Julius’s heavy yet steadfast promise echoed through the quiet sitting room.
Eleanor looked at the man before her.
He was no longer the stubborn young squire from three years ago. His eyes were calm, but contained a determination heavier than any mountain.
Her flustered, helpless heart miraculously settled.
She knew she couldn’t solve this mess alone.
Because she didn’t dare to face her sister, who might have already “fallen.”
But Julius could.
And more than that, this matter had already implicated the “Chaos Believers.” This was no longer a simple family “scandal.” This was a threat large enough to shake the empire.
She had to report this to Christ.
After a moment of deep thought, Eleanor finally made her decision.
She slowly stood up, her azure eyes regaining the clarity and resolve befitting a Saintess.
“I trust you, Julius.”
She said this.
“But this matter is beyond what I can handle.”
“All of this happened within the Royal Magic Academy, so I must immediately report this… all the intelligence you brought… to my brother.”
Eleanor took a deep breath, her gaze firm as she looked at Julius.
“Come on. Let’s go to the Tower of Truth right now. My brother needs to know the full picture.”
Julius had no objection.
One of the purposes of his visit here had always included seeking assistance from the Olivias Family.
And Christ Olivia, the genius mage of the “Tower of Truth,” was undoubtedly a more suitable collaborator than Eleanor.
The two wasted not another second.
Eleanor didn’t even have time to inform the steward. She took Julius and boarded the family carriage, once again crossing the Imperial Capital, heading straight for that towering spire.
This time, Eleanor didn’t find Christ in the meditation room.
She found him in the High Council Chamber at the top of the tower.
Christ was standing alone before a massive astral chart board, apparently dealing with some thorny matter.
When he saw Eleanor burst in with a plainly dressed black-haired young man, her expression grave, he merely furrowed his brow slightly.
“Eleanor, I’m in the middle of—”
“Brother! Something terrible has happened!”
Eleanor gave him no time to refuse.
She stepped forward quickly and told him everything she had just learned at the mansion: Julius’s identity, the anomalies in the Southern Diocese, and the infiltration of the “Chaos Believers” into the Academy.
Julius stood to the side, calmly supplementing the details of his confrontation with the Chaos cultist in the alley and his plan to “reel in the big fish.”
When Eleanor finally mentioned that she had personally witnessed in the crystal ball Helos’s “blasphemous biological experiment,” the calm expression on Christ’s face vanished completely.
CRASH!
He slammed his fist onto the control console beside him. The hard magic stone panel instantly crackled with spiderweb-like fissures.
“Chaos Believers…”
Christ’s gaze turned icy cold.
He never imagined that such a dangerous cult had been lurking within the Imperial Capital, right under his nose in the Royal Magic Academy!
And he never imagined that his “honest and straightforward” Graham might be one of the cultists!
What’s more… he had been gradually dragging his beloved sister into that maddening abyss!
Christ closed his eyes.
He had indeed been too lax with Helos lately.
Ever since he had transferred Lilith away, he naively thought everything was safe, but he had overlooked the Alchemy Association, which seemed the least threatening.
This was his failure.
But he also knew this was not the time for self-blame.
For now, they couldn’t alert the enemy.
Based on the intelligence Julius provided, the Chaos cultist he encountered was most likely Helos’s roommate, Agatha.
Therefore, she would certainly go to Graham to report.
But she hadn’t seen Julius’s face, nor did she know that Julius and Eleanor had already joined forces.
Christ’s mind raced.
He opened his eyes, his voice returning to its usual calm, though beneath that calm simmered a volcanic fury.
“Eleanor.”
“You did well. From now on, your contact with Helos must be the same as before—no, pretend you’re still in a tiff with her because of what happened at the café last time. Remember, you must act as if you know nothing.”
He then turned to Julius.
“Mr. Julius.”
This was the first time he had addressed him as such.
“Since you’ve already been exposed to the ‘Chaos Believers’—even though they don’t know it’s you—that puts us at an advantage: the enemy is in the light, and we are in the shadows. So I’ll need you to temporarily step into the spotlight to draw their attention.”
Eleanor was confused. “Brother?”
Christ said coldly:
“Agatha must be as nervous as a startled bird right now. Mr. Julius, I will arrange a ‘legal’ identity for you to enter the Academy.”
He looked at Julius and explained gravely:
“What you need to do is use that identity to ‘investigate’ within the Academy. Make those bastards nervous. Force them to focus all their attention on you, this ‘uninvited guest.’”
“As for me—”
A glint of sharpness flashed in Christ’s eyes.
“I will use this time to continue my investigation in secret. I will personally find out who is the ‘superior’ behind Graham and that Agatha.”
The plan was perfectly clear.
Julius nodded.
“I have no objections.”
“Good.”
Christ let out a breath of relief.
He knew that what mattered most now was protecting Helos’s safety.
No matter what she had become, no matter if she was truly conducting forbidden experiments, she was still his sister.
Christ took a deep breath.
