Once Abium appeared outside of Silverland City, he changed his appearance into human form and went towards Red Village. At that moment, he wore a regular black linen shirt and pants and held the Death Cane. He looked just like a normal kid who had no skills in fighting.
Although he met a few thugs along the way to Red Village, they didn't pose any threat to him. After an hour of walking, he appeared in front of the Red Village entrance gate and quietly scanned the surroundings.
The red village was only 5 km away from the city and guarded by two silver armored guards. Although they frowned upon seeing a kid during this time, they let him in after a simple inquiry.
Once Abium entered the village, he went to house number 102 and soon found a small house made of a straw roof. The entrance to the house was blocked by a door made of palm tree wood and looked old.
'I thought they would at least stay in a good house.'
Abium went near to the door, knocked it twice, and waited.
After a few seconds, a black-robed man around 40 years old with russet brown eyes opened the door slowly and invited him in with a smile.
At that moment, Abium saw nervousness on Rilos's face and chuckled.
"Welcome, Mr. Red Angel." As Abium walked in, he heard a strange voice from the black coffin at the center of the house and became slightly startled. He also saw a strange runic circle drawn everywhere and frowned.
Noticing Abium's frown, Rilos spoke hurriedly,
"These are for safety measures."
While raising his eyebrows, Abium nodded in understanding and went beside the Black coffin.
"Hello, Mr. Mike. Sorry for stealing your Tear of Phoenix." Abium greeted Mike respectfully and apologized with a smile. Both Rilos and Mike became dumbfounded as they heard his words.
In truth, Abium knew that they had long suspected his identity and thought revealing his identity now was the best choice.
"So it was you!" A calm yet cold voice came from the Black coffin, sending chilling energy in all directions. In the meantime, Rilos also tensed up as he tapped his spatial ring and got ready to attack Abium at any moment.
For a moment, nobody moved an inch. Abium had already expected this and cast his new Seer's vision spell.
The next moment, he spoke calmly,
"If you take out that Life prison spell scroll from your spatial ring, I will escape from here with the Death Can and never appear, And your teacher will be sealed in this Black coffin forever."
Upon hearing Abium's words, Rilos's face went stiff for a moment, and soon his whole body started to tremble.
"H-How did you know I'm going to take out the Life Prison spell scroll?" He asked while staring at him, full of anxiety and fear.
"Did you already forget about my identity, Mr. Rilos?" Abium replied with a cold smirk. Upon seeing his cold attitude, Rilos felt chills all over.
"What do you want, Mr. Red Angel of Time?" Mike, who was sealed in the Black coffin, asked solemnly after a short pause.
A smile crept on Abium's face as he heard those words and replied casually,
"It's simple. All you have to do is keep my identity secret and forget about the secret artifact in the Abyssal volcanic dungeon."
Mike responded with an infuriating tone.
"That's impossible! I gathered many Novak's-"
But Abium cut him off in the same cold tone,
"Do you want freedom or the treasure hidden in the Abyssal Volcanic dungeon?"
Upon hearing Abium's unkind and ruthless words, Mike and Rilos went silent.
"Argh...You win, Mr. Red Angel. But you must give me some useful information or the location of another artifact in exchange." After a short deliberation, Mike said solemnly.
Abium wasn't surprised by his demand and began to ponder inside.
'Information? Although I know many secrets, I don't think any of those will be useful to him. Hmm, I do have some of the locations of artifacts.' Abium thought momentarily, soon found some important information from his memories, and made a mischievous smile. Upon seeing his face, Rilos trembled as if some poisonous snake god was staring at him!
Without minding Rilos's behavior, Abium began to speak with a tempting tone.
"Have you heard of 'The Feather of Death'?"
Although his words were short, Rilos's and Mike's minds froze in shock!
Both didn't speak for a whole minute.
Only after hearing Abium's loud sigh did both woke up from the shock and look at him in bewilderment.
"Are you talking about the 'The Feather of Death' that disappeared 10,000 years ago?" Mike asked with an excited tone.
Meanwhile, Abium wasn't surprised even a bit and nodded. In the past, he heard that a mage from Light Church's affiliated Kingdom got the 'Feather of Death' artifact and became a hero of Light Church. Although Abium didn't remember much about that guy's history, he clearly remembered how he got that artifact.
'A lucky mage from the Cursed Kingdom found this 'Feather of Death' at Ruin located in Skull mountain range and did many unimaginable good things using that artifact's blessing. He saved the sick, cured diseases, healed the poor, and protected the weak whenever they were in danger. He became an idol for many youngsters and did much help to poor people. But because of his good nature, his girlfriend tricked and killed him. After that, she disappeared from the Cursed Kingdom along with 'The Feather of Death' and never appeared again.'
