Chapter 124: Ninth-Rank Fireworks
“Three plus three, not bad.”
Kailun glanced at the snow-white Afra and nodded with satisfaction.
The so-called “three plus three” referred to three minutes plus three hours.
Three minutes was her lower limit, and three hours was her upper limit.
This was her limit. Reaching Chrissy’s level was probably a lifelong impossibility.
After his thoughtful guidance, Afra’s mentality returned to normal.
After a quick shower, Kailun leaned against the window, surveying the scenery of the manor.
In his line of sight, Carol, dressed in a maid outfit, was reading a book while absorbing magic crystals. She had already reached the fifth rank.
Currently, Carol’s speed of absorbing magic crystals was decent. She would probably need about ten days to reach the sixth rank.
Based on her growth rate, it would take one or two months to reach the seventh rank, six or seven months to reach the eighth rank, and two to three years to reach the ninth rank.
The timing was just right. If everything followed the trajectory of his previous life, Carol would reach the ninth rank in three years.
Similarly, in three years, Fox would leave his side, the Abyss would officially launch a counterattack, and Carol would emerge.
The Empress and the Pope of the Temple of the Celestial God would strike simultaneously, and the situation would spiral out of control.
Kailun didn’t know what happened after that because he had lost in the decisive battle against Paul and the First Princess.
Clenching his fist, Kailun felt the explosive power surging within him.
Thanks to the decrease in the Pope’s goodwill, his overall strength had increased significantly. The attribute points he possessed had now completely reached the level of the ninth rank.
As for whether he could defeat a ninth-rank mage, it remained unknown. After all, Kailun’s knowledge of magic only barely reached the eighth rank.
Finding a clean set of clothes from the wardrobe, Kailun closed the door and left the bedroom.
He encountered the First Princess and the Second Princess walking together in the corridor and invited them to accompany him outside.
“By the way, do you know of any other places in the Royal City where death row inmates are held?”
Kailun suddenly asked as they walked. He only knew about the Kano Prison from his previous life, which was now completely abandoned.
He had originally planned to get people from the mines, but that would delay him by a day or two, potentially affecting his subsequent plans.
“I don’t know. You’ll have to ask my sister. She locked up quite a few people before. Anyone who disobeyed her would usually be treated as a death row inmate. I don’t know how they are now. I guess my sister has already dealt with them quietly.”
The Second Princess Vivian teased Hilna with a smile.
The latter’s face darkened slightly. “Those who achieve great things don’t dwell on minor details. Since they chose to defy me, they should be prepared to be dealt with.”
“So, has Your Highness achieved great things now?” Kailun slowed down and walked alongside Hilna.
Hilna: “…”
She hadn’t achieved great things, but her belly might be enlarged by Kailun someday.
However, she hadn’t given up. She had been waiting to dream these past few days, hoping to relive the previous dreams and see what would happen in the future.
Unfortunately, she not only didn’t dream of anything, but her mental exhaustion had also increased.
“May I ask if Your Highness has spared any unfortunate souls for me?” Kailun affectionately wrapped his arm around Hilna’s fragrant shoulder, making her feel uncomfortable.
Hilna: “…No. They were dealt with the moment they refused to join my faction.”
“What a ruthless woman. No wonder you were so ruthless towards me back then. I really want to bully you. Let’s go. Come with me to the Royal Palace and grab some spare materials to use.”
Kailun’s hand reached behind Hilna’s neck and pinched her cheek.
Due to time constraints, he hadn’t dealt with the remaining members of the royal family in the Royal Palace.
His initial thought was to keep them as a warning, but it turned out to be unnecessary. His increased strength had saved him a lot of trouble.
Now that he had some free time, he could clean up the Royal Palace.
It was worth mentioning that the king, who should have died long ago, was still clinging to life. He wondered if his early demise in his previous life had something to do with Hilna.
“Can I choose specific people? I guarantee they’re all rotten to the core.”
Vivian became excited upon hearing this. She had long wanted to find an opportunity to take revenge on those princes and princesses.
In fact, the remaining princes and princesses were all good-for-nothings. Not only were they lacking in talent, but they were also quite unattractive. If it weren’t for their banding together, they would have been dealt with long ago.
The First Princess hadn’t touched them before because they were simply too useless and couldn’t affect her in any way.
But for Vivian, these people had caused her quite a bit of trouble.
“Anything goes. Even if you want to choose the old king, it doesn’t matter.” Kailun readily agreed to Vivian’s request without thinking too much.
They were just expendable materials for bombs. It didn’t matter who was chosen.
Kailun actually hoped that they would choose the old king with filial piety.
