Chapter 246: Night Blade

After flying for a while, Charles suddenly stopped in the air, released his full wisdom power, and checked the surroundings before casting [Flame Teleportation] spell on himself.

A few moments later, he appeared in the middle of the woods and turned his gaze towards a large crater.

It was the place where he defeated Vivian!

He then glanced around for a moment, raised his hand, and touched his face.

The next moment, his feminine-looking face began to change and soon turned into his original appearance.

After that, he once again cast [Flame Teleportation] spell, enveloped himself in crimson flame, and disappeared from there.

…

A few seconds later, he reappeared in the familiar underground basement hall and looked around.

At that moment, an old man's voice echoed in his head.

'I'll be there in a minute.'

Upon hearing those words, he subconsciously nodded his head, walked towards the nearby ladder back chair, and sat on it.

Then, he crossed his legs together and waited patiently.

A minute later, the iron shutter opened from the other side end, and soon a white-haired old man stepped down from upstairs.

Within seconds, he reached the underground basement floor and walked towards Charles with the help of his black cane.

Charles glanced at the grey-robed old man and smiled.

"You seem to be aged a lot in the few days." He couldn't help but comment as he saw the tired look on his face.

Meanwhile, Oswald let out a cold snort, tapped his space ring, took out a sheathed golden hilted dagger, and showed it to him.

"What is it?" Charles's interest piqued as he saw the dagger.

On the other hand, Oswald walked towards the opposite chair, sat on it, and then started to speak.

"This dagger is made of an uncommon element called 'Night Stone' and then forged by some normal blacksmith in this city-"

"An uncommon artifact?" Charles already checked it with his [Cryptic Analysis] skill and frowned.

As Oswald heard his words, he let out a mocking laugh, unsheathed the blackish dagger, and tapped the golden hilt twice.

A moment later, strange reddish characters appeared all over the dagger edges and soon merged in it.

Simultaneously, Oswald made a strange hand movement and slashed at the thin air.

The next instant, a strange ripple came out from the dagger and caused the surrounding elements to act fiercely.

Upon seeing such a strange scene, Charles narrowed his eyes in suspicion and checked the surroundings with wisdom power.

But before his wisdom power could reach the dagger, sharp knife-like energy came out from it and sliced at a particular area!

At that moment, Charles noticed a bluish crack appeared near the dagger and soon squinted his eyes.

"I-It sliced the space itself?" His scalp tingled as he stared at the small dagger in horror!

Upon hearing his shocking words, a proud smile bloomed on Oswald's wrinkled face.

"Don't forget that I'm an ancient mage who specialized in creating runic weapons, lad. Check your strange skill on this weapon now." He said with a grin.

On the other hand, Charles calmed down a bit and used the [Cryptic Analysis] skill.

…

[Night Blade]

Quality:?????

Effect: ??????

…

"What the hell did you create?" Charles stared at the bunch of question marks for a moment and glared at the old man.

With a single look, he could tell that even his [Cryptic Analysis] skill couldn't distinguish the real strength of this weapon and became startled inside.

'Did he create some ancient forbidden weapon?' He couldn't help but show a wary look at the old man.

Meanwhile, Oswald snorted coldly and spoke.

"If we measure by my old world's standard, this dagger would come under the pseudo-legendary weapon level. For example, this dagger is powerful enough to pierce through a Rank-5 defensive spell like a paper. It's a well-crafted treasure for an assassin."

As he said those words, he gave a meaningful look at him and smiled.

'This old man… He knew that I'm good at assassination so he actually created a perfect dagger to bait me, huh.' Charles hesitated for a moment before he let out a deep sigh and asked.

"What do you want in exchange for this dagger?"

"Don't be annoyed, lad. Actually, I've created this dagger to show my goodwill." He purposefully paused for a moment as he observed Charles's facial expression and added.

"I want you to keep two promises. First, you have to let me live after 96 years of the agreement. Second, I want you to help me perfect this cloning formula and increase the lifespan of the cloning method. In exchange, I will use my free time and create below legendary grade artifacts for you and your disciples."

"What is this pseudo-legendary and legendary level artifact? Are they above extraordinary level artifacts?" Charles didn't agree to his request directly and asked questions.

"Nah. You can call this an upgraded version of Extraordinary Artifacts. In this world, weapons are distinguished based on the type of metals used to forge, and their durability. There are no mystical weapons made of magic in this world. Although the [Rune Smith] Class mystics are trying to recreate the ancient weapons, they are nowhere near the ancient mages. This Rune Weapon comes under the ancient weapon category. Although it was just an uncommon artifact a while ago, it already turned into a pure destructive weapon."

"Those rune letters are actually filled with pure space 'law' power. So, when I slashed the dagger earlier, the sharp edge produced a power equal to Rank-5 attack spell for a minute second and cut the space itself. But there is one side effect in this dagger, though. You need to infuse this weapon with your wisdom power whenever you using it and it will drain your mental power at a fast rate. With my calculation, you can maintain this slash ability for only five seconds. After that, you won't even able to cast Rank-4 spells."

As Charles heard a detailed explanation, he didn't hesitate for a moment as he took the dagger from Oswald's hand and nodded his head.

'This dagger increased my chance of success to 60%!' He was pleased by this crafty old man's gift.

While he was in muse, Oswald crossed his arms together and spoke.

"Rhea gained the approval of the ice spirit and also increased her water affinity to a genius level."

Charles's face turned stiff as he heard those words.

"Genius level? How?" His deep-blue eyes widened in shock.

"It's a long story." Oswald took a deep breath and started to explain everything about what had happened while he was away.

As Charles heard about Emilia and her teammates' arrival and their timing offer to help Rhea ascend to the throne, he couldn't help but show a suspicious look.

"Their timing is too perfect… Emilia knew long about your identity, but she chose to show up at this moment… By helping Rhea ascend to the throne, she and her teammates would get nothing at all… Although Life Church gets a portion of believers, it's not worth risking their life. Moreover, with how powerful the Wilson is, Emilia doesn't even need to come here at all… Why would they chase after a random series artifact without even knowing anything? Would a single prophecy really worth sacrificing their lives?" Charles felt that he was missing some key information.

At that moment, Oswald also fell silent for a moment and asked.

"Could it be their memories are tampered with?"

"It is possible… But something must have happened two weeks ago…. Do they want to make Rhea the next queen sooner? Or, is there something else?" At that moment, Charles suddenly thought of the strange elemental rings.

"Did the 'Divine' wants Rhea to collect all the elemental rings and merge them into a Ruler's Ring before she ascends to the throne?" He frowned.

'But where is this Divine hiding? In Emilia's soul? Or, Andrew's soul? Or Bella Collins's soul?' Questions whirled in his head.

After thinking for a moment, he made up his mind and spoke.

"Mr. Runeth, I need you to do few things for me in secret. If you want money for these things, ask Jessie's help." He deliberated for a moment and continued to speak about his plan.