"...It’s as if they do not exist in this world."
Old Ani’s words echoed across the sprawling hall, filling it with an ominous chill.
She was one of the, if not the, most talented Magi in the School of Divination within the Empire. Yet, she was unable to divine any information relating to a Magus one entire rank below her.
Not just her, even the Emperor was astonished by the results. He couldn’t help but narrow his eyes and speak in an uncertain voice, "Did you perhaps make a mistake? How can..."
His words trailed off into silence. Lucian was unable to believe them himself. He knew very well that Old Ani could not have made any error whatsoever—she was simply that good.
But for the divination to show such a strange result did not bode well with him. He sat down on the floor beside the elderly woman, who had a mortified look on her face, and gently asked, "Old Ani, just what did you see?"
The elderly Magus remained silent for a long ti. Then, she turned toward him, directing her silver eyes at him.
"Nothing," she said, "I saw nothing."
"How can that be possible?" Lucian frowned. He paused for a mont before adding, "That handwriting belonged to the Dark King. I’m sure you must have heard of him. Did you really not see a raven-haired young man in your revelations?"
There was a reason why Lucian had not inford her of the identity of the owner of the to. It was because he didn’t wish to affect the results.
But now, since the unthinkable had happened, he couldn’t help but tell the elderly seer about everything.
"The Dark King..." Old Ani murmured. "No, Your Majesty, I did not see him. All I saw was a vast expanse of... nothingness."
Her eyes narrowed as she asked in a solemn tone, "Your Majesty, are you certain that the handwriting belongs to the Dark King?"
Lucain nodded. "Father said that Adam penned down the words before his very eyes. I am absolutely certain it is him."
"Then how..." Old Ani turned towards the to, surrounded by complex runes of a model component belonging to a Rank 4 spell.
After a long mont of deliberation, she finally said, "Your Majesty, I can think of two possibilities, but both of them are unlikely to be true."
Lucian gestured for her to go ahead.
The elderly Magus cleared her throat and spoke in a grave voice, "First, the Dark King is a Magus far more powerful than I. This can explain why I was unable to see through his strings of fate."
She paused before shaking her head. "But we both know that cannot be true. Even if the Dark King is hiding his true strength, it cannot be more than the Mana Core Rank. The laws of this world simply wouldn’t allow it. Besides..."
She turned to the Emperor and asked in a curious tone, "Last I rembered, the Dark King was in his thirties. Do you think soone of his age could surpass the Mana Core Rank?"
Lucian’s expression darkened. "He should be around thirty-five this year. And I am certain that he’s just a Mana Vortex Magus."
He lingered for a mont before asking, "And what is the second possibility?"
Old Ani smiled bitterly. "It’s that the Dark King possesses an artifact capable of concealing his fate. The rarity of such an artifact, one imbued with the powers of anti-divination, is simply staggering. But to use such an artifact to its full capabilities should be... impossible."
For an artifact to conceal Adam’s fate from Old Ani’s scrying eyes, it would have to be at least a Grade 4 Artifact or higher. Anything less would not have been able to block the effects of a Rank 4 divination spell.
According to Old Ani’s speculations, even if Adam sohow managed to obtain an artifact capable of countering her divination spell, wielding it to its full potential would require him to possess strength equal to, or greater than, hers... which simply defied all logic.
"...I don’t understand," the elderly woman muttered in utter confusion.
Lucian Acadia was even more perplexed than she was. He had wanted to ask her many questions regarding Adam. But now, instead of getting answers, he found himself drowning in even more questions.
How was Adam able to obtain such a precious artifact? He wondered.
Just how many secrets is this man hiding?
"Forgive , Your Majesty, I have failed you." Old Ani’s distraught words snapped him out of his thoughts. "This... is the first ti I’m experiencing such a bizarre setback. I did not expect this at all."
Heaving a long and dejected sigh, she turned towards him and asked in a low voice, "Is there sothing else I can help you with, Your Majesty?"
Lucian was silent for a long ti before nodding. "Perform a divination regarding the future of Ravenfell."
Old Ani nodded, then dutifully began making preparations.
Previously, she had used the handwriting in the to as the anchor for her divination, since it carried the essence of its writer—Adam Constantine.
This ti, however, the reference would be herself. Having visited Ravenfell countless tis over the course of her long life, she had ford a deep spiritual resonance with that place, enough to serve as a stable and reliable anchor for the spell.
After all preparations were complete, she repeated the question under her breath:
"What will be the future of Ravenfell in the coming weeks?"
The spell model carved all around her lit up with a blinding light. A gust of wind once again arose from seemingly nowehere, sweeping through the vast hall.
Rank 4 Spell: Augury!
Old Ani’s eyes rolled over and remained like that for several seconds as she received a revelation from the River of Fate.
Her face started to pale as a drop of cold sweat rolled down from the side of her forehead. Seeing this, Lucian knew that the results of the divination were not at all optimistic.
As the glow of the spell faded and Old Ani returned to normal, Lucian asked in a grim voice, "What did you see?"
Old Ani had an extrely dark expression on her face, seemingly trying to co to terms with the visions of the future.
Finally, she looked at the Emperor, her eyes glinting with a foreboding light, and spoke in a grave, ominous tone:
"Fire, death, and... a black cot."
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