Abel brought a promise with him as he left the Goff Family. The Titian Temple would always be open to Abel’s blood-related kin. For now, the only blood-related family Abel had was the Bennett Family. As for the Harry family in Harvest City, Abel needed to have his own children first.
As Abel turned to his magic tower, he already knew what to do with Babala.
What could be more important to him than Harry castle? The Lord of Marshall had sacrificed everything for the castle, and Abel was becoming worried as his enemies got more powerful.
If one day his enemy decided to attack Harry castle when he was not around, Tower spirit Flora might not be able to unleash its full power.
Everyone living in that castle was basically normal citizens. Even The Lord of Marshall was a normal person, he could not live in a mana environment, so there were many wizard defense Abel could not set up.
It only had a protection circle. However, those knights might be able to hold beginner wizards up for a while. Breaking that protection circle would only be a matter of time for intermediate wizards.
Therefore, he needed another way to protect The Lord of Marshall.
Babala was a type of guardian plant cultivated by the Titans, so it was perfect for the job!
Abel was especially bonded with Babala’s soul. It was linked to the temple control card, and Abel had been declared as the owner of that control card, so it had passively gotten control of Babala without making it a contracted beast.
Abel and The Lord of Marshall sat in the underground room of Harry Castle.
“Uncle Marshall, I’ve brought Babala to help you guard the castle!” Abel took Babala out of his monster ring and said.
Since Abel’s soul was bound to Babala, he no longer needed to use his soul speaker ability.
“Babala, this is my uncle. From now on, you will protect him and his castle!” Abel said to the almost dried up looking Babala.
“Abel, that thing can protect me?” Said The Lord of Marshall, looking at that strange, almost dried up giant plant. Even it’s flower had a stinking smell.
Yes, Babala looked miserable. The change of environment had given it a big hit. It only had 10 branches left. Without the leaves to nourish and its dried up flowers, it would be a problem if it could even stay alive, let alone protecting others.
“Uncle Marshall, don’t underestimate it. This thing can protect the castle for thousands of years, maybe even tens of thousands!” Abel lowered his voice and smiled.
At that moment, small roots began to emerge from Babala and wrapped around a few perfect gems after the amount of energy was extracted from it.
Even the naked eye could see the body of Babala begin to lit up. Liveliness returned to the flowers, but the stinking smell intensified.
Countless small roots emerged from the main root and slowly penetrated the ground of the underground room.
Although The Lord of Marshall did not know, Abel knew Babala had already built a personal dimension under Harry Castle. It was enough to protect Harry Castle as it continued to grow.
Slowly, the underground of Harry Castle was surrounded by countless roots. It could now turn Harry castle into a magic forbidden place any time and give the enemy a taste of the power of those countless roots.
The reason why Abel had brought The Lord of Marshall along was to let Babala remember The Lord of Marshall’s scent so he could call Babala for help even when Abel is not around.
“Why is it so powerful? The Lord of Marshall asked. He didn’t know the wizards’ tricks, but he knew this thing was definitely not as simple.
“With Babala around, you don’t have to worry about any Wizard in the Holy Continent!” Abel said softly.
If Abel didn’t sound so serious, The Lord of Marshall would have thought he was joking.
Of course, Abel was not joking. As soon as the mana forbidden environment was ignited, a Wizard wouldn’t even be able to go against a knight. No Wizard in the Holy Continent could break a mana forbidden environment.
Abel did not tell anyone else about Babala. Its lifespan was basically infinite. It and Bartoli would become the most powerful guardians for Harry castle.
There was no need for Bartoli to meet Babala. Both of them were Abel’s contracted beasts, so their souls were connected too.
After Abel returned to his magic tower, he went into retreat again. The duchy of Carmel had gotten used to it.
Abel’s sovereignty over his domain remained stable as conflict raged on in the Holy Continent. Other than the 3 big kingdoms, all the duchies were involved.
The 3 big kingdoms did not interfere. A decrease in population was the best way to mediate a food crisis anyway.
What could be a better way to decrease population than war?
As the conflict intensified, even the 5 duchies connected with the duchy of Carmel were not safe.
The noble system of the human world was in chaos. Large numbers of noble families vanished or were taken over by other noble families.
Normal rules did not confine powerful nobles. Their greed led them to invade small duchies.
Duchies fell, and new ones raised. Even though the food crisis continued, the price of land had increased.
The duchy of Carmel was the only remaining stable duchy, and no duchy dared to mess with it.
