Wizard Immortal

Chapter 499 Undercurrents Beneath the Calm

In October, at the end of the rainy season, leaves were constantly being blown up and down by the wind.

On the flat land, the long army is advancing.

"Is this the city of Calradic?"

Riding at the head of the army, gazing at the vast city before him, Lera muttered to himself, a strange smile flickering across his face: "It really is quite tall..."

"These are some old relics, aren't they?"

Beside him, Slim, dressed in black, looked at the distant city walls and added, "These kinds of walls are rare in newly built cities back home. They're completely obsolete and serve no purpose other than hindering city expansion."

"Don't say that," Lera said with a smile. "At least, those bloodline runes engraved on this wall are still quite intimidating."

Looking at the distant city walls, he said with a smile.

For powerful royal descendants, the existence of city walls is of little use. No matter how high or thick the city walls are built, they cannot stop any first-level royal descendant.

What truly provides protection are the runes inscribed on the city walls.

These runes are a method developed by the royal descendants based on their own bloodline. They are a way of using the power of bloodline, somewhat similar to the magic array of wizards, but also different.

These runes play a significant role in battles between royal descendants; the stronger the royal descendant, the stronger the bloodline runes they can deploy.

Take the city of Calad as an example. As the capital of the Calad Empire, this city has accumulated the runes of at least a dozen level three kings. Over time, these runes have become so powerful that even a true level three being would probably not be able to break through this city in a short period of time.

Unfortunately, even the strongest fortresses are often breached from within.

Although the city's defenses were strong, they posed no obstacle whatsoever to Adir and his party.

As a prince who has been rising in prominence in recent years, Adir's reputation is dazzling within the Calad Empire, having reached a peak in recent years, making him admired by countless people.

Furthermore, he was the rightful prince of the Calard Empire, and no one dared to stop him from entering the capital under the pretext of visiting his father's body.

"Your Highness, please come in!"

At the gates of Calad, outside the open city gates, an old man dressed in red greeted Adir with a beaming smile and welcomed him into the city.

This person was none other than Lucius's uncle.

Born into a noble family, Lucius has a powerful clan behind him, one that is considered a formidable noble family even within the entire Calard Empire.

As Adir rose to prominence in Elka State, Lucius's status within his own family naturally rose as well, and he was able to mobilize and influence more human and material resources.

Given this connection, and considering Adir's rising power in recent years, it's not surprising that Lucius's family would side with Adir.

"Please get up."

Looking at the old man in front of him, Adir smiled slightly, looking like a refined prince, without the slightest arrogance or bad temper.

Taking advantage of the moment when Adir turned around, the old man secretly looked up at Adir in front of him, and was immediately stunned.

In his eyes, Adir before him was like the sun high above, radiating immense light. His terrifying, godlike majesty was so overwhelming that no one dared to look directly at him.

On Adir's body, a ferocious being with human hands and a snake's body, covered in crimson scales, was hissing, its appearance causing anyone who saw it to be in awe.

Suddenly, the old man took a deep breath, and his gaze towards Adir changed repeatedly, with the awe and fanaticism in his eyes almost becoming tangible.

"The Crimson Child! The Crimson Child at his peak!"

Watching Adir's retreating figure, and recalling the horrific scene he had just witnessed, the old man felt a surge of excitement: "A Crimson Son at the height of his power—who else but him is qualified for the throne?!"

Adir didn't know what the old man behind him was thinking, but he could guess a little.

Upon arriving in Calard City, his previously restrained bloodline power was directly activated, no longer concealed, but openly revealed, allowing everyone to feel it.

In this state, he could clearly sense that in the direction of the distant palace, an extremely hot bloodline power was blooming, faintly connected to the crimson bloodline on his body, emitting a ferocious aura.

Crimson King!

"Absolutely the Crimson King..."

Gazing in the direction of the distant palace, Adir thought to himself.

Such a powerful, scorching, and terrifying primal force—who else in this city could it be but his target this time, the Crimson King?

However, in his perception, there seemed to be some changes in the Crimson King, causing his aura to become somewhat unstable.

This result is obtained through the connection of bloodlines.

After being activated and continuously purified by himself, the bloodline in his body has come infinitely close to that of the first ancestor, the Crimson King.

A strong synchronization of bloodlines brings about a strong connection between them, allowing both parties to sense some of each other's information.

Even as Adir looked in that direction, a faint sense of unease alerted him.

On the distant land, as he looked towards the palace, someone else was also looking in his direction, a pair of crimson eyes appearing faintly in his mind.

"The Crimson King..."

Adir glanced at the distance, thought to himself, and then followed the group ahead toward his lodgings.

Meanwhile, in the distance.

At the moment Adir gazed at the palace, deep within the royal palace, a boy playing with a ball in a palace seemed to sense something and glanced in the direction from which the feeling came.

The young man's eyes were crimson, as beautiful as the purest rubies. A pair of elegant black tuxedos made him look like a noble figure looking down on everything below.

"Your Highness Karl, what's wrong?"

The moment the boy turned around, a somewhat worried voice sounded from behind him, tinged with sorrow.

"fine."

Hearing the voice, the boy turned around, looked at the girl standing quietly behind him, and smiled gently: "I just saw an interesting person."

"Is this His Highness Historian of Elka?"

Behind the boy, seeing him say this, the girl's worry did not lessen at all; instead, she became even more concerned.

"It's him." The boy nodded, then put down the ball in his hand, stood up, and gently patted the girl's head: "But even if it is him, it doesn't matter."

"I am the strongest."

Looking at the girl in front of him, he spoke earnestly, his ruby-like eyes remaining unchanged.

