Evolving My Undead Legion In A Game-Like World

Chapter 1222: Velkaris

The outside universe was different.

If Michael established a force capable of influencing an entire realm and his advancement progress changed, he would immediately have another clue regarding what the task required.

Michael remained seated on the cliff, considering several possibilities.

"Master, I've found more details about what you asked me to investigate."

Michael's thoughts stopped. He turned around.

Jester was sitting cross-legged several metres behind him. However, he wasn't sitting on the ground. His entire body floated silently in the air.

Two severed heads hovered beside him, one on either side, both belonging to the assassins Michael had brought back from Aurora.

Jester's normally unusual appearance had become considerably stranger. His eyes were completely golden.

Around him floated countless magic circles of varying sizes.

Some were barely larger than coins, while others stretched several metres across. They rotated at different speeds and angles, occasionally overlapping before separating again.

Strange symbols constantly appeared and disappeared across their surfaces.

Thin golden threads extended from the two severed heads and passed through several of the formations before eventually converging around Jester.

Michael immediately understood what he was seeing.

Divination.

Michael rose from the edge of the cliff and turned toward him fully. His attention settled on the two floating heads.

"Was it necessary to kill them?"

Jester's lips curled upward. A quiet chuckle escaped him.

"Master, you truly still have far too much light remaining in your heart."

Michael's eyebrow twitched.

Jester casually rotated one of the severed heads with his finger. The golden threads attached to it trembled, causing several surrounding magic circles to shift alongside it.

"For something like you, the dead are considerably more useful than the living."

His smile widened.

"Besides, weren't these two going to die regardless?"

Michael couldn't argue with that. The ghost's ice had already reduced their life forces to practically nothing. Even if Jester hadn't interfered, their deaths had merely been a matter of time.

"Since they were going to die anyway, why make my work more troublesome?"

Jester had barely finished speaking when something emerged from Michael's chest.

The ghost floated out. She remained in her miniature form as she circled Jester curiously, silver eyes examining the countless rotating formations surrounding him.

"As expected of a taboo creature."

Jester glanced at her briefly.

The ghost continued flying around him, occasionally moving dangerously close to one of the magic circles before shifting toward another. Neither Michael nor Jester paid much attention to her.

Michael went directly to the point.

"What did you find?"

Jester's playful expression faded slightly.

"Unfortunately, not as much as I would have liked."

The two heads rotated slowly beside him.

"Both possessed restrictions within their souls and memories. The moment I attempted to reach certain information, portions of their memories began destroying themselves, and since you wanted speed, I could only aim to preserve what I could."

Michael wasn't surprised. Professional assassins who had survived for so long would naturally possess precautions against soul and memory searching, even setting aside their natural protections.

Jester had still managed to salvage quite a bit before the restrictions completely activated, but most of what he discovered merely confirmed what Michael already knew.

However, Jester had uncovered one important detail.

"They weren't members of any organization."

Michael's expression relaxed slightly.

"Independent?"

Jester nodded. They were essentially freelance assassins who had worked together for many years.

That was good. Michael would have killed them regardless, but at least their deaths wouldn't immediately place another powerful organization on his list of enemies. Considering how many problems he already had, that was welcome news.

"There is something more interesting, though."

One of the enormous golden formations behind Jester slowly rotated.

"I couldn't determine the exact identity of whoever commissioned your assassination, but I traced the origin of the commission."

Michael's eyes narrowed.

"Where?"

"The Velkaris Realm."

Michael immediately frowned.

Velkaris. The name pulled up an old memory.

Aurora had several neighboring realms, but two in particular possessed extremely poor relationships with it. Velkaris was one of them.

The reason wasn't particularly complicated. Aurora was growing too quickly. Its introduction to the wider supernatural universe had happened relatively recently, yet its development had repeatedly exceeded expectations.

For distant realms, Aurora's growth was merely something interesting to observe. For Velkaris, it was a potential disaster. The two realms were simply too close.

Unfortunately for Velkaris, there was very little it could openly do about Aurora's rise without provoking consequences from other powers.

Michael's expression gradually became thoughtful.

Perhaps the assassination order had less to do with the treasure he possessed than he initially thought.

The treasure had certainly made him a target for many outsiders, but Velkaris had another reason to want him dead.

He was from Aurora. More importantly, he was one of Aurora's most promising Awakeners. If Velkaris already viewed Aurora's rapid growth as a threat, then someone like Michael appearing would only make that concern worse.

A person like him was exactly the kind of existence an enemy realm might prefer to eliminate before he matured.

Michael's eyes narrowed slightly. That possibility actually made more sense than someone simply placing a bounty because of his treasure.

Still, Michael wasn't particularly interested in sitting around and guessing the exact motive. He had a name now. That was enough.

Michael's expression gradually relaxed.

He wasn't going there immediately. He had more important matters to deal with, and attacking an entire realm because of a suspicion would be idiotic. He needed to confirm exactly who had issued the commission and whether it represented an individual faction or something larger.

But eventually?

Michael would visit.

A friendly visit.

Whether it remained friendly afterward would depend entirely on what he discovered.

Jester watched him silently. The ghost was still floating around the surrounding magic circles, occasionally poking one with a translucent finger before pulling back when the formation reacted.

Michael was about to ask Jester something else when a familiar translucent panel suddenly appeared before him.

[Origin Battlefield Notice]

[The Origin Battlefield will become accessible in 10 Minutes.]

[All Awakeners are advised to prepare.]

[Countdown: 00:09:59]

Michael's attention immediately shifted.

The time had finally come.

Whatever thoughts he had about Velkaris could wait.

The Origin Battlefield was opening again.