Among the chaos, the dwarfs sent out many men to give Bakong City and Barley City a makeover, but not many people knew what that makeover was about.
Of course, this was no secret to the 3 big kingdoms. Both the Kingdom of St Anwell and Kingdom of St Pierrt had signed a peace treaty with the duchy of Carmel, so both of them just asked a few questions and kept their nose out of it.
On the other hand, the Kingdom of St Ellis sent out some serious doubts to the dwarfs since those constructions could threaten their sovereignty.
Abel was a brother to the dwarfs, and they didn’t offend the human law, so this short reply was used as a way to bite back at the Kingdom of St Ellis.
This had a big impact on the relationship between the Kingdom of St Ellis and the Duchy of Carmel, despite their stability on the surface. Emperor Ambrose had personally ordered an assassin to kill Abel, but he would not send them out until Abel officially flipped the table.
….
In the Kingdom of St Ellis palace office, Emperor Ambrose was talking with Eldest Prince Derek.
“Father, why did you officially doubt the Dwarfs for constructing a defense system for the duchy of Carmel. You are basically picking a fight with Grandmaster Abel. The kingdom has put a lot of effort into forming a good relationship with Grandmaster Abel. Is this worth it?” Prince Derek asked bluntly since there were only the two of them in the office. He just couldn’t understand his father’s action.
“Derek, you are the head of the investigation department. You should know the assassin union is recovering, right?” The emperor ignored the question.
“Yes, the assassin union has gotten a lot of mission points from the chaos of the human world. Although they missed a lot as well, they had recovered around 70% of their original power!” The prince nodded.
“You know Grandmaster Abel’s personality. Do you think he would let the assassin union go easily?” The emperor added.
“No!” The prince replied. The investigation department had analyzed the personality of Abel.
“Derek, then you tell me how would the assassin union recover?” The emperor kept asking.
“Maybe the assassin union had given Abel some benefits to letting them go!” Prince Derek thought his father was testing him.
“I’ve gotten news from the dwarfs and the elves that they have lifted the ban for assassin mission points!” The emperor lowered his voice.
“How is that possible. Why would the dwarfs and elves do something like that?” The prince had all the information in the human world, but he had not been paying much attention to the dwarfs or elves. Just the business in the human world was enough to take all the energy from him.
“I think Grandmaster Abel has seized control over the assassin union. And it only recovered so fast since he is so close with the dwarf and elves!” The emperor added.
“Then shouldn’t we be even nicer to the Duchy of Carmel and Abel?” The prince was still confused.
If Abel had seized control of the assassin union, the duchy of Carmel would have gotten a lot of hidden power, even if they didn’t look like much on the surface.
“No, because I have personally placed an assassin order on Grandmaster Abel!” The emperor said with a bitter laugh.
If he could go back in time, he would definitely not have done this no matter what. He was not expecting an organization with thousands of years of history could be wiped out by a young wizard.
“What!” The prince yelled.
Although he knew the corruption of politics, Abel was the king of a duchy, a true noble, a grandmaster blacksmith, a wizard. His life should not be threatened, no matter which identity he identified.
Nobles were respected by many. If an assassin had failed, the ones who send them out would be banished.
This placed a guarantee on the life of many nobles. It was the core stability of the human world.
“Now you know why I’m against the dwarfs building a defense system for the duchy of Carmel? The duchy of Carmel can not get any more powerful. It will threaten our sovereignty!” The emperor lowered his voice again.
“But Grandmaster Abel won’t unleash a war with the Kingdom just for an assassin order, right?” The prince asked, irritated.
He knew Abel, and he didn’t think he would do something like that.
“There is something the investigation department does not know. The duchy of Carmel signed a peace treaty with the other 2 kingdoms but not the kingdom of St Ellis!” A spark of fury emerged on the emperor’s face.
“Father, maybe it is because the duchy of Carmel is a part of the Kingdom of St Ellis, so Abel thought there was no need!” The prince couldn’t believe what he just said.
No matter if the duchy of Carmel signed a treaty with the kingdom of St Ellis or not, they should have let them know that they had signed a treaty with the other two kingdoms.
“Father, we can’t go to war with the duchy of Carmel. We don’t have enough resources!” The prince finally understood why the emperor had called him for discussion today.
Only the investigation department knew how powerful the duchy of Carmel was. If the kingdom went to war with the duchy of Carmel, they would take a huge hit even if they won. The duchy of Carmel had gotten too powerful too quickly.
