A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 443 The Grand Master's Ideal

Richard was "invited" into the secret chamber and met the haggard chief mage.

The secret chamber had been completely transformed. All the original mechanisms and facilities had been dismantled, leaving only the ritual site constructed from materials that necromancers were adept at using and which were also the most abundant materials on the battlefield.

Magic gathered, guided through blood and bones, converging and transforming into filthy energy. Around the chief mage, several lifeless bodies of former spellcasters busied themselves maintaining a large-scale spell that had been set up long ago.

The fact that the relatively small and enclosed space and the various biological tissues did not produce any odor in the spring and summer season shows that the chief mage of the army was a very detail-oriented person. Richard even smelled the same faint citrus scent as the archmage's office.

"I think highly of you, Richard. When your father asked me to tutor you, my first thought was to refuse, but it turns out you are a good student."

"Unfortunately, you didn't listen to your teacher this time. Usually, your caution is justified, but it was my momentary carelessness that led me to fail to control the servant, and my casual reply allowed you to test me. Carelessness always brings disastrous consequences."

Necromancers' "servants" are rarely living people, Richard's face turned grim: "Mr. Schmidt..."

"He, like you, had too many worries and unfortunately entered the secret chamber." The chief withdrew from the ceremony and walked step by step to Richard. "But you are different from him. You are my student, a disciple I value. So I am willing to tell you what your teacher is doing, hoping you can distinguish what is important and what is not."

What do you think of the empire under His Majesty the Emperor's rule?

Huh? Richard was caught off guard by the teacher's question, leaving him speechless.

Before the other party could answer, the chief continued, "His Majesty is the greatest and most wise monarch in the history of the continent. His mind is broad enough that he is not bound by worldly prejudices, and his vision is far-sighted enough to guide the empire's future."

The archmage finished his flattery from afar—no, Richard rarely saw his teacher speak with such deep emotion; he was genuinely praising the monarch he had chosen.

He held up two withered fingers and shook them: "However, the empire has many shortcomings and misfortunes, which can be summarized into two points: His Majesty's life is coming to an end. He is, after all, a fragile mortal with a short lifespan; His Majesty is surrounded by worms, especially when the lion grows old, these worms begin to deceive him, mislead him, and humiliate him."

The chief of staff, his cloudy eyes even revealing sorrow, said, "Even His Highness the Crown Prince is no exception. He is incapable of leading an empire, incapable of fulfilling any of the empire's needs of its monarch. This is evident from the appointment of the new marshal."

In the chief's vision, he needed an ideal state where he could unleash his talents to the fullest extent, free from the constraints of societal prejudices. His Majesty the Emperor achieved this, but only temporarily.

When the necromancer was entrusted with this important task, he promised the emperor that he would make the empire an eternal and perfect existence. To him, His Majesty the emperor was the perfect monarch.

The only imperfection was His Majesty's short life. Until recently, he was bedridden and unable to govern the empire as he once did, to steer this rapidly advancing war machine.

The chief mage of the army witnessed how his monarch and close friend were tormented by illness. Even the greatest beings are so pitiful when they die! The archmage spoke up, fabricating a lie, a false plan, but His Majesty still trusted him and allowed him to complete the temporary mobilization of the imperial army.

The Grand Master promised the Emperor an endless lifespan, firmly believing that with enough time, His Majesty would conquer the world and become the supreme ruler of all intelligent life. Such a powerful ruler would also need someone to wholeheartedly assist him and remain by his side. The Chief Minister would become the Prime Minister, second only to the Emperor for eternity.

Someone must always support and accompany the emperor from behind the scenes, and that person can only be oneself. Even at the cost of losing one's name and human body, and bearing the greatest sins, is something one is willing to do.

Only then will the empire become the world, achieving true absolute stability and complete prosperity.

Is this considered "ambition"? The chief felt that such ambition was too humble and could only be called an ideal. He had already found the leader of his ideal country, and the final weakness of a mortal would be exploited by the Grand Mage whom His Majesty trusted most.

All it takes is a high-level spell, [Islem Longevity Spell], which increases the caster's lifespan by one year for every life taken from a victim.

The chief discovered this ancient spell and studied and improved it in depth. He not only successfully expanded the scope of "harvesting" but also changed the limitation that only the caster could increase lifespan to grant the emperor immortality.

"The people are foolish and cowardly. In the future, I will assist the emperor from behind the scenes and will not need to pay attention to my appearance. For necromancers, as long as they give up the shackles of humanity, it is an easy thing to achieve immortality. But His Majesty cannot do that. He wants everyone to submit willingly, and the first thing he needs to do is maintain his human identity and appearance."

"An immortal human?" Richard had never heard of such a being. If the empire had an immortal monarch...

Even though the emperor is still considered wise, Richard felt a chill run down his spine: "Nothing lasts forever, and there should be no empire that lasts forever."

"Why? Should wars that only increase casualties continue to exist? Should intelligent life continue to fight for false concepts forever? There are too many fools. Only a wise ruler with endless lifespan can come out and subdue them, thus ending all this."

"That is the end of history." Richard said, then breathed out dragon breath again, heading straight for the core of the ritual.

"I'm so disappointed in you, Richard! How many chances have I given you, and now you want to destroy my ideals? You don't understand, you don't know the price I've paid, you can't comprehend the grand future I envision!"

The necromancer roared as he used the Breath of Death to neutralize the scorching breath and protect the ritual. This was the most crucial moment; there could be no more mistakes.

He stretched out his withered hand and grabbed Richard's throat: "My student, you have given up your own life. You will gain immortality in another form and witness the great deeds of me and His Majesty."

Domination and death spread from the Archmage's tattoo toward Richard, and just as it was about to take effect, Richard's figure became illusory.

"Thank you, teacher. At least you really wanted to let me go at first." He activated the first crystal, and the [Vacuum Form] within it took effect, temporarily freeing him from his control.

"Of course, of course I have always been sincere to you, just as I have to be to my Emperor. It's a pity you have let me down."

The archmage hesitated to act, knowing he couldn't leave the ritual unattended, but he was confident he could easily subdue his student. "Schmidt" raised his hand and unleashed a force field, knocking Richard back to his original form as he tried to escape.

Immediately afterwards, a massive surge of death energy rushed in, threatening to engulf Richard.

The blue barrier lit up, perfectly blocking the death breath controlled by the archmage.

Behind Richard were Pascal and Paul, the brothers who had sensed something was wrong and discovered the secret passage. They had actually dealt with the two spellcaster corpse servants.

They were enemies before, but now they were his saviors. Richard could only repay them with one sentence: "Go quickly."

"Then shall I leave?" Pascal saw the horrifying scene of the flesh-and-blood ritual, and then saw the fierce scarred man and the tattooed bald man. They were clearly not good people.

(End of this chapter)