Chapter 1429
"Archmage Merlin, please save me! I swear, I had nothing to do with this, I was framed! You have to believe me, please, you have to believe me—I really was set up..."
A dignified Sky Mage, now reduced to a sniveling child, crying his eyes out. Leon couldn't help but feel a bit speechless.
"Alright, Lord Morgan, can you get up now?"
Leon spoke up. Morgan finally wiped his face with his robe, looking embarrassed as he stood. His eyes lingered on the space rings in Marianne's hands, a look of heartbreak on his face, but he didn't dare say a word.
Morgan didn't dare speak. His uncle, the old mage, was even more silent, pretending to be dead, standing there in shock and saying nothing, his eyes filled with terror.
How long had it been? Archmage Merlin was already a Sky Mage, Sixth Rank—a truly unfathomable and terrifying existence.
Not only was he powerful, his alchemy was fearsome. The Gilded Rose had already surpassed the Henry Family—in status and reach, it was leagues ahead.
Rumor had it Archmage Merlin was close with all three deans of Astral Academy. He might even be on the verge of sainthood...
A terrifying figure. Those fools from the Sinclair Family actually claimed Archmage Merlin was just a lone mage. Idiots, weak and shortsighted—they deserved what happened to them. The survivors won't have it easy either. This time, they nearly dragged us all down. Let the Henry Family take revenge on those idiots.
Leon checked his body and glanced at the pitiful, disheveled Morgan.
"Alright, talk. What happened?"
Leon asked personally, so Morgan had no choice but to answer honestly.
"The Sinclair Family used to be a minor house in the Stoneland Kingdom. Recently, they approached us, wanting to become vassals of the Henry Family. We didn't think much of it and agreed.
Who could've guessed what would happen next? That bastard told me they'd found a perfect Lich Transformation Ritual in an alchemist's notebook, but it was stolen by a lone mage. He wanted me to help him get it back.
A flawless Lich Transformation Ritual—our Henry Family has the most dark mages, there's no way we'd pass up on that. I didn't think much and followed along, only to get screwed over by that idiot..."
Leon nodded thoughtfully.
"Did they only try to join your family after the incident in the Leviathan Realm?"
Morgan was startled, then nodded honestly.
"That's right. It was only after arriving in the Leviathan Realm that they wanted to join the Henry Family. They said it was to help Northend World and volunteered to fight at the front lines..."
Leon frowned, pondering the connections between all these events.
"Does their family have a lot of Necromancers?"
Morgan's face looked like he'd seen a ghost.
"That's right. Their family is full of Necromancers, with only a few Frost Mages. Even the patriarch is a Necromancer. Since they wanted to join a faction like our Henry Family, with so many dark mages, none of us thought much of it. It all seemed normal..."
Leon instantly pieced together the gist of it.
Someone must've already completed the Sacrificial Transformation Ritual from that notebook, sacrificing everything to the Blood Lich. That kind of offering is terrifying.
Not just life, mana, and soul—even memories, personality, and insight are sacrificed to the Blood Lich. Most of the time, unless the Blood Lich is actively controlling the avatar, no one can tell anything's wrong. Everything seems normal, except deep in the soul there's a mark—the sole object of loyalty is the Blood Lich.
With an Imitation Lich stirring up trouble, secretly manipulating the Sinclair Family's plans...
Once the Sinclair Family finishes the ritual, and with the Henry Family's abundance of dark mages, the Lich Transformation will go smoothly. Then, the Henry Family will be under the control of these Imitation Liches.
From there, it'll spread out from the Henry Family, slowly radiating and corrupting other factions...
Just thinking about it made Leon's skin crawl. The Blood Lich wasn't after a simple victory in this war, or the Leviathan Realm. This creature was planning something much bigger, much darker...
Leon had thought the Blood Lich only wanted to create a small squad of liches in the Leviathan Realm, then build an Undead Army. But now, it was clear he'd underestimated the Blood Lich.
This thing never intended that. It was going to infiltrate humanity directly, taking control of entire factions from within.
Once civil war breaks out and a few powerful mages die, that's just more undead power. As long as they complete the Undead Transformation, nothing can stop the Leviathan Realm from being devoured.
And after the Leviathan Realm falls, with these traitors inside, it'll be easy for the army to invade Northend World.
Leon took out that original notebook and tossed it to Morgan.
"Here's the notebook you wanted—if you dare to try it."
Morgan was stunned at how easily he'd gotten the notebook. After a moment, he quickly shoved it back into Leon's hands, not understanding what Leon meant, but certain this notebook was nothing good...
"Archmage Merlin, what is this all about?"
Leon put the notebook away and let out a cold laugh.