CHAPTER 92: CHAPTER92-THE HOLY SWORD’S ORIGIN AND THE PROPHET OF ENLIGHTENMENT

Deep within the Human Mage Tower.

After trials upon trials and a thousand perils, Lilith’s party finally stepped into the innermost heart of the ruins—safe, if only just. Even so, their nerves were rattled; every step had courted danger, and they’d survived largely thanks to the stream of treasures Lilith kept producing at critical moments.

Outside, the relic’s outer barrier had faded, and adventurers of many races were pouring into the lost domain. What greeted them was an equal variety of hazards and ordeals. Wounds, cripplings, and even deaths came one after another. Soon, the chorus of complaints from those who entered the Mage Tower became a tide.

"Lilith, wait."

Elarielle lifted a hand, a thread of caution in her voice. Her emerald eyes swept the seemingly empty hall.

"Master Elarielle, did you sense something?"

Lilith tightened her grip on the Holy Sword, scanning the stillness. The only moving shadows were those cast by the stone pillars—strangely quiet, unnaturally so.

"There’s an unfamiliar presence here," Elarielle said gravely. "Ancient—and watching us."

At that, Reize’s brows drew together. He slammed both palms to the floor and barked,

"Thunder Domain—open!"

A terrifying field of lightning surged outward from him, rippling through the entire hall like rings on water. Within this perception-focused domain, no energy flow or living aura could hide.

Reize’s face changed in the next heartbeat. He snapped his gaze to a mottled seat at the front of the hall.

"Miss, behind me!" he growled, stepping in front of Lilith as arcs danced along his blade.

Elarielle slipped smoothly into a battle stance, a dangerous arcane brilliance forming at her staff’s tip. A razor chill spread through the hall.

Lilith’s expression hardened. She patted the bracelet on her wrist.

"Fiona! Don’t nap—something’s up!"

Light flashed across the bangle and a miniature Fiona poked out her head.

"Ahem. Don’t worry, Miss—Fiona’s been awake the whole time! With me here, nothing will go wrong!"

Just then, a deep voice drifted lazily through the hall.

"This domineering thunder field... hehe. Interesting."

The sound sent a shiver through all three.

Space rippled ahead. A faintly luminous figure coalesced—a middle-aged man with hair falling to his shoulders, a phantom whose eyes seemed to hold entire nebulae. Merely being regarded by that apparition wrapped Lilith’s group in a suffocating sense of crisis.

So strong! His presence alone pressed down like a mountain.

"Who are you?" Elarielle demanded, forcing down the flutter in her heart. Her staff stayed trained on the phantom.

The corner of the phantom’s mouth lifted.

"You trespass in my domain, then ask the master who he is?"

The words exploded in their minds.

"You... you’re the Tower Master of the Human Mage Tower?!"

Still alive? A storm of questions filled their heads.

The phantom seemed to read their thoughts and slowly shook his head.

"My true body perished in the war long ago. What you see is a shard of memory and power that I severed from myself."

A memory shard?!

And just this fragment was powerful enough to make them feel breathless?

How terrifying had he been at his peak?

Reize spoke up.

"Honored Tower Master, you must have left this memory because you had an unfulfilled wish."

The phantom cast Reize an approving look.

"Perceptive. Yes—I’ve been waiting. Waiting for those whom destiny would guide here."

His gaze passed over Lilith and Reize with a trace of quiet gratification.

"I did not expect that after that war, humankind would still produce the likes of you. Perhaps I was too pessimistic back then."

Lilith’s trio fell silent. Before Dalton’s rise, humans in this plane had lived in hardship not far from slavery. From that angle, his pessimism had hardly been misplaced.

"Sir, what have you been waiting for all these years?" Lilith asked, lifting clear eyes full of curiosity.

The phantom’s focus settled on her—and in the next instant, as if beholding something unbelievable, his calm finally cracked.

"Such a dazzling thread of destiny!"

"Brighter—denser—than the fate of the entire plane!"

He was shaken. In all the eras of his existence, he had never seen such blinding fortune gathered in a single person.

He forced down his astonishment.

"The Human Mage Tower’s glory and legacy must not be severed."

His eyes locked on Lilith; the implication was unmistakable.

Elarielle and Reize exchanged a glance, joy bursting across their faces. The Tower’s former splendor needed no explanation, and the value of its inheritance was beyond price. With a man of this stature—and pride—deception was unthinkable.

"Lilith! Say yes!" they urged.

Lilith, however, knit her brows slightly, not answering at once. Why did it feel like destiny kept pushing her forward?

Just then, the Holy Sword in her grasp shuddered uncontrollably. Golden radiance surged along the blade.

The phantom’s eyes dropped to the sword—and froze.

"Hm? That sword..."

"There’s a law woven into it... wait—this, this is—!"

In a blink, he stood before Lilith, staring at Excalibur as if confronted with the impossible.

"Excalibur—the Sword of Order and Enlightenment!"

His voice trembled.

"It... has returned to the world?!"

"Young successor, tell me—how did you obtain it?"

Lilith could feel the heat in his gaze. She tightened her grip on the hilt and answered plainly,

"It was a gift from my father."

"Your father?" The phantom’s brows drew together.

"Where did he find a holy relic lost to the river of time?"

Lilith fell briefly silent, meeting his eyes without flinching. Elarielle and Reize also kept their guard; much about Leo was taboo to speak of.

Seeing their reaction, the phantom realized he’d overstepped. He reined in his urgency, though the fervor in his eyes did not dim.

"Eons ago, it was the first wielder of this Holy Sword—the one we honor as the Prophet of Enlightenment—who led frail humankind to grasp the true essence of magic and establish the first order."

Reverence colored his voice.

"This Mage Tower was built upon the Prophet’s wisdom. Excalibur is not merely a weapon—it is our symbol of inheritance, a bridge between past and future."

He held Lilith’s gaze, his tone solemn.

"You did not carry the Holy Sword into the Mage Tower by coincidence. This is destiny’s guidance."

"I ask you to inherit everything of the Human Mage Tower—let the Prophet’s wisdom and the Tower’s knowledge shine again in your hands!"

As his words fell, an ancient silver ring rose from his palm.

A gem like a shard of the night sky lay set in its face, encircled by minuscule, revolving runes.

"This Ring of Arcane Sovereignty signifies the Tower’s supreme authority.

Wear it, and you will be the new Master of the Mage Tower. The libraries that have slept for ages—and their inexhaustible resources—will open to you."