True King's Ecstasy

Velian stood atop a crumbled tower, his golden eyes scanning the city below. The once majestic buildings now lay in ruins, crumbling under the weight of his devastating magic. A wicked smile played on his lips as he relished in the chaos he had unleashed upon the kingdom.

"What secrets were they hiding from us? Is it the guild or merchants? Or royal palace?" Velian mused to himself, his voice filled with dark curiosity.

"Why did they provoke me with their deceit? There must be something of great value they sought to keep hidden, but my presence is disturbing for them."

As the wind whispered through the desolate streets, Velian\'s gaze sharpened, his eyes alight with determination. He was no ordinary mage, but the holder of the power that could simply create chaos in this world. And now, he had set his sights on the enigmatic secrets of this once proud kingdom.

With a flick of his wrist, Velian conjured a shimmering fire, illuminating the path ahead. He descended from the tower, his steps were silent as a whisper, blending seamlessly into the shadows.

"This is weird! People are not reacting to this destruction like he expected, they were rather calm and quiet unlike what he expected and this proved that these citizens are also under some kind of influence,"

In his search for answers, Velian roamed the decimated streets, eyes scanning for any clue that might lead him to the source of the parasitic cells causing mayhem in the land. He could almost taste the urgency in the air, a lingering fear of the unknown that haunted the kingdom.

Amidst the ruins, he stumbled upon an old man, huddled in a corner, his tattered clothes clinging to his frail body. The man\'s eyes widened in terror as he noticed Velian\'s presence, but Velian held up a hand, offering assurance.

At first, he didn\'t identify this man, but after taking a careful look at his face, Velian knew this is the man that had a shop in front of the guild to sell potions to the adventurers.

"Fear not, old man," Velian said, his voice laced with an otherworldly charm. "I seek knowledge about something, not harm. Tell me, what do you know about the guild? What caused this accident?"

He asked like he was genuinely worried about his health, and he wanted to deceive this man. Even though Velian used his skills to find something wrong with him, there was nothing noticeable so he had to be careful.

The old man\'s voice trembled as he spoke, his words weighed down by years of silent suffering.

"The kingdom... This kingdom is done for, this is the curse of the demon lord, we are doomed," He shouted like a crazy man, holding Velian\'s hand.

Velian heard some strange rumours about this man, but this was the first time he talked with him so he didn\'t know what he was trying to say, but it was rather clear that he is different from normal citizens.

"They hoarded knowledge, forbidden knowledge," he whispered, his eyes darting nervously. "They knew of the curse, but they kept it hidden, concealed from the world. They... they sought to control it, to bend it to their will."

Velian\'s eyes gleamed with a mix of excitement and fury. "Control it? Control what, old man? Tell me, what did they control and who are they?"

The old man hesitated for a moment, then, his voice barely above a whisper, he revealed,

"The ancient library... deep within the heart of the royal castle. It holds the secrets you must know. But beware young human. The library is guarded by powerful enchantments. Many have tried to breach its defences, and none have returned. Especially for someone like me, it\'s hard but you might be able to."

A wicked grin crept across Velian\'s face as he heard the old man\'s words, after not knowing anything about the origin of these cells or anything, he felt lucky to find some information but the question still remained.

"Thank you for your assistance, old man-"

Velian turned his head, ready to express his gratitude to the old man who had offered him such crucial information. But to his astonishment, the space where the old man had stood just moments ago was now empty. No trace remained of the mysterious figure who had appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

A shiver ran down Velian\'s spine, and he couldn\'t help but wonder if the old man was more than he appeared. Could he have been a spirit of the dead, or perhaps a guardian meant to guide him on this treacherous path? Velian\'s mind raced with questions, but there were no answers to be found.

" I need to visit the library, as soon as possible before they destroy books," Velian thought because he knew after this destruction he caused they won\'t stay idle and wait for him.

Nevertheless, the allure of the ancient library and the secrets it held compelled Velian forward. He knew the risks involved in breaching the library\'s formidable enchantments, but the tantalizing possibility of acquiring the knowledge he sought was too great to resist.

"Let\'s see!" He went around the town for a little bit more, and as time went on adventurers started to gather around the ruined guild and question what they are going to do from now on.

He wanted to see how the guild would react to this destruction he caused and what sort of power they had hidden.

It didn\'t take a lot of time for the guild servants to come and let the adventurers know what is going to happen from now on.

"Listen, my dear adventurers, we have experienced great trouble due to an earthquake that happened a few hours ago and unfortunately our guild became a victim of this disaster," One of the servants came forward and told without even showing how much they were lying to the people.

At one point, Velian had to even question whether it was genuinely a earthquake that caused this because of how confident they looked.

They said about how they are going to continue the guild work in a separate building from now on, and Velian was amazed by how fast they came to a solution.

But he couldn\'t think about these things, as he felt a strange magical signal coming from behind him which caused him to automatically avoid the crowd and enter an alley, so he can find out what was going to happen.