The Quartz Throne (4)

At that moment, Azadine asked,

“There’s no underwater breathing magic in Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon, right?”

The magic book Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon contained no underwater breathing spells. That was why they were floundering here, unable to act.

“And there’s no way only you people are here. Someone must be performing a ritual near the Korasar Throne. Who is it?”

“Huh? Um, that’s…”

The members of the Korasar Peddler Guild and the servants of the Aragasa looked flustered.

Was Azadine an enemy? Should they fight him?

While they couldn’t come to a decision, Azadine approached them with confidence.

Just as a leaderless army becomes a rabble, those without a decision-maker inevitably get swayed by someone acting with conviction.

Azadine naturally took the lead and asked Scott,

“Scott. Can you cast underwater breathing magic on them?”

“Boss, damn. It’s so cold my body’s stiff. M-my muscles…”

“Can you cast it or not? Just answer that.”

“Of course I can.”

“Underwater breathing?”

The servants panicked at Scott’s words.

With the flooding worsening underground, offering them underwater breathing magic was like a lifeline descending from the heavens.

‘Come to think of it, even if he’s Lord Arael’s brother, Azadine is still a Messenger, right?’

‘He’s not someone we could beat anyway. He’s a Messenger.’

‘As Lady Arael’s brother, even if he had the power to harm us, he shouldn’t.’

‘Is there any reason to fight?’

Their hearts leaned toward avoiding combat.

“Alright. Scott! Cast the spell.”

“Yeah, boss.”

Scott cast the underwater breathing spell on them.

“The crocodile’s already been taken care of, so you should be fine just heading back. The passage isn’t that long. If anyone gives you trouble on the way out, tell them to find Elder Seballi and ask for protection.”

Although Azadine was dumping them onto Elder Seballi, the servants were moved, thinking Azadine had formed an agreement with the elder to help them.

“Th-thank you.”

“Thank you very much.”

“By the way, who else is inside? Who’s in charge here? They’re near the throne, right?”

As he sent the servants off, Azadine asked casually.

Though his behavior could arouse suspicion, once he mentioned Elder Seballi, they naturally assumed he was already on their side.

“It’s Lady Dimia.”

“Dimia of the Flower?”

“Yes.”

“She’s the only one?”

“There are Nagas and Lord Crassli as well.”

“Crassli… who’s that?”

“He’s a former Messenger and our combat instructor for the Korasar Peddler Guild.”

“Ah, I see. Got it. How many Nagas are there?”

“Around thirty. There’s also a leader called the Nagaraja.”

“Right. So a Raja. What about the others? There must be some big ones?”

“One in ten is massive.”

“One in five is a magician or takes on a human form.”

“Alright. Got it. Stay safe, all of you.”

Azadine extracted the information and sent the servants of the Messenger Clan back into the water—without even a fight.

“Impressive.”

Zebec marveled at Azadine’s actions.

At first, he had prepared for battle. The problem was that the place was flooded. Even now, his hands were so numb it was hard to grip his sword properly.

Would he have been able to fight effectively in such a state? Especially with more enemy forces deeper inside?

“To sway them with words and no fighting…”

“When you say it like that, it sounds like I tricked them or something.”

“Wasn’t it a trick?”

“Well, I did take control of the situation.”

“How did you do it?”

“It’s nothing much. Always act confident and friendly, but never say anything that would clearly make them think we’re enemies. Be vague. For instance, if I mention Elder Seballi, they assume I’m on his side—and by extension, their side. And if they report back to their superiors, they’ll say, ‘He said he knew Elder Seballi. We thought he was one of us.’ Of course, they could’ve asked me directly, ‘Are you an enemy or ally of the Arael faction?’ but…”

“They didn’t ask.”

“Exactly. They were afraid—afraid to clearly define me as an enemy in this situation. So I left it vague, nudging them toward the most favorable interpretation. Let them believe what’s most advantageous for them.”

“Isn’t that deception?”

“I just let them believe what they wanted to. I simply echoed their inner voices. Honestly, they could’ve sent someone to report to Dimia. But they didn’t.”

Even the servants just now didn’t want to fight Azadine. And if any of them returned to Dimia and she declared Azadine an enemy? They’d lose their way back to the surface after receiving underwater breathing from him.

“Ah, anyway, we’ve sent them off, so let’s take a break. It’s freezing. Can’t even fight like this.”

Saying that, Azadine removed his clothes and wrung out the water. Having come out of the icy waters, his breath was cold and visible.

“Is there anything we can use to start a fire? It’s not good to stay with such a low body temperature.”

Azadine looked around, but found nothing to start a fire with. Only burnt ashes and the remnants of a pot-hanger remained.

The servants from earlier were likely also enduring the sudden drop in temperature by lighting a campfire and cooking meals to keep warm.

“Looks like they already used everything burnable. To raise our body temperature, let’s do that, Boss.”

Scott proposed something.

“What do you mean, that?”

