Cycle of Destiny

Chapter 16 Arrival in the Capital

Upon returning to the capital, Harry checked into a medium-sized hotel. The exterior walls were made of light gray brick, the porch was of moderate width, and the steps were impeccably swept. The lobby had dark brown oak floors and was furnished with several simply styled armchairs. Behind the counter hung a copperplate engraving depicting a hunting scene in the forest.

His room was on the third floor, a moderately sized space. Against the inner wall stood a single bed covered with plain linen sheets. Beside the bed stood a three-drawer desk, on which rested a notebook and a quill pen. In the corner was a double-door wardrobe, its wood grain clearly visible and its craftsmanship solid.

A brass-based oil lamp is fixed to the wall above the bed, its wick adjustable in brightness. Thick wool curtains, a soothing deep blue, hang from the window, effectively blocking out the noise of the street. In the corner, a small round table with two armchairs provides a place to rest or meet guests.

The room's overall color scheme is warm, with soft off-white walls and a sturdy dark carpet on the floor. While not luxurious, the space provides all the tranquility and convenience a traveler needs.

It wasn't too luxurious, but it wasn't shabby either. This was exactly what Harry valued—it didn't betray his noble status, nor did it place too much of a financial burden on him.

Harry lay in bed, repeatedly chanting the incantation the white archbishop had uttered when he saved the Duke of Langton: "You were born of the Lord's will. If you believe in Him without doubt, then all your sins will vanish, and all your suffering will end..."

"You were born of the Lord's will..."

Harry kept replaying the events of the past few days in his mind, constantly wondering why the Cardinal was willing to risk his own life to save the elf prince.

Before entering the magic academy, Harry had already heard about the cruel deeds of that elf prince in the capital.

Over seventy years ago, during the war with the Elves, after the Empire's defeat, a duke from a province bordering Elven territory tentatively inquired about a marriage alliance. Receiving an affirmative answer, the duke sent his daughter to the Elves to marry the Elven King. Before the deaths of the Elven King and the duke's daughter, the Elves did not attack the Empire again. However, the succeeding Elven Queen attempted to reignite the war twenty years ago, although it ultimately failed for unknown reasons.

Although the Empire of Acronus has been at war with the empire to the north, everyone knows that the elves in the north are the true threat to the Empire of Acronus. The empire's defeat more than seventy years ago brought the people of Acronus's hostility towards the elves to its peak, a sentiment that continues to this day.

However, the Imperial Knight Academy still accepted the elven prince Arthas, even though it was over thirty years ago, because his mother was the daughter of the duke who married the Elven King. If the elven prince were to be counted in human years, he would be approximately forty years old.

After the deaths of Arthas's elven father and human mother, the Knights Academy accepted him because of his noble blood. However, in retrospect, the headmaster of the Knights Academy at the time must have regretted this decision—because he greatly underestimated the evil and cruelty of the other half of Arthas's elven blood.

From the very beginning of his time at the Knights Academy, he displayed a bloodthirsty nature. When a respected instructor who had taught him was murdered, and everyone knew he was the killer, he left the academy. For many years, he dedicated himself to killing, most of the tragedies he committed resembling those in the harbor—unjustified and merciless. Most of his classmates later acquired noble titles, and he pursued them one by one over the next few decades, as if playing a game of cat and mouse.

Even though those who died were nobles, the empire and the church never issued a warrant for his arrest; in fact, they helped cover it up, giving large sums of compensation to the victims' families, but remaining silent about catching the murderer. Everyone thought he should be hanged, but he had no criminal record; he was as clean as a blank sheet of paper.

He has no humanity; it's pointless to expect him to understand what kindness is, like trying to describe colors to a blind person.

No wonder the Duke of Langton uttered those two vulgar words at the end; she must have regretted saving him back then.

What Harry couldn't understand was why elves were chasing him in Plypunan. And the Duke seemed to have saved him because of her deceased husband, Alexander Langton. What was the relationship between the deceased Duke and this elf prince?

What is the terrifying calamity that the Elf Prince spoke of that would occur after his death? It can be guessed that it must be because of this "terrifying calamity" that the Empire and the Church have chosen to protect him, and that the Cardinal was willing to pay the price of his own life to save him.

