The only thing not contaminated in the cathedral was a red glowing orb, the compelling orb. It was safely placed on a shelf with magic circles.
According to the legends, the orb was indestructible, so Abel did not immediately take out Khalim’s will. Instead, his curiosity got the best of him, and he struck it with his iron sword.
Dong! He sensed a strong rebound force from his sword. He quickly turned his gaze towards the compelling orb that was still in perfect condition.
However, he seemed to notice a rune flash when he struck his sword on the orb.
To investigate this mystery, he ignited the world stone and struck the orb again.
Everything turned slow motion, and he clearly saw a rune flashed on the surface of the orb. The rune turned into a white light and wrapped around the orb.
Then orb was still in perfect condition. Abel stepped up to examine its material. There was nothing special. The thing was made out of normal crystal.
The sword on his hand was a rune world iron sword. It was made out of condensed iron. It could leave a mark even if he was striking on pure iron.
“That rune counteracted my attack?” Abel mumbled.
Since he had the World Stone, the structure of the rune was clearly memorized in his mind.
That rune was more complicated than anything Abel had ever seen. Without the world’s ability, he wouldn’t have remembered every stroke so clearly.
The entire rune was clearly depicted in his mind, but he couldn’t figure out the purpose.
He looked around to make sure he was safe and took out a full set of rune making equipment and a dark gold crystal core from his ring.
Altering it was the first time he saw this rune, with the World Stone’s help, the drawing was complete in 20 minutes.
That rune took less than 5 seconds to settle before the crystal core violently blast open.
Abel swung the ancient pledge shield forward. The blast was not big. It was nothing compared to the viciousness of a perfect gem.
The energy in a crystal core was calm. That was why wizards could absorb the energy of a fresh one.
During that 5 seconds, Abel examined with his power of the will. Although he didn’t discover much, the world stone had given him a name, ’33#Zod’.
The rune was indestructible. As long as it was installed, even the cheapest metal sword would be indestructible.
“No wonder it shattered. There’s no way a dark gold crystal core can support such a high-level rune!” Abel put away his shield and sighed.
Still, he took out a lightweight knight sword. It was the ones with a socket he made long ago for his family knights.
He then took out another dark gold crystal core and quickly drew the 33#zod rune. It was done in 20 seconds, and he quickly jammed the rune into the socket of the sword.
Abel knew that rune couldn’t last long. Just before the flash emerged from the sword, he took out the Horadric Malus and heavily struck down.
The Horadric Malus was a Holy forgery gear. It had a force of 1000 pounds, and it was more destructive than a weapon.
However, the moment they made contact, all the rune’s energy was unleashed from the crystal core. It turned into a white glow and wrapped around the sword.
After 5 seconds, the 33#zod rune turned into pieces and fell out of the socket.
Abel looked at the lightweight knight sword. It was in perfect condition. Abel shook his head. The rune could really make something indestructible. Both his sword and shield were rune words, and they still couldn’t do anything to the rune. The main problem was sustainability.
It could only last for 5 seconds, around 3 or 4 seconds after it was installed. Unless Abel drew the rune on the spot, there were not many uses for it.
“Damn!” Abel was speechless.
Still, knowledge was priceless. At least he found out something about the 33#zod Rune.
He put away his light sword and rune making equipment. The investigation had come to an end.
He then took out Khalim’s will and struck it towards the compelling orb. A strange thing happened. When they made contact, the 33#zod rune did not appear, and the orb was shattered.
Khalim’s will could suppress the self-defense ability of the compelling orb, making it impossible to ignite the 33#zod rune.
Countless souls flew out from the damaged orb towards the shrine. They were all evil souls from Zakarum’s cathedral controlled by Mephisto.
Afterward, a trigger was ignited. The shrine slowly lowered, exposing an underground passage.
Abel lined the 9 spirit guardian knights up in a row and let them enter with the mud monster following behind.
…
Meanwhile, a strange thing had happened in the Holy Continent. Originally, Duchy of Thunder was like a big chunk of meat up for grab to the other duchies in the Kingdom of St Ellis, but suddenly there was peace.
This peace did not happen without sacrifice. It was only possible since all 5 duchies had signed a strict treaty with the kingdom.
The kingdom had enforced peace upon the duchies with tens of thousands of knights, turning their sovereignty into the Holy Continent’s only peaceful place. Anyone who refused would be met with serious punishment.