The human world was in chaos, so large amounts of knights and nobles rushed to the duchy of Carmel. Since the duchy of Carmel had taken over the duchy of Keyen, they had enough land to keep those knights.
At this point, the duchy of Carmel was just a hair behind the power of the kingdom of St Ellis just by looking at this. Not even to mention the true power of Abel, it was a mystery.
The emperor tried to resolve this personally by contacting Abel, but Abel kept rejecting him. He wouldn’t even see the representatives he sent.
If there was a slight chance he would make peace with Abel, he would have done that.
To be honest, he was afraid of Abel’s power. Someone who had killed many elite wizards, 6 elite priests, and wiped out an entire city. Any of these things could chill down his spine.
He didn’t want to pick a fight with Abel. He hated himself for ordering an assassin. It was a forbidden political move. Not many people have done it, no matter kingdoms or duchies.
Once an assassin order was placed, the other party could strike back and place an assassin order as well. Abel knew this, and he would soon become the enemy of the kingdom.
There was no way the emperor would be afraid of the king of the Duchy of Carmel was another person. Looking at the history of Abel, they noticed a pattern.
Not a single one of Abel’s enemies lived very long. They would either get into an accident or be murdered.
It might be a coincidence if only one enemy got killed, but every single one of them was dead. Even if Abel wasn’t the one killing them, he played a crucial part in their downfall.
That was why emperor Ambrose didn’t want to become Abel’s enemy. He didn’t want war, but he also didn’t know if Abel would unleash a big attack on the kingdom once he got even more powerful.
He was ready to pay a big compensation to make up for his mistake before sending the ambassadors to Abel, but Abel just wouldn’t change his mind. It was understandable.
However, there was something he had not thought of. Abel’s wizard ability was increasing too quickly. He might become an elite wizard in a few years, and he might leave the Holy Continent after that.
When he leaves, he needs to make sure all his threats are gone. The emperor had placed an assassin order on Abel, but their relationship was quite stable before that.
If the emperor was willing to place an assassin order even with that stable relationship, his family, his friend, Harry castle, and the Duchy of Camel would definitely not be saved from the kingdom after leaving the Holy Continent.
Another important thing is that he needed to put up a powerful image making sure no one would mess with the Duchy of Carmel.
The Kingdom of St Ellis was perfect for this. As long as he could destroy the Kingdom of St Ellis, no one would mess with the duchy of Carmel, at least in the human world.
This was Abel’s plan. He might not have this idea initially, but it was inevitable as his duchy got more and more powerful.
His final target was to kill king Ambrose. His greed grew as his domains got bigger. He wanted his family to live an even better life, and destroying a kingdom would bring out a better one.
“I’ve called the old man. He agreed to send out their 3 rank 17 elite wizards. On top of the 50 intermediate wizards and 20,000 knights of the kingdom. But even with that, I don’t think we can’t take him down!” Emperor Ambrose lowered his voice.
“Fathers, the wizard union has a rule that elite wizards can not get involved in the business of the common world. If they found out that the old man had got involved with this….” Prince Derek felt his heart lifted for a moment when he heard that the old man would help, but he was still worried,
“The old man is already a rank 18 wizard. No one can know about this in the Holy Continent!” Emperor Ambrose added.
Rank 18 wizards were the most powerful being in the Holy Continent, truly invincible. Even Abel had all kinds of legends attached to him. A rank 18 wizard had always remained at the pinnacle. They equaled god.
It would be likely that the wizard union would mess with a rank 18 wizard and 3 rank 17 wizards for Abel. You could count the number of rank 17 wizards in the Holy Continent in one hand, and they were all friends.
“Father, there is still a big problem. Where do we find enough food for another big battle?” Prince Derek began to accept the idea of going to war, so he began to plan.
“We will give out titles in the kingdom in exchange for food!” Emperor Ambrose said with a dim look.
It seemed like he already solved the food problem.
“Exchange titles for food!” A pitying look emerged on the prince’s face. How could a kingdom give out their titles for food?
This would have a big impact on the noble system. Even if they won this battle, their losses would be serious.
…..
Abel didn’t know what the kingdom of St. Ellis had in store for him. He was still in retreat, and all the businesses were left to the lords since they were all given the permission to make decisions without the king.
It had been 2 months since Abel came back from the sea. It was an early April morning, and he stepped out of the Dark World once again. He relaxed in his elven garden with a glass of juice, but the voice of tower spirit Flora suddenly emerged.
