Chapter 45 - 8
Dugald city is a city not far from the royal capital of Neigal, Moissan city. The area of Dugald City is only one-third of the area of Moissan City. But the level of development and welfare of the population is not much different.
It was midnight, the moon was covered by clouds. Dugald city feels desolate. The residents were fast asleep on their soft mattresses. Only in the nightlife area, you can hear the hustle and bustle of people.
Above Dugald city, Ziel soars in the sky and looks for where Marquis Jacobe's mansion is. The residence of a regional leader will be easy to find because it usually has a large building and a large area of land.
After searching for a while, Ziel finally found a luxurious mansion that stood out the most near the hill. Unlike the surrounding buildings, the mansion seemed to be made of gold and silver. It looks very conspicuous in the middle of the night.. Based on the nature of Marquis Jacobe that Ziel heard from the conversation between Duke Hazell and Beatrix, Marquis Jacobe is a person who is hungry for money and power. So the luxury displayed by the mansion in front of him reflected the nature of its host.
"What a flashy mansion... In the daytime, this mansion might be even shinier... hmm..." While Ziel was muttering he suddenly realized something.
Ziel flew towards the mansion of Marquis Jacobe. He could see a thin layer of the membrane covering the entire area of the residence. This is a barrier on quite a large scale. The total area of Marquis Jacobe's residence is bigger than Duke Hazell's residence.
The most important thing was that a barrier of this wide-scale could only be created by a mage with the power of a Magic King and above. In addition to continuously activating a barrier like this required an incredible amount of magic stones. Ordinary nobles obviously couldn't possibly afford it.
Magic stones are rocks mined from areas with high mana density. Unlike the beast stone that comes from within the magical beast. Magic stones have a much higher purity of mana. There was speculation that magical beasts were ordinary beasts that mutated due to living in places with high mana density. Or you could say close to magic stone mining. The bigger the magic stone mine, the more and stronger the magical beasts there are.
"This barrier is quite formidable, even Duke Hazell who is higher in the hierarchy doesn't have anything like this in his residence. Beatrix might be able to make it, but she won't be able to supply magic stones to keep activating it like this." Ziel muttered while rubbing his chin.
Ziel looked at the barrier in front of him. He checked the function of the barrier through its forming magic circle. He could see that in addition to resisting attacks, this barrier also had a security function that would notify the people inside the mansion immediately if anyone intruded or forcibly destroyed the barrier.
Ziel touched the barrier and tore it slowly like a thin cloth without activating the security function. He didn't want the person he was looking for to be overly vigilant and run away using teleportation magic. He could have prevented him from escaping by sealing the space around the mansion. But he had to open all 9 magic seals and it would change nature. It would lure influential people from the Neigal Kingdom. That would be troublesome. If he wanted to do it, he would do it after leaving that place.
After Ziel crossed the barrier and entered the mansion. The tear that he had made in the barrier to entry began to close by itself.
Ziel entered the mansion through the window, and when he set foot inside the mansion what he saw for the first time was an all gold room. The furniture and displays in the room are a mix of gold and silver. This shows luxury and greed.
"Looks like he's in his study room. But I can sense someone else is there. Hmm... A Magic King...? Maybe he's the one who set up a barrier in this mansion." Ziel mumbled and started walking towards Marquis Jacobe's study room.
[Invisible]
Ziel suddenly disappeared from the place. No, he didn't disappear but blended in with his surroundings. He hid his existence within the layers of space. Except for people whose strength is above Ziel, they will never be able to find out about his existence.
Ziel continued walking down the corridors of the mansion and finally arrived at the room where Marquis Jacobe was. He could hear that Marquis Jacobe and the Magic King were having an important conversation.
Ziel then teleported into the room. He saw a middle-aged man with reddish-black hair and blue eyes sitting at his desk drinking wine. And the other was standing wearing a cloak and mask to cover himself so Ziel didn't know what he looked like. He was holding a staff that had a crystal shaped like a spear tip on it. Strange enough for a magician's wand. He is the Magic King that Ziel feels. Ziel started to listen to what they were talking about.
