Chapter 749: The Lady of Calamity’s Scheme

The Lady of Calamity has no wish to say much about her teacher. She cannot even speak his name.

She knows perfectly well why her teacher sent her here: he wanted to use her body to contain the Lord of Calamity's inheritance.

He could then extract the Lord of Calamity's knowledge from her little by little without bearing any of the risk himself.

After all, knowledge left by a god always carries that god's will.

Once she absorbed it, the fallen god would gradually revive within her. The process would take a long time and advance almost imperceptibly.

Yet the process would be irreversible. She lacked the power to resist and did not even know she needed to.

Her teacher knew the danger. That was precisely why he wanted her to accept the inheritance and serve as a filtering vessel while he slowly absorbed the god's knowledge from her.

At first, the Lady of Calamity had no power to resist the arrangement. She needed her teacher's protection.

Her teacher required her to reach the ruins of Fendicasa before advancing to Glory Rank.

The ruins were fraught with danger, so she needed some way to guarantee her safe arrival.

Her teacher had anticipated the problem and crafted an extraordinary item for her.

He engraved it with several powerful fate spells, and it could create a fate barrier as well.

As the Lady of Calamity grew stronger, however, she gradually realized that the powerful item was also her teacher's means of controlling her.

She had to enter the ruins, but she had no intention of dying there.

She therefore hoped her husband, Fred, would reach Iron Rank and grow as strong as possible.

Although Fred was exceptionally talented, he still failed to meet her requirements.

While searching for another solution, she witnessed Henwell's strength during the Battle of Sunflower Fortress.

Henwell also spared her life, opening another possibility.

She cooperated with him several times afterward. Even when she betrayed the Ika Kingdom, she took care to preserve their relationship.

Her goal was to persuade Henwell to accept her commission and accompany her into the ruins.

Fate favored her again when the assassin couple crossed her path.

Steve's ability was highly unusual and shared many similarities with her own.

An even bolder plan began to take shape.

She spent years arranging every piece, then saved Henwell at the decisive moment to place him in her debt.

At the same time, she gave the assassin couple a place to hide from Veil and the Western Federation.

Entering the ruins was only the beginning. She had to reach the lowest level and reconstruct the Lord of Calamity's idol.

Only then would her teacher's assignment be complete.

She needed Steve to take half of the Lord of Calamity's inheritance. She would then use an item left by Ika's royal family to conceal everything she had experienced.

Her teacher constantly watched the Lord of Calamity's inheritance, but he would sense only Steve leaving with the manifest inheritance.

Why would Steve agree to do something so dangerous?

First, the man truly wanted to see his wife.

Second, the plan offered Steve enormous benefits of his own.

Even fragments of knowledge left by a god are priceless.

Witnessing the formation of a divine office firsthand is an even greater opportunity.

After the Lady of Calamity gradually retrieves the inheritance from him, Steve will immediately become a professional above Glory Rank.

His future progression will also be remarkably smooth.

The Lady of Calamity has promised to remove that power from him within a hundred years at most.

Will Steve die of old age now that he has lost his extraordinary power?

The question is foolish. He carries knowledge left by a god and was bathed in its influence while the divine office took shape. Living for several centuries will pose no problem at all.

Will Steve attempt to digest the inheritance himself?

Of course not.

Not unless he wants to die.

Having already constructed the divine office, the Lady of Calamity is the only person capable of inheriting that knowledge.

Anyone else who tries to seize it by force will learn how terrifying a god's lingering will can be.

She has completed her teacher's assignment without openly breaking with him, all while claiming the divine office of calamity for herself.

Her teacher will suspect her afterward, but without solid evidence, he will not dare act rashly.

The ruins still exist, and their pull on her teacher remains.

This is the full extent of the Lady of Calamity's scheme.

This struggle between master and disciple also reveals the restrictions placed on powerful professionals across the continent.

The Lady of Calamity's teacher has coveted the Lord of Calamity's inheritance for countless years, yet he still dares not pursue it in person.

He had to train someone to become the Lady of Calamity and carry out his plan because he could not allow this place to detect him.

If his aura leaks out, powerful laws will drag him directly into the ruins and turn him into the guardian of the third level.

This restraint comes from both the Lord of Calamity and the new gods, who imposed it on ancient defectors that later became neutral parties.

Anywhere on the continent, anyone above Glory Rank may be seized by the lingering wills of the old gods and dragged into a site of divine fall.

The same danger exists in ruins like Fendicasa, places bound to the old gods by countless ties.

Domain Masters from other continents do not dare come here. The old gods' lingering wills could easily seize them and drag them away.

Most surviving ancient powerhouses are considered traitors, making them even less willing to reveal themselves.

They fear their former masters will settle old accounts and drag them away to serve as vessels.

The new gods remain wary of them as well. Afraid that these defectors might try to resurrect their former masters, the new gods forbid them from appearing on the continent.

These are the restraints imposed on powerful professionals throughout the continent.

But what happens to powerful professionals born on the Abandoned Continent itself?

That is the real question.

It is the issue Henwell cares about above all else.

At last, the Lady of Calamity provides an answer.

Despite the continent's scarcity of extraordinary properties, geniuses have continued to emerge over the past thousand years.

Once they reach Glory Rank, the Western Federation relocates them to the Abundant Continent.

This preserves the local balance and prevents those professionals from falling under the old gods' influence and joining the rebellion.

That puts Henwell in an awkward position.

He certainly has no intention of leaving. With the Hundred-Year Calamity approaching, the Western Federation cannot use force either.

Peace Haven commands hundreds of thousands of elite troops, a force that will be invaluable during the Hundred-Year Calamity.

If Henwell refuses to leave, he must choose a side.

At the very least, he must prove himself firmly opposed to the old gods' faction. Only then will the Western Federation feel at ease.

Learning these secrets in advance gives Henwell a valuable advantage.

He has at least a year to find a way through the problem.

Many people may suspect that he will soon enter Glory Rank, but if he stops displaying his strength, they cannot prove it.

The Western Federation will then lack grounds to act against him.

As expected...

It is time for Henwell to lie low again.