"There's nothing in this damned hellhole."
The warrior leading the group stared at the ruins before them, complaining in frustration.
When these adventurers had first heard there was an abandoned castle in this wilderness, they had been overjoyed, hoping for a bountiful harvest. The result was the opposite of their expectations. Forget legendary magic weapons and artifacts; they hadn't found even half a gold coin. This castle, which looked like it had once been magnificent and was even rumored by the locals to be a "cursed land that must never be approached," had long since been eroded by time and weather into a pile of rubble. And the adventurers, who had fought off wild wolves, mongrels, and magical beasts just to get here, had gained nothing.
"We came all this way for nothing!"
Hearing the warrior's complaint, the others showed similar expressions. After all, although as adventurers they should have been prepared for this possibility, it was, in the end, a castle from the magic empire of a thousand years ago. It was hard not to hold onto fantasies and expectations. Furthermore, the castle was located deep in an uninhabited wilderness, and even for this group of seasoned adventurers, it had taken a great deal of effort to find. To have invested so much, with some even getting injured, only to get nothing in return—no one could remain calm in such a situation.
"Nothing for it," the warrior said, perhaps sensing his attitude had affected the team's morale. He took a deep breath and issued another order. "Search it again from top to bottom. A castle like this can't possibly be without secret passages and hidden rooms!"
"Yes, sir."
Just as the group was about to rally their spirits and begin searching again, the entire castle suddenly began to shake uncontrollably, and a faint light started to emerge.
"What's happening?"
Faced with this sudden anomaly, everyone tensed up. They stood back-to-back, warily watching their surroundings to defend against danger from any direction. By now, they were beginning to regret their recklessness. This was, after all, a thousand-year-old ruin, a relic from the age of the Magic Empire. For ordinary adventurers like them, magic was something unattainable. And now, a thousand years later, mages were exceedingly rare. These adventurers had no way of affording to hire one. So, when faced with the activation of this kind of magic, they were all terrified. They had no idea what would happen. Some were already imagining a mouth suddenly opening from the floor and swallowing them whole.
The light gradually faded, and the castle fell silent once more.
"What… in the world was that?"
The adventurers looked around in astonishment. Then, they saw him, slowly rising to his feet from the center of the main hall—Valerius.
The teleportation was a success.
As Valerius gradually recovered from the spatial disorientation, he easily sensed the magical power that filled the continent, a power he hadn't felt in eighteen years. Unlike the world with its weak magic that he had just left, Valerius was certain he had returned to his own world.
But before Valerius could fully come to his senses, he felt the cold touch of something against his neck.
"Who are you?!"
Faced with this man who had appeared out of nowhere, the adventurers immediately grew tense. Fortunately, the young man seemed a bit disoriented. Against such a person, the first course of action was naturally to control him.
"Don't move, or I'll slit your throat."
At the rogue's low threat, Valerius paused for a moment, then sighed helplessly.
"To think that after eighteen years, the first words I hear upon my return would be a threat. It seems my journey this time is also destined to be difficult."
His voice was steady, indifferent, yet laced with an unsettling quality that made one tremble.
"Who are you? Answer me!"
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, the warrior drew his longsword, watching Valerius warily.
But Valerius showed no fear in the face of the adventurers' killing intent.
"Angela, time to work."
"No problem, Master."
Before the adventurers could process who he was talking to, a sweet, childish voice suddenly appeared out of thin air, stunning them. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young girl standing not far away. She looked no older than twelve or thirteen. A luxurious velvet dress was meticulously wrapped around her small frame, and her silvery-white hair cascaded down to her waist. Her delicate and lovely features, along with her fine, fair skin, made her look more like an exquisitely crafted doll. What startled them was the girl's eyes—they were crimson, like blood.
At this moment, she was watching the adventurers with a hint of mockery, then she slightly raised a delicate eyebrow.
"What, you can feel lust even from this? Do you all think with your lower heads?"
"You little brat...!!"
Completely caught off guard that this little girl would say something so unexpected, the adventurers were both shocked and angered. But the girl had already fixed her gaze on the rogue who was hiding behind Valerius, threatening him with a dagger. Those crimson eyes were now shining even brighter. And as the girl stared at him, the rogue stood stock-still, his expression gradually becoming vacant, as if he had turned into an idiot. After seeing the rogue's vacant eyes, the girl sneered.
"Go die. Scum like you pollutes the air just by breathing."
"Yes..."
Instead of retorting to the girl's taunt, the rogue actually moved the dagger away from Valerius's neck. This action surprised the adventurers, but in the next moment, they were utterly dumbfounded—because without the slightest hesitation, the rogue took that same dagger and plunged it into his own head.
"A monster!!! A monster!!!"
The scene before them was completely beyond the adventurers' comprehension. They screamed and tried to flee. But Valerius merely raised a hand, and their feet were instantly rooted to the ground, unable to move an inch.
Although the consecutive teleportations had caused Valerius to lose most of his magic, his current power was more than enough to deal with these adventurers.
