Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe

Chapter 1959 Fate of the Branded

”So you wish to know about the sun temple incident,” Kesha said with a soft sigh.

Genevieveʼs expression was solemn. She had controlled her emotions enough not to blurt out unfounded accusations directly toward the elf.

Still, she couldnʼt help but find the whole matter suspicious.

”One of our council members personally went to the city, looking for clues,” the elf said.

”They found traces of battle around the sun temple and deduced what had happened.”

”Deduced how?” Genevieve pressed, trying her best to sound unbiased and polite.

Kesha shrugged. ”Youʼd have to ask them, dear.”

Genevieve gritted her teeth in frustration, though she tried her best not to show it on her face. Instead, she politely asked, ”May I know who investigated this—”

Kesha cut her off, her voice growing impatient. ”Itʼs the leader of our council. Though I doubt youʼll be granted an audience with him as easily as you were with me.”

Leader of the council? Genevieve slipped into thought.

In the time she had spent at the City Hall, she had gathered enough information to learn that although the leadership of this establishment consisted of a four-member council, one among them had been unanimously chosen to lead the others.

And this leader was apparently one of the, if not the, oldest people in the City Hall. Some even claimed that he had been around since the time of the first adventurers.

Alas, how much of it was true or false, Genevieve did not know. But what she did know was that this leader was the strongest person in the council and the City Hall.

If itʼs the leader of the council himself, then…

Genevieve began to waver.

If the strongest person from the council had personally gone to investigate, then subsequently deduced that Adam had been—

No!

Genevieve quickly strangled that train of thought.

He canʼt be!

Eyes cloaked in resolve, she turned to Kesha and said in a grim voice, ”But how is he certain that it had been Adam? What I mean to say is… did he see the corpse himself? There are some things that just donʼt make sense to me, my lady.”

She let her words hang. But she quickly added, ”I donʼt mean to suspect the leader of the council, of course. But Adam, he… he is a dear friend of mine, and I hoped that… I hoped that—”

A heavy sigh echoed through the chamber.

But it wasnʼt Kesha who let it out.

It came from right behind Genevieve. Her eyes slowly widened, and her body trembled involuntarily.

There had been someone standing behind her all this while, and she hadnʼt even noticed it!

Genevieve froze completely, not even daring to turn around. Instead, she cast a questioning glance filled with terror toward Lady Kesha.

The elf ignored her. Instead, she shifted her gaze to the person standing behind Genevieve.

”Sheʼs a little too smart for her own good,” Kesha said.

”Curiosity kills the cat, as they say.”

A gruff, manly voice echoed in the chamber. It came from behind Genevieve. It was so close.

Before she could even realize what was going on, or what was about to happen, she felt a sharp pain at the side of her neck. Her breath hitched, her eyes rolled back, and the next thing she knew… everything went dark.

With a soft thud, she slumped forward, her head knocking against the table.

”What a pity.” Kesha sighed as she watched the unconscious human girl.

She turned to Aramen and asked, ”What now?”

Genevieveʼs abrupt disappearance, that too right after visiting the fifth floor, would raise questions among the residents. That would bring unnecessary troubles.

Aramen looked at the elf and said coldly, ”Use your illusion magic. Have ”Genevieve” leave through one of our secret tunnels out into the city.”

Kesha took a long drag from the pipe before replying:

”Weʼll spread the story that she refused to believe us and ventured into the city on her own to confirm her dear friendʼs death. We could not hold her back against her will.”

She paused, her eyes gleaming sharply. ”We can even make it a love story. That would be more convincing for the masses. Genevieve refused to believe that her lover had died at the hands of the High Priest, so she took it into her own hands to find the truth.”

Kesha turned to Aramen and asked, ”Though, Iʼm curious. What really happened with that human with the Brand?”

Aramen said, ”Dead.”

Carou had not gone into great detail about Adamʼs fate. What the monster did reveal was that the battle between the High Priest and the Puppeteer was triggered by the Brand of Evil, and that Adam had been tortured by the werewolf before that.

From that, the conclusion was obvious.

Aramen was certain that there was no way Adam could have survived the werewolfʼs torture. No one had. Ever. And even if he had somehow endured it, there was no chance he could have escaped the chaos of two powerful Rank 2 monsters battling each other.

Not to mention, there had been countless other monsters that night. And all of them had been drawn to the Brand of Evil. No matter where Adam tried to escape, the monsters would have followed him relentlessly.

The very fact that things had gotten so quiet after the sun temple incident further confirmed the fact that Adam was truly dead.

Kesha let out a sigh. ”Such is the fate of the branded.”

She couldnʼt help but wonder what this human must have done in the past to draw the ire of a devil.

”No matter,” she said softly. ”Iʼll handle the narrative.”

She looked at Aramen and said, ”Are you going to take her away now?”

”Yes.” The old Paladin nodded. He grabbed the unconscious Genevieve and slung her over his shoulder.

He then asked, ”Any close companions of the girl?”

”Iʼm not sure. Iʼll have to check.”

Aramen nodded and turned away. ”Deal with them if they start asking questions too.”

With that, he left her private quarters.

Kesha watched him leave, her thoughts complicated. She turned toward the window and glanced at the crimson moon. Outside, it had begun raining.

Her lips parted, and she murmured, ”A little more than a year.”

Half an hour later, ”Genevieve” descended the flight of stairs, accompanied by two guards…