The kingdom of St Anwell and Kingdom of St Pierrt also wanted to do the same, but the most they could do was maintain peace within their main territory. There was nothing they could do when it came to their duchies.
Due to the shortage of food, tension continued to build with those kingdoms. It was like a volcano, peaceful on the surface, but it could explode at any moment.
The kingdom of St Ellis, on the other hand, had obtained large amounts of ocean fish. This caused another round of immigration.
However, the immigration policy of the kingdom of St Ellis had always been strict. Only nobles with inheritance or powerful businessmen could do so.
Although all duchies wanted to keep their gifted men, it was impossible under the current condition. The kingdom of St Ellis was too powerful.
The kingdom of St Ellis was just like the duchy of Carmel. Its development had exploded under Abel’s rule. Large amounts of powerful nobles and businessmen joined, painting a path to glory for the kingdom.
The other kingdoms were jealous of what the kingdom of St Ellis had managed to achieve. They also tried to fish in the ocean but failed miserably.
In the end, they got a report from their investigation department that the dwarfs were the ones supplying fish to the kingdom of St Ellis. Therefore, they immediately contacted the dwarfs and asked to purchase fish.
However, they did not expect the dwarfs to exchange fish with Abel’s wine. If they caught more fish, they would just exchange more with Abel. There was none leftover for the other kingdoms.
As the diet of the kingdom of St Ellis changed, the fish had freed up many crops, and the food shortage was slowly stabilized.
Most people did not notice, but Abel was dramatically influencing the development of the Holy Continent.
Ever since he gave the dwarfs the sprinkling system, the dwarfs’ crops had dramatically increased. On top of the supply of fish, the dwarfs no food problem even during this crisis.
On the other hand, Abel was supplying endless fruits to the elves from the Orwell valley.
This dramatically changed the diet of elves as well, and small amounts of meat had entered their dining table. This allowed the elves to become the second species to overcome the crisis.
There were many beasts in the Double moon forest, more than enough for the elves to consume.
Since Abel had stabilized the supply of food in his kingdom, the power of the human world was not impacted too deeply during this crisis.
December 1st, Abel dragged his tired body back to the human world. Exploring that underground chamber was a lot more difficult than he imagined.
They had gotten himself hurt way too much during the past few months, a lot more than in the past.
He hated the speed of those hell creatures as well as the power of the will suppression of the underground chamber. It was hard to move in a flash.
He had only explored a chunk of the first level during the past few months. He battled almost endlessly and was always tense.
A few months passed in the Holy Continent, but a few years passed in the Dark world. He really needed to take a good rest and see how his kingdom was doing.
Tower Spirit Flora had been pouring the spring water produced from the third goddess statue into water storage boxes every day, allowing the statue to fill up again.
Its spring water was too important; only the puppets controlled by tower spirit Flora could operate within Abel’s magic tower.
Those water boxes were then transferred to Harvest City. A part of it needed Abel to combine with his Horadric Cube to grow the wheat that helps the knights grow.
The locked-down Harvest City had become an almost industrial agricultural land. The only thing that was done manually was planting and harvesting. Watering was entirely automatic. Each crop could be harvested every month, and with the help of the spring water, the volume of harvest each month was extraordinary.
After processing, those crops would be transferred throughout the kingdom to support each person’s needs.
“Flora, is everything in Harvest City ok?” Abel turned his head towards the sky and asked.
“Master, everything is going well, but the gems on the third goddess statue are about to run out of charge up. Please replenish it!” Flora resounded from the sound circles of the magic tower.
“Already?” Abel was caught off guard. They were all perfect gems. They should have lasted for years.
The statue has been operating in the Dark World for tens of thousands of years, and no one had ever exchange its power source.
But the mana in the Dark World was a lot denser than the Holy Continent. Even without mana gems, the statue could sustain itself.
In the Holy Continent, the third God’s statue was operating in full demand, so it was drained quickly, even with perfect gems as energy sources.
Tower spirit Flora’s reminder had made him realize he had a gem problem. He needed to start storing up large amounts of perfect gems again.
Abel took out some perfect gems and gave them to Tower Spirit Flora. It could use the puppets to carry the gems to different facilities. They could even teleport them to the Orwell palace.
