Chapter 485 – Matters in the Great Hall

When Zhao Hai arrived in front of the Hall of Administrations’ door, the eunuch announced a second time, “Zhao Hai Buda has arrived!”

Zhao Hai looked into the eyes of the eunuch and then took a deep breath before he entered the hall. Upon entering, Zhao Hai scanned the hall to see that there were a lot of people inside. He also saw people he was familiar with, the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, Charlie, Randolph, Jason’s Grandfather, as well as n.o.bles he became acquainted with during the banquets that he had attended the days before. Now these people were divided into two sitting columns. Zhao Hai already expected other people to be present, but he didn’t expect that it would be this much.

There was an elevated stage with a throne in the middle of the hall, a man can be seen sitting down on it. The throne was made of gold and silver, it was also inlaid with a lot of gems, and covered in a layer of animal leather. The throne looked very soft and comfortable.

The man wasn’t very tall, he looked very refined, maybe even delicate. His hair was faintly gray, his complexion was still quite rosy. He had a gold crown on his head and a staff in his hand. The staff wasn’t very long, it was only about 40 centimeters. The staff was made entirely of gold, its head was decorated with gigantic gemstones. This wasn’t a Magic Staff, but a scepter, an item that was a symbol of influence.

This man wore very magnificent and expensive looking clothes. Although he looked very refined, he also gave off a very imposing aura, enough to make a weaker man submit. The man just sat there, calmly looking at Zhao Hai. However, Zhao Hai felt pressure, this pressure came purely from the man’s body. This pressure wasn’t deliberately made to shake Zhao Hai, it was just the natural aura coming from the man’s body.

“This should be the Rosen Empire’s Emperor”, Zhao Hai mused inwardly. He immediately made a move and slowly walked towards the man, when he was five meters away, he performed a 90 degree bow to the man. He straightened his body and then said, “Zhao Hai Buda has seen His Majesty!”

Rosen Empire’s Emperor looked at Zhao Hai and then nodded, “You are Zhao Hai? Good, young man, very good. Were you present when the Robert Family used Antimagic Powder?”

Zhao Hai quickly responded, “Yes, Your Majesty. The Robert Family did use Antimagic Powder to attack me.”

The Emperor nodded, then said, “Are you really a Mage? How did you survive the Robert Family’s attack?”

Zhao Hai stared, then he thought that Randolph might have not told the Emperor about him being a Martial and Magic Dual Cultivator. Randolph also didn’t tell the Emperor that Zhao Hai can cast magic under the influence of Antimagic Powder, leaving Zhao Hai with a card in hand.

Thinking about this, Zhao Hai immediately said, “Replying to His Majesty’s question, this one isn’t only a Mage, I’m an 8th rank Warrior as well. Because of that, Antimagic Powder cannot suppress me.” Zhao Hai also didn’t reveal the fact that he was unaffected by the Antimagic Powder, he wanted to make this into his hidden ace. Compared to his ability as a Warrior, this matter was a better choice to conceal.

After hearing Zhao Hai, the people in the hall became shocked. They couldn’t help but whisper to each other. They already knew that Zhao Hai was an 8th rank Mage, but they didn’t expect that Zhao Hai was an 8th rank Warrior as well!

In other words, Zhao Hai was a Dual Cultivator of Magic and Battle Qi? However, in the history of the continent, Martial and Magic Dual Cultivators didn’t have much of a success. There were only a handful of people of people who can reach 6th rank, reaching 7th rank was the highest recorded instance.

But now, Zhao Hai revealed that he wasn’t only an 8th rank Mage, he was also an 8th rank Warrior, this was unbelievable. If Zhao Hai wasn’t in front of the Emperor right now, they would surely think that Zhao Hai was lying.

The Emperor was also somewhat surprised at Zhao Hai, then he nodded and said, “Good, young man, you’re very good. This Emperor has called you today for a small request. If you handle this matter well, you will be rewarded.”

Zhao Hai bowed and said, “For the benefit of His Majesty, I wouldn’t even need a reward to take action. I ask His Majesty to show me.”

The Emperor gave a satisfied nod and said, “This is about Engraved Ark that you have uncovered. I will not hide it from you, we already turned Robert Patriarch and Terry into advanced level undead in order to interrogate them. However, the matters that they knew were not many. They also mentioned that there should also be another member of Engraved Ark in their family. But as to who this member was, they didn’t know. Now that the Robert Family has been eliminated by you, the amount of corpses present is too much for our Dark Mages to turn into advanced level undead. Randolph told me that you can achieve it. Is that true?”

Zhao Hai nodded, “I can, Your Majesty. Rest a.s.sured.”

The Emperor nodded and said, “Then can you do it inside this hall? Our country wants to see how different your Dark Magic is.”

