Chapter 318 Retrieval (3)
A few moments before Charles arrived at Southevile.
Charles, who was rushing towards Southevile while rehearsing his plan in his mind, suddenly stopped in his track. He felt a prick in his head, and he could tell someone was trying to reach out to him through Telepathy.
Normally, he wouldn't feel a prick if someone was trying to reach out to him through Telepathy. After what had happened when he was fighting Basil however, he became even more careful with his mind defense.
He protected his mind well now to prevent the same thing from happening. Because of that, any form of mind related Magic would trigger the Spell he had cast to protect his mind.
Charles knew, however, who was reaching out to him, so he immediately let that person send his voice to his head.
'I thought you were trying to cut me off.'
"No, I have just become extremely careful."
'Something has finally happened, huh? Hahaha.'
"What do you need of me, Goap?"
The one who was reaching out to Charles was his collaborator—partner in crime, Goap. Charles didn't seem he was amused if the frown on his face was any indication, whereas Goap sounded like he was on cloud nine.
When Goap was asked what he needed from Charles, he kept silent for a few seconds. That slightly irked Charles as Goap was wasting his time that he treasured.
'Northern Mountain Region,' Goap finally said. 'Come here.'
"... That is far from here." Charles' frown got deeper. "Fortescher County is 20,000 kilometers apart from Rancuser Dukedom. It would take me, at least, half a day to reach there in my top speed."
'You can use [Teleportation] to come here.'
"I haven't set any checkpoint yet. Do you think I will be able to teleport myself without it?"
'You have Red Coffin in your hands, don't you?'
Charles indeed had Red Coffin his hands; however, instead of immediately answering yes, he kept his silence. He wanted Goap to explain himself about why it mattered if he had Red Coffin.
He was sure Goap will have him do something with it, and he wanted to see if it would be a fair trade. If it turned out that Goap just wanted Red Coffin without giving him something equal in return, he would really cut Goap off.
'Kukuku. You don't need to be that sceptical about me.' Goap chuckled eerily. 'We have established a contract, therefore I won't lie to you.'
"What do you want me to do with it?" Charles said curtly.
'Other than increasing one's lifespan, Red Coffin can also be used as an escape Artefact; its core—the Blinking Eye can allow you to teleport from one end of the world to the other end of the world for ten thousand times. I want you to use it to come here.'
"Do I have to destroy Red Coffin to get Blinking Eye?"
'Absolutely.'
"... Why should I do that? What can you offer me in exchange for my 1000 years worth of lifespan?"
'A thousand years worth of progress.'
Charles' immediately hummed to himself at Goap's daring claim. He wasn't absolute if Goap was saying the truth, however, considering who Goap was, he was inclined to believe that Goap really had what he promised.
Initially, he wanted to increase his lifespan so he could use it to figure out a way to Carve his ninth Magic Circle. There were very few Ninth Circle Mages nowadays; he was sure none of them would tell him how.
Of course, there was no guarantee if he could succeed, and because of this, Goap's offer was alluring. If Goap was really saying the truth, he would be willing to destroy Red Coffin.
"Tell me, what is the thing that will allow me to possess the progress of a thousand years worth?"
'The heart of Bahamut, the former ruler of Southern Sea, which I slew slightly more than 2000 years ago.'
"B-Bahamut!" Charles widened his eyes in shock. "Such a Mythological Creature—how could it even exist?!"
Goap scoffed. 'Hmph! You humans are funny. You believe in Divine Beasts but not Dragons? Is that also the reason why none of you believes in Demons and Hell?'
"That is..." Charles frowned as soon as he noticed how excited he had become. Containing his excitement, he sighed and regained his composure. "Tell me what do you want me to do."
'I want you to come here and forget out initial plan; I know you have lost the Pacifer girl. Luckily, I got a Pacifer girl myself, so the summoning can be done sooner.'
"You want me to supervise her?"
'Yes.'
Charles couldn't help chuckling. "Many Pacifer have been showing up themselves lately. I have just encountered another one myself. It's a brat named Basil. He was the one who had managed to penetrate my mind defense."
'Don't joke around, Charles.' Goap sounded serious. 'There is no male Pacifer. Even if you encounter one—he is likely a fraud.'
"Do I not know something here?" Charles asked, surprised.
'... When a male Pacifer is born, a nightmare descends upon this world. He is a vengeful soul that will bring vengeance to anyone who has wronged his ancestors.'
"Sounds like a prophecy."
'It indeed is.'
"It's a twaddle then." Charles waved his hand simply.
'... Whatever. Just come here quick.'