Azadine looked surprised at the sudden suggestion from Scott.

“You know what I mean? That thing.”

Unable to hold back, Shati asked,

“…Something lewd?”

“No, I meant the copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth.”

“Oh.”

When Azadine took out the copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth, even the one previously used had somewhat regained its glow.

“Y-you’re not saying we should light a fire with the book, right?”

Zebec asked, alarmed.

“No, it’s not that. When I channel its mana into my body, it generates a fair bit of heat. Last time…”

“You mean you’re going to warm up that way—achoo!”

Even as he spoke, Zebec sneezed. Having just emerged from freezing water, no one was in good condition.

“Hm. But wouldn’t it be better to keep it charged in case of emergencies?”

Azadine asked while looking at the glowing copies of the book, but Scott shook his head.

“I’ve been watching you, Boss. You’re the type who saves things so long you never end up using them.”

“Not true. I used it in a crisis to take you down, remember? Broke your shadow demon with it.”

“And what did you gain from that, Boss?”

“Got you on my side, didn’t I? That’s a huge win.”

“Pwahaha! That’s a 120-point answer out of 100. You really are the kind of employer I like.”

“Right?”

“Still, let’s use it. The copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth, I mean. We need to warm up anyway…”

Scott handed the book to Azadine and began the ritual.

As the white mana stored in the book was absorbed by Azadine, not only did his body heat up quickly, but even the surrounding area grew warmer.

“Oh… it’s much stronger than last time.”

“Well yeah, we’re closer to the throne. That’s only natural, right?”

Scott said as he helped guide Azadine’s mana circulation.

Azadine’s body contained a modified version of the Flowers, Birds, Wind, Moon spellbook, which resisted foreign mana, but by suppressing that and guiding the white mana from the book along his body’s meridians, Azadine felt his minor aches fade, his stamina return, and his strength surge.

The warmth even spread to the others around him.

“Oh… that’s nice.”

“It’s not a campfire, but it’s pretty warm.”

“Can I touch you?”

Shati, curious, reached out and touched Azadine’s body without waiting for permission.

“Wait.”

Azadine tried to stop her, but Shati happily rubbed his skin.

“Warm! And your skin’s amazing. No wonder some Nagarajas kept humans as pets. It all makes sense…”

“Shati. That’s cold. Can you step back a little? This is awkward.”

When Azadine asked, Shati jumped and quickly backed away.

“By the way, since Sir Zebec is a holy knight of the King’s Church, wouldn’t he get stronger by reading this copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth?”

“The King’s Church spellbooks and the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth may seem similar, but they are not the same. I… doubt I could understand something so vastly beyond my wisdom.”

“Why not try reading it, just to see?”

“Can’t hurt to try, right? Sir Zebec.”

Azadine handed him a page from the book.

Zebec hesitated as he took it. For a holy knight of the King’s Church to read it would be a grave blasphemy.

This was a forbidden magic book—leaked secrets of the Kings, undermining the divine authority of the Yaegas God tribe.

But remembering how clinging to dogma had made him ignore Kozel’s atrocities in the past, he felt that true justice required transcending such rules.

“Let’s see…”

Zebec focused on the book—and was immediately shocked.

“Urgh!”

A massive headache struck. Zebec pulled his eyes away from the page.

He hadn’t read a single word, but even staring at it had made his head spin and light flash before his eyes.

“Fortunately or unfortunately, I can’t read it.”

“That’s unfortunate. Why would that be fortunate? Don’t be so meek. You should feel disappointed that you can’t use such an incredible magic book.”

Shati was genuinely disappointed that they couldn’t make use of the spellbook.

Meanwhile, Azadine had already cleanly absorbed all the white mana from that single page.

“Wow… that went so well. Different from last time.”

“Yeah, probably because you’ve done it once already. And this place is better, Boss. I think it’s because we’re near the Korasar Throne.”

“Hm. But wait… am I accidentally absorbing the Light of the Crown right now? That’s what we came to stop…”

Worried, Azadine turned to Scott.

“Ah. Uh…”

“What?”

“Your body’s warm now, right? So it’s fine… Boss?”

Azadine grew alarmed at that answer.

“Wait. You mean I am absorbing the Light of the Crown? What?!”

Indeed, Azadine could now tell what was happening.

The very copy of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth he had just drained of power was beginning to emit a faint glow again.

Compared to its usual dull glimmer, it was like a firefly—barely visible without straining his eyes—but it was regenerating remarkably fast.

It seemed that being close to the Korasar Throne was rapidly replenishing the white mana.

“Wow… that’s insane…”

“Wait a second. Isn’t this…?”

Azadine furrowed his brow.

“This is exactly how they weakened the Light of the Crown, isn’t it?!”

He finally understood how Arael’s faction had managed to weaken the Light of the Crown.

They must have used numerous copies of the Heavenly King’s Book of Truth and, by draining their power here, were drawing white mana directly from the throne.