Chapter 1439 - 1404: Open Cards

Viggo Fortez was a handsome and strong man, who appeared to be in his thirties or forties, full of vigor and charisma.

Even standing next to the one dubbed ’the most beautiful Valley Daisy’ moments ago, he wasn’t overshadowed by the pure-blooded elf’s beauty; he still exuded his own powerful aura.

They passed through the Glorious Corridor within Airetusa Academy, where the paintings hung were the works of famous artists.

Yet even so, these renowned artworks were merely embellishments...just embellishments of the historical nodes depicted in the paintings.

Their inception, the critical moments in their development, those distinguished figures renowned in historical records...

And finally, the last piece — a shield with a charcoal sketch depicting an embrace.

Lann and Viggo Fortez said nothing as they walked through the Glorious Corridor.

Although both of them remembered their first meeting and conversation had taken place here.

They also traversed the Academy’s wide stone bridge that spans between two towers.

The bridge was originally paved with black and white square stones, resembling a chessboard.

But Viggo Fortez remembered clearly, it was actually just a constant Illusion Technique to obscure the reality, as due to salt content, moisture, and other reasons brought by the sea breeze, the bridge was actually not far from falling apart.

Only the black squares were safe to walk on; the rest were unstable footholds.

The repair costs were too high, and using Illusion Technique maintained the dignity of the warlocks.

And just over two years ago, when the Valyrian Steel business became operational, the bridge had undergone actual repairs.

There’s no longer any magic on the bridge.

"Things have changed so much."

Suddenly, Viggo Fortez stopped on the bridge. The soles of his deerskin boots scraped the stone slabs as though idly, producing a rustling sound.

He turned to look at the silently following Lann.

"The changes in the Academy are immense."

"You’re saying that almost makes me think you graduated from Airetusa."

Lann calmly responded with a dry joke.

"I’m of that traditional type of warlock," Viggo Fortez explained indifferently, "learning one-on-one with a mentor, perhaps changing to another mentor at most—never really stayed in the Academy environment."

"But I’m indeed not totally unfamiliar with Airetusa, as we come here for meetings every time."

"See that tower?"

Under the night, along with the sea breeze blowing across the bridge, Viggo Fortez pointed towards the second tallest tower in the Airetusa building complex. It was built of rocks; compared to the brightly-lit Airetusa, it was pitch black and lifeless.

Waves crashed against the rock walls of Sandy Island, creating white foam and roaring sounds.

"Tomorrow, the ten Great Mages from the Wizard Council who greeted you earlier will be wearing traditional attire: flowing black cloaks and pointed hats, just like depicted in those storybook illustrations."

"We’ll also bring magic staffs and canes, just like the figures parents describe to scare children. This is tradition."

"Accompanied by several representatives, we’ll enter Gastang Palace, the meeting will be closed-door, while the other delegates will wait in Airetusa, awaiting the final decision."

Lann thought to himself that he knew better what ’traditional wizard image’ meant; Gandalf was the epitome of tradition just by his appearance.

"Then what role does that tallest tower play in this meeting?"

Lann chimed in.

The Wizard Summit, in symbolic terms, surely wouldn’t forgo the highest tower, right?

The tower appeared long abandoned; despite Lann’s prolonged stay in the Academy, he wasn’t quite sure of its purpose.

"Tor Laura, the Seagull Tower, is now abandoned. Is it important? It might be."

"Might be?"

"According to the elves’ legends," the handsome male wizard shrugged, "the portal within this tower connects to the mysterious Thor Gwiel, ’Tower of Swifts.’

"That’s supposedly the secret stronghold of the Elf Sage."

"At the time, we tried exploring the portal within this tower but failed, and it was later sealed. Many protested, as everyone wanted to leave their mark on history. Yet, the erratic and distorted nature of the portal remained a factual reality and wouldn’t vanish due to a few complaints."

The sea breeze continued to blow; Lann didn’t continue the conversation.

The two almost simultaneously sensed that the pleasantries had ended.

"I almost can assert that after our first conversation, you believed I was interested in those mysterious influences affecting the Child of Destiny."

Viggo Fortez had a peculiar smile on his face.

"You thought I was chasing the power of destiny. But what I wonder is: Do you still think so now?"

"No," Lann’s expression was calm, he simply shook his head, "To explore destiny as a research subject, I think even someone as talented, arrogant as you wouldn’t be so unrealistic."

"So now I feel like I can’t see through you, at least mostly not. I don’t know what you’re truly pursuing."

"You don’t know me, but I know you, Lann,"

Viggo Fortez chuckled lightly, a peculiar gleam in his eyes.

"I know, outsiders say you love the North, love your hometown, Sintra. But I know, you only view Kings and their Kingdoms as a mess. Because neither your soul nor flesh bear any true connection with the so-called Northern Territory or Sintra."

Suddenly the demon hunter furrowed his brows, turning to look at the warlock.

The warlock himself appeared unfeeling.

