The center of the explosion was still releasing enough heat to keep anyone from getting close. Li Lin wiped his face and looked at the pit regretfully. “Both he and his equipment are ashes now. I was hoping that I could loot some extraordinary equipment from his body.”
Betta patted his chest fearfully. He had been blown away when he was eating the roasted food, and the skewers nearly stabbed his eyes.
Schuck looked at the pit and felt shocked too. “They say that Saint Samurai is one of the three OP classes, but I think that Mage is the real OP one.”
The queen was barely affected, but she also pursed her lips at the red magma at the bottom of the pit.
Roland was actually no match for her. She could’ve killed Roland in a dozen ways when Roland was accumulating power for his spell. The Great Swordsman always had the most various and effective methods of attack.
However, it was impossible for a Great Swordsman like her to perform such a daunting attack, not even if she were to become a Legend.
She might be able to do that when she became a Demigod.
But for now, she could only dream of being a Demigod.
After the initial surprise, Andonara’s eyes were even brighter when she looked at Roland.
She had liked Roland not because Roland was strong but because of Roland’s attitude toward her. Actually, as a young, level-eleven Great Swordsman, she could go anywhere she wanted.
What she lacked was merely a sense of safety that only a responsible man could give her.
However, it didn’t mean that she didn’t want her man to be strong.
Margret, who was standing next to Schuck, seemed warier than before. She had observed the whole incident from behind Schuck’s back.
As a queen of the red dragons and a creature on the top of the pyramid, Margret had always despised human beings.
She came to the human world only because there was more fun to be had here.
Schuck was the first man that she respected and liked. After all, Schuck was too handsome in her eyes.
She wasn’t interested in any of Schuck’s friends, and she had always been reluctant to talk to the so-called Golden Sons.
However, Roland’s fireball just now made her feel death.
Even though she was strongly resistant to fire as a red dragon, she knew that she couldn’t have survived that magic attack.
An adult red dragon might’ve been able to take it, but the problem was that Roland still had a lot of potential.
When Roland became a Master, even an adult dragon wouldn’t be able to take an accumulated fireball from him. If he ever became a Legend… her father, the current king of the red dragons, would have to flee. Even the elder dragons had to consider carefully before dealing with him.
Thinking about that, Margret wondered if it was wrong of her to underestimate Schuck’s friends.
They observed the pit for a while and put out the fire in the woods. Then, Schuck asked, “What do we do next? Destroy the Association of Mages?”
“That’s unnecessary. Too many people would be killed.” Roland shook his head. “The culprit is dead. Let’s prune the crooked branches next, for example, Dalton’s unworthy son.”
“All right, I’m on it,” Husseret said with a smile. “I’ll find out who in Dalton’s family deserves death.”
Two days passed. Dalton, the general chairman of the Association of Mages, was found missing.
Two days earlier, the other five Archmages in town all sensed his magic from the north of the city, and an intense explosion spread out of the woods at the time.
After the chairman was confirmed to be missing, investigators were sent to the woods.
But they found nothing but an enormous pit that was slightly wavy. There was no sign of the chairman.
The investigators were 100% sure that the pit was created with magic, because a lot of fire elements still lingered on the spot.
Then, the investigators announced that Dalton was probably in danger.
However, anybody who was not an idiot knew that Dalton had probably been killed.
The enormous pit could’ve only been caused by a Mage above the Master tier with a spell above five rings.
The result was obvious.
Considering that the royal family lost the second prince as well as more than three hundred guards earlier, it made sense that an enemy was going against certain forces in the capital.
Undercurrents were surging in the capital of Hollevin at this point.
In a large manor in a rich neighborhood at the west of the city, Rourke was in a daze.
His father had disappeared. Many enemies and even acquaintances had been trying to swallow his family’s properties.
His mother dealt with them. But his mother was a noble lady who had never taken charge of such issues until this moment. She was under a lot of pressure.
Not every female had the qualities of a queen.
Rourke could not idle by while other people appropriated his family’s properties. He tried to reach out to his friends.
But he didn’t find any. His friends were either sick or out of town.
