Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 490 - 329: Separation (Part 2)

Chapter 490: Chapter 329: Separation (Part 2)

```

After passing through the portal, Malin, despite having prepared for the world beyond, was still startled by its desolation—no vegetation at all, only bare hills. The castle Ails had mentioned looked like it hadn’t been maintained for hundreds of years.

"This is a dead world indeed." Old Hoffman surveyed the world before him, nodding with a smile, "Truly a fitting place for my eternal rest."

·Greetings, respected Mr. Hoffman.

Ails came forward, giving Old Hoffman a Mage’s salute.

·I’m amazed that you can still keep your wits about you at this time, Mr. Hoffman. Your willpower inspires awe in me.

"So you’re Ails, the white-bone Lich my apprentice Malin spoke of." Old Hoffman sized up Ails with a glance, smiling as he reached out his hand.

Ails did not reach out in return but instead humbly bowed his head and took two steps back.

Old Hoffman didn’t mind, withdrawing his hand: "Ails, where is the ritual to be held?"

·It’s right in the center of the castle. The Nameless Paladin and a god-chosen champion from the realm of cruelty have already prepared everything for you.

"It’s quite grand." Old Hoffman nodded, then gestured for Colin to help him move forward.

Malin did not follow, for he understood without needing to be reminded that the path ahead wasn’t one he could proceed on.

As the Secret Keeper, Old Hoffman had only one heir. His choice of Colin was deliberate, and Malin... didn’t really want to be bothered by the routines of the orphanage.

Of course, providing funds wasn’t an issue. Colin had the means to run an orphanage, even a nursery school if he so wished. His younger Mage brother didn’t have the time but had more than enough money to manage.

·As for you, my mentor, your prowess at your peak was something I could only dream of reaching.

Ails said as he approached Malin.

"What do you mean?" Malin asked a question, then, under the idiotic gaze of the Lich, he pointed to himself: "Look at how old I am."

Ails patted his own skull with a hand.

·Your age really doesn’t match your strength. Let me put it this way, Mr. Malin, your mentor, if he were in his prime, he was even more powerful than me, and I wouldn’t dare to battle him.

"I really don’t know about that, I just heard that my mentor suffered severe injuries, and ended up as a Bishop at Carterburg waiting to die." Malin expressed his unawareness—Honestly, waiting to die was true, but when it came to his mentor’s strength, Malin felt that Ails wouldn’t be wrong.

After all, the previous legacy of this sect was a direct inheritance of strength from one generation to the next. The better the compatibility, the greater power the successor could gain.

Otherwise, how could his mentor have torn apart his fellow disciples just after inheriting the title of Secret Keeper?

Thinking of this, Malin suddenly realized a problem—if Colin obviously hadn’t inherited his strength this time, what would happen when those elder disciples showed up?

·Well, those Legendary Paladins and the Great Demon are here, plus you have me and yourself. What’s to fear from a few brats?

Ails didn’t share Malin’s concerns at all.

"By the way, how can a Paladin and a Great Demon be together?" Malin thought of another question—Given the relationship between the Nameless Paladins and the Evil God, they should have fought each other to the death long ago: "Haven’t they had a battle for life and death?"

·Go and see for yourself.

Ails rolled his eyes at this—his Soul Fire spun to the top of his eye sockets, leaving only dark hollows showing.

A gesture very much in line with his mood at that moment.

Thus, Malin, compelled by reputation, entered Ails’ castle only to discover that the small castle’s center possessed an immense openness. Was this space magic?

·What do you think? This is the kind of power a Legendary Mage should have.

After Ails proudly finished introducing this to Malin, a skull rolled up to them.

Then, a white bone servant came running over, picked up its own head, didn’t attempt to put it back on its neck, but rather held it while running off into the distance.

```

·Look.

Ails let out a long sigh.

Malin followed the staggering footsteps of the servant and looked into the distance, just in time to see several of his own kin and a white-bearded dwarf there, holding wooden sticks. When the skeletal servant placed its skull on a small mound in front of them, one of the elves with pointy ears stepped forward, swung his stick, and sent the skull flying.

This time, the skull flew out of the castle.

His kin and the dwarf began to take out their money.

Malin didn’t quite know what to say and reached out to pat Ails on the shoulder.

"Don’t cry, it’s just a Paladin and a Great Demon playing close combat, they won’t jump over and hit you."

The arrival of Malin made the group of Paladins and the fearsome Great Demon stop their game.

They came over to greet Malin, and the dwarf, in particular, was quite interesting. He shared his story with Malin—this guy, named Heart of Steel·Ironcast, like the Prairie Elf, came from the same world, but he had been less fortunate. During an adventure, he was exiled and ended up in a world that was resisting Chaos. He did well there, but as the power of the fearsome legion grew, this guy decided to convert to the faith after once again killing a Great Demon to save all the survivors in the last refuge he protected.

The legions of the fearsome initially intended to refuse, but the fearsome entity himself stated that he was short of such a capable Chosen Champion; hence, after the deal was done, the dwarf became a standard Chosen Champion.

Unlike those indiscriminate killers of Chaos, his legion didn’t kill wantonly, didn’t attack the innocent unarmed and preferred to wage war against other murderous legions that followed the fearsome.

If it had been some other Evil God, this revolutionary might have already died.

But the fearsome entity was different—it loved war. It didn’t matter who fought who; what mattered was that the fighting occurred, and since Heart of Steel could fight and win, he naturally became a favored Chosen Champion.

He had come this time because of the connection between Nameless and the fearsome. The fearsome had long heard of Hoffman’s name and had shown significant interest in him, which made Malin have to admit that his old mentor indeed had been a formidable man.

"I’ve heard of you, kid. If this world becomes too tough for you, come find me, and together we shall pull the guts out of those murderous scum through their arseholes and then hang their masters with it!"

No sooner had the dwarf finished speaking, than he was chased away by the Prairie Elves, one of whom, a Prairie Elf maiden, smiled at Malin, "Don’t listen to his nonsense, child, you’re better off following the virtuous path."

Malin smiled and nodded in agreement.

Why did he start boasting again.

.........

The ceremony would be held in half an hour, according to the Paladins who had checked on old Hoffman, whose body was close to collapse, but his will was still clear, which earned him great respect from the Paladins.

Malin’s opinion of Ails grew even higher—this Apprentice of his couldn’t grasp things that the skeletal Lich understood perfectly; it just showed how strong the survival instinct was.

Malin had also asked the lady Paladins about the procedures of his mentor’s ceremony.

The answer he received was somewhat sad—the Sealing Stone had fully integrated with old Hoffman’s body, the seal would break upon Hoffman’s death, and the Evil God would resurrect in his shell, only to be vanquished by them.

They were fully prepared, with another Legendary Paladin squad serving as reinforcements set to arrive in fifteen minutes.

At that time, Ails would clear the area, and he, too, would distance himself from the site of the ceremony—the incoming Paladins and the Undead didn’t get along very well.

Malin nodded and then walked over to old Hoffman.

"Is that you, Malin?" Hoffman blinked his lifeless eyes.

"It’s me. Your eyes..." Malin asked, looking at the elderly man.

"They went blind right at the start..." the old man said, bowing his head, "Anm·Lensen... my Apprentice, I think he will surely come with his brothers and sisters to witness my funeral..."

The old man murmured, sighing deeply, "Malin, promise me, purify him... Colin won’t be able to inherit my power, he won’t be a match for that boy, but you will surely be able to."

Malin nodded, "Leave it to me."

"Then... I’m entrusting this to you," Hoffman said.