Chapter 138: Is He Lying?

"Hehehehe…" The Wraith lowered its head and chuckled, baring its teeth at the trembling Wright on the ground. "Do you all think I'm an idiot?"

Saul, hidden within his spiritual body, surprisingly found himself agreeing with the Wraith's words.

"Is Senior Byron trying to deceive the Wraith? But how could the Wraith possibly believe something like that? Or… is Senior Byron just stalling for time?"

Wright, pinned underfoot, could only look up helplessly at Byron, praying that the Wraith really was a fool.

In any case, every living, dead, or half-dead person present did not believe a single word Byron said.

Perhaps because only a projection of Byron was there, he remained calm and composed.

"I know you think I'm lying to you, but I hope you'll give me a moment to speak. The reason I came to find you is, of course, significant. Your Krema family and our Gorsa Wizard Tower are connected by marriage."

"Ha!" The Wraith, named Morten, let out a short laugh. "So the Krema Empire didn’t collapse after my death? Or have my descendants degenerated into nothing more than breeding livestock?"

Byron’s expression remained unchanged. "After your death in the Battle of Hanging Valley, a Grand Wizard stepped in to mediate the war. While both the Krema and Kenas Empires were demoted to duchies, at least some of their territory was preserved, allowing your family to continue."

Morten still looked mocking. "They would just give up the resources they conquered? You think I'm stupid?"

Saul, Wright: "…"

Byron continued, "Because of the Battle of Hanging Valley, nearly all the western region's wizards perished. Foreign wizard forces took advantage of the situation to enter and divide the resources. To maintain stability in the western region, various forces signed the Western Treaty."

Morten’s eyes flickered, and for once, he didn’t mock Byron—perhaps he was starting to believe him.

Byron quickly pressed on. "In fact, our Wizard Tower originated from one of those foreign wizard factions. So, you don’t need to worry about any grudges between us."

Morten narrowed his eyes and spoke in a chilling tone. "Then why are you looking for me? And why send a mere third-level apprentice?"

He leaned forward, pressing down harder with his foot. "Do you really think I've been dead so long that I've turned stupid?"

Wright immediately howled in pain.

Morten, annoyed by the noise, stomped down harder on Wright’s mouth.

"If you make another sound, I’ll send your mouth straight to the back of your head!"

Wright quickly stifled his pain, not daring to make another noise.

Morten lifted his head again, seemingly waiting for Byron’s explanation.

"He… actually seems to be believing him," Saul stared in disbelief at Morten and Byron.

Byron’s tense expression eased slightly when he saw that Morten was willing to continue listening.

He quickly glanced at the injured Bill and Wright on the ground, pressed his lips together, and then spoke. "Because of the Western Treaty, we couldn’t openly search for you. We had to send a few inconspicuous third-level apprentices under the guise of gathering resources while secretly tracking your whereabouts."

"As for why we’re looking for you… Do you still remember your great-granddaughters, Miss Yura and Miss Kira?"

Saul's eyes widened.

He had never heard of Yura, but wasn’t Kira the second-tier wizard who once came to the Wizard Tower and acted arrogantly even toward the Tower Master?

Could Byron be telling the truth?

Wright must have heard the names too, as he stared in astonishment but dared not make a sound.

Upon hearing those names, Morten fell into deep thought.

For an Wraith, recalling pleasant memories from life was difficult.

After a long silence, Morten finally lifted his head. "Yes, my two great-granddaughters. They were only three years apart and both had wizard talents. We celebrated for three months when we discovered that."

Byron gave a slight bow. "One of your great-granddaughters, the beautiful Miss Yura, is the wife of our Tower Master."

Saul’s arm slipped from under his chin as his jaw practically hit the ground.

He recalled Gorsa, wrapped entirely in pink bandages, and wondered—why would someone like him need a wife?

Senior Byron… is he really not making this up?

Wright, on the other hand, blinked slowly, deep in thought.

Morten, however, frowned deeply, suspicion rising in his eyes again. "Yura? With her personality? She cares about nothing but her experiments. How could she possibly get married?"

Byron replied, "Perhaps because our Tower Master is also a second-tier wizard, just like you were in life."

Morten immediately raised an eyebrow. "That is impressive. No wonder Yura would be interested. But how can you prove you're not just making this up?"

Byron placed a hand over his heart and solemnly stated, "For the sake of the Krema family and the Wizard Tower, the Tower Master ordered me to find you in secret. He believes that someone as great as you wouldn’t simply disappear. I’ve come here many times without success, but today, I finally found you. However, I have no proof on me—because this matter must not be known to outsiders."

Suddenly, Morten pressed down harder with his foot again, causing Wright to tremble violently in pain but suppress his screams.

"Ridiculous. Even if you have no proof, why did you run when you first saw me underground? And now you're only facing me with a projection. What are you afraid of?"

Byron remained unfazed, lowering his gaze. "You look… quite different. At first, I didn’t recognize you. Only later did I realize who you were. As for the projection… I’m currently deep underground, time is tight, and I can’t fly. This was the only way to communicate with you."

Morten stared at Byron for a while before finally lifting his foot off Wright.

Wright, who had been trembling, finally relaxed. But with his heavily injured face, he was in no state to be seen by anyone.

He had now fully experienced the erratic moods of an Wraith.

Morten folded his arms and raised his chin. "So now that you’ve found me, are you going back to report? After all this talking, are you just asking me to let you go?"

"Quite the opposite," Byron replied. "I wish for Lord Morten to come to me. While I have found you, I can see that your condition is not stable. Lady Yura had already anticipated this and taught me a wizardry formation in advance to help stabilize your consciousness. She will come for you when she finds an opportunity."

"Where exactly are you?"

"Right where we encountered you—the Soul Storm region."

Morten's eyes immediately narrowed. "You think I’d be foolish enough to walk into your trap?"

Seeing that Morten was about to lose his temper again, Byron hurriedly spoke faster.

"The Soul Storm here is small. Since we disturbed it, its stability has weakened and could collapse at any moment. But I remember that only part of your spirit has left the storm. If it collapses, it will be difficult to recover the rest of your soul."

Losing part of his soul would be a devastating, irreparable blow to Morten. He couldn’t ignore that.

As expected, his expression flickered between hesitation and rage.

For a moment, his face displayed two conflicting emotions at once.

Morten finally calmed himself and asked harshly, "That storm contains the soul fragments of hundreds of people. Even I can’t maintain my completeness—what can a mere third-level apprentice like you do?"

Byron replied, "Lord Morten, while I may only be third-level, I have studied souls and corpses in the Wizard Tower for over ten years. I have some expertise in this field. Otherwise, Lady Yura wouldn’t have sent me or entrusted me with this formation. It can help you recover your missing soul and keep you stable so she can retrieve you."

Morten hesitated. "Did Yura really send you?"

"If I wanted to escape, I wouldn’t have wasted a rare illusion stone to contact you. And if I were setting a trap… honestly, even I don’t believe I could succeed."

Seeing Morten waver, Byron pressed harder.

"Lord Morten, the Soul Storm won’t last much longer. Just come take a look—there’s no harm in that. I’ll let you inspect the formation and decide for yourself."

Morten lowered his head, finally deep in thought.

Saul, sitting on the diary, tapped it in disbelief. "Hey, Diary Bro, is this really Senior Byron?"

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