Chapter 178: Warning

As Destiny Lady spoke those words, two crystalline ice wings appeared on her back and started flapping on their own.

On the other hand, Charles and the Holem's Crown got greatly startled by her appearance.

'Did I go overboard?' The Holem's Crown's voice echoed in Charles's head.

'What do you mean?' Charles's expression went stiff.

'Well, instead of releasing normal Mage's wisdom power, I actually released the wisdom power of Rank-4 Ancient Mage... In a sense, that amount is three times greater than an average Rank-4 Mystic. Although the Rank-4 Existence won't get alerted by such measly power, that won't be true for Rank-4 Mystics.'

'You truly did that on purpose, didn't you?' He glared at the red gem-embedded bracelet and sighed inwardly.

As Charles was about to respond to Destiny Lady's greeting, he suddenly noticed that three figures were flying towards his direction from the northern direction.

Two robed figures came from the Iron Tower direction, while the remaining one came from the Nobles District direction.

Within a few seconds, all three of them appeared beside Destiny Lady and stared at Charles with solemn looks on their faces.

One was a 60-year-old man, while the other two were 30 to 35 years old looking women.

'All three of them seemed to be from different factions... Hmm, the opposite party didn't send powerful Rank-4 mages to greet me... Instead, they only sent their weaker ones and still seemed to be testing my temperament. As expected of the scheming old monsters, they are clearly looking down on me despite knowing that I'm an Ancient Mage... If they found out I'm just a Rank-3 Mage...!' Just thinking about it gave him chills.

But what made him regain his calm was the expression on the Rank-4 mages' faces.

Charles could feel that the two females were actually showing nervousness and was pleased inside.

'This mission is going to be my biggest scheme. I need to calm down and act more like a real expert.' The corner of his lips curled upward as he crossed his hand together and snorted coldly.

At the exact moment, rays of dark energy spread out from the red-gem embedded bracelet and started circling his body like snakes!

Upon seeing another kind of power, a blonde-haired female Rank-4 Mage's face went stiff!

She even took out a communication ring from her space ring and thought of contacting other mages!

'Could you please stop provoking these guys?' Charles almost shouted out loud.

He now clearly knew that this scheming artifact was enjoying the show!

He also saw more than ten mages in silk-lined blue robes came from different directions and soon arrived behind the three Rank-4 Mages.

They were sent by different noble houses and Mage houses to back the Rank-4 Mages!

'Rank-3 Mages...'

Charles glanced at the robed mages and shook his head.

"Truly a bunch of clowns.

" His tone was quite arrogant.

Saying so, he waved his hand and dismissed his wisdom power.

It was to show the other party that he wasn't here to start a useless fight.

At the exact time, the Holem's Crown also dismissed its own power and completely concealed its Elapsed Time power.

Only then did everyone loosen their guards.

Meanwhile, Charles glanced at others one by one and soon zeroed his gaze on the Rank-4 old man.

He was almost sixty. His hair was long and tangled and greasy and hung down, and you could see his eyes shining through like he was behind vines. It was all black, no grey; so were his long, mixed-up whiskers. There wasn't any color in his face, where his face showed; it was white, not like another man's white, but a white to make a body sick, a white to make a body's flesh crawl – a tree-toad white, a fish-belly white. As for his clothes – just a brown robe, that was all.

But he gave off a strong, threatening aura!

"Your name?

" Charles sized the man up and down and asked.

"Larry Foster.

" A short reply came from the old man's mouth.

"I heard that you guys failed to protect your own King. Is it true?

" He looked into Larry's eyes and asked.

"Yes, we are ashamed of it.

" Larry also stared back at Charles and responded with a smile.

There was no guilt on his face at all!

No, it was the opposite. Larry was actually showing a pleased expression!

"You better watch your mouth, lad. I'm 30,000 years older than you.

" A sharp look appeared on Charles's face as let out another cold snort and descended using his reddish-black wings.

At that moment, the reddish-black wings suddenly turned into pure black ones for a moment, and gave off a bone-chilling aura!

