After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 50.1

Everyone was stunned, and immediately got goosebumps.

The number one ranked human had just been here? Right in their Magicians’ Association!

Millard asserted confidently. “It’s definitely the real deal. Look at this magic array, it’s perfect! Too perfect – how could it not be drawn by the person himself? That person must have just been here!”

Everyone looked at each other, their minds nearly in a daze.

What kind of being was the number one ranked human? An ultimate existence very likely to take that step!

Such a powerful and great person had actually been here, and casually helped them draw a magic array!

The magic apprentices present were scared silly, staring in disbelief with trembling bodies.

They thought to themselves…did this mean the number one ranked human was still nearby?

The number one ranked human could be someone around them!

They felt excited, thrilled, and afraid! But at the same time, also somewhat puzzled.

Why would the number one ranked human help them complete this magic array?

Millard said seriously, “Maybe it was just on a whim. Seeing that we drew it so poorly, they casually helped us complete it. Actually, it wasn’t really for our sake, just a casual act.”

Another instructor said, “Only magicians can enter and exit the Magicians’ Association, and they have to register. Does this mean the number one ranked human is one of the people who came to our association today?”

Everyone paused, unconsciously becoming excited.

Millard nodded and said, “It’s very possible, though not necessarily. A figure like that wouldn’t come to a place like ours on purpose. It’s highly likely they frequently move about our association in daily life!”

His words were shocking.

Previously, the whole world thought the number one ranked human was in the Oedipus Empire. Now the situation was clearer – they were very likely right beside us!

Were they living in seclusion at will, or were they originally a citizen of Oedipus?

This point was very important to them!

Millard swallowed, his forehead covered in cold sweat. After calming down a bit, he said, “Nobody should go near this magic array. It absolutely cannot be altered. Protect it! I’m going to report this to the imperial high-level officials now. This matter is of great significance to us!”

“Yes!”

Everyone bustled about in a panic, their faces flustered, but being magicians after all, they managed to calm down somewhat.

Millard entered the palace overnight, intending to report directly to the king and prime minister.

At this time, King Levin was still troubled by not being able to find the number one ranked person. He was in the throne room, discussing related topics with the prime minister.

Levin: “It seems we really can’t find them…”

Prime Minister: “Your Majesty, didn’t I say before? If such an existence doesn’t want attention, no one can find them. We should give up.”

Levin frowned, not even pretending in front of the prime minister, and complained. “Isn’t this for the empire?”

The prime minister shook his head. “Whether what you’re inviting is fortune or disaster is hard to say. The number one ranked human is ranked by strength, not virtue. According to statistics from the Alliance Historical and Cultural Institute, among the number one ranked throughout history, 30% were of Chaotic alignment, 30% were Neutral, and only 40% were Lawful.”

Chaotic, Neutral, and Lawful were the alignment classifications used by various empires for powerful humans, convenient for deriving specific diplomatic policies towards individual human powerhouses. The actual classifications would be more specific, adding “Good, Neutral, Evil”.

The prime minister continued. “Among the number one ranked human powerhouses, 14 were Chaotic Evil alone, accounting for 1/7 of the total. You are the king – are you willing to gamble with the lives of all the citizens of the country on a probability issue of good and evil?”

Levin choked, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

He wanted to ask why they had to assume the worst, but what the prime minister said was too reasonable.

Stability and constancy versus risky change – as king, he should choose the former. Although he really didn’t want to give up such a good opportunity.

Secondly, he was also truly curious who this person was, and why they were able to suppress the contractor of the demon god Baal and the student of Agares.

Just then, there came the sound of urgent knocking from outside the door.

Levin frowned, his gaze turning towards the side door. He raised his voice and said, “Enter.”

An intelligence officer hurriedly brought in Millard, and then said a sentence that made the whole room fall silent.

“The number one ranked human has appeared at the Magicians Association!”

Before the words had finished, the prime minister’s usually calm and composed expression subtly stiffened.

Levin stood up solemnly, his eyes wide. “Are- are you serious? You’ve found that person?”

So Millard recounted what had happened today.

After he finished speaking, for a full minute, the great hall was silent.

Even the prime minister couldn’t help but say, “So… they were right under our noses?”

Millard said, “Although there’s no evidence, and no one witnessed it, I dare say that person is a magician who frequently enters and exits our association.”

Levin asked excitedly. “Can we find out who it is?”

Millard shook his head. “Recently it’s been the time for open magical exchanges, with many foreign magicians coming to interact. Even not counting our own people, the daily flow of external magicians is over 3,000 people.”

Levin was shocked. “So many?”

