The Lightning Emperor told Wester a bit more about the old times. Wester wasn't particularly interested, but he still listened intently.
"By the way, where did you get this book from?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Not even I have an original."
"Someone handed this book to a talented warrior in Area 23," Wester said.
"Oh, I wonder where they got it from," the Lightning Emperor said. "Who gave the warrior this book?"
Wester told everything he had heard from the Starlight Queen to the Lightning Emperor.
The Lightning Emperor knew that the description of that person fit with reality. With his power, it wasn't very hard to discern truth from falsehood.
"Interesting," he said.
Then, the Lightning Emperor closed his eyes for a couple of seconds.
"There are about two Mages that fit the description, but they haven't been to Area 23 in the recent 100 years," the Lightning Emperor said.
In just a mere couple of seconds, the Lightning Emperor had looked through his entire territory and had read everyone's aura. Additionally, he had read the past of the two Mages.
Sadly, this didn't work for finding the Child of Calamity. Maybe if they became more powerful and unleashed their Calamity Affinity, this could become a possibility.
But as it stood now, there were simply too many people to look through.
Yes, he managed to look through everyone, but he only looked at the Ancestral Mages and more powerful, and he only looked at their general auras.
If he wanted to find the Child of Calamity like this, he would need to look through everyone and deeply analyze their Affinities.
The Affinity of the Child of Calamity looked like a Fire, Ice, Darkness, or Light Affinity at a cursory glance.
Only when a powerful Mage looked very closely or administered a bloodline test would they be able to identify the Child of Calamity.
"Do you want me to investigate?" Wester asked.
"No, it's fine," the Lightning Emperor said with a smile. "It's been a long time since the Purge, and I was never a great fan of it. In actuality, I feel quite a bit of regret."
"Wasn't it the Mage God's degree?" Wester asked.
"Well," the Lightning Emperor said slowly. "Kind of, but not really."
Wester raised an eyebrow in suspicion.
The Lightning Emperor laughed a bit in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, when Lucius defeated the Grand Master of Weapons, he got really angry."
"He went into the fight with absolute confidence, but his overconfidence nearly cost him his life. He had severely underestimated the Grand Master of Weapons."
"And after winning, he ordered us in anger to never allow another Emperor from any other Path to rise again."
"After overcoming his last opponent, he quickly focused on achieving his goal and left our world. You know, he wanted to fix the issue with the Abominations, which was his very reason for going this far in the first place."
"The plague of the Abominations was far worse back then. We even saw some King Abominations from time to time."
"But after Lucius left, the threat of the Abominations diminished to the pitiful annoyance it is today."
"As for his last decree, I think everyone went a bit overboard," the Lightning Emperor said with an embarrassed smile.
Wester thought about the ridiculous weak other Paths and called the Lightning Emperor's words an understatement.
That was not "a bit" overboard.
"You never told me," Wester said.
The Lightning Emperor laughed with embarrassment again. "I mean, it's kind of embarrassing. Lucius only told us to stop other Emperors from rising, but things turned out this way."
"Back then, we feared that some hidden King might become an Emperor. So, we killed all the Kings and their inheritances."
"After that, things basically happened on their own. The Mage Kings were interested in the other Kings' and Lords' possessions, and the Mage Lords were interested in the possessions of the Ancestrals."
"That continued until only the weakest people of every Path were left, and since everyone heard Lucius' decree, they burned all the inheritances they found to show their loyalty."
"I feel a bit bad about the other Paths losing all their inheritances. So, why not allow a small resurgence?" the Lightning Emperor said.
"And the decree?" Wester asked. "Wouldn't the current situation suit the Mage God? After all, he ordered that no other Emperors are allowed to exist."
The Lightning Emperor chuckled a bit. "Lucius was a very heated fellow. I can't count the times he shouted or ordered something in anger just to apologize to us a couple of days later and rescind the orders."
"I'm pretty sure this would have gone the same way if he remained in this world for longer. He probably would have said that we didn't need to be this brutal and that we should only be careful that they don't take their revenge on us."
"When Lucius was angry, he could go on a killing spree, but after he calmed down, he was always embarrassed about his actions. He was a weird guy."
The Lightning Emperor's eyes grew distant as a content smile appeared on his face.
"But he was our leader, and we would have followed him everywhere."
A couple of seconds of silence passed.
"What about the Star Map?" Wester asked. "It appeared in a Development Area, and its appearance might break the equilibrium."
"Oh, right," the Lightning Emperor said. "I totally forgot the reason why you even came here."
"Just introduce our Star Map to them as well. Of course, we only give them access to the one for True Mages. We don't want to go overboard," the Lightning Emperor said.
The Star Map floated over to Wester, who looked at it with furrowed brows. "You don't want to keep it, even though it's an original?"
"No," the Lightning Emperor said. "Somehow, this ancient book found its way to a young warrior. I think he should keep the original."
Then, the Lightning Emperor grinned a bit. "Also, I only need to wait a bit until he dies. Someone in the Fourth Realm can live for barely a millennium. I can wait that long."
Wester pocketed the book and nodded. "Where do you think the book came from, sir?"
"It's probably Mirana's copy," the Lightning Emperor said. "She lost quite a few books in her lifetime. This one probably got sold somewhere as an oddity, and some Mage got it."
"And what about the Mage?" Wester asked. "You couldn't find him."
"So?" the Lightning Emperor said with a chuckle. "New Spells get invented all the time. It's quite refreshing to get surprised like this. Additionally, they didn't exactly do anything wrong. They just gave someone a technique they thought the person could use."
"There's no reason to hunt someone down just because they entered one of our Development Areas and gave someone a technique. We don't need to be that cruel."
Wester nodded. "Then, I wish you a pleasant evening, sir."
"Thanks, you too, Wester," the Lightning Emperor said as the book he was reading before Wester's arrival returned to him.
Wester left the Lightning Emperor's study and walked back to the grand hall.
The Starlight Queen was still waiting in front of the two small doors when Wester returned.
As soon as Wester returned, he summoned two books. One of them was Shang's book, while the other one was a modified Star Map for Mages.
"The new Star Map will be introduced to Area 23. To not break the equilibrium, a modified Star Map for Mages will also be introduced," Wester said.
The Starlight Queen pocketed the two books. "And its origin?" she asked.
"Not important," Wester said. "The Lightning Emperor didn't deign to pursue the matter."
The Starlight Queen bowed politely.
She understood the subtle nudge Wester had given her.
He had told her not to ask about such things.
When the Lightning Emperor spoke, she only needed to know the necessary information.
"Oh, and make sure that the original copy enters the hands of that one warrior that got it. This is Master's order," Wester said.
"I will, sir," the Starlight Queen said.
Wester nodded. "Then, I wish you a pleasant evening, Sarah."
"Thank you. You too, sir," the Starlight Queen answered.
Wester walked back into his room while the Starlight Queen went back to her office.
After arriving, she called the Manager over, handed him the two books, and gave him the instructions Wester had given her.
The Manager returned to Area 23, handed the books over to the Supervisor, and gave him the same instructions.
But the Supervisor was the first person to do something other than just forwarding the books and instructions.
As soon as the two books arrived in his hands, he started to produce copies on a massive scale.
His superiors wanted these books to be introduced to Area 23.
It was his job to do just that.
