The First Vampire

When Colin found the mage Cusius, he was leisurely playing with a canary.

Seeming relaxed, just like a retired old man.

This sixth-rank mage had been trailing along leisurely after casually encountering Colin and others.

Even though he admitted his connection to Mr. Ji and gave up a spell scroll for the ‘Eyes of Judgment,’ Colin was still wary of Cusius.

As the situation in the North Territory gradually improved, Colin was ready to confront him.

He couldn’t just keep this guy, friend or foe unknown, by his side and do nothing.

“Good evening, Mr. Cusius, you are in a good mood.”

“Good evening, Viscount Angler.” Cusius turned around and invited Colin to sit.

After some pleasantries, Cusius got straight to the point: “Viscount, you are here because of the arcane fluctuations outside the city this morning, correct?”

Colin nodded and asked, “Yes. May I ask if you know what happened?”

Cusius shook his head: “I apologize, Viscount. I am also curious about what happened outside the city, but it’s too far away for me to know. I can only tell that someone cast a very powerful spell, but beyond that, I can’t figure out anything else.”

Colin was slightly disappointed, but he quickly asked again: “Very powerful? How powerful? Could it possibly be a forbidden spell?”

“That’s possible. But Viscount, releasing a forbidden spell is not as simple as you might think.” Struggle flashed across Cusius’s face, but was soon replaced by determination, “You must have always wondered why I abandoned Mr. Ji and sided with the St. Hilde family.”

Colin was taken aback, obviously not expecting the other party to bring up this matter.

Before, Colin suspected that Cusius was involved in Mr. Ji’s plan to sacrifice Fallen Eagle City, but due to Vera’s identity, he never brought it up.

Unexpectedly, Cusius was now confessing outright.

“I am a bit curious,” Colin casually replied.

Looking seriously into Colin’s eyes, the mage was honest, “Viscount, before I came to see you, I met with Mr. Ji.”

Colin remained silent, quietly waiting for Cusius to continue.

“At that time, Mr. Ji’s condition… was quite dire.”

Only then did Colin show some curiosity, pressing further, “What do you mean by ‘dire’?”

“He lost a left eye, but this was already included in the plan because it is the price that has to be paid for releasing the ‘Eyes of Judgment.’

However, when I saw him, his entire left face had been completely corroded!

Moreover, though he tried to hide it, I still noticed the aura of death that enveloped him.

So, I immediately realized that Mr. Ji had suffered a backlash from the forbidden spell!

The sacrifice of a Fallen Eagle City did not completely prevent the backlash from the forbidden spell, haha, he messed up!”

Colin’s eyes flickered as though he had understood something: “So, that’s why you handed over the spell scroll of the ‘Eyes of Judgment’ so readily because you discovered that, compared to other forbidden spells, this one had not been substantially improved. It still requires the spellcaster to pay a terrifying price.”

Cusius nodded, but then shook his head: “Mr. Ji’s state did indeed surprise me at the time, but to say the ‘Eyes of Judgment’ had no substantial improvement, you are underestimating him.

You should know that to instantly kill a Holy Knight, the ‘Eyes of Judgment’ is truly an eighth-grade forbidden spell.

A forbidden spell of this level, by normal means, probably requires seven or eight sixth-rank mages to cast together, sacrificing their own lives in the process.

But Mr. Ji successfully cast it by his own strength and did not die upon casting; this is already a significant success!”

Upon hearing this, Colin gave a cold smile and retorted: “By his own strength? Have you forgotten about the three hundred thousand citizens of the Fallen Eagle City?”

Cusius showed a bit of embarrassment on his face, coughed lightly, and immediately apologized, “I’m sorry, Viscount, I did not intentionally leave out those innocent lives, but from the…ahem perspective of academic research, the forbidden spell that Mr. Ji researched is indeed a significant breakthrough!”

Despite his apology, the coldness in Colin’s eyes did not fade. Cusius’ offhand attitude made it clear that he was the same type of demon as Mr. Ji, without any moral boundaries.

Should the ‘Eyes of Judgment’ have truly no backlash, this guy would surely release it the moment he had the chance.

However, though he had already sentenced Cusius to death in his heart, Colin did not continue to argue on the surface.

Seeing this, Cusius relaxed.

Perhaps, in his view, to a noble like Colin, those base commoners were nothing more than insignificant ants.

So Cusius continued, “If you could understand Mr. Ji, you would know that he is undoubtedly an arcane genius!

Back then, he was promoted to sixth-rank mage at the age of twenty-seven, setting a record in Yevir’s history!

But because a mage cannot be promoted to the Holy Field, Mr. Ji also faced the same dead end situation.

Therefore, he began to study various forbidden spells, leading to the creation of ‘Eyes of Judgment,’ a major breakthrough that changed the course of arcane History!”

