NOVEL NEXT Chapter 27: Are You Hiding Someone?
The burly man who had been lifted up hadn't yet grasped the situation when, almost in the next second, he was instantly thrown by that giant hand.
Thud!
The sound of his landing rang out sharply, causing everyone present to shudder inwardly.
Before they could say anything, Viktor slightly raised his head, his cold eyes seeming to pierce their hearts like steel needles.
"Scram."
The moment the word left his mouth, the lackeys fled in panic.
From start to finish, they didn't even dare to resist.
After they had all escaped, Viktor withdrew the lava giant hand.
This astonishing arm seemed to retreat into Viktor's trench coat, completely merging with it.
Having done this, he turned around, glanced at the trembling manager, and said coldly,
"I'm here to collect my horse."
The manager immediately understood Viktor's intention. He shakily straightened up from behind the counter and looked the man before him up and down.
"How... How can you prove this is your horse? Prove... prove your identity!"
Viktor looked at him approvingly, seeming to acknowledge the other's courage, and said calmly,
"Viktor Kravina."
"The person who left this horse should have left this name."
Hearing this, the manager carefully checked the register and quickly nodded, "No... no problem. You can take it away."
Then, he took out a money pouch from under the counter and handed it to Viktor.
"That knight left five thousand here. This is what's left after deducting the feeding costs. Take it."
Viktor didn't stand during the ceremony. He took the money pouch, weighed it in his hand, and put it away directly.
Five thousand geos...
It could only be said that Gwen had no concept of money.
Spending so much to board a horse was enough to feed it for half its life.
Viktor walked into the stable and patted the strong white horse.
"Looks like you've been treated well these past few days."
The white horse stretched out its head, nuzzling Viktor's hand affectionately.
He stroked the horse's smooth coat for a while, then led it out and skillfully mounted it.
Vega looked down at Viktor and said softly from his shoulder:
"With your current power, you could return to the capital with just a few teleportation arrays, couldn't you?"
"Why insist on riding a horse?"
Vega wasn't exaggerating. Now, Viktor could use teleportation magic to move freely within a hundred kilometers.
Because he had now entered the ranks of 'Saint Mages'.
Twenty-nine years old, fourth tier.
Has anyone in the empire's history ever achieved such a feat?
Hearing Vega's question, Viktor chuckled.
"This horse isn't mine."
"What's borrowed must be returned."
After the battle with the Fire Calamity, Viktor had gained an enormous amount of experience points.
Although his previous experience was basically enough to make him a fourth-tier mage,
Viktor had been controlling his experience points, not rashly advancing.
Until he fought with Guledon, gaining too much experience, causing the player's own experience bar to burst uncontrollably.
It exploded.
[Viktor Kravina] lv41
HP: 2000/2000
MP:14800 /15000
Leveling up twice consecutively, his maximum mana increased by ten thousand compared to before.
This seemingly powerful attribute didn't make Viktor arrogant.
Level forty was just the beginning.
His current strength still couldn't compare to the original game's second chapter boss Viktor.
But at least, in the capital's public eye, he no longer had to worry about being at anyone's mercy.
Moreover, his gains weren't limited to leveling up.
A red stripe flashed across Viktor's trench coat.
That was the symbol of Guledon's power.
He had absorbed Guledon's fire origin, gaining some of Guledon's abilities.
One of these was the solidification of fire elements.
Viktor could turn fire magic into lava-like substantial heat, even solidifying it into magma.
The lava giant hand from earlier was casually formed by solidifying magic in this way.
At the same time, he could also attach the fire origin to himself, greatly enhancing his resistance to fire elements.
Most importantly, he could freely shape it into any form he wanted.
His favorite trench coat, which had been destroyed in the battle with Guledon,
Now, Viktor used Guledon's fire origin, attaching it to himself, forming the trench coat he was now wearing.
This was practically a waste of a heavenly treasure.
But for Viktor, this appearance was just right.
Power is a matter of version.
But being cool is a lifelong pursuit.
"I can understand your obsession with the trench coat, but..."
Vega dropped a small, exquisite hourglass pendant from its wing and said to Viktor:
"Can you explain to me what this thing is?"
Viktor took it and glanced at it.
[Item Name: Banished Abyssus (World-class Item)]
[Nature: One-time consumable item]
[Effect: Causal disorder, able to convert specific time causality that should occur in time.]
Viktor just looked at it once, and the item's information appeared before his eyes.
A world-class item, only obtainable by players who have achieved world-class feats in the game.
Of course, Viktor had never obtained one before.
Each world-class item has its unique and astonishing effect.
They are items that exist regardless of world rules.
World-class items can only be used once, disappearing immediately after use.
Moreover, world items are bound, only usable by objects they recognize. Even if others get their hands on them, they can't operate them.
This is also why Vega couldn't understand it at all.
