Mage Legend
Chapter 193: Episode 70 Farewell_2

Chapter 193: Episode 70 Farewell_2

"Soka, this is the feather you originally placed inside the statue of the Limb Temple. I swapped it with my own hair. I’ve kept it with me, and now I’m returning it to you." Priest Joe held the feather firmly between three fingers, placing it before Soka: "If not for meeting you, this lovely little girl, I might have long fallen into hatred and darkness." He pulled out a necklace from his collar, which had a badge with a skull and crossed scythes, "Thank you, Soka, for letting me remember warmth."

"Are you a priest of the God of Death?" Lynch frowned, looking at Joe. A priest of the God of Death is essentially the same as an assassin or executioner; their only purpose is to harvest life.

"Yes, I am a priest of the God of Death. I’m sorry for keeping this hidden." He looked at Lynch, indifferent to the mage’s disgusted expression: "But from now on, I will worship and revere death itself, not the path leading to it."

Lynch sighed, never able to understand the priest’s mindset.

"No need, you can keep the feather." Soka held a ruby and blinked, clearly unaware of matters related to the God of Death: "I have many feathers; you can keep that one. If you return it to me, I can’t put it back either."

The priest thought for a moment, softly "hmm," rewrapped the feather, and placed it back at his chest.

"Soka, you have many feathers, could you give me a handful?" Deluo leaned in: "Many girls adore the feathers on an angel’s wings, desperately wanting one or two. Give me some, won’t you?"

Soka immediately scampered behind Lynch, revealing only half of her head to look at Deluo: "No, that would hurt!"

Lynch protected Soka, smiling mischievously at Deluo.

The halfling wanderer reconsidered but eventually gave up the idea of borrowing the ruby from the little angel to view it. He crouched down to search the pockets of two deceased dark elves.

Two pouches filled with money naturally became his spoils of war, the clinking of gold coins quickly disappearing into the small pouch at his waist. After rummaging for a while, he brought two items to Lynch: "Mage, take a look at what badge this is?"

"This is the family insignia of the second family!" Lynch looked it over and affirmed: "There’s no mistake; these two are not just any drow; they’re members of the second family, and they hold significant positions."

"Then this place is no longer safe; we must leave immediately," William interjected: "It seems Stone Leg knows some hiding places; let’s leave right away."

"Alright." The mage nodded, "Deluo, Nimo, you two should move together as well; be extremely cautious, the second family’s power is very formidable." Lynch patted Soka’s head: "The little angel will stay with me, by my side; I can still use magic to conceal her presence."

Lynch saw the priest wanting to speak and naturally guessed his thoughts: "Mr. Joe, as a mage, I’m more adept at hiding. Besides, my identity will serve as a perfect cover."

The priest pondered for a while, then nodded.

The half-beastman Mep walked up to Soka and affectionately pinched the little angel’s face: "Little Soka, good... listen to the mage, don’t be playful, don’t cause trouble, understand?"

Soka wasn’t afraid at all of the half-beastman’s ugly and twisted face. She held back tears and nodded vigorously: "Uncle Strange Face, I’ll definitely listen to you and be a good child!"

"We’ll meet again." The mage glanced at the reporting light of the Black Crystal Tower outside the window, "Now isn’t the time for chatting, everyone, let’s move quickly."

Deluo walked up to Lynch with a serious expression, patting the mage’s shoulder: "Take care, see you at the Black Crystal Tower in ten days!"

"Alright, no need for sentimentality." Lynch bid farewell to his friend with a smile: "Nimo, take good care of yourself. After we leave here, I’ll definitely take you and Soka to see the blue sky, white clouds, and the ocean."

"Got it." Nimo patted his pocket, which was filled with various magical trinkets, "Lynch, you take care too!"

Then the group quickly left the inn. The mage instructed the two women to follow Deluo and temporarily obey his orders, then led Soka in the direction of the Black Crystal Tower. For the time being, the sparsely populated Mage Tower seemed the safest hiding place.

The little angel had already gotten used to wearing a thick robe to hide her identity, obediently following behind the mage, clutching Lynch’s black robe, not falling behind by a step.

However, Lynch couldn’t possibly be as carefree as Soka. He had to straighten out all the events. Now, intelligence and how to use it was the most urgent matter.

The little angel had once said she was originally to be taken to the Dark Elf City, to be used by the drow for a sacrificial ceremony. Sacrificial offerings like her were extremely rare. There must have been powerful dark elf families involved.

When the second family’s men arrived at the inn to demand the little angel, what they said had caught the mage’s attention: "We’ve come to retrieve what’s ours." This was akin to admitting that they were the ones who kidnapped the angel. If they were framing and setting up the first family, it would indeed make some degree of sense.

But from another perspective, the second family only sent two people, which seemed rather scant for executing a "retrieval" mission, especially when the target was a precious sacrificial offering. Even if the framing of the first family itself wasn’t successful, it was a matter of walking on a cliff’s edge, and care couldn’t be skimped. Two dark elves facing an adventure squad—without the mage’s help—would have had little chance of success.

When examining those two badges, Lynch had already noticed the positioning and communication magic on them. Both spells had a strong style of the dark elf second family, not fakes. Thus, there’s only one possibility: the two dark elves hadn’t expected an adventure squad to be protecting the little angel.

Thinking it through, as the second family couldn’t possibly make such a careless mistake, there was only one explanation: another group had directed these two dark elves to capture the angel, foreseeing their deaths, and leaving behind the badges for the next stage of the plan. Caught unprepared, the two dark elves rushed in and fell into a trap just in time.

That group was the real mastermind behind the angel’s kidnapping.

Framing the first family, then guiding the second family, even if the framing failed, could still allow the second family to acquire the sacrificial offering. After the sacrifice, the second family’s power would greatly increase in a short time. Meanwhile, the first family, having completed a mission for the Spider Goddess, had suffered significant losses in strength.

In such circumstances, an annexation war between the top two families would be almost inevitable. The entire city of Ratris might go through a reshuffling, drawing all the dark elves into the fray. The fifth family had recently been eliminated; regardless of who did it, the balance had already been broken. The power accumulated recently might soon be released throughout the entire Underdark.

Lynch couldn’t help but recall what Littlefinger Felps said; combining this, the secret underground guild seemed to be the orchestrator of all these events. However, there wasn’t any evidence to suggest its involvement. Until the mastermind behind the scenes revealed themselves, even with immense power, Lynch couldn’t act; only by identifying the manipulator could the mage devise a truly effective countermeasure.

Suddenly, Lynch felt Soka tugging at him from behind. He looked up to see a familiar old man approaching the mage. Master Vizren waved at Lynch: "Young one, come with me; I have something to discuss with you."

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