He didn’t have any good feelings towards the old king. Hilna’s decision to attack him was partly due to him.
“Can I choose my sister?” Vivian’s eyes lit up.
Kailun pinched Hilna’s nose again. “No, she’s my exclusive pet.”
“Tsk, what a pity. It would be great if my sister could also become expendable material,” Vivian joked, clicking her tongue.
Hilna: “…”
It was her mistake not to have killed Vivian when she was born. Now she regretted it.
…
Afra, completely limp, had fallen into a deep sleep.
Perhaps due to her increased strength, having reached the ninth rank, she dreamed of many scenes.
Countless black and white scenes flashed through her mind, filling her brain with memories that seemed both real and fake.
She was like a passerby, an audience member, yet also like someone who had personally experienced these events.
Her dream was divided into three parts: sadness, bitterness, and emptiness.
She dreamed of Kailun being captured and the Duchess dying, leaving her in immense sadness and confusion.
In the blink of an eye, she stormed the prison and rescued the severely injured Kailun. After a bloody battle and sacrificing a seventh-rank vice-commander, she successfully saved him.
From that day forward, Kailun’s personality changed drastically, and he became consumed by madness.
Duke Kuhl became silent and withdrawn. He commanded the army’s counterattack while squandering his trump cards, seemingly intent on exchanging his life for the First Princess’s.
From that day onwards, everything changed.
The Xiya Kingdom was engulfed in war. The Duke’s family was branded as traitors, their external assets were seized, and waves of insults reached their ears.
Under the smear campaign of the royal family and the Temple of the Celestial God, the family’s honor was tarnished.
The First Princess Hilna, who was far away in the Royal City, became the new queen after the king’s death. She wielded the banner of justice, seeking to eradicate the Kate family.
Intense hatred filled Afra’s heart, making her want to capture and tear the First Princess apart.
As the dream progressed, she experienced Paul’s betrayal, which caused them significant losses.
Later, they finally found an opportunity to besiege Paul, but they missed the chance due to Winnie sacrificing herself.
Many things after that became blurry. There seemed to be an attack from the Rose Kingdom, but their initial attempt wasn’t very successful.
It wasn’t until a woman named Fox appeared beside Kailun that her dream became clear again.
This was the bitter part of the dream. Afra admitted that she was jealous and envious.
Even in the dream, she could feel the pangs of jealousy in her heart. Unable to express herself well, she could only try to influence Kailun through subtle actions.
However, not only did her actions fail to make Kailun acknowledge her, but they also attracted the fox’s ridicule.
“Loser.”
This was the title she heard from the fox’s mouth. If it weren’t for the huge gap in their strength, she would have kicked the fox out of the house long ago.
The rest of the dream was blank, as if it had been suddenly cut off, leaving nothing behind.
After an unknown amount of time, Afra woke up from her dream and wiped the sticky tears from her face with her arm. The sadness and bitterness had faded considerably.
Looking down at Kailun’s handiwork on her delicate body, she actually felt a sense of happiness.
The Duchess hadn’t died, Hilna hadn’t become queen, the cunning fox was still just a fox, and the dream was just a dream.
Wrapping her delicate body in the sticky blanket, Afra jumped off the bed and ran to the bathroom. She needed to take a shower and calm down.
After a quick bath, Afra went to the wardrobe and found a brand new dress to wear.
“Isabella? Why are you here?”
Afra encountered Isabella as soon as she stepped out of the door. She seemed to have been waiting outside for quite a while.
“Nothing, just passing by.”
Isabella shook her head and chose to lie when faced with Afra’s question.
Half an hour ago, she had sensed a strange fluctuation in fate. Sensing the anomaly, her first thought was that something had happened to Kailun.
However, after arriving at Kailun’s room, she didn’t sense his presence. After inquiring with the maids, she learned that Kailun had left the manor with the First Princess and the Second Princess.
This answer meant that the fluctuation in fate in the room wasn’t coming from Kailun, but from Afra.
Even now, Isabella still couldn’t determine the cause of this fluctuation in fate.
However, having been in contact with Kailun for a while, she was certain that this change must be related to him.
Isabella discreetly glanced outside through the window in the corridor. Carol, sitting in the courtyard, was also a dangerous character. Her level of danger was no less than Kailun’s.
At this moment, Carol resembled a well-behaved kitten, her danger hidden beneath her docile exterior.
After receiving Isabella’s perfunctory answer, Afra asked again, “Have you seen Kailun?”
Isabella: “He left with Vivian and Hilna half an hour ago. I didn’t ask what they were doing.”
“I see. Even Hilna ran away. What a pity.”