Abel then emerged in the Royal Palace. It had been months since he showed up, and the state members became excited when they saw him. Although the state was established and many things have been taken care of, there were still certain decisions that needed to go through the emperor.
“Steward Burbridge, gather all the unnecessary iron ore from our mines and send them to me. I need them!” Abel commanded.
“Yes, your majesty!” the steward bowed and continued, “The head of state, Chair Bennett, and head commander Bodley wants to see you. They are waiting outside!”
“Let my father in, tell head commander Bodley to wait for a bit!” Abel paused and said.
Chair Bennett quickly stepped in. He was no longer beaten up by the stress like a few months ago. Instead, he had regained his vigor. It was the magic of being in power.
“Emperor Abel!” He bowed.
“Father, long time no see!” Abel bowed back. He had given up trying to get his stubborn father to stop calling him emperor.
“Your Majesty, I have an important report!” Chair Bennett continued as he handed a lambskin parchment to Abel. “The Duchy of Lindsey, Duchy of Puma, and Duchy Scorn want to become duchies of the kingdom. They agreed to sign the same treaty as the Duchy of Thunder. The state has been debating for a long time but still couldn’t make a decision!”
Abel heard of these duchies, they were not far from the Kingdom of St Ellis, but they belonged to the kingdom of St Pierrt.
Although the Kingdom of St Pierrt was no longer powerful enough to manage its own duchies, taking their duchies would still cause some unnecessary tension.
He wanted to maintain a good relationship with the other Kingdoms. Once he opened this floodgate, more duchies would try to do the same. This was not in line with Abel’s desire for peace and stability.
“Father, what do you think?” Abel thought for a bit and asked.
“I don’t think the kingdom should take this step. If we do, the other 2 kingdoms will not be happy. It is not good for our stability once the food shortage is resolved.
Abel smiled. This was what he thought as well. Other than his own power, the main reason he had gotten the throne was that the food shortage had limited the other kingdoms’ troops.
The food shortage had been going on for a while. If Abel was a greedy king, he would have wiped out those other kingdoms already, but that was not him.
Gaining 3 extra duchies would not bring many benefits anyway. It was not worth it to disrupt their relationship.
Although Abel had the power to take down the other kingdoms, he would only do so if they attacked him. He was too lazy to even manage the kingdom of St Ellis.
His men would also grow weak if he had taken over the Holy Continent and wiped out all the potential enemies. It was not good for the future of his sovereignty.
“Father, under my command, don’t let the duchies join the kingdom!” Abel said in certainty.
“Yes, your majesty!” Chair Bennett was very surprised that the emperor had accepted his suggestion. This boosted his confidence in the state.
He then continued to report, “The kingdom of St Anwell’s Emperor Aldous wants to invite you to his 70th birthday!”
“I won’t go; you can represent me in events like this!” Abel rejected immediately.
“Do I represent your majesty for the kingdom of St Pierrt as well?” Chair Bennett nodded asked again.
“Father, I am very close to being an elite wizard. I might go on a retreat for a long time. You are the duke of a kingdom. You can take care of everything for me!” Abel replied.
Just think of the Kingdom of St Pierrt’s Duke Chesterton. He was a duke as well, but everyone knew he was the back brain of the kingdom.
“Wizard Allenby from the Wizard Union in Liante City also wants to contact you, so he left a message to me. He wants you to make a magic staff for him!” CHair Bennett spoke again.
“Father, from now on, any things in regards to wizards, you can tell tower spirit Flora. It will contact me!” Abel smiled.
Abel had to return a favor to Wizard Allenby. He owed him too much, so this was a great opportunity.
Returning a favor was not easy. If a magic staff could do so, it would be the simplest thing to Abel.
Abel had been locked up in Kurast for a month straight. He had cut off all the connection he had with the outer world. Even when he returned from the Dark World, he would spend most of his time training. It was no wonder no one could contact him.
“Majesty, there is another thing. The old man’s magic tower has been found. What do you want to do?”
“The old man’s magic tower?” Where is it?” Abel was surprised to hear this news. Although the old man had died, his magic tower was a mystery. No one in the Holy Continent knew where it was.
“Majesty, 2 months ago, a royal guard in the guards smelled the rotten smell of dead bodies, so he began to investigate. In the end, he discovered 10 royal dead knights starved to death in a royal secret chamber.” Chair Bennett sighed.
Abel also shook his head. Death knights were the foundation of a family. This was initially the case with both the Harry Family and the Bennett Family.
