Chapter 965 - Do You Believe In Dark Magic?
"Adam, did you really align yourself with the Prince?" one of the prodigies that were also in the stronghold asked.
"Yes," Adam replied. "What's wrong?"
"He's just a puppy compared to his father. Why didn't you swear allegiance to the Demon Lord instead?"
"In my eyes, there's not much difference between them."
"Hahaha! Do you mean to tell me that in your eyes, the Demon Lord is just another puppy?"
Adam smiled as he lightly patted the young prodigy's shoulder.
"The one who said that was you, and not me," Adam replied before leaving the prodigy behind.
The youngest and strongest among the Dark Magicians in the Demon Continent returned to his room and shut the door firmly. He then activated his powers to ensure that no kind of scrying, or spying magic had been placed inside his room.
After making sure that everything was in order, he activated a sound proofing spell to prevent anyone from hearing anything that he did inside his room.
'Fools, you still don't understand the situation you are in,' Adam thought. 'Once we get hold of the power inside the Ancient Ruins, no prince, or emperor, will be able to stop us from usurping their position. All of you are just frogs in the well who don't know anything about the opportunity that is right in front of you.'
As someone who held the purest, and strongest form of Dark Magic in the group, Adam was able to feel the limitless magic power inside the Ancient Ruin. if he was able to absorb it, the Demon Lord would just be another "puppy" in his eyes.
Several hours later, under the cover of darkness, Adam left his room and snuck towards the ancient ruins. He had covered his body in Dark Magic and applied stealth to himself, so that he wouldn't be discovered by anyone.
The main entrance had several guards stationed in it, so any unauthorized persons wouldn't be able to slip through. However, Adam didn't need to enter the front door to enter the ancient ruins.
He had already sensed another place, that was far away from the prying eyes of others, where he could enter. He had accidentally discovered it while on his morning jog around the Ancient Ruins, which was just an excuse to observe it from a distance.
He still hadn't tried to enter that backdoor, since the security at that time was quite tight. Fortunately, all of the guards were now stationed at the main entrance, so it was easier to slip past their area of detection.
Adam leaned on the wall of the ancient ruins, and looked at his left and right side. The night was silent, so any kind of sound would easily reach his ears. After making sure that there was nothing unusual in his surroundings, he placed his right arm over a runic design on the wall's surface.
A few seconds later, a black portal appeared, and Adam didn't waste any time and entered it without fear. He knew that within great danger, lay great opportunities as well.
—--
"Adam, are you awake?" Felix asked as he knocked on the door of Adam's room. "Can we talk??"
Felix waited outside of Adam's room, but no reply came to him. He continued to call for the young genius for ten more minutes before finally deciding to give up.
'He might be tired from his daily training,' Felix thought as he decided to take a stroll around the stronghold. He had been assigned by his father to be the supervisor of the stronghold, so no one stopped him from doing anything he wanted.
After an hour of patrolling the area, looking for opportunities to have a chat with the various prodigies living inside the stronghold, the Prince of the Demon Lands stared at the Ancient Ruins from the elevated viewing platform that allowed anyone to observe it from a safe distance.
'Just what kind of secrets are you hiding, and will I be able to put any of them to good use?' Felix frowned. Although he was the eldest son of the Demon Lord, he could feel the contempt in the eyes of the prodigies that he had encountered inside the stronghold.
Felix knew that these prodigies thought too highly of themselves, especially since their existence was being given top priority by the Demon Lord himself. Aside from Adam, he was only able to bring two more candidates under his wing, but after looking at the rest of the candidates, he knew that no one would be joining his faction anytime soon.
'Well, I still have time,' Felix thought. 'As soon as the explorers return, I will be able to devise a way to let my chosen candidates advance inside the Ancient Ruins first, leaving the others behind.
"This way, they will understand that, as long as I am the supervisor of this place, they will have to curry favors from me, or they will be left alone to rot inside this stronghold while my candidates explore the secrets of the Ancient Ruins."
Felix knew that if words of this reached his father, the latter would be displeased. However, he could always make the excuse of sending a few people to test the ruins first, to ensure that it was safe enough to send all the candidates in.
Although Luciel would still find this excuse troublesome, the Demon Lord would also see the reasoning behind it, which gave Felix the opportunity to have his way inside the Stronghold
The Demon Prince didn't know that "one" of his chosen candidates was already inside the ruins and investigating it without his permission.
—--
Inside the Ancient Ruins…
"So, this is the reason why none of the explorers returned," Adam muttered as he narrowed his eyes.
He had come across two demons sealed in what seemed to be giant blocks of Obsidian. Their horrified expressions told him that something might have happened to them before they met their tragic fates.
Adam carefully traversed the maze-like structure in search for more clues about the missing explorers. His purpose in going find them was not to save them, but to understand the dangers that were lurking inside the Ancient Ruins.
Although he was confident in his Dark Magic, Adam understood that he was far from invincible. As the young prodigy traveled within the ruins, he found three more explorers, embedded in the walls, pierced by several steel spears that pinned them in place.
The young genius frowned when he saw this because ordinary spears couldn't possibly kill these demons. Although the explorers knew Dark Magic, their knowledge was not as profound as Adam's. Because of this they were used as guinea pigs by Felix to scout the Ancient Ruins in order to pave the path for the other prodigies.
Felix had prepared himself to see that some of the explorers had died during their mission, but he didn't expect that not even one of them would be able to return alive to report about the things that they had found inside it.
As Adam was inspecting the dead bodies pinned on the wall, he heard a muffled laugh coming from the other side of the hallway.
His body immediately tensed as he chose between investigating the source of the sound, to fleeing the place before anything untoward happened to him.
Adam was an ambitious person, so he would always prioritize his safety above all else. As soon as he made up his mind, he hurriedly retraced the path he had taken that would lead him back to the exit.
However, after making a turn, he came face to face with what seemed like a Dark Wraith blocking the passage that led to the exit.
"Tell me… child," the Dark Wraith said in a hoarse voice that made Adam's heart tremble.
"Do you… believe… in… Dark Magic?"