Diary of a Dead Wizard
Chapter 442: The Will to Resist

Ophelia’s threat made Kismet recall the days he had spent drifting in the depths of the ocean.

Compared to that time, his current life was at least not so full of despair.

He lifted his head once more, and a sincere smile was already on his face.

“Dear Lady Ophelia, the moment my former master abandoned me, he ceased to be my master. I will not forget who my current master is.”

Ophelia stared into Kismet’s silver eyes for a while before letting out a light laugh. “Little liar.”

Then she withdrew into the vase. Her slender swan-like neck, upon entering the glass vase, was instantly twisted into a pulp-like mass, mixing into the original liquid inside.

“You’ll be staying in Iskaper for a while. Go play anywhere you want, as long as it’s not Sky City.”

Kismet gave a graceful gentleman’s bow. “Thank you ever so much. Your character shines even brighter than your beauty!”

“Sweet-tongued.” Ophelia wasn’t swayed. “When you were on the western continent of Stat, did you also make a move against Gorsa?”

“I merely caused him a bit of minor trouble. How would I dare to target a Third Rank?”

“Hearing that from you makes it completely unbelievable.” Ophelia’s head was halfway into the bottle, her final words drifting in the air.

“Gorsa is the prodigy of this generation of the Glare Family. If you weave his fate into book pages, the Fourth Rank of Glare won’t let you off.”

Kismet merely chuckled. “Rest assured, my lady. I’ll be careful. I won’t let myself get tangled in it.”

…

The Glare Family had an entire world-side to themselves.

A world-side was a fragment of a broken world that, after connecting with the main world, was absorbed and became a small space attached to it.

Upon entering this world-side, one would immediately see hundreds of wizard towers standing like fortress walls at the entrance.

These wizard towers varied greatly in shape, height, and style—completely lacking any sense of uniform beauty.

As Gorsa walked alone into this world-side, a man’s voice emerged from a nearby lion statue.

“Gorsa, you’ve finally returned.”

Gorsa stood still, not advancing.

Within minutes, someone came rushing over.

But the attitude of this greeter was anything but friendly.

“Only four years left until the deadline. If you hadn’t caused trouble out there this time, were you planning to wait until the final moment before coming back?”

It was a middle-aged man with golden hair and a beard.

The moment Gorsa saw him, his brows furrowed.

The man raised his chin, eyes filled with undisguised mockery.

“You have been running away for so many years without paying any attention to the family mission you have undertaken. The patriarch spoils you so-called prodigies far too much. Someone like you, blessed with excellent magic talent, should obediently stay in the family’s territory and produce more outstanding offspring for us!”

“Tsk.” Gorsa clicked his tongue at that. “You’r already a Second Rank wizard, but still think yourself as a house dog.”

The man wasn’t angered. He even curled his lips slightly. “So what? Aren’t you back to being a house dog too?”

Gorsa’s cloak gave a light flick, and a powerful surge of magic erupted from him.

The man, once smug, suddenly fell silent as if his throat were being squeezed shut.

His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Gorsa.

“How strange,” Gorsa said with a smile, “you seem to know I’m a family prodigy, yet you always forget it.”

He stepped toward the man, one foot after the other. “Now, greet me properly.”

The man’s eyes quivered. In an instant, all emotions disappeared from his face.

He slowly knelt on one knee, placing both hands together at his forehead.

“Welcome back, Lord Gorsa.”

Gorsa paid no more attention to the provocateur.

Among wizards, struggling over knowledge and resources was common. Arrogance was merely a mask for conflict of interest.

He proceeded smoothly to one of the less conspicuous wizard towers.

Ever since he stopped concealing his magical power, no one had dared to obstruct him again.

Eventually, he descended into the depths of the tower.

The place was pitch black—no visible surroundings, no sound.

But the moment he entered the darkness, a voice echoed in his mind.

“You’ve advanced to Third Rank.”

“Yes.”

“Using Glare’s power to do so.”

“Yes.”

“You understand the responsibilities of a Third Rank within the Glare Family.”

“I do.”

“There are two empty wizard towers here. The northern mountains of Stat have five.”

Gorsa suddenly interrupted the voice in the dark. “Why are there five wizard towers again in the northern mountains? Didn’t Camus go there just a hundred years ago?”

Silence followed in the dark—almost five minutes with no response.

“Dead. Taken by the Black Tide of the Abyss.”

Gorsa chuckled lightly. “Then I’ll inherit his wizard tower.”

“His tower is closer to the Wall of Sighs. It’s isolated from the others.”

“Perfect.”

“The family still hopes you’ll focus on reaching the Fourth Rank. We haven’t had a new Fourth Rank in a long time.”

But Gorsa was already heading out. “I need a more suitable place to continue my experiments.”

…

A few days later, Saul set out for Blue Water Bay with a cart full of luggage.

To conserve magic, he had the other consciousnesses return to the diary, leaving only Agu in the open.

Among the four consciousnesses, Agu was the clearest-headed and most well-versed in various fields of knowledge, making him a great aid when traveling.

After spending a night in a lakeside cabin, Saul decided to take an airship to Blue Water Bay. He figured that before news of Gorsa’s departure from the wizard tower spread, he could hitch another free ride.

As it turned out, by coincidence, the ship he boarded was once again captained by the business-savvy Captain Harry.

When Harry discovered Saul’s name among the guests, he enthusiastically came over to greet him, and took the chance to promote some newly developed magical items from Bayton Academy.

Saul was indeed interested in a few of them, especially the second-generation compression bag. Not only was it twice as spacious, but it could also be used with special sealing items to store living beings.

However, the new bag could only be purchased in Caugust City, where Bayton Academy was located. The airship merely advertised it.

After all, the item was too valuable. As an ordinary man, Harry had no way to protect it.

Still, though Saul didn’t buy anything, he chatted with Captain Harry for a bit, subtly inquiring about the reactions of various factions to the collapse of the wizard tower.

Though Harry was just a regular person, his travels gave him access to many rumors.

The two strolled slowly across the deck.

“…At first, the surrounding factions were getting restless, but ever since Tower Master Gorsa suddenly appeared on the battlefield with reinforcements and directly killed two Second Rank wizards from Kenas, everything quieted down.” Captain Harry spoke enthusiastically.

He tried to appear open and composed, but his every gesture still showed a hint of respectful restraint.

“Now everyone knows Tower Master Gorsa has advanced to Third Rank. Those who once had ill intentions are all worried they’ll face retribution.”

At that point, Harry cautiously asked, “Lord Saul, do you think Tower Master Gorsa will start a purge?”

But Saul didn’t respond.

“Lord Saul?” Harry called again.

Still, Saul didn’t react.

Only then did Harry nervously lift his head and discover that Saul was staring in a certain direction on the ship, a glint of coldness seeming to seep from his eyes.

“Harry,” Saul said, slightly turning his head though his gaze remained locked forward, “this ship of yours… how well can it take a hit?”

“M-My lord?” Harry stammered, his legs already trembling beneath him, nearly giving out.

(End of Chapter)