As he remembered those incidents, Abium smiled helplessly.
'Poor Mage. Well, at least I will let the Mage live longer.' He muttered inwardly. As for the Good deeds he was fated to do, he didn't put too much thought into it.
Meanwhile, Rilos and Mike became excited and forgot about their previous hostility.
"So, do you want some clue about that artifact?" Abium asked in a sly tone.
"Yes, of course." Mike's rough voice came out instantly from the Black Coffin, causing Abium's lips to twitch uncontrollably.
"Good! Go to the 'Cursed Kingdom' and search for a Ruin city in the Skull mountain range. 'Feather of Death' should be hidden in that ruined city." Abium said solemnly.
Afterward, he went near the Black coffin while holding the 'Death Cane' in his right hand and spoke while aiming the heel at the coffin.
"Break!"
A cloud of dark smoke filled with invisible death law power came out of the Death Cane's heel as he muttered and surrounded the Black coffin.
Then, the Black coffin trembled briefly and soon calmed down.
A heartbeat later, an illusionary black distorted face came out of the Black coffin and let out a shrill cry!
After that, an illusionary figure turned into the dust of green light and disappeared.
Simultaneously, the Black Coffin opened while revealing a strange purple dagger inside.
'Phylactery!' Abium's eyes flickered in the dim light.
After that, he disappeared from there without even informing them.
Meanwhile, Rilos got startled by his sudden disappearance and let out a relieved sigh.
'He is still wary of us.' He shook his head and asked while turning his head towards the strange purple dagger,
"Teacher Mike, what's our next plan?"
"We are going to 'The Cursed Kingdom.'" A rough voice came out from the Purple dagger, and soon a strange black fog emerged, forming into a human skeleton filled with mysterious runes on the bones. Mike glanced around the shabby room in his skeletal form and nodded his empty white skull.
Simultaneously, two blue soul fires appeared in the empty sockets and flickered intensely, giving a gloomy atmosphere to the surroundings.
...
20th December, Elm Street, Commoner's Borough, Silverland City.
It was around 6 P.M.
Abium sat in his study in a single-storied house and smiled as he looked at two black boxes before him. In the past few days, he spent most of his time collecting materials and finally created these two alchemic bombs.
'With this, Viper's safety is guaranteed.' He nodded his head and stored it in a separate spatial ring.
Suddenly, he turned his head towards the entrance and furrowed.
After that, his figure disappeared from the study room and reappeared at the house entrance.
"It seems you found the healing potion, Sir Viper," Abium spoke while startling the gray-haired old man, who was about to ring the doorbell.
He appeared around fifty years old and had scarlet eyes, a round face, and olive skin. He wore a blue overcoat, which fell from his shoulder to halfway down his legs, and large black boots.
"Greetings, Young Baron!" Viper turned his head instantly towards Abium and greeted him while bowing.
Meanwhile, Abium nodded with a smile and opened the door with a simple push.
"Come in, Sir." He invited him in and turned his face seriously.
At that moment, Viper also frowned as he saw the serious look on Abium's face and followed after him.
Within seconds, both appeared in the main hall and silently sat on the chairs.
"Young Baron, thank you for your help!" A deep voice filled with respect came out from Viper's mouth.
Meanwhile, Abium smiled in response and scanned Viper's body.
'Hmm, there is no trace of curse left in his body, and it seems he has already reached his former peak 6th-tier warrior strength. His strength and agility attributes are already reached 9.' Abium was deeply impressed inside and went straight to the business.
"I have a job for you, Sir Viper," He said while passing one spatial ring to Viper.
Viper narrowed his eyes and took the spatial ring from his hand as he heard those words.
Without minding Viper's puzzlement, Abium continued,
"I had already stored 2000 white gold coins, a few spell scrolls, three elemental crystals, and two alchemic bombs inside this spatial ring. I hope you can go to Holy See and stay there while gathering information about everything. I will meet you there in 5 years." Viper became dumbfounded as he heard Abium's words and soon burst into laughter.
"Hahaha, I thought I was the reckless one here, but it seems I was wrong." He said and soon turned his expression grave,
"Young Baron, I think you underestimate the Light Church too much. If I use normal methods to sneak in and start gathering information about them, the diviners in Light Church will easily track me down and kill me in a few days. Don't underestimate the diviners!" He let out a deep sigh and continued,
"I will help you gather all information using my method. But be careful of the Light Church in the future."
