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Chapter 304 - The Great Expedition (6)

Everyone had basically given up because of the silence that followed, but now they were excited to see the apostles they had been waiting for actually show up, especially McDowell, who was bloodthirsty.

‘Glad I didn’t make a fool of myself.’

Henry had almost embarrassed himself in front of his comrades for the first time ever, but given that his plan had worked, the Seven Sages marveled once again at his wisdom as the Grand Archmage.

The dust cleared away, and now that they could see the apostles clearly, the members of the Union got into their battle formation, their smiles and excitement gone.

There was a silent tension between the two groups.

Out of the five apostles, Zion, the one who had slaughtered the mercenaries in Faesiling, stepped forward with his blond hair swept back.

“How dare you arrogant bastards think of making a direct proposal to Sir Arthus?! Know your place, insects!”

“You’re...!”

Allen’s eyes widened as he recognized Zion. Similarly, Valhald and McDowell also glared fiercely at the apostles who had humiliated and brought them on the brink of death.

Seeing this, Zion said incredulously, “Huh? You guys are still alive? You freaking heretics... You guys are resilient like cockroaches, but I guess that we were able to leave those messages behind thanks to that, hehe.”

Zion giggled as he drew something in the air with his finger, mimicking how he had carved the message into Allen’s flesh.

Seeing this, the Mercenary King’s anger reached its peak, past the breaking point. He instantly reached for his Vasilipo at his waist, but at that moment, Henry snapped his fingers and pinned Allen’s magic sword to his scabbard.

“Calm down, Sir Allen. We’re up against five of them. If we rush in, our plan will go to waste.”

“Ugh...!”

Perhaps that was the reason why McDowell, the most short-tempered person here, merely gritted his teeth and stood still, not drawing his sword. However, it didn’t seem like his patience would last for much longer.

Just then, Palo, the one who had controlled the Pope in the Holy City, grabbed Zion’s shoulder and pulled him back. He then stepped forward and introduced himself.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Palo,” he said as he bowed respectfully, as though he were the leader of the apostles. “But... I heard that you handled my subordinate. Is that true?”

“Subordinate?”

Henry had never seen Palo before, and so he had no idea what subordinate he was talking about.

Seeing Henry’s confused reaction, Palo corrected himself and said, “Ah, you may not know who I’m talking about if I just call him that. I’m of course talking about Ross Borgia. He was the Pope in the Holy City.”

“What?”

“The Pope?”

Irenae, Logger, and Ananda were the most shocked to hear the apostle call Pope Ross his subordinate. Many complicated emotions flashed across their faces.

Henry, who was still relatively calm compared to them, answered, “So? What are you trying to get at?”

“I merely wish to commend you. Not only have you easily uncovered the identity of my subordinate, who had Sir Arthus’ full blessing, but you have also managed to eliminate him. That, I believe, is worthy of praise. In addition, you have now succeeded in bringing all of us here, haven’t you?”

Even though Palo considered all beings different from him and the apostles inferior, he couldn’t help admiring Henry.

Palo continued, “Yes, you should be proud of yourself. Unless you’re an apostle like us, it’s almost impossible for you to ask Sir Arthus for such favors and have them granted. However, Henry, you have crossed the line.”

“I crossed the line, you say?”

“Yes, with your arrogance. The apostles whom you’ve killed earlier were the weakest ones among us. You barely managed to defeat them, and yet you stand proud and boast that you can defeat all of us at once. Don’t you think you\'re being too cocky?”

Palo was smiling as he pointed out the arrogance of Henry’s team.

Henry chuckled and calmly replied, “That’s funny. The one we’ve just turned to ashes said she was among the three strongest apostles.”

“That was merely her opinion. Everyone is narcissistic to a degree, don’t you think? She was just that kind of being, ignorant and overestimating her own worth. Also, arrogance isn’t the only thing you guys are guilty of.”

“Oh, there’s more?” Henry asked sardonically.

“Of course. You people went against Sir Arthus’ plans. That is your most severe sin.”

“What?”

“Let me make it clear once and for all. No one has the right to arrogantly ask such favors of Sir Arthus. Thus, no matter what happens, we’ll make sure that things don’t go your way.”

After casually pointing out Henry’s ‘crimes,’ Palo lightly clapped his hands.

Clap!

Flash!

Henry was greeted with darkness. He couldn’t see anything, as though he had just gone blind.

Darkness surrounded him.

***

When Henry regained his vision, he found himself in a completely unfamiliar place, not the valley where they had killed Ayla.

‘What the hell?!’

He panicked for a few moments, but he quickly regained his composure and tried to cast Teleportation.

However, an unfamiliar voice urged him against it.

“Stop.”

It was a strange, off-putting voice.

Henry thought it was a wizard’s voice, seeing that he was trying to stop him. He turned his head in the direction of the voice.

There was a beautiful young man with snow-white hair, perched on a rock, staring down at him.

‘You!’

It was none other than Dracan.

Dracan Rotique was a wizard from the original Magical Spire and the only one on the continent other than Henry to reach the 7th-Circle on his own. And now, he was Arthus’ right hand.

