Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 397: Chapter 196: The Demon is Vanquished, the Plane Emerges!

The guests from the Mages Association finally relaxed after William gave his tacit consent.

It seemed they had indeed been quite worried.

Even Draculus revealed a slight smile on his face.

He too knew that it was nearly impossible to obtain a Demi-God Artifact; that Polanio, though appearing alone, was in reality a summoning system Nature Warlock, capable of matching the power of a nation’s top-tier forces single-handedly.

Causing a bit of trouble was one thing, but to truly be his enemy—setting aside the deities and Alchemist Master Fran backing him—not many would dare to do so.

With a Kind Alignment, small offenses could be tolerated, but escalating to a real fight would make things even trickier.

It was precisely because he was so powerful and a Warlock that these brainless fools were so reluctant to have him join the powers of the Mage Association.

Who would think a Nature Warlock would come to a chaotic place like the Mage Association?

Even mages cannot avoid power struggles, but losing one’s head over it, no wonder so many have met with misfortune.

Draculus sincerely thanked William and requested that his gratitude and respects be conveyed to the legendary Polanio.

Clearly, if the Nature Warlock had a significant hostility towards the Mage Association, William would not have so casually agreed to sell them the painting.

Nevertheless, while William was curious to know how much the Mage Association was willing to pay for his painting, Draculus had no desire to discuss prices himself.

He simply gestured toward a Female Mage standing behind him: ”Karula. The person responsible for the Mages Association’s finances.”

The chairman then looked at William, waiting for him to appoint a representative for negotiation.

Without batting an eye, William pushed his cousin forward once more: ”Duke Spencer will represent me.”

The Great Nobility quietly lowered their heads, knowing full well that William had not brought anyone from the finance department with him. Only Spencer, responsible for distributing military awards to the Undead Tribe, had any connection to money.

And just how busy this Sky Knight was, everyone had an idea.

While many envied William’s trust in Spencer, who had quickly ascended to a duke,

envy was just that—nobody wished to replace him in his duties.

Especially after a complete fallout with the Undead Tribe.

None of them knew how Spencer had managed to survive these years surrounded by the Undead Tribe.

And after William became King, being given a high title without lands, many actual earls with real power felt superior to Spencer.

Spencer responded calmly with a nod to the Female Mage standing across from him, while inwardly he cursed William like mad.

However, he was well aware that aside from himself, no one else in this hall had the guts to undertake this task at William’s mere whim.

They were unsure of William’s attitude towards the Mage Association and did not know how to appraise the price of the five legendary paintings.

”Your Majesty the King,” Draculus no longer concerned himself with the matter at hand; for him, as long as the Mage Association could acquire the goods, the price was of little consequence.

He had other issues to negotiate with William: ”I wonder if the Mage Association could have a presence here in Central City? Most mages are still willing to do something for this world.”

”You’re thinking of taking revenge on the Dwarves, aren’t you?” William bluntly pierced through his pretense, ”Well, that’s no issue. All the major temples will build Sub Temples outside the city. Only the Temple of Time and Space is allowed within. I presume you understand the reasons.”

”Of course, it would be our honor to be allowed to establish a sub-branch,” Draculus nodded slightly in gratitude.

”The Sorcerer Tower will also send people,” William suddenly said with a smile, as if he’d just remembered, ”I hope the Mage Association can remain calm in their presence here.”

Draculus’ mouth twitched slightly: ”Please, Your Majesty the King, keep the branch of our association and that of the Sorcerer Tower well apart. I’m concerned that ordinary mages might do something irrational.”

He’d initially thought that William would certainly keep feuding factions far apart.

But now, he felt it best to state the ugly truth upfront; this King was rather lively at heart, who knew if he might want to stir up some excitement by casually setting them up.

William nodded thoughtfully, pondering whether to place the Noble Temple beside them.

Dionysio and his master seemed to have a particular distaste for mages.

William could understand this to an extent; a centralized state found the likes of the Mage Association rather troublesome.

The God of Nobility coveted power so much he wished all humans bowed to his command.

But he demanded too much, and that’s why he met such a fate.

As for the mages, they were nothing but delicate egoists.

Previously, they didn’t meddle in the affairs of the Dwarves, believing it was none of their concern.

Those who knew a bit about the true state of the world and the Legendary Laws were willing to appear in fights beyond the legendary, as that was the only thing they were willing to do for the world.

So long as the world did not end, they saw no significant issue in the chaos of myriad demons upon the earth.

And the other ordinary mages? Even knowing the Dwarves were no good, they still did not intend to intervene,

instead quite eager to profit from the situation.