"We lost contact with the people who were sent to Duke Castilene's residence." The Magic King spoke to Marquis Jacobe in a low voice.
"Are they all dead!?" Marquis Jacobe was astonished to hear the information from him.
"I don't know, Suddenly, all contacts with them were cut off. But it looks like they're dead." The Magic King spoke a voice that contained killing intent.
"What...were they killed by Beatrix Artvika? I... I can't think of anyone but her in that mansion who could kill them all. Moreover, 3 of them are grandmasters." Marquis Jacobe stammered as he was overwhelmed by the Magic King's killing intent. Drops of sweat dripped from his forehead.
"That's possible, the last communication was true that they were fighting against her. But... there may be another party that we don't know about." He withdrew his killing intent and Marquis Jacobe seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
"So, what's our next plan? I'm afraid Duke Castilene will report things to His Majesty." Marquis Jacobe fears that Duke Hazell already has definitive proof of his crimes.
"You don't have to worry, He still doesn't have it. If he does, are you sure you can still sit here drinking wine? Let's put that aside for the time being. Next time I'm the one who's going to go kill him. Beatrix Artvika is nothing for me." The Magic King sneered at Marquis Jacobe.
"Okay... So, the reason you came to me just to tell that?" Marquis Jacobe still felt there was something else he wanted.
"No, apart from telling you that, my main purpose was actually to convey a message from the head of the organization. He asked you to provide more people for the human experiment." He said seriously. Even though the message was asking but the Magic King said in a commanding tone and didn't accept any refusal.
"But... Wasn't it before that 250 people were dispatched last week?" He was shocked when he heard the Magic King's true purpose.
"The amount is still not enough, and this is a request from the head of the organization. Do you want to refuse?" The Magic King narrowed his eyes and said in a threatening tone while releasing his killing intent at Marquis Jacobe.
"No... I don't dare. I'll do it right away." Marquis Jacobe had difficulty breathing due to the pressure from the Magic King.
"That's better... Tomorrow night 500 people should have been sent to the usual place." After saying that, Magic King turned into smoke and disappeared.
"Damn it! How can I get 500 people in 1 day!" He gets angry and hits the table in front of him. He was afraid of the 'Dark Legacy' organization. If he didn't comply with the request, he was afraid the organization would turn their fangs back on him.
"You're right, you won't get it." The corner of the room is distorted, and Ziel shows his presence.
"You! Who are you!? Guards..." Before he could shout for the guards, he felt something trickle down from his forehead. When he held it, he felt a hole that shouldn't be there. And Marquis Jacobe sat there motionless and breathing.
"Maybe that's called dying of greed." Before Marquis Jacobe can scream, Ziel shot the coin he took from his pocket at Marquis Jacobe's forehead. The silver coin shot at high speed like a laser and pierced between his eyebrows.
"As a reward, I will bury this place with you." Ziel disappeared from the room leaving Marquis Jacobe's body which was getting cold. It wasn't long before he appeared right above the Marquis Jacobe's mansion.
The weather suddenly changed, a thundercloud appeared above the residence of Marquis Jacobe. Surprisingly the cloud was only right up there and didn't spread anywhere. Within the rumble of thunder came a voice that others might not be able to hear.
[Palms of the God]
[Manifest!]
A gigantic gray palm appeared above the residence of Marquis Jacobe, it moved downwards and directly hit the mansion at high speed.
Booooooooooooommmmmmmm...
Tremendous tremors like earthquakes and deafening sounds could be felt throughout the Dugald city. After the smoke and dust dissipated, what was seen would make others dumbfounded and open their mouths as wide as possible. The place that was previously a glistening luxurious mansion instantly turned into a bottomless pit in the shape of a palm. And the person who did that is no longer there.