Chapter 2134 Web of Information

Adam glanced at the wall in front of him with a grim look in his eyes.

Presently, he was in the second basement of his manor. The underground chamber had been converted into his personal laboratory for experiments and brewing potions.

This was the same place where he had found Valerian lying unconscious on the cold table almost a decade ago. This was where Voraxus snapped Antero Mortem's neck like breaking a twig in half.

He had thought that the matter had concluded that night. That Valerian was kidnapped, and then saved. That the kidnapper had been apprehended and killed.

So why, then, was Adam back here now, at the place where it had all ended, to begin things anew?

He knew he was not being paranoid. Perhaps a part of him really did think that he was. But he believed that he was on the cusp of grasping something very crucial.

In front of him, several parchments were pinned to the wall, covered with Adam's notes and scribbled observations.

Together, they formed a timeline. It began from the moment he had arrived in this plane and stretched all the way to the night Valerian had been kidnapped.

Red threads connected different points across the wall. There were hand-drawn portraits as well, depicting Valerian and his siblings, Antero Mortem, Leto Morgan, and several other people Adam had deemed necessary to his investigation.

At the center of the web of information was the portrait of an unidentified person. A blank figure with no characteristics. Just a silhouette.

This was the person Adam believed had been pulling the strings all along.

All this time, he was under the assumption that it had been Antero Mortem who had been messing with his thoughts and memories through Valerian's amulet.

Under normal circumstances, his assumption might not have been wrong. After all, it was Antero Mortem who had tried to kidnap Valerian that night. So according to Adam, all that manipulation through the amulet was done so that Mortem could get his hands on Valerian.

Adam was wrong.

If it weren't for Michael revealing that critical information to him a week ago, Adam would have never realized.

The Free City of Davos, a place where powerful Magi and Paladins lived, had an artifact that could prevent a dragon from setting foot inside.

And Antero Mortem was the one wielding this artifact? Ridiculous.

That was why Adam believed Antero Mortem wasn't the one pulling the strings through Valerian's amulet. He was probably just at the wrong place and the wrong time, and got swept up in the machinations of the evil mastermind.

That begged the question: if not Antero Mortem, then who?

Whoever they were, they had far too much power and influence than Adam had initially expected.

This was considering that Valerian being able to enter Davos a decade ago was part of their machination.

Adam buried his face in his palms. He was going nowhere with his investigations. There were too many questions. Too few answers. Each question begged several more questions.

He felt like he was going round and round and round…

The raven-haired youth raised his head and gazed at the mysterious figure in the center of the wall. His eyes were bloodshot and blazing with rage.

Who are you?

If it weren't for Adam already experiencing what being the target of coincidence magic feels like—thanks to Tron's Will—he would have never suspected anything to begin with.

But ever since arriving on this damned world, he had been met with one coincidence after the next. He always believed that the magic of coincidences or synchronicities could only be wielded by World Wills.

Apparently not.

Adam began recounting all the coincidences that he had faced, beginning with him bypassing Carina's security checkpoint and arriving directly in the middle of the Sea of Storms, with the Somnia siblings appearing just in the nick of time to save Valerian.

So many coincidences, he thought.

His eyes grew cold. A feeling of disgust rose from his heart.

If my suspicions are true... I have been toyed with since the beginning.

Still, he had no answers as to who it was. The evil mastermind.

He did not think it could be the Somnia siblings. He didn't think they could try to hurt Valerian through all the coincidences. They could not be that desperate. They were fiercely protective toward Valerian.

And now he definitely did not think it was Antero Mortem.

So then who was it?

Adam's eyes drifted toward the portrait of Leto Morgan that he had drawn.

The famous—infamous now—author and explorer had somehow gotten embroiled in all this. He and the former Known Lord, Nigel Norwood.

If Adam wanted to find answers, he now believed it was necessary to meet Leto Morgan.

He shook his head bitterly at the thought. The Leto Morgan Mission given by the Night Guild was extremely risky. He would be wading in turbulent waters. He had refused to go on this mission because of the dangers involved.

Yet now, if he wanted to get to the bottom of the mysteries surrounding him and Valerian and find out about the evil mastermind, he had no other option but to meet Leto Morgan.

He rose to his feet, pressed a few points on the wall, then pressed his palm against the surface. The wall rumbled, opened sideways, then swallowed his investigative work. This was a personal mission. He couldn't let anyone else in on it. Not Michael. Not Luca. Not Hannibal.

Having made up his mind, he went to the third floor and packed his belongings. It was time to leave Davos again.

As he prepared for his journey, he couldn't help but smile wryly.

Everything would have been so much easier if the divination had succeeded, he thought to himself.

He had tried divining for answers, of course.

And he failed every time, even suffering severe backlash. That meant he was truly dealing with someone very powerful and very dangerous.

And yet, he could not stop himself from finding out the truth.

He had to do it.

It had been a year since Genevieve had left for her homeworld. If she returned to Davos before Adam returned from his journey, she would be able to enter the manor.

She was the only person other than him who possessed the master key to his manor. The only other person recognized by his rune magic and layers of defenses protecting the place.

Donning his travel clothes, he activated all the defensive mechanisms of the manor and finally set off on his journey.

But there were a few places he had to visit before leaving the city.