"Such an interesting thought, please don’t misunderstand, I rarely encounter someone like you, Lann."

"You disdain those kings and kingdoms; you look at them as if standing downstream, watching bloated corpses float down from the upstream."

"When you see them, what you’re seeing is merely the form of death."

"They are doomed to be eliminated. The so-called ’everlasting as marble’ kingdom, to you, looks as if it’s destined for demise on a particular day."

"Everything has an end," Lann said calmly. "Anyone who studies history or philosophy wouldn’t doubt this."

Viggo Fortez looked up at the tall and beautiful figure under the moonlight, a playful smile on his lips.

"Yet even the most insightful historian, when told by me that the kingdom he lives in today will perish in a foreseeable future, his initial reaction would still be doubt and confusion."

"But you remain certain."

"As if accustomed to witnessing the collapse and disappearance of great kingdoms, you know it’s inevitable."

"Why, Lann? Why do you possess such a transcendent perspective? After all, you don’t have more than one heart in your chest?"

The Demon Hunter squinted his eyes suddenly, looking at the Wizard who seemed to speak casually.

"Prophecy?" After a long silence, Lann asked, "Or something else? I should have guessed you’d investigate me."

"You guessed completely, Lann." On the contrary, Viggo Fortez sincerely praised, "What you didn’t expect was my ability to investigate you to this extent. I put in a lot of effort."

"How could those clumsy prophecies and powers of detection penetrate such a beautiful shell of light?"

Viggo Fortez gestured in the air toward Lann, but the outline wasn’t of Lann’s body, and his eyes weren’t focused on the body either.

— He was outlining the silhouette of Lann’s ’Body Light’!

Which is what he referred to as the ’shell of light’!

Viggo Fortez’s light laugh did not make the atmosphere friendlier; instead, the tension between the two became increasingly oppressive.

Suddenly, the Warlock outside withdrew his gesturing fingers as if chilled by an inexplicable sea breeze.

The smile vanished from his face. Following Lann’s seriousness, his expression also turned solemn and respectful.

"I ask of you, Lann."

Viggo Fortez suddenly spoke out of context.

His handsome face was exceptionally sincere.

He got straight to the point.

"I believe with your ability, you must have felt the eerie atmosphere at this banquet. Let’s be frank."

He took a deep breath.

"A brutal conflict is brewing, my friend. This will be a fierce battle concerning life and death; no one will hold back, or sit idle, everyone will desperately use magic, longsword, or even their teeth to achieve victory and survival."

"I ask of you, noble observer, master of transcendent vision: join the side with the better chance of winning. Join us."

"No, Lann, don’t rush to frown at me. I know what you want to say, you want to say you don’t care which side has the better odds, because whichever side you’re on, those are the better odds. Very confident, very proud, that is you."

"But heed my words, today is not like yesteryear."

"You still want to say, you don’t care about the odds, you only stand by what you believe is right. After all, that’s the kind of person you’ve been from the start, regardless of whether you possess this power or not."

"But listen to me..." Viggo Fortez looked at Lann, "This is not a good idea."

"You regard the Northern Kingdom as decaying bones in a grave; why not use that transcendent gaze to look further? More... at ease?"

"Everything has an end." The Warlock used Lann’s words to persuade him, "Why care about those trivial things?"

"Like human lives?" Lann countered.

"Precisely like human lives," Viggo Fortez replied.

The Demon Hunter’s tall silhouette remained silent, but the atmosphere gradually shifted.

The relaxed muscles were now active, with abundant warmth and energy erupting from two hearts and blood vessels coursing with high-energy blood, like throwing coals into a furnace.

Lann first nodded, indicating he understood Viggo Fortez’s enigmatic conversation, then...

"Pah."

The Warlock looked with a bit of surprise, at this noble and glamorous beauty under the moonlight—though both were male, Viggo Fortez could only subconsciously describe him as a beauty—tilted his head and spat a scornful spittle into the sea beyond the bridge.

A crude and rude action, but the moonlight made Lann’s molten silver hair and beautiful face even more ethereal, even such an action, when done by him, had a sense of unrestrained grace.

But the key to this action was not in its demeanor or grace, but in its disdainful connotation.

"I also ask of you, esteemed Great Mage Viggo Fortez."

Though saying ’ask,’ Lann’s face was left with only a chilly hardness that chilled one’s heart.

Those slightly glowing cat eyes gazed down at the other.

"Calm down."

The tone was akin to advice, yet sounded like a warning imbued with threat.

"I ask you to calm down, Viggo Fortez."

After saying this, the Warlock also became expressionless, facing Lann, he retreated toward the other side of the bridge, gradually sinking into the shadows of the moonlit tower.

Meanwhile, Lann turned smartly and left without looking back.

Now, the cards were on the table.

And on the way back to the Airetusa banquet hall, the hard-faced, hurried Lann directly encountered another friend—

The Red-bearded Dwarf, Shilton Giancardi, who wasn’t supposed to be there, looking urgently anxious.