“Master, the young master Bernie from the dwarfs and Lady Carrie from the elves want to see you!”
“They want to see me together?” Abel couldn’t believe what he just mumbled. He took a last sip of juice and vanished in a flash.
Bernie was looking very desperate as the strode alongside Harry Castle.
Lady Carrie by his side was also looking pale, just like a beast had traumatized her. She had remained still like this ever since she entered Harry castle.
“Lady Carrie, what happened?” Bernie noticed the depressed look on her face, so he immediately asked.
“B…Bernie, nothing….nothing. I just sensed a huge threat!” Lady Carrie suddenly regains herself from her traumatized look.
“This is Grandmaster Abel’s place. What threat can it be?” Bernie looked around and asked in confusion.
Suddenly, Abel appeared in a flash of white light.
Lady Carrie felt her heart lifted the moment she saw Abel. The traumatized feeling immediately disappeared. She could help but gasp for air.
“Lady Carrie, what’s up?” Abel immediately realized something was wrong with her.
“Lady Carrie said she sensed a huge threat, isn’t that funny?” Bernie laughed.
Bernie was a regular dinner in Harry Castle. He knew this place was probably the safest place in the Holy Continent.
3 rank 17 wizards have died here. It was like a holy land for knights and wizards. No one would mess with it.
However, Abel knew lady Carrie had her reason. She was an intermediate Druid, her sensitivity to plants was extremely high. Since she was not a regular here, of course, she would be monitored by the Babala underground.
Babala also monitored Bernie, but it was impossible for him to notice Babala with his current ability.
Since Lady Carrie’s senses were so strong, the energy given out by a dramatically superior being was almost unbearable to her.
Also, since Babala had just been moved under Harry castle, it was still in recovery. It had not fully grasped all its power yet.
“Lady Carrie, I’m sorry that my new defense facility in the castle made you feel unsafe!” Abel explained.
Lady Carrie didn’t know what facility Abel was referring to, but she knew Abel wanted to keep it a secret. She smiled and nodded,
“Bernie, it’s been a while since you came. Why are you here today with lady Carrie?” Abel asked.
“Grandmaster Abel, I’m here today to do trade. I want 20 barrels of grandmaster wine. Just tell me what you want!” Bernie said awkwardly.
He knew the benefits of grandmaster wine. Although it was nothing too powerful, it could speed up the training of the dwarfs. The amount he requested this time might be too much.
“Grandmaster Abel, I also want to buy 20 barrels of Grandmaster Wine!” Lady Carrie did not know the value of the wine, but she knew it was definitely not normal wine looking at Bernie’s attitude.
But it was expected. There was no way the dragons would personally ask them for normal wine.
“Grandmaster Wine? Why do you guys need that many?” Abel asked in confusion.
Since the price of food had shot up dramatically, most of the wine was brewed in the duchy of Carmel.
If he needed to brew more wine, he would need more food. If he wasn’t so close to the dwarfs, he would have definitely stopped making wine.
“Grandmaster Abel, ill be honest with you. Dragonkin’s blue dragon, Emmanuel, somehow found out about the grandmaster’s wine, so he asked the dwarfs. We have no choice but to bother you!” Bernie put up a pity look on his face.
“Grandmaster Abel, the elves as well. Since I am close to you, my family sent me to buy some from you!” Lady Carrie added.
Actually, it wasn’t the dwarfs or the elves’ fault. He caused Emmanuel’s wine addiction.
“I know the Blue Dragon, Emmanuel. I’ll talk to him. The grandmaster wine is low in production, so ill explain that to him!” Abel waved his hand in slight embarrassment.
“Abel, you wouldn’t lie to me, right?” Bernie was so shocked he even forgot his manners.
“Bernie, do I look like someone who lies?” Abel bit back.
Bernie really wanted to say yes, but he didn’t say anything. Abel had never kept any secret from him unless it was something very sensitive.
It was just that he had a hard time believing that Abel knew Blue Dragon Emmanuel. That was a blue dragon, the dragon of the Holy Continent.
How dangerous was the ocean? The dwarfs had sent out 7 flying boats, but only 2 of them came back. The reason why no spiritual beast attacked the ocean was because the dragons had turned the ocean into their backyard.
Nobody understood the prestige of the dragon better than the elves and dwarfs. They always have been supplying resources for the dragons in exchange for a half-hearted promise that they would protect them. It was only until the very last moment. The dragons would show themselves to help.
