Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-166

Chapter 166: Deceive

Her eyes were scarlet. They were set in a fair face, oval, like a teardrop. Her slight smile could stop a man's heart.

She appeared around 25 to 28 years old and wore a black-draped blouse, a paneled long white skirt, and black loafer shoes.

Currently, she leaned her back against the Lawson Chair, crossed her legs together, and was staring at the old man with a calm look on her face.

After a few seconds of silence, she let out a cold snort and asked with a smile.

"Do you have any last wish?"

Her long black hair fluttered all of a sudden as she asked the question, causing the nearby lamplight to dim from time to time.

Outside was still dark and appeared slightly eerier due to the red moons, giving a strange ghostly feeling to the main hall!

At that moment, Charles suddenly straightened his back, extended his right hand towards the table, and took the tea glass.

He then moved it towards his mouth, took a small sip of lemon tea, and asked in confusion.

"Who are you, child? Are you from Royal Faction? Or, are you lost?"

As Destiny Lady heard those words, the room temperature suddenly became frosty.

"Don't play dumb, Charles. I know you are good at disguising."

Her voice was extremely sharp, like daggers.

"Why would I need to play dumb? In this world, strength is what matters most." Once he said those words, Charles casually released his wisdom power.

The next instant, fire sparks, and lava liquids appeared all over the main hall and caused the dropped room temperature to rise!

For the first time, Destiny Lady's face turned serious.

No, there was also a trace of confusion appeared on her face.

"You are not Charles?" She stared at him with a skeptical look on her face.

Meanwhile, Charles nodded his head and spoke calmly.

"Yes. But I do have some ties with Charles, though." He paused for a moment and then added with a proud look on his face.

"He is my grandson."

"Grandson… But why did you suddenly left Chester City after the Chaos Incident?" She still maintained her wary look and probed further.

"Like you, I'm also chasing after him. Unfortunately, he had grown too fast and escaped right under my nose twice." Charles shamelessly lied to her.

Meanwhile, Destiny Lady fell into deep thoughts.

In fact, she had almost believed his lies.

After all, the [Trickster] Class was a unique one, and most of the Mystics in this world knew nothing about its skills.

Moreover, his Rank-4 wisdom power made her hesitate.

Improving one's wisdom was always challenging for any Mages, and she knew that Charles was just a Rank-2 Mage three months ago.

So, she firmly believed that the person in front of her was a completely different person!

After a long minute of silence, she used her divination spell and soon frowned.

'I have insufficient information to a divination.'

After some thought, she heaved a heavy sigh and spoke in a cold tone.

"If you meet him in the future, you must capture him and hand him over to the Moon Kingdom. If not, the Tower Masters will come for your whole Nightwind Family."

At this moment, Charles suddenly squinted his eyes and snorted coldly.

'Mr. Runeth, it's your job now.' He said in his mind.

A second later, Destiny Lady felt another kind of power appeared in the room!

It was so dark, silent, and eerie, which caused her scalp to go numb for a moment!

Simultaneously, the surroundings began to distort and caused 'past' scenes to appear in the form of 'Illusions.'

With a single glance, Destiny Lady noticed that the surrounding air contains the power of 'Time.'

She instantly released her full power and stood up with an alarmed look on her face.

'It's the power of Elapsed Time!'

"Who are you?" She asked in a tense voice.

Although she got some information about Charles's real identity, she still didn't know that Charles had a Series-A artifact.

Not only that, but only a few people knew about the Holem's Crown's history.

So, when another power mingled in the surrounding atmosphere, she subconsciously believed that it was the old man's doing.

At that moment, Charles's lips curled up and formed into a smile.

"I have many names. But for now, you can call me Oswald." He suddenly paused for a moment, asked the Holem's Crown to retract its wisdom power in his mind, and added.

"Please sit down."

Meanwhile, Destiny Lady used her fate strings to find some clue about the man's identity, but all of her efforts went futile.

'He is shrouded in mystery… I need more information.' She calmed down a bit and sat on the Lawson armchair.

Then, she wore a pensive look on her face and spoke.

"But the mistake is from your side, Mr. Oswald. Your grandson not only lured a devil into our Tower, but he also caused massive chaos which resulted in the death of two Barons."

"That… I deeply apologize for his mistakes." Charles lowered his head a little and said in a regretful tone.

"Your apology won't bring back the dead ones, Mr. Oswald." Destiny Lady snorted inwardly and said in an offended tone.

Meanwhile, Charles furrowed his brows for a moment and soon realized that the other party was expecting some compensation for the loss.

'What a sly woman. Once she learned that the other party was a Rank-4 Mystic, she instantly changed her tactic.' He was momentarily speechless.

"What do you want?" He showed an annoying look on his face and asked.

On the other hand, Destiny Lady quietly waved her hand and spoke calmly.

"If I caught him before you, you mustn't interfere and let me take him as a prisoner of Moon Kingdom."

An angry expression appeared on Charles's face.

His wrinkled face distorted suddenly and suddenly turned into ruthless and cold!

"Impossible. I already lost my daughter to some strange devil, so don't even think of capturing him. If you want to lay your hands on my grandson, you have to kill me first."

Saying so, he once again exhibits the full power of wisdom.

Destiny Lady also released her might, causing the table, windows, even doors to freeze in ice.

"Do you think you can scare me just because you mastered the Elapsed Time?" She asked coldly.

At that moment, Charles also ordered the Holem's Crown's to release its power and spoke in an icy tone.

"You are indeed powerful, child. But if anything happens to my grandson, I will personally go to the Moon Kingdom and slaughter all the citizens. I don't want to offend you, but that doesn't mean I'm afraid of a fight."

The main hall was completely enveloped in illusions, fireballs, lavas, and ice spikes in two seconds.

Even Charles began to face some mental pressure after some time. But he also knew that he should never show any weakness to the enemy.

At that moment, an idea appeared in his mind.

The next second, he suddenly raised his hand, curled his lips upward, and asked a strange question.

"What if I give you something else as compensation?"

Destiny Lady paused for a moment and soon stared at him for an explanation.

"Have you heard of Series Artifacts, young child?" Charles asked with a serious look on his face.

"I'm not an ignorant mortal, Mister."

Her tone turned even colder. But she retracted her wisdom power from the surroundings.

Charles also nodded his head in appreciation and continued while retracting the wisdom power.

"A mysterious Series Artifact is hiding in this Kingdom, child. If you promise that you won't go after my grandson from now on, I will give you some information about it. Do you want to hear? Or do you want to fight?" A sly grin appeared on his wrinkled old face.

"Series Artifact…" Destiny muttered for a moment and soon shook her head.

"Humph, capturing a Series Artifact is not a small matter, old man. Hmm-" She suddenly paused as she sensed some drastic change in her Fate and turned pale.

'What the hell-? I don't even know of its name… But why is there a drastic change in my Fate?'

Her whole body tensed up all of a sudden.

On the other hand, Charles's heart sank.

'It seems my current power is not enough to complete this mandatory mission.' He wore a grim look and hurriedly added.

"That's because this Series Artifact has the power to change one's Fate."

Upon hearing his words, Destiny Lady froze for a moment and soon nodded her head in understanding.

"This explains my current condition. Tell me more about this artifact, mister. This artifact…" She paused for a moment and thought inwardly.

'If I get my hands on it, I might be able to find some clue about the [Fate Arbiter] Class Gem.'