Surviving The Fourth Calamity

After observing this world for some time, Hill felt increasingly confident that he could retreat unscathed.

This world was important to the Lord of Hell’s schemes, but not indispensable.

Even the information Fengo and Glaysia received was rather vague... They probably only knew this world was chosen for Bisozeya’s resurrection but were unaware of Teraxil’s significance.

It’s even likely that Asmodeus would warn them not to appear in the world of the World Tree’s descendants, lest it alert some enemies.

How should I put it... With Glaysia so close by, yet there’s no trace of any succubus in Teraxil: This lady never adhered to her father’s minor rules.

Especially if she knew Teraxil might fall under Hell’s domain, she would undoubtedly try her best to insert herself first.

However, if she knew this matter would affect her mother’s resurrection, and considering that world was indeed hard to invade, the pampered Princess of Hell would have no interest in confronting others head-on.

In other words, Glaysia must be quite unfamiliar with Teraxil... She only knows it’s the world of the World Tree’s daughter.

Glaysia was raised to be extremely proud by her mother: She genuinely only respects those with equal or higher status than hers.

Without conquering Heavenly Mountain, the Lord of Hell, whose own lair has been invaded once by subordinates, for now, no one would dare to claim they could stand alongside the World Tree.

Thus, when Hill confirmed that Glaysia had absolute sovereignty in this world, and Fengo dared not make any moves to defy her orders, he felt much more at ease.

The Hell Prosecutor likes to flaunt his absolute loyalty before Asmodeus by trampling over other Dukes of Hell’s dignity... and Glaysia is the easiest for him to catch out.

There’s no choice; after all, it’s her father, no matter how strict he is with his family’s mischievous little girl, it’s unlikely he would truly harm her, right?

At most, she’ll be shut away for a century or so, until she can plot her next mistake.

So even though Fengo is well aware of the significant influence of the Red Dragon on this world, he chose to retreat rather than confront Glaysia... proving he believes this world is less important to Asmodeus’s heart than the daughter who always needs a lesson.

Otherwise, he’s more than willing to step on Glaysia once more... Anyway, the Lord of Hell isn’t abdicating, and the esteemed position of the Princess will always be noble yet not needing to be revered.

If something happened to the Lord of Hell and he suddenly fell... then as Asmodeus’s number one sycophant, Fengo would only die sooner.

Thus, the Hell Prosecutor will only yield to Glaysia in matters of no consequence and still act much like the Grand Steward of the inner palace.

And over the years, Glaysia has learned to be much wiser.

She also tries to avoid causing trouble for Fengo in matters very important to her father, lest she be reported.

Though being confined is merely boring, for someone accustomed to the succubus lifestyle, this boredom is the most irritating.

Asmodeus is certainly not the fool who puts all eggs in one basket, so he won’t go to the death with Hill, who has the World Tree’s support, due to the loss of just one world.

So, Hill has recently become more relaxed, no longer continually tense, or else he wouldn’t have the free time to listen to those two women bicker.

Intelligent and knowledgeable women, when using language to counter, can always say some witty things that surprise Hill... Each word light and humorous, yet each phrase cuts deep.

Indeed, as long as one isn’t being insulted personally, the more melodious the insults, the happier the listeners.

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Hill’s pleasure increased further when he saw Felis scrambling into the underground tunnel.

Although not very concerned with the matter, when a student he acknowledged completed a good assignment, it seemed he too felt gratified.

However, Russell couldn’t share in his teacher’s joy.

He strode into the monitoring room that issued a warning to him, a trace of anger on his face... Russell certainly understood what was happening.

But he really hadn’t hoped it would reach this point.

How should I put it... This only proved one thing, that Aislin certainly wasn’t genuinely afraid of Gilbert as she appeared.

Russell knew well that Aislin probably guessed the only place Felis could escape to would be the underground passage.

Once Felis made a move, Aislin could directly connect him with Gilbert’s side... Of course, that is, if Aislin could catch him.

It’s an undeniable fact that Felis was corrupted by such sinister forces; if Aislin truly captured Felis and accused his dangers in front of everyone, using her identity as Master Gilbert’s senior to suppress Russell’s resistance, then... if he wanted to protect Felis, Russell could only choose to call upon his secluded teacher.

