Chapter 203 - The King’s Conspiracy

“I shall complete the mission His Majesty assigned to me.”

The purple-haired man, half-flesh and half-skeleton, stood calmly in the sky above the Dragonspine Snow Mountain; he watched as the mountain range beneath his feet cracked and gradually sank. He put his quill pen and books aside.

The massive snow mountain had collapsed. There would be no winter at the border. Instead, it would be replaced by a never-ending swarm of goldbiter rats. It was unclear who posed the greater threat.

“On the one hand, using the goldbiter rats from the experiment to spend ten years hollowing out the Dragonspine Snow Mountain can remove the natural moat that spans between the northern and southern kingdoms. On the other hand, it can exploit the goldbiter rats to control the border. Aside from that, it is also an army of formidable magical beasts. I am curious how many people it can kill in one shot. His Majesty is truly a mastermind.”

The purple-haired man sighed. He extended his left hand, which resembled a white bone. A small black rat squeaked as it ran out of his body and onto his palm.

That black rat was no bigger than a palm. Its body was covered with silky black fur. It had a similar appearance to the goldbiter rats, but there were noticeable distinctions. First and foremost, the rat had a platinum crown mark between his brows. Its eyes were also platinum-colored and looked wise. Most significantly, the rat’s physique exuded a majestic air that belied its diminutive stature. Even heaven and earth appeared insignificant in comparison.

“The only product that has evolved to the top in that experiment is the platinum-tier Heaven-devouring Rat King. Its presence allows it to exert control over the other goldbiter rats. It permits them to travel around the border without causing too much damage, and it also prevents them from spreading to the other regions.” The purple-haired man turned his gaze to the endless north.

The beauty in the north was progressively unveiled as a result of the Dragonspine Snow Mountain’s collapse. It was a broad, never-ending white plateau. The terrain had begun to rise gradually. Every river was frozen beneath, and glaciers stood everywhere on the earth. That was a completely distinct place from the Holy Dragon Kingdom. All year long, it was bitterly cold.

The northern Winter Nation was based there.

King Landhar III, the ruler of the Holy Dragon Kingdom, was wise and brilliant. He was dissatisfied with the kingdom’s territory. He wanted to expand, and the Holy Dragon Kingdom was located in the center of the continent. The other four kingdoms had long coveted that fertile land. Rather than waiting for the other kingdoms to attack, it was better to strike them first.

Destroying the Dragonspine Snow Mountain was only the beginning.

The chilly air swept across his face, blowing the purple-haired man’s long robe. The Dragonspine Snow Mountain barrier had vanished. The frigid air from the north blasted across the border; it made the winter even colder. Sparse snowflakes fell from the sky and gradually grew heavier.

The man stared silently at the thick snow that covered the entire border. He turned around and took a stride toward the heart of the Holy Dragon Kingdom. Just as he was ready to depart, a young voice echoed from behind him.

“Stop right there!”

When the purple-haired man turned around, he noticed a young man with brown hair and blue eyes flying through the air. He was looking at him with a scowl on his face.

“Who are you?” The purple-haired man tilted his head slightly; he looked confused.

The young man in front of him was clearly from the border, yet he had never heard of such a person. He appeared to be around ten years old, but his body radiated the aura of a platinum-tier mag. It was somewhat surprising.

“My name is Watson. I’m from Blackmoon Castle.”

Watson?

Blackmoon Castle?

The purple-haired man became even more confused. He had never heard of those names. It seemed that he had stayed on Dragonspine Snow Mountain for too long, so he knew nothing about the outside world.

Both of them sized each other up.

The older man’s dark purple hair was oily, and Watson wondered how long he had not washed it, and his mage robe was frayed. The wind blew softly, and it exposed the man’s left calf. The man’s face was rather attractive despite the fact that Watson could see his bones. The corners of his eyes were painted with clown-like makeup, and it gave him a dismal and sinister appearance.

He was sure that the man was the one who had caused the collapse of the Dragonspine Snow Mountain.

He had previously used the Gluttony Beast to consume the Moon-eating Sky Wolf and advanced to the platinum tier. He had hoped to wait for the Moon-eating Sky Wolf to evolve a few more generations before he would devour it. However, a swarm of rats had rushed out and devoured the Moon-eating Sky Wolf instead. It made him feel quite uneasy.

At that moment, a strange fluctuation had stretched from the sky above the Dragonspine Snow Mountain. He immediately used teleportation and rushed over there. He saw a purple-haired middle-aged man opposite him.

“I’ve already told you my name. Now it’s your turn.”

The middle-aged man shook his head in response to Watson’s question. “There is no need to inquire. You will not let me go no matter who I am, right? Similarly, now that you have seen me, I can’t let you go either.”

He could empathize with Watson’s feelings. Everyone at the border would be upset if they saw the goldbiter rats running around the Dragonspine Snow Mountain and imagined the troubles they would have in the future.