Although it appeared just for a moment, it made the Rank-4 Mages and the other Rank-3 Mages squint their eyes.

Just as Charles reached the ground, he suddenly opened the wings wide and landed on the empty street road.

After that, he dismissed the wings and started walking towards the dumbfounded kids.

But whenever he took a step, flames would appear around his feet, bend the space itself, and shorten the distance to a great margin.

This time, the Rank-4 Mages' faces, including the Destiny Lady's face, began to change drastically.

The Mages were utterly clueless about this old man's unique spells and got shocked inside.

The Ancient Mage in front of them appeared powerful, terrifying, and Mysterious!

Within two seconds, Charles appeared in front of Rhea and removed her black-hooded clock.

A pale-faced young girl appeared in everyone's visions.

Her long black hair fell in loose waves past her shoulders, with a few blue peekaboo strands. She wore a royal blue empire waist silk gown and leather shoes.

Almost every citizen identified her in two seconds!

She was the second princess of Iron Kingdom, Rhea Boneflare!

"Your Highness!

" Shocked and surprised voices echoed from every part of the main street.

Before they could shout out another word, Charles turned his gaze towards the squad of security guards and spoke.

"Go and inform the Churches that the second princess of Iron Kingdom has returned.

"

His cold voice reverberated through the surroundings like divine words.

"Y-Yes, My Lord.

" The nearby soldiers nodded their heads and hurriedly moved towards the direction of City Square.

Meanwhile, Charles turned around, glanced at the mages and the citizens, and gave a warning.

"Rhea Boneflare is my student. So, if anyone holds an ill intention against her, try to forget about it. If not, prepare for the consequences.

"

Saying so, he zeroed his gaze on Larry and smiled.

But his smile appeared more like a ruthless one.

"Even if you are a Rank-4 Mage, I will not hesitate to kill you.

" He added.

Upon hearing his words, the whole surroundings went dead silent.

On the other hand, Charles retracted his gaze, took out a silver pocket watch from his space ring, casually opened the outer case, and checked the time.

'10.35 A.M.' He nodded inwardly before storing it in his pocket, took out the spare cane from his space ring, and gripped the handle.

After that, he thought for a moment and spoke.

"Let's go and pay a visit to the Day and Night Church.

"

Saying so, he started to walk on the wide street road.

Meanwhile, the kids and Ashley snapped out from the daze and followed after him hurriedly.

'Why are you going there? What if Goddess Rodia was the one who is responsible for all the schemes?' The Holem's Crown suddenly got confused by his action and asked.

'That's very unlikely. Even if she is the one, it doesn't matter.' Charles smiled mysteriously and asked in his mind.

'What would happen if we suddenly pay a visit to the Day and Night Church?'

The Holem's Crown took some moment to think and then responded.

'Other Churches, Kingdom Nobles, Royal Faction members, and Tower Mages would think that you have some ties with the Day and Night Church.'

'No. They might think that Rhea's sudden disappearance before the Royal Assassination Incident might be Day and Night Church's scheme. If we just add some fuel to the fire, friction will happen between the Churches and the Iron Kingdom's Ruler Caste members.'

'In truth, the Ruler Caste Members are already showing dissatisfaction towards the Churches. The main reason for that was due to Royal Family's assassination incident. Now, Rhea's coincidental arrival at this exact time will cause suspicions. All the Mages, Nobles, and even other Churches will think that Day and Night Church played a double game.' He suddenly paused for a moment and then added with a smile.

'Even if the Church members tell others that they were innocents, no one would believe them. Then, the Day and Night Church have no choice, but to back us if they want to get a hold of this kingdom. It will turn into a gamble for them.'

At that moment, the Holem's Crown suddenly realized his plan and continued.

'They will also act as a shield for us and distract everyone's attention. No, the Day and Night Church will become the Ruler Caste Members' main enemy!'

'Yes.' Charles suddenly felt a little proud of this old scheming artifact.