The news that the Helirox School of Magic had been destroyed shocked the entire empire, and it was unbelievable to know that it was Reokes.

Before they had time to comprehend the conspiracy, the unbelievable upheavals that followed made people secretly speculate: What is wrong with this world?

His Majesty was slain by his favorite and most trusted Prince Theo, along with the captain of the Royal Knights, Larens, and the northern defenses were once again attacked by the barbarians, and Artac, Gronn, and Galic were locked in a bitter battle, and food was once again a major issue of life and death for the entire North.

The rebellion of the Empire intensified, and even the Thrandians began to get involved, armed themselves with looted weapons, captured a city to the east, and said that Thrand was no longer under the rule of the Empire, in other words, they declared war on the Empire!

In the past, this would have been extremely stupid, the Iron Hoof of the Royal Knights would have been able to pacify the Thranders in a few days, however, due to the death of the Legion Commander Larens and the suspicious events that had happened in Sasson, the Royal Knights were ordered to undergo reorganization, which meant that the local authorities could only rely on themselves to deal with the Thranders.

Originally, Galik, as a military fortress in the northeast, may have been able to send troops to help quell the rebellion of the Thrands, but unfortunately, in the face of the plight of barbarians and severe food shortages, Galik is now too busy to take care of himself, in fact, not only Galik, but several border areas are in a dilemma of lack of food.

Sasson, after being closed to the outside world for half a month, finally came out with some news: because Prince Theo assassinated his father, His Majesty King Eagle for unknown purposes, he was finally declared to be stripped of his inheritance rights and imprisoned, and the throne was inherited by the relatively young third prince Rege, and as his uncle, Prince Glenn appeared among the Sassen nobles with a new look, and announced that he would help the young King Majesty govern the country.

Prince Gran, who was just a wretched creature who didn't know when he would be given poisoned wine by the old king, and there were many clever fellows among the nobles of Sasson, who immediately thought that perhaps Prince Gran was behind this series of events.

But it was hard for them to imagine that this stupid and ridiculous fat pig could have the support of the royal magician, no, that fat pig would never be able to do this!

Not all the nobles agreed with this decision, and some of them were opposed, but the fellows were killed before the second council, and one poor creature had even escaped from his house and was killed in front of everyone in the street, and afterwards, Jerry Belfort of the Royal Society of Magic and Wizarding Society turned the matter to vendetta and grabbed a few ruffians.

As a result, the nobles chose to remain silent, acquiescing to this reality while accepting Prince Gran's wooing.

As the most important succession to the throne of the empire, it ended in such a ridiculous and absurd ending, but the nobles of Sassen chose to be silent, which does not mean that the local forces are silent. Sbinho and a number of other local cities first questioned the matter, refusing to recognize the rule of the new regime headed by Prince Gran, and then the merchants of Operills, the richest city of the empire, declared the city self-governing, stopped paying huge taxes to Sasson, and used large sums of money to form the Knights.

If Artak's lack of support meant that Sassen had lost control of the local frontiers, then Operilles' declaration of autonomy meant that Sassen had lost the support of the entire merchant class, in other words, the empire had lost about 70 percent of the country's huge tax revenue, which was the most fatal blow to Sassen!

In order to get the merchants of Operiels to take back that damn proclamation, the Royal Knights, who had not yet learned what was going on, hurried to the entire southern ...... No, it was the richest city in the entire empire, but unexpectedly, the newly formed knights of the merchants of Operiels actually blocked the attack of the royal knights.

In the wizarding world, which everyone is concerned about, the Wizard Tower [Vander] opened the most powerful magical enchantment and gathered the Riox faction The dark mage strongly accused Jerry Belfort, the vice president of the Royal Society of Magicians, of uniting with the necromancer to destroy Helry Oaks for his own ambitions, but Jerry Belfort of course denied it.

