Chapter 75: Co-operation

Upon hearing Charles words, the Holem's Crown let out a dim red light and spoke in his mind,

'Look at the 'Mark of Imagination,' lad. It is shining for a while, which means the other party is now using this mark to locate you. It wouldn't long before he comes here.'

Charles pressed his lips together as he glanced at the 'Mark of Imagination' and soon widened his jade eyes.

'It looks like escape is not an option for me now.' A grim look appeared on his face.

'Don't wait for the opportunity, Charles. Create one and assassinate him here and now.' A reckless idea appeared in his mind.

He knew that it was the only chance to get out of this predicament.

'I also have a vague feeling that he would come earlier if I activate this Coin of Helper.' He froze for a second at the unusual feeling and soon shifted his attention towards the Coin of Helper.

Charles then took a deep breath and asked the Holem's Crown in his mind.

'Mr. Runeth, do you speak Nether tongue?'

His sudden question greatly startled the Holem's Crown.

'Where in the hell did you hear about this 'Nether Language'?' It paused for a second and then answered.

'It's the common language of the 'Underworld.' And, yes. I do speak the Nether tongue.'

'Oh? Tell me more about it. Why is it very rare in this world?' He asked.

The Holem's Crown instantly replied.

'The Nether Language is same as Runal Language. But unlike Runal Language, which is used to decipher the magic spells by mages, this Nether Language mostly used to decipher the power of Life, Death, and Soul by the Necromancers. If you ever plan on visiting the undead plane, you must learn this language.'

'Heh, does that mean only the person from the Death Church knew this language?'

He posed another question.

'The Gods of this plan are not that dumb, lad. If the Lawful Gods of the Edhen allowed the Nether Language and Rune Language to spread freely here, there wouldn't be able to gain full control over this plane. Many Necromancer Class Mystics and Mage Class Mystics would have born and ruled many kingdoms instead of Gods. Their main goal to eradicate the Arcane Empire off this world is because of this.' The Holem's Crown said in a solemn tone.

Charles frowned when he heard those words and soon showed the 'Coin of Helper' to the Holem's Crown.

'Can you guess how this coin ends up in the hands of Addie Baker?'

The Holem's Crown went silent for a few seconds to organize its thoughts and then responded.

'I smell the power of Dream in it. I'm damn sure Eddie's incarnation is the one who gave it to Addie.'

Upon hearing those words, Charles nodded his head as he flipped the coin and asked.

'How to say 'Change' in Nether Tongue?'

'So, you are planning to lure him first, huh.' The Holem's Crown heaved a deep sigh and then told him how to pronounce the word 'Change.'

Once he got the answer, Charles nodded his head and was about to activate the 'Coin of Helper' but stopped.

'Will you be able to assassinate him successfully?' He asked in doubt. Charles knew that once he activated this 'Coin,' there will be no going back.

'I'm 70% sure. Only if Eddie sensed the danger earlier and created an illusion to hide, I won't be able to lock on him and assassinate him. But you don't have to worry too much about it because his strength might not be above Rank-4 Mystic.'

A troubled expression appeared on Charles's face.

'A Rank-4 Mystic is still a powerful man in my eyes. If not for your 'Dark Star' spell, I would have already given up on facing him and ran away from here.' He firmly shook his head.

'I should return to Riverdale City and get the hell out of this kingdom. Once I grew strong enough to face a Rank-4 Mystic, I will come and deal with him myself.' Charles felt that was the right choice.

Before he could say another word, the Holem's Crown spoke in disdain.

'Do you think that he won't be able to track you down? Humph, you are his descendant, and he must have countless ways to track you down. Although you manage to erase the Abyss Marks in my Inner world, I can see that you are still weak against Rank-3 Mystics. You are simply using underhand methods to kill your enemies.'

'I know.' Charles closed his eyes and started to ponder deeply.

'If I had some powerful allies, I wouldn't be in this state. Wait… What is Life Church's aim?' He felt that something was very odd about them.

