Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 366: Chapter 165 The Elf God’s Arrow Aimed at the Dwarven Divine Throne

Fran had grown to detest being repressed.

Hill could somewhat understand Fran’s feelings, as he, for his own pursuits, had not planned to advance to Magister at the fastest possible speed.

At that time, Fran truly believed that no one would dare to offend an Alchemist Master lightly.

But Melanie’s affair dealt him a heavy blow.

Even if Melanie wasn’t as naive as Hill thought, she was at least not some good-for-nothing.

Fran simply hoped she could live a happy life.

If it hadn’t been for the Kral Clan employing a Magister to suppress him, Fran would have long helped Melanie completely end that meaningless marriage with the Earl.

Perhaps then, Melanie might have lived even more cheerfully.

Adrian did not hesitate to become a Magister as quickly as possible, not building up his strength during his Archmage period as his teacher had, also influenced by this matter.

Strength is still the most important thing in the world of mages.

After much thought, Hill understood that Fran didn’t care about Melanie’s decadent life; as long as it was the life she wanted, Fran would let her be.

The reason he didn’t tell Hill was that it was truly embarrassing to explain that his daughter was not only a prodigal princess but also liked to keep gigolos.

Why shatter Hill’s lovely delusions?

Melanie was just a mage, and there were many good items that Fran might have, but she couldn’t use them.

In this world, potions simply didn’t come diluted.

It wasn’t until the Undead Tribe started roaming the hills in large numbers that those rare and seldom-seen middle-low rank materials started to become more abundant.

If Melanie were still alive, she would have been able to concoct many potions that could preserve youth—expensive, perhaps, but not beyond her means.

Even Hill felt a sense of regret when he read in that book how Melanie, unwilling to use those evil materials, altered the formulas, leading to experiment failures and serious injuries. It was only a matter of a few years.

If he felt that way, then Fran, as a father, must have been even more dejected.

And when he finally became a Legendary Alchemist Master, Hill could sense Fran’s increasingly firm attitude.

On the day the Demi-God Artifact took shape, Fran stood at the pinnacle of the world, no longer fearing even the deities.

William was a man who greatly respected the tech gurus, and he always spoke to Fran in a consultative tone, which is why Fran got along well with him.

For Fran to offer help with this incident, Hill found it quite surprising.

As for the Mage Association, those who had directly taken action against Hill could only accept their fate, knowing with Fran’s temperament, they would never be let off easily.

And the real losers were those who, though they didn’t act against Hill, had watched indifferently or even stirred up trouble.

Asking Fran to make a Demi-God Artifact now could only yield the response ”Please queue up,” and Fran always had an ongoing order.

Those people, indeed, all wished to re-establish amicable relations with Fran, but unfortunately, they couldn’t even get a sight of Uncle Adrian.

Hill glanced outside, ”Why hasn’t Uncle Adrian returned yet?”

”The demand for materials has more than doubled; of course, he has to tally up the numbers with that group of ministers,” Fran scoffed.

Hill settled into the sofa, sneaking glances at Fran from within Alice’s fur.

Fran shook his head helplessly; he truly couldn’t bring himself to be angry with Hill’s feigned innocence.

”Next time something comes up, remember to let me know,” Fran sighed, ”You might not think it matters, but it could affect me.”

Hill quickly nodded.

It seemed this matter had passed, with only Uncle Adrian being left with a bit more trouble.

”Are the blueprints easy to modify?” Hill asked timidly.

”No need to modify; just enlarge to scale. But there’s a limit to the magic array, it can’t be made too large,” Fran pointed at the blueprint, ”Magic arrays are not about quantity; within this range, only this many can be used.”

Hill glimpsed at the blueprint and understood why Fran also found it challenging.

So much for a defense system castle; it’s a complete scam.

No wonder Fran had to take matters into his own hands.

The stacked arrays had indeed reached their limit.

Because inside the defensive magic arrays, there were many attack arrays woven in.

Hill, being quite adept at magic circles, grasped the concept after a few glances; to the unskilled, it might as well be gibberish.

Besides, the blueprint also required a high demand on spiritual power; Adrian probably couldn’t look at it for a few minutes without feeling dizzy.

No wonder Fran had him handle administrative affairs; Adrian, who was not yet Legendary, couldn’t understand it.

Hill estimated that, given the same area and the same magic arrays, he could probably only fit in a third of what was in Fran’s blueprints.

But his biggest difference from Fran was the habit of using magical plants to reduce the use of surveillance magic arrays, saving enough space to stack more attack magic arrays.

In Fran’s blueprints, monitoring arrays nearly covered every corner, leaving practically no blind spots.

After all, elves were highly secretive, and dwarves liked to burrow.

Demons came in too many forms, and humans didn’t even know how many; if there was an extremely covert tribe, it might be too late by the time they were discovered.

William has always placed great importance on human life and detested needless sacrifices.