As a result, the Imperial Dark Mage split into two forces, one was based on the mage Tavandel, the original Riox faction and the Vandel faction, and the other was based on the [Gray] next to the Sassen Mage Tower, headed by Jerry Belfort, the [McJik Ward] faction of the Grong School of Magic.

It is worth mentioning that although Jerry Belfort flatly denied his cooperation with the necromancers, he could not quibble with those necromancers who possessed Vando, and Jerry Belfort chose to remain silent at this point.

For a time, it seemed that all the spearheads were pointed at the empire, the orcs in the west, the barbarians in the north, and Salonia in the south, plus the rebellions that appeared from time to time in various regions...... Finally, the empire has finally fallen into chaos, prices are inflated, internal and external troubles are in danger, and the situation of this ancient dynasty is precarious, and perhaps with a little more effort, the whole country will be on the verge of collapse.

Almost every local city was absorbing mercenaries to form armies, and the prestige of the Imperial City of Sassen had fallen to its lowest point ever.

War has become a topic that everyone must talk about after dinner, and it is not difficult to predict that the entire empire will go through a dark period that is not short...... Ambitious men have thrown themselves into the armies because they realize that this may be an opportunity, but for some women, the inflation of prices caused by the country's chaos is their primary concern, such as, Dia?

Once again, Dia has returned to her hometown, a small town called Assi in the southern region of Djerbat, which seems to have not been affected except for the frequent rise in the price of food, and can be regarded as a peaceful and harmonious city.

"Yo, Dia, there's fresh wild boar today!"

"Thanks, Uncle Nick, I want some ......"

"Oh, no problem!"

At a stall in the market, Dia carried a small basket and chatted with the stall owner with a smile.

"By the way, Uncle Nick, what's the news lately?"

"What's the news?" said the bearded Uncle Nick, rubbing his chin, "the situation has been very unstable lately, and I heard that Sassen is at war with a southern city...... And that damn tax, each time heavier and heavier, it's already increased three times this month alone, and if it goes on like this, I'd rather go to the army than go hunting!"

"Hee-hee!" Dia snickered as she covered her mouth and pulled some coins out of her pocket.

"It's definitely not a joke!" Uncle Nick said very seriously, and after taking the coin from Dia, he thought about it, returned some of it, and said with a smile, "Count you cheaper!"

"This ......"

"That's it!" Uncle Nick smiled and picked up the rag on the side, wiped his hands, and said with a smile, "How is your father?"

"I haven't heard from my father since my mother died, and I heard that he was in the city next door...... But I didn't touch ......."

"Tsk, that guy is really, it's not me who said, if I had a well-behaved daughter like you, I wouldn't have time to laugh, that guy...... I never look for reasons in myself, I can't say anything nice, I will never think about being promoted in this life, he will be suitable for the army, I really can't figure out how your mother could take a fancy to him!"

"Uncle Nick!"

"Alright," Uncle Nick said awkwardly, then glanced at Dia and teased, "that little guy came with you?

"This ......" Dia's face couldn't help but turn red, and she couldn't speak.

"Don't be deceived like your mother......"

"No!" Dia said with a blushing face.

"Hehe, that's right," said Uncle Nick, shaking his head happily, and then as if thinking of something, "by the way, why don't you send that little fellow to Old Val's shop as an apprentice, it's an errand anyway...... Actually, I feel that it would be best to join the army, and the pay is very good, even if it is an ordinary little ghost......"

"Soth is no ordinary little ...... Imp!" interrupting Uncle Nick's words, Dia said seriously, "He's a magician!"

"Magic ...... Magician?" Uncle Nick was visibly surprised.

"Yes, he and I are also students of Reox Academy, and he is much more powerful than me!" Dia smiled slightly, and pointed to the basin next to her with her fingertips, and immediately, the water in the basin quickly swirled, forming a whirlpool.

"Don't ...... Don't let people see it!" Uncle Nick's face showed a little anxiety, and he looked left and right and whispered, "You little ghost, don't you know that magicians are going to be forcibly recruited into the army now!"

