152 Part 2
Every moment from finding the book of dragons, dying of poison in his previous life, managing to go back in time, the moment he met the gold dragon when the dragon soldiers and the bone dragon had attacked Ian had been planned by Fran Page. Only one of the events, the invasion of the dragon soldiers and the bone dragon was a different story since people strived to find someone else to blame. However, it also seemed to be part of Fran’s picture when considering its cause and effect.
‘While I can’t be certain…’ Ian could not be certain since he had no evidence, but supposing that everything was true.. ‘There is not any.’
The dragons had never hurt Ian, as they said that they had not even known him before.
‘……’
Ian could not speak a word, since he had nothing logical to oppose what Atar Haka was saying if his suppositions and the situation he was placed in were right.
[This is an advice and a request, so think carefully what the right choice would be and who would be your true enemy.]
The darkness disappeared with those words, and Atar Haka also vanished without a trace.
‘My true enemy…’
Light flooded in, and the world became familiar again like the conversation had taken mere seconds.
‘Let’s move.’
Ian put the thoughts at the back of his head since he had no time to be pondering over things. He had to keep moving even as the thought.
‘To the next destination.’
Ian’s immediate goals were combining ‘the power of language’ and ‘the black magic’ and evolving them to discover the weakness in the Immortal Troops in one swoop. He needed to be more knowledgeable in black magic than he was now to achieve this plan.
‘The former Lord of the Ivory Tower, Herbert Leon.’
He needed ‘Herbert Leon’ who had achieved greater heights regarding black magic, and actually wanted to know the ‘method’ through Herbet had managed to learn the expertise.
‘He had not learned them just through a few books he had secretly attained.’
While Ian had wandered around the world freely in his previous life, Herbert had spent most of his entire life now and before in the capital and the Ivory Tower. He would have had little chance of learning and researching black magic, as there are strict regulations. However, he must have had a supply since he had been discovered as a highly skilled black magician.
‘I’ll know when I ask him.’
Ian activated a teleport spell and arrived at a mountain outside the capital, where Herbert had tried to revive himself as undead after execution. The place where Ian had burned Herbert’s body was exactly as he had left it.
‘I thought I would never do something like this.’
While Ian had never chosen this method if he had time since Ian disliked such ways, he had no choice since time was of the essence.
“The cursed spirit who can never sleep under earth and hate.”
Ian started ‘necromancy,’ which he had learned in his previous life, but had never used.
“Rise.”
Eerie haze with malicious aura gathered around, and they must be the wandering spirits that had been buried in the mountains.
“Wake.”
The haze circled around Rei with bizarre cries like screams.
“Return.”
The spirits began to take the form of humans when the spell reached the third stage.
“Herbert Leon.”
However, all the others ran away when Ian spoke a specific name, leaving one behind in front of Ian.
(You, you are…?)
The voice from the spirit was definitely not human, and Ian felt chills just by hearing it.
(You, how dare you…!)
That chilling voice became similar to a human until it sounded like an angry old man.
“Old man, it has been a long time.”
Ian had summoned Herbert Leon, the former Lord of the Ivory Tower, and had degenerated several magicians, including Helene into his servants.
(Yooooou!)
“I should just eradicate you if you are going to keep saying only that.”
(……!)
The shouts died out at Ian’s words, as the threat that would completely remove Herbert’s soul from this world worked.
“While I know that you will get excited seeing me, how about talking first? I need your experience.”
(You, what are you doing?)
“I said I have something to ask you.”
Herbert’s soul glared at Ian, but he did not scream as he had before.
“I can give you a body.”
(What? Will you give me a body? You?)
“If a body made of patchwork parts is all right.”
(It doesn’t matter! I’ll take over! Give me the body, and I’ll give you answers you desire…!)
“No, answer first.”
(How can I trust you?!)
“Don’t, since I have nothing to lose. I can get the answer elsewhere, but just came to you because it seemed like the quickest way.”
Ian turned around without hesitation, and Herbert’s spirit blocked Ian from going like an arrow.
(Wait! Stop! I’ll speak! Please!)
Herbert seemed to have gone insane from hate and emptiness, or had he died like that?
“My question is simple. You could not have learned that level of black magic alone, especially when you were tied to the position of the Lord of the Ivory Tower. I guessed you had received information and objects related to black magic from elsewhere, and where was it? Is there a black magician guild still active somewhere in the shadows?”
Herbert’s spirit answered with a laugh full of ridicule.