Afra frowned and muttered to herself, “It doesn’t matter. I’ll go find the fox and have a chat.”
Hearing Afra’s muttering, Isabella interrupted her thoughts. “Kailun has already released the fox. She left this morning.”
“Damn it! That stinky little brother Kailun actually let the fox spirit go. Hmph, next time I see her, I’ll definitely tie her up and bully her.”
Afra was filled with resentment, her face full of grievance.
She finally had a chance to bully the fox, but Kailun had let her go.
“Excuse me for asking, but what rank are you now?”
Isabella’s eyes lingered on Afra for a moment. She had a bold guess. Afra’s aura far exceeded the level of the eighth rank.
Afra: “I just reached the first rank today.”
Isabella: “…”
Even the honest knight had been completely corrupted by the demon Kailun. How tragic.
…
“Someone must be talking bad about me behind my back. I can feel it.”
Kailun rubbed his nose. He had just felt the urge to sneeze.
By now, Kailun had arrived at the Royal Palace with the First Princess and the Second Princess. Under his orders, the remaining members of the royal family trapped in the palace had been herded together.
The smart ones had already left the Xiya Kingdom after learning of the First Princess’s defeat. The remaining ones didn’t seem very bright.
Each one was more unattractive than the last, with a variety of hair colors. Kailun couldn’t help but wonder if the old king’s hair was actually green.
Their faces were filled with terror, and even the old king, who was on the verge of death, had been carried out and placed on a chair.
Kailun looked at the crowd and said with a smile, “I believe everyone is familiar with me, so I don’t need to introduce myself. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll give you a chance to live.”
Vivian and Hilna, standing on either side of him, knew from the smile on Kailun’s face that these people were probably in trouble.
Those trapped in the Royal Palace were cut off from information and only knew of some unreliable rumors.
From these rumors, they learned that Kailun was a cruel demon.
“Cough, cough, Kailun, stop playing with us. What use are we, a bunch of useless people, to you? If you want to kill us, just do it.”
The old king coughed continuously, dark blood staining his beard.
After saying this, he glanced meaningfully at Hilna beside Kailun. “Is this the result you wanted?”
“I might have made a mistake, but I had no choice. Wasn’t the threat of the Kate family something you always told me about?” Hilna replied, meeting the old king’s gaze.
“Sigh, you’re still too naive. Even if you succeed, you’ll pay a heavy price. Cough, cough…”
The old king coughed again after just two sentences. His descendants behind him just looked at him coldly, none of them wanting to step forward and pat his back to ease his coughing.
“He seems to be poisoned. Did you poison him?” Kailun observed for a moment and asked Hilna.
She shook her head. “I didn’t need to poison him. I already had power. I didn’t need to resort to poison.”
Hearing Hilna’s words, the old king looked up in astonishment and asked, “You really didn’t poison me?”
He had always thought that Hilna wanted to kill him.
“I poisoned him.” A clear voice rang out beside Kailun.
The Second Princess Vivian revealed a mischievous smile. “I couldn’t help it. Who told that old geezer to try and marry me off? After I overheard his plan, I poisoned his food. Unfortunately, a lot of things happened afterward, and the poison didn’t take effect in time, allowing him to survive.”
Vivian had long lost any attachment to this cold and ruthless royal family.
She had always been alone, bullied by her sister, insulted by others, and treated as an expendable pawn for marriage alliances.
She had had enough. She just lacked an opportunity to erupt.
“You’re really ungrateful. I was doing it for your own good by marrying you off,” the old king coughed and continued, “After you were married off, you could have lived a better life, and the Xiya Kingdom would have gained a new ally. Then, even if there was internal turmoil in the kingdom, we would have a powerful ally to help us.”
The internal turmoil the old king referred to was the Kailun family. Everyone present could understand this.
In his opinion, the First Princess Hilna’s handling of the situation was too crude. Forming an alliance with someone would have been much more stable.
Vivian made a face. “Old man, you know I had a hard time in the Royal Palace. I thought you didn’t know anything about it.”
“Cough, cough, you’re such a scoundrel! What good does this do for the Xiya Kingdom? I was just thinking about the kingdom.”
The old king was almost angered to death. He had always thought that the First Princess was the one who poisoned him, but it turned out to be the inconspicuous Second Princess.
“You’re shameless! You…”
Vivian wanted to curse back, but Kailun pressed her shoulder and shook his head at her.
After calming the Second Princess, Kailun took out a freshly prepared contract scroll. “I didn’t bring you here today to argue. The kind-hearted me wants to avoid killing and give you a chance to live. I just need you to deliver a message to the Temple of the Celestial God. After that, your life and death are up to you.”