Dia playfully stuck out her tongue and lifted the spell.

"You kid," Uncle Nick shook his head helplessly, and then kindly persuaded, "Why don't you ask that little imp to go hunting in the mountains with me, if you are a man, you will have to carry the burden of the family......"

"No, Sotha ......"

"It's decided, call that little imp to me tomorrow!"

"This ...... Thank you, Uncle Nick, but I'd like to talk to him about it...... I don't want to force him to ......"

"You child, how can you be the same as your mother...... Okay, okay, let's talk about it and tell me!"

"Well, thank you, Uncle Nick!"

After saying goodbye, Dia bought some fresh vegetables and the necessary bread, and walked home with the basket.

The early summer of the empire was not hot, and Dia liked sunny weather the most, but her heart could not do it like the weather at this time.

Myself...... What a selfish man!

Looking at the clear sky, Dia sighed secretly.

I watched the collapse of Reox Academy with my own eyes, and I heard with my own ears that many professors died in that battle, but ...... Anyway, I still don't want anything to happen to him...... Alas!

Sighing slightly, Dia walked to a very ordinary house and gently pushed the door open.

"I'm back!"

"Hmm!" a response came from the old sofa in the living room, and a boy who seemed to be thirteen or fourteen years old was lying on the sofa with his hands on his pillows, his eyes slightly out of focus looking at the ceiling.

"Are you awake?" said softly, walking quietly over to the boy, "What's wrong, South?"

"Ah, nothing!" Shaking his head slightly, the boy stood up, his right arm, his bare upper body covered with black tattoos, like a ferocious beast, and on his left arm, there was a completely different white tattoo, which looked like a thorn pattern wrapped in a magic circle.

Picking up a coat from the sofa and putting it on, the boy turned his head and saw that the girl was a little depressed, and asked in surprise, "What's wrong?"

"No," Dia shook her head, holding up the basket in her hand, and said lightly, "The breakfast is made of broth, so it won't feel greasy, right?"

"Oh, it's okay!" the boy smiled reluctantly, as if on his mind.

"That'...... That's good," Dia sighed slightly, and pulled herself together and walked towards the kitchen, where her voice came over, "Huh, Soth, did you see the flint and steel in the kitchen?"

"Flint?" said the boy in amazement, as he walked towards the kitchen, "Didn't you lose it yesterday?

"Huh, I forgot about it completely......

"Whew!" Looking at Dia's surprised expression, the boy shook his head helplessly, raised his hand, and heard a snap, and flames suddenly burst out of the furnace.

"Isn't that enough?—no flint and steel is needed!"

"No!" Dia shook her head and said seriously, "Uncle Nick said that the guards of this nearby city have recently forcibly recruited magicians into the army, so we can't use magic anymore, and ...... You don't need magic to do housework, do you?"

"Yes," the boy sighed helplessly, shaking his head, "I don't know why you want to study magic......

"Hee-hee, it was just for a good wish, Royal Magician......" Speaking of this, Dia's voice stopped abruptly, and the atmosphere in the kitchen was a little depressing.

Leaning against the wall, watching Dia silently wash the meat she had bought, the boy whispered, "Is this neighborhood going to be affected by the war too?"

"Well, maybe," replied softly, Dia whispered, "I just heard from Uncle Nick that there was a war between Sassen and a city in the south some time ago......"

"First in the Northeast, Brownhill, Jacobsemb, and even Galik, then in the east, the cities in the east were attacked by the Thrands, and now it is Sassen who is at war against the cities of the South......"

"But not here yet, is it?" interrupting the boy, Dia smiled and said, "Although the situation is a bit chaotic now, everything will be fine, you said that, Soth!"

"Oh, is it your turn to comfort me in turn?" the boy shook his head angrily, then walked over, rolled up his sleeves, and said, "Is there anything you want me to help with?"

"Not at all!"

"Yes......"

