Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-262

Chapter 262: Archbishop Royce

One hour later, Charles opened his eyes, stood up from the broken floor, took out a new set of clothes from his space ring, and wore it.

He also took out a pair of leather shoes and started wearing them. Then, he turned his gaze towards the silver ring and said with a serious look on his face.

"You can change back to the bracelet form, Mr. Runeth."

Upon hearing his words, the Holem's Crown didn't say anything and silently started to transform.

On the other hand, Charles caught the bracelet, wore it in his hand, and released his wisdom power.

"I already checked the surroundings. There is not even a single consciousness detected up there." The Holem's Crown responded.

At that moment, Charles looked around, stared at the runal words inscribed walls, and asked in curiosity.

"Is this some ancient mage's work?"

Meanwhile, the Holem's Crown went silent for a moment and said in disapproval.

"No. It should be a normal mage from the City of Miracles."

Charles nodded his head and cast [Flame Teleportation] spell on himself.

A moment later, he enveloped his body in a crimson flame and disappeared from there.

The next instant, he reappeared in the dark sky, cast the [Fallen Angel's Wings] spell, and soon sucked in a cold breath.

An enormous crater appeared in front of his sight.

It had a diameter of 500 meters and a depth of 50 meters!

As for the black tower, there was none!

Instead, broken walls, metal doors, and charred bricks were the ones that appeared in his vision.

Not only that, but he also noticed that the whole surrounding forest area appeared charred.

Not even a single green tree appeared in his vision.

'What a scary spell. That Rank-5 spell seems to have wiped out the whole surroundings.' Cold sweats dripped down from his forehead.

'If not for my quick action and the system's help, I might not have survived.' He was indeed shocked by the might of this Rank-5 spell.

"That secret house is indeed saved your life." The Holem's Crown suddenly spoke.

On the other hand, Charles let out a deep sigh and released his full Wisdom Power to check the surroundings.

A moment later, confusion appeared on his face.

'As I thought, this location is not near the Whisper Valley. I should go around and check on my own.' Nodding inwardly, he flapped the reddish-black wings and flew towards a random direction.

After flying for a while, he soon saw some green area up ahead and moved faster.

Then, he flew past a river, crossed a small mountain range, and soon saw a vast forest on the other side.

Just as he was about to move towards the forest, he suddenly perceived a consciousness from behind.

He forcefully flapped forward to suspend in mid-air and turned around.

At that moment, a black crack appeared in the space, and soon a black-robed young girl child walked out from it.

A black hood covered her head. She appeared around 4-years-old and had mysterious-looking Fermen blue eyes.

Her mere gaze made Charles feel suffocated.

'This child's strength is Rank-6 or above! She is a Series-S artifact.' The Holem's Crown said in a shocked tone.

Meanwhile, she suddenly stretched her right hand, made a crack in the space, took out a small human child's head from it, and tossed it towards Charles.

It was none other than her head!

"It's a clone. This should be enough to make the Churches believe your words." She suddenly paused for a moment and soon added with a sigh.

"I didn't expect you would cause such a mess."

Her voice was clear as flowing water!

Before Charles could even open his mouth, she turned around, walked into the opened crack, and soon disappeared from there!

Charles hovered in the air for a few more seconds and soon sighed.

'A Rank-6, huh. Her mere gaze made me feel suffocated for a second. I'm still weak.'

Shaking his head, he rose higher in the sky, checked the surroundings, and soon saw a large city.

He flapped those reddish-black wings and shot towards the City of Iron at a quick speed.

…

The next day,

C Amber Street, Emerald Street, Nobles' District.

It was around 8.A.M.

Archbishop Royce seated on a luxurious sofa in the reception hall and was staring blankly at the golden chandelier.

Currently, anxiety and fear arose in his heart.

'Reid, Louise, Cedric, Marissa… All of them are peak Rank-4 powerhouses, but they still died in the hands of Charles… His next target should be Casey, Omen, and Divine Order members… From the Divine One's earlier words, I can vaguely tell that he is also aware of my schemes… But I'm a Lawful Church member and he wouldn't dare to think of killing me.' He thought.

While he was in muse, one of his loyal male servants carried a cut of black coffee on a white plate and placed it on the table.

Then, he turned around and started walking back to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Archbishop also snapped out of the dazed state, extended his hand, took the coffee cup, and moved it towards his mouth.

Just when he was about to take a sip, a holy knight walked in with hurried footsteps and spoke.

"Our carriage is ready to depart, Your Eminence."

At that moment, the Holy Knight's eyes appeared abnormally black.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Royce didn't find anything odd and responded with a nod.

"Good. Go and bring Casey here. You have 20 minutes."

Saying so, he once again moved the coffee cup towards his mouth.

Thankfully, no one interrupted him this time.

He blew the foam, took a small sip, and felt a sweet taste with a little bit of bitterness entered his mouth.

"Hmm, Lady Kayla seems to have added something special today." He smiled subconsciously and started to drink the coffee slowly.

While drinking, he also took out many documents from the nearby seat and started skimming through them.

Time slowly ticked as he took the final sip, placed the empty cup on the table, and was about to stand up but suddenly staggered.

His legs, hands, and even his body muscles started to turn stiff!

'Paralysis?' He tried to cast a spell but failed due to some odd reason.

No, he forgot how to cast a spell!

He felt a muddled feeling.

At that moment, the surroundings suddenly started to shimmer and soon broke like glasses!

'Illusion!' Archbishop Royce's heart went chill!

Soon, he saw a deep-blue-haired young man seated on the opposite seat and trembled.

The young man appeared around 20 to 25 years old, with straight hair, deep-blue eyes, and he wore a trench coat over his black dress.

Archbishop also saw a unique red gem-embedded bracelet on his right hand and confirmed his identity.

'Charles Nightwind! Wait… Earlier, the Holy Knight's interruption must be Divine One's warning! I failed to notice it!' His heart sank.

'Although he wouldn't kill me, he would definitely force me to do something else.' He tried to close his eyelids but couldn't.

Meanwhile, Charles coldly stared at Archbishop Royce for three continuous seconds and spoke with a smile.

"I added a few drops of strong paralysis potion, Your Eminence. It's Lady Marissa's creation, so it will be quite effective."

Saying so, he stood up from his seat, started walking towards the luxurious sofa, and soon arrived in front of Archbishop Royce.

Then, he bent down a bit, took out a golden-hilted dagger, and placed it on his chest.

"You don't have to be wary of me, Your Eminence. I'm a forgiving person." He purposefully paused for a moment and added with the same smile on his face.

"I came here to ask some questions and clear my doubts. That's it."