Chapter 75: Meeting in Hale Town (Part 2)

Lerila’s guess was correct. Compared to the strict and proud Ravia, Jiang Zhe truly preferred being with Dia. Around this gentle girl from the south, he felt relaxed.
This relaxation was indescribable—it could be a sense of physical and mental ease or a warmth that lingered in one’s heart… Yes, warmth! Jiang Zhe always felt a familiar warmth beside Dia, as if he were being cared for. It might sound funny, but that’s exactly how it was.
Looking back, even when he first met Dia, Jiang Zhe had sensed that familiar tenderness… as if he had experienced it before…
But around Ravia, he never felt such anything. That northern girl’s constant urging and pressure left Jiang Zhe exhausted.
Indeed, even if he pursued powerful magic, he still needed time to rest, right? Who could read a boring magic book 24/7?
“Sos, look at this—it’s so interesting…”
Seeing the smile on the girl beside him, Jiang Zhe couldn’t help but smile slightly.
Yes, this feeling was great… really great!
Unconsciously, Jiang Zhe reached out and used the sleeve to wipe the fine sweat from Dia’s forehead. This affectionate gesture made Dia’s cheeks turn red with shyness.
After that ball, though they hadn’t made things official, they clearly seemed much closer in the eyes of others.
Biting her lip, Dia glanced at Jiang Zhe secretly and said softly, “Sos—there are so many people here!”
“Yeah…”
They exchanged a look and smiled simultaneously.
Unfortunately, that warmth was shattered the next moment by a light laugh behind them.
“Hey! Kid!”
Jiang Zhe turned around in confusion, glancing at the man in a long black coat behind him. After a moment of bewilderment, his eyes suddenly filled with sharp alertness. Instinctively, he shielded Dia behind him and frowned at the man, saying, “Argus?!”
“Heh heh,” seemingly noticing the alertness in the boy’s eyes, Argus laughed heartily, shrugged, and pretended to be disappointed. “I thought we got along pretty well. Tsk tsk, what a disappointment, kid!”
“…” Frowning at Argus, Jiang Zhe grew tense. He never expected to meet this man here—the man deemed the most dangerous by Professor Hodde and Father Andrew!

“Oh, what’s this?” Argus said with a light laugh, then glanced at Dia behind Jiang Zhe, bowing slightly out of courtesy before teasingly adding, “Ah ah ah, what a beautiful and charming young lady—I’m very sorry for interrupting your rendezvous!”
Hearing the word “rendezvous,” Dia’s face turned slightly red as she shyly lowered her head and said politely, “Sir, I seem to have seen you somewhere before—Are you a friend of Thors?” As if remembering something, she stared at Argus’s ever-black long coat and exclaimed in surprise, “Are you the man we met near Asher last year? Mr. Argus?”
“I admire your memory,” Argus said with a smile. “Argus BartClarfield. It’s an honor to meet you again!”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It should be Mr.Clarfield,” Dia said apologetically. “I didn’t expect to see you here too. I remember you saying that you were being pursued by some people…” She hesitated whether to say those two words.
“Pursued!” Argus filled in for her nonchalantly, then shrugged and said casually, “I think I’m quite lucky—maybe those who are pursuing me have given up!”
“That’s great,” Dia said with a light laugh, then glanced at the boy in front of her, her expression showing surprise and confusion.
Frowning at the man before him, Jiang Zhe whispered, “Argus, what do you want?”
“Thors?”
Noticing the surprise in Dia’s eyes, Argus waved his hand dismissively and said cheerfully, “Hey, hey, I came here with good intentions to say hello—to us being friends after all, right? We met in a small northern town; shouldn’t we chat a bit?”
After staring at Argus deeply, Jiang Zhe turned to Dia and said, “Dia, I’m sorry. I can’t stay with you anymore—Could you go back to the inn first? I want to talk to him for a while…”
Glancing at Argus and then at Jiang Zhe, Dia seemed to sense something and nodded quietly, saying, “Alright then. I’ll go back to the inn first. I think Allen and the others should be back by now…” With that, she turned and walked toward the inn, her steps clearly hurried.
“Ah ah ah, it seems this beautiful and charming young lady is also very smart…” Argus said, glancing at Jiang Zhe teasingly. “Right, kid?”