Gently kicked out of the kitchen by Dia, the boy returned to the living room and continued to lie on the sofa looking boredly at the ceiling.

Reox ...... Doesn't it exist anymore?!

The old man who was always smiling, the respected Grand Magician Gretel Keynes...... [Little one, where are you from?]

[West, Lorne's West!]

[Luo ...... Kid, lying isn't a commendable thing!]

[I don't think it's a commendable thing to be unreasonably suspicious of what others say!]

[Hehehe, I'm sorry, but unfortunately, you don't meet the admission criteria!]

[Honorable Magician, do you mean Article 3?]

[Hehehe, what a funny little guy...... What if I say yes?]

[Then I'll have to go back, after all, you're a respected archmagician!]

...... [How's it going, little one?oh yes, the last game was outstanding!]

[Thank you for the compliment, as for the ...... It's okay!]

[Oh, that's good, don't forget, you still owe the academy 500 gold coins, it's 500 gold coins a year!]

[Yes Yes ......]

[hehehe......]

...... Was it killed by Argus? The old man ...... and Reox, who has lived on his own for three years...... Argus...... What the hell are you thinking?

It's none of his business, and with the power that Argus had at the time, even if he stayed, it wouldn't make any difference!

That guy was definitely the [Apostle] of some great demon like himself, and he was much more powerful than himself at the time...... What are you anxious about?

There is no intersection between this world and oneself!

Not...... Maybe there's a little bit of an intersection, Dia...... Well, it may ...... Allen, Scott, Lavia...... And Professor Hodd...... "Tsk!"

Speaking of which, how are they doing now?

Isn't there a sense of loss in the same way?

No, what the world will become is not related to you at all, right?

Yes, it doesn't matter!

I never wanted to stand in the center of this stage, so I ...... Now the only one who has a headache is Sloth!

Since that time, the sleepy guy has been awake, could he have figured it out?

Say that the contract is true, and say that after his death his soul will be used as the key to his unsealing, that bastard...... Speaking of which, does that guy know how to break the seal?

Inexplicably devouring a human soul, you can break this seal? Sure enough, the most important thing is to forget, right?

Tut!

Originally, there was no soul in the world I was in, but after I died, I signed this inexplicable contract with an inexplicable big demon, I really damn it!

However, there are still decades before that, and as Slos himself said, as long as he no longer uses his power, the contract on his body will slow down the devouring speed...... yes, Reochs or something, it shouldn't be his own concern at all, that Argus guy is crazy, no one can stop this crazy man who is bent on ruining the country, and this crazy guy has so much power in his hands...... What I should be thinking about now should be Dia, right? the person I clearly want to protect...... Well, nothing else!

But why is there such a feeling of depression?

"Soth?"

"Hmm?" Soth subconsciously raised his head, saw Dia looking at him curiously, and asked in surprise, "What...... What's wrong?"

"Breakfast is ready!"

"Oh," said Soth, smiling with relief, as he walked over to the table and sat down, took the bread from Dia, and said hesitantly, "Town...... Hmm, when you go out today, do you hear that you need help?"

"Yay?" Dia, who was serving the soup, looked at Soth in a daze, and then seemed to understand something, and said with a smile, "Do you care, Soth?"

"Of course," the boy said angrily after taking the broth from Dia, "do you think I'm a little ghost who can't do anything, even if I don't rely on magic, ......" As he spoke, he was stunned, he was familiar with the life of the Reox Academy, but he didn't know much about this strange world, what could he do without using magic?

As if seeing the boy's strange expression, Dia was slightly amused, pretending not to see it, picked up a piece of bread, and said cautiously, "Actually, Uncle Nick has told me about it, but I don't think I need to pay too much attention to it......"

"What's that going on, what does that uncle do?"

"Uncle Nick is a hunter......"

"Hunting......" The boy was stunned, thinking about something in his heart.

As if seeing through the boy's thoughts, Dia chuckled and said, "There are no hunters who hunt with fireballs!"

"Hmm, isn't it?"