Zhao Hai stared for a while before saying, “Your Majesty, turning these corpses into undead needed them to be present. If we do it inside this hall, it might contaminate Your Majesty’s sights. Moreover, I’m afraid that His Majesty might not like the way I use Magic.”

The Emperor didn’t seem to care, he shook his head and said, “No need to worry, just do it in this hall. Let this Emperor see for himself.”

Zhai Hai didn’t say anything else, he nodded and said, “Just as you wish, Your Majesty.”

The Emperor nodded, then he waved his hand. Third Eunuch, who was standing right by the Emperor’s side, took two steps forward and said loudly, “Take them in!” Then a buzzing sound was heard outside the hall before stretchers carrying bodies covered in white cloth entered.

These corpses were naturally processed. They didn’t have any unusual smell, but the sight of this row of corpses looked very unattractive.

The n.o.bles inside the hall already knew that it was Zhao Hai who exterminated the Robert Family. But when they saw the bodies being carried in, they couldn’t help but exclaim about Zhao Hai’s ruthlessness, they whispered between each other.

The Emperor didn’t care, he turned his head to Zhao Hai and said, “You can begin.” Zhao Hai gave a bow before he took his Magic Staff out and muttered several incantations. Then a black gas appeared and covered the corpses inside the hall. When the black gas disappeared, all of the bodies were already standing. These people looked no different than when they were alive. If it weren’t for their pale complexion and lifeless eyes, people might even mistake them for live people.

Zhao Hai could just change these people into skeletons, but since he wanted to display his abilities, he deliberately made them into zombies. In Ark Continent, one didn’t need to be afraid if they had the strength. As long as you are strong, people would give you great importance. Conversely, if you are useless, n.o.body would look at you in the eyes.

When the people in the Great Hall looked at the undead, they couldn’t help but feel somewhat restless. In their minds, undead were generally either skeletons or rotting zombies. However, Zhao Hai’s zombies were in a pristine condition, they looked exactly just like a normal person. This wasn’t something that they had seen before.

After reviving the undead, Zhao Hai turned to the Emperor and said, “Your majesty, you can now ask them questions. I can a.s.sure you that they wouldn’t lie.”

The Emperor was also shocked by Zhao Hai’s undead, he looked at Zhao Hai and then said, “Alright, you go ask them. Just find out who the other member of Engraved Ark was.”

Zhao Hai nodded, then he immediately went to ask the group of undead. But unfortunately, the member of Engraved Ark wasn’t present among them. Zhao Hai didn’t say anything as he received these undead into his s.p.a.ce and then had another batch of corpses be sent in.

Zhao Hai remained in the hall as he turned groups upon groups of corpses into undead until he found out the other member of Engraved Ark. When he found out, Zhao Hai was surprised, the member of Engraved Ark turned out to be one of Robert Patriarch’s wives!

From the mouth of this member of Engraved Ark, Zhao Hai managed to get a few more information. The source of faith of the organization was truly the Demon G.o.d. Destroying the continent was their duty. All of the members of Engraved Ark almost never meet, they just communicate with each other using encrypted codes. Most importantly, none of these members knew each other’s ident.i.ty. They don’t have any marks on their bodies. If one wanted to find out about anything regarding their ident.i.ty, then it should be that each of their homes should have an idol of the Demon G.o.d!

This kind of information was truly useless for Zhao Hai. How many people were in the continent? How many n.o.ble families? They don’t have any obvious characteristics, just the fact that they have an idol of the Demon G.o.d in their homes. But who actually knew what the Demon G.o.d looked like? There were too many factors to consider, there was no way to find it.

However, even if they didn’t have a single good harvest, this member knew much more than Robert Patriarch and Terry. This organization has existed for more than a thousand years. In the very beginning, all of them were just people at the bottom of society. These people were oppressed by the n.o.bility and found that there was no way to resist them. In the end, these people joined up and create the Engraved Ark, it was also at this point that they started to wors.h.i.+p the Demon G.o.d.

Along with the transformation on the continent and the constant change of dynasties, the organization slowly gained power and influence and eventually became Great n.o.bles. The Robert Family was one of those families.

Also, even if there wasn’t a definite indication that one was a member of Engraved Ark, they were devilish in their hearts. They believed that the Demon G.o.d was a good killer and a ruthless person, therefore, the att.i.tudes and temperaments of their members would generally be ruthless and sinister. All of these would naturally reflect on the overall outlook of their families, just like Robert Family’s Savage Wolf emblem.

Obtaining this information was a great help for the Rosen Empire. At the very least, they now have a heading, they can now somewhat decrease their scope of surveillance.

At this point, the n.o.bles in the hall were now dreading Engraved Ark. This was because this organization’s threat to the continent was much higher than the Radiant Church. The Radiant Church only wanted to establish control, but Engraved Ark actually wanted their life!