Fire Mage (Web Novel)

Chapter 693: Return

Entrance of the Star Tombs, Holy City's Territory, Sacred Empire, Edhen World.

A deep-blue-haired young man, around 25 years old, suddenly arrived at the entrance of the Star Tombs dungeon and looked at the surroundings cautiously.

Once Charles confirmed no presence nearby, he let out a relaxed smile and shifted his attention toward the faraway city.

His gaze peered into the faraway distance and observed everything.

Even though the city walls appeared damaged, he still saw countless humans walking in and out of the entrance.

'So, they managed to withstand that beast wave, huh?' He also sensed the presence of his clone and another familiar person within the city and furrowed.

'Who is this other one? It's not my 'Curse of the Overlord' spell. But I sense a strange link.'

"What should I do next? Do I have to hide my presence like before?" He asked himself.

Although he was far from standing equally against Udnir, he wouldn't go down without a fight.

'And if I use Grace's ability, I might be able even to kill Udnir's avatar.' He thought for a moment and soon shook his head.

'I have too many enemies in Edhen World. Other than Abium and Goddess Rodia, all other gods are scheming something big. It's not a good idea to reveal my strength right now.' Moreover, he eagerly wanted to construct other spell models sooner and fuse the newly obtained 'Eye' with his original one.

With that thought, he calmly raised his left hand and started to shapeshift.

Before long, he transformed into a 15-year-old lad with emerald eyes and a complexion of fair hues. He had short blonde hair, an unremarkable physique, a hawk nose, and deep eyes and looked around 160 cm tall.

Once he transformed into Zephyr, he calmly released his wisdom power and hovered up in the sky.

Simultaneously, he cast the [Fallen Angel's Wings] spell and started flying towards the direction of the Holy City.

After flying more than ten minutes, he arrived closer to the city gate and landed on the ground.

Then, he took a silver coin from his spatial ring and walked towards the tall entrance gate.

Although the gatekeepers tried to inquire about him, he quietly gave them a silver coin and bribed them not to record his entry.

As soon as he entered the city, Charles noticed a strange atmosphere. Although many people were there, he barely saw any Holy Knights or guards. He also sensed a darkness looming over the citizens' faces.

'Did something happen? I don't see any happiness in the city at all. It's as if everyone in the city lost something precious.'

Instead of going to the house on Crystal Lane Street, Charles quietly wandered around the market street and started gathering information about what had happened while he was away.

He first inquired about how much time had passed since the tower appeared.

'As I thought, it has been over two months since I left the Edhen World. Hmm, the disaster happened after two months this time. Then, the next disaster should appear in two years.' He quietly looked up at the bright sun and continued to ask about other changes.

During this time, a lot of things had changed.

After the appearance of Dungeon towers in different parts of the world, there was a sudden increase in the number of magical beasts worldwide. Although most of the magical beasts were cleared by the armies of the kingdoms and empires, the destruction they caused was still massive.

The next thing was about the loss of faith in the Lawful Churches.

What caused the Churches to lose face among the citizens was the sudden diminution of divine power among the believers of Lawful Churches.

To be precise, all the 'Fake Origin Class' Mystics, like [Knight] Class and [Priest] Class, started to lose their strength drastically, and some of their ranks even regressed.

For example, an average Rank-5 [Deacon] became much weaker and could barely stand against a Rank-4 Mystic.

This incident made more people aware of the 'Fake Origin Class Gem Pathway.'

Although the Fake Origin Class Mystics could still use 'basic divine spells and skills, their overall battle power had diminished drastically, creating panic among all the higher-ups of Churches.

Facing such a disaster, most Churches decided to go into seclusion.

Due to the Churches not dispatching Holy Knights and their priests, all the Kingdoms and empires faced more pressure to meet the magical creatures.

Lots of ordinary citizens died in every kingdom, resulting in complete dissatisfaction with the Lawful Churches.

Two months ago, the Order Church even lost thousands of Holy Knights, more than 30 bishops, three Archbishops, and one Cardinal!