Looking at Cusius, who was consumed by his fanaticism, Colin sneered in his heart–

Yes, Mr. Ji did indeed pioneer the path of sacrificial forbidden spells.

But for mages, whether it was a path to glory or the prologue of downfall, it was hard to tell.

Cusius continued: “…Even if there were some mistakes, they were unavoidable, considering it was the first release of such a completely new Forbidden Spell. However, this has already opened up a new, promising direction for Arcane Research!”

“If you admire Mr. Ji so much, why did you betray him?” Colin interrupted his praise.

Mage Cusius gave a bitter smile: “Because I felt that Mr. Ji would probably end up very miserably.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Firstly, he himself suffered from the backlash of the Forbidden Spell and no one knows how long he will survive. Secondly…” Mage Cusius hesitated for a moment, but eventually continued,

“On the day that Fallen Eagle City was sacrificed, I was actually outside the city. Mr. Ji asked me to block any potential disturbances.”

I found it quite strange. Who exactly was Mr. Ji wary of?

Later, I discovered that Ernest, the chairman of the Yevir Mage Council, was outside Fallen Eagle City! Obviously, someone had informed Ernest about Mr. Ji’s plan, and that person was most likely Emperor Reinhardt!”

Colin listened quietly without giving any reaction.

Cusius continued: “I guess Emperor Reinhardt was also very wary of Mr. Ji. Once he got hold of the ‘Eyes of Judgement’ Spell Scroll and verified its effectiveness, Mr. Ji was no longer useful to him.

Therefore, although he himself was bound by his promise not to send someone to pursue Mr. Ji, he is very likely to expose Mr. Ji’s whereabouts to others.

Due to the terrifying power of the ‘Eyes of Judgement’, there must be many people who want to kill Mr. Ji.”

Such as Ernest, and Prince Lexie…

Outside Fallen Eagle City, I blocked Ernest for Mr. Ji, but Prince Lexie…hehe, I don’t think Mr. Ji can escape his pursuit.”

Colin’s eyes flickered, and he asked, “Do you think the arcane outbreak this morning could have been because Prince Lexie has tracked him down?”

“It is possible.” Mage Cusius shrugged. “The last time we met, I asked Mr. Ji if he had a way to deal with Prince Lexie’s pursuit.

But he didn’t say anything.

Either he didn’t trust me enough, or he himself didn’t have a solution yet.

Regardless of the reason, I felt there was no need to follow him blindly.”

Seeing Colin deep in thought, Mage Cusius lightly coughed and spoke in a slightly ingratiating tone:

“Viscount Angler, I have already shared everything I know with you. Please believe me, my previous assistance to Mr. Ji was merely to understand the true effects of the ‘Eyes of Judgement’ Forbidden Spell. It was pure academic research, I had no other intentions.

Moreover, I didn’t even know that Mr. Ji’s target was Duke St. Hilde.”

Colin glanced at Cusius, not knowing whether to believe his story or not.

Cusius felt a bit anxious, but he continued: “Considering my relationship with Vera, I would never intentionally harm Duke St. Hilde. If I had known that Mr. Ji’s target was Duke St. Hilde, I would have done everything to stop him!

I regret the Duke’s death so as a way of making amends, I am willing to serve as a magic consultant for the St. Hilde family.”

Colin sneered in his heart. This guy probably noticed the situation in the North Territory was gradually stabilizing, and that the St. Hilde family was not in danger of collapsing, so he came forward to be a magic consultant.

But this was probably the best option for Cusius at present.

After offending Ernest, chairman of Mage Council, and seeing the bleak future of Mr. Ji’s side, he had no choice but to completely side with the St. Hilde family.

“I will convey your request to Vera.” Colin put on a smile, hiding his disgust.

After a few more exchanges, Colin took his leave.

Walking down the dim corridor, Colin suddenly smelled a familiar fragrance again.

Turning a corner, he was surprised to see Archbishop Agani walking towards him.

“Good evening, Viscount Angler!” Archbishop Agani greeted, her smile as radiant as a bouquet of blooming flowers.

“Good evening, Archbishop Agani!” Colin felt a sense of deja vu. They had bumped into each other just like this two days ago.

“I just received some good news. Would you like to hear it?” Archbishop Agani slowly moved towards Colin. In the dim light, her beautiful face flickered in the shadows, exuding lethal charm.

“Oh? What good news? Let’s hear it.” Colin paused.

But Archbishop Agani kept getting closer.

The scent of roses grew stronger, drilling deep into Colin’s heart.

Finally, when Archbishop Agani was less than half a meter away, she tilted her head up, looking at Colin with her dewy, peach blossom eyes.

Her lips parted slightly, releasing a piece of news that made Colin’s heart quiver:

“Mr. Ji is dead.”