Book 3: Chapter 3 (5/7)

Inside Emperor Acilianus’s Palace, Princess Zemelda and Prime Minister Ordia reported to Lucius that Kain was fighting with Lord Clerico of the Gray on top of Kain’s Palace.

Lucius was so happy to hear this, he said, “Finally! Someone who can kill that bastard had shown up. I have fought with Lord Clerico once and knew how strong he is. If there is someone who can kill Kain Bersk, it has to be Noe Clerico.”

Zemelda asked, “Father, is Noe Clerico that powerful? If yes, why would you still send Stefano Auregli to threaten the Holy Mage?”

Ateia said, “Princess, that was my idea. I recommended the Emperor send Stefano to deliver that message to the Mages Council knowing there was no way the Mages Council would let him go in peace. I was thinking that they would attack Stefano, but with his strength and swordsmanship skill, I expected him to survive and come back to the Dryardian Empire alive. After knowing how powerful the Mages Council is, Stefano wouldn’t want to stand idly any longer and would agree to join the military. But my calculation was wrong, Stefano didn't come back at all.”

“Prime Minister, do you mean that Stefano has been killed? Do you think he was killed on the way to the Mages Council or after delivering the message?” Zemelda curiously asked.

Lucius said, “Normally the messengers wouldn’t be killed even when war was still ongoing. Ateia expected Stefano to be captured by the Mages Council so they can use it as leverage against us in the future. But I don’t think so. I think Stefano was killed by Noe Clerico. As powerful as him, there is nothing he wouldn’t dare to do.”

“Father, if Lord Clerico of the Gray is truly that strong. Why wouldn’t he help out the human nations before they were destroyed by us?”

“Darling, I don’t know why he didn't take action. At first, I thought that was because of Adrik Volsky. Both of them can easily kill me without dropping a single sweat."

After thinking for several seconds, Lucius continued, "But I guess that's how things should have been. Someone as powerful as Noe Clerico wouldn’t care about what happened to the human nations. As long as we don’t kill all humans for sports, I’m sure Noe Clerico wouldn’t do anything to stop our invasions against the remaining human nations of this planet. But Kain Bersk is a whole different story. Not only did he use his power to interfere with us, but actually took over our Empire. He allowed Demi-Humans to live equally with humans for now, but what guaranteed that he won’t change his mind in the future? That is why I hope Kain Bersk will die today. At least Noe Clerico isn’t a blood-thirsty hungry killer who executed over a billion Demi-Humans just to make an example!” Lucius couldn’t control his anger anymore and screamed out loud when he was saying the last sentence.

Zemelda could feel how angry Lucius was, she asked, “Father, should we go watch the battle between Kain Bersk and Noe Clerico?”

Ateia said, “Princess, we shouldn’t do that. If we accidentally show any sign of satisfaction when Kain is at a disadvantage in their fight, it may come back to haunt us if Kain somehow survives or defeats Noe today. Kain announced himself as our Supreme Leader. For the sake of our people, we can't show any sign of objection even when we didn't like or agree to it."

Lucius, Zemelda, and Ateia decided to just stay inside the palace waiting for the royal imperial guards to report the battle between Kain and Noe.

Three hours later, After more than ten thousand swings killing Noe over ten thousand times, Kain angrily swung his giant fiery battle-ax again, killing Noe one more time. Seeing Noe just revived himself once again, Kain angrily asked, “How can that be!? I have killed you so many times. This isn’t possible. You can’t possibly have that many Life Potions.”

Noe asked, “Life Potion? Oh, do you mean the potion that can revive you within one year of your death? I don’t have that kind of fancy potion.”

“Then how can you revive yourself that many times?”

“Kain, you know what. I like you. I also liked the way you attacked me in the back dirty like that. Let me explain to you carefully why I am much stronger than you. I have created a unique Conjuration Magic spell named [Unlimited Life]. This spell can revive me as many times as I wanted to as long as I have enough mana to repeatedly use it. Because my Conjurer Soul had advanced into a Necromancer Soul, the size of my mana pool had greatly expanded as well. It is large enough to let me revive myself more than a hundred thousand times. Even when I run out of mana, I can use [Second Life] spell then let you kill me again or kill myself to revived with a full mana pool. After that, I can do this over and over again. As you know, [Second Life] can be activated every twenty-four hours. In another way to illustrate this better, I am immortal and can’t be truly killed.”

Kain opened his mouth widely in surprise after hearing Noe explained how he could instantly revive himself that many times. Kain did a quick calculation in his head and thought, “Even if I open the Hell Gates, activate [Soul Bridge] spell to conjure Evienne Lucifuge, Noe Clerico had no problem fighting against them since he can just revive himself over and over. How can I kill such a foe?”

Sensing desperation in Kain's feeling, Watcher Tykan telepathically advised him, “Kain, you don’t have to worry much about it. Because you don’t have to kill Noe Clerico to defeat the Mages Council. All you needed to do is kill everyone in the Mages Council and rebuild it however you like. Despite being immortal and can’t be eliminated, Noe isn’t powerful enough to kill you either.”

Kain heard Tykan’s voice and nodded his head in agreement. Kain said, “Lord Clerico, I didn’t know you have such an amazing magic spell. Before I forget, let me return this to you.” Kain then opened his Storage Ring and threw the LYAUR toward Noe.

Noe caught the LYAUR using his left hand, examined it, and asked, “Aw… you don’t want to be a member of the Gray anymore? I will miss you very much.”

“Your joke is very amusing. Noe Clerico, listen carefully. You won’t be Lord of the Gray for too long because one day I will destroy the Mages Council and rebuild it however I choose. So what if you are truly immortal? You can’t defeat me either. How about this? I will let you continue to be Lord of the Gray if you choose to be on my side and assist me in defeating the Mages Council.”

“Is that so? Such an amazing opportunity. Let’s see. You have activated [Devil Anatomy] spell which means not only you can use Blood and Conjuration Magic, but Black Magic as well. You have upgraded your Demonic Soul into a Devil Soul, not a bad choice, that was how you can use [Devil Anatomy] spell. After transforming into a Devil, you can open the Hell Gates and command the thirteen Demon Lords along with their demon armies. Because of that, you think I am powerless against you since your physical strength of a Devil is much stronger compared to an Eleventh Stage Saint Warrior. Isn't that right?”