Chapter 503 329: Hidden Killing Intent

"After all, a Legendary Mage's Soul Strength is even tougher than their physical body."

"And the black one?" Levi asked curiously.

He made a mental note to completely destroy the bodies of his enemies from now on. Otherwise, there was no guarantee they didn't have a Mage who knew the Resurrection Technique.

"I sense the aura of Death Magic on it," Fatir said simply.

Levi didn't ask if the Magic had succeeded. It obviously hadn't.

As Cariss chanted her Spell, streams of Holy Light Divine Skill landed on Rillo, but there was no reaction at all.

"Everyone, stand back!" Suddenly, Cariss opened a Holy Light Barrier. "He's been afflicted with a malicious Magic…"

As if to prove her words, a black mist suddenly erupted from Rillo's corpse, and all sorts of grating, unpleasant gibberish chanted out in an ancient language.

"ARGH!"

Even though they were protected within the Holy Light Barrier, the Talisi group, who were closest, suffered heavy injuries. One by one, they squatted on the ground, clutching their ears, their eyes turning bloodshot.

The only one unaffected was the Lord, who had the highest Magic Resistance there. He just cleaned out his ears, wondering if they weren't being a tad dramatic.

Thankfully, Cariss had cast Holy Light Protection ahead of time. Otherwise, at least half the people present would have died on the spot, not just ended up squatting with bleeding eyes and covered ears.

"It's Chaos Truth!" Fatir said, his expression grave.

"That's right." Cariss sighed as she looked at Rillo's body on the ground. "My apologies, everyone. There's nothing more I can do."

"Lord Bishop!" someone from the Talisi side finally broke down in tears. "Your Eminence, what in the world happened? Who did this to the Lord Bishop!"

"I don't know who did it, but it definitely wasn't Lord Levi," Cariss said, her expression solemn. "I detected a total of three types of Magic on Lord Rillo: Death Bell, Soul Binding Technique, and Chaos Truth!"

"Lord Levi is a Non-Magician. That is common knowledge."

Levi rubbed the back of his head, speechless. He never thought his status as a Magic Muggle would one day be the very thing that cleared him of suspicion.

Most of the people from Talisi were Clergy. As Mages, they were all too familiar with these kinds of Death Magic.

Death Bell delivers a fatal blow to someone on the verge of death; even Legendary Powerhouses cannot avoid such a vicious Magic. Soul Binding Technique traps a newly departed soul, preventing resurrection techniques from working on it.

"Who could be so malicious!" they exclaimed, their faces filled with grief and fury. But the more rational among them asked, "Lord Rillo was a top-tier Magic Master and had just advanced to the Legendary rank. How could someone cast so many spells on him without him noticing?"

"Even Legendary powerhouses aren't omniscient. Haven't plenty of them been taken out by schemes throughout history?" The Lord snapped his fingers. "There are always clues. Everyone, try to think back. Did anything unusual happen to Lord Rillo during your journey here?"

"It was that Attendant from the delegation!" someone suddenly exclaimed.

"The night before the duel, an Attendant entered Rillo Bishop's room. I remember thinking it was strange at the time, since I'd never seen him before."

As the members of the Talisi delegation recalled the events, suspicion immediately fell upon this unknown Attendant.

The Talisi delegation wasn't made up entirely of sheltered Mages who had never dirtied their hands. Besides the Clergy, there were also escorting Knights and servants.

Although many mysteries remained, the Lord's name had undoubtedly been cleared of all suspicion.

Perhaps the Lord of High Cliff Castle had weakened Rillo to the point where he couldn't resist the Magic, but pinning the identity of the executioner on him for that reason alone would be too shameless.

"Everyone, I believe you owe Lord Levi an apology," Cariss said.

The members of the Talisi delegation immediately bowed to Levi in shame. "Our sincerest apologies. Please accept them and forgive our foolishness."

"Uh, well, I probably shouldn't have used so much force. If I hadn't, Lord Rillo wouldn't have been in such a predicament."

Levi hadn't expected the people from Talisi to be so reasonable. He waved his hands in dismissal, speaking with genuine sincerity.

Filo sighed and facepalmed. He truly didn't know if Levi was being too honest or just doing it on purpose.

"Your magnanimity is admirable." The expressions of the Talisi envoys soured a bit, but they didn't say anything more. "We must go handle this matter. Please excuse us."

After saying this, they took Rillo's body and hurried out of the Gladiatorial Arena, clearly off to find that Attendant.

The few who remained looked at each other, their expressions grim.

Regardless of whether Rillo was intentionally killed by Debei's side, the fact that he died on Debei soil meant they would inevitably have to bear some of the responsibility.

They exchanged a few more pleasantries before going their separate ways. A storm was clearly brewing in Gonda, and they all needed to prepare for it.

...

For three consecutive days, the Lord forbade the Barbarians of High Cliff Castle from leaving the Holy Light Church. Gonda seemed peaceful on the surface, but a dangerous undercurrent was flowing.

The ability to silently kill a Great Magic Master who had just advanced to the Legendary rank… these rats hiding in the shadows were truly terrifying.

Even though it was accomplished by borrowing the Lord's Power, the perpetrator's own strength could not be underestimated.

So, it was best to keep a low profile for now.

And so the idle Lord of High Cliff Castle naturally started up a card game to kill time.

"Lord Levi, this is what His Majesty promised you." When Filo opened the door, he found the Zor Elf named Heather losing badly. Her ample chest was covered in white paper strips, and she wore a look of utter resentment.

Filo handed over a box containing Space Rings. "One of these is the Space Ring containing the Sai Dai Golden Man from the Holy Sith Kingdom. The other is the Ring the Talisi envoy gave me, which holds the Mermaid and the Magic Master's Soul Crystal."

"The instructions for use are inside, so I won't waste time nagging you about it."

"As for the five hundred Griffins, His Majesty said this…" Filo cleared his throat, then put on a pompous air and boomed, "Unless he marries a Princess, I'll never let that brat off so easily!"

"Damn, so he wants me to be his son-in-law, huh?" The Lord was speechless, instantly understanding the King's twisted sense of humor.

Five hundred Griffins was a truly tempting offer. After all, High Cliff Castle didn't even have an air force; he had to take to the skies himself.

If he had them, he could form a Griffin Knight Order in an instant.

Flash-striking any Tribe in the Wilderness would no longer be a dream.

But he'd have to offer up his own body for it. The Lord sighed. He had wanted to make a living with his talents, but heaven insisted he rely on his looks. It was just so unfair.

"By the way, tell me about the Talisi situation," Levi asked, taking the opportunity. "I've been cooped up in here for the past two days and have only heard bits and pieces."

As soon as he said this, everyone from High Cliff Castle pricked up their ears.

After all, it was related to a Legendary Mage, so they were also very curious about what had really happened.

"That's right, it was related to that Attendant," Filo said, a chill running down his spine just talking about it. "But the details are probably more complicated than you think."

"Afterward, the people from Talisi went back to look for the Attendant, but they couldn't find him even after searching their entire residence."

"His Majesty naturally gave his full support in response to such a vicious incident, agreeing to their proposal to search all of Gonda to find the real culprit."

"But they still came up empty-handed."

"They're a powerhouse capable of stealthily casting Magic on an Epic Mage. It's not surprising they couldn't be found," the Lord commented, not at all surprised.

Although Rillo hadn't yet advanced to the Legendary rank at the time, he was still an elite among Magic Masters, hailed as "The Foremost Mage Below Legendary."

"No, just when it seemed the matter would end inconclusively, there was a breakthrough…"