'Bishop Reynolds and other two Life Church mages... They must have come here for another purpose. Although they helped me when Anderson was about to kill us, I still felt something was off about them. Humph, even Gods sometimes finds it difficult to do good deeds; they are human after all.' He didn't have any plan to put his hope on them from the beginning.

'They are just a bunch of fanatics who would betray me at any time. I should concentrate on how to deal with my current situation.' He rubbed his temple in frustration and soon glanced at Emilia

'Why is she so calm?' He suddenly recalled the moment when Emilia told Anderson about her secret mission and soon squinted his eyes.

'Could it be that she has a backup plan?' A strange doubt appeared in his mind as he wandered his gaze towards the surroundings and then narrowed his eyes.

'Archbishop Abel… That man's appearance during my Rank-Up….Him sending her sister to a dangerous mission in the name of fulfilling the prophecy… Church's strange actions…' He subconsciously turned his gaze towards the headless winged man's statue.

'Something is wrong… The Holem's Crown is already in my hands, and they knew that I agreed to hand it over to the Church if I didn't reach Rank-5 in the next ten years. So, why would they risk their lives to come here?' He suddenly zeroed his focus on the headless Winged Man's statue and asked,

'Mr. Runeth, can you tell me what is more precious than a series artifact for the Life Church?'

'It's another above rank series artifact or divinities. They are the precious treasures for Gods.'

'Is that so?' Charles soon appeared near the winged man's statue and soon kicked it with full might. He vaguely felt that something was wrong with this statue, so he thought of checking it out first.

Due to the earlier damage, the statue trembled and soon crumbled into multiple pieces.

No, the one crumbled into multiple pieces was just an outer layer of the winged man's statue. 

Before long, Charles saw what was hiding within the statue and soon widened his eyes.

Because what he saw was not a box or something; instead, it was another statue!

This one was a small female statue with a lotus petal-like thing embedded on the forehead area. The woman in the statue had long straight hair, a round face, a slim, curvy body, half-meter tall, and the statue appeared to be made of wood.

Charles scanned the statue for a moment in shock, and soon his eyes glued on the forehead area where the strange petal was embedded.

With a curious look on his face, he took the petal with his right hand, placed it on his palm, and cast [Inspect] skill on it.

To his surprise, he only saw question marks all over the place!

"What happened?" Noticing his strange actions, Emilia stood up and asked while she started walking towards him.

In the meantime, Andrew also stood up and followed her footsteps.

"This is it!" He muttered in an excited tone as he arrived next to Charles and hurriedly took the white petal from his hand.

"Team Leader, we need to store this thing; otherwise, others might sense it."

Emilia nodded her head, took the petal, and hurriedly stored it in her void pouch. She then took two steps back and then said in a calm tone.

"This is the Divinity of Morality."

'Divinity? Why would it appear in this statue?' Charles asked the Holem's Crown in confusion.

'These type of Divinities holds mysterious power, lad. You can find these types of divinities in all the Gods' and Goddess' statutes. I once heard that this has something to do with gathering divine powers from the masses.'

Charles creased his eyebrows and soon turned his face towards Emilia.

"Team Leader, you led me here in the name of Goddess's Prophecy for this thing?" He asked.

"No, that prophecy thing is real. But getting this Divinity is our main goal. Now, what should we do with our guest here?" Emilia simply waved her right hand and soon turned her gaze towards the opposite side.

Upon hearing those words, Charles raised his eyebrows and soon sensed another presence nearly.

He followed her gaze and soon looked at the area where the broken temple was located. In a few seconds, he saw a human figure was walking in their direction.

He was a male kid, who looked around 18-years old, wore a brown leather jacket, black shoes, and black leather pants, and appeared well-equipped. His black hairs were slightly long and somewhat messier, and his wide-set emerald eyes seemed to hold deep secrets behind them. He walked on the stone-like floor with quiet footsteps and soon arrived outside the ritual circle.

