Surviving The Fourth Calamity

Chapter 413: Chapter 212: Open Rivalry and Hidden Schemes, Peculiar Thoughts

The defensive magic array of Hill’s cloud ship was very conspicuously active.

He had no intention of inviting these people in for a rest.

He and these people, besides the demon at hand, could not possibly share any other topic of conversation.

Moreover, this Draculus was really the kind who doubted everything.

There was always a probing element to his speech.

He even wanted to stir up trouble using Adrian.

His words hinted to Hill that Fran was treating Hill and Adrian differently.

How could he tell Hill about his business but not inform Adrian!

After all, Adrian was Fran’s heir.

Hill nearly directly asked him, thinking who he thought he was!

Adrian needed to be cautious because he wasn’t a legendary figure, not because he feared the Mage Association.

If things were to escalate, it would only be more challenging, not impossible to survive.

In the current Mage Association, there were those who would trouble Adrian, but would anyone dare to take his life?

As soon as Hill mentioned that Adrian was the current City Lord of Central City, Draculus immediately shut up.

Given Adrian’s usual knack for mobilizing all the resources around him, the moment he knew he was directly descended from Draculus, he would definitely make good use of the group from the Mage Association sent to Central City.

Adrian truly had the typical nobility temperament; when it came to utilizing others, not flaying them would be considered lenient on his part.

If Draculus really wanted to stir up trouble between Hill and Adrian, he better find another place for his subordinates first.

Therefore, as soon as Hill got angry, Draculus immediately softened and even specifically explained that he only thought Adrian was well-suited for his path. He just wanted to win Adrian over and wasn’t planning on doing anything harmful to him.

Hill sneered to himself, thinking it probably was true.

If there were someone as capable as Adrian, skillful in handling administrative affairs, The Mage Association wouldn’t be in such chaos.

When Draculus used to select students, he probably only considered talent and never thought that his students needed other abilities.

Moreover, his students were very much like him; called rational, but actually devoid of emotions.

Draculus himself knew he wasn’t a good teacher, having not taken any students for tens of thousands of years.

In his students, only two became Legendary Laws, both having gone far into the starry sky.

Those who did not become legendary had long since perished.

The few remaining common legends would not get involved in anything as long as their own positions were not threatened.

Even if they had all initially belonged to their teacher, it was the same.

Draculus’s life was very long, everyone knew that.

With no hope of an heir, none would be concerned about the affairs of the Mage Association.

It was probably these recent days, seeing Adrian commanding the Undead Tribe, that tempted him to pick Fran’s peaches?

Hill sneered, thinking such beautiful dreams.

When the two of them spoke, their voices were very loud.

The communicator between Fran and Hill was never turned off.

Hill, not wanting Fran to worry too much about his safety, ended up burning some crystal stones, which just happened to let Fran know about Draculus’s little schemes.

They might have also wanted to manipulate Hill.

To see if Hill would look down on Adrian or even feel that he was entitled to inherit Fran’s possessions.

Hill had discerned this much himself.

As for whether there were other reasons, Hill thought alone that he might not understand, but Fran would surely comprehend.

With the effect of the Water of Tranquility ending, those few legendary laws just flew away again.

Now with Hill’s Ice Tornado active, they just needed to disperse in the sky.

Regarding the underground, Hill pensively looked at the high-flying Draculus in the middle of the deep pit.

Beneath that was yet another layer of traps, not detonated despite such an explosion.

This fellow, likely truly spent tens of thousands of years focused on how to trap others.

Wouldn’t the first reaction of a fleeing demon be to burrow underground?

Hill now understood why the Legendary Laws had all come out this time.

They weren’t necessarily here to deal with the demon.

Indeed, mages are creatures of interest, not appearing so universally without benefits.

Hill could feel that strange wave.

Was there an entrance to a half-plane there?

Most of the attention of those in the sky was on that entrance.

Hill furrowed his brows, concentrating his mind to observe that area.

He needed to see whether he should notify his maternal grandfather. Anything that interested all the Legendary Laws was bound to be precious.

Half-planes are too rare to come by, and their laws are quite peculiar.

Now, having a broken half-plane to observe oneself is really quite nice.

Hill walked into the study, found some paper and a pen, and quickly began recording everything he observed.

He scratched his head and told Fran across from him, ”Grandfather, there’s a damaged half-plane here, and right now the other side is striving to connect with this world. I think watching it longer would be useful for finding a half-plane that can be bound to the Mental Sea.

Those legends are very interested, maybe it’s useful for something.”

”Wait a moment, I’ll be right there,” Fran said quickly.

”Doesn’t he want you on this side?” Hill asked softly.

