Chapter 829: The Prophesied Child Lives

In the far north, where the strongest empire in the continent stood proud, the King and a dozen of his trusted supporters gathered for an important meeting.

"The Oracle has spoken," the King of the Aetherion Empire said coldly. "The prophesied child isn’t dead."

"Impossible!" a man wearing a mask and a hooded cloak replied. "I saw him die. His body was encased in ice, and he shattered when he crashed to the bottom of the cliff. Are you telling me that he turned into an Undead, or a vengeful spirit?"

King Aetherion XIII looked at the man. A man who should’ve also died back then.

He was none other than the Paragon of Ice, whom the Guardian of the North had defeated several years ago.

His original body had been destroyed in that battle, but the Paragon of Ice had always been the most paranoid out of all the Paragons.

He feared dying so much that he had used the power of alchemy to create the most perfect homunculus that would serve as his vessel.

To make sure it would be compatible with his soul, he used his own flesh and blood to make it.

Then, using a forbidden art that separated half of his soul from his body, his backup was made.

The scary part was that the moment the Paragon of Ice died in battle, all of his powers and memories would be transferred to this perfect vessel.

It was a second rebirth of sorts, but it was far from perfect.

With only half of his soul, the Paragon of Ice could only remain awake during the night.

During the day, he would be forced into a deep slumber, losing control over his body.

For the past few years, he laid low and simply focused on his experiments.

Because of that, the world thought that he was dead. Little did they know that he was building an army using forbidden arts.

In Evangeline’s route in ELO, he was the final boss. The only way to defeat him was to either gain the help of another Paragon, or fight him during the day, when he couldn’t muster his full powers.

However, finding his location was the trickiest part. As someone paranoid, he made sure that his body would not be found so easily.

His hiding spot could only be reached after finishing a complex series of quests that would allow Evangeline to teleport the Demon Worshipers to the heart of the Aetherion Empire.

It was one of the most chilling and most complex routes in all of ELO.

In the end, Evangeline razed the capital city to the ground. Her final scene was her walking out of the burning palace while saying the words "I have avenged you."

In her hands were the heads of King Aetherion XIII, as well as the head of the Crown Prince of the Aetherion Empire, Prince Asta Von Vademont.

That fade-to-black scene where her eyes glowed bloody red as the screen slowly dimmed was one of the most chilling scenes in the entire game.

"According to the Oracle, he has returned," King Aetherion XIII stated. "She didn’t state whether he had become an Undead or not. The Oracle simply said that he has returned to fulfill the prophecy."

The expressions of the men inside the conference room were diverse.

Some had grim faces, while others looked simply troubled.

Others found this sudden turn of events quite amusing, while a few remained calm on the surface but were secretly making schemes in their hearts.

"So, where is he?" the Paragon of Ice asked. "I’ll finish what I started."

"He’s in the Kingdom of Avalon," King Aetherion XIII replied. "According to her, he is in an academy as a student. She didn’t see his face nor did she identify his features.

"The mist shrouding him was very thick. The only thing she could affirm was that he was alive and well."

The Paragon of Ice narrowed his eyes. "If he is a student, there is only one place in the Kingdom of Avalon where he can be found."

Although there was no definite proof, even King Aetherion XIII nodded in agreement.

"Frieden Academy," a young man, who seemed to be the same age as Alex, spoke up. "That is the only place worth looking at."

The Paragon of Ice frowned at those words. The moment Frieden Academy was mentioned, he knew that he couldn’t just barge there and start killing people.

The Paragon of Space and Headmaster of Frieden Academy, Rowan Vademont, was not someone the Aetherion Empire could take lightly.

Aside from that, while he was a Paragon himself, the Paragon of Ice couldn’t win against Rowan in a direct battle with only half his soul.

While Rowan could fight at a hundred percent, the Paragon of Ice could only fight at eighty percent max.

That gap was something that couldn’t be overcome by simply relying on brute strength and magical artifacts.

"So, what do you propose we do?" The Paragon of Ice regained his calm and asked this question.

"There is one way to bypass Rowan’s defenses," King Aetherion XIII answered. "Since we are hunting a student, sending a student would be the best course of action, no?"

The King then shifted his attention onto his prized son, Asta.

The young man smiled back as if understanding his father’s intention.

"I guess it’s time for me to learn a few things in Frieden Academy," Asta said with a smile. "I’m very curious how their education measures up to what we have here in the Aetherion Empire."

The King and the Paragon of Ice smirked in satisfaction.

Asta was the prodigy of the Aetherion Empire and was also next in line to the throne.

At such a young age, he had already managed to drag the children of the noble families under his banner, making them his loyal subordinates.

And not only that, he was also proficient with both sword and magic.

His intellect was superb as well, making the King and his vassals feel like their kingdom was in good hands.

Of course, Asta wasn’t perfect.

He had one big flaw.

He was simply too ambitious.

Asta wanted the unification of the continent. He wanted to make sure that the entire continent belonged to the Aetherion Empire.

That way, his name would go down in history as the greatest monarch that ever lived.

"I’ll make the necessary preparations, Asta," King Aetherion XIII said. "All you need to do is to find him and kill him. If you can’t do that on your own, we will come up with other methods. But no matter what, that... stain on our family’s name must be purged at all costs."

"Yes, Father," Asta vowed. "I’ll make sure to end that half-blood’s life myself."

The Crown Prince of the Aetherion Empire was already looking forward to transferring to Frieden Academy.

He was already thinking of ways on how he would conquer the Kingdom of Avalon from within, and that was to sow discord among the nobles before pulling them all under his umbrella.

Just thinking of the sense of conquest that he would feel as the Kingdom of Avalon fell into his hands was enough to make him sigh deeply in satisfaction.

The meeting continued for nearly an hour more as everyone listened to their King’s command.

Another storm was brewing in the far north, but this was no ordinary storm.

Instead of raindrops, they would be facing a blizzard.

A powerful blizzard that would cover the lands of Avalon in white... and dye it with the color of their citizens’ blood.