Millard said, “Yes, including our own people, it’s nearly 4,000. But the problem is, we can’t guarantee that person would register either.”

Levin was taken aback. “That’s true. Someone as powerful as the number one ranked, a magic to conceal themselves from sight and hearing would be nothing to them.”

But at least they had one more clue, and the range had been greatly narrowed!

Levin said excitedly, “Millard, pay extra attention to magicians who keep pets.”

Millard asked in surprise. “Why focus on this point?”

Levin said, “Remember during the rankings? The God of Ranking’s lens was being played with like a ball by a small animal.”

Millard thought back. “It really was.”

Levin said seriously, “Thinking carefully, an animal that likes to play with balls, and is just the right size… what could it be?”

The prime minister’s eyes moved, as if deep in thought.

Millard repeated, “It could be…”

Levin declared forcefully. “It’s a kitten!”

The two were suddenly struck, inexplicably enlightened. Wait, so the number one ranked human routinely raised cats?

Levin nodded, his gaze serious as he said, “This is the conclusion I came to after two days of consideration. As someone who also raises cats, my intuition tells me that what was playing with the lens at that time – was definitely a kitten!”

Such an assertion.

Millard couldn’t question it, because it seemed to be true. Cats love to play with balls, isn’t that their nature?

So that explained it. Who told the God of Ranking’s lens to be a ball, and to run right in front of someone’s kitty?

It was simply looking for something to play with.

Millard: “This narrows down the range even further.”

But the prime minister wasn’t very optimistic. “Have you all forgotten? Our country had a cat-raising craze at the beginning of the year. Many citizens keep cats, especially magicians. At the height of the trend, almost everyone had one.”

Millard could relate to this and laughed, saying, “To be honest, I have a kitten at home too.”

As a major cat owner, how could Levin not know about this? He thought for a moment, and an idea popped into his head. He said something shocking, “Why don’t we hold a grand cat skills competition! All the cats in the city can compete to see who’s the best!”

Millard paused, dumbfounded.

The prime minister was also surprised, and remarked, “Your Majesty, your idea is truly extraordinary.”

Levin looked at the prime minister seriously and said, “Norwich, don’t you think this competition could very well lure out that cat? How could the cat raised by the number one ranked human not want to become the number one ranked kitty?”

The prime minister stroked his beard, seeming to find it reasonable. “It’s not a bad strategy.”

Levin said delightedly. “I’ve been planning this for a long time.”

Millard was about to agree, when he suddenly froze. He thought to himself, wait, this is an event you’ve wanted to hold all along, right? To think the current king was actually a cat slave, this…

Levin smiled and said, “I’ll take care of this matter.”

To get on good terms with the owner, you first need to get on good terms with their pet – isn’t this common sense for pet owners?

Although the reverse was also true, haha. Finally, some progress!

He said to Millard. “Keep this absolutely secret. Only you, I, and Norwich should know about it. Don’t let anyone else find out.”

Millard nodded solemnly. “Yes!”

After Millard left, the prime minister looked at Levin and suddenly said, “Your Majesty, you referred to yourself as ‘I’ again.”

Levin made an “ah” sound, looking surprised. “I didn’t notice… Never mind, a king of a country doesn’t need to fuss over forms of address.”

The prime minister smiled. “But ‘identity’ is shaped bit by bit through such details.”

Levin had something on his mind and unusually continued to argue. “In this world, without strength there is no identity.”

The prime minister was somewhat surprised. “Your Majesty, is that what you think?”

Levin nodded and said seriously, “If you can’t become a powerful person, then become someone who can befriend powerful people.”

“Is that so?”

“Isn’t that exactly what the world’s number one ranked great empire does? Their diplomacy is strong, they have friendly relations with various powerful figures. Even the elves and gnomes are their friendly races, and many contractors of Abyss Lords are in their country.”

Levin pondered. “In comparison, we have too few friendly forces, and there’s internal opposition between the noble houses…”

He should cultivate his own power, but those houses would never allow him to do so. Even if he showed the slightest intention of doing so, he would be immediately targeted.

So… he needed a backer, one who could keep those houses in check, or even keep the entire empire in check – a great backer.

The prime minister watched Levin lost in thought, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. He suddenly stood up and said coolly, “Your Majesty, it’s late. Let’s start our efforts tomorrow.”

Levin looked at him and asked a question that had been weighing on his mind for years: “Norwich, you’re on my side, aren’t you?”

The prime minister replied with a smile that was impossible to tell if it was genuine or not. “Of course.”

“…”

After the prime minister left, Levin pondered alone.

The next day.

“Samikina and Marbas went out to find Lelagin?”

Xiu Si woke up early and found two of the children missing.