Henry was instantly enraged when he locked eyes with Dracan. He clenched his jaw and gritted his teeth, using his anger as a driving force to break through the intangible force that was restraining him.

Clink!

The moment he freed himself, Henry heard a sharp sound like glass breaking.

“So it really was magic.”

As Henry had expected, it really was magic that had prevented him from moving. However, that wasn’t a wise choice on Dracan’s part.

Henry knew that Dracan was merely a 7th-Circle wizard, and even though he had reached this level on his own, he was still a lowly 7th-Circle in the eyes of an 8th-Circle Archmage.

Henry laughed mockingly at Dracan’s mana and said, “Trying to use magic against me, huh? You’ve got bigger balls than I thought.”

“Haha, that’s why I was able to reach the greatness of a 7th-Circle, don’t you think?”

“How dare you comment on the greatness of the 7th-Circle in front of an 8th-Circle...? You don’t seem very smart for a 7th-Circle. Or have you not heard yet? Don’t you know who is standing before you?”

“I do know. I have only just reached the 7th-Circle, but you’ve already achieved the greatness of the 8th-Circle. So I consider this to be an honor.”

Dracan was being sincere. After all, he was also from the Magical Spire that Henry had built, and to this day, Dracan still revered the dead Henry Morris.

“Speaking of which, you have no idea how happy I was when I found out that you were the secret disciple of the late Archmage.”

“And why is that?”

“I’ll explain that to you right now.”

Dracan got up from the rock.

“The Archmage was certainly a wise and compassionate person, but he was only human, and he was very conscious of his surroundings.”

‘What the hell is he talking about? Conscious of my surroundings...?’

Henry thought that Dracan was spewing a bunch of nonsense, but he decided to listen anyway.

Dracan continued, “As a result, the Archmage ended up putting restrictions on the various ways magic could be developed. This was devastating to the wizards who were trying to grow by satisfying their curiosities. That was the worst decision he ever made...”

Henry’s patience quickly ran out. No matter how he thought about it, what Dracan was saying was utter rubbish.

“Wait, what do you mean?! I... I mean, my master was conscious of his surroundings? And what kind of restrictions did he put?”

“Well, I guess you might not know since you’re so young. It happened a while back.”

At Dracan’s remark, Henry wanted to shout, “I’ve been alive for a lot longer than you!” but he exercised great restraint and just barely managed to swallow those words.

“In the past, the Archmage banned any kind of research on black magic, including human experimentation. He also ordered for all the wizards on the continent who practiced black magic to be hunted down and for all grimoires to be burnt.”

“Okay? And what about it?”

“You really are his disciple.”

“What?”

“That-!”

Henry had grown terribly irritated listening to Dracan’s nonsense, but just when he was about to interject, Dracan raised his voice and cut him off.

“... was clearly a sin! He infringed upon the progress of other wizards simply because he was of a higher Circle than the rest, and he killed innocent wizards simply because they were different. His decision was utterly wicked...” lamented Dracan.

‘He’s a total lunatic, isn’t he?’

Only then could Henry see the madness in Dracan’s eyes. He wasn’t normal.

Dracan had undergone various physical changes after awakening the 7th-Circle, but mentally, he was still trapped in his own world, unwilling, or unable, to see anything beyond it.

“The Magical Spire became a dark place after that. Only Sir Arthus understood my will and paved the path for me.”

“Damn, my ears are going to rot if I continue listening to you... I can’t put up with this any longer.”

It was clear what Dracan was going to say next. He had clearly experimented on humans with Arthus’ support, and with that accumulated knowledge, he created whatever Arthus wanted, like Chimeras.

Henry immediately clasped his hands together, causing blue sparks to fly around them.

Ptzzz!

Henry then placed his hands on the ground.

“Nilwind Thorn!”

Ptzzz!

Lightning bolts pierced through the stratum of the ground, slithering toward Dracan with a piercing sound.

Ptzzz! Boom!

The blue lightning bolts coiled around each other like snakes, destroying everything in their path, including the rock that Dracan was standing on.

When the lightning finally devoured Dracan like a carnivorous plant, a foul smell of burnt flesh filled the air, as if an unholy beast had been struck by lightning.

However, compared to the sharp sound that struck Henry’s eardrums, the subsequent echo was rather tame.

“I wasn’t done talking.”

Whoosh!

Dracan summoned a gust of wind to blow away the dust and the acrid smell.

Through the thick smoke, Henry could see that Dracan was standing still, frowning, and completely unharmed.

“You say that you’ve reached the same 8th-Circle as the late Archmage, but I don’t believe that’s truly your power. You’re a fraud, for you have merely walked the path your master has paved for you without the slightest bit of struggle.”

Dracan frowned at Henry, casting him a condescending look.

In response, Henry also frowned and shouted, “What kind of bullshit are you talking about? I didn’t struggle?!”

However, none of Henry’s words reached Dracan’s ears. He had no intention of listening to Henry in the first place.

“Once again, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for reaching the 8th-Circle as the Archamage’s disciple. So starting now, I will do everything in my power to defeat you and become the real Archmage to succeed after the late Archmage.”

That was the end of Dracan’s monologue. After that, he finally channeled his mana, a red glow enveloping him.