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Chapter 299: Tempest Caller

Holding onto the box containing the Saints Convocation’s holy artifact, Roel froze in place upon seeing a series of System notifications popping up.

【Ding!】

【The System has detected a mutated Crown’s Stone.】

【Initializing ‘Reconstruction of Bloodline’...】

Roel never thought that the Saints Convocation’s holy artifact would actually be a Crown’s Stone! This made him feel deeply excited.

He wasn’t in a good position at the moment—his physical condition was less than satisfactory, communication with Grandar and Peytra was impossible in the Witness State, Lilian’s location was still unknown at the moment, and Artasia didn’t appear to be a trustworthy ally.

He was currently in dire need of power, and he knew very well that the Crown’s Stone could grant him what he needed.

So far, other than the aid offered by the ancient gods, the greatest power he possessed was ‘Glacier’s Touch’, which was derived from a Crown’s Stone. It was thanks to it that he was able to overcome multiple trials along the way.

So, he carefully opened the container and took a look inside.

There was a transparent gemstone sealed by a lock with mysterious inscriptions on it. At the very center of the transparent gemstone was a bundle of pale yellow aura that seemed to form the blurred humanoid silhouette.

The moment Roel saw the pale yellow aura, a name he had once heard from Isabella instinctively appeared in his head.

Tempest Caller, one of the Six Calamities.

This was the name that the treants called the frightening existence that was responsible for the extinction of many ancient races.

Kayde had once mentioned the Tempest Caller in one of their casual conversations, describing it to be an enigmatic being that was impossible to comprehend or communicate with. It often lurked silently in the world, only to be seen as a blurred silhouette in one’s final moments.

This is the holy artifact?

Staring at the egg from Tempest Caller in the container, Roel finally understood why the Salvation Brotherhood had proposed a ceasefire at this juncture. At the same time, he couldn’t help but think of the executives of the Saints Convocation as a bunch of lunatics.

It was fortunate that Sartoni had killed the original Holy Envoy, or else the entire city of Leinster could very well be wiped off the map by the rampaging Tempest Caller.

Evil cults are indeed evil cults. They might be allies in the face of a common enemy, but their extremist ideals would only result in a tragedy for those around them.

Roel pondered for a moment, but he decided not to absorb the egg right away. He still needed it to intimidate the Salvation Brotherhood, and absorbing it might compromise his leverage over them. On top of that, he still remembered how close he had come to death when he absorbed the egg of the Glacier Creator, so he was wary about doing it once more.

However, he did notice something peculiar.

The egg of the Tempest Caller was a transparent gemstone that looked like an offshoot of the Sorofyas’ Gemstone Magic. Back then, the egg of the Glacier Creator was sealed off by the Sofyas’ Golden Soul. Both means used for controlling the Six Calamities came from the high elves...

... was this just a coincidence?

This doubt lingered in Roel’s mind for a moment before he shrugged it off. It was not a question he could answer for the time being. So, he told Bradley to accept the Salvation Brotherhood’s offer of negotiation and set the date on the following noon.

The disciples of the Saints Convocation were worn out from a night of relentless fighting, so they needed to rest up and recharge. The black-armored soldiers and black-robed figures were the least active at noon, so it would be safer for them to meet at that time.

They proceeded to discuss their baseline demands for the ceasefire. Following that, Roel started asking about how the liaison with the Saint Freya Academy was going.

Roel hadn’t ‘infiltrated’ the Saints Convocation in order to carry out some spy mission. He knew that he wasn’t fully safe here, and there was a real risk of him being exposed. If there was an opportunity for him to leave this nest of zealots and join the academy instead, he would make the leap right away.

Fortunately, it seemed like things could potentially go well in that respect.

According to Bradley, some of the injured members of the garrison troops ended up being left behind while they were retreating to the Saint Freya Academy. In order to avoid the pursuit of the monsters, they had no choice but to temporarily seek refuge with the Saints Convocation. Back then, the Saints Convocation was in a bad state and needed any help they could get, so they allowed them to join them.

That worked out perfectly since they could have those members of the garrison troops serve as messengers now.

Roel’s eyes lit up upon hearing those words. He decided to pay them a visit in the room allocated to them in the Worcester Castle.

When he first stepped into the room, the injured garrison troop members immediately stood up warily, worried that he might try to do something to them. To their surprise, he didn’t mock them or attempt to hold them hostage. Instead, he released them.

“Even beings of different races would join hands in the face of a common threat, let alone us humans. It’s a show of sincerity from my part to allow all of you to leave. Give this to Commander Antonio and tell him that I wish to discuss matters with him.”