But doing so would harm Gilbert’s interests.

If Russell didn’t do it, everything he had done previously would be utterly meaningless.

Yet... if he really went through with it, even if Gilbert was willing to come out, then what would he be as a student?

Would he harm his teacher’s interests for the sake of Carpenter’s concerned cousin?

Would Gilbert still value him?

Late at night, when the world was silent, Russell suddenly thought of this... so, the command he gave to the surveillance device wasn’t to monitor Felis’s actions, but rather to notify him immediately when someone followed Felis into the secret passage.

He didn’t care if Felis could survive with his help; what he needed to know was what role Aislin played in this incident.

That lady was acting a bit too enthusiastically.

Moreover, her fear of Master Gilbert was overly exaggerated... Being a mage was never a profession where having talents and a future guaranteed status.

The Eighth Ring is just the Eighth Ring.

Although Russell was bewildered for several days by Aislin’s strange behavior, he finally figured it out... This female mage was definitely not the kind, considerate persona she portrayed, afraid of causing trouble for others.

Instead, if he truly believed in Aislin, even the people on Archmage Ruth’s side, all very wary of Gilbert, might willingly get involved in this hunt for Felis.

If he weren’t a person of cautious character and meticulous actions... just thinking about how he hadn’t even stepped out the door, let alone spoken a word to Carpenter, and had already been schemed upon this way, filled Russell with frustration.

But then, what could he do?

Russell finally understood a real side of the world of mages.

No real emotions, everything is thought of in terms of interests... They won’t kill you if you’re on the same side, but not scheming against you is impossible.

Unless I’m sure there’s absolutely no benefit I can get from you... not even making you worse off.

The calculations of the Hainarson family were nothing compared to these archmages.

Russell let out a long, depressingly deep breath.

He knew, though he might be a bit foolish, a certain gentleman watching the drama couldn’t possibly miss this point... Yet, his teacher had shown no reaction.

Russell figured his teacher was watching how he handled the situation at hand.

That also meant that whatever arrangements he made, his teacher had the confidence to back him up.

So, Russell decided to follow his own plans.

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Staring at the large, suddenly appearing light circle in the surveillance array, Russell softly laughed.

”Carpenter.” He turned and called out eerily.

”What’s up?” His perceptive and sensitive little sister, sure enough, had already been waiting outside.

”Felis has entered the chamber. All the food and water inside were arranged by you. Did you place the injury medicine?”

”Is he injured?” Carpenter was a bit surprised. ”Is someone trying to kill him? Hmm? Wait... does he even need to be chased to be killed?”

Even Carpenter, who hadn’t considered these matters, quickly caught on.

Russell felt that Aislin underestimated these kids... then he suddenly realized, she didn’t care about their thoughts.

As soon as she thought of not showing up, she would just have Felis taken. It’s not like she didn’t catch anything.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn’t facing Gilbert, whom she somewhat understood, but Russell’s teacher, who had lived for who knows how many years.

During this time, Russell had investigated a lot of information related to visitors from the Stellar Realm or outsiders... While the Tower of Dark Enigma had a lot of shady business, in terms of infrastructure, it was indeed an old Magic Tower; the side towers like Gilbert’s could spend a fortune to synchronize their collection with the main library’s public collection.

That Gilbert would spend this kind of money surprised no one; archmages who never left home and yet wanted to know outside news would often do this.

This allowed Russell to feel just how powerful his teacher was.

How could such a person be outsmarted by Aislin’s petty tricks?

Though ’Gilbert’ hadn’t said anything, he’d prepared everything for Russell.

As long as he could conceive it, he would certainly execute it perfectly.

Just like Aislin, flitting around like a headless fly in the underground passages at the moment.

Heh, Russell had fixed that chamber right at the entrance. The moment Felis rushed in, he was immediately swallowed up.

Then the chamber completely detached from the secret passage array, quickly descending, and even tilting downward.

The earth that could dissolve magic power was rather helpful at this time.

Even if Felis had some method of tracking on him, it was useless now.