That’s why he must have insisted on certain surveillance measures, or else Fran wouldn’t have designed the magic circle diagram this way.

In some areas, even someone like Fran felt it was too extravagant.

Perhaps once this magic array is completed, it won’t be needed for thousands, or even tens of thousands of years.

William is probably the first king in this world who has considered what will happen thousands of years in the future.

Even deities wouldn’t ponder events so far ahead.

Hill could only chuckle to himself in secret.

A zealous proponent for infrastructure, one’s demands for construction must always go beyond speed and encompass quality as well.

Hill also carried a touch of this tendency, preferring anything he built to be as sturdy as possible.

Beauty was an afterthought.

But in the world of nobles, it’s different; even under such demanding client requirements, Fran still tried to incorporate several aesthetics-enhancing magic circles.

Hill burst into laughter.

Fran cast him a cold glance, ”What’s so funny?”

”I’ll just help Grandfather make a few big gardens,” Hill said, trying to be consoling. ”No one will think Grandfather did a shoddy job.”

Fran pinched the bridge of his nose with a resigned gesture, ”He wants comprehensive defensive and offensive capabilities, yet wants to hide more than half of the attack magic arrays and still monitor the entire city! There has to be room left for the lines of the divine array! Where am I supposed to find space to beautify? Indeed, I’ll need to incorporate a few gardens, or even without me saying it, who wouldn’t realize there’s a problem here!”

He glanced at the blueprints again and sighed softly, ”His Majesty the King is truly a person who only sees practical value. No wonder he left everything about the Royal Palace to Adrian. If Saral’s Royal Palace were to be fashioned in this style, no amount of money could prevent it from appearing modest.”

Hill could hardly contain his laughter; was Fran trying to say miser?

William, who favored substance over form, made Fran quite uncomfortable.

”He even knows about the ’colorful black,’” Hill said with a mischievous smile.

”Adrian came back and complained about it,” Fran laughed. ”Even if it were possible, who would really want to display that sort of thing in the main hall of the Palace? Remember, there are still visitors from other countries.”

Seeing that the discussion was nearly concluded and Fran’s mood had stabilized, Hill prepared to leave.

Just as he was walking out, he suddenly remembered something, turned around, and asked, ”What animal shape does that lady like to use?”

”I’ve only seen the peregrine falcon,” Fran replied.

Hill almost stumbled, ”What color is it?”

”Gray,” said Fran, looking up briefly, ”Why? Did you see it?”

”A falcon flew over my head; was just wondering if it was her.”

”It’s likely her, with so many of the Undead Tribe around, low-rank magical beasts wouldn’t dare come close, let alone ordinary animals. Viola is probably just curious to see what you look like, don’t worry,” Fran sighed, resigned. ”Her curiosity is much stronger than yours, and she acts quickly, with no patience whatsoever.”

Seeing Hill’s odd expression, Fran smiled, ”Are you reminded of your animal companion? Seeing Viola’s animal form reminded me. Bloodlines are indeed curious!”

Hill smiled awkwardly, deciding it would be best not to bring Cohen here.

After bidding Fran farewell, Hill headed straight back to his Cloud House.

The Undead were still laboriously digging out the earth, also conveniently piling up the excavated soil towards the Forest of the Elves.

Hill glanced in that direction a few times, guessing the Druids were there as well.

He wondered if the Forest of the Elves was presently thrown into chaos.

The Druids probably had an inkling about the Legendary Demon that William had taken care of, but the near corruption of the Forest of the Elves would have likely shocked even the Divine King.

Hill leaned against the window, watching when the starry sky suddenly twinkled.

He looked up in surprise.

The Elf God King sure had initiative!

Were all Elves creatures of action? Hill had thought this Divine King was cunning and cautious!

Had the Elf God King just confirmed that the Forest of the Elves was nearly doomed and then taken direct action against the Dwarf Deity System?

He held a bow and arrow, swiftly shooting towards the Divine Throne of the Dwarves.

”Elf God King! That has nothing to do with the Dwarves!” a rough voice roared.

This was the first time Hill had heard the Dwarf King speak; it seemed even he could not sit idly by in the face of the Divine King’s rage.

”Are you trying to suggest it was a Demon’s plot?” sneered the Elf God King, releasing a few more arrows, ”Perhaps it was, but you didn’t have any kind intentions either! The despicable idea to destroy the Forest of the Elves could only have come from you!”

It seemed the secret of the Forest of the Elves was indeed significant for the Dwarves to know about it.

Where did the Elf God King get the courage to engage in such trickery and schemes?

Was this audacity given by the hot-headed Goddess of the Hunt?

The Dwarven God, having conjured his Tower Shield, was merely attempting to argue that they had nothing to do with the matter.

Even as the Divine King’s arrows targeted the lower-powered Dwarven Gods, he simply assisted in defending and simultaneously tried to calm his people, urging them not to intervene.

Compared to the tempestuous Elf God King, he displayed a completely different style.