Chapter 911

"It’s—it’s—it’s dad. He was murdered by the other town."

Grey froze.

"Wh—what?" He stiffened as he stared down at Max, his hands trembling slightly as a shocked expression took hold of his features.

Max wasn’t sobbing anymore.

He just sat there; head hung low with his shoulders slumped as he gazed blankly at the stone ground.

"What did you say? Lord Cedric is dead?" The Supreme Magus questioned again, his voice barely a whisper as if he couldn’t wrap his mind around the words he was hearing.

Max nodded, a pained and wretched look stretching across his face.

His teeth ground together continuously, the sound audible in the sudden silence of the courtyard.

With his heightened senses and deep attunement to the wind element, Grey was able to hear muffled, heart-wrenching sobbing echoing from deep within the mansion.

"He was on his way to another town for a diplomatic matter when he was ambushed by several people.

They—they thought the attackers were mere bandits until they spotted the emblem on one of the assassin’s clothing.

This sealed the fact that this wasn’t some random skirmish, but a cold, planned strike by the rival town.

There was a gruesome battle between the mages, and there were tons of casualties on both sides."

Max looked at the earth blankly, his grip tightening across his lap until his knuckles turned white.

".... Even with all the protection provided, they managed to get past dad’s guards. There was a high-level mage among them who finished the job."

Grey blinked multiple times, processing the brutal narration. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

"Who did this? Which town is responsible?"

Max clenched his jaws tighter, the air around him growing heavy as sparks of lightning began to crackle around his fingertips.

"Lord Bale’s town."

’Lord Bale?’ Grey repeated the name inwardly several times until it finally clicked where he had heard it before.

The same town that had kidnapped Max years ago, back when Grey had only recently awakened as a mage.

Lord Cedric had contacted him then, requesting him to go ahead with a group of mages to rescue the boy.

That same Lord Bale?

Grey’s eyes blazed with undying flames as the town lord’s sinister visage flashed before his mind.

He recalled that the entire conflict that year had been a ploy to overthrow Lord Cedric, murder him, and seize control of his territory.

It had been orchestrated by one of Cedric’s wives, who was revealed to be Bale’s concubine—a woman whose child had been pinned on Cedric.

Had that same lord finally achieved what he wanted after so many years?

Had his long-term scheme succeeded in taking Cedric’s life?

But something didn’t quite seem right.

"Hang on. When did this happen? Captain Amir told me that you and Charlotte left two hours ago. Also... how do you know exactly what occurred?"

Max relaxed his posture with a tired, hollow sigh as he looked up.

"Yes. We departed two hours ago and arrived back to meet this news, which was broken to us by those residing in the mansion.

One of the mages who acted as my dad’s escort managed to escape with his life and brought dad’s body home. He was the one who delivered the report to us."

Grey tightened his jaw until it ached.

"Lord Cedric..." he muttered under his breath, memories of those early years flooding back.

After he had saved Max and exposed the wife’s treacherous plans, thereby saving the lord’s life, the town lord had decided to treat the Supreme Magus as one of his own sons.

He had done everything in his power to better Grey’s life, always dropping by to check on his family and gifting them resources when they were in need.

He was an incredibly kind man who definitely didn’t deserve to perish this way.

Finally, Grey managed to croak out a question.

"And Charlotte? How is she?"

Max smiled bitterly, the expression lacking any joy.

"She isn’t taking the news well at all. I left her in the care of the maids just before... when I came out and saw you being surrounded by the guards."

Grey was about to respond, noticing the sudden pause and the sharp shift in Max’s tone, when the boy’s eyes widened dramatically.

"Wait. Grey?!" Max shouted in sudden realization, recoiling backward as if he had just seen a ghost.

The Supreme Magus stared confusedly as Max stuttered, his finger trembling as he pointed forward.

"Yo—you are actually alive? I thought...."

"... I was dead?" Grey chuckled painfully, the sound echoing hollowly in the courtyard.

"Yeah. For a while, I thought I was, too."

The realization finally settled in Max’s mind.

He looked the mage up and down, taking in the new attire and the sheer presence radiating from his old friend.

"How is this possible? An... and if I’m not mistaken, are you now a six-star mage?"

Grey shrugged indifferently, offering no confirmation or denial.

Max seemed to calm down for a fleeting second before settling back into his profound, painful sadness.

"Well, good for you. I’m also a six-star mage now, nearing the next star, and I’ve become quite formidable with my affinity. I guess I must have surpassed you, eh?" He chuckled tiredly, though the boast lacked its usual competitive fire.

Before the Supreme Magus could even formulate a reply—

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Max screamed into the air with thunderous intensity, a raw vent of pure agony.

His eyes crackled with electrical discharge.

His teeth ground back and forth as he shot upright in a flash, standing as straight and stiff as a stalk of bamboo.

"I will make those bastards pay! I will make Bale pay! First, he kidnapped me that year when I was too weak to do anything. But now... now..." Max’s teeth were audibly gnashing together as he stared at his palms, which were now arcing with violent, jagged bolts of lightning.

"... Now, I have the strength. I will wipe them out. I will—"

"No. You won’t do anything of the sort." Grey calmly interjected with a tired sigh.

He rose and walked slowly toward Max, his footsteps silent on the stone.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Max asked, hot tears sliding down his face.

"Revenge isn’t a good thing. Trust me, I have been on that path—I am still on the path you are about to embark on—and there is no turning back once you set off."

"But my dad..."

"I know. I’m also immensely pained by Cedric’s death," Grey said, his voice dropping an octave.

"Lord Cedric was kind to me. He was like a second father figure, so I am definitely saddened and furious by his passing."

Grey sighed deeply, the weight of the world visible in his eyes.

"Let’s not embark on the path of vengeance right now. There is a looming war on the horizon. Let’s focus on that instead. I am—I am sure that karma will catch up to Bale soon."

Max glared at the Supreme Magus, his chest heaving as he prepared to refute the advice, but Grey preemptively pointed toward the mansion.

"Charlotte needs her brother right now. If you embark on this journey, there is no guarantee you will return. She could lose two of the people closest to her in a single day. Just go to her right now. Please," Grey pleaded calmly.

The mention of his sister seemed to reach Max immediately.

His rigid features softened, and the lightning dancing across his skin flickered out.

Grey stepped backward, an ashen portal swirling into existence directly behind him.

"Uh... where are you going? Don’t—don’t you want to see Charlotte?"

Grey smiled, though it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

"I do. But uh... I... I need to water my plants," he said.

Before Max could voice his confusion or ask a follow-up question, Grey hurriedly dove into the portal, vanishing as it snapped shut.

Max stared at the empty spot where Grey had stood only a moment ago.

"Water his plants? Since when did he become a lover of gardening?"