Emilia moved her hand towards her void pouch as she watched the black-haired kid and took out a black dagger from it.

'He is the [Historian].' The Holem's Crown said in Charles's mind.

"Max Fireborn?" Charles sized the black-haired kid up and down and asked.

Meanwhile, Max curled his lips upward and nodded in the affirmative.

"I'm here to make a deal with you, Charles." Max went straight to the point.

"You are not here for Divinity?" Emilia asked him in a flabbergasted tone.

"Who would fight for that scary thing?" Max glanced at her weirdly and soon shook his head.

"What is it then?" Charles stared at him in confusion.

"I will help you deal with the fake Eddie now. In return, you have to help me complete a mission in the near future." Before Charles could refute, Max raised his hand and interrupted him.

"That 'Mark' on your wrist will activate in a few minutes, and he will come out to take revenge on you for ruining this sacrificial ceremony."

Max said in a flat tone.

Charles and his teammates glanced at each other in confusion.

'This guy knew more about Edde.' A surprised expression appeared on his face. 

"How should I trust you? Wait… Are you the one who created the earlier noise to distract us?" Charles's eyes widened as he recalled the moment when he got the opportunity to level up.

In the meantime, Max let out a chuckle and nodded.

"I vaguely felt that you need an opportunity, so I created it for you." He paused for a moment and soon asked,

"How is it? Do you want to co-operate?"

Charles stayed silent for a moment and soon asked,

"Before that, can you tell me more about the future help you needed from me? What do you mean by the near future? Can you tell me the exact date?"

'If not for this guy's interference, I wouldn't have come this far. Moreover, he seems to have known more about me and Eddie. But the problem is his goal. What is he after? Is he after the Holem's Crown?' While he was in muse, Max started to speak.

"I'm no longer after your Holem's Crown, nor do I have any ill intention against you, Charles." He deliberated for a moment and soon added in a deep tone.

"A while ago, I sensed the presence of the 'Elapsed Time' on your body, and I knew that you are not a normal existence. Moreover, I don't plan on dying just for an Intellectual artifact or some Divinity."

"He is telling the truth," Emilia said from his left side.

'[Discern Lies] skill? No, he is irregular and appears to have some hidden motive. It looks like I have to take a gamble now.' Charles pondered.

'This is a godsend opportunity… No, it might be due to the enchantment in my 'Luck.' Tsk, this guy sure has some hidden motive. But do I even have a choice now?' He organized his thoughts in three seconds and soon nodded.

"I agree."

In the meantime, Max's smile widened as he threw a silver bullet towards Charles and soon said.

"I have abnormal physical strength, and I'm very resistant to mind-related abilities. If nothing abnormal happens, the Holem's Crown and I will be able to hold him for more than 20 seconds. When that time right comes, I will give you a signal. Use this silver bullet and paralyze him with the Ember Pistol. Then, your Holem's Crown will cast its [Dark Star] spell on the fake Eddie and finish him off."

Charles got stunned inside as he caught the silver bullet with his right hand and took out the Ember Pistol from his pocket.

'Where can I put this bullet?' He checked the Pistol with a frown.

Noticing his frown, the Holem's Crown let out a chuckle and said in his mind.

'Place it near the grip. The silver bullet will do the rest.'

Nodding, Charles moved the silver bullet towards the grip area and soon widened his eyes. At that moment, he noticed that the silver bullet suddenly turned illusionary and soon disappeared into it!

'Is this due to the power of Inner-world?' He asked in curious.

'Yes. Max's other class might be [Artisan] series Class.' The Holem's Crown guessed.

In the meantime, Max walked into the ritual circle and gave two scrolls to Andrew. After that, he turned around and then stared at the ritual circle.

"Hmm, this place is good." He nodded his head and gave a signal.

Nodding his head, Charles moved his lips as he tossed the coin towards the center of the ritual circle and said in Nether tongue.

"Change."