Chapter 167: Luring the Wolf into the Trap

Claire arrived with a broad smile and left with a darkened face.

However, he was quite satisfied with Rando's efficiency and progress, and this time, he parted with his money willingly.

In the past, when he pleaded poverty to Rando, it was merely out of an arcanist's instinct. As the tenth seat of the Ancient Necromancy School, he naturally wasn't short of such resources.

They temporarily left the Seed of the Evil God in the secret chamber untouched because the two discovered that, aside from the array absorbing the city's emotions—which they tentatively named the "Desire Array"—the runes also contained some monitoring runes, likely intended to check the status of the Seed of the Evil God.

Even with their extensive knowledge, the two could not separate these runes in a short time. Since Claire's time away from the academy each day was limited, completing the preparations would take several days. To avoid alerting the enemy prematurely, they naturally chose not to touch the Seed of the Evil God rashly.

Over the next few days, Rando held down the fort in the secret chamber, maintaining the appearance that everything was business as usual, while Claire came to the location every night to make preparations.

Because the opponent's strength was unknown, Claire had spared no expense this time—which was evident from the occasional twitch of his mouth, as his "money-sprinkling" behavior had cost him dearly.

Rando had not been idle during this time either. Besides shearing the wool off the Tolanxi family to his heart's content, he also studied the newly acquired Seed of the Evil God. This Seed of the Evil God was already fully cultivated; although it still lacked a bit in total energy volume, its essence vaguely surpassed the legendary tier. Moreover, it was extremely compatible with his current Mind Image Space. If he were to grant it consciousness and nurture it attentively in the future, it might become a fine helper.

Between his studies, Rando would also wake up Bridger from time to time to inquire about more details regarding the "Dark Cult."

There was one matter that particularly concerned Rando. Cultivating the Seed of the Evil God by setting up evil rituals to gather extreme negative emotions was originally Bridger's responsibility, and he generally had the freedom to choose his targets.

However, strangely enough, every time the Grand Prelate came to claim the Seed of the Evil God, he would designate several target locations and instruct Bridger to hold the rituals there.

Sensing that something was amiss, Rando shared this with Claire, who also felt that the matter was not right. Just to be safe, Claire used his spatial attainments to go and inspect the sites. Aside from a town reduced to ruins, he found nothing particularly special.

Nonetheless, their preparations here were drawing to a close, and they believed that once they captured the Grand Prelate, many problems would be readily solved.

............

Time slowly passed, and a week went by in the blink of an eye.

Deep in the mountains somewhere in the northern part of the empire, inside a secret chamber styled after the "Dark Cult," a figure draped in a black cloak sat cross-legged in the center of the room, facing a blurred outline carved into the western wall.

Suddenly, the black-robed figure's form trembled slightly, snapping out of a prolonged state of meditation.

He sat cross-legged in a dazed state for a short moment before realizing why he had suddenly regained consciousness.

The black-robed figure first paid a pious obeisance to the blurred outline on the wall, then stood up and walked over to the northern wall.

The wall was still carved with various historical deeds, but the protagonists of the stories had been replaced by various Seeds of the Evil Gods.

There was a Seed of the Evil God with the head of an insect and the body of a man, engaged in bloody combat.

There was a Seed of the Evil God resembling a giant octopus covered in endless tentacles, wandering through the void.

There was a formless and intangible Seed of the Evil God, threading through the minds of sentient lifeforms.

There was a handsome-looking Seed of the Evil God, cloaked in holy radiance, receiving the worship of all living beings.

............

Most of these carvings were ordinary, but a few of them emitted an unusual glow.

The formless and intangible Seed of the Evil God, which traversed the minds of sentient lifeforms, was precisely one of them.

At this moment, the radiance upon this Seed of the Evil God was rippling slightly, as if it were suffering some kind of interference.

The black-robed figure pondered for a brief moment, then stood up and walked out of the secret chamber.

Upon stepping outside, it was just morning. The warm sunlight poured onto the black-robed figure, giving him a long-lost sense of warmth.

"Cough... Cough cough..."

A violent fit of coughing interrupted the peaceful atmosphere. When he lowered the hand covering his mouth, traces of blood bloomed across his palm.

"Is my body about to give out? It seems that before the new Grand Prelate is born, the 'Dark Cult' should re-enter a state of dormancy. Fortunately, after these few hundred years, my god's injuries have been pulled back from the brink of death. Perhaps before long, autonomous awakening can be achieved."

"Cough cough... Anyway, this time when I go out, I shall eliminate all those unstable elements within the 'Dark Cult,' especially my dear brother and my lovely nephew."

After murmuring to himself, the black-robed figure took another deep breath, feeling the beauty of this world, and his figure slowly faded away.

Not much time passed before the black-robed figure arrived outside Ragnor City. At this moment, the city still maintained an atmosphere of peace and tranquility, singing and dancing in prosperity.

Sensing that the array was still functioning, the black-robed figure nodded. A hazy layer of light and shadow draped over his body, causing everyone to turn a blind eye to him.

He arrived at the City Lord's Mansion and walked straight in. Reaching the vicinity of the small lake, he paused. After a moment of thought, the black-robed figure gently tweaked a node of the array.

This action not only caused everyone in the entire Ragnor City to experience a sudden leap in their hearts, inexplicably feeling a momentary surge of irritation, but it also caused a figure in the secret chamber beneath the lake to abruptly snap open his eyes.

Waiting for a moment, the black-robed figure narrowed his eyes. Just as he was about to do something further, the lake water slowly parted, and "Bridger" appeared before him.

"Apologies, Milord. My cultivation was a bit too engrossing," "Bridger" said, bowing apologetically.

The black-robed figure remained noncommittal regarding this explanation.

"The item? How is it?"

"Milord, it has matured, waiting only for you to claim it."

With that, "Bridger" made a gesture of invitation, then naturally turned around to lead the way toward the secret chamber.

This posture of exposing his weakness entirely before him reassured the black-robed figure somewhat. Moreover, the power he sensed from the other party was purely calm, without the slightest shred of malice, which slightly soothed his churning emotions.

Following behind "Bridger," he crossed the narrow door of the secret chamber. Every time he passed through this door, the black-robed figure felt like saying something, but he also knew this was to preserve the integrity of the array inside the secret chamber—once the runes were carved, only this much space remained to form the chamber door. Therefore, he kept his silence, though inwardly he couldn't help lamenting that it would have been better had the secret chamber been built larger at the start.

"Milord, the Seed of the Evil God has matured."