“What do you mean?” The old king looked at Kailun in astonishment. “If it’s just a message, why not use magic letters?”
“Don’t ask why. Just answer whether you agree or not.”
Kailun threw the scroll onto the floor in front of the old king. “Deliver a message and you’ll get a chance to live. Those who refuse will be executed immediately.”
It would take three days for these people to reach the battlefield of the Temple of the Celestial God, which coincided with the all-out attack time mentioned in Chrissy’s intelligence report.
Kailun wanted to achieve a delicate balance, so the Abyss couldn’t be defeated.
If the Abyss were defeated, they would inevitably retreat, giving the Temple of the Celestial God the opportunity to target him.
Besides, he had some selfish motives. He wanted to alleviate some pressure for the fox.
“Cough, cough, just execute me. In my current state, I’m not far from death anyway. There’s no need to cling to life.”
The old king smiled bitterly. He estimated that he only had a few days left to live.
Hearing the old king’s words, his descendants panicked. The old king wanted to die, but they still wanted to live.
Kailun: “Oh? What about now?”
As he spoke, the brilliance of eighth-rank healing magic descended upon the old king, removing his pain and toxins.
“Eighth… eighth-rank magic…”
The old king was stunned, feeling the resurgence of life.
Even the First Princess Hilna stared at Kailun in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to learn eighth-rank healing magic in such a short time.
She clearly remembered that just a few days ago, Kailun was still studying magic books in the backyard. She hadn’t expected him to have mastered it already.
Had he learned eighth-rank magic so easily?
Hilna’s confidence was dealt another blow, and the expression on her face became increasingly dejected.
The once confident and proud princess was almost reduced to a wreck under Kailun’s constant blows.
In contrast, Vivian’s face was filled with puzzlement. She didn’t understand why Kailun would save her enemy.
[Your actions have made Vivian suspicious of you. Goodwill -10, Total Goodwill 50]
Kailun raised an eyebrow slightly. He hadn’t expected this little girl to be so emotionally sensitive.
While maintaining the release of the magic, he tapped Vivian’s forehead with his finger and told her with his eyes to be patient.
The eighth-rank healing magic cured most of the old king’s physical problems, giving him a new lease on life.
Just now, he could resolutely refuse Kailun’s request, but now he hesitated.
“I wonder what message you want us to deliver?” the old king asked.
Kailun rubbed Vivian’s head and said with a smile, “Find their commander and ask them if they want to see a ninth-rank fireworks show. Don’t ask why. Just treat it as a special code. Sometimes, knowing too much isn’t a good thing. If you have no objections, sign your names on the scroll I gave you and leave your mark.”
Having said that, Kailun smiled even wider. “Let me make it clear that if you can’t reach the designated location within the specified time, your souls will be destroyed directly. This is a clause stipulated in the contract. Once you complete the task I’ve given you, you’ll be free. As long as you don’t return to the Xiya Kingdom, I won’t bother you.”
[After hearing your request, Vivian is in a bad mood. Goodwill -10, Total Goodwill 40]
Vivian slapped away Kailun’s hand from her head, her pouting indicating her anger.
The old king and his entourage discussed the terms of the contract for a while and ultimately chose to agree.
They would follow Kailun’s instructions and reach the designated location, then relay his message to their commander.
Staying here meant certain death. Only by staying away from the demon Kailun would they have a chance to survive.
After everyone signed the contract, Kailun had them sent to Kano Prison to be held separately. He would send them away from the Royal City at night.
The versatile Kailson had developed a magic spell called “Soul-Carved Magic Circuit,” which could imprint magic circuits onto a person’s soul.
Kailun knew that it wouldn’t be easy for these people to learn the self-destruction spell in a short time, so he used the contract to imprint the self-destruction magic circuit onto their souls.
This magic wasn’t without limitations. It required the recipient to be completely unresisting for it to work.
Kailson was indeed a genius who had reached the eighth rank on his own. His accomplishments in magic were outstanding.
The reason for separating them was to brainwash them individually. Kailun wanted them to self-destruct at the designated time.
He would provide ninth-rank attributes, and they would provide the expendable materials for the self-destruction. It was a win-win situation.
“Do you not understand? If you want to know why, follow me.”
After the old king and his entourage were taken away, Kailun turned and left.
Vivian: “Where to?”
Kailun: “The Kano Prison you’re familiar with.”
Vivian’s pupils constricted sharply.
Hilna’s hand trembled.
Kailun: “Oh right, Hilna, you don’t have to come. Go directly to the main hall of the Royal Palace and help Phils handle government affairs.”
Hilna: “…”
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