Goap immediately cut his connection and it confused Charles slightly. Goap acted like it was a sensitive topic, so he wondered what caused him to be so sensitive about it.
He could hardly believe the prophecy was real—he wasn't that type of person—however Goap's behaviour indicated that he believed in the prophecy. Charles found it funny, but immediately put it aside.
Regardless of whether the prophecy was true or not, he was getting more excited to kill Basil.
...
Present.
"Charles! I knew you couldn't be trusted since the beginning!" Blake shouted indignantly. "Where is Chester?!"
Being the center of the people's attention, Charles scoffed in amusement. All of the Mages there were circling around him while pressuring him with their five or six Magic Circles.
He could feel the pressure, of course; however, it was nowhere near enough to intimidate him. Amongst the people, only two people that he was careful about—Averill and Blake.
While the former was a Seventh Circle Mage, the latter had lived long enough to know all kinds of tricks. He was a person who valued his knowledge highly, but he never underestimated those with experience.
About the Knights, he couldn't care less. None of them was strong enough to alarm him.
"It's time, Tristan. We are going to get out of here," Charles whispered to "Redford" standing beside him.
In the next moment, everyone in the room witnessed how Redford turned into a grey-haired young man with green eyes and delicate appearance. They saw how Redford turned into Tristan, and it bewildered them greatly.
"B-Bewitchment!" Many of the Mages exclaimed.
"Choose, people! Step aside or die!" Charles exclaimed at the crowd who were ready to attack him.
Boom!
Just a second after Charles' exclamation, one of the Knights in the room jumped at him. Said Knight's sword was ready to cut his neck, however with a wave of his hand, said Knight immediately exploded like a balloon.
Boom!
Seven Magic Circles floated behind Charles, exuding a pressure that was enough to crater the ground below him. The other Knights immediately jumped at him at once at that display, meanwhile the Spellcasters cast their most destructive Spells.
Tristan, who knew he wouldn't survive the clash even for a second, was hiding behind Charles. He was not merely hiding however; he was busy activating the Rune Carved one the floor below them.
The Rune was the key to open the door to the Treasure Vault of the Kingdom—the Sacred Ground. When the Rune opened the door to the Sacred Ground, a circular portal appeared on the floor.
Nothing could be seen in the portal except for a bright white light; it looked like a paper that was cut into a circle and sticked to the ground. Tristan didn't hesitate, however, to put his hand into it.
"Kuhak! This bastard!"
"Watch out for his hands!"
"What in the hell are these hands?!"
At this point, Charles almost killed all of the Knights jumping at him. The remaining ones were already retreating since they knew the Mages had already finished casting their Spells.
Knowing that Tristan hadn't pulled Red Coffin out yet, he pulled as many Knights as he could towards him with the Dark Spell had personally created. He did that to make the Mages hesitate to attack him.
Charles smirked in the next moment as he could see the hesitation in their eyes.
"Kill us with him!"
"Don't hesitate to execute your Spell!"
"Take this bastard down with us!"
Alas, he forgot that Knights were naturally not right in their head. Losing his smirk, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Turning to Tristan, he shouted, "Have you taken it out?!"
"Give me another ten seconds!"
"You dunderhead, I wouldn't have asked you urgently if we still had another ten seconds!"
Deciding that Tristan would never be able to pull Red Coffin out, Charles erected a Mana Barrier in front him. The Mages had already launched their Spells at him, and he wasn't sure if his Barrier could hold against them.
Gritting his teeth in anticipation as he watched the Knights outside his Barrier were disintegrated by the barrage of Spells, his view was suddenly obstructed by a coffin made with a bright, red jade.
"I did it!"
Tristan had managed to take out Red Coffin from the vault. Charles immediately cancelled his Mana Barrier and opened the coffin in a split second.
All of the Spells launched at him were devoured by the coffin. At the same time, in the back of the coffin, he could see an eye made from jade gradually opening.
The more the coffin absorbed the processed Mana from the Spells of the Mages, the wider the eye opened.
Crack!
When Charles spotted fissures in the coffin, the eye had completely opened. He immediately plucked it out from the coffin, and infused his Mana into it.
The coffin trembled, indicating that it could no longer hold the barrage of Spells. At the same time, the jade eye in Charles' hand—Blinking Eye finally blinked.
Flash!
Shatter!
The moment the coffin was destroyed to pieces, Charles and his disciple, Tristan had already disappeared from the place.
Everyone's eyes immediately darkened. They had not only destroyed one of the Artefacts that had been kept in the vault for years, but also killed their friends in vain.