Warlock II

(Significant revisions have been made to various settings and plot points. If you have the time, I highly recommend reading from the beginning! Requests for recommendations are welcome!)

After the Adventurer brought the robed Mage in, he bowed to the people in the secret chamber and then respectfully retreated.

The robed Mage looked at the young man at the head of the group and asked in a slightly raised tone:

"Black Knight Jack?"

The leader of the Black Knight Brotherhood, a young man nicknamed Black Knight Jack, chuckled and replied:

"Correct! And you must be Mr. Goman the Warlock, the fugitive jointly wanted by the renowned Hand of Justice and the Solon Kingdom!"

"Have the rumors from those lackeys of the Hand of Justice already reached this remote Northland?"

Black Knight Jack did not answer Goman's question, but instead looked into the Warlock's pitch-black eyes and said softly:

"Mr. Goman's strength is astonishing. I don't know why you would want to join a small organization like our Black Knight Brotherhood. If you were willing to join a faction, many local nobles, or even powerful organizations like the Thieves' Guild, the Shadow Demon City, or the Fallen Tower Forest, would be more than happy to accept you!"

The Warlock looked at the young thief leader carefully with some surprise and said:

"For a leader of a thieves' group, you certainly know quite a bit! It seems you have some backing."

As a spellcaster who upholds the powers of darkness, evil, and chaos, Warlocks are ostracized by most human factions. They are especially viewed as heretics by the True God Church and national organizations of the justice alignment, who often attack them on sight.

Although not every Warlock is necessarily evil, and it is not as if there are no good people among them, the reality is that most Warlocks can indeed be labeled as standard villains. The extremists among them are generally twisted, abnormal individuals who stop at nothing and take pleasure in evil.

Therefore, Warlocks are typically reclusive, lacking friends and often finding themselves surrounded by enemies. Even if they choose to join an organization, they usually opt to become members of dark factions.

The three major organizations mentioned by Black Knight Jack are all backed by powerful True Gods and can accept members of the evil alignment. Generally, as long as they do not violate core tenets, even those of the evil alignment can receive protection when joining neutral or even justice-aligned factions. Of course, some purely good and orderly organizations cannot tolerate such things and do not allow the existence of chaos and evil.

Goman, who had always been accustomed to being selfish and independent, had never considered this. He only wanted to join a thieves' organization because he saw that such a small group would not restrict his power and would be easier to manipulate.

"I'll be honest with you! I want to join the Black Knight Brotherhood for two reasons. First, to hide my identity and evade the pursuit of the Hand of Justice's lackeys; the Northland is beyond their reach, so it is naturally the best choice. The second reason is that by following you in your operations here, I can kill and burn to my heart's content without worrying about exposing my identity. Everything I do can be blamed on your Black Knight Brotherhood, as long as you clear away the traces for me. All the spoils of our actions will belong to you. This will not only boost your organization's reputation and provide practical benefits, but you will also gain the power of a Silver Ranker like me!"

"A Silver Ranker? You haven't broken through that threshold yet, have you?"

As a peak Bronze Ranker, Black Knight Jack was very confident in his own perception. Although the power of the Warlock before him was somewhat eerie, it should not have exceeded the limits of the Bronze tier.

Facing the young thief leader's questioning, Goman rebuked him with some irritability:

"Young man, do not use your experience as a warrior to judge the strength of a spellcaster, especially a great Warlock! Although I have not reached the Silver tier, the power in my innate bloodline allows me to summon and control a powerful Silver-tier Demon. Do not attempt to provoke the wrath of a Warlock, or destroying a small, remote city like Giant Stone City would be effortless!"

As the leader of an underground organization fostered by the Lord of Giant Stone City, the young man naturally knew that the other party was merely boasting to inflate his own value.

Although legends say that Demons are significantly stronger than warriors of the same rank, they cannot escape the limitations of their tier, especially since their strength is suppressed after being summoned to the main world. There were at least three Silver Rankers in Giant Stone City: the Mage Messer, the High Priest of the Temple of Agriculture, and the Giant Stone City Garrison Commander. Furthermore, two of them were Silver-tier spellcasters. Three against one—a single Silver-tier Demon planning to slaughter the city? It was truly a laughable delusion.

Black Knight Jack certainly would not believe the other party's exaggerated claims, but he did not want to offend this temperamental Warlock and face the wrath of a Silver Demon in this enclosed secret chamber.

Thus, after whispering a few words to his subordinates, the young man said:

"According to the rules, an outsider who wants to join our Brotherhood must complete a task to prove themselves. This task is quite difficult, and you must not expose your identity in the slightest. I wonder if Mr. Goman can accept this?"

"What task?" Goman asked with some interest.

"This is the information on the target. Look it over before you decide. If you can complete this mission, not only will you be officially admitted to the Brotherhood, but a large bounty of one thousand Gold Sol awaits you!" After Black Knight Jack finished speaking, one of the men behind him immediately took out a piece of parchment and handed it to the Warlock.

Goman glanced at the contents and could not help but show disdain:

"A Black Iron-tier Mage, and one who just promoted from an apprentice at that—and this is enough to make you so nervous?"

Black Knight Jack said with a meaningful tone: "The target is no ordinary Mage; his teacher is the one known as North Shire's Number One Mage!"

Upon hearing this, Goman looked further down and realized:

"So, that incident last time really was your doing. I was wondering who had the guts to assassinate a Mage with such a background!"

"What? Are you afraid? Given the difficulty of the mission, we have arranged for two others to assist you. You will meet them shortly."

Facing Black Knight Jack's provocation, Goman raised his head proudly and said:

"I don't need any helpers. Although the target's background is troublesome, Warlocks and Mages are natural enemies. Regardless of what grudge you or your backers have with that little Mage, I accept this mission. Even if he is a summoner, I can easily handle him! Just wait to hear the good news!"

"Since that is the case, I will not force you. Arrange a residence for Mr. Goman in the city with the highest level of treatment!"

After speaking, two men in black led the Warlock out of the secret chamber. The high-ranking members of the thieves' group, led by Black Knight Jack, left and arrived at an underground hall, which was their true stronghold.

"That Warlock seems to have a real grudge against Mages, and the helpers those two old men called are also Mages. Presumably, they won't be able to cooperate effectively! Let's arrange for them to act as a backup."

In reality, Black Knight Jack had no good intentions. He did not trust the strange Warlock at all, but he could not easily decline the orders issued by Viscount Macbeth. Fortunately, they did not need to do the work themselves; they could just push the entire mission onto the Warlock and his group.

In a secret room within this underground stronghold, two figures wrapped tightly in black cloaks followed a man in black inside. Just as he had done when receiving the Warlock, the young leader of the Black Knight Brotherhood met with them in the chamber.

If Donald were here, he would certainly have recognized the identities of these two Mages. They were the Snow Mage he had once defeated and his friend, the Mage Naron.