'But I don't think the Churches became weaker just because of losing their divine power.' After all, he knew very well that their true strength didn't lie in the 'Fake Oriign Class' Mystics but in the seventeen families!

'They are the True Rulers of this land.'

Another exciting news that caught his attention was the Hawthorne Family.

A big coupe had happened within the family, resulting in the death of three Elders and the Patriarch.

Within two days, Elder Aurelius took the position of the leader and became the Patriarch of the Hawthorne Family.

'Hmm? Isn't he Ronan's Teacher? Even after Victor killed that guy, Elder Aurelius managed to keep his position within the family and even took over the position of the Patriarch, huh? Then, what happened to Victor? Or did he get killed by Elder Aurelius? Did he die within the Dungeon?' A frown appeared on his forehead.

As he further investigated, he discovered that Victor returned with Order Church members and was directly promoted to a new Cardinal by the Pope!

Moreover, the Sun Church, Life Church, Fairchild, and Hawthorne families also returned. But Sun Church lost all of its members except for Cardinal Damian and a fire mage.

Life Church also met a misfortune, resulting in their Team Leader being cursed by some powerful being and almost losing his life force completely.

Only the Fairchild Family, Hawthorne family, and Order Church sustained minimum losses.

'It seems Hawthorne become more powerful. Thanks to that and the new change within the family, Hawthorne Family and Order Church are at odds. Hmm, it seems Victor made some agreement with the Order Church to protect himself.' Although he was still under the influence of the 'Curse of the Overlord,' Charles noticed that the spell effect had also been significantly weakened.

'Well, I should leave him be for now.' After all, Charles knew that whatever he got from the Dungeon wouldn't be helpful to him.

He pondered momentarily and decided to meet up with his clone.

'Tsk, I can't use wisdom power to check his exact location.' But as he further walked towards the clone, he couldn't help but get stunned.

'He is staying at the Crystal Lane? Moreover, that familiar presence also stays with him.'

Charles continued to walk towards the end of Crystal Lane and arrived at the single-storied house.

'Hmm? The guest house is locked outside? So, Baron thought I had died after entering the Star Tombs?'

But Charles still noticed his clone was sitting in the reception room and seemed to be conversing with another person.

'Strange... Why can't I see that person's face even with my 'Eye of Faceless'? It's as if he doesn't even exist in the first place.'

At that moment, his clone and that other person also noticed his presence at the entrance and looked in his direction.

"You are back!" His original voice came from inside, causing Charles's lips to twitch.

He turned into a crimson flame with a light footstep and disappeared from there.

A second later, he reappeared inside the reception room and looked around.

At that moment, his clone sat on the Lawson sofa placed on the side and appeared to be in the middle of drinking alcohol.

After giving a shift look at the clone, Charles turned his attention towards the other person sitting on the opposite side.

A middle-aged man sat on the ornate sofa and appeared to be around 50 years old; he had a large frame, a face covered with slight wrinkles, and wore spectacles.

He had slightly long brown hair, amber eyes, a fit muscular body, and appeared to be around 183 cm tall.

He wore a brown frock coat over his formal white shirt, covered his head with a bowler hat, and covered his hand in black gloves.

"Runeth? No wonder I couldn't see who my clone is talking to." Charles said with a smile.

"It seems you've grown much stronger than the last time." Runeth stood up from the sofa and walked closer to him.

"But your growth speed is too terrifying. Anyway, I received your 'Will' from that Zephyr lad a month ago and came here quickly. But I only managed to find your clone and learned that you had already entered the Star Tombs Dungeon." He paused for a moment and asked in a solemn tone.

"So what happened at the Miracle City? How did you encounter Udnir's avatar? Also, why did you leave you alone?"

A forced smile appeared on Charles's face.

After that, Charles didn't hide anything and told him what happened after entering the Miracle City.

"Wow, Time Loop spell? But you survived Fate Professor's scheme and escaped from Udnir?" Runeth was stunned entirely inside.

Meanwhile, Charles thought of the mysterious being and asked.

"What do you think about that Goddess 'Anangu'? Have you heard of such being?"