Chương 373: Depart

'Wait a minute, something is not right!'

Kairi furrowed his brow as his keen sense of smell alerted him to something out of the ordinary.

Undoubtedly, after this Great Holy Grail War, the Yggdmillennia would inevitably face scrutiny from the Mage's Association. With their strength greatly diminished after the battle, the Yggdmillennia stood no chance against the might of the Mage's Association.

It was either submission or annihilation.

Whichever path they chose, it would be a heavy blow to the Yggdmillennia.

However, if Fiore was clever enough to propose sharing the primordial rune with the Mage's Association, there might be a chance for a turnaround. After all, the primordial rune was coveted even by the Lords in the Clock Tower.

As for outright robbery, it was something only lunatics within the Mage's Association might attempt, and he believed the chances were slim.

After all, this was the primordial rune bestowed by someone who had slain a Beast. If it were so easily taken, it would be a great loss of face.

On the other hand, Fiore herself hadn't expected such a generous and extraordinary gift from Arkhan, leaving her momentarily speechless and unsure of what to say.

Arkhan didn't really mind or care, since all of this was his promise to Heracles.

After finishing his business with Fiore, Arkhan immediately turned and walked toward Gordes.

"What are your plans from now on?" Arkhan asked calmly.

He knew well enough that Gordes couldn't stay with the Yggdmillennia any longer.

Like Darnic, Gordes aimed to revive his family. Yggdmillennia was just a stepping stone for him to achieve that goal. Now that the stepping stone was crumbling, he couldn't possibly remain on it.

"What else can I do? Just take it one step at a time..." Gordes sighed, glancing at a group of homunculi behind him in resignation.

"Go find the Einzberns." Arkhan suggested, glancing at the somewhat confused Sieg. "They'll offer you shelter."

"Einzbern..." Gordes hesitated for a moment before wryly smiling. "I won't hide it from you. While I do have some connections with the Einzberns, it's not that close. To be honest, they might not be so eager to take me in."

Gordes's family obtained some homunculus technology from the Einzbern family after the decline of the three founding families in the Third Holy Grail War.

His family was barely in a position where they could look up to the Einzbern family in terms of alchemy, but even that wasn't enough to make the proud Einzberns consider him a worthy individual to shelter.

Unless he could demonstrate enough value.

Arkhan pressed his hand against Gordes's head without a word, and after a moment, a vast amount of information flooded into the latter's mind like a tidal wave.

"Th-This is..." Gordes stood there, stunned, as he grasped the significance of this information.

"Artificial magic circuit technology." Arkhan spoke casually. "Constructing magic circuits using artificial means. Although it does not apply to ordinary humans, it poses no problem for homunculi."

Of course, it couldn't be the complete and final version of artificial magic circuit technology. After all, its impact was too significant for Arkhan to casually reveal. Even in its cut-out form, it still held an irresistible allure for any mage.

After all, no matter what, it was a technology developed by him and Morgan.

"This... this thing is too precious, I..." Gordes was flustered.

With his keen eyes, how could he not see the value of this technology? It could indeed overturn the entire world of magecraft as it stands!

Such a precious thing suddenly fell into his lap out of nowhere.

"Don't get too excited. I have conditions too." Arkhan said, patting Gordes's shoulder to signal him to calm down.

"Tell me, even if it's going through fire and water, I won't even frown!" Gordes responded without hesitation.

"I have only one request..." Arkhan pointed at a group of homunculi. "Take care of them, and every homunculus in the future. Don't treat them as mere tools anymore."

Gordes paused, then turned his head, his gaze slowly scanning over each homunculus's face. His initially flustered expression gradually hardened into determination.

"Of course, that will be the ultimate goal of the Musik family!"

===

Perched atop the endless heights of the Throne of Heroes, Arkhan, clad in his shimmering silver armor, slowly opened his eyes.

Leaning back gently against his throne's backrest, he pinched his brow and softly uttered a name.

"Sesshouin Kiara..."

No one expected that an every-day Holy Grail War would bring forth two Beasts at the exact same time.

It was a close call.

If he hadn't come, that world might have been utterly destroyed.

If it were just Kama, it would have been manageable, but what truly concerned Arkhan was Kiara.

From this incident, it was evident that despite both being Beast III, the gap between Kama and Kiara was immense.

To be easily manipulated to the point of losing her life, Kama truly lived up to being the most embarrassing and pitiful Beast.

"Savior, huh..." Arkhan lightly tapped the armrest of the throne, his black, profound eyes showing a thoughtful expression.

Sesshouin Kiara, known as Beast III/R (Rapture) and the Demonic Bodhisattva, was a master of manipulating hearts. Her every word and action, though sometimes seemingly ordinary, undoubtedly harbored deeper intentions.

Risking her life to appear directly before him earlier, claiming to be drawn by something within him, if she wasn't deceiving, the only thing he could think of was his 'Savior' bestowed upon him by God.

'Savior' and 'Nega-Saver', one symbolizing saving all beings, the other symbolizing saving only oneself, were indeed like the point of a needle against a grain of wheat.

"But what does that woman really want? Did she just show up to say hello?" Arkhan furrowed his brow slightly.

He had already prepared himself for a confrontation, only for her to come out and say a few nonsense before turning and leaving.

It was utterly mind-boggling.

"But I have a feeling this won't be the last time we meet."

Recalling the last words Kiara left before departing, a faint smirk curled at the corner of Arkhan's mouth.

Leaving aside the vastness of this dimension and the myriad possibilities, if they were to meet again, he would immediately call upon his true body and deliver a decisive blow.

He had no fondness for this woman.

She was nothing but a monster who devoured people without a second thought.

A true man-eater.

Encountering such an individual, one either kept their distance or obliterated them outright.

To be safe, he might even have to resort to reducing her to dust, dispersing her into the vacuum of space, and offering a one-way trip to hell, to completely extinguish any possibility of her mischief.

Arkhan's cautiousness was not unfounded; historical experience had proven that anyone targeted by Kiara wouldn't fare well.

Fortunately, in terms of sheer power, there was still a considerable gap between them.