Upon hearing Viper's warning, Abium nodded his head thoughtfully.
Afterward, they discussed their plan for another two hours and shared information.
Then, Viper bid farewell and walked out of the single-storied house silently.
Meanwhile, Abium also packed his belongings in the study and silently disappeared.
After a few minutes, he walked out from Silverland city towards the southeast, where the Wadel Kingdom's Blackrock port town was.
...
Silverland city, 25th December.
It was around 7 A.M.
An older man in his Red Mitre gown stood outside the entrance gate and silently waited for Mage Sean's arrival. His monolid silver eyes were emitting deep, killing intent, and he looked pissed.
He had thick eyebrows, pale skin, platinum-colored straight hair, and an oblong face.
He was none other than Archbishop Rafe!
Within a minute, a black-robed figure flew from the city and soon descended in front of him. He had white hair, a long white beard, deep blue eyes, and an oval face with a few wrinkles. He looked more like a dying old man.
"Greetings, Your Grace." He looked back at the platinum-haired old man and greeted him.
Although Archbishop Rafe was fuming inside, he hid it under his face and said coldly,
"Mage Sean, I need an explanation about what happened in the dungeon."
Sean frowned a bit, causing wrinkles on his forehead, and responded with a smile.
"Archbishop Rafe, you must have seen everything with your own eyes. Bishop Piers' death has nothing to do with us."
Upon hearing Sean's bold tone, Archbishop Rafe got infuriated inside but didn't show it on his face.
He knew that was the truth, but he got angry and helpless whenever he thought of the Demon.
'I will avenge you, my child.' He closed his sacred silver eyes and sighed deeply.
As if Mage Sean had already read the thoughts on Archbishop Rafe's mind, he said with a chuckle.
"That Demon has been subjugated already, Your Grace."
Upon hearing those words, Archbishop Rafe opened his sacred silver eyes and asked,
"Who killed it? That Necromancer?" Archbishop Rafe raised his eyebrows and looked at Sean in puzzlement.
But Mage Sean shook his head and spoke while looking at the blue sky.
"I didn't witness that battle, Your Grace. But one of the apprentice mages saw everything and told us about the battle. It was the fake Holy knight who stood near the Necromancer. I heard that he summoned an Undead King from the Underworld using 'Death Cane' and killed that Demon with the help of Undead King." Archbishop Rafe was stunned as he heard Mage Sean's words and soon recalled the memory.
'Indeed, I saw a Holy knight appear in front of the Necromancer before my incarnation exploded.'
'Mage? Possible!' His eyes lit up, and he asked.
"Who is that? I want to thank him." Archbishop Rafe showed an eager face.
But Mage Sean shook his head and spoke.
"Even we don't know anything about him."
Archbishop Rafe sneered inside at Mage Sean's reply. He knew Mage Sean was hiding some information and got more dissatisfied inside. He was well aware of Light Church's current situation in this Keris Kingdom and sighed helplessly.
'Pier's decades of hard work had gone into dust in a single mission!'
He silently stood at the entrance gate for a minute and began using divination. He made multiple hand signs and began to mutter a strange incantation. His action caused Mage Sean's eyes to squint sharper.
At that moment, Sean knew he couldn't hide that elf's identity and felt anxious.
How did he find out Abium's identity? Well, Count Henricus had told everything about Abium to Mage Sean to get on his good side. At first, Mage Sean got confused by Abium's abnormal strength.
But when he contacted academic mages, he got stunned inside and thought hiding Abium's identity was the right choice.
'But I didn't expect this Archbishop would come personally to inquire about the battle and even do divination to find that elf's identity.' Sean looked anxiously at Archbishop Rafe and sighed in regret.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Rafe finished his chanting and muttered loudly.
"His origin."
After that, Archbishop Rafe began to concentrate on the Fake Holy Knight's face in his memory.
He saw that the fake Holy Knight's face began to blur and was about to reveal the face hidden inside a transparent mask.
But the next instant, another invisible power came out of that figure and ultimately broke his divination spell!
"Heathen!" His loud shout echoed everywhere like an angry roar of a dragon, causing everyone to step back.
Slowly, Archbishop opened his silver eyes and glared at Mage Sean.
But he didn't dare to attack him. Although he had the same strength as Mage Alius, he didn't want to fight with that academic Mage now. He also clearly remembered Pontiff Philip's warning about another guardian protecting this land and sighed heavily.
After that, he cast holy wings light spell on himself and flew in the northern direction.
...