"Old Sen, I have an idea."
Rowena said, "I plan to disband the Divine Attendants."
"That’s up to you to decide."
Ethan said on the other end of the phone, having little interest in this archaic organization.
Meanwhile, he was discussing a far more impactful matter with the Great Mages at the Mage Tower.
The phone conversation lasted a long time.
Ethan faced the Great Mages of the Mage Tower once again, all of them astonished by Detective Ethan’s investigation findings.
The Scholar was murdered by Kadela’s successor? The plan was to prevent the treasure from falling into others’ hands? And the murderer returned to the Mage Tower overnight, ultimately being killed by them?
What on earth is this?
This was a scenario they couldn’t even dream up, and some among them had quite a few complaints about Rowena.
They pointed out that Rowena barged into their laboratory last night and assaulted them with a strange loaf of bread, causing many to sleep soundly until dawn.
That was truly... too barbaric!
Simply not the behavior of a magician!
They prided themselves as the paragons among mages, adhering to courtly noble etiquette, maintaining decorum during magical duels whenever possible.
"I haven’t mentioned the purpose of my visit to the Mage Tower."
As soon as Ethan spoke, the complaints and discussions vanished, with all the Great Mages focusing their gaze on him. They couldn’t help but find the scene peculiar—technically, it was supposed to be a meeting among Great Mages, so why was an Elemental Shaper leading the meeting?
Considering the development prospects of Elemental Shapers and magicians within the Empire over the years, Elemental Shapers could barely get much speaking time at major magical conferences.
"A few months ago, I discussed the current state of magicians with the Scholar, exploring the matter of ascending to become a Saint."
Upon hearing this, all the Great Mages perked up, with some immediately pulling out parchment and feather pens, as if they were apprentices attending a mentor’s lecture.
They could only express that a Saint and an Elemental Shaper couldn’t be equated, yet they still had to listen to Ethan’s words.
What if there’s still a chance of ascending?
Then wouldn’t they become the only Great Mages to ascend to Saint in a millennium?
"But it turned out, our discussion at that time was flawed."
He had just received the latest intelligence from Rowena, indicating that those intending to block the path of ascension weren’t just the bogus Kadela; the God of Trickery seemed uninterested in more Saints emerging.
He only left a treasure behind, whereas all the Great Mages present were unfortunate "competitors."
Fated to remain at the fourth tier for life was their destined fate.
"The path of ascension has been sealed. Given the current state, no matter how hard you try, there’s no way to advance further."
The Great Mages lost their composure, with someone urgently standing up from their chair. Despite them not remembering when any Saints last emerged among them, a fleeting hope still lingered in their hearts.
And Ethan’s previous remarks were equivalent to snuffing out that final bit of fire.
"Because this is the God of Trickery’s decision."
Ethan stated a fact, that to Him, followers might never matter. However, this was an internal affair among magicians, and as an outsider, he wasn’t inclined to comment further. Content originally comes from n0velfire.net
"You mean we should give up?"
The vice president clenched his fist.
His never-ending thirst for knowledge and wisdom seemed invalidated when Ethan uttered those words, rendering all his lifelong efforts and the joy of acquiring knowledge meaningless.
"I’m saying you should change your strategy."
"Rebuild the magical network."
In an instant, the room fell silent, even the previously dozing Lindong perked up and cast a surprised glance.
Ethan said, "The Elemental Shapers from the Academy worked with the magicians during the First Epoch."
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Another "Puppet Meeting" was beginning.
Within the false Kadela’s knowledge was stored detailed methods for holding meetings, which could be considered his greatest achievement in life, also gaining the approval of the God of Trickery.
Rowena shifted her gaze and found herself already in the large meeting room, the chairs around the square table occupied with mannequins.
This was a structure filled with ecclesiastical flair, with stained glass overhead and walls seemingly depicting scenes of humans battling Old Gods. She saw wriggling shadows, twisted flesh, and people taking up weapons, fighting each other while a gigantic eye opened beneath the dark sea.
Why are they... all familiar faces?
Rowena, while adapting to the stiff puppet body, complained internally.
All seniors with "old" titled names, it seems that Old Sen has indeed been getting too close to the Old Gods.
Compared to the usual casual meeting style, this meeting room was teeming with undercurrents, with more and more souls hearing the call, descending onto the puppets.
"Kadela, how’s the matter with the Mage Tower?"
One of the puppets asked.
Last night, they originally intended to finalize the plan to collectively attack the Mage Tower but were stopped by Kadela.
—He would end it all.
Kadela seemed quite confident at that time, so they could only wait for the next puppet meeting’s arrival.