Soon, as Valerius chanted, two fire serpents materialized from thin air. In the next instant, two more adventurers fell to the ground, turning into charred corpses amidst their screams.
Now, the only one left alive in the adventurer squad was the warrior leader. He trembled all over as he watched the tragedy unfold before him. As Valerius walked slowly towards him, his face was filled with terror, as if he had encountered a demon from the abyss. Gazing at the pale, trembling warrior, Valerius's expression remained calm and indifferent. He muttered to himself, then, with his right hand glowing with a golden light, he grabbed the warrior's head.
"Uwaaaaargh!!!"
A shrill scream escaped the warrior's mouth. He felt a pain as if a sharp blade had been thrust into his brain and was being twisted and turned. Faced with the warrior's agony, Valerius showed no mercy. Instead, his expression gradually darkened. Finally, Valerius let out an angry shout, and the tormented warrior's screams ceased instantly as he collapsed to the ground—along with his bloody, shattered skull.
"What's wrong, Master?"
Sensing that Valerius's mood was off, the girl watched him with curiosity. Valerius closed his eyes and took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
He couldn't help but be furious. Just now, Valerius had used a soul-reading spell to look into the warrior's memories, only to discover to his astonishment that while this was the same continent, a full thousand years had passed since his time! In other words, Valerius was now in the Aethel Continent of a thousand years in the future. The Magic Empire had long since become a legend.
It had to be said, upon learning this news, Valerius was incredibly angry. He had gone through so much effort to return to his original world, only to have fate play such a cruel joke on him. A thousand years? Forget the Magic Empire; even the daylilies would have withered.
But Valerius was, after all, once one of the most powerful mages of the Magic Empire. He quickly stabilized his emotions and explained the current situation to the girl before him. After hearing his description, the girl narrowed her blood-red eyes, looking somewhat excited.
"So, what should we do next, Master? Shall we explore this world that is now unknown to you? Or shall we seize a piece of land as a symbol of your comeback?"
"A thousand years have passed. There's no point in a comeback now—I'd like to say that, but I haven't given up yet."
Valerius frowned and answered in a low voice.
"However, it has been a long time. I'm still not clear on the current situation of the entire Aethel Continent. But..."
"But...?"
"In any case, I have already decided on our first destination."
With that, Valerius turned and looked out the window at the desolate wilderness.
"I'm going back to the capital of the Magic Kingdom to see what's left of it."
"Whatever you wish. For me, this world is quite novel."
A joyful smile appeared on the girl's lips. She walked to Valerius's side and took his large, strong hand.
Feeling the soft touch in his palm, Valerius couldn't help but study the girl before him again.
Angela Curtis.
She was not human and was the only non-human being Valerius had known in the world of Earth.
Their meeting was rather interesting. At that time, Valerius was only ten years old. Because his soul emitted a powerful magical aura, he was targeted by Angela, who originally wanted to take Valerius as her servant. However, as a being from Earth, Angela had completely underestimated the power of magic from another world. As a result, not only did she fail to make Valerius her servant, but he used the power of a magical beast contract to subdue her instead.
It was then that Valerius discovered that there was a higher species called vampires in this world.
Valerius's feelings about the vampire race were quite complex. It was his first time seeing a race that could simultaneously possess the elegance of elves and the cruelty of barbarians. These two extremely incompatible traits were vividly displayed in the vampire race. What surprised him was that Angela seemed to feel no anger, regret, or murderous intent about being subdued. On the contrary, the moment she saw the contract magic, she was like a child who had found a new toy, almost eagerly signing the magic contract. Her nearly proactive act of selling herself naturally aroused Valerius's suspicion. Although he had never truly seen a vampire before, based on his experience from his previous life, such powerful non-humans were usually quite cunning.
However, Valerius later discovered that his speculation was completely wrong...
"Angela, do you not regret it? Following me here, you can never return to your own world."
Faced with Valerius's question, Angela revealed a strange smile.
"So what? I have stayed in that world for long enough. To me, that world is like a woman who has been violated thousands of times by men, holding no attraction whatsoever. I know everything about that world; there is no novelty left. In contrast, Master, your world is like a pure maiden, with many pleasures still to be anticipated..."
That's right. The reason Angela was willing to stay by Valerius's side, aside from her great interest in him as a mage from another world, was her anticipation and curiosity for this new, unknown world. Especially after Angela learned that Valerius might even be able to return to his own world again, she used all sorts of methods, pestering him to take her away from her world to the Aethel Continent. Valerius adopted a laissez-faire attitude towards this contractor he had acquired by chance on Earth. Since she herself was willing to leave her world, Valerius certainly wouldn't stop her. He even taught Angela the language of his world. Although this girl was not as powerful as Valerius, the school of magic she used, called "Black Magic," had its own unique and powerful aspects.
One more person was one more source of strength.
"Then, let's see."
Valerius's gaze deepened.
"What has this world become after a thousand years."