After Kaecilius finished speaking, Xia Zuo had already guessed who it was: Mordo.
It was not difficult to guess at all. According to Kaecilius, the black-robed man who had led him astray had helped him because he wanted to kill Xia Zuo. There was undoubtedly only one person who could appear in Kamar-Taj and also held a grudge against Xia Zuo: Mordo.
"Since you want to die, I'll grant your wish," Xia Zuo said coldly, his eyes filled with murderous intent. Since Mordo was courting death, he would not spare him.
Xia Zuo had never been softhearted. Knowing an enemy was plotting against him and doing nothing about it was simply not in his nature. So, when he inferred from Kaecilius's words that Mordo was targeting him, several ideas for dealing with Mordo had already surfaced in his mind.
"I'll deal with things here first."
Xia Zuo murmured to himself. Although he had already sentenced Mordo to death in his mind, he still had to take care of matters here first.
Xia Zuo punched straight at Kaecilius's head, killing him without hesitation. Then he searched Kaecilius and recovered the Book of Cagliostro he had stolen this time, putting the forbidden book away. Only after cleaning up the scene did Xia Zuo slowly leave, without alerting a single person throughout the process.
Although the battle had taken place near the London Sanctum, Xia Zuo had cast a barrier-like spell before making his move, originally to prevent Kaecilius and the others from escaping.
But once he guessed that Mordo was behind all this, Xia Zuo changed his mind. He also intended to use this to lure Mordo out, so naturally, he would not let the news of Kaecilius's death break so soon.
Several days later, inside a mansion-like building, Xia Zuo sat at ease on a comfortable sofa, holding the Book of Cagliostro he had taken from Kaecilius.
Although Xia Zuo had already learned a great deal about magic in the library, most of the Ancient One's private collection consisted of forbidden books, and he had not had many opportunities to read them. Thus, much of the knowledge contained in the Book of Cagliostro was still new to him.
Xia Zuo needed vast amounts of magical knowledge to strengthen his Second Eye Ring, so naturally, he would not let this opportunity go to waste. These past few days had been enough for him to commit the knowledge in the entire Book of Cagliostro to memory.
"Next, it's time to lure out that big, stupid bear, Mordo."
Xia Zuo closed the Book of Cagliostro and murmured as he looked out the window. Just as he had said before, he had never cared about Mordo. Even if Mordo became some villain in the future, he would not bother with him. But this time, Mordo had come after him, and with the intention of killing him at that. Naturally, Xia Zuo would not spare him.
"Mordo must be quite anxious by now. After all, there's still no 'news' of Kaecilius!"
A slight smile curled Xia Zuo's lips. Over the past few days, he had also worked out Mordo's thinking. Mordo simply did not want to stick his own neck out, so he had incited Kaecilius to do this. But he had not expected Kaecilius to take things this far. By now, Mordo was probably desperate to find Kaecilius and eliminate him.
That was only natural. Xia Zuo had been able to deduce from Kaecilius's words that Mordo was responsible. If the Ancient One found Kaecilius, she would learn it too. This was what Mordo feared most, so he ought to be extremely anxious right now.
"In that case, if Mordo secretly receives word that Kaecilius has appeared, he'll probably rush to find him. And he'll do his best to conceal his tracks so no one else notices."
Xia Zuo murmured as he planned this out. In truth, it was not difficult at all. Mordo was the most anxious person right now, and Xia Zuo held all the initiative, so he was quite relaxed.
All he had to do was put out a little honey and quietly wait for that big, stupid bear, Mordo, to take the bait and come running.
With that thought, Xia Zuo immediately summoned the magic power within him. A golden ring appeared before him, and then he instantly left the mansion.
Inside the New York Sanctum, Mordo paced anxiously around a room. Several days had passed, yet he still had not found any trace of Kaecilius. If the other mages found Kaecilius and reported him to the Sorcerer Supreme, he would be in trouble.
Just as Mordo was beside himself with anxiety, a monk hurried in.
"Lord Mordo, some... something has happened!" the monk told Mordo, panting heavily.
"Calm down. What happened?" Mordo frowned, looking impatiently at the monk. All he wanted to do right now was find Kaecilius. He had no time to pay attention to anything else.
"Apparently, something has happened over in Washington. Someone seems to have seen Kaecilius recruiting followers there. He seems to be planning something. I came to report it to the Sorcerer Supreme, hoping she could personally capture that traitor!"
"What? Is that true?!"
When Mordo heard this news, he almost jumped with excitement. To think he had actually heard news of Kaecilius here! After calming down a little, Mordo made his decision.
"There's no need to trouble the Sorcerer Supreme over that traitor. I'll go capture him!"
Mordo gave the monk his orders, then immediately opened a golden ring and left the New York Sanctum. But even as he departed, he never noticed the barely perceptible Red Ring deep within the monk's pupils.
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