Subconsciously blocking Argus’s view of Dia’s back, Jiang Zhe said in a low voice, “I don’t remember any conflicts between us before!”
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt her,” Argus laughed, lowered his head, and teased in a soft voice, “But it’s really surprising. I thought the one by your side should be another girl—uh, the one with bright fiery red hair, right?” He winked as he spoke.
Seeing that the other party seemed harmless, Jiang Zhe’s tense nerves gradually relaxed. He turned to look at Dia disappearing into the crowd in the distance, then said to Argus, “I don’t know what your real intentions are!”
“Intentions? No, I don’t have any!” Argus said, pointing toward a side alley along the street and shaking his head. “Come on!”
After hesitating for a moment, Jiang Zhe followed Argus into the alley, which was empty.
Looking at Argus walking ahead, Jiang Zhe swallowed hard and carefully gathered fire elements. After all, an empty alley made him think of many unpleasant things.
Not knowing the other party’s true strength, Jiang Zhe tried to be as cautious as possible—ready to counter with a flame burst at the slightest sign of malice.
Suddenly, Argus stopped in front of him, turned to look at Jiang Zhe, and said teasingly, “Wow, planning to strike from behind an old friend?”
Realizing his plan had been seen through, Jiang Zhe’s expression changed slightly. He said in a low voice, “Old friend? We’ve only met once, and… do you call an old friend ‘brat’?”
Jiang Zhe’s rebuttal stunned Argus for a moment. He laughed, shrugged, and said, “Alright, alright, Sos—is that okay?”
Staring at him intently, Jiang Zhe licked his lips and said softly, “Argus, what exactly do you want?”
Argus clearly detected the wariness in Jiang Zhe’s voice. Shaking his head, he said teasingly, “It seems you’ve heard some negative rumors—someone’s slandering me? Ah, what annoying people!”
Ignoring his jokes, Jiang Zhe stared straight at Argus and repeated, “What do you want to say to me? What do you want? If you can’t answer my questions, I don’t think I need to stay here!”
“Ah, what an unfriendly conversation,” Argus said with a slight smile, then asked in a low voice, “What do you want to ask?”
“Some people say you’re a very dangerous guy, that you’re plotting something…”
“Which idiot slandered me like that? Hey… and then what?”

Glancing deeply at Argus, Jiang Zhe instinctively stepped back two steps, frowning and saying, “I’m leaving—hope you won’t stop me!” As he spoke, he quickly gathered the fire elements around him.

“Wow,” Argus exclaimed after looking around Jiang Zhe’s body, “What astonishing fire elements! You’re more powerful than you were a year ago, Sosu. But…” He paused, then put on a teasing expression and said, “It seems you don’t know much about me!” The moment he finished speaking, he raised his hand, and in an instant, all the fire elements gathered by Jiang Zhe were dispersed, not a trace left.

“You…” Jiang Zhe was shocked. The once-thick fire elements were now gone, leaving him unable to cast even a single fireball. What worried him even more was the overwhelming pressure from Argus. He suddenly felt as if he had no strength to resist him at all.

What kind of powerful pressure was this! Jiang Zhe felt his breathing become rapid, and sweat began to appear on his forehead. Yet even so, he remained standing!

“What is this?”

“A domain!” Seeing Jiang Zhe’s astonished expression, Argus smiled and said, “Is there any need to be so surprised?”

“A domain?”

