Greatest Legacy of the Magus Universe
Chapter 728: Halo of Greatness

On the second floor of The Cage where all the administrative operations were carried out, Liriel—still in Silver Vess' disguise—and Kael were in the former's office, going over their plan of action.

Liriel pointed at several points on the map sprawled out on the wide mahogany table and solemnly stated, "These are the places we can expect a scuffle to emerge in the following days. All we need to do is spark the fire."

She gazed at Kael, who was standing with his arms crossed and with a solemn look on his face, and asked softly, "Kael… are you alright?"

In the last few weeks, the two had witnessed how the Magi of the Umbra Thieves had wantonly slaughtered innocent people in their search for Adam.

Men, women, and even children, none were spared from the blades and spells of those Magi.

Yet, Adam was nowhere to be found. His wanted poster had been stuck to almost every wall, pole, and pillar in the city, yet there was no progress.

As the days continued to pass by, the Umbra Thieves became more and more ruthless in their approach.

Sometimes, they would even go so far as to kill Rank 1 Magi—who were residents of Blackshore—suspecting them of helping the criminal known as Adam Constantine.

Although this was a particularly bad outcome for the people of the city, irnonically enough, it turned out to help Liriel and Kael in their plans—no matter how much the latter despised it.

"These people are no different from beasts," he said. "I've seen the look in their eyes before. When they kill the women and the children, they don't do it out of necessity, but because they take joy in it."

"That look in their eyes…" Kael gritted his teeth in rage. "It's the same as those bandits that attacked my village all those years ago. I will never forget it. These Magi from the Umbra Thieves… they are no different from those cutthroat bandits!"

Liriel's lips quivered. She knew exactly what Kael was talking about. Decades ago, before he had been recruited by the Brotherhood and embarked on the path of a Magus, his village was attacked by a group of bandits.

These bandits killed his parents, his siblings, and everyone he cared for, and looted everything. They didn't stop at just that. After everything was done, they burned his village to the ground.

When Kael found out about the fate of his family, he was overcome by rage. He raided the bandits' hideout all on his own and massacred every one of them.

Despite not knowing how to wield a sword or to swing a fist, he killed every last one of them for what they did to him, for what they took from him.

Those bandits preyed on the weak and derived enjoyment from killing them. It was like a thrill of sorts, something that they wouldn't receive from liquor or drugs—only murder.

The Umbra Thieves were no different from them.

Despite Blackshore being a haven for criminals, cutthroats, and pirates, there was still a small percentage of mortals who lived there. It wasn't their fault that they were born in such a place.

Yet, in the past three weeks, so many of them were killed without the Magi from the Umbra Thieves even blinking an eye.

Kael fully blamed the vicious Umbra Thieves for this. But deep in his heart, he couldn't help but partly blame Adam as well even though he knew that it wasn't his fault.

If anything, it was the fault of the traitor from Ravenfell!

Yet, despite all of that, he couldn't help but wonder just where Adam had gone for the past few weeks when the city was flowing with the blood of the innocent mortals.

"Kael…" Liriel's lips quivered. She walked around the table and warmly hugged him. She caressed his face and gently said, "It's going to be alright. We will avenge them. I promise you."

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Liriel took a step back, returning to her usual cold demeanor. She turned towards the entrance and flatly asked, "What is it?"

"Eh…" the guard outside the door hesitated to speak. "There's a talking cat here who wishes to see you, Boss."

Talking cat? Liriel frowned. Could it be Adam's familiar?

She gazed at Kael and saw him silently nod at her. Then she walked toward the door and opened it herself. Outside, she saw a chubby gray cat sitting on the ground, gracefully licking his paw.

Why does he look so arrogant? She thought, stepping aside and making way for the cat to enter much to the guards' astonishment.

She looked at the guards and coldly reprimanded them, "Quit dawdling around! Have you never seen a cat before? Get back to work!"

"Y-Yes, Boss!"

With that said, she shut the door and walked to her table. Seeing Valerian already climb the table and sit on the sprawled-out map, she couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you… Adam's cat?"

The chubby cat's eyes narrowed as he looked at Liriel with a threatening glare. "I am not a cat!"

Not only Liriel, but even Kael didn't know how to react.

Next, they saw the chubby cat lift his furry chin and proudly proclaim, "I am the great Valerian!"

A few moments of silence ensued. Valerian mistook the couple's awkwardness for something else, thinking to himself, As I thought, my halo of greatness is so bright that they've turned dumb and mute. As expected of me!

Seeing the smug smile on Valerian's face, Liriel asked a little awkwardly, "Where is Adam?"

Valerian continued to gracefully lick his paw, answering lazily, "He just returned."

"From where?" Kael pressed.

"The spirit world."

Kael's eyebrows creased together in confusion, "The spirit world? Why would he go there?"

"For a weapon," the gray cat spoke succinctly.

"And did he get this weapon?" Liriel asked.

Valerian silently nodded.

"Why isn't he here now?" Kael couldn't help but ask, feeling slightly agitated.

Valerian turned to look at him and flatly said, "Brother is doing something very important."

"What could be more important than this?!" Kael was now clearly agitated.

The gray cat's following words caused both Kael and Liriel to be absolutely and utterly shocked out of their minds.

"He is advancing to the Mana Vortex Rank!"