A cool, luminous glow spilled across the many flowers blooming in the small garden, lending them a hazy, ethereal beauty.
Lucian walked side by side with Rhein along the garden path. After a brief silence, he asked directly, "Mr. Rhein, can you tell me where the headquarters of the Magic Parliament is?"
"Where do you think it would be?" Rhein, who always wore a faint smile, countered with a question of his own.
Lucian thought for a moment and answered, "I believe it's deep within the Dark Mountains, or perhaps on the other side of the range — after all, the Church's westward advance ended prematurely."
Rhein let out a short laugh. "If you went into the Dark Mountains, you'd only find those gloomy, insane ancient mages. They're powerful, many are high-ranking — some are even archmages or legendary mages — but the slightest thing that doesn't suit their fancy, and you'd become their experiment. Then you'd either gain uncontrollable power beyond your ability to control, or your flesh and blood would collapse and you'd die. Besides, the creatures in the Dark Mountains are nothing like the beasts and low-level magical creatures of the Melzer Black Forest. With your current strength, charging in recklessly, you wouldn't survive more than ten days."
So there were indeed ancient mage remnants in the Dark Mountains.
Lucian confirmed one of his speculations. "Mr. Rhein, is the headquarters of the Continental Magic Parliament located in some country? One that worships the Northern Sect, or some other god?"
"Wrong. It's in a country that worships the Southern Church of the God of Truth." Rhein seemed to recall something amusing and shook his head repeatedly. "You've probably heard its name — the Holm Kingdom. The specific location is the floating city of 'Alliance' near Rantart, the Holm Kingdom's capital."
"Alliance — in the ancient Sylvanas language, it means 'sky.'" Lucian habitually parsed the word first, then looked at Rhein in surprise. "The Holm Kingdom? Rantart? The country Natasha's mother came from?"
And this country still worshipped the God of Truth! How had Duke Vaolet once visited such a place?
"Duke Vaolet's love story has already become a tale celebrated across the entire continent, hasn't it? I've even sung and told several different versions." Rhein smiled, clearly amused. "But not a single poem, not a single story, can explain clearly what evil force it was that stood in their way."
Lucian asked in puzzlement, "Was it the Continental Magic Parliament? Why would such a strange situation arise?"
Rhein, the corners of his lips curved in a smile, glanced at Lucian. "If you'd studied governance, you'd understand that this is a matter of continental politics. Everything comes down to balance — the balance the nobility requires."
"Balance?" Lucian asked, pretending not to understand, while thinking to himself, Actually, I have quite a few textbooks on international politics — would you like to take a look?
Learning that the Magic Parliament's headquarters was not in some terrifying, perilous place put Lucian considerably more at ease.
Rhein, walking half a step ahead of Lucian, strolled slowly forward. "When the Dawn War entered its second two hundred years, the Church's strength and authority reached their peak. Whether commoner or emperor, everyone had to prostrate themselves and kiss the toes of that divine spokesperson's shoes when facing the Pope. During that era, the Church could freely depose earls, marquises, and dukes — even the Emperor of the Holy Helze Empire. As a result, no one dared offend the Church's majesty."
"So the Church's split into Northern and Southern factions at the Supreme Synod — behind that was noble support?" Lucian understood at once why those Cardinals had been able to secure the allegiance of nearly all the northern nobility.
Rhein turned his head to look at Lucian. "Perceptive. You're right, Lucian. When certain Cardinals, for reasons no one fully understood, conspired to overthrow the Pope, the nobles of their respective countries joined the conspiracy without hesitation. But these nobles deliberately leaked partial information in advance, giving the Pope time to prepare, so he was not overthrown — and the situation developed into the North-South schism. After all, for the northern nobles, if those Cardinals had overthrown the Pope and seized control of the Church, their situation would not have changed in any essential way."
"And once the North-South split occurred and both sides were roughly equal in strength, the nobles' power became the most important weight on the scales — they would never again be subject to the Church's whims of life and death." Lucian picked up on Rhein's line of reasoning and continued.
Rhein smiled faintly and shook his head. "Wrong. The Northern Church's strength differs greatly from the Southern Church's. But the elven nations, the dwarven nations, the countries worshipping other gods northwest of the Dark Mountains, the magical creatures in the Dark Mountains, and the remnant ancient mages — none of them would simply stand by and watch the Northern Church be crushed. It was only after they joined this game that the current situation took shape: the South pressing aggressively on the offensive while the North barely holds on."
"But that's different from the current situation? Right now there seems to be a stalemate — even the northern fortresses have fallen at various times." Lucian thought carefully for a moment. "So the Church split again at some point? And the Holm Kingdom propped up the Magic Parliament?"
Rhein showed a trace of surprise. "To make that connection — Lucian, you really are a keen learner and thinker. That's right. Once the northern nobles saw their status and standing greatly elevated, the southern nobles began rethinking their own position. Most chose to negotiate with the Church, but a small number took the path of covertly sponsoring arcane forces, using their power to counterbalance the Church's influence within their own kingdoms, while they themselves maintained the equilibrium in order to win a voice."
"That small number — they were the nobles of the four kingdoms across the Storm Strait. But they made one mistake: they never anticipated that an archmage named Douglas would, at just that time, fundamentally transform the ancient magic system, shifting from simply imitating magical creatures to researching the laws governing all of nature. Under Douglas's leadership, the Magic Parliament's power grew exponentially, with powerful mages and legendary mages appearing one after another. After consolidating several major hidden magical organizations over a century ago, the Continental Magic Parliament had already swollen into the second most powerful force in the entire world."