“Hm? Don’t you know?” Like an excellent professor, Argus explained jokingly, “You should know that mages use magic power to cast spells. When the magic power in their bodies accumulates to a certain level, [magic fluctuations] occur! For mages, the intensity of these fluctuations reflects their own strength. When the magic power accumulates further, a [aura] is formed. Even if the mage doesn’t deliberately gather elements, due to affinity, elements in the air will instinctively gather around the mage’s body, reducing the time needed to gather elements—just like you now. And this [aura] is the precursor to a [domain]. Powerful mages all possess their own [domains]. If they wish, they can exclude any unrelated elements at any time and place, leaving only the power they need…” As he spoke, he slightly raised his hand, and Jiang Zhe immediately felt the light around him darken significantly. Upon closer inspection, he saw a large amount of dark energy gathered around Argus’s body, especially behind him—there was no longer any trace of the alley, only endless, profound darkness!

“Swish!” The endless darkness vanished completely with Agus’s smile. At the same time, Jiang Zhe felt his mental energy once again establishing a connection with the nearby fire element. But he didn’t try to gather the fire element again, knowing that this man before him was far too powerful—whatever he did would be in vain against him.

“Domain…” murmuring, Jiang Zhe raised his head and asked with a hint of expectation, “When can I master this skill?”

“It’s simple,” Agus shrugged, leaning against the wall of the alley and saying mockingly to Jiang Zhe, “As long as you reach the rank of Archmage, you can master this skill!”

“Archmage?” Jiang Zhe was clearly shocked. So this man before him was an Archmage? Wasn’t that even more powerful than Professor Hod? After all, even Professor Hod, who left him helpless, was only close to being an Archmage…

“Surprised?” Agus crossed his arms and said jokingly, “Do you think an Archmage must be an old man? Hahaha! That’s interesting, Thos!” He waved his hand casually and said, “Enough, don’t look at me like that. I haven’t done anything, have I? I haven’t hurt your beautiful girlfriend, nor have I hurt you, right? On the contrary, I’ve even shared some basic knowledge about magic. You should be grateful to me—if I had intended to harm you, you wouldn’t have had a chance—though I was also a bit surprised just now. The pressure from the domain didn’t make you, who is far below my rank, submit. Tsk tsk, truly remarkable! It seems I wasn’t wrong—you’re born to be among the strong! You have the potential!”

Regulating his breath, Jiang Zhe stared deeply at Agus and said softly, “A year ago, we encountered you near Asher Village. You said you were being hunted… hunted by the Inquisitors of the Church, right?”

“And there’s also an old guy named Andrew!” Agus chuckled slightly in surprise. “You know quite a bit… Then you should also know that not even a Cardinal Archbishop and six Inquisitors could stop me—come on, kid, I just wanted to chat with you!”

“Chat with me? Why?”

“Hmm…” Walking up to Jiang Zhe, seeing the wariness in his eyes, Argus reached out and gently touched the boy’s dark golden hair. In a puzzled tone, he said, “I’m also strange about this. Maybe it’s because I get along well with you. Anyway, I have no intention of harming you…”
“Alright, I accept your explanation… I’ll believe you for now,” Jiang Zhe said, glancing at Argus before licking his lips and asking hesitantly, “What exactly do you want, Argus? Why is the Church sending people to hunt you? What’s your goal?”
“Hehe,” Argus smiled slightly and said mockingly to Jiang Zhe, “Do you really think I’ll tell you just by asking? Haven’t those people told you that the guy in front of you is a ruthless thug?”
Jiang Zhe fell silent. After a full minute, he raised his head and said in a deep voice, “You haven’t harmed us—A year ago, with your great power, you could have killed us and taken our food, but you didn’t. I think… you’re at least not a thug!”
“Heh!” Argus smirked, shook his head, and the smile on his face gradually faded. In a cold tone laced with intense hatred, he said indifferently, “I want to destroy this country! Completely destroy it!”
“Destroy the empire?” Jiang Zhe was shocked, staring at Argus in disbelief. Then, he slowly calmed down.
This clearly surprised Argus. He looked at Jiang Zhe curiously and asked, “Aren’t you angry? Why do I only see shock in your eyes? Hey! Don’t you want to say anything? Anger? Accusations?”
“Anger? Accusations?” Jiang Zhe raised his head in confusion.
“Heh! I see,” Argus said after staring at Jiang Zhe for a long time. Shaking his head, he chuckled lightly, “It seems you don’t have much affection for the empire either. I’m glad to know that. At least we won’t become enemies in the future, hahaha!”
“Destroy the empire…” Hearing these words, Jiang Zhe couldn’t help but think of those from Serland.
Argus was right. Jiang Zhe indeed had no feelings for the empire. Whether it was the King of Sassen or any imperial nobles, what did it matter to him?
He was just an ordinary citizen now. Those were too far away from him. All he cared about was Riox, only his friends around him.
“Why would you do this? By destroying the empire, you’ll hurt countless people…”