"No," shaking her head, Dia said seriously, "The situation of the mage is very delicate now, various cities are expanding their armies, and if they are known to use magic, they will definitely be forcibly conscripted into the army!"

The boy who was biting the bread was stunned and said strangely, "Use a trap or something?"

"Hmm!" Dia nodded as a matter of course, and then, she sighed slightly, and whispered, "Maybe it won't be long before even the town is as peaceful as it is now......

Glancing at Dia, Soth took a bite of the bread and comforted, "It's going to be fine!"

"Hmm!"

At this moment, Soth, who was biting on the bread, suddenly stopped the movement of his hand, looked at the door with sharp eyes, and his right hand unconsciously flashed a trace of fire.

"Soth?"

Raising his hand, he interrupted Dia's words, as he felt a very strong dark force standing outside the house.

"Tuk tuk!" there was a knock on the door.

The boy slowly stood up and said to the soldier puppet Sojath, who was sitting against the wall and napping near the door, "Open the door, Sojess!"

"Oh!" the sluggish soldier puppet nodded stunned, the puppet that had absorbed the master's magic for a long time had become similar to an ordinary human, except for the faint stripes on his face that would reveal his identity, it was really hard to believe that he was just a puppet made of special metal.

With a "squeak", the door opened, and a familiar cheerful voice came from outside the door.

"What a clear morning, praise God...... Yo, good morning!"

"......" Soth, who was on high alert, twitched the corners of his mouth as he looked at the grinning man outside the door, lifted the magic in his hand, and said angrily, "It's you, aren't you on a trip?"

Beside him, Dia shouted in surprise, "Ulrik?"

It turned out that the owner of that dark force turned out to be the vampire Ulrik.

"It's me...... It's a pleasure to see you again, kind young lady!" After entering the door, Ulrike made a very formal manner, then looked at the morning on the table and said with a sad face, "If you don't mind, can you give me one? I haven't eaten anything in three days......"

"Is this what a nobleman should say?" the boy in the chair rolled his eyes.

"Of course," said Dea, smiling slightly, as she stood up and pointed to the table, "You sit down first, and I'll prepare a set of cutlery for you." With that, she walked towards the kitchen.

Seeing Ulrik staring at the food on the table with his eyes shining, Sosto churned his chin and said, "Hey, haven't you gone on a trip? What is God's will...... Why are you coming back?"

"I thought they'd like my music, but I didn't make a single copper coin......"

"You guy...... Who likes music from hundreds of years ago?"

"Alas, can't you travel around without money?" Alas, what a failure......

"Hmph!" the boy looked at the vampire with a sad face angrily, and said angrily, "Then why are you coming back......?"

"Exactly!" interrupting Soth, Ulrik said in a very calm tone, "Looks like it's going to bother you for a while......

"Hey, hey, what do you mean?"

"Am I not clear enough!" Ulrik looked at the boy in surprise, and then, seeing Dia come out of the kitchen, stood up very gentlemanly, took the cutlery she had handed her, and thanked him very gentlemanly.

"Isn't that great," said Dea with a smile as she handed Ulrik a loaf of bread, "but Ulrik you can't use magic, well, that's the ......."

"Oh, I've heard about this," Nodding his head, Ulrik said earnestly, "The cities are expanding their armies, aren't they? Except for Vander, the mages who are not protected by the local Magic Guild have joined the local army because they are threatened...... There is no way, the magician has a powerful destructive power, and if he can join the army, he will definitely be able to help him win......" He took a sip of broth, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and continued, "During this time, I have been to several cities, and the central and local authorities of this country have been unable to communicate, and many cities do not recognize the new king, of course, mainly against the prince who governs the country in his place......"

"Prince Gran?"

"Yes, he and Argus plotted this plot to usurp the throne, alas, that could have happened...... Prince Gran should be the biggest beneficiary of this conspiracy!"

"I think it's Argus!" said Soth, biting into the bread, with a sneer.