Without hundreds of years, you could not cultivate a full team of dead knights.
The kingdom had cultivated many dead knights in the past, and most of them were turned into Griffin knights.
However, Abel switched to a magic contract ever since he took the throne, and being a death knight was no longer necessary. Magic contracts were a lot more effective when it came to loyalty guarantee.
“He discovered a large hidden space under the chamber. It was surrounded by hidden circles and within them was an 18th stories magic tower. I’ve invited Wizard Dyna and the other elite wizards in the kingdom to try and break it, but they couldn’t do so.” Chair Bennett continued.
“Installing hidden circles underground and hiding an entire magic tower within it!” Even Abel was shocked. Luckily the old man was the one who attacked. If Abel was the one who came to the royal palace, he would be the one in danger.
The old man’s power would definitely increase by a lot if he stayed in his magic tower. Hidden magic circles were rare. It could fully isolate mana from the surrounding environment.
Abel had never come in contact with magic circles like that. You could just guess how valuable they were. Only the elves had something that could isolate mana.
Abel never allowed his magic tower to mix up with the places of normal people. He would have created a ten-meter barrier at least, but the old man’s magic tower was right underneath the royal palace.
“Father, do you have anything else to report? If not, I’ll go have a look at that magic tower !” Abel stood up. His heart was filled with interest.
Abel did not invite his father to come along. Mana was very damaging to normal people other than wizards.
“No, I’ll be on my way, your majesty!” Chair Bennett bowed and left.
“Steward Burbridge, Lead the way!” Abel turned and said.
Steward Burbridge led Abel to the back garden of the royal palace. It was a peaceful place. No one would guess there was a magic tower under it.
The entrance was located under a statue. Steward Burbridge pressed a trigger, and the statue lifted open.
Abel knew those triggers were made for normal people. As a rank 18 wizard, the old man could just move in a flashback to his magic tower.
However, Abel was not the owner of that magic tower, so he should not risk it and just go the conventional way.
The first thing he saw was a bunch of underground structures, including an empty food inventory. There were also empty food bags on the ground. It seemed like those dead knights had been struggling for months before starving to death.
Just like when Abel was studying in the Bakong city magic tower, he had wizard followers deliver food and training resources to him.
This place should be the same. The only thing was that the old man was hidden so only dead knights could serve him.
Maybe this was why no one in the royal palace knew about the old man’s magic tower. He was the final card of the kingdom.
“Majesty, this is the entrance to the magic tower!” Steward Burbridge pulled on a bookshelf in a room and exposed an open space.
It was a huge place. There were hundreds of meters underground with the side of the garden above.
The walls were filled with magic patterns and magic circles, which allowed them to hold up the garden above. There were not any huge structures such as a palace in the garden, so it shouldn’t be too heavy.
The most eye-catching thing was the 18 stories magic tower, of course. It was unlike any other magic towers. Its surface was filled with mana gathering circles, and it was built with materials stronger than any conventional material.
The reason why drawing mana gathering circles on the surface was never seen on other magic towers was that nature’s force could easily damage them.
However, this thing was located underground, and no one would try to damage it.
The hidden magic circles of this place were the best hiding method. This thing was also located under the royal palace, so there was no need for safety concerns.
Steward Burbridge stayed outside as Abel disappeared from the room. He then re-emerged in the underground space.
He felt endless mana rushing up from his feet as soon as he landed. It was a strange sensation.
“Commander spirit. Scan the ground!” Abel said to his headmaster card.
“Yes. Headmaster, scanning begins!” The commander’s spirit replied through the power of the will.
After around 10 seconds, the commander spirit replied, “Headmaster, the mana stream has been spotted. Initial analysis suggests it is from a high-level gem mine!”
“Just as expected, that old man is too spoiled. He took a high-level gem mine all for himself. It’s no wonder he could maintain as a rank 18 wizard, no wonder he didn’t have to make his wizard rank public, no wonder he had built his magic tower here!” Abel mumbled.
Almost everything was explained. Maybe the entire Denan City was built on this high-level gem mine.
Every wizard would die for a mine like this. Even the wizard union would not let it go. A high-level gem mine was enough to cause a wizard war.
A kingdom could not stop the wizard union. Suddenly an idea flashed in his mind, could there be other people in the royal family who knew about this?
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