Versatile Mage

Edited by Aelryinth

—

There was a square tower in Cairo that faced the Great Pyramid of Giza. The square tower was primarily built of a special kind of crystalline glass. Instead of reflecting the bright sunlight in the day, it absorbed it instead!

At night, when the serene deathlight loomed over the land, the square tower would emit the light that it had stored throughout the day. Even though the light was not strong enough to kill the undead, it could temporarily nullify the effects of the deathlight.

The undead in the Ancient Capital relied on the deathly aura to provide them energy. Meanwhile, the undead in Egypt relied on the deathlight. The undead could not reach areas that were not covered by the deathlight.

Cairo had been attacked by enormous numbers of undead recently, including the aggressive invasion from the Pyramid of Khafre. The square tower had played an important role in stopping the undead’s invasion several times.

The undead had been restless over the past few days, but the numbers of the snake and scorpion demons did not decrease because of it. The people of Cairo were constantly discussing the war. They no longer treated it as indifferently as they usually did. An uneasy, doubtful atmosphere lingered in the city.

The square tower was Cairo’s most reliable defense. The prolonged war had only just begun, but Cairo’s government had already been forced to activate the square tower to defend them. The people were not stupid; they could easily tell how their army was doing from the authorities’ decision to activate the square tower’s defense!

—

Atop the square tower was a headquarters in the shape of a tiny pyramid.

Captain Saks stood at the center of the room in the headquarters. A long table in the shape of a crescent was situated in front of the thirty-meter window. The table had five seats, meant for the five leaders of Cairo’s army.

There were only two people in the room. One was Saks, who had his head lowered. He did not dare make a single sound.

The other was a middle-aged man seated in the middle seat of the table. He had a tanned face covered in wrinkles. He looked like a wilting tree without any presence of life, but his pitch-black eyes were staring at Saks, who did not even have the guts to meet the man’s sharp gaze, which currently resembled the stare of a dangerous beast!

“Do you understand why you are only a captain even now!?” the man with cold eyes grunted.

“I was too careless; I didn’t expect them to have a Super Mage among them, nor did I think…” Saks said.

“You didn’t expect, you didn’t think… how many times have I told you that this world is controlled by those with a brain, not by people who have nothing but a rather acceptable cultivation like you!” his commander scolded him.

Saks did not dare to speak. He straightened his figure like a soldier, but the hands at his sides were trembling slightly.

“Luckily, they were just a bunch of kids that accidentally interfered with our plan. Otherwise, your brain would be soaking in my wine cellar by now!” the man said.

“Yes, I understand… but what about Major General Gangma?…” Saks asked softly.

“As long as their friends are still in our hands, they wouldn’t dare to kill him, but the European University Institute… it’s not easy to get by with them, are the people you caught still alive?” the mastermind asked.

“They are, I didn’t dare to kill them after seeing how outstanding their cultivation was. I believed it was better to contact you first,” Saks said.

“Don’t you have a few vessels with unknown identities that you normally vent your desires on?” his commander said.

“No, I don’t…” Saks quickly denied.

“Humph, do you think I’m not aware of your weird fetishes? The young Medusa must be furious now. You know what to do, placate her and deal with the others that escaped!” the mastermind said.

“They ran away too quickly, I’m afraid my men won’t be able to find them,” Saks replied.

“I’ll send someone to deal with them. Write a report about how your troop was attacked by some unknown bandits, just in case Haken discovers that you’ve allocated men to your troop without permission,” the mastermind said.

“Yes, I’ll get on with it,” Saks said.

His commander harrumphed coldly. He was about to say something when the sound of boots tapping on the floor came from outside the room.

Saks immediately turned around and saw the door being pushed open. A short, old man with a coat almost reaching the ground draped over his shoulders came into the room.

Saks immediately saluted when he saw the man, trying to hide his sudden anxiety.

The old man did not look at Saks, and walked to the table instead.

When Saks turned around, he noticed that his commander had already moved from the center seat to the one beside it. The hunched old man with a hunchback did not have an imposing appearance compared to his commander, but he walked straight to the middle seat and sat there.

The old man realized something was not right as soon as he sat down. He looked at the man beside him and asked in a mocking voice, “You really like this spot?”

