think that their main goal might be something else."
Charles widened his eyes as he heard those words and soon thought of a possibility.
"They want to lure us into the city ruin? Daniel also said something about releasing Chaos Wanderer before Crown escapes... What does that mean? Their goal is not to capture Holem's Crown but then what is it?" He muttered out loud in a confused tone.
'Wait... Let's think from the enemy's perspective. If I'm the Red Prince, would I be happy about my enemy having an artifact that could create miracles? No. First, I would have made some plans and try to capture the Holem's Crown. But capturing a series artifact is not an easy matter...' He instantly halted his thought and soon asked the Holem's Crown in Blen Language.
'Mr. Runeth, what is the rank of Eddie Nightwind when he tries captures you in the void?'
Holem's Crown became startled for a moment and soon replied without putting much thought into it.
'He is a [Dream Creator] back then.'
'Dream Creator... That means this series artifact has the strength to battle against a Rank-5 individual. But why is it afraid of Rank-4 members?' He furrowed his brows and soon asked the Holem's Crown directly,
'Then, why are you afraid of Rank-3 and Rank-4 individuals now?'
'I'm not afraid of facing a Rank-4 individual, lad. But once I reveal my presence, there won't be just one rank-4 member. Dozens of Rank-4 and even Rank-5 members will come from afar and try to capture me. That is the last thing I want to face in my life.' Upon hearing those words, Charles nodded his head and then continued to ponder.
'So, let's take that Red Prince doesn't have the power to defeat that artifact. Then what will I do if I were in his shoes? Of course, I will try to separate it from my main target.' A look of realization appeared on Charles's face.
'Enemy wants to seal this artifact here? Then, there comes another problem... Who is their main target?' He organized his thoughts for a moment and spoke while pointing his finger towards the red bracelet.
"Team Leader, the enemy might be planning to seal this artifact here."
Emilia raised her hand, touched her chin, and soon frowned.
"Can you tell me the reason?"
Charles nodded his head and continued.
"Enemy fears the Holem's Crown's 'Miracle' ability. Although I'm not sure who their main goal is, I can vaguely guess that they might be targeting me. As for why they are targeting me, I have some guesses. It must be something to do with the last Miracle and my abnormal progression."
"That still doesn't explain why they are acting sneakily," Andrew said in a solemn tone.
"Everything started on June 5th. It's the kidnapping incident that caused me to change into an abnormal one. Moreover, I have a vague feeling that the kidnapping incident might be an orchestrated one. What if Red Prince orchestrated that kidnapping incident to lure this Holem's Crown out from the shadows?" He suddenly shifted his attention to the Holem's Crown and asked in a deep tone.
"Why did you help me during the kidnapping incident?"