"Perhaps," Ulrike nodded in agreement, frowning, "Argus has succeeded in provoking civil strife in the Empire, and if this continues, this beautiful country will ......," he said, pausing and hesitantly saying, "When I was traveling, I had news of Argus, he is now in Sasson, and he has no unusual behavior, but ......"

"But what?"

"It's strange that he seems to have built something north of Sassen, and recruited a large number of civilians for this, what does that man want to do?" said Ulrique, shaking his head and sighing, "Sassen now, I heard that it is very chaotic, as if there is still a war with the merchants of the south, because those merchants refuse to pay Sassen a huge tax......"

Looking at the rich broth on the plate, the boy said lightly, "It doesn't matter what...... he said, he pinched the soup spoon in his hand, and said in an inexplicable tone, "Reoks ......"

As if to understand the meaning of Soth's words, Ulrik put down the spoon, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and whispered, "I heard that seventeen professors died, including the archmage...... Now that the professors have almost moved to Vanderle, they should be fine......"

"Seventeen?"

"yes, I don't know which seventeen professors they were, I just heard those mercenaries on my travels, Argus...... That man is so powerful, it's a nightmare, maybe he's the most powerful ...... of you humans."

"You're wrong," Soth said lightly, glancing at Ulrique, "Argus...... He can't be considered a human anymore!" After saying that, he added in his heart, including himself...... "That's right," Ulrike frowned and said, "I've always been very skeptical about the source of his dark power, how can humans have such great power? Even with the power of demons, the demons behind Argus are really ...... Could it be a seventh-rank Pierce-level demon? But he easily killed the immortal king summoned by the necromancer in that battle, although the immortal monarch who was summoned to this world was weakened in strength, but it couldn't be killed so easily, right? Could it be the legendary eighth-level Satan-level Great Demon? Ha, this is ridiculous, the legend of the Satan-level demon is even more ridiculous than the legend of the vampire......"

"But vampires do exist, don't they?—there's one right in front of my eyes!"

"Uh," Ulrik was stunned, smiled wryly, and then held his chin in contemplation, "but I've never heard of a Satan-level demon, it should really be a Piers-level ......" As he said, he seemed to think of something, and asked curiously with the bread, "What are you going to do?" I think it's better to move to Vanderle, although the main body of the magic institution in this country is still the black mage, but Reochs has been eliminated, and Van Duo has also been killed by those necromancers, ah! What a beautiful city it is, it's so unfortunate......"

"I don't know, let's talk about it!"

"Oh, by the way," Ulrik said earnestly, as if remembering something, "the matter of Reochs seems to be under control, many people know about their union with necromancers, and now there are many dark mages everywhere preparing for revenge, I heard that Argus has been assassinated several times......"

"That guy wouldn't have been killed so easily," said the boy, looking at Ulrike in surprise and inexplicable, "where did you hear about so many things?"

"Taverns everywhere, taverns are the easiest place to gather information! It's still like this after five hundred years, hahaha, how lucky! But unfortunately, why doesn't anyone listen to my music, alas, it's so unfortunate......"

"......" The boy rolled his eyes angrily, and suddenly, as if he sensed something, his eyes subconsciously looked at the door, and at the same time, Ulrik's eyes also swept there, and whispered, "It seems that I am not the only guest here today!"

"Hmph!" Feeling the powerful magic fluctuations outside the house, the boy snorted coldly and whispered, "Open the door, Sojes!" In the boy's vigilant voice, the Soldier puppet gently opened the door and looked at the couple standing outside the house suspiciously, as if he had seen them somewhere.

The man standing outside the house waved his hand and said with a smile, "I finally found you...... Yo, it's a good day! I'm worried about you, little ghost!" beside him, the beautiful woman with a little sadness on her face couldn't help but smile faintly when she heard it.

Looking at the guests outside the door, Soth's mood was a little complicated.

Huo ...... Professor Hodd?"

(To be continued)