City of Sin (Yanyu Jiangnan)

Declaration of War

Once the succession was taken care of, Richard acted like Yori and Ensio had disappeared. He stared at the grand mages, “I want to find out who caused this. I don’t care who I offend, who I killed; the sky might fall down, but I’m going to get to the bottom of this. Those who are willing to help can join me.”

Ensio and Yori looked at each other awkwardly. They had just made plays to snatch control of the Deepblue away, but despite that they fully wanted to help look for Sharon and the source of her troubles. However, without Richard explicitly inviting them, they couldn’t bring themselves to ask if they could join. It was obvious from his expression that he didn’t consider them even useful to his plans. Of course, the grand mages didn’t have any such concerns, all agreeing to aid the search immediately.

In the end, Ensio and Yori never did manage to swallow their pride. They simply walked towards the portal together once the meeting ended, looking at each other to realise how annoyed they were.

“Are you going to ignore this?” the barbarian suddenly quipped.

“Of course not! I’m going to investigate!”

“I will too, but not with Richard.”

The two of them nodded to each other and teleported away. However, compared to the commotion they had caused when they arrived, their departures were much more subdued.

…

Back in the conference room, Richard and the grand mages were investigating Sharon’s last activities before she left, including the people she met and the news she received. He quickly learned that a legendary mage called Praton had visited the Deepblue, and that Sharon had left with him not long after. She had yet to return.

“Go find out everything you can about this guy, I hope to see things by tonight!” Richard ordered.

The grand mages weren’t particularly experienced at intelligence work, but Richard’s followers and new subordinates were. They quickly leveraged their connection to underground information sellers, obtaining everything Richard wanted before the deadline. Hundreds of thousands of gold coins were spent to compile data on Praton’s level, important history, as well as his known abilities and spells. There was also information on his family, bloodline ability, and his students.

Richard read through the entire document thrice under the light of the crimson moon. This was a time when commoners had finished dinner and were preparing for the night, but the upper echelons were going to be in for a storm.

……

Shocking news quickly spread to every corner of Norland through communication circles. The guardian of the Sacred Alliance— the Dragon Slaver Sharon— was in trouble and had disappeared into the depths of the void. This was the same as an announcement of her fall; legendary mages had many methods to communicate with their demiplanes, and the few spots in the void that could break the mysterious soul connection they had were also amongst the most dangerous. Even with Sharon’s ability, death was likely.

Once they received the news, most lords quickly realised that there was only one epic being left in the Sacred Alliance— Empress Apeiron. Meanwhile, the Sacred Tree Empire and Millennial Empire had two or more each. Another reaction was that the Archerons had lost their most powerful supporter. How would they maintain their independence from the three empires?

In the Millennial Empire, Prince Tumen called a meeting of his followers once he heard the news.

“This is the best chance to conquer the Archerons,” his best general began, “Her Excellency has likely fallen, and without an epic being Richard won’t be able to maintain independence. Merging with us would be his best choice.”

An elder nodded, “That is true, but Richard is still young and has that pride and aggression. We should be careful when persuading him.”

“Why would His Highness need to be nice?” the brutish general frowned.

“Because His Grace Richard is someone of equal status in Norland, if not more.”

“How dare you?” the general slammed the table and stood up, but Tumen waved him back down. The elder had spoken the truth, and the Prince always respected honesty.

The 400-year-old Grand Elder eventually spoke up, “That is enough. Any price is worth the loyalty of Richard Archeron. I believe a marriage with Macy would be a sufficient show of our sincerity.”

Everyone fell silent at this suggestion. The Grand Elder was four entire generations older than Tumen, possessing higher status. However, the Prince still looked at Macy and smiled, “What do you think?”

Macy bowed, “I’m willing to sacrifice myself for the family.”

“Sacrifice yourself? By marrying the most talented man on this plane?” Tommen beamed, “You’d be doing no such thing. However, I wished to discuss something else. Should this news not have been suppressed? Richard could have played it off for years, why did he announce it?”

Those present immediately fell into thought. Did the Archerons really believe they could maintain their independence even without Sharon? This was a shocking theory, but if true they had to be hiding an epic being or at least someone able to contend with one.

At this moment, a guard knocked on the door to the hall. Once allowed in, he rushed over to Tumen and presented a new scroll of information. The Prince looked through it silently and his expression turned grim; after a second readthrough, he passed it to the Grand Elder.

The scroll quickly passed from person to person, the room going completely silent as a chill filled the air. It was only when Macy got her turn that the silence was broken, “He’s insane!”

“Perhaps, perhaps not,” Tumen answered, taking the scroll back again and reading the initial line.

Wanted: Information about the location of Soremburg Castle. Reward: 100 million gold if proven. Wanted: All Scholars of Soremburg, dead or alive. Reward: Up to 10 million gold, depending on their level and status.

Such a huge reward was almost unprecedented in Norland, capable of enticing even legendary beings. Most assassination and information organisations would definitely take action upon hearing this. Even if the Scholars were never found, they were in for a lot of trouble. However, it was the target that was most shocking. The Scholars were a mysterious and powerful group that had managed to evade all prying eyes through the years, most of their members recruited proactively. Their ancient inheritance and troves of knowledge made them one of the most dangerous enemies in many situations, and the locations of Soremburg Castle was unknown to even the three major empires.

Most people only knew about the Scholars from the Mystic’s Set that Soremburg himself had designed. It was famed for its many abilities; each one wasn’t particularly powerful on its own, but they synergised to achieve unexpected strength. Although it was specifically more suited to the style of the Scholars themselves, it had been a mage’s dream rune set before Richard released Mana Armament.

Prince Tumen himself was hesitant to even offend the Scholars. However, Richard’s bounty was a declaration of war! Although he had shot into the skies as he reached the peak of Norland’s runecrafting in record time, he hadn’t accumulated the reserves to fight such a powerful organisation. Most of those present here grew worried about his future.

……

Around the same time, Saint Martin had finished reading the same declaration and was walking back and forth in his study. He had gotten another piece of information as well; Richard had displayed shocking power in the Deepblue. Despite that, however, Martin’s brows were furrowed. He didn’t think the power to attack a level of the abyss was enough to deal with the Scholars.

Did Richard still have some hidden cards? He thought about it for a while before shaking his head. Richard just had too little time; no matter how much power he could accrue, he was still limited by that factor. Besides, such rapid growth of power definitely had its flaws. He already knew that some Scholars had infiltrated the Archerons.

Martin eventually picked up an envelope and took out the letter within, looking at the names written on the paper. These were Praton’s students and friends, the more secret ones. After some hesitation, he sealed the letter and called in a trusted follower to send it to the Deepblue for Richard to receive personally.