519

Silence descended once more.

One sentence from the maid left everyone speechless.

The Dark Archmage—the greatest enemy Allen had ever faced. No one had expected anyone to bring up that ominous existence again.

“Why do you want to resurrect that person?”

Using forbidden magic was already something that could never be spoken of openly. But as the King of Kakarl, he had a duty to protect the people of Kakarl City.

For that reason, the King of Kakarl had intended to question her to the very end.

He hadn’t expected her to say it so brazenly. Even so, the King of Kakarl couldn’t help but continue pressing her.

However, just as he was about to ask another question, Sophiel stepped forward.

“You’ve asked enough, haven’t you?”

It seemed Sophiel’s group wasn’t very united. The maid was startled and turned around at Sophiel’s words. Marcina herself was also at odds with Sophiel.

There was another problem. According to the information his subordinates had brought him, the man carrying the greatsword was a former mass murderer from Allen City.

None of the four was normal. They had joined forces to resurrect the Grand Chancellor.

Even if he gave them every benefit of the doubt, this was still a deal with the devil.

Still, the deal had come at just the right time.

“You’re not going to say?”

“Us?!”

Sophiel drew her rapier and pointed it at the maid’s neck.

“I…”

Startled by Sophiel, the maid had no choice but to fall silent.

“…”

After thinking for a moment, the King of Kakarl turned around.

“What?!”

The maid seemed about to say something, but Sophiel struck her face with the flat of her blade.

“Hmph! Let’s change locations first!”

The King of Kakarl left as soon as he finished speaking.

Sophiel and the other three exchanged glances before following the King of Kakarl out of the basement.

They weaved through the streets of Kakarl City, avoiding groups of Church guards drawn there by Marcina’s destruction.

At last, they arrived at a large park in Kakarl City.

Deep within the woods stood an inconspicuous cave.

“So they have a base here too?”

Onigashima strode forward and exclaimed in surprise.

Kakarl City was so vast that it even contained forests. Naturally, it also had countless places where heretics could hide.

“Wait here.”

As they tried to follow the King of Kakarl’s subordinates into the cave, the guards at the entrance stopped them.

“What?”

“That’s the chairman’s order. Until we reach a conclusion, you’ll have to wait outside.”

“You’ve gotta be kidding me~”

Onigashima complained, but the maid raised a hand.

“Calm down. The deal we proposed was never something they could accept easily.”

“I knew that from the start. I’m just complaining~”

Onigashima spread his arms and shook his head. His casual attitude left the now-serious maid feeling helpless.

The heretics observed everything from beginning to end.

From the way the four behaved, they could more or less determine what each of them was thinking.

Taking all of this into consideration, the heretics held an intense meeting inside the cave.

After some time passed, night fell.

Throughout the long night, Sophiel and the others waited quietly to one side for the King of Kakarl’s decision.

To avoid attracting attention, they couldn’t casually light a fire there. Sophiel and Onigashima had no choice but to rest in the branches of a great tree.

Marcina played with small stones on the ground, while the maid rested alone against the tree.

The King of Kakarl didn’t emerge from the cave until the sun rose.

“Excuse me…”

The maid was the first to step forward. The others followed one after another.

Once all four had gathered, the King of Kakarl spoke.

“First, I can lend you the Forbidden Arts Codex.”

“Then…”

Seeing that the maid wanted to speak, the King of Kakarl raised a hand and signaled for her to wait.

“Of course, this is a transaction. If you want to borrow it, you’ll have to do something for me as well.”

After several seconds of silence, the King of Kakarl continued.

“Since you want to bring an ominous existence back to the mortal world, why don’t you give me another ominous existence in return~”

The King of Kakarl revealed a wicked grin.

“You’ll help me get hold of the Great Dragon.”