First kill of the world boss Guledon, in the game, this would definitely be considered a world-class achievement.
Not to mention he did it solo.
It wouldn't make sense for the world not to give him a world-class item.
After Viktor woke up, this item automatically appeared in his player inventory.
Out of interest, Vega borrowed the pendant, saying it wanted to research it.
But clearly, it hadn't figured out anything.
Viktor took the hourglass pendant and wore it around his neck.
"Did you already know what this thing is?"
Vega looked at Viktor suspiciously, but he maintained a poker face and replied:
"I don't know."
Hearing Viktor's perfunctory answer, Vega was so annoyed its teeth itched.
To be honest, it now envied Gwen's ability to see through people's truths and lies. It wanted one too.
Viktor glanced at it and said sarcastically:
"Don't even think about it, you're not righteous at all."
Vega wished it could peck Viktor's head to pieces, saying discontentedly:
"No wonder you're so annoying."
........
The capital was particularly quiet at night, with moonlight silently crawling onto the rooftops.
Outside the balcony of Viktor's study, however, a figure passed through the moonlight and climbed in through the window.
Lia leaned against the desk, looking at tonight's moonlight, lost in thought.
Lian jumped in, flipped back her hood, revealing pointed ears.
"Miss Lia, I've been following Duke Levi's butler for a week. I can confirm that the money transaction was done by the butler of the Duke's mansion."
"The butler has no motive to provoke the Kravina family. I believe this was on Duke Levi's orders."
After hearing Lian's report, Lia smiled lightly, her lips carrying a hint of disdain.
The moonlight shone on her face, making her look particularly cold.
"Duke Levi is already in trouble himself now. Whether he did it or not doesn't matter anymore."
Lian was confused by this and asked, "What? What happened?"
Lia stroked the black wood desk, saying slowly:
"The mages who went to Mount Vesuvius recently collectively petitioned the Emperor, impeaching Duke Levi."
"The reason is that the Duke wanted to kill all the mages present."
Hearing her explanation, Lian couldn't make heads or tails of it.
How could Duke Levi do such a rash thing that would affect the royal family's credibility in plain sight?
"But that's exactly what he did."
"Duke Levi has admitted that, as the leader of war magic, he stopped maintaining the magic array."
"If the volcano had fully erupted at that time, all the mages present would have died."
Lian was puzzled: "But didn't the volcano end up not erupting? Why are they still impeaching the Duke?"
Hearing her words, Lia could only shake her head with a smile, saying helplessly: "You really don't understand the human world, do you?"
"In the eyes of these noble mages, life is only secure when it's in their own hands."
"And Duke Levi, whom they trusted most, betrayed them at the most critical moment. Regardless of whether the volcano erupted or not, Duke Levi's failure to maintain the array was already a grave offense."
"This time they were just lucky, the volcano was stopped from erupting by some supposedly special force, but what if the volcano had really erupted?"
A glint flashed in Lia's eyes.
"At that time, it wouldn't have been just the mages who died, but thousands of innocent civilians at the foot of the mountain."
Lian suddenly understood, but at this moment, Lia still had the leisure to joke.
"It's just a pity that these mages are all busy impeaching the Duke, not one of them came to buy potions from me."
"I was hoping to make a good profit before Viktor returned."
Lian noticed Lia's lowered eyelids; it seemed she really felt it was a shame.
Lian opened her mouth, wanting to say something more, but then stopped.
So Lia reached out her hand, tapped her head, and said with a smile:
"Were you going to say, don't wait anymore? Viktor definitely won't come back?"
Lian covered her head without speaking, but her eyes had already betrayed her thoughts.
"There's a saying among humans: good people don't live long, but pests last a thousand years."
"Viktor is the latter type. Unless someone personally brings his corpse to me, I will never believe he's dead."
"Never."
Lian wanted to say something more to persuade Lia when suddenly, she sensed a powerful and familiar aura appearing at the door.
Her ears twitched, which Lia noticed. This was a signal that someone approaching had been detected by the elf.
"It's Viktor's aura! He's back!"
"See?"
Lia smiled brightly.
"I told you he wouldn't die."
Lian lowered her head, put her hood back on, and nodded to Lia.
Concealing her presence, maintaining an aura that absolutely wouldn't be detected, she jumped straight out the window.
At this moment, the surprised voice of a servant sounded from outside the door.
"Master, you... you're back?"
"Mm, take this horse down and feed it well."
"Yes! I'll do it right away!"
As the footsteps got closer, they suddenly stopped, and then the study door was pushed open.
Lia leaned against the desk, smiling at Viktor.
"Welcome home."
Viktor nodded expressionlessly, just entering the study, then looked around left and right.
Finally, his gaze locked onto Lia.
"Are you hiding someone?"
"........"
Lia's smile froze, then gradually crumbled.