Chapter 552: Prelude

"How did they go missing?" Lucien calmed himself down and asked.

Thompson browsed through the reports in his hands for final confirmation, and the noise of paper being turned entered Lucien's ears. "They were monitored by a senior-rank battle sorcerer and two middle-rank sorcerers. It was discovered that they entered a small church on the west side of Rentato but never left."

"The senior-rank sorcerer thought that it was just a regular case of Sard's marginalization on the radical clerics and night watchers and did not think too much. Today, when he saw neither Juliana or Minsk, he was puzzled and entered the church as a mouse, but nobody was inside."

This place was the Kingdom of Holm, where sorcerers were multiple times more than clerics. That was why Thompson was extravagant enough to deploy a senior-rank sorcerer for surveillance.

"Did they notice the followers and use the church to escape?" Lucien thought of another possibility.

Thompson knocked the table softly. "That's possible, but the odds can't be high, because the same surveillance had been conducted in the past several months, during which time they showed no sign that they detected any anomaly. Also, they were acting the same as usual yesterday as they did before.

"What about the clerics and night watchers that have been marginalized by Sard?" Lucien expanded the range.

Thompson chuckled and said gravely, "If they also went missing, I would've reported it to the Highest Council because it would suggest that something was wrong with Sard and our plan had to be changed. However, only the two of them are confirmed to be missing."

Lucien brushed his eyebrow. "There are twelve days to go until our operation. Let's try to find them without raising Sard's attention."

Thompson did not object to Lucien's advice or reminder. Everybody in the Congress of Magic was guessing when he would become a grand arcanist and enter the Highest Council. Also, his permission was already above the Affair Committee and on par with that of the ninth-circle archmages such as Raventi.

"The extremists are rather steady despite their anger. Sard, as 'the great prophet', is truly good at enchanting people." Thompson briefly described it. As a member of the Affair Committee, the Lord of Storm's student and a senior-rank sorcerer whose faith had been tested, he knew about the cooperation but was unaware of the specific plans.

Lucien played with his quill, not sure what secrets were lying deeper in the matter, but in any case, Minsk and Juliana were the night watchers who hated him most, both for 'public justice' and personal grudge. They could resort to any methods. Therefore, he asked Thompson to increase the protection for Joel's family.

After the communication, Lucien looked at Arcana before him but failed to concentrate his attention after a long time because of anxiety. The upcoming operation was too much pressure for anyone who was aware of the matter. Even though he was good at keeping calm, he still feel highly concerned now that he was faced with unknown dangers and changes. Of course, more important, he was not alone now, and he needed to consider more. He had his love, his teacher, his students, his friends and his family. There would be dire consequences if the plan failed.

"I need to remind my teacher and inform him of that plan." Lucien knew that Thompson would report it to Fernando but still decided to go to the Thunder Hell in person.

He was about to leave his office, when Chelly knocked on the door and entered. She asked uneasily and gloomily, "Master, do you have a minute?"

"What is it?" Lucien asked back peacefully.

Chelly shyly sat on the chair in front of Lucien's desk and crossed her hands. "Master, I have a boyfriend named Jacques. You should know him, right? You signed a magic contract with him before."

"I do. Is he here to claim the drug to activate his blood power?" Lucien nodded his head.

Chelly said with a smile of embarrassment. "He was very talented and could've turned into a knight on his own, but after signing the magic contract, he found it impossible to significantly increase his willpower. His efforts did not pay off after years of work. So, he plans to use the contract as a last resort."

"If he uses the contract, there will be no turning back or hope for him." Having found the love of his life, Lucien was rather sympathetic with Chelly and her boyfriend.

Blushing, Chelly said, "That's why I want to ask for your help, master. I've saved a lot of arcana points in the past few years. My father also gave me abundant Thales and materials. Plus the wealth that Jacques earned through mercenary missions, they should be enough to buy the 'Origin of Blood' of a senior-rank vampire, but I do not have permission to do so."

"That's easy. Also, we signed a magic contract before. I'll buy it for you when I come back later." Said Lucien gently.

Chelly took a long breath in relief. She had been too gentle and proud to ask for it, although it had been on her mind for a while. Now that she got a satisfactory reply after she finally summoned her courage to ask, she was naturally excited. "Thank you very much, master."

Lucien smiled. "Is he going to complete the ceremony himself after he buys the Origin of Blood. Speaking of which, Jacques is not bad at all. He earned his money through mercenary missions instead of only counting on you."

"The ceremony is not complicated. I don't want to add to your trouble, master. I'll go to the Task Zone to issue a task and invite a sorcerer of the school of necromancy to host it." When mentioning Jacques, she put on a happy and warm smile without her knowing it. "He used to be a flamboyant knight, but he is much more reliable now.'

