Only Wisdom Awakened - Chapter 252

Chapter 252: Beggar
‘This… works’

Hans said as he set foot inside the barrier.

Since the sensor used a method that relied on mana waves, which would be shot out by the barrier core, and would return a few seconds later with all the information on any living beings inside of the barrier, to avoid being detected, Hans had to add a new function to his stealth.

Whenever a wave of mana hit him, he would have to shoot another one exactly in the same direction as the one that hit him was going.

{Stealth}(tier-4)-> (tier-5)

That way, his presence wouldn’t have been noticed everywhere he went inside the barrier.

Hans, still wary of the man seated on the wooden stool a few meters from him, analyzed him.

The young man wasn’t surprised to find that the person sleeping in front of him was barely a D-rank awakened.

‘It seems like his only use would be baiting the intruders inside the barrier so that whoever is controlling it would be able to always know their locations.

Knowing the terrain and the enemy location at the same time in this place which is similar to a labyrinth almost means an assured victory.’

Hans realized the importance of his position being always revealed to his enemy, for that reason, he decided to sneak in instead of breaking through their possible defenses by bashing through these tunnels without a care.

He walked for a bit and came across various posts like the one he had just seen, even if most of them weren’t sleeping, all the guards were pretty sloppy and lazy, and one of them was even playing cards alone.

He tried going towards the direction that he thought to be the center, and after almost twenty minutes of walking, he found something interesting.

The ceiling was higher than usual, and the tunnel wider, the only thing that kept him from advancing any further was the huge door made out of metal standing in front of him…

Hans touched the door and tried to spread his mana through it, but it bounced off as if he were trying to hit a giant bell.

The door was made out of copper, steel, probably also a bit of silver, and maybe also a touch of gold, Hans didn’t know if it was fake, but one thing he knew for sure….

This door, together with the tunnel right behind him… did not belong to the ancient underground city.

‘This must be the hideout… if I were to spread my mana indiscriminately then it wouldn’t take long for the barrier in action to find me, but if I tried to open this door and I were to make a lot of noise then they would also notice me, and probably wait for me to enter to attack me….

This is all if there’s someone in there, after all, I can’t hear a peep even while I’m at the entrance.

But as Hans pondered about what he was going to do, a man with a curved back and a lazy air to him appeared at the end of the tunnel.

His appearance wasn’t well kept, and a couple of flies buzzed around him.

He walked leisurely as he reached the door and knocked a few times in a precise order before the great door opened.

Hans took this once-in-a-thousand chance and slipped inside the room, still under the effects of his stealth.

It was… majestic… that might be the only word that came to Hans’s mind when he first saw the place, it was a palace underground, one of those circular style great halls, with a white ceiling and decorated walls.

There were a total of three doors, all three looked the same, and they were placed in three directions, respectively, the east, the south, and the west.

These three doors opened into a red carpet which led them all to the middle of the room, then, from the middle, a more shiny and regal red carpet made its way towards the north, where, on a slightly heightened platform, a red throne ornamented with gold and various gems lay.

There were four beautiful chandeliers, the biggest one in the middle, and three, slightly smaller, between the middle and each exit.

The side of the throne was completely empty of light, and the place was so big that the light from the other chandeliers barely reached the throne, someone sat on it, but it was impossible to figure out their looks.

The only recognizable characteristics were a pretty sharp jawline and fur that covered their shoulders.

Someone in the middle of the room was kneeling towards the throne, but his head was turned towards the east door, from which the beggar-looking middle-aged man had just entered.

The man kneeling had a solemn expression, his black brows were quite thick, his face tense, his chest bloated, and his eyes serious.

His black hair fell down to his waist, and his black eyes looked like they had no pupils.

“I’m here to report”

Said the beggar as he made his way towards the middle of the hall.

Opposite the elegant man in front of him who was wearing an expensive suit and black polished shoes, the beggar wore a tattered pair of brown trousers, a dull-looking beige t-shirt, and a dirty veil he had wrapped around his neck, which looked like a cape.

The man kneeling talked to the beggar:

“When you’re in front of Her Majesty you should kneel”

He said in a tranquil and calm tone.

“I serve another king don’t you remember?

Replied the other with a smile on his face.

Hans was standing beside the east entrance, watching the mysterious throne with a bit of fear instilled in his heart…

‘Her majesty… The… The Crimson lady… She’s here

He didn’t expect that, he thought that when Emma said that there was a higher chance of her being in Rome she said it because she was sure the crimson lady was there, but even if she wasn’t she didn’t want to get it wrong… so why? Why was she there?’

Now that he infiltrated, the most problematic part of his mission started.

What he feared would happen did indeed happen… He joked about it a few times, even by himself… But…

‘This is a problem… Hans immediately analyzed the three people standing in front of him:

SS-rank

8th-circle

SSS-rank…

‘… I….might just be fucked’

Apart from the lady of crimson who was sitting on the throne, which he knew he would have to face.

The man kneeling was already too much of a variable.

He was an eight-tier mage, the right-hand man of the lady, as written in the report: Luca Cechetti.

And then the third man… the beggar-looking SS-rank warrior.

‘Who the heck is he? I haven’t heard anything about him from the reports…’

The beggar said: “On the other side everything has been cleared, just as promised, I have strengthened the defense there with anyone who could be so useful but not essential and fed them the pill, as soon as the one I placed in the central chamber dies, a domino-like reaction will be ignited underneath the city, even if it may not be enough to kill all the invaders, it might be enough to slow them for a dozen of hours, maybe even days.

…but enough about me… have I interrupted something?”

A disgusted look was directed his way from the kneeling man.

“Dont spew bullshit with that foul mouth of yours, we are just here hunting, don’t you know it requires a lot of patience”

“You are… hunting?!… are you hunting who I think you are?”

“That’s right, the deal we’ve made with your master is still going, we will catch that hassle for both him and Her Majesty… and then we will kill his grandfather once and for all.”

‘So… I don’t mean to be an idiot, but I’m pretty damn sure they’re talking about me, aren’t they…

How about I just?…

YK… get out of here’

“You have no idea what you’re getting yourselves Into…”

The beggar said.

“Elaborate please” The other man said.

As the two discussed, the Crimson Lady stood still, silently observing the two of them.

“He’s not like any other mage, he fights like a warrior, and his spells hold twice as much power as a mage at his same level… I saw him kill an SS-rank monster while he was still a sixth-tier mage, and a while ago, he has gone into hiding, he probably already advanced to seventh tier, maybe even eight.

His spells too…. He once avoided dozens of drones and hundreds of yetis by veiling himself, with a stealth spell like that, he might have already infiltrated this place, maybe he’s right here, standing beside the Crimson lady and enjoying the show.”

“Don’t spew bullshit!

So what if he’s become an eighth-tier mage…

I have yet to lose to a mage on my level…”

The man’s heavy and suffocating mana spread throughout the room as he got worked up.

Any person under S-rank would’ve probably been paralyzed right that moment, but out of the four Inside there, none batted an eye at this reaction.

“Whatever”

Said the beggar chuckling.

“I’ll see you next time”

He walked towards the door he came from, and as he was about to leave, he turned around, worrying Hans.

However, the beggar’s gaze passed by the young man and focused on the throne.

“I almost forgot…

Good luck… you’re going to need it”

The heavy door closed, and silence took over the room.