Chapter 50
Pope Cecil broke the silence.
"Cassion, what have you discovered?"
Cassion replied respectfully. "The traces of leftover mana inside the ashes contain a horrid stench, and it is consistent with what Azek said. The mana is completely cold and black. But it isn't simply mana losing its liveliness; something very sinister is mixed inside as well. Although I can't be sure about it, my hypothesis is likely that he was a black mage in disguise. And the pattern on his heart noted by the priest resembles what had been found in a previous specimen as well. He had most likely incorporated black magic inside his heart by sacrificing his mana core and undergoing a ritual."
Silence enveloped the room again. Both King Lucian and the Pope wore ugly expressions.
Azek's ears perked up.
'Ritual?'
He didn't know about any kind of black magic ritual, so the information was most likely known only to higher-ups.
But judging by King Lucian's expression, it wasn't something beautiful.
King Lucian wore a complicated expression.
This had only been reported recently, and there was insufficient proof for the Ronian Kingdom incident.
So up until now, how black mages came into existence was something that was hypothesized, and the magic bomb was only speculation. But now they had been directly hit by a storm. It was likely that if Azek hadn't discovered the mana inspection spell and the purification process, the whole town would be up in ashes by now, and they wouldn't even know what had transpired.
Pope Cecil was still thinking about the reports and holy scripture records of black magic and linking everything together.
"Your Majesty!" he addressed the King.
"I think it's time, Your Majesty. The Saika Empire needs to pull its weight. Otherwise, I am afraid it will go down in ashes."
His tone was grim but still respectful.
The king nodded his head and sighed.
"For now, the church is to dispatch a cardinal to the North Front on an urgent basis. While the Magic Knight Brigade will prepare another batch of reinforcements."
He said and ended the call, putting his attention on the people surrounding the meeting table.
There were four people at the start of the meeting, but more people kept pouring in silently, and now the meeting hall was full.
Principal Theodore had also arrived at some point and was sitting beside Professor Sevile.
The palace had sent an urgent call, so he only grabbed Sevile and came immediately.
"Let's start the discussion."
King Lucian slowly spoke.
Roman, vice leader of the Magic Knight Brigade, immediately replied.
"Your Majesty, Sir Doris is already personally leading the force on the North and Northwest side. We only have a few hands free at the brigade, and the rest are engaged on other fronts. If we pulled them back, I am afraid we would end up in a precarious situation..."
"I need a solution, not your opinion."
The King cut Roman short.
He immediately closed his mouth.
Lucian then looked at Theodore.
Theodore replied respectfully.
"The academy can spare some hands if the royal brigade needs help. But I think first this matter needs to be discussed with the Magic Tower, and it's better if they conclude their investigation in the Ronian Kingdom now that we have reached a certain conclusion regarding black mages."
The Magic Tower in the Saika Empire focused on black magic investigation. Previously they were involved in defense as well, but in recent decades their focus had shifted to slowly researching black magic. Currently, quite a few of them were stationed at the abandoned territory of the Ronian Kingdom investigating the conspiracy.
Lucian nodded and slowly passed his verdict.
"It's time to get the King of Ronian to spill the beans. Get every information you can get your hands on and threaten to cut off the wheat supply if they resist.
The Blackthorn family will lead talks with the Magic Tower and convince them to issue personnel to lead the assault on the North Front with academy and Magic Knight Brigade people.
The Saika Empire will now be on Grade 2 alert for monster assaults. It's now a matter of survival, and we need to survive no matter what."
His voice was heavy. The people in the meeting room felt the weight behind his words. They weren't fighting it anymore. Now it had become a survival battle.
Theodore looked at the people and at King Lucian. Things were escalating out of hand at a faster speed, and now they had to put in everything they had to fight back the enemy now that they had caught its tail.
Up until now, it was a shot in the dark, but now, when things were becoming clear, King Lucian had decided to take the chance and would not let go.
He looked at Sevile, and Sevile gave a slight nod. They had already made significant progress in understanding the new spell Azek had demonstrated for mana command.
But now they would increase their speed and cut back on sleep to implement it in the academy.
What Azek had demonstrated was simple in words, but when they researched the spell, they were flustered by how difficult it was to actually execute it.
You need to have a certain level of intelligence coupled with a Grade 1 aptitude at minimum to even begin understanding it.
The professors had already pulled all-nighters nonstop just to grasp the basic theory behind it.
Now they had a professor, Serbian, who was an earth mage on the verge of completing his spell. If they succeeded, then it wouldn't be long before they started teaching it to students as well.
But the final hurdle of controlling excited mana wasn't something easy to overcome. So they had been stuck at it for a while now.
Now, with Serbian, they would have to pull him out and get him to completely focus on mana command.
Previously, Lucian had already given the order for them to produce more people capable of pulling off what Azek Willowheart had managed to do.
After all, a single person wouldn't be able to defend every single location. And now they would have to dispatch people to the Northwest Front as well to help the Knight Brigade.
Sevile sighed. A storm was brewing, threatening to engulf the empire. And they had to prepare with everything they had.
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