1180  Giant Garden

Veritas received billions of re-watches on their interview with the anonymous kidnapper. Their boldness to broadcast such a thing was admired by many, but most knew that it would not come without consequences.

And as expected, the Yalen King condemned the channel, calling for its ban and the arrest of its members for promoting terrorism and misinformation. Furthermore, legal and military action would be taken against the channel after the execution is seen through.

Public opinion swayed between supporters of the channel and the union. Some said that the channel was looking for their fifteen minutes of fame, while others praised them for showing both sides of this incident.

No one could deny the great impact this interview had on the world and the fate of Yalen. The façade of peace was torn apart by the words of a single enigma who appeared out of nowhere, taking the world by storm.

In a single night, he became the most wanted criminal in the Yalveran Union. The search for the missing prince became the obsession of every knight in the union, turning it upside down.

As for the culprit responsible, he was cooking while listening to some music. The prince disturbed his peace every now and then with his screams, but Oriole did not care and continued crafting his favorite dish, a ca.s.soulet.

The aroma spread with his singing hums, elevating his mood further. Oriole spent several hours preparing it and several more waiting. During his wait, he opened his laptop and monitored the situation in Yalen.

As he suspected, the entire kingdom was in an uproar after the interview. News about the runic army being deployed to look for the prince flooded throughout the web. Oriole was not concerned about being caught, though.

His small cabinet was far from Yalen, situated right between Halin and Janea. There used to be a city here that disappeared in a mana explosion under mysterious causes. The mana-rich environment made plants overgrow, creating a giant garden.

In this chaotic and bizarre place, Oriole was confident that he would not be found. However, he knew that there is no real escape from the eyes of seers, so he took extra measures including illusion arrays, spatial separations, and mana negation.

After he was done eating, Oriole walked to Prince Caleb, who was done struggling. He removed the clothes that prevented him from speaking, and the prince just stared at him with a blank gaze. Oriole was intrigued.

"You look calm, Caleb."

"Because I saw the future."

"You are just a Vetus-Ranker, Caleb. You need to fabricate a better lie than that," said Oriole with a sigh. "I was prepared to offer you food."

"I have seen your death, Oriole."

"…"

"You are surprised that I know your name now?" asked Caleb with a smirk as his eyes mocked Oriole. "I have seen everything that is going to happen, Oriole. And in that prophecy, I have foreseen your cold and lifeless body."

"Have you foreseen your own demise, Caleb?" asked Oriole with a smile as he retrieved a dagger from his sub-s.p.a.ce. "I can just kill you here to change the future, then."

"You cannot kill me because you will lose any hope of my father compromising," said Caleb with a relaxed expression. "I know everything that I need to know, Oriole. Is this really worth it? Does Emma Agard even mean anything to you?"

"…I see that you don"t know everything," said Oriole with a smirk as he lowered his gaze. "As long as you don"t know why I want to save the Agard Family, that means there is something that you cannot see in your prophecy. And that something… will change everything."

"Want to risk everything, including your own life, on that possibility?" asked Caleb with unprecedented calm. Oriole stared at him for a few seconds, raising his hand. His telekinesis powers worked again, taking hold of two precious jewels again. "AAAAGGGGH!"

Caleb screamed in pain as his face turned blue while his b.a.l.l.s were about to be crushed. Oriole made sure to keep them intact but knew where to press to make the nerve endings in them break the prince apart.

"Until the prophecy is fulfilled, you are at my disposal, Caleb." Oriole raised him in the air like a kebab. "You are right, Caleb. I am not going to kill you unless I must. But there are worst fates than being dead, right?"

Since the prince was experiencing excruciating pain, Oriole did not doubt that his words were etched into Caleb"s brain forever. After the prince reached his limits and white foam rose from his mouth, Oriole released him. The prince dropped on the ground like a log of wood.

"I will be going out for a while, so behave. I have to remind you that even if you managed to use mana in that body of yours, it would react with the poison to destroy your brain. Good luck with that."

After that, Oriole grabbed his coat and wore it. He left the cabinet and felt the chilly breeze send shivers throughout his body, making him use mana to activate his coat.

Although he acted calm, Caleb sent shivers down his spine. The prince was just lying there for the entire time that Oriole cooked his food, so how could he learn about his ident.i.ty and future? He could not even use mana, so how did he see this vision exactly?

There was only one explanation that could answer his questions, but Oriole dreaded such a possibility. If the prince could not do anything, then that means someone showed Caleb the prophecy of Oriole"s death and even his past.

"Am I fighting against an omniscient G.o.d?" muttered Oriole as he looked at the scenery outside his cabinet.

A forest covered with fog, with plants as big as skysc.r.a.pers. These plants should have been just one foot tall, at most, but they have grown to monstrous sizes because of the infinite mana in this place.

The mana explosion that wiped out the city turned this place into a huge crater, before plants and life bloomed inside, turning it into a valley. Oriole looked at the vast expanse of green but refused to be fooled by the peaceful scenery.

Monsters lurked in this place, far more powerful than any other place in the world. Because of the rich mana, these monsters evolved into terrifying creatures. However, their numbers dwindled as one consumed the other, until there were only three monsters inside this Giant Garden.

Giant Garden was the name given to this place because the plants you find here were those that grow in small gardens but with absurd sizes. Oriole came across this place in his search for temporal fissures, which was the reason that he left his safe haven.

"I think that… my time is up," said Oriole as he pulled his coat tighter. "I must send the signal to everyone in Alka. Arthur will not only fight a G.o.d but the six families behind its summoning."

The cabinet was situated atop a giant leaf, which was several meters thick. Oriole built his cabinet knowing that he would be safe in this place, even if it was atop a giant leaf. As he walked toward the stem of the giant flower, his mind raced with thoughts.

Giant Garden was a place of wonders but also great dangers. The reason that Oriole placed his cabinet here, atop this leaf, was the temporal fissure that appeared in this place after the explosion. It appeared right beneath this flower at the center of the valley.

Oriole chose this temporal fissure because it was the only stable one on Earth. The others might close at any moment, making traversing them almost impossible, let alone creating hidden relics in Alka to create an army of supporters.

Earth was against Arthur because of the seven families. There is too much politics in this world for Arthur to affect it, but Alka was different. Oriole knew more about Alka than Earth, making his existence in this world feel like a mismatch.

A metallic plate was situated at the end of the leaf, which Oriole boarded. After activating the runes engraved on the plate, it hovered and began descending to the ground. This was another one of his creations to facilitate this moment.

The temporal fissure was a giant gap in s.p.a.ce, with whirling mana inside that created the link between the two worlds. Oriole could feel its threatening force as the plate landed tens of meters away from the fissure.

No life could grow close to this fissure, which used to be the center of the mana explosion. The reason that it appeared was that explosion itself. That catastrophe killed an entire city, but it became the greatest a.s.set for the alchemist.

"I did things without consulting you, Arthur, because I know that you would refuse," said Oriole as he looked at the fissure. "I, however, had to use the temporal fissures to create a prophecy for a better world. You would hate me, right?"