However, what he did not expect was that Watson would growl at him. “Of course, I won’t let you go. There’s a 10,000-year-old ancient ruin buried beneath the Dragonspine Snow Mountain. I was just waiting to excavate it and learn some ancient spells. There are also those magical beasts, including the Moon-eating Sky Wolf. They belonged to Blackmoon Castle. But you just released a bunch of rats to eat them. Do you know how much I’ve lost?”

At least 100 million gold coins.

Watson’s heart was bleeding. Aside from the ancient ruins, the remaining hundreds of thousands of magical monsters were real and worthed at least ten million gold coins.

The purple-haired man opened his mouth slightly. Obviously, he did not expect Watson to say such things. He thought Watson was worried about the border; he did not expect the other party was only concerned with a mere ruin and hundreds of thousands of magical beasts. He really did not know how that young man’s brain worked.

The purple-haired man shook his head, collected his wits, and pointed at Watson. The Heaven-devouring Rat King, who stood on his palm, immediately turned into a stream of light and fled.

The Heaven-devouring Rat King was fused from evolved goldbiter rats. The rat king had the advantage of almost all the magical beasts because it had devoured a significant number of them. It was the strongest magical beast at the same level as a platinum-tier elite.

It had a unique skill—Heaven-devouring. It could devour combat auras and even the radiance of the sun, moon, and stars. Watson would leave no remains if he were killed by that particular method—it was the most basic and convenient way to do that.

“What is that flying past us?”

Watson did not even look up at the Heaven-devouring Rat King swooping overhead. He stomped his feet, and a hundred-meter-long chaotic realm appeared beneath him. The turbulent airflow produced a massive eye without pupils, which was focused at the flying Heaven-devouring Rat King. He activated his domain ability—Eliminate Light Rays.

The distorted light rays within the pupil-less eye intertwined and turned into a massive cyan-gray light pillar. It swept past the Heaven-devouring Rat King, leaving barely a few dregs behind.

After that, Watson summoned his domain and flew right to the purple-haired man’s side. He struck him furiously with his palms. The green wind in the air gathered spontaneously and transformed into two green hundred-meter-long palms. He held the purple-haired man in his palms.

“Remove all valuable items from your body. If you can satisfy me, I may not hold you accountable for the crime you just committed. You will not be able to go today if you don’t do that.”

“You dispatched the Heaven-devouring Rat King in a single blow, and you have also mastered the Law of Domain and the Strictly Enforced Words skills. You are a platinum-tier dual-class mage! Who are you?”

The purple-haired man looked shocked for the first time as he was held in Watson’s storm-like palm. His long, narrow eyes were wide open. It was one thing for him to be a platinum-tier mage at such a young age, but he was also a dual-class mage. It was a heaven-defying talent! He could not believe he had never heard of such a gifted mind.

“I’ve already told you that I’m Watson from Blackmoon Castle.”

Watson’s lips curled. “Don’t try to change the topic. I’ll give you another chance. You can stay and atone for your sins if you pay me enough compensation for the ruins you destroyed and the magical beasts you slaughtered.”

“What if I choose neither?”

The man’s long robe had been pierced. Bones emerged swiftly from the interior; they twisted and changed into larger bones. The bones on the man’s body multiplied by tens of thousands in less than ten seconds. He transformed into a skeleton that was hundreds of meters tall and floated into the sky, with six skeletal arms splayed out behind him. Each arm housed a unique treasure. There was a gleaming set of platinum-tier sword-and-shield that emitted an ancient aura.

The six weapons looked extraordinary, and the man’s body was embedded in the skeleton’s chest. He controlled the skeleton to aim the six weapons at Watson.

At the same time, the Heaven-devouring Rat King, who Watson had just destroyed, began to squirm and expand. First, it turned into a piece of meat, and then the meat turned into a brand new Heaven-devouring Rat King. Then twelve Heaven-devouring Rat Kings surrounded Watson. The domain’s size continued to expand, and soon it became a radius of 100 meters.

The Heaven-devouring Rat King, which had grown in size, had a platinum crown shape on its forehead; it had turned from illusory to real. Its mouth also opened into black holes that absorbed its surrounding light. Space seemed to be distorted as it enveloped Watson. He looked around him, but he could only see empty darkness.

“If I include the Heaven-devouring Rat King, that is more than ten platinum-tier elites. Even if we ignore the Heaven-devouring Rat King’s Splitting ability, there are still two of us, and we’re both platinum-tier elites. You are just one person. How do you intend to beat us?” The purple-haired man inquired.

A peak platinum-tier mage stood in front of him with the Heaven-devouring Rat King beside him. The rat king was also at platinum tier, so it meant that it was tough to kill. It would also split its body continuously. That could be the most severe crisis that Watson had ever faced.