Fire Mage (Web Novel)
chapter-416

Chapter 416: Victor

Light Church, Saint Town, Kingdom of Light, Faith Realm.

It was around 7 A.M.

At that moment, an armored Knight arrived in front of the dome-shaped church building and jumped down from his grey horse. He looked around 30 years old, had wavy blonde hair, a round face, a hawk nose, and thick eyebrows. He also appeared muscular and wore iron armor over his linen clothes. If someone looks at his shoulder guard, they would see blood stains and claw scratches. His sheathed long sword also appeared bloody.

He was none other than Bishop Victor!

After his transmigration, Victor made a swift plan, sent out a few orders to the Bishop of Aetas Kingdom, and created some obstacles for Baron Daniel. Then, he organized a knight squad, moved towards Shelsby Covert, and searched for a secret hideout called 'Grey Cavern…' Although the journey was a little dangerous because of wild wolves, his elite guards managed to kill them all and even found the cavern after three days of search. Then, he entered the cavern, looted the dead sorcerer's belongings, and returned to the Saint Town.

Although his action caused dissatisfaction among the elite Light Knights, none complained due to his Bishop title.

'But I need to do the awakening process sooner. I already wasted 4 days.' He grumbled as he arrived in front of the gatekeepers, passed a feather-like emblem to one of them, and stepped into the porch. He entered the church's nave, walked on the aisle while looking at the side pews, and soon paused as he saw a few people seated on the first pew.

He then shifted his gaze towards the altar table and saw candles, flowers, and fruits on it.

They were not sacrificial ritual materials or something, but just offerings. In truth, Goddess Zaqiel was a nature lover and also a vegetarian. When she was in Faith Realm, she only ate fruits and vegetables. Even that was in rare cases. A story also said that she hadn't eaten anything for five years after her statue fell off due to the heavy rain and killed a young woman.

After that incident, the Faith Realm people refused to place statues or portraits inside the Light Church. Idol worshiping was considered taboo in this Realm.

'Hmm? Someone already did the offering to our Goddess? It must be the priestess Caroline's work.' Victor nodded thoughtfully and was about to move forward but stopped.

At that moment, a young woman in her late twenties stood up from the first pew and walked towards him with fast steps. She wore a black habit and also held a red-sealed letter in her hand.

As she arrived in front of him, she bent her waist a bit and greeted him in a polite tone.

"Good Morning, Father." Although she didn't show any contempt on her face, Victor felt distant and cold in her tone. Alas, he didn't mind her cold tone and nodded his head in response.

"A letter came from the Aetas Kingdom, Father. It's from Bishop Blake." She added solemnly and then passed the sealed letter to him.

Meanwhile, a surprise flashed on Victor's face.

He soon took the letter from Priestess Caroline's hand, thanked her, and then walked towards the right-side way. Then, he made a left turn and moved towards the residential hallway.

After a few minutes of walking on the long corridor, he arrived in front of a wooden door, took out a metallic key, and inserted it into the locker.

A clanging sound echoed as he turned the key towards the right side.

Then, he pushed open the door and walked in.

It was a 10*10 room with a wooden bed at the center, a wooden table next to the window, and finally a cabinet.

Once Victor entered his room, he lit the nearby lamp and walked towards the wooden table. Soon, he arrived in front of the table and fixed his gaze on the black-covered book.

It was the same book that sent him back in time!

'I never did expect that this mysterious book would give me a second chance.' He slowly moved his gaze towards the strange countdown area and soon shook his head.

'The strange countdown isn't restarting. There seems to be some kind of restrictions to use this book again.' He thought.

'I need to hide this book in a much safer place. Well, I'll think about it later.'

Muttering inwardly, he walked towards the nearby wooden cabinet, opened it, and then took out a normal notebook, feather quill, ink bottle, resin bottle, and a crude self-drawn map from inside. Then, he placed all of them on the bed and selectively took out the self-drawn map and the resin bottle. After that, he searched for a suitable place and soon zeroed his gaze on the opposite wall.

'Hmm, that place looks good.'

He nodded inwardly, walked towards the wall, opened the self-drawn map, and attached it to the wall using the resin. Then, he took out the sealed letter, opened it, and started reading it.

"Oh? Baron Daniel didn't kill Bishop Blake? Moreover, why is that Bishop praising the Baron? Didn't I tell him to give him more trouble? Hmm? Baron even asked the Bishop Blake and others to stay in his mansion as guests? Something is wrong. Around this time, Bishop Blake should've died under the Baron's hand, right?" A frown appeared on his face.