Roel entrusted the adamantine amber, one of the tokens of the Assembly, to the leader of the injured garrison troop members before setting them free.

He considered telling them about the suspicions he had regarding Priestley, the current principal of the Saint Freya Academy, but he eventually decided against it. His identity made him untrustworthy to the garrison troop members, which definitely was a huge problem considering that the person he was trying to cast doubt on was a highly respected figure in Brolne.

Had Roel been in their position, he would have surely thought that the enemy was trying to sow discord amongst them. For the time being, he didn’t want the garrison troop members to think that he had ulterior motives lest they decide not to relay his message

After releasing the garrison troop members, Roel headed back to his room to take a rest so as to prepare himself for the negotiations the following day.

...

The Saints Convocation had its first peaceful night ever since the revolt started. A few monsters did stumble into their frontlines, but the disciples were able to easily clear them off by blasting them with spells.

This came as a surprise for Roel.

It was true that two armies would temporarily stop fighting prior to ceasefire negotiations, but neither the Saints Convocation nor Salvation Brotherhood were highly disciplined military forces. On the contrary, they were bloodthirsty evil cultists.

Sartoni clearly didn’t agree with the ceasefire, so there was a good chance of him going for an all-out attack in hopes of recouping their loss. That would also strengthen their position for the ceasefire.

Roel felt that the Salvation Brotherhood was up to something, so he made use of the Saints Convocation’s intelligence network to look into it. It seemed like the Salvation Brotherhood had come under attack last night, forcing them to dispatch a large number of troops toward the southern city area.

The situation was so severe that they ordered an information clampdown, so no one knew the current situation.

It was unexpected, but it didn’t seem too odd.

Similar to how there were garrison troop members on the Saints Convocation’s territory, there were also soldiers, students, and scholars scattered all around the city. It was possible that they had learned that the Salvation Brotherhood had recently suffered a major loss and tried to follow up on it.

Having found a reasonable reason, Roel’s heart was finally put at ease.

He stowed the ‘holy artifact’ into his pocket before setting off to Minster Mansion together with the others.

He wanted to bring Bradley together with him, but it was a pity that he was a puppetmaster despite being an Origin Level 2 transcendent. If a fight did break out in the midst of the negotiation, it was likely that he would end up getting sniped down in a heartbeat.

Noontime, Roel finally arrived at the agreed upon location on carriage under the escort of the disciples.

Minster Mansion used to be the headquarters of a Scholar Guild. It came nowhere in comparison to the Ascarts’ manor or the Labyrinth Villa, though it was still of decent size considering just how expensive land was in the populous Leinster.

Roel was just about to alight from his carriage when music started playing from the mansion.

In the circle of nobility, it was considered extremely rude to start a banquet prior to the arrival of all of the guests as it symbolized that the guests were unimportant. It was ludicrous for the Salvation Brotherhood to do this when they were gathered here to discuss a ceasefire.

Roel shrugged it off nonchalantly and entered the mansion together with his people.

The first thing he saw was the disciples of the Salvation Brotherhood moving all sorts of stuff around to prepare the venue, be it red carpet, paintings, or antiques. There was a long table of delicacies prepared by the side, musicians playing classy music, and men and women dressed in formal suits and gowns slow dancing at the center of the room.

It was as if they were really holding a banquet.

Roel’s group was clearly out of place due to their armor and wary attitudes. It was almost as if a group of thugs had barged into a noble’s mansion. The disciples of the Salvation Brotherhood didn’t miss this opportunity to mock them with contemptuous smiles.

The disciples of the Saints Convocation were livid to be faced with such an insult, but Roel simply chuckled softly before striding toward the long table to take a seat. The graceful smile on his face showed that he was unbothered by the other party’s pettiness.

With both sides present in the mansion, the doors were closed and the curtains were drawn, plunging the surroundings into darkness. Servants quickly lit up candles all around. It felt like time had fast forwarded to midnight despite only being at midday.

The classy music came to a halt, and the men and women stopped their dancing. They solemnly turned their gazes toward the stairs leading to the second floor, where a door flung open at the same time.

A formally-dressed middle-aged man walked out and gazed down on the young man seated at one end of the long table.

“You must be Holy Envoy Roel. I am Sartoni, the leader of the Salvation Brotherhood. Allow me to extend my greetings to you on behalf of our Brotherhood.”

Sartoni looked at Roel with a hypocritical smile on his face.

...

At the same time, somewhere in the northern city area, a black-haired woman muttered the words she had just heard from the mouth of an evil cultist.

“Minster Mansion...”