CHAPTER 328: MOCKERY THAT TURNED INTO REALITY

Nolan pulled his hand back and stared at the pile of ashes before him—Zarak’s body.

"What a waste," he muttered coldly.

At first, he had intended to use Zarak for longer. But after a moment’s thought, he realized it wasn’t worth it.

Zarak had clearly been ambitious, and controlling him would have been no easy task. Nolan could have used hypnosis or other methods, of course, but it wasn’t necessary.

If it couldn’t be done, there was no need to force it. It was better to simply kill him and blame Cedric, who had intended to eliminate the fat man from the start.

"Even so, I am curious about one thing: was Zarak really the son of that old man?"

The mockery he had directed at Zarak earlier had been nothing more than a passing thought. But the more he considered it, the less impossible it seemed.

Since childhood, Zarak had always been different from the others. Aldric was strong and brave, inheriting many of the old man’s traits. Cedric was smart, cunning, and calculating.

Most of Zarak’s traits came from his mother, yet he also carried the old man’s characteristics. Adalen himself had been arrogant and conceited—traits remarkably similar to the old man’s.

Cassian always acted humble in front of everyone, though in reality he was intelligent and skilled at concealing his strengths.

His caution rivaled Cedric’s—perhaps even exceeded it.

As for Elina and him... well, Elina had inherited many of the old man’s traits, but he had not.

After all, his soul came from the modern world, so his personality was naturally shaped by his previous life.

That made Zarak’s case all the more peculiar. As far as he could remember, Melinda had been arrogant, strong, and decisive. Yet Zarak had inherited none of her traits—or the old man’s.

Curiosity rising, Nolan stared at Zarak’s ashes and clenched his right hand.

Whoosh!

A magic circle appeared, and red blood suddenly rose from the ashes, floating upward.

Nolan sliced his thumb with his fingernail, letting a drop of blood fall. But before it reached the ground, it froze in midair.

"Ancient magic: Bloodline Examination!"

Buzz!

Five black magic circles appeared on the cave ceiling. At the same time, his blood and Zarak’s were drawn upward, emitting a dazzling black light.

The light from both slowly transformed into thin black threads, weaving and interacting with one another.

Suddenly—

Slash!

The two threads collided, as if repelling each other. A long‑lost look of shock crossed his face.

His heart pounded, and his breath came in ragged gasps.

"Damn it! How is this possible? Zarak... really isn’t my relative!?"

His eyes went blank, as if he could not accept the truth. Normally he was calm and indifferent to everything; even if the world ended, he would not be surprised or panic.

But this time he couldn’t stay composed. The magic he had used was meant to check the bloodline between two people.

He wanted to confirm whether he and Zarak were related by blood. Although they had different mothers, the old man’s blood should have flowed in both of them, making them brothers.

Instead, the result was far from what he expected: Zarak was not the old man’s son.

The insults he had once hurled at Zarak had turned out to be true.

After a moment he drew a deep breath and calmed himself.

"What incredible news," he muttered with a small laugh. "Melinda Horven... you really dared to do this. This time you will die."

His relationship with the old man might have seemed strained, but that was only because of Nolan’s insolence. Nolan knew his father loved him dearly.

The proof lay in his father’s courage—declaring war on the Holy Empire of Valtanir in front of all the nobles, simply because the old man from Valtanir had threatened his and his sister’s lives.

He could not accept that the old man had been betrayed by one of his concubines.

With a wave of his hand, Zarak’s ashes vanished, leaving behind a gold badge that marked his identity as the fourth prince.

Nolan pocketed the badge, then transferred Zarak’s blood into a small tube for safekeeping.

"All right, let’s put that matter aside for now. Now..." His eyes scanned the cave warily. "Let’s check inside first. For some reason, I sense a mysterious aura within."

Without hesitation, Nolan walked deeper into the cave at a leisurely pace.

The treasures inside were tempting, but he already had plenty of wealth and didn’t need them all.

The cave was dim, lit only by moonlight seeping through narrow cracks. It didn’t bother him at all—he could see clearly in the darkness.

After two minutes, Nolan came across a silver gate partially covered by rocks.

"The aura I sensed must be coming from here," he murmured, touching the gate.

Thoomp!

A wave of vibration spread from his palm, coursing through the gate and into the chamber beyond.

Nolan’s eyebrows lifted slightly as a playful smile crossed his face. "How interesting. I knew there had to be something behind it."

Pressing his palm with a little more force, the gate cracked and finally shattered into pieces.

Beyond it lay a spacious room. Unlike the cave behind him, the chamber soared ten meters high and stretched over a hundred meters wide.

It felt as if the room existed in another dimension.

Nolan’s gaze landed ahead, on a giant statue of a man seated on a throne, holding a golden staff.

"A magic staff, huh? So this is the source of the aura I sensed," he murmured softly.

He stepped forward, climbed the stairs to the throne, and stopped directly in front of the statue.

The statue stood six meters tall, its head bowed, its face etched with sorrow.

"This statue... could it be the Fifth Emperor?" Nolan wondered.

The Fifth Emperor of the Great Velmora Empire was a tragic figure. Overthrown by his own children, his empire had plunged into chaos.

Fortunately, the first prince—known for his competence and extraordinary talent—ascended the throne. Thanks to him, the empire’s conflicts and divisions were eventually suppressed.

As for the Fifth Emperor, there was no confirmed news of his fate. Many believed he had fled to some remote, unknown place.

Most likely, the statue before Nolan was a depiction of the Fifth Emperor.

His gaze fixed on the magic staff, Nolan reached out—but suddenly, it emitted a blinding light.

"Not good!"

Boom!

A powerful explosion erupted, obliterating everything around it.

Fortunately, Nolan reacted faster. His body vanished and reappeared about twenty meters away from the blast.

He narrowed his eyes as he stared at the statue, whose eyes now glowed brightly.

"The statue... is alive?"