Chapter 375: Elders

Although multiple wounds and scars appeared all over Joel's body, he paid no attention to them and went towards the other side.

Soon, he arrived in front of the two Syreni creatures, took their weapons and clothes, and moved towards the underground prison hall's exit.

But just as he reached the exit, he saw two staircases. One moved upward, while the other one moved deep into the ground.

After some thought, he cast his [Fate Eye] skill, checked his fate, and flew upward.

…

Meanwhile, Charles, Destiny Lady, and others finally protect themselves and then moved towards the place where Joel disappeared years ago.

Once they arrived at that place, Destiny Lady threw her silver necklace into the deep sea and then did a short ritual.

After that, they used their fly spells and flew towards the last island.

…

Iron Tower, Royal City of Iron, Iron Kingdom.

At that moment, a blonde-haired woman walked out of the Iron Tower and moved towards Nobles' Street.

For others, she was nothing but an average Rank-3 Wind Mage.

But in truth, she was none other than Charles's second clone, Edith!

Four months ago, Charles sensed something off about the Iron Tower and gave her a secret mission.

It was to find out the exact whereabouts of the Tower Master, Arch-Mage Marcus!

Unfortunately, she still hadn't found a single clue.

'But why do I feel something is off?' She wandered in the Nobles' streets and checked for any anomaly in that area.

After roaming for a few hours, she found no suspicious movements and returned to the Iron Tower.

On the other hand, Oswald stayed in the Rebirth Tower and isolated himself from the rest of the world.

He was also preparing in secret for the destined day!

…

Vera Household, Royal District, City of Red, Fire Elemental Plane.

At that moment, a total of 9 early Red Humans were seated in the reception hall and seemed to be waiting for someone.

"Is she coming or not?" An 80-years-old looking man looked at the entrance and asked in an annoyed tone.

The older man was the head of the Paragons and had an excellent reputation among all the Paragons.

He had crimson hair, a wrinkled oblong face, unique amber eyes, and a long beard.

Twenty years ago, he also participated in the battle against Adur but lost miserably.

He and even the other two Elders who sat next to him have also participated in that battle.

But their defeat caused a big shame to the whole Paragons!

After that, they isolated themselves from the rest and started increasing their strength.

They knew that if they wanted to break away from Adur's tyrant rule, they had to kill him!

Unfortunately, he was way powerful than they had imagined.

To kill such a formidable fellow, one of them needs to break the bloodline shackle and rank up to the realm of Legend.

If not, they at least need an outsider's help.

But both were impossible to achieve.

Although they could ask for help from the nearby Ember City, it was still a risky move.

With no other choice, they chose to stay indoors and started improving their bloodline spells.

Like Mages, they also had to comprehend the Bloodline Spells if they wanted to improve further.

The only difference was that Mages could get the opportunity to choose a better corresponding spell while the Warlocks could only follow the path of Bloodline.

If they try to change their spells forcefully, they might anger their progenitor and get shackled in return.

For the past 20 years, the three Elders recruited many peak Rank-4 Red Humans and even helped them enter the Pseudo Legend realm.

In truth, they have been waiting for an opportunity.

So, when a mysterious female Champion appeared out of nowhere and even showed her strength, everyone was shocked!

Not only did she summon the incarnation of their Guardian Deity, but she also used it to injure Adur!

Her action caused huge commotion everywhere!

They finally saw hope!

But what startled them was that the new Champion had visited this mansion and told Scarlet to arrange a meeting!

Her action caused suspicion among the Elders' minds.

"Did she get caught by the Templar Knights?" Another elder asked while rubbing his chin.

At that moment, a young woman came from the kitchen while holding a plate full of juice glasses and soon placed it on the tea table.

She then bowed her head towards the Head Paragon and greeted him.

"Good Morning, Lord Otto!"

Meanwhile, Otto nodded his head while stroking his long beard and asked.

"What do you think about that woman, Scarlet?"

Upon hearing his words, Scarlet went silent for a moment and spoke.

"She has a magical aura around her, My Lord. For the past few weeks, my servants were closely observing her every movement. She also has some mysterious spells that make it harder for us to counter. The first one is her future predicting spell. From what I heard from my subordinates, she has been randomly meeting the citizens and giving prophecies. What's more shocking thing is that all of her prophecies came out true! The second spell we found out about her has something to do with memories. I think she can erase one's memories permanently. As for other spells, we are still clueless about it."

At that moment, an Elder with a red mask on his face let out a coughing noise and spoke in a hoarse voice.

"We also need to watch out for the Guardian Deity's incarnation. Although I'm not sure it is real or fake, it even injured Adur."

Meanwhile, Otto also nodded his head in approval and then added.

"Next is about the strange disk. When the new Champion confronted Adur, she seemed to have sealed his consciousness in a separate dimension."

"What about the previous Divine Punishment attack? Who cast that divine spell? Is it the wrath of our Guardian Deity? Or is it this new Champion's new trick?" Another elder asked with a skeptical look on his face.

"I'm also clueless about that Divine Punishment. Because of that Divine Punishment, things became more complicated." Otto said with a grim look on his face.

At this moment, the whole city was already on the verge of breaking into chaos!

Although the Sacred Temple members used forceful means to suppress any sign of protests, their actions caused fear and anxiety.

Almost 80% of the Red Humans changed their beliefs within the past few days and started worshiping their Guardian Deity!

"Death rate is increasing day by day." Scarlet also interjected their conversation and added.

When Elder Otto was about to respond, he suddenly sensed a spatial fluctuation in the surrounding air.

Before he could move, a ball of crimson flame appeared out of thin air and soon formed into a humanoid shape.

A second later, the humanoid fire started to transform and formed into an appearance of a Red Human female.

In Hanna's appearance, Charles appeared in the middle of the reception hall and turned his gaze towards the old fogies.

He then curled his lips upward and spoke with a warm smile on his face.

"Greetings, Paragon Leaders!"

Simultaneously, he shifted his attention towards his [Curse of the Overlord] spell model and cast on them continuously.

Within two seconds, a total of nine invisible black fire streaks came out of his body and moved towards those Elders.

Although Otto and other Elders didn't perceive anything, they vaguely felt something was wrong.

It was an uneasy feeling!

But before they could understand the reason for their uneasiness, those black flame streaks invaded everyone's Dark Spaces and attached to them like parasites!

On the other hand, Charles took a step forward and spoke with the same smile on his face.

"Don't be anxious, Elders. I'm nothing but a servant of our All-Mighty Divine. She chose me as the new Champion and sent me here to give you guys a chance. She gave one final chance to everyone." He paused for a moment and then asked.

"Do you want freedom? Or, do you want to rule under a greedy demon?"

Meanwhile, Elder Otto and all other 8 Rank-5 elders felt a strange sense of reverence from the young woman.

Even though she appeared young and weak, they felt that they were in the presence of a mighty being.

As she spoke, her voice echoed more like divine words in their ears.

'S-She…. She also has the aura of a Ruler!' At that moment, Otto felt that this woman was more trustworthy and powerful.

'She is not an imposter! She is the New Champion!' The slight doubt lingering in everyone's heart started to dispel and then replaced with more trust!

But the Paragons were not easy to fool, though.

First, they checked for any anomaly in their Inner Worlds and even cast mind-related spells to look for abnormalities.

After confirming that everything was normal, Elder Otto stood up from his seat and asked.

"Before that, we want to know answers to a few questions, Champion. What's your main goal? Did you come here to become the next ruler? Or, do you have any other purpose?"