"The one behind it was Lioran Lionheart! He’s the one who ordered us to attack the carriage and prevent it from reaching Crystalgard!"
As the Wanderer’s words echoed, Serys’s expression darkened. A complex look of disbelief flickered in her eyes.
Still, she didn’t say anything — she didn’t even try to deny it. It was as if part of her already suspected who was responsible.
"Lioran Lionheart? Who the hell is that supposed to be?" Daniel asked, genuinely confused. He had never even heard the name before.
However, the surname "Lionheart" wasn’t unfamiliar to him — not only was he aware of the family, but he was also somewhat acquainted with one of its descendants.
"He’s the heir to the Central Magic Tower. Well, it’s not official yet, but apparently there’s going to be a ceremony soon to make it official," Serys replied with a cold, tired sigh.
"Doesn’t sound like you’re fond of him," Daniel raised an eyebrow, staring at her with more curiosity.
In the past few hours of knowing her, Daniel had gotten a decent grasp of her personality. Hearing her talk about something with that much coldness and pain felt out of character.
After all, Serys came across as fairly extroverted and sociable — not someone who liked acting distant or cold.
So what had this Lioran guy done to make her hate him so much?
"He’s a piece of trash. A useless bastard who only has talent going for him. If it weren’t for that talent, he wouldn’t be anything but garbage."
"I’d appreciate it if, instead of swearing at the guy, you explained who he actually is," Daniel sighed and forced a smile. At the same time, he released a bit of moon energy to calm her mind.
"Sorry... I let my emotions get the better of me," Serys blinked and pulled herself together, looking a bit embarrassed.
"It’s fine. Just answer my question."
"Lioran is a direct descendant of the Lionheart family. I don’t know if you’re familiar with them, but they’re one of the most powerful families on the continent," she explained.
"Two years ago, when he turned eighteen, Lioran was sent to the Central Magic Tower. In fact, the Lionheart Patriarch himself came to my master and requested that his son be trained. Because my master had a good relationship with the Lionheart family head, he agreed."
"At first, everyone thought Lioran was a talentless loser. Complete trash. Even after arriving at the Tower, people constantly made fun of him, and no one took him seriously. But... because he seemed like a nice person — or at least, I thought so — I became friends with him so he wouldn’t feel lonely," Serys continued, pausing to let Daniel absorb the information.
"But then everything changed. That guy suddenly became insanely talented. So talented that he was able to understand 90% of the Tablet I told you about! That was a record — the highest among the new generation... well, except for that unknown one."
"As soon as his talents started showing, everything shifted — including Lioran himself. Everyone began to pay attention to him, help him, suck up to him. His whole life changed, and slowly, so did his personality — or maybe his true self finally started showing," she added bitterly.
"His talents got so ridiculous that he managed to clear the Tower of Seven Elements and even obtained a drop of blood from the Founder of the Magic Tower — which basically means he became the Founder’s successor."
"What a legendary rise," Daniel didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Serys’s explanation sounded like something straight out of a movie.
Still, it made him think. How does someone suddenly rise that fast? And if he was considered talentless when he entered the Tower at eighteen, that means he hadn’t awakened his class at the time.
Could it be that Lioran had undergone a second awakening like him? If Daniel could do it, why not others?
"So what exactly made you hate him? Because that level of hatred doesn’t sound normal."
"All the people who used to mock him suddenly began committing suicide... one after another. They all left behind letters saying they felt depressed and guilty for bullying Lioran. One of those people was my master’s daughter... someone more precious to me than even a sister," Serys’s voice trembled as tears formed in her eyes.
Daniel stayed silent. It was obvious the suicides were orchestrated.
But to go so far as to kill the daughter of the Magic Tower leader? That would take more than guts. And the fact that no one figured it out — or took action against him — was even more disturbing.
"Why hasn’t anyone stopped Lioran? Isn’t it obvious it’s his doing?"
"No... Everyone thought that at first, but after investigations, it was confirmed that during the time of each person’s death, Lioran had been with either high-ranking elders or even the Tower leader himself. We even used magic to try and reconstruct the time of death, and the result showed they all genuinely committed suicide."
"No way..." Daniel was stunned. At this point, only two possibilities remained — either the guy was unbelievably good at covering his tracks... or the killings really weren’t his doing.
"Then how are you so sure he was behind it?"
Serys didn’t answer immediately. Her eyes clouded with memories, and an icy, soul-piercing chill settled in her gaze.
"Because I saw it with my own eyes."
"What exactly did you see?" Daniel frowned. Her story wasn’t adding up.
If she saw him commit murder, why couldn’t she prove it? And why was there no evidence at all?
None of it made sense. And her storytelling felt too dramatic — couldn’t she just explain it normally?
"I saw him kill one of the lower-ranked mages... completely by chance. He used his Law to kill and then staged the scene to look like a suicide..."
"And do you think I didn’t try to tell someone? I told my master, but no one believed me. For a while, people even started calling me crazy. And that bastard kept acting like a good guy, trying to make himself look like some hero or whatever," she said with disgust.
"Since then, I had to stay quiet. I looked for evidence the whole time, but I couldn’t find anything."
Once again, Daniel didn’t respond. This time, even he was a bit stunned by this Lioran Lionheart.