The Archangel of Death - Chapter 203
203: Bargain 203: Bargain Chapter 203 The imperial palace was in a rush.
The crown candidate of the imperial family had been attacked, crippled in a way that couldn’t be understood.
His limbs were still present but they couldn’t be attacked to his body no matter what was done.
The emperor was quiet about it but the crown prince was furious.
He had mobilized all of the resources at his disposal but nothing had been found.
He knew who it was, the description of the crime matched what Adrian had said however, Harvey couldn’t say anything about that.
if he were to do so, the fact that he was colluding with the demons and that he had a hand in the Saint’s abduction would be a straight-up ticket to a guillotine if he were to first survive the wrath of Rafael, the first elder.
But if he could somehow provide proof of that, then that would be a simple case.
And the one to provide him with the proof of that would be an ally that even the emperor couldn’t dismiss so easily.
“So you say there is an opportunity?” An ethereal but aged voice spoke from the other side of the crystal, projecting the image of a dark figure whose face couldn’t be seen.
“Yes.” Harvey replied, respect evident in his voice, and said, “If we can somehow pin him with making a deal with the devil, we can easily bury him.
Father would have no choice but to hold a public court.” Harvey explained everything.
The fact that both strange mutilations occurred and they had Adrian as a common factor among them, was enough to proceed.
All they needed to worry about was to prove it somehow.
“Hmm.
I see.” The man from the other side replied before he asked, “And what of the demons?
Have they succeeded in what they were doing?” “Uhh.” Harvey didn’t know how to reply.
He couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
Whether there was an issue or was he betrayed by the demons, he didn’t know so he decided to say it as it was, “I have lost all contact with the other side, Your Lordship.
I don’t know the reason, but for now, we seem to be on our own.” “And what do you think the cause is?” The man on the other end asked.
“My apologies but I have no clue as to what it could be,” Harvey replied.
“Hmm.” The man replied as he understood the point and then said, “I will have it done in a few days.
For now, don’t do anything.
I will be sending an envoy with the Goddess’s will.
That will solve everything in itself.” “Understood, Your Lordship.” The man said, ending the communication, and the crystal in front of Harvey shattered.
********* I have a bad feeling.
Of course, I knew that it was clumsy to leave a pattern but it couldn’t be helped.
I was eager or maybe angry, I couldn’t tell at the moment.
All in all, I had already threatened Harvey, and now that I had done that, of course, he would know it was me.
But it wasn’t like he could reveal the matter.
He knew that if he were to do it, Rafael would rip him a new one, and no one, even the emperor wouldn’t be able to save him.
He wouldn’t risk his hidden alliances coming out so all he could do was wait and employ a cheap hidden tactic.
Since the demons were out of commission, the only ally left he had would be the church.
A religious organization and the second face of the empire.
It was a little troubling, to be honest.
I wasn’t prepared to face the church so I would also need to play the ally card.
My ally so far, from the empire, was Rafael.
As for the rest of the old men, they still only intended to use me to get to their enemies.
Which meant I needed to give them a reason to owe me one but at the moment, I couldn’t think of anything.
Saving Alicia was a public achievement, not a personal one.
They would reward me for that, but they wouldn’t owe me anything.
Even the cursed sword that I gave them was a trade for the potions.
In the end, it was for my own benefit but that didn’t change the fact that I still had to make a deal for it.
So, at the moment, I owed the old men nothing.
Since I didn’t owe them anything, they wouldn’t care about me either.
They won’t hesitate to use me and then throw me under the bus.
That said, I needed to deal with them.
make a deal, I mean.
I could kill them if I were to use the skill that allowed me to return to myself, I would rather not waste such a precious skill for such a reason.
That left only one option.
The cripple.
And that brought me to the current situation I was in.
“So you say you can heal me?” The grand elder, Zarden asked as he quietly sat in his magical wheelchair that floated just above the ground using A rank mana crystals.
“Not heal, per se since you aren’t injured.
But I can take care of that problem for you.” I said.
In the novel, it was explained later on when Michael, Adrian’s father, would return and wreak havoc in the empire because of his son’s death.
It was also explained how he crippled the grand elder and how he could be healed.
The return of Michael and his wife, both of Adrian’s parents was a hidden card by the demons but it’s a separate thing for now.
For now, I needed to make a deal with this guy.
If there were two faces of the empire, then there were also two faces of the imperial family.
It wasn’t so before but when Orion, the current emperor, took the throne, the system came to be.
The shadow of the imperial family.
The other side of the imperial family which took care of the dirty tasks of the empire.
The shadow emperor, Zarden was called.
His disciple, none other than the second prince, Lucius, was the successor of that position.
Also, the reason why he decided to forego his right to the throne.
However, Zarden was known by another title as well.
The guardian of the empire.
He earned that title when he sacrificed himself for the emperor, taking a hit that would have killed the emperor, and losing his legs in the process.
But, he didn’t actually lose them.
there is a hidden piece in there for one of the main characters of the novels.
You see, Michael was the previous saint of the empire.
The saints have a strict procedure they have to go through when they pass down their position.
Michael didn’t do that.
He didn’t pass down his position to Alicia which was why Alicia was also known as the half-saint but that was another story.
What mattered at the moment was only one fact.
And that was the power in Zarden, blocking his spinal functions, crippling him from the waist below.
The divine power.
And not just any divine power either, the power of a saint, the divine power of one.
And I was going to take it out, not for myself of course.
Even if it was divine power, the base was still mana and I couldn’t deal in mana.
Alicia would be the one to do that.
When she woke up of course, but until then, I needed to negotiate with this old man to grant me a favor.
They already knew that I would deliver, the only thing was, would they be willing to leave this one for chance?
“And what do you want in return?” He asked.
“You will know.” I didn’t know myself.
But I didn’t become a businessman for no reason.
Thinking ahead and planning were the most basic strategies of being a businessman.
I knew nothing good would come out of this.
Sooner or later, Harvey would make his move, and his allies, who were superpowers of this world in a way, weren’t something to be taken too lightly.
“And why do I think it would be worth it?” He asked.
Haa!
Would you look at this old man?
He was saying that healing him wouldn’t be the same as his favor.
He was downplaying my task.
Well, then I had only one strategy left in my arsenal.
The technique used since ancient times, the technique that had a fail probability of only 10%.
I didn’t want to use this advanced technique here but he had left me with no choice.
Whatever followed, he had only himself to blame.
I was very cooperative and had given him a good deal.
“Fine then,” I said with a smile as a triumphant smile appeared on his face only to be frozen in a second as I added, “No deal then.
I will take my business somewhere else.” CREATORS’ THOUGHTS Bad_Wolf_7811 Creation is hard, cheer me up!
Your gift is the motivation for my creation.
Give me more motivation!