”He just doesn’t want me staying in Central City,” Fran said indifferently, ”probably wants to stir up some trouble over there. As a result, His Majesty the King sent Holmes there, and that man is much harder to deal with than I am.

That’s someone who can’t be reasoned with.

Perfectly suited to handle those in the Mage Association who can’t be reasoned with either.”

Fran briskly cut off the connection, probably already flying over.

Now he wants to come here, and he does not have to fly all the way by himself.

Teleporting directly to the camp outside Central City and then flying here only takes about fifteen minutes.

Fran’s trust in the Gods of Time and Space was already quite high now.

Knowing that his grandfather was about to arrive, Hill stood by the window, flicking his fingers, and released dozens more Ice Tornadoes.

He no longer needed to maintain the overflow of his Mental Sea, knowing well the strength of Fran’s defenses.

Hill focused intently, directing these dozens of tornadoes to swiftly whirl, blending into the other tornadoes already swirling around the pit.

He had to calculate carefully, ensuring the speeds and directions of these tornadoes were as consistent as possible so they wouldn’t spiral against the ones in front when they joined this line of storms, causing a major gap.

By the time Hill had mentally consolidated these tornadoes, Fran was already sitting on the deck of his Cloud House.

Fran could directly enter any of Hill’s Defensive Magic Arrays without needing temporary permissions from Hill.

Hill laughed, was just about to step outside, when he saw Draculus flying over again.

Fran signaled to Hill in the room to let the guy in.

Hill silently allowed Draculus entry.

”Fran, are you so uncertain about letting the kid go out by himself?” Draculus said with a smile brimming with meaning.

”I am indeed uncertain!” Fran said coldly, ”especially after hearing some strange conversations through the communicator.”

”Ah? Were you talking to me?” Draculus said regretfully, ”I thought Adrian was curious about what was happening here and was listening in.”

Hill silently cursed inside, realizing he had only considered the surface layer.

”Even if Adrian heard, he wouldn’t think I have some good fortune to hide from him and only tell Hill. He would just check if there were any troubles,” Fran sighed. ”Stop stirring things up in the middle. Your own students have turned their backs on you, do you want others to have a fallout with their mentors too?”

”That’s not it,” Draculus said frankly, ”I just really want to know if human emotions can instantaneously turn from good to evil. Whether the opposition between demons and deities is the same as the moral struggle within human nature.”

Fran paused momentarily: ”That’s not without the Evil God. Keep this up, and you might instantly fall from absolute neutrality to absolute evil.”

”Impossible,” Draculus said, smiling, ”I never lean towards any side.”

Nor does he care about offending any side, Hill murmured to himself, willing to kill anyone who provokes him.

”Why did you come over?” Draculus pressed, ”I don’t think it’s because you’re worried about Hill. As soon as he got here, my goodness! A row of eyes swept across the Starry Sky.”

Fran looked helplessly at the overly dramatic Draculus: ”Hill said there’s a broken half-plane here, suitable for research.”

”Tsk,” Draculus was displeased, ”this kid, is he also good at Alchemy?”

”He was enlightened in Alchemy,” Fran said with a slight smile, ”of course he’s good.”

”Then why is he a Magician?” Draculus said discontentedly, ”Look at you, choosing a Half-Elf woman! His talents are wasted, being a Magician is so troublesome! He can only learn half of Alchemy!”

Fran scoffed: ”You speak so easily now, not having to squat halfway in the air keeping a close watch, yet it’s relying on his Talented Spells! Keep some manners!”

Draculus’s eyes moved towards the Ice Tornadoes spinning rapidly along the edge of the pit. ”A Magician, though he is also a Mage.

But too dependent on lineage, the vast majority will never see what the real world is like.

Hill is an exception, but that is because as a Nature Warlock, the laws chose him, not that he chose the laws.

Luckily, there is just one like him.

Other Magicians, they mostly can’t even see their own laws clearly.

Otherwise, if there were many Magicians like him, what would be the purpose of a Mage’s existence?”

”Why bother with how others are?” Fran countered, ”Aren’t Mages supposed to choose for themselves? Because someone else’s path is easier, they don’t know how to walk their own path, then how can they claim to be Mages?

Are you not meddling too much?

With the time you think about this, why didn’t you manage the Mage Association more back then?

It would have saved you the trouble of blowing up your own home now.”

”If you could always be as polite as you were in front of the King of Saral,” Draculus changed the subject.

”You better not think that the King of Saral is an easy man to deal with,” Fran warned, ”I agreed to cooperate with you then because he didn’t care. If he had shown hostility towards you, I would have severed ties with you on the spot.”

Hill sat in the study, almost bursting out laughing.