"Crimson King, at the current pace, how much of your recovery have you actually achieved?"

In a vast, empty hall, a huge red coffin sat in the center, filled with a bright red, transparent liquid, and inside lay a person.

It was a very tall man, who appeared to be only about thirty years old. His strong body was covered with dense, bright red scales, and a snake tail slowly spread out from his lower legs.

It was clear that the man was dead. Not only was he not breathing, but his flesh and blood had also lost their vitality, leaving only clumps of dead flesh.

Despite this, the man still exuded an aura of dominance and unparalleled kingliness, carrying a terrifying majesty that made people dare not look him in the eye.

Standing outside the red coffin, looking at the man and feeling the facial features that matched his memory so perfectly, Adir sighed softly, a sigh of regret.

Lying in the coffin before him was the master of the entire Calad Empire, King Kurid, who was also the father of Adir's body.

Upon arriving in Calad, Adir went to the body of King Kurid to examine it in order to confirm some things.

"The corpse's flesh and blood have withered completely, and the vitality and blood vessels of the entire body have been completely drained. Even with my chip's capabilities, I couldn't have done it more completely."

Looking at the corpse before him, Adir sighed softly, and some of his previous guesses were completely confirmed.

The King Kurid before us was definitely killed by having his bloodline extracted by the Crimson King.

Apart from the Crimson King, who is the progenitor of the bloodline, it is possible for others to extract the bloodline from King Kurid, but it is impossible to do it so completely, leaving not even a trace of the bloodline's vitality.

Furthermore, judging from certain marks on the corpse before them, King Kurid did not resist at all when his bloodline was extracted, allowing the other party to directly extract his bloodline.

It is very likely that he understood the identity of the Crimson King when he was in front of King Kurid.

"Karl..."

Rubbing his forehead, Adir looked at the corpse in front of him and muttered the name.

Karl was the heir to the throne designated by King Kurid before his death, and also the legal heir to the Karad Empire. He was also one of the most suspicious targets in Adir's eyes.

Based on Adir's understanding of King Kurid from his memories, this king had a weak sense of family and always valued strength above all else. If he were to choose a successor from among the princes, he would only choose the most powerful ones, not a minor prince who was not yet an adult.

Of course, this alone cannot determine anything; it's just a bit of a surprise.

"However, since I am going to take the throne, I will have to face Prince Karl sooner or later."

Looking up at the corpse lying quietly in the coffin, Adir waved his hand, signaling the people beside him to close the coffin.

"Judging by the time, it should be here soon..."

Stepping outside the hall, Adir looked up at the bright sky and murmured to himself.

It was almost time for his meeting with Kaidoze and the others. Judging from his senses, they should have arrived by now, but were still lurking, not yet making their move.

Since the other party did not choose to make a move, Adir naturally could not help them take the lead, so the stalemate gradually came to an end.

However, this stalemate is destined not to last long.

As time passes, the Crimson King's power is rapidly recovering. Kaidoze knows this better than anyone.

Therefore, he must be filled with urgency at this moment, and as soon as he is ready, he will probably make a move to try to defeat the Crimson King.

Even ants know to stay away, but this city probably doesn't know its fate yet...

Looking at the insects crawling outwards from the ground, Adir spoke softly.

At this moment, Calradic had become a ticking time bomb. Several ancient kings were lurking in the city, and even though there was no fierce battle at the moment, their auras, their power and will were still silently battling each other, permeating every corner of the city.

Wild beasts often possess a far stronger instinctual perception than intelligent beings. Sensing the conflict between these energies, they instinctively sensed danger and thus surged continuously toward the outside world, moving away from the city of Calard.

Several days later.

As time passed, the atmosphere in the city grew increasingly tense with the continuous arrival of foreign nobles over the next few days.

Although King Kurid had passed away, the Calad Empire could not be without a king. Therefore, during this period, the succession to the new king began to be discussed, gradually bringing the two princes into the limelight.

In terms of legal standing and legitimacy, Prince Karl, designated by the former king, naturally has priority. However, in terms of strength and prestige, Prince Sisso of Elka is undoubtedly far ahead.

The two princes each had their own strengths, and as a result, they were constantly mentioned during this period. Their respective supporters also engaged in a fierce power struggle, fighting countless times in secret.

What's strange is that no matter how intense the behind-the-scenes power struggle between the two men's supporters was, the two men remained calm, as if the matter had nothing to do with them.

"Your Highness, the nobles outside all say you should be king. Why don't you step forward and inherit the throne?"

On a cliff, Karl was dressed in a well-fitting long robe, with a girl dressed as a maid beside him.

Beside Karl, a young girl dressed in a maid's dress was chattering incessantly, expressing her indignation on behalf of her prince.

"You."

Listening to the girl's complaints beside him, Karl chuckled and ruffled her long hair, then said with a smile, "I haven't even said anything about this yet, why do you seem more anxious than I am?"

"Of course I'm anxious about Your Highness's affairs..." The girl blushed as the boy ruffled her hair, stealing glances at him as she stammered, "And, I also want to see Your Highness wearing a crown..."

"If you want to see, I'll wear it for you next time..." The boy's movements gradually stopped as he stroked the girl's head. "But not now... Let whoever wants to sit on that king's throne sit there."

"Why..." The girl blushed and mustered her courage to ask her prince.

"Because there are more important things waiting for me to do." Gently straightening the girl's long hair, the boy smiled. "Besides, besides Prince Hisoka, I have several other guests to entertain..."

"Kaidozer, Akara, don't you agree?" His gaze shifted behind him, where, unnoticed, several shadows loomed.

(End of this chapter)