He certainly did not buy that.
Rourke sighed and left his house.
The courtyard of his house had always been crowded with nobles and ass-kissing Mages, but nobody was around now.
It was chilly. Very chilly.
When he walked out of his house, he saw a man in a black robe ahead.
The man looked grim and unfriendly.
Subconsciously, Rourke wanted to step back inside his manor, but something the man said made him stop.
“Do you want to know why your father died?”
His eyes bloodshot, Rourke snarled like a wild cat, “What did you say?”
The man shook his head and said, “Do you want to talk to me somewhere else?”
Gloomily, Rourke stared at the man, but nodded his head in the end.
They came to a small lake nearby. Few people passed this place, and it was very quiet.
Rourke had been gazing at the man, ready to use his magic scroll if something went wrong.
He was an elite Mage anyway, he could protect himself.
“My name is Husseret. In the way you address us, I’m a Golden Son,” said the man casually.
After a brief shock, Rourke grew even more vigilant.
The Golden Sons were now famous all over the capital.
He was told that the queen was kidnapped by the Golden Sons after they killed the second prince, but oddly enough, the royal family did not plan any retaliation.
Was his father’s death related to them?
It was only his guess, but what the man said next twisted his face.
“Your father, Dalton, was killed by one of my brothers.”
After a brief silence, Rourke roared, “I’m going to kill you pieces of sh*t!”
He reached for his pockets and was about to tear the magic scroll apart.
But his enemy was even faster. The man crossed several meters in the blink of an eye and kicked Rourke right in his genitals.
Rourke immediately collapsed to the ground, blushing. He wanted to scream but he couldn’t.
Eventually, he could only writhe while holding his groin.
Husseret, on the other hand, stood aside in silence with a weird smile.
After a long time, the pain finally receded, and Rourke looked at the man and roared angrily while his legs were still shaking, “You shameless scoundrel.”
“Are you calmer now?” Husseret smiled. “If not, I wouldn’t mind giving you another kick.”
Rourke’s face immediately paled.
“Then let’s continue,” Husseret said. “Your father was killed by my brother, but that was because he killed Kaka Bard for Kaka’s derivative spell model, and Kaka Bard was my brother’s friend.”
“You killed my father for a derivative spell?” Rourke struggled to his feet and shed tears. “My father was such a great man…”
“Your father killed Kaka for a new derivative spell. Why can’t other people kill him for the same reason? Revenge is justified.”
“I don’t buy it!” Rourke roared. “My father was a good man!”
“Where do you think the derivative spell you’re learning right now is from?”
Rourke was immediately stunned. After a long time, he asked, his lips quivering, “The derivative spell model for the magic puppet?”
Husseret nodded.
Rourke felt frustrated and disappointed.
He wondered what he should do.
He knew that Kaka Bard died an uncanny death, and he even laughed at the guy’s fate when he chit-chatted with his friends.
But now, someone was telling him that Kaka Bard was killed by his father, who had always been gentle and kind and never reprimanded anyone?
And it was only for a derivative spell model?
Rourke fell to his knees. His eyes were filled with tears and his vision got fuzzier and fuzzier.
“We had thought to kill most of Dalton’s family. After all, if Dalton was so vicious, we inferred that his family should be like him.” Husseret’s voice became more and more distant. “But after investigation, I found that most people in your family could almost be called good people. You never hurt anyone, and the worst thing your mother ever did was beat up a maid who stained her clothes, but she didn’t kill her and even offered her balm afterward.
“Although it was just crocodile tears, you’re still much better than other nobles.
“So, stop thinking about revenge. It’s pointless because the Golden Sons are undying. You might as well focus on helping your mother and preventing your family from being overtaken by other nobles.”
Husseret’s voice grew further and further away, until Rourke eventually passed out.
When he woke up, he found himself in his own bedroom.
The familiar environment almost made him feel that he had a nightmare.
But seeing his cloak on the bed covered in mud, he knew that it was not an illusion.
With a miserable smile, Rourke looked out of the window, surprised.
“Golden Sons, are you angels or devils?”
