"Step up your research. I want you to crack the secret of a lich's existence as soon as possible. Otherwise, your Goat Gathering can leave this world for good and spend every day in the Land of Exile in the company of sinful souls."
As he left the metal door, Grand Duke Sapphire coldly addressed the mages standing at the entrance.
The Goat Gathering mages lowered their heads and replied in ingratiating tones, "Please rest assured, Your Grace. Goat Gathering has delved into souls for a long time. We will certainly grasp the lich's secrets as quickly as possible and make up for the mistakes we committed in the past."
Back then, the Goat Gathering's Grand Mages had joined forces with Marquis Bull to launch the assassination attempt against the Sapphire Dragon. In the end, Marquis Bull was captured, while the Grand Mages vanished without a trace. Mary Dawn Break and the other vampires had originally been ordered to Iron Hoof Island to seek out the Goat Gathering's Grand Mages.
Yet those Grand Mages had most likely long since been captured one by one by Grand Duke Sapphire.
He had begun reverse-engineering the lich.
"Remember, I will not give you much time. One year. If you still cannot give me a satisfactory answer within one year, you may prepare your finest clothes and get ready to conduct research in the Land of Exile."
The mages' bodies trembled slightly.
Most mages subscribed to a theory: at the boundary where magic, matter, and spirit transformed into one another, there was a place beyond the description of time and space, where eternity and transience reflected one another. Only souls could walk within it. That place was the Land of Exile.
Those guilty of heinous crimes would have certain rituals cast upon them by