“Why?” Argus smiled faintly, then looked at Jiang Zhe with mockery. “Are you concerned about those who ‘will be hurt by me’? Why can’t I see any trace of sympathy or pity in your eyes?”
Jiang Zhe’s expression changed. After being reminded by Argus, he suddenly realized how calm and emotionless he had sounded when saying those words, as if he were describing something ordinary.
“I really like your gaze—calm and filled with indifference,” Argus said, smiling at Jiang Zhe as he shook his head, speaking with a hint of mockery and coldness. “This is a world of the strong preying on the weak. The strong don’t need to care about the weak; at best, they are just stepping stones for the strong… Why bother with those weaklings? The strong just need to climb higher, to the top, to the peak of this world. Of course, once you reach the top, you can look down on those ants beneath you—feel pity for them, sympathize with them, or even help them, just like the gods in legends…” He glanced at Jiang Zhe and said mockingly, “Are you angry because of what I said? But why can’t I see anger in your eyes? You agree with me, right?”
“No!” Jiang Zhe shook his head and frowned. “Your view is wrong…”
“Then why don’t you show any reaction?”
“You’re very powerful…”
“That’s not a reason. At most, you might be angry because of what I said, but you’re not…”
“I just… I’m not familiar with them…”
“Yes, that’s the point. You’re not familiar with those who get sacrificed. Whether they live or die has nothing to do with you… Hehe, you’re also someone with a naturally cold personality. In fact, we’re the same kind of person…”
“No!”
“Oh, are you angry now?” Argus said with a smile, watching the anger in the boy’s eyes. “So do you want to be a hero? To stop me?”
“I… have never thought about being a hero!”

Jiang Zhe gave him a deep look. Argus removed his smile, sat down on a wooden barrel, and said calmly, “I never thought about it either… I mean, when I was young… I understand your thoughts. You want to live a peaceful life, without interacting with too many people, nor needing endless gold coins… Find a quiet and remote small town, form a family with the woman you love, open a small shop, earn a few silver coins from former mercenaries or travelers. When your son grows up, arrange for him to work as an apprentice in another shop in town, then let him take over your business. By then, I’ll be old, and maybe I’ll have a grandson whom I can hold on my lap on the doorstep and tell stories from long ago—about dragon slayers or powerful magicians…”

“Argus…”

“Huh,” Argus exhaled slightly, turned to look at Jiang Zhe, and said in a low voice, “Some people are born to be heroes, to be noticed by others. But others prefer to remain unknown. They don’t want to be heroes, right?”

“…”

“It was a nice conversation. I’ll consider it one of my precious memories,” Argus said as he stood up. Walking toward the alley entrance, he added, “Forget everything we just talked about, Thors. Even if you tell others my plans, it won’t disrupt them. On the contrary, it will ruin the friendship we’ve built—shouldn’t you care more about the people around you than some distant empire? Like that beautiful and gentle girlfriend of yours—As a friend’s advice, take the girl you like and leave here as soon as possible, head south!”

“Wait!” Jiang Zhe turned and called out to Argus. Looking at his back, he frowned and asked, “Why tell me these things?”

“Tell you? I didn’t say anything—Do you know what I plan to do? How to destroy this filthy, crime-ridden, class-divided country? No, you don’t know anything!”

