Baron Cullen

Chapter 108 The Purpose of the Secret Assembly

Karen arrived at the president's office and soon met with President Donald.

Donald looked to be in good spirits, and when he saw him enter, he gave a friendly smile: "Baron Karen, you've come today..."

"Hmm? You've advanced to a second-tier mage?"

Before he could finish speaking, a pair of eyes widened in shock upon noticing the aura emanating from Karen that was far greater than before.

"President, you flatter me." Karen smiled modestly and bowed slightly. "It is the association and you who have given me this opportunity."

"Hahaha!" Donald chuckled, waving his hand. "So, what brings you here this time?"

Upon hearing this, Karen's expression turned serious, and she went straight to the point: "President, have you ever heard of the 'Secret Society'?"

Upon hearing the words "Secret Society," Donald's smile froze instantly.

His expression turned serious as he asked, "The Secret Society? Why are you asking about them?"

By the way, you've joined the Order Keepers now... Does that mean those guys have already gotten their hands on Breathless City?

Upon hearing this, Karen knew that things were looking promising.

Donald had indeed heard of this organization, and judging from his tone, he seemed to know quite a bit about it!

Thinking of this, he briefly recounted his previous experience in Kuroki Village.

However, he concealed his speculations about Randall, since the man was involved in the Order Keeper's scandal and Fiona's private affairs, and he didn't want to reveal it for the time being.

Therefore, he only emphasized the organization's danger and its extremely close ties with vampires.

"Vampires?!" Donald's expression turned serious upon hearing this, especially after learning that there was a high possibility of a large number of vampires within the Secret Society.

He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, pondering, "I do have some recollection of the Mystic Society..."

About a year ago, in Montereyno County, east of Crescent County, where Breathless City is located, there was a powerful evil organization that called itself the "Secret Society".

The organization operated with extreme secrecy, having thoroughly searched almost every cemetery and historical site in Montereyno County, seemingly looking for something.

As a result, they even had numerous clashes with local lords and churches, none of which were large-scale, but many people still died.

Karen frowned.

He never expected that this secret society would dare to directly clash with the local lord's church.

This means that either the heretics possess power that makes them unafraid of the Empire and the Church, or what they are looking for is extremely important.

It's so important that we'd risk directly provoking the Empire and the Papacy!

Thinking of this, Karen asked, "And then?"

"Later, the county of Montereyno, together with three city lords and the church, launched a large-scale siege against the Arcane Society." Donald recalled what he had seen and heard. "It is said that the war caused the Arcane Society to lose most of its members, but there were no vampires among them."

Since then, the Arcane Society has completely disappeared from Montreal County.

"But I never expected that they would actually move to Crescent County and get involved with the vampires..."

After listening to the story of the Secret Society's past, Karen suddenly said, "I'm afraid their disappearance from Monterey Park wasn't because of heavy losses..."

Rather, they didn't find what they wanted there, so they used the raid as an excuse to feign being severely damaged, and then disappear back into the shadows!

His reason for making this guess is simply this:

That's the vampire clan!

Having personally fought against vampires, he was well aware of the power of those heretical creatures.

Especially in Donald's account, there were no vampires present during that raid...

In other words, the Secret Arts Society did not send out its main force in that siege.

Since the main players didn't intervene, there's no question of any loss.

After listening to Karen's analysis, Donald frowned. "According to you, they are indeed a terrible bunch."

Now they've moved their base to Breathless City. Is it because the thing they're looking for is here?

"That's very likely!" Karen nodded.

He gave a relatively affirmative answer, based on the note written by Randall that he had found in the ashes of the vampire woman's body.

The Arcane Society is clearly targeting the Order Keepers for some purpose.

The Order Keepers are an official organization that specializes in handling extraordinary events, and in such situations, they are often targeted by the opposing side…

This only proves that the Secret Society has confirmed that what they are looking for is right here!

"President, do you know anything about the people in this organization?" Karen tried to get more information, "such as their leader?"

Based on Fiona's previous description, Randall Thrall is clearly not the leader of the Arcane Order.

Therefore, knowing who the leader is might be helpful in their investigation of the organization.

However, Donald shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, that's all I know about that organization."

If you hadn't mentioned that name today, I would have even thought they had disbanded and ceased to exist after that siege.

Upon hearing this, Karen couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

However, this also confirmed that the Mystic Society was indeed after something, and that something was located within the city.

As long as the city is under closer surveillance and protection, and is guarded by the major powers, there shouldn't be any problems.

Just as Karen was about to get up and take her leave, Donald suddenly remembered something and changed the subject, saying, "By the way, Baron Karen, since you've come all this way, I have a favor to ask..."

"President, please don't stand on ceremony, please speak."

"The Association recently received a rather troublesome item, imbued with a very complex spell, likely at the fifth rank." Donald pondered for a moment before deciding to speak. "Our Association doesn't have in-depth knowledge of the wizarding profession, and the only powerful wizard in the city is Ms. Martha, the deputy leader of the Order Keepers, but she hasn't been available these days..."

Therefore, I thought of you. I wanted to use your talent for keen perception of extraordinary elements to see if we could help the association try to break that spell.

Of course, this is just a request.

Karen's heart skipped a beat.

Is it a fifth-order curse?

He suddenly remembered the strange magic book he had received from Sindar Raff, which he had also sensed through its mysterious runes that it was imbued with an extremely evil power.

Later, after confirmation by Fiona and Martha, it was determined to be a fifth-order spell.

And now, the Mage Association has just received an item imbued with what appears to be a fifth-tier spell…

Is there some kind of connection between these two?

With that in mind, Karen immediately agreed.

Moreover, even if it had nothing to do with that magic book, his ability to witness and analyze a spell that appeared to be of the fifth rank would greatly benefit his understanding of higher levels of power.

Moreover, he owed Donald a lot of favors.

...

Led by Donald, Karen arrived at a hall deep within the association that ordinary mages were not allowed to enter.

A palm-sized fragment of bronze covered in rust floats on the platform in the center of the hall.

The fragment was covered with dense, twisted, and bizarre runes.

As soon as Karen entered the hall, she sensed a chilling aura emanating from the fragment, carrying a strong sense of malice.

Although he wasn't sure if this was the aura of a fifth-order spell, it was indeed quite similar to the aura he had sensed from that strange magic book.

"Baron Karen, feel free to look around. If you find anything, just let us know." Donald stood to the side, his gaze also fixed on the platform in the center of the hall. "Of course, you don't need to feel any pressure, after all, it's a suspected fifth-order spell."

Even I find it difficult to see through the secret.

Karen nodded without saying anything.

He took a deep breath, quietly activated the mysterious runes deep within his right eye, and then looked at the bronze fragment again.

In his vision, the complex runes on the fragment seemed to come alive, with countless energies, like mist, flowing within it according to extremely strange paths and patterns.

But the next second, it was as if countless lines intertwined, forming a huge and complex energy structure.

Its complexity far exceeds any magic he has ever encountered.

"What...is this thing?"

He focused intently, trying to use the power of the mysterious runes to find the core of the spell and its possible weaknesses.

The mysterious runes deep within his right eye trembled continuously, and a large amount of unfamiliar information kept flooding into his mind.

This spell is indeed powerful, and quite similar to the one in that strange magic book from before, but it doesn't seem to belong to the same kind.

Are the two actually unrelated?

Was it just a coincidence that the Mage Association received this bronze fragment?