Even aware that there were many Demon Worshippers within their ranks, they turned a blind eye, under the guise of ”self-choice.”

It wasn’t until William repeatedly warned them that they finally acted, compelled to do so, only to realize catastrophe was upon them—the Mage Association was almost becoming a breeding ground for demons.

Now panicked, they must have realized that they no longer have any friends.

To salvage the situation, the president, who had always been perched in the starry sky, has returned.

Not only did he bow to William but also sought to win over Fran, whom they had offended, and did not wish to further anger Hill, who was a Nature Warlock.

With such a heavy price paid, their fury needed an outlet.

The demons bothering them was to be expected, so should they really ask the demons for their opinions?

Thus, the Mages Association could only direct its anger towards the dwarves.

William suddenly remembered something, why did the president suddenly return to the ground?

Not long ago, he had noticed that the Elf Deity System had retreated, and given that the dwarves didn’t have that many high-level fighters, Draculus had gone back into the starry skies to observe that star path again.

The others had gone to the Elemental Realm, so why had they all suddenly come back?

The Legendary Laws!

No matter how many demon mages the Mages Association had, they would not require the service of these top-tier individuals.

William curled his lip, ”Is that demon easy to kill?”

Draculus stiffened slightly and glanced at the several vice-presidents sitting behind him, knowing that the full return of their members had caught William’s attention.

But he couldn’t help it; they had come for that famous Evil-Banishing Forest Array inside the camp.

After battling demons and even using a Purification Array, those who were injured still harbored concerns.

The corruption ability of this demon was too strong.

”It has turned to ash,” Draculus could only awkwardly reply, ”It will never appear in this world again.”

”I still want to know how he did it,” William insisted, ”It may sound arrogant, but I truly can’t imagine how he escaped my pursuit! Even the Sun God couldn’t find him. How did he get from the Dwarf Kingdom to the Mages Association?”

”He is not a pure demon.” Draculus was silent for a while but finally said, ”He is a hybrid of an Abyssal Human and a demon, with two forms. In his demon form, he is stronger than a demigod. In his human form, he is a Legendary Mage. Even the Evil Faction cannot tell that he is a demon.”

”He was pretending to be a Demon Worshipper?” William understood after a moment. To preach by example was the only way to make those magicians believe that worshipping a demon truly extended their lifespans.

And to hide among the legion of Legendary Mages from the Evil Faction within the Mages Association.

It’s just unclear how Draculus and his people discovered him and launched a surprise attack; otherwise, with them around, that demon would surely have left.

A demon so cunning was unlikely to present himself before Draculus just to be killed.

William’s gaze skipped over the row of vice-presidents seated behind Draculus and settled on the Legendary Mages at the back.

He memorized these faces.

William had to ensure he was well-informed, otherwise, who could tell if the person who identified the Legendary was keen-eyed or a traitor’s backhanded betrayal.

Although Draculus wasn’t willing to say any more, William was somewhat satisfied.

The guy was worried about exposing secrets within the Mages Association, such as how they could kill a demon stronger than a demigod right under the deities’ noses without anyone knowing.

Does the Mages Association have its own half-plane?

This was the only method William could think of that could escape the notice of all gods.

No matter how strong an Isolation Array was, a demigod’s battle could not possibly leave no trace at all.

He looked up at Fran, who was deep in thought.

More familiar with magical arrays than William, he probably had a good idea already.

A half-plane capable of hosting battles involving so many Legendary Laws and demigods!

An old monster who has lived for tens of thousands of years is indeed wealthy.

Having achieved his purpose, Draculus stood up to take his leave, also asking William’s permission to visit the Forest Array and wait for the negotiations between Karula and Spencer to end before taking the oil painting and departing directly.

He also hoped that William would mark out the location of the Mages’ Association’s quarters in Central City sooner rather than later. Once the demon matter was completely settled, they would send people over.

William stood up, watching the powerful mage leave, then watched as Spencer invited the female mage to the next sitting room for negotiations.

Sighing, he sat back in his throne, feeling that Spencer might start striking as soon as tomorrow.

William waved his hand, signaling the Great Nobility to depart and suggesting they stay in their rooms for the time being.

Unless they could ensure that they wouldn’t say something they shouldn’t in front of any mage.

He wasn’t particularly worried about outsiders learning about the nobles’ recent experiences, but he couldn’t manage whether they cared or not.

The Great Nobility left with wry smiles, hastily returning to their own rooms.

They didn’t want to lose face in such a manner.

Even if the mages did indeed know what had happened, they couldn’t let it come from their own mouths.