The gray cat nodded, indicating that the two brothers had already departed.

Xiu Si continued to ask, “What about Buer?”

The gray cat hesitated. Buer had just rushed to the pharmacy. He didn’t know what had happened to Luo Jie, but his condition was unstable and his life was in danger.

“Did she go out to play?”

Xiu Si knew that Buer was a lively and cheerful child who had always liked to play around everywhere since she was young.

Meanwhile.

Buer was looking at Luo Jie with a complex expression.

The unstable condition was a sudden occurrence. Luo Jie’s vital signs had suddenly dropped.

She came to check in time and found that Luo Jie had sunk into a deeper part of the dream realm.

The more the soul was immersed, the weaker the life force became, and it was still continuing to sink.

This person was too old, unlike them. The longer humans lived, the more their souls would wear down. Luo Jie had existed for over eight thousand years, the longest-living human known.

Perhaps a hero’s body was different from an ordinary human’s body, but Luo Jie was still a human soul after all.

So many brushes with death, and countless curses inflicted upon him – how could it be easy for a human?

The reason Luo Jie had managed to live until now was because of his obsession with her father. Now that he had found her father and confirmed that he was safe, half of his obsession had dissipated, and half of his will to live had disappeared as well.

If this wasn’t addressed soon, he would ascend to heaven!

Buer was anxious. She took out two potions in her hands – one was a youth restoration potion, the other was an enhanced version of a resurrection potion, one red and one blue. Using them together would have unknown effects.

But it had no effect on the spirit.

Buer could solve most physical problems, but when it came to repairing and restoring the soul, She was often at a loss.

The soul was the secret of all living beings.

Beyond the soul was consciousness, and beyond consciousness were thoughts, or will.

Conversely, will influenced consciousness, and consciousness influenced the soul.

When the core will weakened, consciousness would scatter with it, and the soul would separate.

For Luo Jie, the most important thing was a medicine to strengthen his will to live.

Buer steeled her resolve. Her eyes glowed as she made Luo Jie take both potions simultaneously.

The potions didn’t have an immediate reaction, but their effects became visible, frantically trying to salvage Luo Jie’s life force.

Luo Jie alternated between old and young, his hair shifting between white and brown. It seemed he didn’t completely lack the will to live, it was just too weak to surface. He needed “temptation”.

Buer lowered her gaze. Magical power flowed around Her like the Milky Way, slowly encircling Her and releasing an immense presence like the cosmic starry sky.

Her words seemed to be infused with magic as She said in a deep voice, “You don’t want to die just like this, do you?”

As the words fell, there was silence.

Her eyes were calm, like a solemn deity high above the heavens. She continued, one sentence at a time. “The one who killed you wasn’t the hero Mingjie, but the manipulated memory beast. Don’t you want to catch the one who really killed you and execute them yourself?”

Buer’s eyes flashed with killing intent, and Luo Jie finally reacted to this, a finger twitching almost imperceptibly.

“Moreover, you still want to see them, don’t you?”

Buer’s killing intent receded, and Her lowered eyes actually showed a hint of divine mercy.

Her eight thousand years of consistent potion-making, obsessed with researching the restoration of matter, especially the restoration of the human body, had always been for Her father.

Because Her father was human, very fragile and easily hurt. While Her demon family was numerous, most of them loved fighting and killing, rarely specializing in pharmacy and healing magic. Someone had to do this.

So, She chose pharmacy and healing, which She wasn’t actually good at.

She had become stronger now, able to immediately heal any injury Her father might suffer. But there was one type of injury that even She couldn’t heal.

Buer’s eyes sank slightly as She said softly, “You can’t let Father be sad.”

The pharmacy gradually quieted, and the potions gradually lost their effect.

As Luo Jie’s life force was about to fade, Buer thought She would have to take him to Her father.

But suddenly, Luo Jie opened his eyes very slowly.

He was alive.

Buer was stunned.

Luo Jie’s gaze trembled as it turned towards Her. Having just been revived, he was almost powerless, yet he used his only bit of strength to speak.

The voice was barely audible, the pronunciation unclear, the breath faint.

Buer didn’t hear clearly, but She seemed to catch a word.

But as Luo Jie spoke, his voice faded away.

He didn’t die, but fell asleep.

Buer snorted. Regardless, she had finally managed to save this guy’s life.

“Rest well now. I’m going to find Father!”

The pharmacy was finally silent.

The little ragdoll happily ran home, thinking that if Luo Jie had any conscience, he should speak well of Her in front of Father in the future!

She jumped onto the table, about to call for Father, when suddenly Her eyes widened, attracted by the fur balls on the table.

Balls, so many fur balls!