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Heir of the White Lotus (Web Novel) - Chapter 1644 Mourning Mountains Incident
Chapter 1644 Mourning Mountains Incident
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Aranal, Haynam Empire.The capital city buzzed with relentless activity.
Though the war with the Sovereign Union raged along the southern borders, the heart of the Empire showed no signs of calm.
Soldiers marched through the streets in tense formations, supply convoys rolled endlessly between the districts, and messengers rushed from one command post to another.
The city was far from the battlefield. And yet, it was fully prepared for war.
In the heart of the royal palace, Emperor Leland Haynam sat in silence as he held a report tightly in his hand. His expression darkened as he read through it again.
The secret base… was destroyed?
He thought in alarm.
For a long moment, he said nothing. What unsettled him wasn't the loss, however. It was the fact that the base had been found in the first place. The Cult Leader himself had gone to great lengths to conceal it, after all.
Leland crumpled the parchment as he rose to his feet. He kept pacing back and forth in the chamber, thinking to himself with great unease.
First, it was Ironbridge. And now… the base in the Mourning Mountains is also no more.
How did the enemy get the information? Just how!
Tension crept into Leland's face. They had already dealt with the mole within the organization.
Or so they believed…
And yet, the secret base was gone?
That place had been hidden with extreme care, its location known to only a handful of trusted individuals. It wasn't something the enemy could stumble upon by chance.
Which only meant one thing: there was still a leak!
Someone was still feeding the enemy critical information. His thoughts raced as he ran through names, positions, and loyalties. Each was more unsettling than the last.
Just who is it?
Leland felt heavy unease settle in his chest.
After what happened at Ironridge, the Cult Leader took extra precaution to ensure that the base in the Mourning Mountains wouldn't be found. The experiments being carried out there were crucial to his plan, after all.
But the report claimed that not only the base, but the entire mountain had been pulverized. All that remained there was a large, blackened crater.
What was worse was that they were unable to divine any information about the perpetrator!
Could it be the Hidden Ruler? Leland couldn't help but wonder.
But he quickly shook his head.
If it was him, he would have made it known like he did the last time.
So then who was it?
When the Soulmark Lanterns of the two Mana Core Magi, who were stationed at the base, had been snuffed out, Leland had quickly dispatched more men to investigate.
But as fate would have it, the people he had sent were also killed. None of them returned.
Worse still, the Lanterns offered no answers as well. They failed to point toward the killer, as if they had simply… ceased to function.
That, more than anything, truly unsettled him.
It meant this wasn't a simple attack. It was something far beyond their expectations. Leland's expression grew grim as a deeper concern took hold.
He couldn't help but wonder if the enemy had found a way to neutralize the effects of the Soulmark Lantern.
But more importantly…
How would the Cult Leader react to this?
Especially when he himself had no idea who the true perpetrator was. And right at that moment, a name emerged in his mind, causing his eyes to slightly widen.
The Dark King!
He was the only other person Leland knew who was capable of wreaking such destruction. Moreover, the raven-haired youth had amassed a small army about a year ago and begun his war campaign.
It has to be him, Leland thought to himself as his palms turned slightly sweaty.
With this in mind, he inhaled deeply and quickly rushed to the Cult Leader to report on the latest development.
***
The throne room on the top floor of the Magus tower was steeped in darkness.
Cold, unnatural shadows clung to every corner, swallowing what little light existed. The air itself felt heavy and eerie. Faint whispers seemed to drift through the chamber, though no source could be found.
At the far end of the hall stood a towering throne of black obsidian. And upon it… sat the Cult Leader. He was clad in dark, flowing robes, and a jagged black crown rested upon his skull.
Within the sockets of his skull, a pair of green orbs flickered softly.
Before him, three men knelt.
The Stone Lord, Leland Haynam. The Wind Lord, Alain Gray. And lastly, the Blood Lord, Marden Benton.
At one point, there were five mighty Elders who made up the Inner Circle. However, just in the past decade, two of them had been killed — the Winter Lord and the Flame Lord.
They had been killed by the same man...
And according to the Cult's latest intel, the tyrannical Dark King had already made his move in Europa.
"…And I believe the main culprit behind the Mourning Mountains Incident is none other than Adam Constantine."
Leland finally concluded.
"Constantine…" The pair of green orbs in the lich's sockets flared intensely for a brief moment. There was also a tinge of annoyance that had inadvertently bled into his tone.
The lich's gaze swept over the three Elders, stopping at Marden Benton. The green orbs constricted as he noticed something.
"You've grown strong."
The lich's voice sounded like a thunderclap in the Blood Lord's ears. But he remained composed. Or at least, appeared as such.
Head still lowered, he humbly replied, "The blood of the Vasuran Family is filled with vitality, my lord. The spell I spoke to you about… well, I've almost perfected it. Though some drawbacks persist."
"I can see that," the lich murmured.
His gaze shifted to the Wind Lord. "Was it you?" he asked coldly. "The one who divulged information about the base?"
Alain Gray quickly kowtowed. "That is impossible, my lord. All the Elders present, including me, are incapable of betrayal. I would never do such a thing!"
"Then who?" the lich asked coldly, his gaze finally resting on the Stone Lord.
Leland, too, followed the Wind Lord's action and pressed his head to the cold floor. "I shall interrogate the Magus responsible for building the base. He's currently the prime suspect, my lord."
The Cult Leader remained silent.
Confusion gnawed at his fractured mind, and suspicion began to take root…