When she studied under Lucien, she had been hanging around with the most distinguished gentlemen, so she had a new understanding about the old Jacques. Thankfully, he had changed a lot, and that was why their relationship continued.

Lucien did not say anything yet, when Chelly began to praise and complain about Jacques. "The last mercenary mission he took was rather dangerous. It's the investigation on a cult. He did not activate his blood power and almost died inside."

"A cult?" Lucien was rather sensitive about the word.

Chelly nodded. "Although it's a cult, it's deeply connected to the Church. It's an organization founded by certain radical, bottom-class clerics in private. They seem to worship the angel king and have deviated from the doctrine that they could only follow the Lord."

After living several years of magic life, her faith was almost gone, but she still habitually said 'Lord'.

Lucien frowned again. "The angel king..." What does Sard want? Is he thinking to cross the Storm Strait and unite the faith of the Church later?

Hearing Chelly tell the full story, Lucien thought for a moment and said, "As the Church and the Congress gradually get the colonies in the new alternate dimensions under control, Holm will definitely be more and more dangerous. You should remind your father to be prepared in case of a total war."

"Yes, my father has been preparing for that since the family reached the agreement with the Congress." Chelly did not overthink.

After seeing Chelly off, Lucien reached the thirty-third floor of the Allyn magic tower, planning to go to the Thunder Hell through the fixed transmission magic circle, only to discover that his teacher was in the library.

"You're here." Fernando seemed to have foreseen Lucien's arrival.

Lucien nodded. "I learnt about certain anomalies from Thompson."

"He told it to me, too, but there aren't other discoveries yet." A map of Rentato was placed before Fernando. "This map marks the marginalized extremists, the areas that different nobles are in, and the few parts of the divine power circle in Rentato."

It was the confidential map obtained from Hathaway.

Lucien walked to his teacher and observed the map. He discovered that the extremists had indeed been marginalized by Sard. From the west side, the closer it was to the Radiance Church on the southeast and the Nekso Palace on the northeast, the fewer radical clerics and night watchers there were. In the district where the Radiance Church was at, there was even none of them. Even Stone's Knights of Grail had been relocated to the abbey on the northwest. It seemed that they were all set for the Congress of Magic to attack.

"Something doesn't feel right." Lucien looked at the map and said, but he couldn't tell exactly what was wrong. Even astrology could not give him an answer.

Fernando frowned. "This is distressingly smooth. Lucien, Hull-Chulia will take care of the parishes on the north coastline, Erica will control the Duchy of Calais, Vicente will go to the Kingdom of Colette, and Brook will finish the Brianne parish, which hasn't been attracted by Sard, in person with Holt's cooperation."

Hull-Chulia was the 'Monarch of Fate', the other legendary sorcerer in Cabin of Palmeira. He had a deep control over the north. Erica was the Master of Transformation and the historian in the Family of Sorcerers, which was headquartered in the Duchy of Calais and deeply associated with the local noble. Therefore, she was the most appropriate attacker. By the same logic, it was not hard to notice the closeness of the Duchy of Calais and the Hand of Paleness by the fact that the Immortal Throne prize was co-awarded by them.

The Moonsong League was headquartered in the Brianne kingdom. There shouldn't be a problem if Brook acted in person with the cooperation of Chelsea Holt, the Moon Scholar.

"We have to banish the clerics and control the parishes as soon as possible, so that the nobles in the few countries cannot vacillate anymore, or the situation will escalate because of their legendary knights and the Grand Cardinals." Said Lucien in a low voice.

Fernando nodded his head. "Speed is what matters most in our plan. Hathaway and I will take care of the Holm parish, Douglas will supervise the battle from Allyn, and the other grand arcanists and legendary sorcerers, as backups, will be ready to join different battlefields at any moment."

"By then, you will not stay in Allyn. I will drop you somewhere near the Nekso Palace. That's the place of balance for the multiple powers of the divine barrier, and it is very easy to be opened. If the situation turns very horrible, you will bring Natasha away taking advantage of the chaos. While Allyn is safe, it will be the enemy's primary target should anything go wrong. You are our Secret, and Nekso Palace has the Sword of Truth. It's not easy for you to be tracked if you act alone. You can hide in the depths of the ocean. When you become a legendary sorcerer, you will be the fire that reignite the Congress."

"This is the scroll of 'Night Travel' that I asked for from Stanis... He has connections in the Dark Congress and got it from a vampire prince. It can help you break the space anchors and barriers."

Listening to his master's plan about the worst scenario, Lucien suddenly felt that the air around him was depressing.