What shocked him even more was the battle between the Duke and the Elf Prince. Harry was certain that the Duke wasn't using human magic, because if she were, she would have needed to chant in an ancient language, which Harry would have been able to understand. But the language the Duke was chanting was clearly not ancient; from the pronunciation, Harry even felt it wasn't a sound a human should make. What she summoned resembled a magical beast, but Harry had never seen or heard of such a beast—a beast with a pair of ferocious fangs, a lion's body, and no tail.

Although Harry knew that to become a duke, one must be a powerful warrior with the strength of a level nine knight, the contrast between Duke Langdon's graceful figure and her appearance in battle was still too stunning. The small sword around her neck was some kind of weapon, capable of growing larger and possessing immense power. And that elf prince was no ordinary man either, managing to block that devastating attack.

Their power was simply outrageous. The battle they unleashed was far more powerful than the ninth-level magic Harry had witnessed at the magic academy. Could it be that they had surpassed the ninth-level limit and reached the legendary Saint rank?

What a pity for his walnut staff, it was fifty years old! Thousands of gold coins gone just like that! Harry gritted his teeth as he thought of this, feeling as if a piece of flesh had been torn from his body.

Harry only had a little over three hundred gold coins left. Maybe he could go back to the academy and ask Cavill if he could get another one, even if it wasn't fifty years old, thirty years would do. Cavill was so trustworthy, it shouldn't be difficult. Thinking of this, a smile finally appeared on Harry's face.

Then, Harry thought of the white-robed archbishop, and the smile on his face suddenly vanished.

As the Duke was helped onto the carriage and the holy knights and white-robed archbishops prepared to "escort" the Duke back to the capital, the leading holy knight announced to the crowd that if any other citizens wanted to return to the capital, they could join their caravan.

After a moment of internal struggle, Harry decided to go with the knights—because no one knew where the elf prince was, and returning to the capital with them would be the safest option, especially since a white-robed archbishop was also accompanying them.

Although he was very hostile to these church clergy, especially the white-robed archbishop.

Harry's hostility towards the Archbishop was not without reason. On the continent of Arcanos, there were three major magical forces: court magicians, church mages, and magicians like Harry from the Orion Academy of Magic.

They all utilize the exact same energy when using magic—natural energy drawn from the earth. Furthermore, their language of magic is identical, differing only in name: court magicians call it Arcanus, magicians call it Ancient Language, and sorcerers call it Divine Language. It is said to be one of the earliest languages ​​used by humans, now extinct except for these three groups. However, the writing, pronunciation, and meaning are identical, which explains why Harry could understand the white-robed archmage's incantations. Therefore, in essence, the source of their power and the language they use for casting spells are the same.

Court magicians were controlled by the royal family. The royal family selected children with high magical talent within the empire and had them train under the royal court magicians from a young age, receiving the most systematic and standardized training. They were directly supported by the national treasury and enjoyed extremely high privileges and social status. Their power was explicitly called "magic," and their primary duty was to defend the authority of the Acronus royal family and the security of the empire. They were the sharpest sword of the royal family, existing since the founding of the Acronus Empire. The Acronus Empire had been passed down through fifteen generations and existed for over two hundred years, and the court magicians had always accompanied the empire's rise and fall.

To ensure the purity of their court magicians, the royal family rarely allowed them to appear in public, and they generally avoided involvement in any noble social interactions, only showing up at festivals and celebrations. Their magical power came from lineage passed down through generations, and to them, the royal family was their deity. They had absolutely no interest in the question of who the legitimate magicians were; their only concern was the safety of the royal family.

The Church's sorcerers, however, were entirely different. The Church claimed that the "divine magic" they used was not a skill acquired through learning, but rather a gift and response from the Goddess of Light to devout faith. This rigorous system of "divine grace and bestowal" fundamentally negated magicians, because magicians worshipped nature spirits, not the Goddess of Light. To establish "divine magic" as the only orthodox and divinely granted power, the Church systematically stigmatized and persecuted folk magicians who refused to relinquish their use of magic, accusing them of stealing divine power and communicating with demons. Later, the royal family intervened, and the Church somewhat restrained itself. Then, with the emergence of holy magicians, the Church dared not act again, and the status of magicians was elevated. Although there is no longer a life-or-death situation, this divide stemming from historical hatred is deeply etched into each other's perceptions.

This is why Harry struggled to maintain a magical shield when faced with the Archbishop's mass healing spell—it wasn't the posture of someone seeking protection, but rather like someone on guard against an enemy.

Accepting the enemy's bounty is far more profound than physical pain.