Chapter 128: The Setup
Chapter 128: The Setup
We eventually got out of the dungeon and started heading back to the guild. Upon arriving there, I reported the casualties. I simply covered up for Akane and Katrina, saying that there were multiple casualties caused by the monsters down there. Obviously, they took my words since we were in a high-level dungeon and it was normal for low-rank adventurers to die in such an incident.
The day after that, I had to calm Katrina down because she was traumatized after what she did. They were attacked by those adventurers, the ones that I reported saying they were killed by monsters. Akane had no problem killing but Katrina had to be pressured. She couldn't use Stellar at that moment so she resorted to Altima. She gave them many chances to stop but seems that they were either mind-controlled or just stupid idiots. So she had to kill them.
After she settled down, I told the girls to rest while I went to Celestia. I told Celestia about what was about to go down and she said she already knew which wasn't really a surprise.
I didn't tell the girls about this because I knew that everyone except Katrina would want to assist me. So I decided to resort to Celestia's help.
I asked her if she can train them and help them unlock their latent potential. She seemed to be alright with the idea but she wanted something in return.
"I want you to get me a philosopher's stone when they are done with their training."
"Philosopher's stone? Do you mean the stone required in alchemy and possibly can make you immortal?"
"Yeah. That."
"What do you need that for?"
"I don't really need it but an associate of mine does. It's for some kind of experiment. This will be your payment for their training. For now, you focus on what you are doing. You can get it for me later."
Hmm, I wondered why she wanted me to get it for her. I mean, she could just get it herself but considering how busy she is, I guess it's normal that she can't do everything.
After settling our deal, I told the girls what they would be doing while I was away on a business. I will have them be taken care of by Celestia. They asked what kind of business I was going to attend and I said it was something by Celestia.
To be honest, I don't like lying to the girls but I am going to be doing something for Celestia so technically I wasn't lying.
Anyway, before the prince's crowning ceremony, I went to the Obsidian Volcano to get myself a Black Violet Wyvern morph. However, when I got there, I did not spot a single wyvern flying around.
I wondered if they were hiding in caves or in the forest nearby but still no sight of them. Hell, there wasn't even a single lifeform inside the volcano.
I was beginning to think that they all went extinct but a day ago, I asked Celestia about the information on these things and she said they were a common species.
So why wasn't I finding anything?
After flying around for hours, I eventually spotted one but it wasn't a wyvern. Instead, it was a dragon.
Celestia never told me anything about Black Violet Dragons. I've only ever heard about wyverns.
The dragon seemed to be devouring something and once I got closer, I noticed it was feasting on a wyvern.
Is this thing a cannibal? Wait, does it even count as cannibalism? Are dragons and wyvern two different species? Or maybe they just have different appearances and are the same species.
Well, it doesn't matter. If this thing has the same abilities as a Black Violet Wyvern, then all I need to do is kill this thing and then obtain its form.
I focused energy into the tip of my fingers to fire a Piercing Red until the dragon stopped and motioned towards me. Its glowing eyes met with mine and suddenly, countless violet beams shot from its back and flew straight towards me.
Wait, isn't that too much for one person? Well, you can never be too sure actually.
Anyway, I started evading the beams while firing Piercing Red at the dragon. The dragon slammed the ground, causing pillars of energy to erupt from the ground. Piercing Red shot through the pillars but not the dragon. The dragon flew into the air and started chasing me, wyvern blood dripping from its mouth.
I eventually took care of the beams shot at me with Banishment. I started forming Caustic Blue on my right hand and flew towards the dragon.
The dragon swiped its claws which I evaded. I slashed the dragon with Caustic Blue, draining it of its energy and strength. The glowing cracks across the dragon dimmed down as I continued to bombard it with swift cuts.
The dragon eventually fell to the ground, bleeding from the gashes I delivered all over its body. Then with one swing of my sword, I decapitated it.
Killing it, I chose the Ultraviolet Beam skill using my Usurper skill. Turns out, the skill the dragon had was called Ultraviolet Laser Emission.
After that, I absorbed the Black Violet Dragon's soul and entered my soul. Now, flying in the sky was a giant dragon.
Then with that, I returned back to Paragon.
***
A few days passed and I was hanging around the guild. The girls had already left with Celestia for the training I asked her to do so I basically had nothing to do.
Tomorrow was the day Mordros becomes the crown prince. Yesterday, I was called to the capital by Joseph in order to discuss the plan with the others.
I was there just in time to see where the stage that the important people will be speaking on. It was in a plaza in the middle of the capital. The stage was set just like some kind of theater but I'm just guessing it's like that on purpose.
Anyway, the stage wasn't important. What was under it was.
When no one was watching us, one of my accomplices opened up a trap door that led to an underground chamber a few feet down. When I transform, I was most likely to be twice the size of a building so it needed to be just enough for me to fully transform before I kill the prince and then escape. Today at midnight, I will sneak down here and then wait until the prince signals well, you know.
My extraction point was the border of Paragon just near the ocean. I stay away from Paragon for a few weeks before I can enter back in. This was all planned by the prince who was trying his best to ensure my safety.
I sighed at that thought. Why would the prince help me? How can he trust me so easily? Did he not see the memories of me killing the heroes? The ones that are supposed to save the world? Or does he already know but it's not the heroes that are going to save the world. He has foresight, the ability to see the future, so he must know something about what the future has in store.
Whatever it is, I'm involved in it. This must be part of the plan. If that's the issue, then I can't go against it.
But even with that, I had other thoughts.
What if I could just escape from this place and leave it as it is? I could take the girls somewhere else. Somewhere secluded where we could live a peaceful life.
I've always imagined something like that but I never had the time to care. This world is just utter chaos and a bane to my existence.
One day, one day I will make that happen. Just not now I guess.
After the sun went down, I was snuck into the capital by some of my associates.
It wasn't really necessary since I could just use Black Magic to get here but it seems that the capital has some sort of barrier that can nullify warlock abilities and transportation spells. Anyway, they snuck me through and as we got to the stage, they opened the trap door for me and I dropped down, landing at the bottom.
I was now a few meters below the stage, right under the spot where the prince will give his speech.
Well, since I've got nothing else to do now, I guess I'll just... take a rest until the next morning comes.
As I laid down on the futon given to me down here, I was wondering how the girls were doing. I just hope the training Celestia gave the girls won't be that harsh but just enough to make them stronger. I also heard Joseph was going to be taking care of another invasion from Cocytus.
Somehow, I had a bad feeling when I heard that but it was probably just me being paranoid. Eventually, I forced myself to sleep, and soon the next day came.
It was now the prince's coronation day.
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