'Did I already change the future? No, Baron Daniel should be in an angry state at that time. He lost many of his people and even got betrayed by his own teacher. Most importantly, he is just a Radiant Knight now. In the past, he killed more than 60 knights after he returned from the battlefield and caused a huge commotion. Not only that, but he also killed his teacher and his disciples brutally. But Bishop mentioned in the letter that there are only 6 deaths. Moreover, an assassination attempt? What a load of bullsh*t is this? Why is Bishop praising his good nature? Why is Baron Daniel acting like a good guy?' He knew very well of this young Baron's true nature and got confused.

At that moment, an absurd thought appeared in his mind.

'Wait! What if that Baron Daniel is the sorcerer from the very beginning?' He hurriedly moved towards his bed, took out the notebook, and opened it. It was a short diary he wrote on the first day of his transmigration.

On the first page, he saw the basic outline of the future events.

Then, he also saw information about Baron Daniel and his abilities in an orderly manner.

'I faced him multiple times during the past and learned most of his abilities. He has the memory-erasing ability, Magic enslaving ability, Demonic Flame transformation ability, Nature's Shield ability, mysterious name identifying ability, and finally devastating black Sun creation. No, these are the only things our Light Church learned about him. There might be much more secrets about him. But I also heard that he rarely showed his mysterious sorcery abilities during the first few months. That's why I thought that he became a bloodline sorcerer after getting the Pioneer Knight's legacy. I was wrong. This guy has been hiding his strength from the very beginning.' He couldn't help but get anxious inside.

'Does that mean he is already aware of my action?' His body trembled unconsciously.

'No, I need to calm down. Although I made a mistake, it's not a life-threatening situation. The reason I chose to send Blake is also because of this reason. Among all the Bishops I knew from the past, he is the honest and ignorant one. In truth, I'm nothing more than a drug addict in his eyes. As long as I refrain from crossing Baron's path, he will eventually forget about me.' He sat on the bed, stared at the notebook for a whole minute, and then started reforming his plan.

'First, he'll succeed in obtaining the Pioneer Knight's legacy within a month or two. Then, he'll shift his attention towards Duke Michel. In the past, he infiltrated the Duke's Castle single-handedly, killed the Duke Michel, looted his treasury, and even enslaved the second prince. Later, he used the second prince as his puppet, gathered a massive army, and marched towards the Aetas Kingdom's capital. Although the palace sorcerers and Royal knights blocked him at that time, they stood no chance against this evil sorcerer. Even the crown prince was killed in that battle.' It was also the first time Victor met saw him upfront.

'I saw a young kid with a face full of innocence and smile. Unfortunately, I didn't know that smile was not the smile of innocence but full of wickedness. I still remember the moment when the whole city went into lockdown mode. If not for the Saint Knight of Light Church's decisive action to escape, I would've died over there.' As he recalled those incidents, he couldn't help but let out a bitter smile.

'That kid is too strong for us to face. Even our Holiness got defeated after 2 days of continuous battle. No, I'll kill that evil sorcerer this time.' If he followed the normal method, he knew that it would take more than ten years for him to reach the same level as the Pope.

'I'll first gather the divine fragments of light and then face him head-on.' A cold glint appeared in his eyes. He was well aware of the Knights' weaknesses and started making plans.

In truth, those divine fragments were holy artifacts left behind by the Goddess Zaqiel. Unfortunately, they lost in history and were sleeping in many parts of this world.

'But I knew quite a few of those artifacts' current locations. Hmm, Duke Michel's Shield of Faith is also one of them. Should I go and steal it? In the past, that evil sorcerer raided his treasury and looted that shield. After that, it disappeared from the world itself. Even when we forced that sorcerer to the corner during the battles, he never used that shield. Hmm? Now that I think about it, why didn't he use it?' Victor's face turned solemn all of a sudden.

'During the earlier days, he always hid his sorcerer identity and appeared more like a mysterious Knight. But that changed after he kidnapped the second prince and took him to his territory. After that incident, he started using his flame magic openly and even intimidated the nearby nobles. Could it be?' Victor suddenly thought of a possibility and soon widened his eyes.

'Could it be that he is currently in a weakened state? That divine fragment is the cause of his sudden rise in power?' His face stiffened.