“But you still told me… Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell others and ruin your plans?”

“Destroy my plans?” Argus laughed heartily, turning to look at Jiang Zhe and shaking his head. “Sos, it seems you still don’t understand me. Go ahead and tell those people what you want. I guess those guys from the Church haven’t given up searching for me yet. But I hope you’ll think carefully—Is it worth ruining the friendship we’ve just built for an empire that has nothing to do with you? Or is your purpose in learning magic to maintain world peace? Hahaha!”
“I learn magic only to protect those I care about!”
“That’s right!” Pointing at Jiang Zhe, Argus said with a smile, “So, you know nothing. You’ll forget this conversation, right? Your power should be used to protect those you care about, like your girlfriend, right?” As he spoke, he seemed to remember something, stepped forward, and frowned as he studied Jiang Zhe.
“What is it?”
“It’s strange,” Argus said in surprise, looking at the confusion in Jiang Zhe’s eyes. “I thought I liked you just because of your personality, but that reason is too far-fetched.” He then placed his finger on Jiang Zhe’s forehead and closed his eyes to sense it.
After about ten seconds of silence, Argus suddenly burst into laughter.
“I understand now. I know why I like you. It turns out… Sos, you also have a dark force within you. It’s pure darkness, but very weak. Strange…” Argus looked at Jiang Zhe, puzzled. “Do you master dark magic? Or has some dark mage taught you magic?”
“No,” Jiang Zhe shook his head firmly. “I only know fire magic!”
But after saying that, he suddenly froze. He remembered his dreams and some fragmented memories.
It was near Asher Village a year ago. Back then, he seemed to have become a bit strange. Although Ravia kept denying it, but…
Argus clearly didn’t notice Jiang Zhe’s thoughts, as he was still sensing the dark force within him. “Hmm… a pure yet weak dark aura. If you’re not paying close attention, you probably won’t notice it… It seems to be restricted, so you can’t use this power…” As he spoke, Argus suddenly chuckled and pointed at Jiang Zhe’s forehead again.
Instantly, Jiang Zhe felt a sharp pain in his head. At the same time, his left hand, which was in his pocket, experienced intense pain as if it were on fire.
“What do you want to do?”

“Wow wow,” stepping back two steps, Argus raised his hands innocently in a surrender gesture and said with a smile, “No need for a dance party. I was just trying to help you unleash that dark power…”
“You…” Jiang Zhe stared at Argus in shock, frowning and saying, “I told you—I only know fire magic! I’m going back!”
“Oh, that’s too bad—be careful on your way! Haha!”
“Tch!” Jiang Zhe curled his lips and left the alley.
“Hey, hey! I was trying to help unleash that dark power. You’ll gain even greater strength from it—no thanks at all? Tch!” Argus shrugged helplessly as he watched Jiang Zhe walk away quickly.
Suddenly, a purple pentagram magic array appeared on the ground beside him. Soon after, the figure of the necromancer Pur appeared gradually from the ground. He glared at Argus irritably and said without words, “I thought something serious had happened. Turns out you were just chatting with a kid…”
“Quite similar…” Argus glanced at his companion and said with a light laugh, “Don’t you think that kid resembles me?”
“I didn’t notice!”
“Hehe, I’m not referring to appearance… Not everyone wants to be a hero…”
“A hero?” Pur looked at Argus in confusion and said jokingly, “Do you want to be a hero, Argus?”
“No,” Argus glanced at Pur, grinned mockingly, and said, “I’m destined to be the villain of the world, my dear companion!”
Pur stared at Argus deeply, put away his smile, and said in a low voice, “Lerajin has arrived. What should we do now? Go after that werewolf, or start planning?”
“Give that werewolf a few more days to think—it’s no use playing hide-and-seek with him. As long as he doesn’t cause trouble, we’ve already achieved our goal,” Argus said, looking up at the sky and pulling his black long coat tighter around him. “Just a little more… and this game will begin!”