Chapter 454: Whose Luck Is It

Saul recognized that black magic blade—it belonged to Jassim, the Second Rank wizard who had nearly ruined Saul’s pursuit of Gudo.

He immediately stepped half a pace back, positioning himself within the shadows of the hall.

The battle in the courtyard was far from over. The first servant who had rushed out suddenly let out a shriek, then was split cleanly in two.

Only after the body hit the ground did the innards slowly spill out, forming a grotesque mess.

The wizard Karon, who had just been cleaved in two, reformed perfectly in the blink of an eye.

Once he recovered, he instantly threw up seven or eight layers of magical shields and activated several defensive magical tools.

Maken, who had some awareness of these things, immediately realized what was going on when he saw this.

His longtime friend was clearly no mere Second Rank apprentice!

Originally intending to check on the situation, the lord turned on his heel and bolted deep into the hall, clearly determined never to step outside again.

Saul observed this and thought, well, he wouldn’t laugh at someone only slightly more cowardly than himself.

Just then, the piercing voice of Wizard Karon echoed from the courtyard, “Lord Jassim! I’m so close to advancing to a Second Rank wizard—please, just a bit more time!”

A cold voice replied from the sky above.

“Deadlines are deadlines. No delay, no excuses. Besides, you’ve already been running for 43 years and 122 days.”

That merciless voice was accompanied by the repeated descent of the black blade.

Each time it fell, one of Karon’s carefully prepared defensive spells or enchanted tools would be destroyed.

“You must know I didn’t survive all these years without paying a price! I swear I’ll succeed this time—please, just a bit longer!”

This time, not even a cold reply came. Only the relentless black blade struck down again, shredding all of Karon’s defenses.

Facing a Second Rank wizard, Karon had no hope. As a last attempt, he raised his hands and shouted, “I have a Broken Goblet! If you give me ten more years, I’ll hand it over to you right now!”

There was a slight pause in the attacks from the sky.

Karon quickly looked around. “Don’t worry. If you kill everyone here, no one will know the goblet ever reached your hands. And as someone already hunted by the Tribunal, I won’t be alive to say anything.”

His words sent everyone, servants and officials alike, into a panic. Those with more nerve tried to flee, terrified out of their wits.

Saul didn’t move but readied himself internally.

The next second, the black blade fell again—this time chopping off Karon’s arms.

He let out a scream, and Saul felt a black shadow suddenly lunge toward him.

With a burst of mental power, Saul lashed out with Touch of Torment, whipping the shadow back.

The black shadow snapped back into Karon’s body, who let out another shriek.

At that moment, Jassim’s next attack landed. Karon had no way to dodge it now.

The damage couldn’t be transferred, and seeing that Saul was a true wizard, Karon realized he had no chance of escape.

“I see now. The incident in Bluewater Bay was your doing! The Broken Goblet…”

With gritted teeth, Karon suddenly separated his soul from his body.

His body exploded instantly.

There was no fire from the blast, but thick smoke spread like a fog bomb.

From within the fog, dozens of soul bodies began to flee.

Each one had indistinct features, similar to the soul-escape technique Gudo had used on the ship.

But Jassim, having seen this trick before, wasn’t fooled again.

He rubbed his hands together, and the black blade shattered into hundreds of shards, flying toward the escaping spirits.

Any fragment that hit a fleeing soul instantly turned it to dust.

Still, more than ten shrieked and scattered in all directions.

On their way out, they didn’t even try to avoid normal people—just passed straight through.

Any unfortunate soul they touched was immediately frozen stiff.

Seconds later, the black blade shards would pierce through the servant’s body and continue their pursuit.

Soon, corpses littered the courtyard.

Strangely, no one in the banquet hall was harmed.

Because Saul stood at the entrance, blocking every incoming spirit and blade shard.

He could tell that the shards weren’t as deadly as the full blade—likely just meant to identify the real target.

As he defended, Saul’s gaze remained fixed on the thick fog in the courtyard.

Back when Gudo had escaped, he had melted through the ship’s deck—could Karon be trying the same trick?

Suddenly, the bricks beneath Saul’s feet bulged upward, and a shadow slithered up his robe.

Then Little Algae, having snuck back, passed along a vague message.

A mischievous brow-wiggle kind of feeling.

“It’s done!” Saul’s heart stirred. He cast Breeze to dispel the fog from the courtyard.

Underneath, where the ground had been flat, now there was a hole. A soul jumped out from below.

Though its features were indistinct, Saul could tell this was Karon’s true self.

That soul cast a chilling gaze at Saul, and his skin crawled with cold.

But this time Saul didn’t look away. He stared right back.

The earlier conversation made it clear—Karon was the owner of the Broken Goblet.

Since that was the case, Saul would make sure the man died utterly and completely.

As Karon’s real body surfaced, the blade shards that had chased the false spirits suddenly reversed course and converged on the center from all sides—sky and ground included.

Clearly, Jassim had been prepared and wasn’t fooled by Karon’s decoy.

Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh

!

It was like the sound of rain on banana leaves. Saul squinted as he watched the blades punch holes through Karon’s soul like a sieve.

A surge of energy bled out, and the soul body quickly lost shape.

Saul stepped out of the hall and looked up—finally spotting Jassim floating in mid-air.

His face was expressionless. It seemed he had never once been tempted by the Broken Goblet—his only goal was to kill.

“He’s still weaker than Master Gorsa at Second Rank,” Saul thought.

After all, Gorsa always eliminated threats in the blink of an eye.

Just as Jassim was preparing a final strike, he suddenly paused.

He raised his left hand and looked at his wrist.

Down below, Karon—his soul already withered—burst into eerie laughter.

“Ahaha… HAHAHA… You’re out of time too! Hahaha—you came to kill me? You should’ve dealt with yo—”

His words were cut off.

The black blade dropped from the sky and split his soul in two.

The battered spirit deflated like a popped balloon and quickly dissolved into a puddle of black goo.

But Saul no longer cared about Karon. He now stared at Jassim, burning with curiosity about what this “time limit” meant.

Jassim turned his head to look at Saul. His face had paled, and his smile, compared to last time was oddly gentler.

“We meet again, Gorsa’s student. Thanks for exposing Karon’s real body. You saved me some time.”

“You’re welcome, Lord Jassim,” Saul replied with his signature obedient smile.

“You just used a dark element spell?”

“Yes, Lord Jassim.”

“Then it’s your luck you keep running into me.”

Saul’s smile froze. That sounded… weird.

Jassim suddenly raised his right hand and stuck his index finger into the back of his own skull.

“My belongings belong to the Tribunal and can’t be given away, but my knowledge can.”

He slowly withdrew his finger. At its tip writhed a small, black snake, which he tossed at Saul.

Saul’s heart skipped—he reached out to catch it, but the snake slithered straight into his forehead.

It dove directly into his mental realm and immediately prepared to strike—only to spot the diary floating above.

It froze with fear, curled up weakly in the air, not daring to move.

The diary gave no warning, which meant the snake wasn’t lethal.

Saul shifted his attention back to Jassim, now with a hint of hostility.

No matter if the snake was knowledge—Jassim’s approach was far too overbearing.

But Jassim, seeing Saul still standing unharmed, paused for a second and smiled again. “As expected of Gorsa’s student. Impressive talent—your mental strength is outstanding. Perhaps this wasn’t your luck at all, but mine.”

Without explaining further, he recalled the black blade, then stabbed it into his own forehead.

Thump!

His corpse fell from the sky, landing next to Karon’s blackened remains.

(End of Chapter)

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