He turned around and looked solemnly at the composed black-haired young man before him.
He glanced again at the trust shining in Eleanor’s eyes beside him.
He knew that this man held a special place in Helos’s heart.
“My sister…”
Christ said in a grave voice:
“I entrust her to you, Julius.”
Meanwhile.
Inside the underground workshop of the Alchemy Association.
Agatha stumbled and crashed through the hidden door of the workshop.
“Professor! Professor! Something terrible has happened!”
She screamed in panic, staggering toward the deepest part of the workshop.
Helos was wearing a pair of special protective goggles, standing fully focused before the lab bench.
In her hand was a delicate scalpel, and in front of her, a magically enhanced rat tied to a fixation frame was twitching slightly from the residual effects of a mental shockwave.
Her research on biological modification had entered its most critical stage.
Agatha’s sudden scream interrupted her spellcasting.
“Tch.”
Helos looked up impatiently.
A cold blue glint flickered in her pale purple eyes. She was about to scold Agatha to be quiet.
But Professor Graham was faster.
“What’s the panic, Agatha!”
Graham put down his blueprint and frowned reproachfully.
“Can’t you see Helos is in the middle of a critical experiment?”
Agatha threw herself at Graham’s feet.
Clutching the professor’s pant leg, her whole body trembled.
“N-no… not that… Professor…”
Her lowered voice was full of fear.
“I… I’ve been discovered!”
“Discovered what?”
Graham’s pupils sharply contracted. He also lowered his voice, making sure their conversation wouldn’t be overheard by Helos nearby.
Agatha described frantically:
“When I was coming back from the commercial district, in an alley… there was a man! A man in a black cloak! ‘Chaos Believer’! He… he… he—”
“You were followed?”
Graham’s face instantly darkened.
“I don’t know! I don’t know!”
Agatha was on the verge of tears.
“He didn’t kill me! He let me go! He said… he said he’d come see me again soon!”
“What did he look like?”
Faced with Graham’s question, Agatha shook her head in despair.
“That man’s face was hidden under his hood; I didn’t get a clear look at his features!”
Graham fell silent.
He glanced at Agatha, then at Helos, who, though her experiment had been interrupted, still showed little expression on her face. She just stood there coldly, waiting for them to finish.
The corner of his mouth suddenly curled into a cold sneer.
They only found out now?
Too late.
A fanatic gleam flashed in Graham’s eyes.
Their Saintess had already successfully unlocked the mark of the Enlightenment Arts.
She was now in the most critical state of “awakening.”
Her thirst for forbidden knowledge, her control over the power of “Will,” was advancing by leaps and bounds every day.
These skulking fellows couldn’t stop the Saintess’s awakening.
Even if Duke Eisende came in person, it would be useless!
But Graham also considered another factor.
That suddenly appearing “mysterious man” was a variable.
His sudden appearance was clearly meant to throw them into disarray.
And Agatha… she had already been marked.
She was… useless now.
“Agatha, calm down first.”
Graham put on a gentle expression and helped the still trembling Agatha to her feet.
“I need you to do something right away.”
He pulled out from his bosom a strange emblem, pitch black, engraved with a single blue eye, and handed it to Agatha.
“Take this. Go to that mysterious shop and give it to the owner.”
“Professor?”
Agatha took the emblem, confused.
“Don’t ask why.”
Graham’s voice brooked no argument.
“That man is dangerous. If you want to survive, go to that shop under the cover of night immediately. The owner will protect you.”
Agatha didn’t know about the existence of the “Enlightener.”
She only knew that shop was mysterious.
But she trusted Graham’s words completely.
“I understand, Professor!”
Agatha clutched the emblem tightly.
She did as Graham said, scrambling out of the underground workshop again and, under the cover of night, once more headed toward the mysterious shop located in a remote corner of the Imperial Capital.
All the way there, she was extremely nervous, afraid that black-cloaked man would reappear.
It wasn’t until she turned through a few alleys and saw the shop—still half-open, inconspicuous—that she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
She rushed inside, panting, and slapped the emblem onto the counter.
“It… it was Professor Graham who sent me!”
The old blue-robed man sitting behind the counter slowly raised his eyelids.
He squinted, looked at the emblem, but then suddenly shook his head.
In a raspy voice like sandpaper, he sneered:
“Heh heh… that Graham, he really is ruthless, isn’t he?”
“What?”
Before Agatha could even process the meaning of those words, a blinding blue light suddenly flashed out from beneath her feet!
The light formed a complex magic array and instantly swallowed her whole.
She didn’t even have time to let out a scream.
When the blue light faded, Agatha’s figure had vanished.
In its place was a massive flesh egg, over a man tall, its surface covered with distorted runes, pulsing with a faint thump thump as it quivered.
The Enlightener stood up, walked around the egg with satisfaction, and let out a sinister laugh:
“Heh heh heh… though the material is a bit inferior, it should be enough to deal with those newcomers.”
“Let’s see just how capable those fellows really are.”