“You’ve spent all your energy and time ruling over Cairo. It’s about time you move to somewhere peaceful beyond the deathlight’s reach, and buy yourself a pet dog or bird. It’s more suitable for you to interact with little animals now, instead of the savage creatures that keep trying to destroy our city,” the mastermind replied ruthlessly.

“I remembered how sincere and open-hearted you used to be when you were just a major general, but ever since you were assigned a seat here, it feels as if your eyes have been clouded and your heart polluted. I’m quite curious, what was the thing that changed you!?” the old man replied calmly.

“Perhaps it’s because of how incompetent someone is, or perhaps it’s the choice of the people, or maybe growing old does take away a person’s courage and motivation to fight,” the mastermind answered.

“I see. If Cairo is still standing after the battle, I won’t be disgusted by the warm seat you left me with next time, but isn’t the area you are in charge of now in a complete mess? I heard many people discussing how idiotic your strategy is when I went to the streets to get myself some milk tea. I have a disciple who unfortunately was assigned to your frontline troop. He promised me that he would come back in time to celebrate my birthday before the battle, but last night, I didn’t get to receive his present, nor could I hear his pleasant laughter. I can only eat the slice of birthday cake that I purposely left for him myself, even though consuming too much sugar might make me die quicker. Now, can you leave your mask aside and tell me, did you already know that troop wouldn’t be coming back before sending them out?” the old man asked.

“It was just an attempt, but he indeed gave me a surprise by dying to the mummies. Therefore, I had no choice but to let my subordinate replace him. The missions assigned to my men aren’t any easier, but my men always live and accomplish their missions,” the mastermind replied smoothly.

“Yeah, now that you mention it, the demon creatures are always friendlier to your men,” the old man, named Haken, agreed.

“The undead will be attacking with the snake demons next time. You should place me in charge of the army so you can mourn for your disciple,” the other said.

“That’s not something for us to decide. By the way, did you send out a patrolling squad yesterday? My men saw Saks’s troop fighting against people with magic,” the old man countered.

“Commander-in-chief, my troop stumbled into a bunch of bandits that were trying to take advantage of the situation our city is in. They were unable to prove their identity to us when we approached them. They suddenly attacked us when we tried to bring them back, thus we had no choice but to arrest them,” Saks explained quickly.

“Oh, then I guess it’s nothing worth mentioning,” the old man said calmly.

“Yes, it’s nothing indeed,” Saks nodded.

“Did you read General Fenna’s report?” the old man asked.

“I did, it’s complete nonsense. I’ve rejected it, and scolded her for it, too,” the other scoffed.

“It’s indeed quite ridiculous.”

“It’s seriously a very stupid decision to promote the lieutenant general of a frontier fortress to a general in Cairo for the small contributions she has made,” the commander said.

“Well, she just didn’t have any chance to display her talents.”

“She thought it would bring peace to Egypt, how amusing!” the commander sneered.

“Ethan, it’s not wrong to believe in something like that,” Haken chided him.

—

—

In the outskirts to the west of Cairo…

Mo Fan, Heidi, Mu Bai, Vani, and Apas were moving back and forth at the edge of the safe zone. Evening came soon, and the snake demons would be active again. The Curse of the Vengeful Eyes had returned. The low-level snake demons kept showing up out of nowhere around them.

“Damn it, the army has listed us as wanted! Every entrance is stationed with soldiers. If we try to go inside, we’ll find ourselves surrounded in no time,” Mentor Vani exclaimed angrily.

They were prevented from entering the city, and the snake demons were closing on them too. They were currently in a pinch!

“This is absurd, we are clearly the victims, but we have somehow become bandits that attacked the army for no reason!” Heidi was infuriated. She never thought the army of a country could manipulate the truth to such an extent!

“I already knew this was going to happen. We have to figure out a way to sneak through the soldiers and enter the city. We have to tell Fenna what happened,” Mo Fan said.

“There are guards everywhere. There’s a war going on now; I doubt there’s any way we can sneak into the city,” Mu Bai shook his head.

“There’s always an opening. Cairo is so big. There must be some areas with a weaker defense. We might be able to break through with our strength, but the army is indeed a lot stronger than we thought. It looks like that Gangma wasn’t lying to us,” Mo Fan said.

“The city must be guarded by many troops, but they all have listed us as wanted in just a day or two. It looks like the guy whose tail we stepped on isn’t just a general!” Mu Bai observed.