"This was a development the nobles of the Holm Kingdom and the other three kingdoms could never have imagined when they first began supporting them."
Lucian heard that familiar name. "Mr. Douglas? I know of him." Lucian did not bother asking whether Douglas was still alive — a mage of his caliber would surely have countless methods of extending his lifespan, and living for several thousand years would pose no difficulty whatsoever. For instance, the "Lich Transformation Ritual" recorded in Lucian's *Astrology and Elements* could be performed once one became a high-ranking mage; upon success, one's lifespan would be extended to at least fifteen hundred years.
"Mr. Douglas is one of the top ten most powerful beings in this world, the first Grand Archanist, Chairman of the Continental Magic Parliament, and founder of the *Arcane* journal." Even Rhein, that supremely mysterious man, spoke of Douglas with a trace of genuine reverence. "So the current situation is one where several powers balance each other and the nobles profit from it all. Heh — in the Holm Kingdom, being a mage is already a semi-public identity. Although the Church has concentrated a considerable portion of its strength there, it has been thoroughly suppressed. If not for the nobles' assistance, the Magic Parliament would have uprooted it long ago."
Lucian now had a general understanding of the current landscape. "So that's why the Church allowed a noble of Duke Vaolet's rank to visit the Holm Kingdom — it seems they're hoping to pull the Holm Kingdom's nobility firmly onto their side. Heh, Duke Vaolet 'performed' rather well."
"The Duke himself never expected things to turn out this way. The nobility of the western and southern nations of the continent, and of the Holy Helze Empire, were known as the most extreme, most conservative pro-Church faction — you can imagine the sensation the marriage caused. Although most of the Holm Kingdom's nobles understood the continental situation, they would certainly choose to remain loyal to their lords. Not because they possessed noble character, but because if the nobles failed to follow the most basic rule of loyalty to their lords and band together, they would have long since been picked apart and devoured by two colossal powers — the Magic Parliament and the Church. How could they possibly be left to perform their dangerous balancing act?" Rhein's smile carried a faint touch of irony.
He then made a downward-pressing gesture with his hand. "Enough. With your current strength, you don't need to concern yourself with these complex matters. What you need to think about now is how to get to the Holm Kingdom. The Storm Strait has been blockaded by the Church — only nobles and merchants with special permission can cross, and the inspections are extremely strict. Of course, you could also cross the front line where the Northern and Southern Churches face each other, then traverse the Shahran Empire to reach the Northern Lands, and from there loop around to the northern border of the Holm Kingdom. The only problem is that the Church's confrontation zone is even more tightly sealed than the Storm Strait — not even nobles and major merchants can pass through."
"The Magic Parliament should have routes of its own, shouldn't it?" Lucian thought of that gentleman from the Magic Parliament's headquarters.
This was something Lucian dared not ask Natasha for help with, even though her grandfather was the King of the Holm Kingdom. The force that had stood in her parents' way was the Magic Parliament, and she was a devout follower of the Church of the God of Truth. Revealing his identity as a Magic Apprentice to her — on top of his previous deception — could very well get him killed outright.
Rhein nodded. "In the maritime gem known as Sturk, there are contact personnel from the Magic Parliament, but I don't know who they are — you'll have to find them yourself. And even then, sneaking past the blockade is extremely dangerous. That's why I said you should wait until you've become a formal mage with decent self-defense capabilities before attempting it. Of course, if you can become a mid-level mage and learn the Flight spell, none of these obstacles matter. The ocean is vast — the Church can blockade ships, but it cannot possibly seal off the sky."
"Become a formal mage…" Lucian didn't know whether the Church was still keeping tabs on him, but he certainly could not continue using the "Professor" identity to make contact with the arcane community. The best way to become a formal mage quickly was, ironically, to head to the ruins — to exploit his knowledge of the "Great Cross Star Frame" magic lock's time differential and gain entry ahead of the competition. But could the ruins be a Church trap?
Rhein clasped his hands behind his back. "Within two days at most, you'll become a high-level Magic Apprentice. And given your talent, once you have a standard Silver Moon potion to aid you, there's a very good chance you'll become a formal mage. So weigh the risks yourself. I can tell you at least that the Church is having difficulty splitting off manpower at the moment."
"Is that so?" Lucian looked at Rhein with mild surprise — he seemed to know something. If what he said was true, then perhaps the risk was worth taking to try the ruins. "Oh, one more thing — Mr. Rhein, might I ask what your identity is?"
Rhein chuckled. "I'm merely an observer — someone who enjoys watching interesting things. Of course, I don't rule out the possibility of stepping into the fray myself, so long as the matter is interesting enough."
After giving Lucian this deliberately vague answer, Rhein cast him a meaningful glance, then quickened his pace and melted directly into the darkness.
Lucian stood rooted in place, watching Rhein's silhouette disappear. His heart was utterly at peace — learning the location of the Magic Parliament's headquarters had lifted a tremendous weight from his chest, as though a boulder that had pressed down on him for ages had finally been removed.
In that indescribable lightness, Lucian suddenly felt his soul expand slightly as it began pressing against that boundary.